“Horrors: gladiators of doom”
Rebecca Hill wiped her mouth mechanically and refilled her mug: this was the third time she had drained an entire glass, but she still felt thirsty. Sweat matted on her forehead, chest, arms, and back, even though she had removed her outer shirt and shoes and had turned the thermostat down. She splashed water on her face, dried off, and decided to take a brief cold shower. It wasn’t necessarily the temperature that was plaguing her, but rather the sharpened understanding of the world around her. Lights were brighter, sounds were louder, odors were more pungent, and whatever she touched felt nearer and more personal, like it was becoming a part of her body.
SUBJECT PROGRESS: 9 complete
After her shower, she dressed light and padded around the citadel, wielding the key her father had given her. She was still reeling over her surprising reunion, but she was too aware of her world now to feel numb: she had been shaken and shocked until all of her energies were focused to a single point. Whatever Franklin injected must be affecting her in some way; she had never felt this centered before. The hallways were like an oven after the frosty confines of her old room, so she searched for a new place to duck into before she succumbed to the bombardment of sensations. The closest one was unlocked, and there was somebody weeping in there. She thrust her head through the doorway and heard bells screaming in her thoughts: Valti Brignor was sitting on the bed, crying and tearing her clothes in theatric anguish.
“Valti? What are you doing here?” Brignor looked up at Hill and smiled wearily, like her soul had been punctured. She gestured for the younger woman to join her, and tried to compose herself.
“Sorry I’m such a wreck. Have you met our captor? Ah, so you know. You look about as bad as I feel. As for what I’m doing here… Do you remember me giving you all those peculiar glances awhile back? Hmm…that’s because I knew who you were. Your father and I were once very close companions. We worked together at a university for genetic research—he worked with people, and I went with animals. Some of our research was very humane and beneficial…but a lot of it was just the opposite. We experimented on live subjects; in fact, I was your father’s last official test subject before he left university. What?” she said cattily, waving her superfluous arms. “Haven’t you ever wondered where these came from? I wasn’t born with them, you know. I used to only have two, just like any normal human.”
“Did he force you to undergo the…operation?” Valti took awhile to answer.
“Sort of. I was all for it at first. Surely you’ve known people that have complained, ‘I only have one set of arms’. Frank and I were just trying to see if a normal human could evolve more limbs. It would certainly help out people who’ve lost their arms or legs to accidents or disease. Bu when I learned what he really wanted them for, we fought. I guess I don’t need to tell you how that turned out. But even after we fought, I was still willing to become his guinea pig…because I loved him.
“Yes, Rebecca, your father and I were lovers. But I was just as infatuated with your mother, so please don’t think too awfully of Frank. And anyway, all of this was well after you were born. Part of the reason Frank left you and Kayley was because he could perform such ghastly research without exposing you two. I may as well be up front with you about this: he tried to get me pregnant. Don’t worry, I don’t expect you to forgive me. He wanted to create a child that shared both of our genes, just as he created you with your mother. Love wasn’t really his goal; he just wanted to breed, but I don’t know what he was aiming for.”
Rebecca didn’t know how to respond, because so many emotions were fighting inside her heart and it became impossible to focus on one. But she was also experiencing sharp, painful clarity, like all the windows of her soul were being flung open to allow the outside world in. These two traumatic sensations would have been enough to cause a normal person to faint, but instead, Rebecca bolted out of her bed, feeling infinitely restless—almost possessed, really—and dashed to Valti’s sink for more water. Brignor watched this startling reaction with grave concern.
SUBJECT PROGRESS: 21 complete
“Uh, are you all right, Becky? Listen, I’m sorry if I upset you, but you have every right to hear the truth.”
“It’s so hot,” she gasped, clawing at her shirt. She ripped it off with unbelievable strength, tearing a great gash in the front as she doused herself with water. “God, why is it so hot? Turn the thermostat down, please, and get me some ice. Not so loud!! Ah, it’s starting to hurt! I can feel it affecting me. Why the hell is it so hot now?”
“Becky, what’s wrong? Are you feeling well? Hey, he didn’t hurt you, did he?” Rebecca arrested control over her mind for a time as she whirled around, wincing, covering her arm.
