Mini-Grand 5106 [SUDDEN DEATH]

Originally posted on MSPA by Wojjan.

---

"Well, well. Only the few of you left? Not gonna lie, you guys got a nose for a good opportunity."

The two remaining contestants again found themselves in nothing. Before long, Naiima and the Sparkklechix were scattered around in a towering construct above the clouds, looming over the clear night sky. Within, they could hear the crackling of electricity flowing through a giant complex of tubes. At the base of the tower, lightning crackled across the bed of clouds, diffusing across the skyline.

"Say hello to the Thundertower, I guess. Make yourself at home, but don't forget you've got a job to do. Let me give you all a headstart for your interview and tell you a bit about the company. Inside this collosal tower you'll find platforms surrounding a cluster of glass tubes that shoot lightning through them at all times. Word on the street says the corporate big cheese got some sweet monopoly on bad weather. Dunno how the staff's gonna like some yuppies like you guys sniffing around in their business though, so stay on your toes.

"So, got some good news and some bad news. The good news is, I sent in a job application for Thundertower while you guys were off on a business trip. You made the cut, so now you'll be doing your job there from now on. The bad news is your job is still killing the opponent, and I heard you're working some late hours right now. Roll with the punches and you'll be alright. 'Sides, this is the moment you've been waiting for, it's make it or break it. Break a leg, guys."

SpoilerShow

Not much to say, really. This is the final round, so make it something kickass! You don't have to pay that much heed for safety regulations 's what I'm saying. Oh, you're not really getting a job though, that's just the host personality acting up. Just thought I'd clear that up right away.

Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.

---

The chix appeared on a relatively low level observation platform. The lightning chamber towered over them, crackling with a constant electric buzz. The clouds stretched out beneath them, dark and dismal. Lightning arced out across the miserable cloud, spreading outwards from where the enormous chamber plunged into the ephemeral terrain.

The tower, at least the vast bulk of it, was little more than a thick metal scaffolding arranged around the enormous lightning chamber. Here and there were walkways connecting various platforms together, and somewhere up near the top the main control platform in charge of regulating the entire structure.

Directly beneath where the chix found themselves the lower levels of the tower were a more traditional structure, though made from the same shining metal as the rest of the tower. Inside were the laboratories and living quarters and all the other things that made the thundertower possible. Those levels were shaped like ring, with full length glass windows on the inside, through which the ever-present lightning chamber could be observed.

To look at the design of this peculiar structure it would be difficult to discern precisely what kept it aloft, the cloud below seeming as insubstantial as any cloud anywhere.

The platform on which the chix arrived was mainly metal with a large transparent plastic shield erected in the direction of the lightning chamber, presumably a safety precaution. Chest high metal fences bordered the platform, apart from where the catwalks led off to other perhaps more important platforms, or down to the lower levels.

Standing on the platform prior to the chix arrival were a pair of henchmen in identical white uniforms emblazoned with a lightning bolt insignia. They had been stood, holding hands and gazing wistfully into the crackling lightning chamber. This was as close to a romantic locale as it was possible to get in this floating facility.

The sudden arrival of six people, two of whom were wet and naked, and the rest of whom were covered in mud, was something of a mood killer. But not as much as Ataya's scream.

Imagine if you will that you are suddenly and unexpectedly torn in two, everything below your waist (or some other arbitrary point) left behind you. This was how it felt for Ataya to be pulled away from the river that was her home, and her self. While not a perfect metaphor, it was more mentally traumatic than physically so, it hurt just as much. Ataya's scream echoed around the tower.

In the confusion the chix scattered. Debbie was nearest to a walkway leading higher into the tower, and desperate to get away from the river twins, she took it, gripping tightly onto Mattilus' tome with one hand, and pulling a distraught Mindy behind her with the other.

Zafira, close to a walkway that led down into the lower levels prepared herself to haul Pascal after her. However as she looked at the detective she saw a spark of intelligence in his eyes that had been missing as he had dopily followed Ataya through the jungle like a lost puppy. He was still staring at the river spirit, though his expression was now one of horror. Zafira pulled on his hand and he turned to face her, that expression of horror still plastered upon his face. She nodded her head towards the walkway, and he was only too keen to follow.

Sara hovered awkwardly, distraught at seeing Ataya in pain, but unable to do anything about it. The henchmen remained focused. Inexplicably appearing naked women were odd, and perhaps a normal person would have been tempted to disbelief the evidence of their own eyes. However living on a massive floating lightning tower tends to open your mind somewhat. They quickly drew their weapons on the chix and demanded that they explain themselves.

Though by this point Ataya had stopped screaming she was still visibly in pain. Sara fretted over her mistress and the henchmen got no response. At least that is, they got no response until one of them strode up to Ataya and shoved her.

"You dare lay your hands upon the divine Ataya?" Sara snapped incredulously.

--------

Pascal could sort of remember his time spent following Ataya around like a lapdog. It was blurred and indistinct but it was there. He worried about his status in this battle. How can it have been just an accident that he ended up being dragged on into yet another round?

From his colleagues he'd heard tales of people who had been put into these battles, poor mentally ill people who failed to understand just what was going on. They believed it to be an illusion or a game or something. What if he was one of the contestants, what if he'd been made to forget because it seemed like more fun to the perverse whims of the grandmaster in charge of this thing.

He continued to fret nervously as he and Zaffy entered the building proper. No efforts had been made to make this place feel even slightly homey. Dull grey walls and cold metal floors abounded. Helpful signposts hung overhead, emblazoned with the logo of a lightning bolt. Upon seeing a sign pointing the way to a communications suite, Pascal insisted they head that way.

--------

Debbie had sort of understand Mindy's reaction to Edward's death, but she couldn't really figure why Mindy was crying over Mattilus. He had been trying to kill them, right up until the end. Mindy was in floods of tears, and as they ducked onto another observation platform Debbie worried that the sobbing would give them away, attract Ataya and Sara straight to them. She flicked through the book and spotted something that could be of use.

