What Makes Evil!

Every Story has a beginning middle and an end.

I am going start in the middle so you can understand.


Origins (What makes Evil?)
Chapter 1


“FREEZE”

The girl stopped moving.

“Put your hands in the air and turn around, slowly”

The girl put her hands up about shoulder high. A small smile appeared on the girls face as she turned around. This cop has no idea what he is getting himself into, she thought to herself.

“Drop the bag”

She dropped the bag she was carrying and watched as the cops eyes drop for an instant unable to not follow the quick movement. It was the instant she needed. With a flick of her wrists she lifted the cop off the ground and held him there. Certain that he would be stuck for a few moments she bent down picked up the grocery bag off the ground and sprinted away. She turned down an alley way and kept turning left and right in the maze like alleys in an attempt to lose the cop. Whom, she was certain was free of his bonds now and calling for back up now that he was dealing with a “Meta”. She hated that term. It wasn’t exactly accurate in her case anyway. She jumped a fence and saw the open street at the end of the alley. She made it, all she had to do was cross the street hop the fence on the other side and she would be close to “home”. She shuddered at the thought of her home for the time being. The smells, the occasional rat and the constant roaches. But it was safer if it happened again. She was brought back to reality by a flash of red and white. As she sprinted onto the street that flash of red and white moved and lashed out. Something very hard struck her face and her vision went momentarily white then nothing, blackness…..


She wondered for a second if she was dead. She speculated on how it actually happened. Was it the Longbow’s rifle butt that broke her neck or the subsequent collision of her head with the concrete? She pictured the scene in her head and wondered Was I moving fast enough to be flipped out in the street. Was that truck moving? The scene changed to her being run over a truck and she flinched. The pain in her head both front and back convinced her that she indeed was still alive.

Keeping her eyes closed she wiggled her toes in her ragged boots just to make sure she could still feel them. A quick inventory of her body told her she was sitting in a hard metal chair her hands cuffed behind her and the cuffs where attached to the floor.


“She’s waking up”

“Thank you Sergeant,” a deep male voice said, “she would’ve escaped if you hadn’t heard the call. Officer Fitzpatrick is pretty embarrassed about letting a Meta get the drop on him. The PPD owes Longbow another favor”

“It’s our duty, Detective, besides I used to be on the Force. After the war I thought it would be better if I did something more to help. According to Fitz she uses some of the same abilities as some of the Wardens, maybe I can get one of them to come down and talk to her. Be a waste if she could do some good, when all she needs is some guidance.”

“Sure. Maybe you should leave Sergeant. ” She heard the sound of a chair being moved across the floor. “Hey, you awake?”

“Detective can I ask a question?”

“Sure”

“What was in the bag she was holding?”

“Ramen and some chips, why?”

“Food! Like I said, a waste.”

She heard some footsteps and a door open and close. Damn I should’ve opened my eyes to see that [censored] that hit me. She could tell she had a mild concussion, nothing life threatening but it was making her thoughts come a little slow. How do I know that? Another scrape of the chair.

“Open your eyes.” The detective ordered. And since there wasn’t anything she could do she obeyed. She now had a face to go with the voice. The detective was sitting on the other side of a metal table. Why do all cops look the same? That’s okay he’ll be the first. First What? What the hell is happening to me?

“Do you have a name?” She struggled with that one. I know I have a name. Damnit doesn’t this idiot have some doughnuts to eat.

She started to speak but her throat was dry, her voice cracked. She’d been forced to breathe through her mouth from the swelling on her face. That Longbow is gonna pay for breaking my nose. She swallowed trying to get some moisture in her mouth “Can I get some water, please?” she squeaked. Good no sense in being rude.

“Um, sure.” the detective said and gestured to the “mirror” that took up the majority of the wall to his right. A few moments later another cop entered the room holding a bottle of water and a file. He handed the file to the detective and walked to the other side of the table, and held up the bottle.

“Sorry Lil’ Lady, protocol, can’t have you hurting anyone.” The cop said. “I promise I won’t spill any on you.” He held the bottle up to her lips and tilted it just enough so she could sip the water. After a few seconds he moved the bottle away and set the bottle down on the table he took a bendy straw and put it in the bottle and slid the bottle over so that she could reach the straw if she leaned forward. He lives another day. She dismissed the thought as something the brain swelling was causing. Don’t be too sure of that.

The other cop left and her attention was drawn to the frown on the Detective’s face.

“So you used to live in Royal Overlook.” It was a statement not a question. He obviously had all the information he needed in that file. Her head throbbed.

“At first look, we thought it was just the Hellions acting up again, little pyros. But the Fire Inspector said the fire started on the top floor and moved down. That’s odd…Fire goes up not down. It says right here the fire started in apartment 4D and moved down the hall and then followed the staircase down and then to the front door. From there it spread to the rest of the building. No one escaped or so we thought.” A bead of sweat appeared on the detective’s brow.

“Finger prints that were found amongst the debris from apartment 4D match yours. Funny thing about fire sometimes it actually burns finger prints into the surface of stuff. And the landlord said that it was being rented to a Helena Collins.” She leaned forward to take a sip of water, and it wasn’t as cold as before. She noticed the detective loosen his tie.

“Hmm, it says hear that the fire actually moved pretty slow, deliberate it looks like it stopped at each of the doors before moving on.” Another drop of sweat. Does he have point, did he figure it out. Figure WHAT OUT? Maniacal laughter echoed in her head.

“So you got a Hellion Boyfriend? He call you his Lil’ Hellcat? He tell you it would be cool to use your little trick and make it impossible to for the people to get away as he torched em?” You’re getting warmer, Detective! More laughter. The Detective pulled a stack of photos from the fire and tossed them on the table. The photos were of bodies charred beyond recognition. She didn’t flinch at least not physically, in her head she was screaming at the horror. Outside she just smiled that same little smile she had outside the alley.

“So you do think this is funny!” the detective was now pouring sweat. He crossed the room and stood in front of her “Answer me, Lil’ Lady.”

Several things happened at the same time. She realized that she wasn’t in control of her body anymore. There was an intense flash of heat from behind her. Her whole body seemed to flash in a brilliant explosion of light. And the detective was thrown backwards. She stood up and looked at her now free hands which appeared to be on fire. She could see the molten metal of the chains still glowing red. Why isn’t that hurting me?

“You have no idea exactly how amusing it is to me, Detective.” Her voice was hers and not hers, it was smoky, sultry, soothing, and yet still the most terrifying thing she had ever heard. “I want to thank you for showing me those pictures it made me remember just how much fun that night was. And now Detective it’s your turn.” The fire intensified on her hands and she was about to throw the fire at the Detective, when several officers entered the room.

“Tranq her, NOW!!”

She didn’t react fast enough. Probably the concussion slowing her reflexes. She heard a dull pop and something stabbed her neck. Nice shot. Even she had to admire the marksmanship. She collapsed to the floor as the fire on her hands subsided. Her vision blurred and sounds became indistinct. She heard the Detective say before she lost consciousness.

“Get that Lil’ Lady to the Zig…..”