“What, this? No, he gave me an injection for the toxins.” One good thing came out of the agonizing purity in which everything bared itself for her: she now had a heightened sense of awareness and could connect events at lightning speed. “Oh god, Valti, he didn’t really give me medicine. What…was that?”
SUBJECT PROGRESS: 32 complete
“Let me see.” Rebecca inhaled sharply as Valti peeled the bandage off, and sat up straight. Valti’s face became as hard and grim as a tombstone as she studied the tiny prick; her fingers were like electric dancers on Rebecca’s arms. Her back suddenly broke out in a terrible itch, but it was not aggravating so much as excruciating; she keeled over and started to scream at the top of her lungs. Valti grabbed her and held her tight, but even with four extra arms, it was nearly impossible to stop the young woman’s thrashing.
“Damn you, Franklin,” she whispered in horror, “what have you done now?”
SUBJECT PROGRESS: 41 complete
……
Thankfully, Athena didn’t take long to wake up, but she was still groggy and disoriented from her ordeal. She had only just recovered from being electrocuted, so relapsing did a lot of damage. But she was much tougher than she looked; nobody who met her would ever think the Usagin were merely “cute bunny-people”. Even so…
“How are you feeling?” Lyara said. Athena groaned and rubbed her head.
“Like I have a hangover. Could I have some water, please?”
“There’s a shortage,” Naja muttered bitterly. “You’ll have to do without.”
“What are we doing here? Where are we?” She reached for her sword, but of course they had been robbed of their equipment. “What the hell is going on?!”
“Calm down, Jugs Bunny,” Kate said. “Just chill out. We were shot down and captured, and now we’re sitting around waiting for something to happen. There’s no use breaking out, unless our feisty Felinis managed the impossible. Whaddya say, Alala?”
“I haven’t given up yet,” she swore. She was trying to reach around the lasers with her arm, searching for some control device, but shrieked as she accidentally brushed against the red-hot beams. “ACH, DAMMIT!! IT HURTS!! Okay, scrap that plan! I’m tired of getting my fur fried! Hey, why don’t you try prying those slabs off, you guys? Maybe we can use them as a shield.”
“Would if we could,” Mink replied. “They’re very securely fastened. But it might be our only chance. Lyara, what about your telepathic skills?”
“That’s what I’ve been doing all this time,” she said grumpily. “It feels like I’m being blocked, though. What about our neighbor, Alala?”
“Oh, she’s asleep! Well, it looks like the slab’s our only opt—HEY! Get us outta here!” Alala almost flung herself against the lasers as she saw a group of people in drab colors approaching the cells. Without saying a word, they released the lasers and brandished weapons at the prisoners.
“Make this easy for both of us and come along quietly,” they said. Athena limped over towards them, ready to put up resistance, but Mink stopped her.
“Where are you taking us?”
“Outside. Come on, we weren’t told to kill you. Hey, Blodger, get the other one as well!”
“I’m on it.” The women carefully filed out of their prison, not sure if they should fight their way through or allow themselves to be guided to who knows where—but they didn’t want to risk anything, so it was decided, unanimously, that they would go along with their captors. Their neighbor was finally revealed, sleepy-eyed and irritated, but it was too dark to see what she looked like.
If only the women had known just how close to the surface they were, they might have made a more serious effort to regain their freedom. There was a great steel door that had to be pulled by four of their captors, and as it creaked open, merciless blasts of light flooded the prison and blinded the women. They cringed and blinked their way up a small flight of stairs, briefly powerless as they relied on their guides to show them out, and heard the door grind to a close— ka-clang, boom. Throngs of voices rose up like a violent breeze as they were brought into what seemed to be a circular courtyard, its floor thick with dust and dry soil, the walls rising up to surround them. As the light became more bearable, they noticed four details that alarmed them, not the least of which was their audience: they were all Fog Ninjas.
