“Horrors: the final nightmare!”
It felt like an hour had passed before Valti could gather the courage to approach Rebecca. She was now very still and quiet, the perfect statue of a wounded angel collapsing in pain and despair, but her breathing had steadied during the long silence, and her wounds had miraculously closed on themselves, stemming the blood. The bed was saturated with dark red goo, and Rebecca was splattered as well, her eyes wide open as she tried to wrap her mind around what happened. Tenderly, Valti picked her up, fearing any aftershocks. Blood trickled from the fresh down, and it twitched reflexively, flicking it off. Rebecca was as limp as spaghetti, so Valti had to carry her into the bathroom. She turned the shower to warm, disrobed, and helped wash the scarlet away until the maiden was once again white as snow.
Because Hill’s clothes had been shredded during the transformation, Valti had to search her wardrobe for something else. Most of the selections were garish and inappropriate (more like something Chandra would wear), but there was a modest top that left the back exposed, and a skirt that went to the knees; Valti had to dress Rebecca since she was still numb and listless. Once that was taken care of, she scrounged up some water and fruit, and fed her patient to the best of her ability. What Rebecca needed most was rest, however, so after her repast, Valti threw off the ruined bedsheets, found new ones, and laid the young woman down, putting her head in her lap. She stroked the shimmering white hair gently, patiently waiting for Rebecca to crawl out of her disastrous funk.
……
The clash between scorpion-Melena and the Balrog was catastrophic. The entire planet seemed to shake as they wrestled and rolled: clawing, biting, bashing, smashing, pulling, slamming, kicking, stinging, burning, breaking… Melena actually lifted the Balrog up with her immense claws and threw it against the wall, destroying it and spilling dozens of Fog Ninjas. The Balrog’s flames evaporated them all in an instant, and more were flattened as Melena flew through the air and smashed on her foe, pinning its shadowy limbs so she could mate. But the Balrog was infinitely more powerful than the Tyrannohex, and even Melena was no match for him; he spewed volcanic fire in her face and crashed his head against her torso, goring her with his horns. He then threw her off and marched after her, but Melena’s tail lashed out and tripped him, penetrating three times while he was down. The fourth time, the Balrog grabbed her stinger and tore it off, crushing it between his fiery paws and roaring victoriously. Melena crawled to her feet, wounded but still strong, and challenged him with her claws.
“This isn’t going according to plan,” Franklin muttered. He signaled to the Fog Ninjas, finally giving them permission to attack. They poured down the walls and flooded the arena; some were
flattened or shattered by the monstrous titans, but most of them surrounded the women, vastly outnumbering them. Naja grinned and flexed her muscles.
“It’s about time the real party started! Naja’s going to have some fun!”
“Not without the rest of us!” Kate said. She punched a Fog Ninja in its shadowy face, whisking away the clouds as the onslaught began. Occasionally, even Cerberus got in on the action, mowing down misty foes left and right as it charged in a berserk frenzy. Melena, unfortunately, was being defeated: the Balrog slammed her against the wall and leaped atop her, crushing her body with his enormous feet. He raised his fist to break her skull open, when suddenly, a fiery explosion stunned him, drawing out a scream of pain. The Balrog fell, clutching his neck, and lost its deadly fire as another missile found its way to his mouth.
“HA, bull’s-eye!!” Nobody expected to see Kyrie Lastgear standing under the Coliseum archway, armed with a rocket launcher, but right now she was more beautiful than the morning star. Several Fog Ninjas spontaneously broke out in severe spasms, and faded away into nothingness, victims of a chaingun-wielding heroine.
“AW YEAH!!” Allegra roared triumphantly. “That felt good! I mean, that really felt good! Oh, hey Katie! So this is where you’ve been, havin’ fun without me! Ain’t you gonna give your reckless girlfriend a kiss?!”