Lil’ Lady….Lil’…….Lady…….Lil’…Lady Lil’….Lyl…….Lady Lyl………..


To Be Continued.

---

Definitely a good start. A really good start, actually. I think my only nitpick is grammatical, but I used to be an editor, so I'm a bit more sensitive to that kind of thing.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

---

Whoa I just posted that. >.> are you stalking me?

Maybe I should have you edit for me. My writing is totally Crude.

---

Nope, I just happened to be in the section reviewing something else and I saw your story pop up. Would you rather I'd waited?

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

---

Of course not. I much like you like appreciation.

---

Wow nice Start

Any of you(S2,DarkS) have any words for a person who can never get more then 10 lines before writers block.

Signed: NogardT

---

Going to miss the fun and nice people here at CoH. Feel free to add me on PS3/XBox360
PS3X360: OmniNogard
Currently playing: Mass Effect 3(PS3) Minecraft(X360) Skyrim(X360).

Save often and take breaks. Nicotine and caffine help me but I don't recomend them to anyone. (seriously if you don't do it already don't start)

---

[ QUOTE ]
Wow nice Start

Any of you(S2,DarkS) have any words for a person who can never get more then 10 lines before writers block.

Signed: NogardT

[/ QUOTE ]

I actually have a document file with 999 writer's prompts - various and sundry phrases to help start me thinking.

But what KEEPS me writing?

If I hit a pause point, I ask "why?" about something in the story. (For example, "why is Tava sad when she talks about Vanguard?" or "why would Posi care that Tava lied?" or "why does Synapse want to see Posi get involved with a woman?") Explaining gets things moving again.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

---

(QR)

You Both make good points.

Im going to start with my main Villain (Villain 1) hopefully ill get some ideas to keep the story going for a long time.

I am about to start soon after this post, wish me luck.

Signed: NT/V1

PS: hope to see more of both of your story's soon!

---

Going to miss the fun and nice people here at CoH. Feel free to add me on PS3/XBox360
PS3X360: OmniNogard
Currently playing: Mass Effect 3(PS3) Minecraft(X360) Skyrim(X360).

Starting in the middle? Like Star Wars? Well, you've certainly piqued my interest.

---

#69397 Get Grog a Drink!
#155312 No Good Deed Goes Unrewarded
#229565 Take Back the Park! (lowbie friendly)

Praetor of the [url="http://www.forgottenlegion.net"]Forgotten Legion[/url] SG and mod for the HUB player community. All hail the mighty Grog!

hehehe, well not exactly the middle. You'll see I should post part two sometime today...

---

Okay Here it is....

This may be a little long. This portion demanded to be written.


What makes Evil?… (part two)

The Trial was fast. Between the video of her interview in the police station, and her losing control of her body in the court room and biting her Public Defender. She had bit him so hard he was bleeding. She stood over him and exclaimed that she had done it and would do it again just to remember the smell of burning flesh. The judge determined that she was insane.

To which she replied, “Of course, what I have done is completely insane. Do crazy people know they are crazy?!” Blood still dripping from her chin. Lock me away, save me from myself!

She was placed in the Wing for Super-Powered Criminally Insane at the Ziggurat. She had a lot of time to think about what was happening to her. The food was edible. The bugs were less frequent than in the sewers. The Power dampening fields and drugs were at least keeping her from setting her cell on fire. She wished the fields or the drugs would keep the voice out her head. The same sultry-scary voice she used when out-of-control.

She over heard the guards talking one day.

“More and more 'supers' are going bonkers everyday. Turning into villains.”

So there are more, I wonder how many are like me?

“Yeah they are starting to classify them. Like the Lil’ Lady here and others like her, the really sadistic ones, they are called Dominators.”

Oh I like that, I shall dominate them all!

“I wonder what is causing….”the voice trailed off as the guards continued their rounds.

The weeks passed by rather slowly. The once a week sessions with her state appointed therapist were going nowhere.

“I really need to talk to this other you.” The therapist said.

“She says she doesn’t want to talk to you.”

“Okay, Then do you mind if I ask you about your childhood?”

As soon as the therapist would try to talk to her directly the “other” her would take control and prevent her from responding.

Back in her cell, after one particularly useless session, where the “other” her demanded that the therapist do indecent things to her. She decided it was time to confront herself and get some answers. She went to the mirror and looked at her self, really looked at herself. She was short about 5’1”, she hated being short it made her appear to be younger than she was. The Lil’ Lady comments she kept hearing were really starting to infuriate her. Use that anger Lil’ Lady. The bright purple she had dyed her hair was almost gone. Her hair was nearly jet black and down to her shoulders. Her skin had always been pale now it was almost white. But she had color in her cheeks and the dark circles under her eyes had faded. Except for serious case of vitamin D deficiency she looked healthy. She was pretty if not out right beautiful. She stared directly into her own eyes.

“Why won’t you tell the shrink who you are?”

Because it’s not his secret to know.

“Who are you?”

You

“No you are not, I would never hurt anyone like that. You enjoy it, it actually gets you off. I know I’m in here too!”
Laughter was the response. What do you remember?

“Um, what so now you’re my shrink…Great!”

You were chosen. Those silly old men in those ridiculous hats had no idea what was happening right under their spotted, wrinkled noses.

“What are you talking about?”

But my dear Lil’ Lady I am not talking at all.

A thought occurred to her. Not sure if it was hers or a stray thought from the other her.

Go ahead and ask it, it will make you feel better.

“Who were you?”

NaAeM K’aY y AeE_HaD.

Blackness. She dreamt…remembered? She was walking home after a rave. When she heard something behind her. She turned to look but it was nothing. Let someone try something. She thought to herself as she mentally counted the knives she carried at all times. One, two, three, four. As she turned she bumped into a man in a business suit. It was a nice suit. He was clean shaven but slightly disheveled and smelled of booze. Probably trying to walk from one the many bars in the area to the train station.

“That’s her, grab her.” A clearly feminine voice said. “Don’t hurt her too much.”

That was all the incentive she needed. She went for one of her knives just as the man in the suit wrapped his arms around her. He was strong she couldn’t move. “Ooof” she said as the wind rushed out of her lungs. She was strong and fairly athletic but her 92 pound frame was no match for the man who had a foot and 100 pounds on her. She had one choice…..

The scene blurred a bit and she was in her Aunt’s apartment. Well, hers now that her Aunt had passed. She was trying to put her Aunt on the shelf next to her parents’ urns. It was hard, she couldn’t find the step ladder and was trying to reach it on her tip-toes. Why did I have to be so short? Just as she got her aunt on the shelf she bumped her Mother’s ashes and they started to fall she reached for it with both hands and it just stopped in mid-air…blur.

She went down to the Federal Bureau of Super-Powered Affairs the next day. To register, get help, answers, anything.

“Sorry, Lil’ Lady, you have to be eighteen to register,” the man behind the counter said.

“But…”

“Thems the rules,” interrupted the man, “I don’t make em. Look maybe you can get tested or something. Fill this out and get your parents or guardian to sign it and come back.” He handed her a questionnaire about an inch thick. And walked away from the counter.