The second detail was not so imposing. There were three portcullises on the opposite side of the courtyard (it looked more like a sports arena), and each of these portals had a unique and foreboding feel to them. Third, high above the audience in the mezzanine, stood the orchestrator of their imprisonment, surrounded by a handful of human associates, all dressed for work in a laboratory. Valti or Rebecca would’ve identified him as Franklin Hill, but the imprisoned women only saw him as their enemy. The fourth detail, however, was startling by comparison: it was Melena Fara’dellyn, their fellow prisoner.
Mink, Vimmy, and a privileged few others knew her as one of the most beautiful women in the entire galaxy; it was almost as if there were harps playing, flower petals falling, and doves fluttering in the gentle breeze as she stepped out. The crowd gasped in awe as the Melena revealed herself, and even Athena couldn’t help but stare. Melena was average in height and a little thin in build, with long, thin strands of hair so golden that it was almost like amber. She was absolutely gorgeous, with merry green eyes that sparkled with sweetness and a thirst for life, a copper-colored skin that suggested great work in the sun, and a body just muscular enough to be considered tough. The woman was incredibly beautiful, perhaps attaining a goddess-like quality, almost too dazzling to look at. Even in her foul mood, she was lovely.
The seven women were shoved onto a low platform facing the portcullises, and their captors abandoned them. While they waited for an explanation, Kate caught something out of the corner of her eye, and noticed that their weapons— along with a few additions— were being held on a case against the wall, just waiting to be recovered. She whispered this to everyone, and they agreed that no matter what happened, they would dash over to that case and fight their way out. But this recklessness wasn’t necessary; Franklin invited them to partake in any tool they chose.
“The voyager Dauntless is revered throughout select circles as having one of the greatest crews ever assembled, and out of all the crewmembers, you six women have proven yourselves the mightiest of them all! A Yun, a Heavyworld human, an Elshyrin, a Felinis, a Valar, and an Usagin, which I helped cultivate and train, just for this moment! Fighting alongside you is a true champion, a master of beauty and strength, the inimitable Melena Fara’dellyn!”
“Aw, shucks,” she laughed, “I knew I was famous, but come on! No applause necessary, folks!”
“Then I guess it’s good we’re not clapping,” Mink muttered. Franklin waited for the crowd to stop cheering before he continued.
“But first…but first, you must prove yourselves worthy in my arena! I have assembled these mighty warriors together for the purpose of breeding with them— yes, to create the perfect entity. Origin has commanded me to produce a body worthy of its abilities, and thus did I gather you here!”
“What a sick bastard,” Naja shivered. For once, everybody agreed with her.
“I’d rather choke on a hairball,” Alala grumbled.
“He probably means for you to participate in most of the breeding,” Mink said stoically. She balled her fists, and her eyebrows slanted imperceptibly, the closest to real anger she usually got. “I wonder how long it will take him to realize we will not cooperate.”
“I’ll give him ten seconds,” Athena muttered darkly.
“Make that five!” Naja snarled.
“Looks like he’s got one more announcement,” Lyara sighed. Sure enough, Frank was now pointing to the three gates, giving the signal for them to be raised.
“But even the greatest sword must be refined through fire, and so we shall have a contest to see which of these women, if any, are worthy of carrying Origin’s seed! Behold, standing against my great warriors are creatures from the farthest reaches of the galaxy!!”
The first monster to slither out was a fully-grown bull Tyrannohex, even bigger and meaner than the one the crew had fought on that abandoned world.
The second was a large mastiff with three heads, Cerberus personified.
The third was a living embodiment of fire and shadow, a Balrog. Oh yes, they’re real.
“What, no Rancor?” Kate grimaced.
“And now,” Franklin cried out, “let the games BEGIN!!”
……
Rebecca’s condition was growing worse, and the only way to ease her pain was to strip her clothes and dunk her in a tub of frigid water. She yelped and hollered even while submerged,
convulsing and flailing like a cat, but through her inane screams and senseless roars, she vaguely suggested that something was trying to break out of her body. After her bath, she calmed down a little, but she didn’t speak except to demand some painkillers for the next attack. Valti refused vehemently, and stayed by Rebecca’s side so she wouldn’t do anything drastic. Since she knew Franklin Hill so intimately, she had a good idea what he put inside his daughter, and if Valti gave her painkillers along with the original dose…
The storm resumed before long, but now at last it was reaching its apex. Rebecca bucked and shouted with intensity. Her strength became ferocious as she rampaged through Valti’s room, throwing everything she could get her hands on, ripping apart curtains, clothes, and pillows, punching holes through the walls—anything to relieve the torture. She finally collapsed on the bed again, demanding relief.