“If she doesn’t, I will!” Lyara gushed in shock. The crew of the Dauntless had arrived at last to rescue their friends, and they brought a thirsty vengeance with them. Eighteen enraged women, including Rachel and a hobbling Amy, burst into the Coliseum ad overran the Fog Ninjas like locusts devouring crops. Chandra halted as she noticed Melena, and ran over to help and/or seduce her. The exhausted girl had spent all her energy fighting the Balrog, and was now reduced back to her normal self. She was grateful for the assistance, but not for the flirtation.
“Eww, I don’t do girls. Give me a beefcake to nibble on instead, rowr!! Hey, where did that guy get to, anyway?” She glanced up at the mezzanine, but Franklin Hill had abandoned his post, most likely frustrated that his research had turned out so poorly. Melena didn’t have any time to reflect; she pushed Chandra out of the way just as a Fog Ninja lunged at her, and twisted his neck off with the last of her strength. Meanwhile, Mink and Lillianne ganged up on the Cerberus and prepared to put him down for good, but Vimmy suddenly scurried between them, waving and fussing.
“Stop, fools, we can resolve this without bloodshed, watch and learn, you’re pitifully ungrateful, the lot of you, after we trekked through this hostile planet for hours on end—“
“Whatever you’re gonna do, just do it!” Lil shouted. Vimmy cursed at her, then turned around and raised her hand at the Cerberus. She tapped its center nose, waved her hand broadly, then hopped on its snout and reached up to scratch behind its ears. She quickly straddled the center neck and scratched the other two pairs of ears, and soon the beast was tamed.
“I don’t believe it,” Lil grumbled. Vimmy grinned cheekily.
“Well, what can I say, you own a few exotic pets over the years and you understand their feelings, yes, Mink wasn’t around when I owned my Cerberus Cuthbert, it’s no surprise she doesn’t know how to placate one, honestly, raising your hand against the poor doggy, it’s disgraceful, they’re living creatures too!”
“Tell that to the sweetheart over there,” Lyara pointed, indicating the wounded Melena. She and Sharyn reunited and fought together; Allegra finally got her kiss and reloaded her gun for another round.
“Awright, let’s kill them sombitches!!”
……
Melena would have been less impressed with Franklin Hill if she learned he was trying to run. It was not cowardice that drove him, nor the results of his experiment, but rather his obsession with his work: he was heading back to his lab to finalize his research. So all of the women passed his test! Excellent!! But he would have to kill Melena; there was no way he was going to die like that, not even for Origin’s sake. He reached the elevator and pushed a button marked B4, the lowest basement in the citadel. When the car door opened, however, he was greeted by a grisly scene. His coworkers, fellows, and assistants were all dead, victims of some merciless killer. Fearing he was next, Franklin stepped back and headed for the elevator, thrusting his leg inside before the door closed.
“What is your hurry?” came a sharp, deathly voice from behind him. Ghostly cold fingers grabbed him and pulled him back; he roared and thrashed as he realized the Fog Ninjas Boole had entrusted to his care were now turning on him. “Professor Hill,” they hissed in their raspy voices, “you should not abandon your project so hastily. There is so much more you could give us. You haven’t even tested out your Panurge Serum.”
“Let me go, let me go! I’m your master; you’re supposed to follow my commands! No, wait. That serum was not designed to be tested yet. It’s just a prototype. Please, don’t…OUCH! Oh, you fools, what have you done?! I’m not supposed to be the guinea pig here! Why don’t you follow my orders?”
“We have a new master now,” they said coldly. “But you can still be of some use to Origin. Enjoy the fruits of your labor, Professor, and good-bye.” Even as they said this, the effects of the Panurge Serum—the accumulation of all of Frank’s research—were taking effect, transforming him into a far more terrible monster than anything the universe had seen before. The traitorous Fog Ninjas still caught in his laboratory were obliterated almost instantaneously as the Abomination took shape and slithered up the long passage to the surface.