Her aunt’s lawyer had said he would look into getting the paperwork done so she could live on her own. She was fifteen and mature, at least emotionally, for her age. He called in a favor to social services so she could stay in her aunt’s apartment as long as he checked in on her on a regular basis, until she was declared an adult. As she turned away from the counter she started to cry.

The scene blurred and she was back on the street with booze man still holding her. She had never been able to move anything larger than a glass in the two years since her first incident. And despite the testing the FBSA said they couldn’t officially help her develop her powers until she was eighteen. Another four months away.

No time like the present to push the limits. She put her hands on booze man’s side and “pushed” against him. His arms were unable to hold onto her as he floated in mid-air. He was completely helpless.

“I knew we made the right choice. Surround her she can’t be that powerful, yet!” said the feminine voice again.

She turned to run and several men stepped out of the shadows and into the street. None of them matched each other. Aside from booze man in the suit, who was now back on his feet and moving closer, there were seven more. She swallowed.Eight on one. There was a man who clearly was a derelict. A teenager that looked like he was wearing gang colors. Hellion? A PPD beat cop. So much for calling the cops. A man wearing an apron, like a chef or something. Another wearing Paragon U letterman jacket. One of them looked familiar. He had tried to hit on her at the party. She could never forget that tattoo or the way to many piercings in his face. She called him zipper head when he got a little too pushy. They did have one thing in common though a very unfocused glazed over look in their eyes. Except for the eighth. He was wearing a brown hooded robe and his eyes were glowing green beneath his hood. Behind him stood another cloaked figure.

“Don’t let the Lil’ Lady escape!” said the Feminine voice, which came from the cloak.

That’s it, bring it on! She concentrated and gestured toward “Zipper Head” and sent him flying into the air. He hit the ground with a sickening crunch. She aimed next attack at Apron-man and sent him flying into a nearby wall. Before he slid down the bricks booze man grabbed one of her arms. And jock-boy grabbed the other. She tried to struggle and was tackled by the Hellion for her efforts. Lying on the sidewalk she felt two more bodies fall onto her legs. Great this is how I die. Only one thing to do now. She started to draw a breath to scream and a hand covered her mouth. She struggled trying to kick, it was useless. There was one body on each of her limbs and the Hellion sitting on her stomach. Her vision was starting to go grey from lack of oxygen. Tears were streaming down her cheeks.

“Well done my pet’s.” said the voice, “Let her breathe.”

“Yes, Mistress.”

The hand moved away from her face. She again tried to draw a breath to scream and saw a red hand come out from the cloak and a beautiful face with red skin beneath a hood. As the precious air entered her lungs a purple-ish cloud bloomed from the red hand and was blown into her face. She was still awake. She could hear and see. More importantly she was breathing. Other than that she was paralyzed, in all sense of the word she couldn’t feel the concrete beneath her or the weight being lifted off her body. She was picked up off the ground and draped over the shoulders of green-eyes. She watched as the cloaked figure pushed back her hood, revealing her face, and went to each of the men and kissed them all the cheek and whispered something to each of them.

“ I think it’s time we left, Mistress.” green-eyes said.

“ I agree, come my sisters are waiting for our prize.”

They turned down an alley way and started to walk away.

“David-three-four, what’s your twenty?” the beat cops radio squawked as they were leaving ear shot.

“An un-responsive cop will bring Heroes to investigate, Mistress”

“No matter the ceremony will be finished before they can find us”

After a short but quick walk. They entered a grassy field and about thirty or forty feet into the field the grass was replaced with gravel and dirt. She heard the sound of stone scraping against stone. And they entered what looked like a cave lit by torches. The floor suddenly became carved stone instead of dirt and she heard a faint humming getting closer. Suddenly the walls instead of being rough hewn were of carved stone. The corridor opened up into a huge chamber.

“Is this the one?” another woman’s voice asked.

“Yes, Sister.” The voice that had orchestrated her capture replied.

“Is her body, pristine?” the other voce asked

“See for yourself.”

She watched as another figure moved around green-eyes and in front of her. Her skin was red she was wearing what could be best described as strips of cloth barely covering her. There were protrusions from her forehead and she most definitely had a tail. It was sinuous and ended a pointed spade. It twitched and moved seemingly of its own accord like a cat’s tail. Her hands reached for her face and closed her eyes. She tried to open them but what ever that stuff that was blown into face was still preventing her from moving. She felt not on her skin, but from within her a kind of cool breeze move from deep inside up her body to her face and out.

“Excellent, she is even more powerful than we hoped. I hoped she wasn’t too much trouble?”

“She almost killed two of my pets. But I suppose that’s why we decided to use the puppets”

“Place her on the altar”

There was only a sensation of moving. She couldn’t feel the hands on her she could tell she was laying on something but not what it was.

“My pet, come here and give me your dagger.”

“Yes, Mistress.”

She heard the sound of foot steps and a knife being pulled from a sheath.

“Hold out your wrist.”

She heard the sound of flesh being cut. And felt a gush of warm liquid spill over her stomach up her chest and on to her face. At least I can feel now. Oh MY GOD, is that BLOOD!! Despite her horror of being bathed in blood, she was now very aware that she was no longer clothed. She felt several pairs of hand rubbing the blood into her skin. As several female voices began to chant. She didn’t understand what they were saying.

“AaQReB,O D'LeH, AeMaA, D'QaD,MaA” was being repeated over and over.

She felt a searing heat rise from the altar and into her body. It lifted her off the Altar and she was suspended in the air. The fire inside her rose and felt like it was turning her bones to ash and she screamed.

She heard a loud bang and crash, the sound of wood splintering

“STOP IT RIGHT THERE!” A new male voice said from the same direction as the crash.

“You cannot stop us!”

“Wanna bet?” a female voice from the same direction of the male voice.

“Destroy them!”

The chanting stopped and she heard the sounds of fighting. Felt massive amounts of energy being released. She found she could open her eyes and watch the fray. She was at least fifteen feet off the ground. Through her tears she could see a huge man in a blue coat swinging his hammer like fists and slamming several of the red women into the floor, walls, whatever happened to be close. Along side was a diminutive woman, with white hair, dressed in white and pink spandex. She stayed close to her larger comrade almost seeming to concentrate more on him then their enemies. Occasional a faint green glow would emanate from her and envelop the large man. As violent as the man was she was exactly the opposite. All of a sudden the fire was gone and she began to fall.

“SQUINTS!!!” Screamed the woman.

“On it..” the man said as he was already moving to intercept her from a collision with the stone floor. He caught her and held her in his arms.

“They’re getting away, Eve!” exclaimed the man.

“They are not the priority, we need to get her to the hospital. I need to see if she’s okay to move.” The woman moved towards the man and reached for her.

DON’T LET HER TOUCH ME!!!

She shied away from the woman’s touch.

“You’re covered in blood, Lil’ Lady,” she felt the rumble of his voice more than heard him.” She’s just gonna make sure your not hurt. Her name is Eve, I’m Mister Squinty.”