“I can’t give you any painkillers, Rebecca!” Valti stated firmly. “If I inject anything else into your system, it will kill you. Do you understand?”
“I DON’T CARE! JUST PUT ME OUT OF MY MISTERY!!”
“Don’t say such things!” she barked, touching Rebecca’s cheek firmly. “You’re stronger than that! You still have so much more to do! You can withstand this pain; I believe in you. I promise, I will not leave you and I will not allow you to give up!! Now grit your teeth and bear it. There’s no stopping this chain reaction, so let’s just ride it out and see what your father has in store. Cry and curse if you have to; let it all out. But don’t die.”
“But it hurts so much,” Rebecca whispered, tears gushing out of her eyes as she curled up on the bed. Valti held her as tenderly as she could, fearing that the slightest touch would destroy this woman.
“I know…I know.”
SUBJECT PROGRESS: 75 complete
……
“This sure is pleasant,” Alala hissed. “Okay, here’s what we’re gonna do! Athena, you and Naja run over and grab as many of those weapons as you can, and pass them out! The rest of us will take down that Tyrannohex!”
“Who put you in charge?!”
“Just do it, bitch!!” Athena was already halfway there, so Naja decided to go along with her, if only to give herself a better chance of survival. Lyara stared at the Balrog intently as it lumbered after them; in comparison, the other two creatures were like fish on dry land.
“We’re not going to split up?” she said.
“No, we wouldn’t stand a chance if our forces were divided. It’d be better if we took them out one at a time. Uh— hey, Melena! What the hell are you doing?!” It was impossible to call the wild woman back; she had lunged herself at Cerberus and was trying to wring one of their necks. For such a slight-looking woman, she had amazing strength, and nearly pulled the dog’s right head off before the other two snapped at her.
“I think she’d prefer to handle this fight in her own way!” Mink exclaimed. She was certainly not a fighter, even though her strength belied this expression, but she accepted a naginata anyway. Athena grabbed her sword and gave Kate a battle-axe; Lyara claimed a whip while Alala took a mace, leaving Naja to fight with her bare hands, which was just fine with her.
“Even so, one of us should keep the Balrog busy so he doesn’t attack us. I’ll elect for that position; my race has a history with these demons.” Alala’s fur stood on end as she snarled and left Lyara to her decision.
“Oh, fine, do what you want! But if you get killed, it’s your own damn fault! Okay, ugly, time to bury you!” Alala blocked out Melena and Lyara, forcing herself to pretend the other two monsters didn’t exist. She was nimble enough to climb onto to the Hex’s back, weaving down its furry spine until she came to the two magnificently long stinger-tails that danced in the air. With everyone else on the ground doing their best to avoid the deadly barbs, she could reach them and strike with her mace. The steely fibers barely vibrated with the blow, but strength never had been Alala’s greatest asset; she tried again and produced no better. Kate was trying to cut away at the spears as they came hurtling down at her, and watching this gave Alala an idea. She scampered over to the very edge of the Hex’s back and reached her arm out.
“KAAATE! Take my hand!”
Being thrown off Cerberus didn’t faze Melena at all; she came right back and jumped into the air, landing a flying kick on their snouts. Still in midair, she performed a graceful flip-kick, thrust her hand out and grabbed the left head’s ears, and twisted until she was straddling its neck again. All of this took about two seconds; it was mesmerizing to watch. Instead of trying to break their necks and risk being thrown off— or worse, ripped apart by the three ravenous jaws— Melena hopped onto the monster’s back and squeezed it with her legs, and hung on tight, bucking Cerberus like a bronco. Her delicate fingers, soft to touch but hard as steel, actually dug into the flesh as she clung to dear life, and when the beast rolled on the ground and threw her off, chunks of skin and fur went with it. Melena snapped her foot out and kicked it as she lied on the ground, then climbed to her feet and slipped to the side like a matador as Cerberus came snapping at her.