“Sheesh, what the hell’s going on out there? You’d think a war had broken out!” Unfortunately, the one thing Valti’s room lacked was a window view, so she couldn’t tell what the commotion was. But it sounded epic enough to make them plan a grand exit, and so she filled a pillow case with fruit and took two large canteens. Rebecca was still stunned, though she had recovered a little and her new wings were as pure as her hair. Valti shook her gently.
“Time for us to go. Can you walk?”
“I think so,” she whispered breathlessly. Valti helped her stand, and supported her as she limped out. The world was no longer hot, sharp, or painful to her; everything was fairly normal, except for her striking new “addition”. Out of all the thoughts that could have gone through Rebecca’s mind in that moment, the most prevalent was her wardrobe. She would have to redesign everything to suit her new figure.
“How are you holding up?” Valti asked tenderly. “Or is that a stupid question?” Rebecca didn’t answer; she just kept walking. Valti smiled and apologized; somehow she felt like all this was her fault. Rebecca would take weeks—months—perhaps even years to adjust to everything that had happened, and she knew she was a poor choice for comfort. But perhaps there was hope yet, if she could patch things up with Riene. Yes, if that ever happened…
“And that’s the last of them!” cried Kyrie as she smashed her rocket launcher on the final Fog Ninja. Nobody had survived the battle completely unscathed; even Vimmy was shaken after riding Cerberus through the ranks. She had released it with a fond kiss and was now trying to reconcile with Mink (apparently, all those hours without hr made Vimmy realize how valuable her servant was). Speaking of Mink, she had wanted to see if Shana was all right, but Herut was already at her side, tending to the small cuts and bruises Fuuka had overlooked. Mink did not feel jealous at all, because as long as Shana was happy, then she would be content. Melena was obviously the most beaten out of everybody, and the fact that she could stand on her own and crack jokes was a testament to her durability.
“So what the heck were those things, anyway? They sure weren’t much of a challenge!”
“Fog Ninjas,” Kay Acheron answered.
“We’ve run into them a few times before,” Tee added. “We don’t know where they come from or what they want, but they sure aren’t on our side.”
“Well,” Melena grumbled, “it’s not the strangest thing I’ve ever seen.” Alala was ignoring them; she was listing everybody and making sure they were all present and accounted for.
“Hey, has anybody seen Brignor? She’s not here!”
“Snow White’s gone as well,” Eve noted. Riene felt her heart throbbing wildly, even though she was sure she had given up on Rebecca. She was definitely worried, though, and helped Alala
double-check everything. They didn’t get very far before the ground started to rumble, and a foreboding, powerful cry rang out from beneath the ground, as if the gates of Pandaemonium had been opened. How close to the truth this comparison was!
“What now?” Lil grumbled. Rachel, Aseria, Lyara, and those sensitive to the higher planes of perception stood bolt upright, the color draining from their faces. As the rumbling intensified and the howl became louder, everyone started to feel pure fear wash over them, even Amy, who had once confronted the Angel of Death. The ground erupted magnificently, and out of the crevice emerged the Abomination of Franklin Hill, now transformed by his Panurge Serum.
As the name entailed, the Panurge Serum contained all the work of Professor Hill, his very life as a geneticist: intensive studies of animal, plant, and sentient composition. This was reflected and magnified to its fullest, most gruesome potential: he was now quite literally a fusion of every person and beast he had ever researched, “the best of all possible worlds”, and he was on a rampage. His body was the size of a whale, with a hundred limbs, appendages, claws, mandibles, wings, fins, and segments protruding out, working in sickening union to propel him forward. The heads and faces of many different creatures—elephant, boar, serpent, man, woman, rabbit, dog, lion, ape, eagle, and ant, just to name a few—were mashed together around the body, still moving expressively, and leading them was Franklin’s own torso, stretching out in half-agony, half-rapture. Scales, feathers, hides, hair, fur, and shells covered the enormous beast, and everything twitched and convulsed in a disgusting orchestral movement, every part and piece fighting for dominance, braying and barking and groaning in devilish desperation. It was enough to make many of the women vomit or faint on the spot.