Without pausing to question whether she'd even be able to use magic, or whether this was a good idea she pointed at Mindy and said the words inscribed in the book. Though the chik continued to sob she was completely silent. Debbie smiled, this wasn't that hard.

Originally posted on MSPA by XX.

---

she is faster than you, faster than anything

she is faster than lightning

a ghost runs in the storm, pale as death and swifter than the wind. in the hall she is running up the walls and across the ceiling, she runs so swift so silent no one sees her coming, no one hears her calling calling calling for a ghost, for a time no more

she is winter’s ghost

there are mice here, she can hear them, so high off the ground they might be birds flitting between the cold tunnels with their little bird voices and their little bird calls. she hates them for being alive. on the ceiling she is running over the steel, a swift white ghost in the halls of thunder

a bird’s twittering, beneath her.

her fangs are faster than lightning, faster than sound, she bites into the bird and feels it flutter its life away under her feet. there is red in the cold grey hall and if she could scream she would, for her cats and her winter and the god she was. she is nothing, she is nothing, she is less than nothing, a ghost of a ghost. there is nothing for her now. her forests have burned, her cats are dead with their kittens and she is silence in a world where everything is thunder. there are no ghosts left but her, running with the lightning and remembering, remembering

let the world die. she is already dead.

she runs like thunder through the halls, killing the birds where she finds them with a twitch of her fangs. they are so fragile, she thinks, little birds, little birds, your bones are hollow and your flesh is weak. why don’t you fly away, birds? why can’t you fly? she kills them in tens. blood is on her mouth, on her face, a red ghost for murder in the hall of lightning and sound. she doesn’t know why. she doesn’t know at all. she searches their faces for the chill of winter and finds only the embrace of Death holding them tight

she stands in the hall over the body of a bird.

it was all for nothing.

“Oh, child,” a small voice sighs. “Never give up hope.”

a red spider is on her, on her head just before her eyes. she nearly can’t see it, it blends so well with the blood from the birds and the cats that were her children, red red crimson on a field of burning white. it is so tiny she barely knows it’s there.

“I don’t expect you know me, little sister, and I apologize for the intrusion, but I know you. Oh yes, I know you. They thought you were me, those poor souls in the village, didn’t they?”

the ghost doesn’t know this spider. she dips her head, tries to make it fall, but the spider will not move. it taps one of her eyes.

“None of that, now. I am not your enemy, little one, I did not come here to punish you for what happened to them. It is not your fault that their village was destroyed, that their children were killed, though certainly your coming spelled their end. You loved them in those last few hours, just the same. Didn’t you?”

“My cats,” the ghost said. “My kittens. I saw their blood in the trees. I watched them drown screaming for me.”

“As did I,” the red spider says. there is something strange about it, so small that she should not see it but its voice is all she hears. “You are one of my kin, they could not be blamed for knowing it was not I that came to them. Perhaps one day the few that survived will tell the tale of what became of their ancestors to their children, and we will see them blossom anew… but that is talk of a future time. I am concerned for the present. You were the last hope of my people, little sister. I intend to help you.”

the ghost is silent, not knowing what the spider wants, all red amidst the blood. red is all she sees. “Bring them back.”

“Not even I can do that, child. I cannot breach the sacred lands of the dead. But I can do something else..”

there is a sound like the thunder she runs from, like a rumble in the earth that is not here. the clouds break for an instant, what the ghost sees, what she knows is sound and sound and a vision of a forest so tall the trees pierce the clouds. their leaves are lightning and over them come crawling spiders the size of men with bloody red eyes and skins and they are relentless as a storm, coming on and there is no end to the swarm of legs that burn the trees to ash

“Don’t be afraid, little sister,” the tiny one says. “They are our kin.”

in the hall of the dead bird there are spiders clinging to the wall, the ceiling, a hundred or more with long black fangs and they watch this ghost with crimson eyes

“Avenge my children.” says the god. “Kill the river.”

Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.

---

"What do you remember?" Zafira asked, as they ducked through the corridors avoiding the patrols of the white uniformed henchmen. It was impossible not to notice the oversized weaponry they carried. They were essentially guns, though where you would expect to find a magazine upon the weapon there was instead a transparent glass capsule, through which could be seen crackling electricity. Though Pascal and Zafira never got close enough to examine the weapons in question, for obvious reasons, they would have been prepared to bet there was a little dial upon the side which could be set to stun, kill, or perhaps mega-kill?

"I remember more than I would like." Pascal replied, feeling uncomfortable at his actions in the previous round. "We're going to need help to take down Ataya, and that isn't even taking the spider into consideration."

--------

Though well trained, the two henchmen, Aaron and Marcus, were not quite mentally equipped to deal with a violent assault from a remarkably strong and ferocious naked woman. As Sara pounced atop him, slamming her fists into his face, it was like Aaron's worst nightmares had been made flesh.

Marcus fumbled his lightning rifle from its holster, clicked it to stun and pulled the trigger. A blast of electricity streaked through the air, easily finding it's target. Sara halted in her physical assault, Aaron's face having been long reduced to a bloody puddle upon the metal floor. For a brief moment the chik had stopped stock still. Then she turned upon the remaining henchman and glared at him.

"Now now Sara." Ataya's voice was strained. She gripped onto the handrail that surrounded the platform as if holding on for dear life. "Don't hurt the poor guy too much. We're going to need him."

--------

Further up the winding structure of the thunder tower Mindy and Debbie leafed through Mattilus's battered tome. "Look, I'm sorry." Debbie's voice was more disgruntled than it was apologetic. The tome was in some places rather unfortunately rendered unreadable by thick globs of mud, or elsewhere stained with blood. While Debbie had with little effort found a spell to render the target completely silent she was having a tough time finding one that could undo this effect.