“I…..its n-not mine, its h-his” she stammered and pointed with her chin toward the now dead green-eyes. “G-get me out of here p-please?”

“Give her your coat, Squints, I may not be able to read her mind but I can read yours. I agree, let’s get out of here, before more decide to show up”

Squinty tried to set her down and she began to sob. Sighing, he held her in one of his massive arms as he slipped the other out of his coat. Traded arms and then slid the other out. He wrapped her in his coat and they began to move down a corridor.

“I wonder what those slimy Succubae wanted with her.” Squinty rumbled, she passed out before she could hear Eve’s response.

To Be Continued…..

Authors note. There are two incantations in this segment. They are both in Aramaic and typed phonetically.

• NaAeM K’aY y AeE_HaD (translation sleep now and remember)
• AaQReB,O D'LeH, AeMaA, D'QaD,MaA (trans. come to us mother, the first)

---

Hey Scooter, just finished the second part. I'll be honest, I'm not crazy about this part. Now before you think I'm being negative, let me explain. This part was a lot of explaintion. When taken in the context of the whole story, I'm fairly certain the general ammount of explaination won't seem so overwhelming. That asside, I like the back story for the character. That coupled with the disjointed nature of the writing helped me to relate with the character herself.

The length of the explative material asside, a very well written peice and I look forward to rereading in the context of the finished story (Translation: Hurry up and finish the story!!!)

---

Hey Scooter. I'm going through and reading your story. I'm always big on giving feedback on someone's creative efforts. So if you don't mind:

After reading the first part that you posted I like it. I'm left with a big question about the girl, what did the cop call her? Lil Lady was it? Yeah that's her. The question is just what is she? does she have multiple personalities or is she a victim of demonic possesion or something else alltogether? I will admit, the earlier passages where she was communicating with herself were a bit difficult to follow, but after a couple of them I realised they're more then just an internal monologue piece and I think it helps define the character a bit. I'm looking forward to reading the next part and posting my thoughts on it as well. Keep up the good work.

---

okay, that's weird. My thoughts on part two posted before my thoughts on part one. I can assure you, I read part one first.

---

hehehe. For those that have played with me. They know that the Character that this story is based on. she defines evil
[ QUOTE ]

After reading the first part that you posted I like it. I'm left with a big question about the girl, what did the cop call her? Lil Lady was it? Yeah that's her. The question is just what is she? does she have multiple personalities or is she a victim of demonic possesion or something else alltogether? I will admit, the earlier passages where she was communicating with herself were a bit difficult to follow, but after a couple of them I realised they're more then just an internal monologue piece and I think it helps define the character a bit. I'm looking forward to reading the next part and posting my thoughts on it as well. Keep up the good work.



[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you for your kind words. Keep reading you'll figure out who/what she is. If I had just came out and told you it wouldn't be a very good story. The author needs to find something to keep the readers reading.

[ QUOTE ]

Hey Scooter, just finished the second part. I'll be honest, I'm not crazy about this part. Now before you think I'm being negative, let me explain. This part was a lot of explaintion. When taken in the context of the whole story, I'm fairly certain the general ammount of explaination won't seem so overwhelming. That asside, I like the back story for the character. That coupled with the disjointed nature of the writing helped me to relate with the character herself.

The length of the explative material asside, a very well written peice and I look forward to rereading in the context of the finished story (Translation: Hurry up and finish the story!!!)


[/ QUOTE ]

Wen I was writing this chapter. I kept asking myself is this too long. should I end it? I kept writing until the story had told it self. One of the hardest things I can think of for me to do is write a character that readers can identify with. Right now LL is scared of alot of things. She doesn't yet understand what happened to her. She is my protaganist, there alot of enemies she has faced, from the man at the FBSA to the Succubus in the cloak. However the antaganist is neither of these. How do you fight an enemy that is inside your head and can make you sleep at will? Keep in mind this is a Villians story. I think I have my work cut for me. You may not like the eventual outcome of this but my wish is that you understand it. Keep reading part three coming soon.

---

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

After reading the first part that you posted I like it. I'm left with a big question about the girl, what did the cop call her? Lil Lady was it? Yeah that's her. The question is just what is she? does she have multiple personalities or is she a victim of demonic possesion or something else alltogether? I will admit, the earlier passages where she was communicating with herself were a bit difficult to follow, but after a couple of them I realised they're more then just an internal monologue piece and I think it helps define the character a bit. I'm looking forward to reading the next part and posting my thoughts on it as well. Keep up the good work.


[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you for your kind words. Keep reading you'll figure out who/what she is. If I had just came out and told you it wouldn't be a very good story. The author needs to find something to keep the readers reading.


[/ QUOTE ]
I'm sorry, that didn't read the way I meant it. What I meant for that to say was that by introducing a question, with out stating the question, you've created an almost subconsious need in my mind to continue read in the hopes of finding the answers the the questions that haven't been asked (Did that make sence?) Either way, it's good thing and something I like encountering in writing.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Hey Scooter, just finished the second part. I'll be honest, I'm not crazy about this part. Now before you think I'm being negative, let me explain. This part was a lot of explaintion. When taken in the context of the whole story, I'm fairly certain the general ammount of explaination won't seem so overwhelming. That asside, I like the back story for the character. That coupled with the disjointed nature of the writing helped me to relate with the character herself.

The length of the explative material asside, a very well written peice and I look forward to rereading in the context of the finished story (Translation: Hurry up and finish the story!!!)


[/ QUOTE ]

Wen I was writing this chapter. I kept asking myself is this too long. should I end it? I kept writing until the story had told it self. One of the hardest things I can think of for me to do is write a character that readers can identify with. Right now LL is scared of alot of things. She doesn't yet understand what happened to her. She is my protaganist, there alot of enemies she has faced, from the man at the FBSA to the Succubus in the cloak. However the antaganist is neither of these. How do you fight an enemy that is inside your head and can make you sleep at will? Keep in mind this is a Villians story. I think I have my work cut for me. You may not like the eventual outcome of this but my wish is that you understand it. Keep reading part three coming soon.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's not that the piece was overly long, it was simply that it was about 80% explaination. LL wasn't doing something, she was remembering these things. In truth the length is fine. The information is fine. It's simply amount of explaination versus amount of story compared to total read. Like I said, when I read more of the story, I'm fairly certain the information presented in this piece will feel much less over whelming. Once agian, hurry up with the rest of the story!!!

P.S. Just in case you haven't realised it, I've got a twisted quirky sence of humor, so don't take anything I say personally

---

[ QUOTE ]
I'm sorry, that didn't read the way I meant it. What I meant for that to say was that by introducing a question, with out stating the question, you've created an almost subconsious need in my mind to continue read in the hopes of finding the answers the the questions that haven't been asked (Did that make sence?) Either way, it's good thing and something I like encountering in writing.


[/ QUOTE ]

That I think is the goal of any writer," give em what they want make em beg for more."

[ QUOTE ]

It's not that the piece was overly long, it was simply that it was about 80% explaination. LL wasn't doing something, she was remembering these things. In truth the length is fine. The information is fine. It's simply amount of explaination versus amount of story compared to total read. Like I said, when I read more of the story, I'm fairly certain the information presented in this piece will feel much less over whelming. Once agian, hurry up with the rest of the story!!!