“We must kill it,” Rachel said, the only one who remained unaffected. “We have to put them out of their misery. Master, give me the word and I shall erase this desecration.”
“No,” Amy stammered shakily, wobbling on her crutches as she forced herself to look away. “I can’t invoke your power, not even for something like this. We have to find some other way.”
“Fuck that shit!!” Lil screamed. “There’s no gods-damned WAY we’ll be able to fight that thing! Turn that genie loose and let the good times roll!”
“You don’t understand!” Amy shouted, throwing her crutches down. The fire in her eyes intensified as she stood firmly upon both feet, ignoring hr wound. “Of course Rachel could solve this problem for us, but think about the consequences. Even the Djinn don’t have the ability to dissolve matter, and Rachel is incapable of murder. She would have to render it asunder, and using that much power would flatten this entire Coliseum and everyone inside it!”
“So just teleport it! That’s how we got here! You can do it again!”
“Also out of the question! The only place we could humanely send it would be near a black hole or a star, and if Rachel’s aim is off by even a fraction, she’ll take the rest of us with it!”
“So what? Don’t you trust her?” Amy glared at the floor darkly, ready to crumble from the searing pain in her leg.
“It’s because I trust her that I can’t ask her to do this. Not now. But she’ll help us as much as she’s able.” Amy’s response disappointed everybody, but soon they would understand her decision, and would forgive her for her caution. Power must be treated as carefully as glass, or it will break, or warp the user beyond recognition. That Amy could be corrupted by this power had not yet been realized, but she feared this possibility more than anything.
……
If the Abomination had any weakness, it was inattentive to its surroundings. Having multiple brains, personalities, instincts, desires, and thoughts jumbling and tossing around together made it nearly impossible for the monstrosity to focus on a single task: some appendages wanted to run this way, while others chose to jump that way, and still others flapped and swam in another direction, aimless and helpless. Those that had brought guns and other projectile weapons threw fiery, explosive death in barrages, but they were as mosquito bites on a lion, merely frustrating the creature—and since every animal responds to an attack by an inferior creature in the same way, the Abomination’s minds became one, and the monster swept the battlefield with its myriad weapons. Fangs were bared, stings lashed, claws raked, tentacles squeezed, talons pierced, claws clutched, and teeth gnashed.
“Okay, that was a bad idea,” Eve grumbled, tossing her rifle away. Riene rushed over to her, encouraging her not to give up.
“You’re one of the best snipers I’ve seen. Don’t throw away your hope just yet. Why don’t you try shooting out their eyes?”
“Polyphemus was still dangerous even when he was blinded,” Eve reminded her fellow Gaian. “Besides, I don’t have enough ammo for all those eyes.”
“Stop complainin’ and keep shootin’!” Allegra shouted. She demonstrated that even though the monster was large, it still had vulnerabilities. Deluging a certain segment with bullets was effective; she could blow away body parts and turn them into jelly by concentrating hard enough. Aseria was cutting away at the protrusions with her sickle; Yenae threw knives; Kyrie unloaded all of her missiles; Chandra even tried seducing some of the human faces. Everyone was doing her best, even though the monster was overwhelmingly powerful, and Eve wasn’t about to be let out now. She picked up her gun and joined the fray, for what good it did.
Instead of directly fighting, Rachel was mostly responsible for defense; Amy permitted this at least, and good thing, too. While most of the women could take care of themselves, the genie’s master was one of the frailest, so she first guided Amy to shelter and then flitted around defending her friends from the worst of the Abomination’s attacks. Lyara charged, plunging a spear into its bloated hide, but was knocked away by a bear’s paw. Sharyn slashed two heads off and cut down a tentacle, but was knocked out by a chemical spray. As Allegra’s ammunition
dried up, she resorted to dragging away the wounded; Kate was naturally the first she tended to, giving the poor woman a kiss as she recovered from a nasty scratch.