With her hands cuffed behind her back, and her voice magically suppressed Mindy was reduced to communicating through awkward body language and facial expressions alone. She was rather remarkably good at it, the message that she had gotten over her distress at Mattilus' death and was now more pissed off at no longer being able to communicate was made as clear as if she'd been able to voice it through more conventional methods.

"This book was supposed to be our secret weapon." Debbie muttered, partially feeling the need to vocalise her every thought to make up for Mindy's enforced silence. "But it is so absurdly dense. I have no idea how Matty ever found what he was looking for in here." As Debbie continued to rifle through the book, occasionally making wry observations about the contents thereof, Mindy took a step back.

Her attention was rather quickly drawn to the sudden abundance of massive black spiders with beady red eyes. They crawled along every surface, making their way down the inside of the tower and along the winding series of platforms. As far back as she could remember Mindy had always had a thing over spiders. The thought of a spider in the same room as her had always freaked her out. The only reason her phobia had not reared its ugly head before now was that any situation where she was in the company of Naiima there was always a lot going on. It was not, until this point, just her and a horde of spiders. As hard as she screamed she couldn't make a sound.

--------

The doors of the communication suite opened to reveal a pair of white suited henchmen, who, from a casual glance, you would not notice were handcuffed together. It turned out that once they had a reason to work together Zafira and Pascal actually made a half way decent team. The couple of henchmen that manned the communications suite were quickly taken care of; a blast from the lightning rifles Zaffy and Pascal had 'confiscated' quickly incapacitated them.

Zafira was at this point willing to accept any help that was offered. She hoped that Mindy and Debbie were okay, but did not pretend that she cared about them half as much as she cared for the fate of Sara. She took a seat upon a hard metal stool and stared out of the full length windows that looked out upon the constantly crackling electric core that rose through the thunder tower. Pascal sat down next to her and started messing with the radio, trying to get a good signal.

--------

Marcus was in a lot of pain. All it had taken was one punch to the gut and he had collapsed to the floor in agony, and though the pain had now faded, he had quickly made the decision that it was a lot safer option to play dead.

Sara was distraught upon hearing that the light of her life, the only woman she had ever truly cared about was suffering, disconnected from the thing that made her her.

"Don't worry my pet." Ataya said, her voice strained; her pain obvious. "When this battle thing is over we are returned home. I will be reunited with my river yet." She took a deep breath. "You can help my dear." Ataya whispered what must be done to her faithful servant, and without hesitation she did so.

Sara knelt down next to Marcus. His eyes were closed; he didn't see her tear at her own skin with her teeth. Sara bit into her wrist until blood flowed. He heard the gnashing and he felt the splatter. With her free hand she grabbed his head, and she pressed her bloody wrist to his mouth, holding it there, letting her blood drip down his throat.

Originally posted on MSPA by XX.

---

she is the ghost with a thousand bodies

she is the one coming for you

but they’ll never find you here.


Senior Thundergod Leannadora “Lenie” St. Augustine pressed her the palms of her hands to her temples. She was not having a good day.

Despite what the title may have otherwise indicated she was not really a god, and therefore didn’t have the option of turning the panicked Head of Security into a convenient animal or banishing him to basically any place that wasn’t here. She sighed, fiddling with the decorative lightning bolt plaque on her desk. Things would be so much easier if a blatant disrespect for human rights was a job perk.

“Ma’am, I really don’t think you understand,” the nervous-looking twentysomething was babbling. He had his finger nervously resting on the trigger of his lightning pistol, as if at any second he could solve his problems by shooting the floor. “This isn’t like usual-”

Lenie gave him a stern look. “You said a group of women, right? These women?” She pointed to a nearby monitor. It cycled rapidly between several shots of girls in various stages of nudity and cannibalism.

“Yes, but-”

“Clark,” the Thundergod said, “How many break-ins have we had this month?”

“…Three.”

“Not including this one. They don’t even have uniforms for God’s sake. The naked one might be some kind of big name wherever she’s from, judging by the way she’s giving orders, but honestly?” She sat back into a chair that gave the impression like the cows who had died to make it had been fed entirely on high-denomination bills. “I’m not concerned. They’ll just want to harness the lightning for whatever little scheme they have going on like every other upstart villain that comes through.”

“But Len- Thundergod,” Clark said, “These ones are different. I know they are. Look at them. Look at their faces.”

Lenie leaned in toward the screen reluctantly. What she saw there was enough to shake her more than nearly anything else since she’d taken the job ten years ago.

“Those aren’t…”

Clark nodded grimly. “Unique character models. If you look closely you can even see that they’re different heights."

“Jesus,” Lenie said. “Protagonists.”

___________________

the ghost runs in the shadows with the red god’s gifts and she hungers

she’s starving but all she hears is the howls of the hunters, running past her feet

the red god he says “Don’t worry about them, little sister. Their souls will return to me from these bodies. They are the ghosts of my children, little one. They are your kin.”

she listens but all she thinks of is her cats and her winter, dying in the snow

she runs with the hunters by her side, through the hall and over the mice before they squeak, before their little mouse jaws open there is a hunter to catch them and a hunter to kill. black shadows in the hall. mice are small in death, paws outstretched and little red mouths on their necks

the hunters whisper to her, this ghost. black and white and grey where they meet the metal, they tell her of strange forests where the mice hunt spiders and trees grow underground and the leaves are made of ice. they tell her of their children and the lives they lived before Winter came for them. i killed death, she says, but they do not understand, these others. they know a different winter.

she runs with the ghosts of the dead and mourns for Winter, and she runs until she stops

________________

The door to the Senior Thundergod’s office was reinforced triple-barred steel with a randomly-encoded DNA lock. In case the primary lock failed or was tampered with it also included a generator that would upon activation send somewhere between ten and twenty thousand volts through the handle. The door was considered impenetrable by everyone in the facility; naturally this meant that the first thing any intruder did was break it down. For this reason the hinges had long since been replaced with painted cardboard, for convenience and ease of replacement.

