The Savage Brawl [Round 5: Battletopia]

Michelle was once more at the wheel of her armoured truck driving, against her better judgement, to General Kracht's Headquarters. She knew this was a mistake; that Kracht would dismiss out of hand any notion of unity. All this trip would serve to do would be to provoke him and begin an all out war. But she had already voiced her opinion to the Soulmother before they left and it was clear that she would not be dissuaded from this course of action. So Michelle did the only thing she could feasibly do in her situation; bury her misgivings and simply try to perform her task to the best of her ability. Aph had no such qualms. She was seated in the passenger seat looking out at the darkened streets and at the dim lights of the houses, thinking of the people inside relaxing after a hard day with no idea that the worst might yet still be to come.

"When we get there," Michelle began, "I think you should probably let me do the talking. I work there, I know how these things work. I think I can get us in to see Kracht."

"Do you ever wonder what you were like in previous iterations?" Aph asked distractedly.

"What?" Michelle asked. Aph remained thoughtfully silent. "Well, yeah I guess I have done sometimes... I used to wonder whether any of the other mes were more combat proficient; whether any of them ever got to capture one of the contestants. I mean obviously not like Ekelhaft but maybe Diego... or Calm. I figure maybe one of my iterations might have been up to capturing them." Aph remained silent. "What about you?"

"I don't need to wonder; Kracht did my assessment personally." Aph said, still staring out of the window. "I vary apparently. Sometimes I'm like this powerhouse of energy and mana but completely psychotic, totally out of control, and then other times I'm like this." She paused. "Empty. Weak. Useless... He was disappointed. When I lose it I apparently make a very good mana battery." They both fell silent.

"It's okay sister," Michelle tried for comforting but didn't quite make it. "Kracht's a dick. He doesn't get to tell you what you are."

"I know." Aph said. "And this time is different anyway. The Soulmother trusts and values me and thanks to her I have the opportunity to make a real difference, and not just any difference, an opportunity to make people's lives better. To prevent an all out war."

"Yeah, and all you have to do is do the impossible." Michelle replied a little sullenly.

"Yesterday wouldn't you have called the Soulmother impossible?" Aph asked. "Sister, I have no doubt that you could bluff us into a meeting with Kracht, but we're on a mission of peace and of love; we can't use lies and trickery to achieve our ends. Let me do the talking. If you really do believe that there is no hope then feel free to leave. Return to the Soulmother and tell her I forced you to go. I don't want you to suffer for my mistakes."

They rode on in silence for a while, until finally Kracht's headquarters loomed imposingly before them.

"I can walk from here." Aph said.

"I'm not going to leave you." Michelle said. "The Soulmother trusts you, so I trust you."

"Thank you." Aph said with a smile. Michelle smiled back hopefully. In that moment anything seemed possible.

Finally they were there. Michelle pulled up to the security checkpoint and wound her window down. She didn't know the guard on duty; a handsome man with slicked back black hair, wearing a navy blue frilled coat over his uniform. He was slumped back in his chair with his feet up on his desk, watching some kind of reality tv programme on a wall mounted monitor. Just when Michelle thought he was going to ignore them entirely he switched the monitor off and swivelled around to face them. "Good evenin' ladies. Yer do know it's pas' curfew, righ'? Yer really shouldn' be out on the streets a' this hour."

"We'd like to speak to General Kracht." Aph said.

"Yeh, well, tha's prob'y no' gonna be possible." The guard said. "If'n I was you pair I'd ge' back home afore any curfew officers noticed yer. Not all of us are as nice as I am, okay?"

"I'm afraid that we have business with the General that simply will not wait." Aph said.

"Well we ain't in habit o' lettin' people jus' walk in off the street an' talk tae the boss hisself." The guard said. "What's yer problem maybe I could take care of it fer yer?"

"I don't think that will be possible." Aph said. "We're here as ambassadors of the Soulmother Ajota to spread her love and to negotiate a peaceful unity between our people."

The guard looked perplexed for a moment, he looked across at Michelle as if looking for confirmation that none of this was really happening. "Maybe yer might wanna head home and sleep it off do yer think?"