[/ QUOTE ]

Although that this is happening in her mind, all of these events did happen to her. she DID all of those things to her it is just a s real as you sitting at your keyboard reading this.

I am working on it. the Domestic partner has been sick the last couple days and I have been taken care of her.

Part three coming soon....

---

I just saw your sig......I am gonna use that. LL definately has the philosaphy<sp> this i why I like spell check

---

[ QUOTE ]
I just saw your sig......I am gonna use that. LL definately has the philosaphy<sp> this i why I like spell check

[/ QUOTE ]

ha ha ha! And it only took 3 years for someone to say that! Tell ya what, as payback for using my signature check out my first attempt at fan fic: Points of War: The Symmetry of Truths

---

deal
btw thanks for the plug on Michelle's story

---

[ QUOTE ]
deal
btw thanks for the plug on Michelle's story

[/ QUOTE ]

No prop. I need stuff to read while I'm in the hospital since I can't run any games on this computer. so it wasn't entirly self-less :P

---

Here it is. Part three. This part focuses a lot on character development. I am attempting to establish a connection with the characters. Last chapter was a lot of what happened this is why. I hope. I should get part four out later today. It just need some polishing.

Oh and I have to give props to Torroes he put into words an ideal that I truly believe in. He missed a point in my opinion but the way he said it makes sense to the Voice….enjoy

What Makes Evil….part three


She awoke in her cell, a small portion of her was hoping she’d be back in her apartment, or in the hospital after the attack. Reality slammed her back to full awareness. More pieces of puzzle were now on the table, they didn’t quite match up yet. She was trying desperately to figure what the whole picture was supposed to look like.

What do I know? She waited for some kind of response from the sultry-scary voice.
Silence, she knew it was still there, she couldn’t describe the feeling to someone else but she knew.

The telekinesis is mine. Where does the fire come from? A smug amused chuckle echoed in her head. Unaccustomed to having a conversation in her head she tentatively asked another question.

If ask you questions will you answer them?

If I am able too, yes.

Have you always been there, inside of me?

No

Where did you come from?

My home.

Great, sarcasm, where is your home?

I wasn’t being sarcastic, it was the only place I ever knew. It was the place where I was born. The only word you know that describes it is home.

I hadn’t considered that. Wait…you said it was the only word I knew. What does that mean?

The knowledge you posses about this world, such as the language, is the only knowledge I posses.

What do you want with me?

To be free, to do as I wish.

What does that mean?

My home is not a pleasant place, it is dark, there is constant struggle for dominance and non-stop violence. There is nothing of this thing you know as love, only deception and self preservation.

A lot like this place.

A very adequate analogy, my home is a prison.

How did you escape?

An opportunity presented itself, an opening appeared. It was a very small hole and I knew that I had to sacrifice my body to take it. I could only send my spirit through. I did not know what waited for me on the other side, if it was oblivion at least I was ending my existence on my terms.

That sounds kind of scary.

I know the meaning of this word, but, I do not experience fear anymore. I have peered into the very eyes of fear and walked away. It was part of my education.

Do you have a name?

Words have power, names are the most powerful words in existence. If I told you my true name you could send me back home. I want to stay here.

What should I call you?

My mother was from your world originally and was captured and sent to mine. But when she was here she had a name. You can call me by a variation of that name…Lylith. Do you mind if I call you Helena?

Do I have a choice?

No

Okay, Lylith, out of all the possible people in this world you could have chosen, why me?

That was not my choice, when I sent my spirit through the pinhole of the opening I found myself with you.

When did you escape?

You haven’t figured that part yet. The night in the temple was when I first arrived in this world. My half-sister was correct when she said that they could not be stopped. As soon as the blood touched your skin the passage was opened.

Those red women, I think the big guy that night called them succubae. What do you know of them?

Not much, My mother told me once that while she was still in this world she had other daughters. I’m assuming that these women are them or their descendants.

What did they want from me?

Again it goes back to my mother, she is a very driven individual. She once told me that when the time was right her daughters would free her and take her home. Perhaps that is exactly what my half-sisters were attempting to do.

It was almost four months between that night and the fire. I know that the fire doesn’t come from me. I’m guessing that it comes from you. Why did it take so long to….

Manifest.

Yeah that, how did you know what word I was looking for?

I am limited to your vocabulary in this language, but I knew what you were trying to say. My knowledge of somethings is greater than yours. To answer your previous question, it is a two part answer, separating my spirit from my body took a tremendous amount of my strength, it takes a while to recover from something like that. Second, I couldn’t have you going to the FBSA and have you spoil my fun. I am certain that they would have a psychic exam your mind when you went back to register as a HERO, she used the word as a curse. I was also sure that you would run and hide after witnessing the beautiful destruction of that night.

Her body simultaneously went into spasms of revulsion and ecstasy at the memory of their victims.

You are going to have to get over that sooner or later it’s very distracting, you are stuck with me now.

Helena cursed at Lylith.

I am what I am.

Why all of a sudden are you being helpful?

I am as trapped here as you are. I cannot call forth our powers. It’s in my nature to be sadistic, without others to inflict pain upon, I am merely bored. Hurting you would also hurt me. So I am instilling as much knowledge as I can as a form of self preservation.

Why?

Because knowledge is part of power, the more powerful you are, the more powerful I am. The better chance I have to escape here if an opportunity presents itself. I left one prison only to be placed in another.

You said part, what are the other parts of power?

My father taught me that strength and intelligence make no requirement of each other or knowledge. Power demands all three.

Your father?

I am not allowed to talk about him. Next question.

Why can’t I see all of your thoughts as you see mine?

My mind is more disciplined than yours, just another part of my training.

How are you able to make fire and not have it burn me….um….us?

Simple elemental conjuring, part of the incantation is the protection of the user from its effects.

As the next question was forming in her mind it was interrupted by what seemed to be an explosion. She was used to hearing sounds of fighting in the dayroom outside of her cell when some of the more physically violent inmates were let out of their cells for exercise time. She didn’t know anything about any of the other inmates housed in this particular unit. She was deemed too unstable to be allowed out for exercise time with others. Lylith would always get excited to see the suffering of the losers when she would watch the occasional fight through the little window in the door of the cell. She would also be disappointed to see the guards, after putting on body armor, break up the fight. This was different it was louder and closer like it was coming from the cell next to hers. She got up from her bunk and started to walk towards the door to watch. She didn’t take two steps before there was a bang on her door and it buckled inward.

WHAT THE ….

WHAT THE ….

To Be Continued….

---

Hehe, glad I could help Scooter.

So now she knows who who she is dealing with, but not certain as to what she is dealing with. This is getting good. I look forward to the next part.

---

Okay I had a snafu and lost my internet for entire day. I had alot of free time on my hands.

By far the longest of the chapters. Enjoy!