The Acheron twins proved to be excellent fighters, and danced around the gauntlet of weapons and limbs like they were made of putty. Some of the creatures were covered with oil, or else they secreted a flammable substance; Kyrie lit up and stood back with a vicious smile. But the Abomination’s flailing was too much: Kyrie couldn’t fly away fast enough, and no grace can survive a massive avalanche of flesh. Alala actually jumped on the monster’s body and climbed up to the top, flitting here and there until she reached what she thought was Franklin’s head. She was smart enough to deduce it was the central nervous system of the body, and if it died, the whole behemoth would die with it. She ripped out an imposter, though, and was thrown off for her troubles—but of course, Yenae saved her.
“So do I get a kiss too?” she squealed. Alala grumbled and wiggled out of her arms.
“You touched my butt on purpose! Let’s count that!”
“Darn! Curse my naughty hands!”
Since Vimmy had already dismissed the Cerberus, she was useless once again; she couldn’t even repeat her tricks for the animals she recognized amidst the mishmash. Riene took her to safety and covered everyone with fire, but was knocked back hard as an elephant’s trunk slapped her. Naja, fittingly enough, was strangling a large fox, and she managed to break it apart before rivulets of ice fell on her from a frost dragon’s mouth. Mink hung on and actually slowed the beast down before it could finish off her allies, but she was snatched up by an enormous roc’s beak, and had to be broken out.
Aseria’s magic was affecting it the most, perhaps even more than Kyrie’s missiles had. She caused the ground to tremble and break apart, and lured the behemoth into an archway as she caused half the Coliseum to collapse on it. But that didn’t matter; the beast flung away the rubble and chased after her, mowing down the other half and exposing everyone to the outside world—vast and limitless, half desert and half rainforest. Lillianne saved her longtime companion from being swallowed by a shark’s mouth, and punched its rows of teeth in, scratching her hand in the process. She reached up and tore off a pair of wings before she was caught in a slug’s slime; Aseria helped singe away the goo, smirking triumphantly.
“I don’t see how we’ll get out of this one,” Shana murmured as she healed Herut’s wounds. Fuuka was out of breath and dizzy from running around trying to stave off the worst of the injuries, so she was glad for the helpers. “According to what I can tell,” Suing resumed, “we have to take out the main head, but it’s difficult to find in this mess, and it never stays in the same place for long. I guess all we can do is keep hacking away, but at this rate…”
“Don’t fret so much,” Fuuka answered, her voice shaky and weak. She managed to smile and even wink. “We didn’t come all this way just to be killed by some nightmare from Hell. Besides, my Athena-chan has a score to settle. Look!” Sure enough, Athena was doing considerable damage, venting out all her rage and sorrow at the man who had twisted and ruined her life.
Becoming a part of this unholy blight was a just punishment for all of Franklin Hill’s genetic treachery; he deserved to be trapped and surrounded by his research. But Athena wasn’t entirely vengeful: she knew that even a monster didn’t deserve to stay that way all its life. Every time he knocked her away, she came back, vowing to finish what she began.
The battle was looking grim, but there’s always a way to turn the tide. The door the six imprisoned women used to make it to the arena opened, and out came Valti and Rebecca, both worn out from their ordeal. The crew of the Daunltess cheered up a little as their numbers were completed, but they were paralyzed by amazement as they saw the feathery wings sprouting out of Rebecca’s back. Of course, the young woman was mostly focused on the Abomination, and as hideous as it was, she knew deep in her heart that this was a product of her father’s design. In fact, as she beast wheeled around to face this new matter, Rebecca actually clutched her heart as she recognized her father’s body sprouting out of the conglomeration.
“Dad…” In spite of her hatred for his abandonment, her distrust for his recent appearance, her revulsion for what he did to Valti—and later, to her—and her abhorrence for what he had become, she was still his daughter and he was still her daddy, and she wept out of love and pity as she approached him.