Lenie was subsequently not even slightly surprised when her door suddenly collapsed inwards, though she did pause when the head of an enormous white spider squeezed through. Most of the Thundertower’s assailants were humanoid, though that wasn’t to say that they didn’t get the odd war mecha or beast/human hybrid scientist. She shuffled the papers on her desk idly as the rest of the spider’s bulk managed to squeeze into the office, tragically ending the life of an innocent bookshelf.

“Let’s get this over with,” the Thundergod said. “Are you here for the lightning? Oh please don’t hurt us, we’ll give you anything you want, just let us live, the keys are in the safe under the desk, et cetera et cetera.” She eyed the spider disapprovingly over the top of her glasses. “I’d appreciate it if you could move this along, by the way. It’s been nearly an hour since you arrived.”

The spider tilted its head in a way that could have indicated any number of things. “My children are dead,” it said, in a voice that Lenie’s years of experience lead her to believe was feminine. “The river killed them all. The river is here and I am here and my children are dead. She killed them all.”

Lenie frowned. This wasn’t standard protocol at all. “Are, um, are you quite sure you’re not here for the lightning?”

A long black leg crept lazily over the top of the Thundergod’s desk, pushing over her stack of papers into her lap. She shrieked involuntarily as the rest of a slick black spider followed, spilling an inkwell onto the mahogany surface. It looked at her with beady red eyes and hissed.

“My children,” the spider said again. More and more of the creatures were pouring in, spreading over the walls and ceiling in a silent black tide. The white spider advanced on Lenie through the swarm, pale eyes focused on the Thundergod’s face. Lenie had never before considered herself an arachnophobe but she found herself pondering a conversion as the monster’s mandibles crept with terrifying certainty towards her neck.

“The river is here. The river has come. You will hunt the river as I have, as my children did, and you will stab it through its murdering heart. You will do this now and I will save you. My children are lonely, little mouse. Do not be the one to comfort them in death.”

Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.

---

"Attention, this is Detective Pascal DuMont of the Corona Cabana branch of the Allied Lands police force. I am calling to report a Code 5106 in progress. This is incredibly urgent, I believe we may be on the final round, please hurry."

The message crackled out from a massive silver machine covered in neon panels and flashing lights. There were holographic interfaces and more switches and dials than can really have been necessary. It looked like something dreamt up by a bad scifi writer. Clustered around it were a group of people in helmets and brightly coloured jumpsuits. Captain Photon Laserox of the Space Police was the exception, having the honour of wearing the golden jumpsuit, and with no helmet his magnificent black quaff of hair was free to be seen by all.

"While I don't understand this man's peculiar vernacular, it is clear to me that a CRIME is being committed!" He hammily announced, posing with his fist held in the air in front of him. His faceless lieutenants nodded in agreement.

"I'll ready the Quantum Warp Jump Drive." The navigator said from his console, he began to frantically hammer at the buttons in a manner that to the untrained eye looked as though he had absolutely no idea what any of them did. Captain Photon did the same on the machine that had played Pascal's message.

"Fear not Detective Pascal DuMont!" Captain Photon announced. "For I am Captain Photon Laserox and I will save you from those nefarious Thundergods, if it is the last thing I do!"

--------

As Pascal messed around with the radio, Zafira couldn't help but notice a commotion going on in the corridor outside the communication suite. It was not without a considerable amount of complaining that she managed to pull him over to the doorway so she could peer through the reinforced glass panels. Outside she could see white suited henchmen stumbling through the corridors, the same vacant look in their eyes as had been present in Pascal's throughout the last round. Zafira's mind raced. It had to be Ataya's song.

Fortunately the communications suite was soundproofed; probably the only thing preventing Pascal from reverting back from a reasonably useful and intelligent member of the team to a drooling moron incapable of thoughts more complicated than 'I like naked women/I really want to drink something that will make me the mindless slave of an evil bitch'. Zaffy never even took the time to contemplate what precisely Ataya might be having the Thundertower henchmen drink, and it was probably for the best. Pascal fiddled with the radio, trying to get a better signal. He'd sent out a message but he had no idea if anyone had received it, and he certainly hadn't received any incredibly overwrought responses.

"Here." Zafira said, handing him a pair of headphones. They were thick black ones that covered the ear entirely. "Put these on, they should block out Ataya's song." Pascal glanced up from his endeavours and with a glance into the corridor was forced to admit that yes these were probably going to be necessary.

"You sure that will be enough?" Pascal asked. Zafira looked thoughtful for a moment and produced an iPod preloaded with all the chix' songs.

"I recommend ‘Because (We're Friends)’." Zaffy said, as she clicked the headphones into the iPod. After a minute or two of fussing around trying to find a song he could actually stand to listen to ("Ain't no party like a Sparkklechix Party?"), Pascal and Zafira pushed open the soundproof doors and following the throng of entranced henchmen.

--------

Forcibly muted, her hands locked behind her back and about to be attacked by a swarm of evil looking spiders, Mindy was not having a good time. She kicked Debbie in a desperate effort to get her attention.

"Look I said I'm sorry." Debbie said. "There's really no need to resort to violence." Mindy rolled her eyes and kicked Debbie again, more forcefully this time. "What is it?!" she exclaimed, as she wheeled around to face Mindy and the advancing wall of spiders. "Oh." she said meekly. Mindy stared at her, the panicked look in her eyes clearly indicating that she had no idea what to do and was rather desperately hoping that Debbie did. It was a good thing that they'd known each other as long as they had, otherwise the subtle nuances of such a panicked look might have been lost.

"I've got this." Debbie said, pushing Mindy around behind her and facing the chittering crowd of spiders. She flicked through the book, as they creeped ever closer. "you can do this you can do this you can do this..." she muttered to herself desperately, a sort of mantra, focusing her upon the task at hand. "Yer a wizard Debbie." she desperately tried to reassure herself. She spotted a fire spell, and without hesitating she read out the words, which had rather helpfully been spelt phonetically, her other hand outstretched at the spider horde.