What Makes Evil? (part four)

They both cursed as there was another bang and the door came right off its’ hinges and fell to the floor. There was another inmate standing in the doorway. She was tall about 5’10” and wearing the standard issue prison orange jump suit and a black bandana holding her reddish brown hair away from her face. Her hands were in fists. Her sleeves were pushed up to her elbows exposing her arms which seemed to be covered in tattoos that looked like a circuit board, the circuitry was covering face as well. It was hard to tell if she was pretty or plain between the tattoos and the glasses perched on her nose. Lylith had seen her before in the dayroom. She was out for exercise with another inmate and was trying to read during her out time. When for no apparent reason the other inmate took the book from her. Before the book thief could react she grabbed the thief’s wrist and twisted the whole arm around the owners back with several satisfying snapping noise. She plucked the book from the thief’s now ruined hand kicked the thief from behind. The thief slid across the floor and slammed into a wall with a thud and a crunch. Then the woman before Lylith now very calmly turned around and returned to her cell. Lylith hadn’t seen this woman out of her cell with others since.

Alarms were sounding loudly out in the dayroom.

“There is something really big going on. The power dampening field is down. I for one don’t want to die in here. I need someone to watch my back as I get out of here. You up for it?” the taller woman said.

A chance to escape from here?

This is the opportunity I was hoping for.

It was strange how their thoughts seemed to almost mirror each other it was something that hadn’t really happened before.

“I accept your offer to help get each other out of here” it was the sultry-scary voice that came out of her mouth.

“Great, name’s Jenna. Can you use your powers…?” Jenna asked.

“Lylith,” she replied answering Jenna’s unspoken question and held up her hands. Feeble little flames sprang forth from her palms and vanished as quickly as they appeared. “It would seem no.”

“Probably the drugs they pump into us to keep us docile. I metabolized them in my system when the field went out. Okay, no problem, first stop the infirmary there should be something there to restore your powers there.” Jenna said with an air of confidence.

I wonder who this woman is. Oh well I am not about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Please don’t let anything happen to me, Lylith.

Don’t be naïve, Helena, if you get hurt so do I. I don’t know what would happen to me if you died. I am not about to wait and find out.

They entered the dayroom and saw that there were fights in the other units. There were guards beating inmates attempting to escape and escaping inmates beating on guards. There were a lot more of the latter. Once in the corridor there was an inmate that wasn’t fighting nor running, almost like he knew what was going on.

“Hey, where do they keep the drugs Buddy?” Jenna asked.

“Just down the corridor, on the left. Don’t call me Buddy the name is H.T.” he replied. “Hey bring me back some would ya?”

Jenna ignored the request and moved down the corridor. The door to the infirmary was open there was a nurse cowering in the corner. There was blood, broken glass and a couple of hospital beds in the room. One on it’s side, it’s mattress shredded, the other still upright and intact. Thankfully the alarms weren’t as loud in the once sterile room.

“J-just t-take wh-what ever you w-want, b-but pl-please d-don’t hurt me.” the frightened nurse stammered.

“I plan to, thanks” Jenna said as she went to the pharmacy cabinets. “Damn they’ve been ransacked already this may take a few minutes.” Jenna started pulling bottles out and quickly reading labels.

“That’s okay, I’ve found a distraction,” Lylith said as she walked toward the nurse she picked up a scalpel from a tray. Just as she got close to the nurse to “entertain” herself, she felt something she had not felt since before escaping her first prison. She dropped the scalpel forgetting all about the nurse.

Could it be?

She quickly looked around for the source of the feeling and spotted it. Inky black tendrils were coming out from under a door to her left. She walked over to the door and glanced over at Jenna. She was bent over a counter pouring the contents of several bottles into a beaker. She looked like a scientist at work. Lylith opened the door and stepped into blackness. This wasn’t the blackness of unconsciousness this was palatable, she could almost reach out and touch it. Lylith recognized it immediately. It was the miasma that permeated the very walls of her home. She couldn’t see anything but could hear the sobs of someone in the corner, their very life force being drained by the dark miasma that was filling the room. Then she saw what it were being drained into. A faint green glow silhouetted a small dark figure standing on the other side of a hospital bed that had been knocked over.

“Hello” Lylith said to the small figure. All she heard was a growling coming from the figure, and then a brilliant blue light burst forth from the small figure. Lylith ducked and the blast went over her head.

“I am not going to hurt you.” Lylith said. The figure hissed like a cat and sprang forward directly at Lylith. She saw a flash of long white fangs. Reflexively she held her hands out and felt a surge of power. The figure stopped mid-air and stayed suspended.

What is that thing? the question came frantically.

I am not sure, but it can help us. It can somehow tap into the energies of my home and heal itself. I am certain it can do the same for us. It seems the fear you experienced lessened the effects of the drugs. Perhaps I underestimated fear.[/i]

The creature began to yowl, hiss and growl like a feral cat cornered and injured. Lylith walked back into the room where Jenna was working. Concentrating she made the held creature float into the room, still yowling. When it came into the light she could finally see that it was a feline-like creature. Halfway in between human and cat, it wasn’t wearing anything but a collar with metal studs on it around its neck. It was small maybe around four feet tall, if it stood on its hind legs. It was covered in thick dark fur and to Lylith’s eye was female. The fur on her head was much longer and cascaded down her back to her waist, which was sprouting a tail almost as long as her legs that ended in a tuft of fur that was longer than the rest. Out of her mane, on top of her head, poked two triangular shaped ears. Her forelegs ended in what appeared to be more hands than paws with four fingers and a thumb each pointed with a long sharp claw. Her legs were the shape of a cat, where it sort of looked like her knees bent the wrong direction but was really where her ankles were.

“Look what I found, can I keep her?” Lylith asked sarcastically. The cat-girl yowled.

“As long as you…”Jenna looked up from the table, “Did you hear that?”

“How can I not hear it. This thing is loud and I thought the alarms were annoying.” Lylith said her voice straining from the effort of keeping the cat-girl suspended with her powers still semi-dulled from the drugs.

“The noises she is making, there is definitely a pattern to it.” Jenna stood up and walked towards them. “I want to try something.”

“Can you hurry, I am losing control, the adrenaline is wearing off.” Lylith said through gritted teeth.

“Oh!” Jenna walked over to cat-girl and grasped her by the arms, just as Lylith’s control wavered and slipped. She carried the still yowling thing over to the gurney that had restraints attached to it. “ Do you mind? It’s not that I can’t keep her here indefinitely but I need my hands.”

Realizing what Jenna was asking Lylith buckled the straps on the bed and pulling them snug, she narrowly missed getting bit by the inch-and-a-half long fangs that cat-girl sported in her mouth. Cat-girl yowled louder when the last restraint was fastened. Jenna then walked over to the still cowering nurse bent down and picked up the scalpel that Lylith had dropped a few minutes before.

YEOWL

“Boo!” she said to the nurse who jumped and sobbed. Jenna chuckled under her breath.
Jenna then walked back to the lab table and checked on the beaker of liquid she working on earlier, which was now sitting on a heating plate, by sticking her finger into the boiling liquid. “Another twenty degrees.” She said to no one in particular.

YEOWL

She reminds me of a teacher I had in school.

