Chapter 7 - Domain
October 5th, 10:00 a.m., all times are rough approximations
Buddies workouts were always a blast for Zane and Luna, especially when they got stronger. And as two very powerful angelic Planeswalkers, they always got stronger. But this time, it wasn't training for fun.
Zane ran around the quarter-mile track that formed the circumference of the football field at his old high school, his Gryffindor sweatpants and t-shirt whipping around his lean yet strong frame as he made lap after lap at record time, managing to bypass the average vehicle speed in a city environment. Jack timed him as Luna looked over at the watch repeatedly with excitement and anxiety.
"What's the time? What's the time!?" Luna asked, bouncing on her tiptoes, her hair bouncing along with her…among other things.
"Oh, my God!" Jack yelled back. "Will you relax?"
Zane came to a stop and then ran to over to them. "What's the time? What's the time!?"
"Yeah, no one can argue that you two are related," Jack replied.
Zane and Luna both roll their eyes.
"Two and half minutes for one mile. You are twice as fast as Usain Bolt," Jack summarized.
Luna whooped. But Zane didn't look excited.
"What's wrong?" Luna asked.
"Tibalt can cover ten meters in an eighth of a second," Zane explained. "I checked the math. That's twenty seconds to run a mile at his top speed."
"As a wolf," Luna countered. "But yeah, that's still a lot."
"You will basically double in speed when you transform in like how many days?" Jack asked.
"Roughly nine and a half hours," Luna answered in a matter of fact tone.
"Oh shit," Jack realized. "Yeah, you need to train more."
Zane gave him a sarcastic smile. "And worst of all, I still can't beat him on my own."
"What?" Luna shot back. "But last time, you beat him…"
"With my angel and your help," Zane countered. "Time before that, I had Mary. Before that…well…"
"That bites," Jack replied, then pulled out his phone and a pair of headphones out of his jacket pocket. "Can I go back to my games now?"
"No! We brought you here to help us," Luna bossed Jack and turned to Zane. "If you need to beat him on your own so bad, then we train to get you faster."
"Right," Zane agreed. "But what about you?"
"What about me?" Luna asked.
"I just noticed a few things lately," Zane replied. "I know you're Hexproof and all, but that only works if you're on your guard or blocking a single hit at a time. Widespread blasts bypass your defenses."
"So, what? Should I learn better defenses?" Luna inquired.
"Actually, what if you learn a strong offense to launch a preemptive strike before their move?" Jack offered.
"Exactly, like I got a lot of fire and blasts and stuff. Plus, I can breathe fire," Zane explained.
"Yeah, I don't have the tempered throat and lungs needed to do that," Luna replied. "Or did you forget that I didn't spend my entire childhood screaming fireballs at people?"
"Okay, smartass, you did spend it chewing ice," Zane shot back. "So, take this."
Zane pulled a card out of his pocket and tossed it to Luna.
(See card: Icy Blast)
Luna looked at it with a healthy dose of initial skepticism, but then realized…
"This could be fun," Luna smiled.
Zane held out his hand and released four blasts of light that hit the ground. Each place the light touched gave birth to a small, metal, bipedal creature.
(See card: Master's Call)
"Myr Tokens?" Jack asked. "Wouldn't Thopters be more useful in a fight?"
"Myrs are good for starting out. You're not trying to use Icy Blast to destroy them, but to subdue them. In a fight, you may destroy the target after freezing them solid in a way much more effective than Ice Cage," Zane replied. "Besides, Thopters are Mary's shtick. Anyways, ready?"
Zane and Jack cleared out of the way. Luna stretched a bit and took a few deep breaths.
"Focus the power from your belly and lungs," Zane instructed.
Luna thought hard about the mana flowing from the sun and the nearby river that neighbored the school, white and blue mana that flowed in towards her, up her feet and legs, through her spine and into her core, welled up in her chest and…POOF!
She had pulled back and puffed her cheeks out to the max, reddening them in the process, and then released only to produce a small flurry. She stomped in an impatient frustration that was much more characteristic of her brother.
"This might take a while," Jack summed up, attempting to pull out his phone and headphones in the process. Zane immediately confiscated them. Jack hung his head in disappointment and sniffed.
Theme Song (Youtube music: Fairy Tail - Opening Theme 8)
I. Chotto yogoreta SUUTSUKEESU wo motte
Nani mo shirazu ni sora kara orita
Chizu no mukou, koko ni sanjou
Yume ni mita akogare no basho
Yea Yea Yea (Yea Yea Yea)
The Rock City Boy (The Rock City Boy)
Yea Yea Yea (Yea Yea Yea)
The Rock City Boy (The Rock City Boy)
Oh baby JANJAN kabe norikoeyou with my guitar
Todoku made oh yeah utaou Just music sore dake de
Kimi ni sasageru yo oh yeah
MAJI de kyoutsuuten no hou ga ooi nchau no? with my guitar
Sagashinagara yea utaou, just love tada sore dake de,
Oikake get free?! My perfect dream!