Nothing.

For a moment.

Then,

FIRE

BURNING FIRE

SCORCHING FIRE

IT BURNT RED HOT IN THE EYES OF THE SPIDERS

THEIR SOULS GRIPPED BY THE RED HOT FURY FOUND ONLY IN THE HEART OF THE INFERNO

THEIR BODIES AFLAME, BUT UNHARMED

THEY WERE FIRE

Mindy's eyes narrowed in a manner that if Debbie had been looking, would have conveyed irritation that somehow Debbie had managed to turn a horde of giant spiders into a horde of flaming giant flaming demon spiders from Hell. It said 'Nice work Debbie'.

--------

Zafira and Pascal followed the crowd of henchmen out of the main section of the building, and to the catwalks where they had arrived in this insane place. Clearly visible amongst the throng was Ataya, naked and damp and singing. She did not look quite as cocky as she had done during the previous round, though she appeared to be coping reasonably well with the loss of her river. For a moment they couldn't see Sara amongst the throng of henchmen, a couple of who had stripped off their white suits and masks, but still carried their lightning rifles. Then it became apparent what they were drinking from, the body of a woman with long black hair. Though they could not tell at such a distance she was still alive, just about.

Sara was a fighter, she was fighting to keep her eyes open, to keep her blood flowing for her mistress. She was barely even aware of the mouths that pressed against her open wounds, lapping up her blood as if it was water. There was no pain. There was only Ataya.

It was only Pascal's hand over her mouth that stopped Zafira from screaming.

--------

Suddenly in the inky black sky that surrounded the Thundertower, a flotilla of spaceships materialised.

"Attention Thundertower, this is Captain Photon Laserox of the Space Police." The Captain announced via some kind of space age loudhailer. "You are probably committing a CRIME! Prepare to be boarded!"

Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.

---

Zafira had thought she was angry when as kids Atasha had ratted her out to Principal Perwinkle. She’d torn the head off Atasha’s favourite teddy bear and refused to speak to her for a week.

Zafira believed she was angry when her boyfriend at the time had cheated on her and she’d drove around to his house, slashed his tyres and smashed his car windows in with a baseball bat.

She’d been under the impression that she was angry when she was unfairly fired from the local Post Office and she’d burnt it to the ground.

These instances paled in comparison to the rage bubbling through her veins, and no scrawny detective from another world was going to stop her enacting her fury on the river slut that had done such awful things to the woman she loved. She lashed out, causing Pascal to loosen his grip upon her and cry out in pain. There was suddenly silence, Ataya's song interrupted by the cry of pain she looked out across the crowd and easily spotted the chik and the detective. Most of the henchmen had not yet had the opportunity to drink from Sara, for the moment they looked around, bleary eyed, and attempted to work out what was going on.

As soon as Ataya resumed her song, her eyebrows furrowed in anger, her latest batch of thralls took aim and opened fire, sending blasts of lightning clumsily through the crowd. Most of these shots were intercepted by unfortunate victims of Ataya's song, who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and for their troubles ended up electrocuted twitching upon the floor. Pascal had collapsed to his knees and sought to lie down on the floor to avoid any stray blasts of electricity, as much as he could seek to do anything in his current condition that is. Zafira had no such desire, she ran forwards, shoving henchmen out of the way with her free hand, dragging the unwilling detective behind her with her other.

Blasts of lightning whizzed past her, but she didn't notice. Her fury had given her blinkers to the chaos that was erupting around her. The only thing that mattered was making Ataya pay for what she had done. She didn't even notice as people in brightly coloured jumpsuits began teleporting into the tower and opening fire upon any and all of the Thundertower henchmen they could find. The attention of Ataya's thralls had to be split between the multiple threats, and with laser rifles and high tech gadgetry it was clear that the space police were the priority.

It was probably because of their intervention that Zafira managed to make her way to Ataya and her naked servants. She brought her fist into the face of the nearest one, and while she was stunned Zafira snatched her lightning rifle. With remarkable skill, though they shot lightning the rifles weren't much different from those her crazy survivalist uncle used to give her when they went hunting when she was young, she levelled the gun at each of Ataya's henchmen in turn and took them out with short sharp blasts of electricity. Then she had Ataya in her sights.

She held down the trigger, sending a continuous stream of lightning at the river bitch. She had no time to get out of the way or defend herself. Electricity flowed through her body, arcing from her limbs and earthing itself in the metal pillars.

Zafira held the trigger down until all the gun had left was sparks. Ataya collapsed to the floor. As Ataya’s song ended for the final time those who had been entranced but not yet enslaved, awoke to find the Thundertower thrown into chaos. This did not help matters.

--------

Debbie and Mindy ran for it. There was not much else you could do when faced with a horde of giant demonic spiders. Debbie clutched the book tight to her chest; though it hadn't exactly been helpful so far it was all she had. Suddenly standing in front of them was a man in a golden jumpsuit carrying a laser pistol.

"Fear not!" he cried. "For I am Captain Photon Laserox and I will save you!" With a dramatic flourish he produced a fizzing sphere of strange neon blue liquid and threw it into the horde of demonic spiders.

'If this turns those spiders into some kind of eldritch abominations spitting blue lasers I will personally kill you.' Mindy thought, though she was of course powerless to vocalize this thought. A second or two later and there was an explosion strong enough to rock the series of platforms they were on. Debbie grabbed onto the railing, though since Mindy was unable to do the captain grabbed her and held her close. Somehow he didn't seem even remotely fazed by the shaking platform.

When the shaking had stopped they were able to see that the blast had killed at least half of the spiders, and presumably the other half had fled, looking for easier prey. The Space Captain looked somewhat disappointed and turned his attention to the chix. Dim though he was it didn’t take him long to notice Mindy had her hands cuffed.