Fascinating, she didn’t even flinch when she put her finger in the beaker. How is that possible?

Realizing that it was rhetorical question, Helena quieted her mind and simply watched Jenna work. She found a petri dish that was chipped. And held her right wrist over the dish and with her left hand neatly made an inch long incision into her arm. Lylith was disappointed to see only a couple drops of blood fall into the dish followed by a viscous metallic looking liquid, almost like mercury, ooze off her wrist.

“My, aren’t you full of surprises?” Lylith said raising an eyebrow.

“The only soft spot on my whole body, drives the little buggers crazy, they can’t seem to heal it fully so there’s always a high concentration of em there.” Jenna picked up the scalpel with her right hand and jabbed it into her left forearm. She held the scalpel up to Lylith and the blade was bent over. Lylith noticed the cut on her right arm was already closed.

YEOWL

Whoa!

Like I said fascinating.

“Besides, you’re one to talk,” Jenna continued. “Two different brain wave patterns in that little head of yours. I can’t be sure without the proper equipment, but I could swear you’re having a conversation with yourself.”

“I won’t tell your secret if you won’t tell mine.” Lylith said shrugging her shoulder and hold her hands up.

“Deal” Jenna said opening a drawer and pulling out a very large syringe and a much smaller one.

YEOWL

“What are you doing, if I may ask?”

“If I programmed them right, when I put this into your little pet they should access the speech center of her brain and make it so she can understand us.” She drew the “mercury” into the big syringe and tapped out any bubbles. “ I’m uncertain of her physiology so I don’t know if she’ll be able to speak. But before I do that I’m gonna take some of this and see if it turns the power back on for you.” She stuck her finger back in the beaker and removed it from the heat plate. She put the needle of the other syringe in the liquid and pulled the plunger all the way back filling the syringe. She stood up a stepped towards Lylith. Lylith grinned wickedly at the words “little pet”

YEOWL

“This is probably gonna burn like hell, but we don’t really have time to let it cool” she said as she stuck the needle into Lylith’s neck. There was a pinch of the needle puncturing her skin and a warm sensation in her neck that quickly dissipated.

OH GOD!

God has nothing to do with this.

Why didn’t that burn?

Because I started an incantation as soon as I realized that Jenna was planning on injecting boiling hot liquid into our veins. Haven’t you learned anything?

Flames surrounded Lylith’s hands as soon as Jenna removed the needle from her neck.

YEOWL

“Hey, careful now fire still hurts me!” Jenna exclaimed as she jumped back a foot. “That was fast.”

“Yes and no, another adrenaline rush. Rest assured you could shake my hand and not even get singed. It will only touch those that I will it too.” Lylith said lifting her hand and extinguishing the flame while closing her hand.

“That explains the spike I detected. Somebody in there got scared.” Jenna pointed to Lylith's head. She turned and picked up the other syringe and moved towards Cat-girl.

YEOWL

“Can you do something about that, Lyl? It’s very distracting this close.”

“Certainly.” Lylith raised her hand made a fist, cat-girl’s mouth snapped shut with a click. The yowling stopped and was replaced with deep guttural growls.

Jenna leaned over and just as she was about to stab cat-girls neck with the needle and stopped. She cursed at herself loudly.

“There you go again, Jenna. Too wrapped up in IF you can do something, you didn’t stop to think on whether or not you SHOULD do it. Or even more importantly, WHY.” Jenna looked up at Lylith.. “Breaking you out was an easy decision. I’m invulnerable not invincible. If someone hits me hard enough in the back of the head my brain is subject to the same jarring forces as anyone else’s. My little friends kinda go haywire when brain function is interrupted. Sure I’ll get back up in a couple minutes but I’ll have one hell of a headache. I need another set of eyes to make sure that doesn’t happen, yours. Tell me why I should waste my resources on your new pet.”

Lylith smiled at the word pet again. “It’s simple really. I am not as resilient as you. If I get injured it will take me days or even weeks to heal. This creature has the ability to heal that same damage in seconds, thus improving all of our odds of escaping.”

Jenna pondered this for a second, “Fair enough.” She looked down into cat-girls eyes. They were very feline and the color of polished gold. The pupils were large despite the light shining directly in to them. Fear rolled off her in sheets. She growled unable to open her mouth. Lylith stepped over to the bed and with her free hand stroked the little creature’s mane. It was soft and luxurious.

“It’s okay little kitty. No one is going to hurt you. Not anymore.” Lylith cooed

Cat-girl eyed the needle in Jenna’s hand suspiciously and growled. She winced when the needle punctured her skin. Her eyes clinched shut as Jenna depressed the plunger down.

“How long will it take?” Lylith asked, still petting her new prize. Not looking up she began to rub just behind one of the little triangle ears.

I didn’t think you were capable of anything that came close to compassion.

I am a very complicated individual, I like to take care of my things. Treat your pets nicely and they will die protecting you.

Is that all she is to you, is that all I am to you!?

Don’t be silly, given the choice of oblivion I am pleased that you were here to catch me.

“I am starting to receive a signal. That should be it.” Jenna stated as she looked at the strangely gentle scene taking place amidst chaos and destruction.

“It’s okay Little Kitty, I’m sorry for scaring you.” Lylith said in the most soothing voice, still caressing the velvet soft cat ears.

Cat-girls eyes opened and she began to purr loudly. Lylith opened her hand releasing the hold placed upon cat-girl’s mouth.

“Do you have a name?” Lylith said almost purring herself.

“I don’t think her body is capable of…”Jenna started to say and was interrupted.

“Ki……ar…..ra” the little black cat mouthed around the sounds of purring.

“I’m going to release you now. So we can all get out of here. My name is Lylith and that is Jenna. You are going to be good and no more biting right?”

Kiarra nodded and Lylith gestured, the straps holding Kiarra down popped open. Kiarra sat up, hopped off the table and began to rub her face against Lylith’s thigh.

“Well, now that that it taken care of shall we?” Lylith said gesturing towards the door.

They all stepped out in to the corridor and went the opposite direction from their cells. They moved quickly and in silence, Jenna in front, Lylith next followed very closely by Kiarra. Lylith watched, warily, ready to attack the first thing that made an aggressive move. It seemed that most of the people they passed were too caught up in there own fights to even notice two inmates and a little black cat-girl trot by them. They followed another inmate down a corridor and watched as he entered a room. They heard muffled conversation and what sounded like metal being hit and plastic shattered. Curious they peered around the doorframe to see another inmate standing there much like H.T. confident and informed. They also saw two men standing farther into the room. They were dressed in all black armor with domed shaped black helmets that made Lylith wonder how they could see. They both were carrying wicked looked assault rifles. No sign of the inmate that entered before them. Then they saw why, just behind the two men in black there was a gaping hole in the floor.

“Jenna, who are those armed men in the armor? Are they riot cops?” Lylith whispered.

“Not exactly, they are Soldiers of Arachnos, personal army and enforcers of Lord Recluse himself.” Jenna seemed to be figuring out a difficult math problem for a moment. “It kinda makes sense, the field going down, all the chaos, Recluse is up to something. I’ll bet you a million dollars he is on a recruiting drive.”