“Becky, no!” Rebecca ignored Valti and drew nearer, keeping her eyes focused on his. The monster groaned, and Franklin’s arms stretched out, struggling to touch his only child.
“Reee…beh…caa…” She shuddered and knelt down to touch his hands. To her side, she noticed Eve’s discarded rifle, and picked it up. Her fingers were icy and trembled violently as she loaded it and pointed the barrel between his eyes, but even as her emotions threatened to destroy her, she couldn’t pull the trigger, and felt her arms go limp.
“My daughter,” the beast moaned, touching her face. “Precious daughter… You’ve become…a real angel now. Look, see what my research has…produced? It’s such a mess. But I’ll do better next time, yes, you’ll see. I’ll get it right. I know better now. It’s going to be just fine.”
“That’s right, daddy,” she cried, raising the gun again. Franklin beamed with pure joy as he faced his daughter, his doom, and was struck down at last. Rebecca squeezed her eyes shut, dropped the gun, and collapsed, distraught beyond all hope. She felt her father’s hands grow cold and dead.
“Oh, dar…ling, I for…got to ask…you some…thing,” he whispered feebly. “Becky, tell me…is your moth…er…doing…well?”
The sun finally set, ending the horrible nightmare. It softly began to rain.
……
Amy offered no better explanations for her decisions as Rachel gathered the weary crew in a bubble of air and whisked them through the deserts and jungles of the world, back to the ship, their home. It was clear that Miracle was afraid of something beyond material threats or implications and consequences, but she wouldn’t talk about it; she fell asleep during the flight. Those who had not been kidnapped by Franklin’s men did manage to fill the others in on the matter of their arrival, but it was a fairly dull story, and best when abbreviated.
After eight of their crew was taken away and the gas was expelled, the remaining women came to their senses, incensed that such a thing could happen. Even Vimmy, who had been reticent a moment ago, demanded that they go out searching for the culprits; the vote was unanimous and all eyes turned to Rachel, for she was their best hope for tracking people down in a hurry. Amy actually had given permission for the Djinn to use her powers, but it was no good. Rachel’s magic had become very limited and could not conjure anything greater than a few unimpressive, sputtering spells. Panic and confusion spread until the Acheron twins remembered Valti telling them about the Tyrannohex’s strange feeding habits, and concluded that one, or several, must be in the area, siphoning Rachel’s power away. They were thus forced to walk and rely on more mundane hunters.
But to make a long, wearying journey short, Rachel’s powers returned to her after a few hours—probably when Melena slaughtered the Tyrannohex back at the arena—and she was able to lift everyone into the air and soar over to rescue the others. The kidnapped women were satisfied with this answer, and once they got back to the ship, they rested from their brutal battles, mainly taking comfort in the arms of another: Kate and Allegra, Naja with Lil and Aseria, Athena and Fuuka, Lyara with Sharyn, and Alala, well…
“Okay, okay, you’re happy to see me! Now get offa me! I gotta take a shower!”
“Ooh! Me too, me too! And after that, we can take a nice cozy catnap together!”
“Ahh, screw you!” Needless to say, things were back to normal for her.
Mink didn’t bother seeking out Shana: she wanted the petite princess to come to her, if she chose to, or else stay with Herut and be happy. Valti, on the other hand, sought isolation, and would not speak with the Acherons, Kyrie, or anyone else: she didn’t feel worthy of their attention anymore. And as for Rebecca, who had gone through the Inferno of Hell again and again that day…
She knocked on the door and waited patiently.
Riene opened it and gazed upon her haggard, hopeless face.
“Hello,” she whispered tenderly. Without saying a word, Rebecca fell into her arms, weeping in sorrow. Riene quickly closed the door and guided Rebecca to the bed, where she held her beloved white angel with renewed hope and affection. They both cried themselves to sleep.
The End of Volume Six
Volume Seven coming soon\
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