Yea Yea Yea
The Rock City Boy (boy boy boy)
Ne teru toki mo
Oki teru toki mo
Yume wo mikata ni shiyo yo Yea
II. Along with a little dirty suitcase,
I descended from the sky.
Across the map, it called me here,
the place I've longed and dreamed for.
yea yea yea, The Rock City Boy!
yea yea yea, The Rock City Boy!
Oh baby, strum strum, I'll overcome the walls with my guitar.
Reaching far, oh yeah, I'll sing.
Just music, that's all,
I dedicate it to you, yeah.
Seriously, don't we have so much in common? With my guitar,
let's search, yeah, and sing.
Just love, only just that,
chasing to be free!? My perfect dream.
yea yea yea The Rock City Boy (boy boy boy)
When I'm sleeping, when I'm awake, I support my dreams.
I wanna believe the singing on beat,
most recently is like recess for me.
Pretty pretty please, no birds and the bees,
but ecstasy with extra cheese.
Rhyming rhino sounding like bono,
all smacked up with a black jack bottle.
When I say "ho", you say "hey"
You don't understand what I'm saying, huh?
III. Team shot
Superimposed shots of members
Logo
Montague's castle
Zane vs. Tibalt
Luna vs. Tamara
Mac and Hannah run from baddies
Becky vs. baddies
Mary and her Thopters
Jack vs. Montague
Montague rages with power
Montague's demon
Zane, Luna, and Jack, ready to fight
Allies
Zane and Luna fly down with angel wings
Battle scenes.
Team shot
Logo
(Youtube music: Fairy Tail - Magic Council Theme)
In the dead center of the most thriving business area of town, located at the cusp of the coastal area and downtown and spitting distance from where Tibalt tried to raise Sathares, a meeting was taking place in City Hall.
"Nothing!" a well-seasoned politician raged. "The military, police, any medical or fire rescue squads could do nothing!"
"Councilman Cletus!" Calibos Soul pleaded. "Please! I assure you! We had help down there! A PSMP agent, my own daughter, Mary Orfilia Soul, was down there!"
"Her and at least six other unidentified people," Cletus countered. "And aside from the name you've just provided us, there is only one other name that we have. Azrience."
Calibos grimaced and cracked his knuckles at the mention of this name.
"Commissioner Soul," Cletus continued. "You've had two chances already. Your massive space station looks over the entire planet and yet, many unexplainable incidents that fall into your supposed jurisdiction go unsolved. Like that incident involved that destroyed cards and comics store. Plus the streets around the store. And then there was the Home Depot sinkhole. And the carnival. And then this. People now know this magical stuff exists, Soul. Your pathetic organization in on its last legs. But I'll give you one more chance. Tonight, I will draft a bill that will disband the Planar-Spatial Magical Police if you have one more failure. All in favor?"
Almost all of the councilmen and women had their hands raised. Calibos sighed.
"Fair enough," Calibos conceded. "Your generosity is appreciated."
Cletus looks into Calibos' lightless eyes and plastic expression. Calibos looked too calm.
"Meeting adjourned," Cletus growled.
Corbin Cletus finally managed to get home and drudged into his darkened room.
"Sorry, I'm late, dear," Cletus groaned. "I hate early morning council meetings, but I took the rest of the day off and now, we can…huh?"
Cletus looked around to see his wife's silhouette, propped up on a couch and evident only through the light streaming into the room through the space between the closed blinds.
Suddenly, the blinds swished open by their remote control, casting a strong and direct stream of light into the center of the room, doing very little to illuminate the room. Cletus' wife sat there, looking like a doll, dead-eyed and still. Suddenly, her head rolled off!
"Matilda! What-?"
(Youtube music: Fortress of Seduction)
"Sorry, Councilman, but she was really bugging me in my downtime," a female voice came from the bed.
Cletus glanced over there to see a pair of tan legs lying on the bed, revealed by the light entering the room. The lady curled her legs in and got off the bed. She began walking towards Cletus.
"She gave me all this bullshit about 'breaking and entering' this and 'calling the cops' that. Honestly, I just wanted to freshen up for you, sweetie. So I showered and used your whirlpool tub, too. Oh, and I killed your wife. She was being stupid."
"You…you…what are you…?" Cletus stammered.
"Tamara Titus," she replied. "Calibos Soul sends his regards."
"What!? That bastard!" He grabbed his phone and began dialing. "Just wait till I call the cops and-ACK!"
Before he could press the call button, claw-shaped vines pierced his designer suit. Pressure like something ramming into his body all concentrated on that one raced through his nerves. Once he realized what had happened, and the pain began, it was too late. Councilman Corbin Cletus fell to the floor.
(See card: Claws of Wirewood)
Tamara pulled her nails in and stared at Cletus apathetically. Tamara looked at the married couple in a curious manner, but then decided, "Too old for me."
Washing the blood off her nails and sadistically placing Mrs. Cletus' head back on her body, she grinned like a disturbed child in a room full of small insects and lizards that were unable to move. She donned her clothes back on, choosing to wear a black leather skirt instead of her usual jeans today, then walked off. Before she knew it, as if by working her way through the shadows, she was walking through the crypt of her overlord and superior.