To Captain Laserox the world was simple. Things were mainly as you expected them. Damsels in distress never turned out to be criminals on the run. That kind of thing couldn’t easily be fit into his world view. He opted to take the simpler option and assume they were a pair of plain-clothes police officers, one of whom had accidentally handcuffed her hands behind her back and then lost the keys. He nodded to himself as he came to this conclusion.

“You must be working with Pascal DuMont.” He said, producing a plasma blade from… somewhere. “I’ve got officers handling the lower floors. We’re going after the Thundergods themselves. This is the last time they’ll steal our precious thunder.” He balled his free hand up into a fist and scowled enthusiastically. The chix’ eyes were affixed on the high-tech blade he was holding onto for some reason.

“erm…?” Debbie worriedly enquired. Photon followed her eyeline, and then laughed.

“Don’t worry.” He said as he grabbed Mindy and turned her around. She tried to cry out, but of course was unable. She struggled to break free from Captain Laserox’s grip, only to be released a couple of seconds later, surprised to find that her hands were now free to move, though the cuffs still hung around her wrists. “Captain Photon Laserox saves the day once again!” He grinned and posed triumphantly. There was an awkward moment where the chix exchanged glances.

“Thank you.” Debbie said, politely. “We’re very grateful for what you’ve done so far, but there’s this woman Ataya, and she’s-”

“No thanks are necessary.” Captain Laserox interrupted with faux-modesty. “I am simply doing my bit in the never-ending battle against CRIME. Now I suggest we get a move on and get upstairs where the greatest criminals are still yet to be fought.” Without waiting for a response Photon Laserox started along the platforms.

Debbie rolled her eyes and turned to head down to where the noises of gunfire and violent confrontation were coming from, but was stopped as Mindy grabbed her arm. “What is it?” Debbie asked. “You think we should go after him?” Mindy glanced around the Thundertower, her eyes alighting on the many dark corners in which demonic spiders could be hiding, just waiting to pounce on the pair of undefended chix. She nodded her head vigorously. Debbie sighed. “Ugh, you probably just have a crush on him. You are so predictable. I was going to go and fight Ataya, using my magic powers.” Debbie paused thoughtfully while Mindy rolled her eyes. “Maybe you are right.” Debs said after a second. They turned and headed off after Captain Laserox.

--------

Around her Thundertower henchmen blasted bolts of lightning at space police officers wearing brightly coloured jumpsuits, who retaliated with laser shots. As if it wasn’t chaotic enough a swarm of demonic spiders crawled down the walls from one of the upper floors and turned what had been a fairly confused firefight into an absolute free-for-all.

It was all background noise for Zafira. On the cold metal floor in front of her lay the love of her life. Sara was in bad shape, there was dried blood around her mouth from where she had torn open her own wrist. She was bleeding from both arms, from her legs, from pretty much anywhere they’d been able to get at her. She had a far away look in her eyes and her breathing was laboured. Tears dripped down Zafira’s face.

“Sara.” She said, crouching down next to her beloved. Zafira reached out and took Sara’s hand in her own, desperately trying to not to think about how it was soaked in her blood. “Sara, don’t leave me.” Zaffy closed her eyes, unable or unwilling to look at Sara in such a state any more. “Please don’t leave me Sara.” She half-chuckled to herself, “Remember how I was before us. I nearly killed a man over a silly job I never wanted. I was a fucking psycho. You make me a better person Sara and I don’t know what I will do without you. So… please don’t leave me.” She paused. “I don’t know how to be without you.”

“Fuck off.” Sara’s voice was little more than a gasping wheeze. “I never loved you.” Sara with what little strength she had remaining tried to pull her hand from Zafira’s grasp. Zafira watched as the life left Sara’s eyes, leaving her nothing more than a gruesome corpse. For a moment she sat there, feeling as though a chunk had been gouged out of her heart.

A familiar laugh came from behind her. “So pathetic.” Zafira rose slowly. She thought she had been angry before, she hadn’t known what it was to be truly angry. She was so completely enraged, so furious, that she almost felt calm. She turned around, her hands clenched into fists and saw, charred and looking more than a little worse for wear, Ataya standing there with one supporting herself on the railing.

This, in a film, would have been the point where the hero makes some kind of cutting remark, or at the very least tells the villain how very dead they are. Zafira just screamed as she threw herself at the river spirit.

Originally posted on MSPA by Wojjan.

---

"Hey, remember that deadline I gave you? Yeah... Not gonna be kind about it, you're all way overdue."

Alright it's been way too long. This battle is finished apart from the deathpost so we'll do this QUCIKDRAW STANDOFF STYLE

IN THIS PHASE, RESERVES ARE VOID
FIRST TO FINISH A DEATHPSOT FOR THE OTHER CHARACTER WINS 5106

READY YOUR XXS AND IX IT UP

Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.

---

apparently reserves are void and this doesn't really need one anyway.

this is more a reminder to myself that this is now officially TOP OF MY LIST gonna get finished and done with once and for all

A hero in the moment of her darkest despair, when all she cares for is gone and there is nothing left worth living for, can find somewhere within herself an almost supernatural strength. Ataya cracked and crumbled under the relentless assault, her actually supernatural resilience no match for Zafira’s Righteous Fury. That’s the way it should have gone. That’s the way it would have gone in the movie. Zafira would have roundly defeated the evil river spirit and afterwards when her rage had settled she would have found by some miracle that Sara had not been as dead as she had appeared to be (or in the circumstances that Sara was Very Definitely Dead, there would be some contrived circumstance, say for example, placing her body into the Thunder Chamber, and what do you know she would be revived back to life even better than new), and free of Ataya’s control, they would kiss and then ride off into the sunset together. Unfortunately this was not an episode of the Sparkklechix hit TV series, and such a whimsically happy ending was far from guaranteed.