"We're not drunk; we're dead serious." Michelle said.

"Yeh, tha's def'nitely out o' my area o' expertise." The guard admitted. After a moment's thoughtfulness he started tapping at his security console. "I'll file a request for assistance an' in the meantime why don' you ladies go on inside. I'll have someone meet yer and escort yer tae our visitor's lounge." The guard hit a button and raised the physical barrier before them, but Michelle and Aph stayed where they were. After a minute he looked up. "Tha's the best I can do fer yer." He said flatly. "Like I said yer don' jus' walk in an' talk to Kracht, an' come on, it is Arrival Day, what did yer expect?"

"Tell Kracht this is unprecedented; a fifth contestant. He'll want to talk to us." Michelle said. "And tell him not to keep us waiting." She added before finally winding up her window and driving into the compound.

--------

It wasn't entirely unprecedented. In his many cycles through this round Kracht had noted that occasionally the numbers would be off a little bit one way or the other; he chalked it up to the Cultivator's tenuous grip on her own battle. Although there was the more likely possibility that this claim was false; this too was not unprecedented. In a handful of iterations a portion of the populace, dissatisfied with his rule and/or the treatment of contestants, had attempted to forcibly remove him from power. And in those iterations the claim of a fifth contestant was a fairly common lead in to a trap. Kracht hadn't heard anything about any rebel groups this iteration, but if they were halfway competent he wouldn't have.

Whichever this proved to be Kracht wasn't otherwise engaged until Hand of Silver awoke, and there was a certain appeal to this one. The guard who had reported it had said that they claimed to be 'ambassadors of Joter' which was actually unprecedented. Kracht made his way down the largely empty corridors to the Visitor's Lounge; at his approach the pair of guards on duty unlocked and opened the doors. It was a lounge in name only, in truth a dingy little room that was closer to a holding cell in both form and function. Michelle Davis was slumped against the far wall, while Aph was pacing back and forth anxiously (except not actually pacing but in fact hovering back and forth anxiously). He walked in and the door slid shut behind him.

"Tell me about this fifth contestant."

"She's not a contestant." Aph shot Michelle a stern look. "Soulmother Ajota is a... a... blessing. She's nothing short of a miracle."

Kracht thought for a minute. "This 'Soulmother' is she human, female, white skin, blue eyes, perhaps blonde hair, generally evasive with comprehensive mechanical augmentations?"

"No, nothing like that." Aph shook her head. "She's like a revelation, from out of nowhere she changed my life entirely. I have never felt so loved. And all she wants is the opportunity to make everyone so wondrously happy."

"Give me physical descriptors." Kracht replied curtly.

"Well... um..." Aph faltered. "She's beautiful..."

Kracht sighed. "Is she human?"

"No." Aph snapped dismissively. "What does it matter what she looks like? The important thing is that she's come to deliver us from pain, from misery and loneliness and embrace us no matter what our flaws or faults. You need to meet her; once you've met her everything all makes sense." Kracht glanced hopefully over to Michelle.

"Physically speaking the Soulmother is like a really big ant-person."

"Perhaps you mean she's like a half human half spider?" Kracht asked thoughtfully.

"No," Michelle replied. "we're not talking about Cepra here. Ajota isn't like anyone I've met before. She's everything Aph is telling you; all she wants to do is spread happiness."

Kracht was thoughtful for a moment. "And your goal in coming here? Did you think you could convert me?"

"No," Aph said. "all we want is that you don't treat her as a threat. She isn't. She means no harm to anyone."

"I see." Kracht said. "And if I would like to meet this Soulmother for myself where might I find her?"

Aph and Michelle glanced at one another. "I don't think that's the best idea." Aph said. "Let us go back to her and tell her you'd be open to a discussion. I think that would work better."

The problem with looping through a round as heavily populated as this was the sheer number of variables at play. It was near-impossible to keep track of each and every one of them, the myriad ways in which they might interact and the results that might be born of these interactions. Even so Kracht could confidently claim that no inhabitant of Battletopia matched the description given. As such he suspected that this was the work of some subversive faction, but if that were the case and this were a trap to be sprung why refuse him the opportunity to spring it? Either way Kracht felt like this called for further investigation.