“Hey, yous over there, if you want a ride outta here you better hurry, the last Flyer is leaving soon.” The inmate said to the trio outside the room.

“That cinches it,” Jenna said walking into the room. “Come on guys, our limo waits.” She smiled, having solved the equation.

The trio moved passed the soldiers, who ignored them completely. They moved closer to hole and there was such a stench emanating from beneath the floor it could only mean one thing. Sewers. Lylith wrinkled her nose at the smell. Kiarra’s nose seemed to go into over drive trying to process all the new smells she was encountering. Jenna just grimaced and jumped into the hole, dropping into the green liquid with a splash. Lylith followed and quickly stepped on to one the walkways that were on either side of the river of filth. Kiarra looked into the hole for a second and deftly jumped down, landing on the walkway, never even touching the nasty water. After a brief scan they saw several solders standing near several large grates. They moved down the tunnel towards freedom.

Why didn’t you tell me about this Arachnos before

I honestly thought it was just an urban legend, I grew up in Paragon. I just thought it was a story told to little kids to make em behave.

I see, this Lord Recluse sounds most interesting.

“Jenna, you seem to know a lot about our benefactors. What can you tell me?” Lylith asked side stepping a lump that she couldn’t tell if it was a dead rat or a piece of excrement.

“Not much” she replied slogging through the muck, ”Arachnos has been around along time. They were based somewhere in Europe but when Lord Recluse took control they moved the majority of the operations to the Rouge Isles. I had some dealings with them when I still worked for Crey Industries. Never met the big man myself just showed some of my research to some of their scientists. I did my homework before the meeting, I hate being clueless when faced with any situation.”

They reached the solders and one of them told them where they should go to catch the transport. They climbed out of the drain pipe and found themselves outside. They were surrounded by high fences topped with razor wire. Obviously they weren’t free yet. They started to move through the yard towards the pick up zone. They saw more Arachnos troops and dozens of inmates running about the yard. About half way through the yard something struck Lylith in the head. She looked over to see another inmate bending down to pick up another rock. Before she could react Kiarra swung both her arms down and back up in large arc. Black smoky tendrils briefly surrounded the inmate and then streamed back towards Kiarra a faint green glow surrounded all three of her teammates. The sharp pain in Lylith’s temple ceased. Lylith smiled. Lylith held her hands up and fire shot from her hands like flares, her would be assailant burst into flames. Lylith then turned her hands palm up and put a little more power into the attack not only lifting him off the ground but causing the air to crush him at the same time. There was a very loud pop when his ribcage collapsed under the pressure. Seeing one of their own killed enraged the other inmates standing around him. They rushed the trio with murder in their eyes.

Oh the beautiful destruction!

Get them Lylith, they are trying to kill us.

It was a spectacular scene. Jenna was fighting hand to hand her fists slamming into the faces of the punks breaking bones with every swing. One inmate out flanked her and tried to get in a cheap kidney punch only to have his hand broken when it hit her backside. Jenna turned on him and dropped him with one punch to the face. To Lylith’s other side she could see Kiarra with cat like agility dodging the jailhouse knives. She was blasting away with blue bolts from her hands, the smell of ozone thick after every release, she paused occasionally to swing her arms in that same arc as before causing a green glow to surround all three of them. Lylith was getting more and more excited with every small amount of pain her partners and she inflicted. Helena was still scared but some of the excitement was seeping through the connection between Lylith and herself. She quickly would suspend one in the air causing the air to rush from his lungs and focus on another enemy setting his orange jumpsuit on fire. When the fight was over a few minutes later the score was the trio 12 the jailhouse punks 0. The other inmates gave them a wide berth as they trotted the rest of the way to the transport. They rounded a corner and they saw it. It was a huge black piece of technology that resembled a giant wasp. There was a solder standing in front of it.

“No one rides for free. You gotta prove you’re worthy of Lord Recluse’s mercy, to get a ride in my Flier,” said the solder.

“We really don’t have time for this do we, I mean this place is already crawling with Longbow. There has to be heroes coming soon” Jenna said clinching her fist.

“Don’t worry about the Capes, Arachnos is distracting them for the time being.”

“Let me handle this, Jenna” Lylith said as she moved closer to the pilot, pressing her body against his. She reached up and touched his cheek. “Tell us what we need to do.”

“Ahem,” the man cleared his throat,” I am missing one of my strike team. Private Jenkins was supposed to go into one of the control stations and plant a bomb. I can’t leave with out him or his corpse.” The pilot pointed to the door that led to the control room.

“We’ll be back in a jiffy.” Lylith winked at the now blushing solder.

They ran over to the door to find it unlocked. Inside it was well lit and clean. They could hear voices coming down the corridor.

“Alright you spider scum, tell us why Arachnos is here.”

That’s that same voice, the one that broke our nose

He sent us to this hole.

“If you think I’m just gonna give you the details about Project: Destiny…oops.”

Jenna slapped her own forehead with her palm.

This guy is an idiot!

They rounded a corner and saw a few men in red and white uniforms standing around another in an Arachnos uniform. They totally surprised the Longbow and Jenna and Kiarra quickly dispatched all of the Longbow save one.

“That one is mine!” Lylith told the others as she held the last one in mid-air.

“Wow, and I thought we were here to bust you out. Thanks for the save.” Jenkins said.

“Show them where to put that bomb, while I have a little discussion with my old friend here.” she told Jenkins.

The Arachnos trooper picked up his rifle from the floor and motioned the others to follow them. Lylith turned all her attention to the Longbow she had floating in the air.

“Do you remember me?” she said throatily into the motionless man’s face.

“Like I said, a waste,” said the sergeant recognizing his captor “ You could’ve done some real good for this city, Lil’ Lady, Maybe even the world.”

DON”T CALL ME THAT!!!

Helena wrested control of her body from Lylith, and slammed her palm into his face. She set his skin ablaze and held her hand there while the fluid in his eyes boiled and caused his eyes to explode. She ignored his screams as the intense heat literally fried his brain. He collapsed to the floor and she stood over his body, panting from the effort.

You will all, one day, call me Mistress! And evil laughter echoed in her head like thunder.

They returned to the Flier with Jenkins and boarded. It wasn’t long before they were airborne and flying towards Mercy Island.

“There is someone who has been expecting you three waiting for us when we land” the pilot said over the intercom. “Her name is Kalinda.”

It wasn’t a long flight but it wasn’t a short one either. They landed and disembarked standing before them was a woman in a skin tight red body suit with black markings on it.

“Right on time,” she said from inside her helmet. “My name is Kalinda, you are of course Jenna Jackson, Kiarra, and the Lady Lylith. I have seen you in my visions, there are great things in store for all of you” Helena was sure she meant her speech for all three but was also certain that the woman’s eyes were fixed on her beneath the blood red helmet. Lylith’s maniacal laughter had not stopped ringing in her head since she had killed the Longbow. Not because it was Helena that had actually killed him, it was because Helena had enjoyed it.

To be continued…

---