Lyara’s whip had no effect on the Balrog, but she kept it and lashed it at him anyway, hoping to at least divert his attention. Luckily he was unarmed, not that there was any serious difference between a fire-demon with weapons and without, but at least she only had to contend with his fatal breath, his choking fumes, and the shattering thrust of his fists as he reached out for her. Lyara was not as skilled as Aseria in the ancient Elvish arts, but she knew a few spells, and she called the earth to slow his feet and the air to cloud his vision. She reached for the weapons rack,
found a spear, threw it into his chest, and scurried away as he pulled it out, snapping it to pieces. The monster was horribly fast and caught up, towering as an unholy sentinel as it reached down for her, but a desperate incantation dredged from the depths of her heritage kept it at bay just long enough for her to run underneath its colossal legs, lashing her whip around them. The leather flickered away at once in fire and the Balrog turned around, stirring a scalding breeze with its wings. It jumped high and stretched its arms out, but Lyara took to the air as well, bounding off the wall and sprinting as far away from the others as she could.
Naja had actually managed to grab one of the tendrils as it rammed after her, but the Hex was far stronger than she was, and it lifted her off the ground and tried to shake her away. Athena fought against the other spear for a moment, but it soon turned its attention to skewering the little worm around its sibling. Naja squeezed as hard as she could, burying her fangs in the fiber rapidly, but it was useless: they were made of keratin and would not be poisoned. Meanwhile, Kate had ran up and grabbed Alala’s arm, jumping onto the Hex’s back. Without needing any instruction, she raced to the sharpened spears and slammed her axe against them, carving a significant wedge. The Hex didn’t feel this, of course, but it did sense the danger, and flung its other tail, Elshyrin and all, at the miniature lumberjack. Athena charged after it while its guard was down, stabbing and slashing wildly, but even she could not penetrate its rough hide, not even if she had been five times stronger and bore the Reaper’s own sickle. The Hex flicked her away with its tail, and while she was down, hovered the point over her body ominously, ready to pierce through.
“Hold on!” The wind whisked by and Death shook its fist as Mink scooped Athena into her arms and carried her away. The naginata had broken, so she chose to stay as a support and defend the others from the Hex’s myriad attacks. While the sinister beast chased after them in frustration, Alala, Kate, and Naja all hacked away at the tail, uniting their strength to break it off. But the Hex was not so foolish as to forget them, so it slowed its chase and wriggled its body, trying to shake the fleas off. He didn’t know how resilient they all were; Naja sunk her fangs into its spine, digging sharp fingernails into the hide; Kate and Alala clung to the tail they had been trying to cut off, wondering if it would hold. At last the beast managed to slash at Mink as she rushed Athena to safety, but it was a narrow wound, barely enough to draw blood. Athena hopped back into the fray as the tail snapped out, and grabbed it in a death-grip. She hung on as it coiled back, jumped onto the furry spine with the others, whirled around, and neatly finished their work.
Cerberus had gotten the better of Melena in the meantime. It had thrown her hard to the ground and was now poised directly overhead, its three mouths viciously clapping and salivating. Their hot breath splashed against her face, and even though she was keeping them at bay with her legs, pushing against their torso with all her power, she would not hold them for long. Part of one of Lyara’s discarded weapons had found its way to her side, but it was just out of reach. Her hand gradually crawled to grasp it, but the left head saw her movement and clamped its maw around her frail arm. She winced, spat in the beast’s center eye, and put all her effort into grabbing the weapon and plunging it into the monster’s head. The wound was shallow and blunt, but the force knocked Cerberus back and stunned him, giving Melena time to stand. She held the tool with her good arm, allowing the other one to hang limply, and dared it to strike. Cerberus circled her, growling and bleeding, and rushed out baying when he thought her guard was weakest. The weapon broke as she slammed it against its center head, and Melena was thrown away by the
force of the tackle. She bounced to her feet, breathing unevenly, and wiped the sweat from her brow.