Kracht rapped on the door, which after a moment slid open. "You can come in now." He addressed the guards, who promptly did so. They were the kind of guys who wouldn't stand out in a crowd; two sort of generic looking guys in standard issue armour.

Michelle's hand reflexively went to her weapon, but even if this did come down to a firefight and she managed to get off any shots before being shot down herself. the most she could hope for was to stun them; as a containment agent her weapon was specifically engineered not to kill.

"Relax Michelle." Kracht said calmly. "Resistance will not help either of us in this situation."

"So what is the situation?" asked the shorter of the two guards.

"Locate and infiltrate their group, but report back to me when you have made clear the nature of the group." Kracht paused and glanced to the more heavily built of the two guards. "The nymph lacks a traditional nervous system, will this be a problem?" He gave a curt nod. "Then take Michelle instead. Turn the mana dampeners on when you're done."

"Hold on." Aph pleaded. "There's no need for this. Ajota is not your enemy."

"Goodbye ladies. It has been interesting but I have other matters to attend to." Aph continued to try to argue her case as Kracht turned and left and only trailed off when the doors slid firmly shut behind him.

"There's no need for this." Aph babbled hopelessly. "Ajota loves us all. Just come with us, you'll see. You don't need to do this."

Michelle's heart was racing. It wasn't over yet. Maybe between the two of them they could take these two guards. She figured one of them must have the keycard for the door and then all they'd need to do would be to sneak back to the van. From there they could floor it, run the security checkpoint and head back to the Soulmother. Presumably they'd have to ditch the van somewhere to ensure they weren't followed but... it was possible. Her heart pounding she pulled her weapon and took aim on the taller guard, the one who had been told to 'take her'. Thick black energy poured from his mouth, and in a panic she opened fire, pulling the trigger of her shock pistol until all that was elicited was a damp fizz. After the second shot his body collapsed backwards, and the smoke or whatever it was had formed into a familiar looking orb. It shot towards her and she found herself engulfed. She tried to fight it off, jammed her mouth shut and batted at the air in the hope of dispersing it, but it forced its way in anyway.

"Yeah, yeah we got it." The shorter guard interrupted Aph's desperate pleas.

It wasn't until that point that Aph noticed his gradual alteration. His skin was becoming pinker, his body taller, thinner and more feminine, his hair growing longer. Aph stared dumbly as he became a perfect duplicate of herself, the only difference the armour she was wearing and the weapon she carried. Finally, as the transformation was complete, she gathered her senses and desperately she leapt. She struggled with her duplicate, attempting to wrench the weapon away from her while her duplicate shouted for backup. Within moments Michelle pulled Aph off her duplicate and flung her into the corner of the room.

"Michelle?" Aph's voice quavered.

"Not any more." She replied. "Bae, you all set?"

Aph's duplicate scrutinized her one last time and said "I'm good." Then, dragging the corpse of Ziirphael's former host behind them, they left. As the door shut behind them there was a click and a faint humming. Aph shakily clambered to her feet and stumbled towards the door the world seeming to evaporate around her. Sparks fizzed off her skin as she forced herself towards the heavy doors. It was with her last ounces of strength that she slumped uselessly against them and finally succumbed to the blackness.

-------

Michelle's containment van pulled up once more to Ajota's barricade, which in the time since she and Aph had left had doubled in size. It was easy enough to locate thanks to the van's inbuilt GPS, but would have been even easier if Michelle's subconscious wasn't putting up quite such a fight against Ziirphael's presence. Her tenacity was not so great that she was likely to seize control back from the death spirit, but it was enough that she was able to fend off his attempts to examine her memories, more or less.

"So what's the story?" Bae asked.

"They went to secure a truce." Ziirphael replied. "Claiming that we have done so stretches credibility. I suggest we claim to have been turned down and escaped."

"Maybe I should have stayed on base." Bae replied mockingly, "I mean both of us getting away? Kind of stretches credibility don't you think?" Ziirphael ignored her and got out of the van. Bae grumbling about her partner's sense of humour followed immediately after.