Zafira was not a skilled fighter; she was punching and kicking and scratching and though she hadn’t quite got to biting yet it was almost definitely a tactic she would employ. Ataya would have been able to fend her off easily if she wasn’t on the verge of collapse. Zaffy landed one blow after another but it was pointless, for all the impact she was having she might as well have been punching a particularly tough slab of meat. Ataya didn’t even flinch. After a minute Zafira’s attacks began to slow as the initial burst of adrenaline depleted, not that she actually noticed. She was lost in rage, continuing to attack even as her limbs ached, her eyes streamed and her voice grew hoarse. Though she could barely continue to stop was unthinkable.

“Enough of this.” Ataya rasped, and with a deftness that didn’t seem to gel with her sluggishness, she grabbed Zafira by the wrist. Zaffy, who had been in mid-punch, stumbled and quickly righted herself and attempted to free herself from Ataya’s vice-like grip. It was just as pointless as attacking her had been, though she scratched and bit and prised at Ataya’s fingers for all she was worth she didn’t budge them an inch. She thrashed and lashed out against Ataya, but that was just as ineffectual. “I’m dying soon.” Ataya said. “Without my river it is inevitable, but you know, I think I don’t mind if I take you chix with me.” And she squeezed Zafira’s wrist tightly. Her screams of rage turned quickly to screams of pain. She could feel the bone cracking and Ataya kept on squeezing. Her legs buckled beneath her and she retched impotently.

Suddenly she was tossed aside, flung away as though she were no more substantial than a child’s doll. From where she landed she could see Ataya surrounded by a number of gigantic spiders. The river spirit bore a particularly disgruntled expression, as the spiders darted around her, wrapping her in webbing with every pass they made. She tore fistfuls of it away, but there was too many of them and she was too tired. Zafira watched through a haze of pain as the spiders eventually webbed her up and carried her away. For a moment she was enraged that she was being denied her revenge, but the waves of pain from her shattered wrist convinced her to let it go; she didn’t have a chance anyway. She gave up, not just on revenge. She dragged herself across the steel floor to Sara’s body, still unfortunately dead, and with nothing else to do she embraced her former love and waited for it all to end.

--------

A note slid under the door of Senior Thundergod Leannadora St Augustine. Though at first obscured by a carpet of spiders, it was promptly carried over to Lenie’s desk where she read it with a weary sigh. It was a status report; on the one hand the good news was that most of her henchmen had put their clothes back on, but on the other hand the space police had shown up and everything had kind of gone to shit. It was not exactly the most efficient means of communication, but the Thundertower’s communications network had mysteriously stopped working and it seemed that a face to face briefing wasn’t an option after Naiima and her spiders had consumed whole the last couple of clerks that had attempted to do so. Lenie flipped the status report over to see that it was written on the back of a hastily drafted letter of resignation.

Lenie had been trying to pretend that everything was okay, despite the fact that hundreds of ill-tempered spiders and their grief-stricken queen had all but taken over her office, and that attempts to placate the aforementioned queen had gone rather spectacularly awry with the bulk of her henchmen stripping down and joining Team Cannibalistic Orgy, not to mention the fact that today was supposed to be a half day so she was going to have to pay everyone overtime when this was all over and done with. It was only thoughts of the future, of some time when this whole absurd situation had resolved itself, that she might somehow utilize the power of the Thunder to wipe out all the spiders that had kept her going. She was probably going to need a brand new office suite. In fact, probably best to burn this entire room, she decided.

But in terms of the now it was not just Lenie that was growing impatient; Naiima was tiring of this wait too. “Well?” she asked. “Have you the river for me, mouse, or does she laugh and trickle through your fingers again?”

“There is a complication.” Lenie ventured. “The Space Police are here and, trust me, we ought not to be.”

“We stay.” Naiima snapped back.

“Look, I understand that you want the river to pay for what she’s done. I sympathize, but we can’t stay here.” Lenie argued. “I mean, the river, from what you know of her she’s not just going to go quietly is she?” Lenie paused for a reply but received none. “So she’s as good as dead either way. Let’s just get out of here while we can.”

“Hush, dear mouse.” Naiima replied soothingly. “You understand so little. Bring me the river; I will end your ‘Space Police’.”

“I’d like to see you try.” Lenie snapped back, though on reflection she wouldn’t. “And I don’t appreciate being called mouse.” Naiima affixed her with a look and it was only in that moment that Lenie remembered the efforts she had gone to to remain calm, optimistic and pleasant, and realized how much of a mistake she had made.

Naiima leaned in close and studied the Thundergod for a long moment. Lenie’s heart pounded furiously, but she didn’t shrink away. “Not a mouse.” Naiima agreed after a moment. “A mouse scurries and hides away from a predator. Notmouse sits and fears and waits to die. Notmouse already dead already entombed in papers and fear.” There was a pause. “Can I call you corpse?” Naiima mocked her.

Lenie struggled to keep her anger and her revulsion in check. She knew that it was a bad idea to provoke a highly emotional and vindictive spider queen and her hundred or so young, but everyone has a breaking point. Luckily for her the conversation was cut short in a most dramatic manner; the door burst open once again, this time revealing the absurdly muscular form of Space Captain Photon Laserox in the abandoned corridor outside. Lenie sighed heavily.

“Leannadora St Augustine!” Captain Laserox exclaimed with a scowl and clench of his fist. “I should have known You would be behind this heinous crime!”

Suddenly Lenie had an idea and it was all she could do to stop herself from grinning. “Actually Captain Laserox, I think you’ll find that I am the victim here. This enormous spider and,” she peered around Captain Laserox to spot Mindy and Debbie lurking awkwardly in the corridor behind him, “those young women have broken into my Thundertower. Now I can’t tell you exactly what those two have been doing because this spider has been holding me prisoner up here for the last hour or so, but I have it on good authority that a couple of their friends were being publicly indecent and have murdered a number of my employees.”

Photon Laserox just looked dumbfounded. He turned to Mindy and Debbie, “Is this true?” he asked.