“It is rather hot down there,” Franklin commented as he watched the action with gleeful eyes. “I suppose I could at least offer myself some relief. It hasn’t rained in so long.” He took off his lab coat and outer shirt, then removed his undershirt, squirting himself with water and dabbing it off. Although he didn’t exactly have a Romanesque build, he was certainly an attractive man for his age and profession; he had already seduced two women at the very least, and as Melena happened to glance up at him, he unintentionally added a third.
“Whoa, baby!” she gawked. “It’s about time I got to see some beef on this trip! It’s been months since I’ve gotten laid and…oh, wait, it’s starting! I forgot…it’s right around that time of the month for me! Ooohh…this might be bad! CRAP!! HEY, everybody, get out of here now!!”
“What’s she babbling about over there?” Athena murmured.
“What’s up? Don’t tell me you’ve got women’s issues all of a sudden!” Kate shrieked.
“No, worse! Whoooaa, LOOK OUT!!” What happened next was a spectacle beyond imagination, but with six witnesses on the surface and many more observing, there was no mistaking it. Melena grew in size, turning from a petite woman into a gargantuan titaness, and she bent over to crawl on all fours. Four more legs sprouted out, along with two enormous claws, and last of all, a hideous tail armed with a barbed stinger that dripped poison deadlier than an Elshyrin’s. Melena’s expensive designer clothes burst to shreds, exposing her enviable bust and firm, seductive belly, and she roared with furious lust as the transformation completed itself.
She had, in fact, turned into a giant scorpion-woman.
And shockingly enough, she was still very attractive.
Naturally, nobody really knew what to say. Even Mink and Athena were dumbfounded.
“Damn,” Alala whispered. That seemed sufficient. But even this was nothing compared to what happened next: Melena the scorpion-woman, in all her monstrous, seductive glory, pounced on the Tyrannohex, which was absolutely no match for her, and proceeded to violently mate with it. The poor beast was completely annihilated by her ferocious lovemaking: the head was snapped off by her claws, the body was pounded into pulp, the tail and legs were ripped off, and finally, once she finished mating, Melena pulverized the groin, turning the rest inside-out. Dissatisfied, she focused her lustful attentions to the Balrog, who had cornered Lyara at last.
“This can’t end well,” Kate said.
……
Rebecca Hill was now reduced to a screaming, squalling shell of her former self, beyond aid and communication. Valti could only hold her down and gag her mouth, hoping she would not destroy her vocal cords—or pass out from the excruciating pain. But soon even this lost its effectiveness, and Rebecca became a force of nature, something to observe rather than control. Valti shrank back in stunned horror as the white-haired woman, naked and screaming as she writhed on the bed, sat up and looked to the sky, her mouth opening for one more blast.
SUBJECT PROGRESS: 99 complete
All of her accumulated anguish was unleashed at last in the most violent explosion of them all. Rebecca’s skin ripped apart, from her shoulderblades to her waist, and blood and flesh spewed out in a gory eruption. Two large, serrated, crescent-shaped objects blossomed out of the openings, pushing the skin and flesh out further, until they were freed from their confines, unfolding and flinging blood everywhere. Rebecca let out a final, inhuman howl as her world ended and she grew blood-stained white wings.
To be continued…
Melena Fara’dellyn appears courtesy of Strikepenguin5.
Preview of next chapter
Alala: D’ohh, what are we gonna DO? Now we’ve got another monster on the loose, and she’s a dirty pervert!
Kate: We’ll just have to give it our all! The ladies of the Dauntless will go down fighting!
Naja: Screw that, I’m outta here!
Lyara: Hold it. I sense something— the coming of a great relief for our cause. Whether we shall have allies in this fight or fear no further aggression is still a mystery.
Athena: I’m more worried about our captors. I think by the end, we will have to defeat that man.
Mink: But there’s something familiar about him, and I can’t quite put my finger on it.
Naja: I’m not ending this preview with only one line! Stay tuned for the unbelievably intense conclusion to this three-part story arc, “Horrors: the final nightmare!” Action! Big monsters!
Perverted scorpion-women! Mad scientists! Fog Ninjas! Narrow escapes! What more could you ask for?
All: HLS, of course!
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