"Hey it's Aph and Michelle!" a voice shouted from above them. They both looked up to see the head of a teenager in a blue shirt peering over the barricade. "Welcome back sisters!" he called down. "The Soulmother's going to be pleased as punch you're back. Hang on a minute." Bae and Ziirphael exchanged glances as the kid disappeared from view for a moment. When he reappeared he was holding a rope which he threw down for them. "Quick, come on up." The kid called, and they were happy to oblige him. Bae/Aph climbed up first, all the while thinking about how unsuited to physical activity this form was. When she neared the top the kid reached over and helped her onto a smaller mound of furniture on the other side.

"Good to be home eh sister?" The kid asked with a happy grin. Bae nodded and attempted to catch her breath. The street beyond the barricade was empty, but for the pieces of broken furniture that lay scattered here and there. Ziirphael/Michelle scaled the barricade much quicker than Bae had managed.

"Where is everyone?" Ziirphael asked.

"A little bit further down." The kid replied. "We've been working on expanding our borders a little bit while you've been gone. I'm sure the Soulmother will tell you all about it."

Bae shot a questioning glance towards Ziirphael; he had no answers for her. "Yeah we shouldn't keep the Soulmother waiting." Bae said. "We've got big news for her..." He paused. "If you could point us in her direction?"

"Oh, right, yeah." The kid pointed to the house that had once been Aph's and Jordan's.

"Thank you, brother." Ziirphael said. He and Bae picked their way carefully down the slightly shaky mound of furniture.

"Who would have thought so many people would be in on it." Bae whispered. "I thought it would be a much more low key operation. How does nobody even know about this yet?"

Ziirphael, resolutely attempting to remain in character, ignored her entirely and stepped into the house that was now Ajota's headquarters. Ziirphael peered into the lounge, there was nobody in there and it was as expected empty of furniture, however it did contain quite a large pile of plastic explosives. Before he could react, or even determine how he ought to be reacting there was a click and an explosion. It wasn't limited just to the living room, the entire house was packed with plastic explosives, as was the next house over and quite a large portion of the street and the barricade itself.

--------

The sound of the explosion carried through the still night to where Soulmother Ajota and her rapidly growing army were on the move. For a minute they stopped and watched as the smoke rose from the destroyed street.

my children. today we are witness to a great tragedy but sadly we have no time to mourn for kracht will not stop with the death of your sisters aph and michelle and your brother nathan Ajota tore her attention from the burning ruins in the distance and looked around at each of her children, each one earnest, consumed with a terrible sadness. today kracht declares war on each and every one of us and on every person who we might help. all we can do now is to press forwards and hope we can make their sacrifice worth it, and remember them always

As they continued to march Soulmother Ajota had at her side the eldest of her remaining children; Jordan Smith, and trailing a little way behind her was her new favourite; Algernon. His ability to create physical items from nothingness at the cost of his memories had been something he had been reticent to use in the past. But after meeting the Soulmother and finally finding happiness and his place in the world he was only too happy to let her make full use of his ability. It had proved invaluable in setting up the trap back there, though it had left him with a not insignificant amount of memory loss. It had become necessary, in the Soulmother's eyes at least, to tie a piece of string around his wrist to ensure that he didn't get lost, or lag too far behind.

Soulmother Ajota had known that Aph would not succeed. The minds of all her children told her that Kracht was not a man to be reasoned with, but Aph's mind had been made up and sometimes it is necessary in life to let your children make their own mistakes. It did not make her death any less tragic, or Kracht any less culpable. The trap was perhaps overkill, so to speak. At the time she'd claimed it was to account for the fact that she had no idea what kind of response Kracht might send. Though she wouldn't care to admit it, perhaps it was in truth a message; an explosion to be seen across the city to demonstrate the depth of her fury; a declaration of war.

Finally they reached their destination. In the security booth a handsome man with slicked back black hair, wearing a navy blue frilled coat over his uniform was sat tapping away at his computer.

We'd like to speak to General Kracht please