“Um, well, we didn’t really break in so to speak.” Debbie said hesitantly, carefully avoiding looking at Mindy who was giving her a full on death glare. “We were dumped here by this high powered eighties business woman archetype who was trying to force us to fight to the death.” She continued though she might as well have not bothered, Laserox had already stopped listening.

“I should have known you two were despicable criminal types from the moment I met you,” Laserox monologued to nobody in particular, “to think that I was so easily swayed by your cruel feminine manipulations sickens me to my Very Core. I’m afraid that you are all under arrest, oh except for you Ms. St Augustine, thank you for your cooperation by the way. The rest of you, you have the right to remain silent, anything you do so may be taken down and used against you in a court of Law.” He quickly produced some kind of futuristic looking energy handcuffs and turned back towards the chix to see Mindy silently fleeing down the corridor.

“I’m sorry about her.” Debbie said awkwardly. “She’s very attached to her freedoms, and what am I doing?” She quickly turned and fled as well, apologizing profusely as she did so.

“Some people just have no Decency nowadays.”Laserox lamented.

“Aren’t you going to chase after them?” Lenie asked.

“No need,” Laserox said, as he turned his attention to the other criminal who was suddenly standing over him, scrutinising him carefully, “there isn’t anywhere for them to run to anyway.” Even with Naiima looming over him, Laserox didn’t show an ounce of trepidation, he didn’t miss a beat. “Excuse me, individual, could you please raise your two forelimbs in front of you?”

“Such a brave mouse.” Naiima replied. “So boring.”

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist.”
Laserox said, only hesitating for the slightest of moments. “If you do not comply you will give me no choice but to use whatever force I deem necessary to end your rampant villainy.” He touched the laser pistol holstered on his belt to reinforce this point.

“Enough.” Naiima said with a coldness in her voice. She pounced, though it could barely be called such as she was almost atop him anyway, and bit Captain Laserox, sinking her enormous fangs into his shoulder, and forcing her venom into his veins. He tried to stumble back and when that was less than effective he grabbed for his laser pistol. By the time that he had unsheathed it Naiima was done with him. She had retracted her fangs, moved back and seemed to be more interested now in Leannadora St Augustine. “Corpse lied.” She accused. Lenie couldn’t reply, she couldn’t take her eyes off Laserox. His movements were slow and clumsy as he tried to raise the pistol.

“Please raithe your forelimbth and-” His demand was suddenly cut off by Naiima’s sound suppression.

“Corpse said she’d bring the river, only brought sad stupid mouse.”

Moving in unison Naiima’s spiders began to climb Photon Laserox’s body. In forced silence he awkwardly tried to knock them off or brush them away, but his movements were stilted and awkward, like the movements of a frantic puppet. They climbed as inevitably as the tide until he was covered entirely. His laser pistol fell from his spasming grip and eventually after a minute he collapsed backwards.

“Corpse lied to the sad stupid mouse, wanted it to kill us.” Naiima continued. “Time a corpse was truly a corpse.”

Lenie’s attention was very quickly snapped back to Naiima. “No hold on, you’re making a mistake, there’s no call for this. Just give me more time I’m sure I can capture the river.” Lenie leapt to her feet and grabbed the closest heaviest thing she could (a ring-binder filled with important documents and almost covered with spiders) and raised it threateningly. It was a futile gesture and she knew it, but Naiima wasn’t paying her any attention any more.

Skittering down the corridor towards the office were a number of abnormally large spiders (smaller than Naiima but still, in Lenie’s opinion, bigger than a spider had any right to be) and between them they hauled a human sized cocoon of cobweb. Lenie and her transgressions were forgotten in an instant. Naiima made her way over to the cocoon and carefully gnawed away at the webs, brushing them aside with her forelimbs to reveal Ataya’s face. Her eyes were half closed, her lip broken and stained with dried blood, her hair singed and her skin charred. Her breathing was laboured and she was only just lucid.

“You killed my children.” Naiima accused and paused, as though waiting for some kind of response; some acknowledgement of her crimes or some admission of guilt. There was nothing, no response. “You killed my children. You killed Winter.” Naiima grew angrier with each accusation. “Say something.” She demanded bitterly.

The river said nothing. Her eyes were filled with pain, but it was not physical pain that gripped her, though she was feeling her fair share of that. It was the knowledge that death, something that had never been a concern in a world where she could always return her spirit to her river, now awaited her with the same inevitability that it awaited any mortal being. It was the knowledge that she could do nothing about it; not to fight it, not to stop it or get out of it, not even to slow it. Naiima may not have seen the subtleties of such pain, but she saw Ataya’s despair and her surrender to her fate. It made her sick.

“Mouse.” Naiima spat. The river was nothing but a mouse; her children slain by a mouse. So much effort expended and hate wasted upon a mouse. She wasted no more time; she tore into Ataya, ripping chunks of flesh from her body and finally, conclusively ending her unnatural life. With a passion drawn from her righteous fury she cracked Ataya’s bones and pulverised her organs, but it was an empty action. There was no satisfaction to be gleaned from squashing a mouse. She was still angry but now more at a world that could have let this happen that at Ataya herself. In no time she had reduced that broken girl to nothing more than a bloody mess that Lenie would never be able to remove from her carpet.

All too soon Naiima was done and left with an emptiness it was difficult for a hunting spider to articulate, not that she ever got a chance to. Within a moment she was consumed with pain, a burning in her thorax as it started to melt away. As Naiima turned towards her, Lenie fired Captain Laserox’s laser pistol again and a third time to make sure. It was quick; Naiimas limbs buckled beneath her and aside from the thump she made as she hit the floor, she died in silence. Her last thought was of her children and how she would see them again.

In the moments after Naiima’s death there was a tense silence as Lenie looked across the hundreds of spiders, ready to pounce and realized she had made a huge mistake. “Now I am your queen.” She proclaimed in as confident a voice as she could manage.