"My lord," Tamara bowed before her master. Nicol Bolas made a low growl. It wasn't an angry growl. It was a tolerant one.
Tamara rose and turned to face another being in the cave. The tall and pale figure of Calibos Soul, resting by the entrance, hidden in the shadows but still apparent.
"I cleaned up your goddamn mess today, Calibos," Tamara shot at him. "Do me a fucking favor and actually do some shit so it looks like your high and mighty position in law enforcement looks somewhat necessary to the meaty idiots up there."
Calibos chuckles through a closed mouth. "Tamara, dear me. Please tell me you don't kiss your victims with that mouth. I have the perfect set-up for what I'm planning. Corbin Cletus was but a speed bump. I just needed to make sure I still had my resources until…oh…the last week of the month…ish."
"What's happening then?" Tamara asked.
"Hehehe…stuff…," Calibos chuckled. He looked over at Bolas, bowed, and left.
Tamara made to follow him out. "You little…"
"Tamara," Bolas growled. "Cease."
(Youtube music: Dragon King)
(See card: Constricting Tendrils)
Suddenly, blue tendrils of energy swirled out of the ground and grabbed her, swirling around her and grabbing her. The tendrils worked around her joints and major body parts, her ankles, knees, pelvis, her stomach, much of her chest, shoulders, elbows, wrists, neck, and mouth, gagging her. The tendrils pulled her back and up to Bolas' chest height. Her eyes filled with tears as her heart rate shot through the roof as she came up to the ornate, golden, armor-like scales of her master. His calculating and ancient gaze pierced into her mind as his cruel green eyes searched over her terrified green ones. At this height and proximity, she could make out the pattern of his horns, see the swirl of colors in the floating gem in between those horns, and count every razor-sharp serrated tooth sticking out of that sarcastic smile.
Is that a smile? Do dragons smile? Why am I thinking about this right now!? Tamara's mind rushed.
"Tamara Titus, my willing slave," Bolas growled. "Do you not realize what a grand position you're in? Tibalt is out-of-commission since being defeated by Zane Hunter. Calibos is busy deluding himself. And Montague…"
Both Bolas and Tamara looked to her right to see Montague laying on a rock, snoring.
"…is Montague," Bolas concluded. "And the other three are in their place. But you are special. Able-bodied and compliant. So here's what you will do. Find a domain. Stake your claim. Prepare the sacrifices. And release it."
Tamara's tear-and-fear-filled eyes widened to a diameter seemingly beyond normal human ability.
The tendrils disappeared and Tamara fell. She shot out her vines and managed to slow her fall, landing on her feet, but she lost her balance and collapsed on the floor.
"Master, what if I don't complete the sacrifice?" she sobbed. "What if I can't summon it in time and…"
"Then use yourself," Bolas chuckled. "You're a hormonal being made of soft flesh. You'll do. Now leave."
Tamara got up, cleaned off her face, and bowed to Bolas. Then she left. She was thinking too much. Fearing too much. This is what she signed up for. This was Bolas' deal. Her life for her service. But what if her service led to her death?
She shook the thought out of her head. Before she knew it, she was out of the crypt the same way she had entered. She was now in an alleyway, still thinking too much. Suddenly, voices distracted her. She came to a stop.
(Youtube music: Fortress of Seduction)
"Hey, lady, you going somewhere nice?" a guy asked. "Mind if I come?"
"You like white hair, bro?" another voice asked.
"Hells yeah, platinum blonde with legs as long as days? Why not?"
Tamara smiled and looked back at them with a malevolently pleased look on her face.
"Uh," one of the guys realized the mistake. "Sorry, I wasn't trying to be a creep. I just…"
POW! Tamara's arm stretched out and collided with the guy's face, sandwiching it in-between a brick wall and her own fist. His head exploded, spraying blood in every direction.
(See card: Savage Punch)
"What the hell?" his friend screamed. But Tamara grabbed him by the neck with her stretchy arm and lifted him up.
"Tell me, oh stupid pervert," Tamara mused. "What place in this city would you say has the most attractive people in it at any given time? A big place with lots of rooms and water and life?"
"I dunno! Maybe the mall!" the man practically screamed. "No, wait! The community college is huge! And it has a pool!"
"Lovely…," Tamara cooed. Then, she opened her mouth and lunged. The poor guy could only scream and even that was reduced to bloody squelching.
Tamara cleaned up and walked to Arcane Community College. Walking in, she scoped out the people.
"Wow, lots of pretty people. I like pretty flesh," she mused, touching the walls and layering spells into the building.
(See card: Wild Instincts)
She walked all the way to the pool. She stripped off her clothes and tossed them off with little regard. She jumped into the pool and began exuding a dark aura. The water began boiling. As multiple spells were cast, vines grew out of the pool and quickly took over. Within minutes the vines grew over the whole college. People tried to run in panic but…
(See card: Reclaiming Vines)
(See card: One with Nature)
(See card: Primeval Bounty)
(See card: Seek the Wilds)
(See card: Abundant Growth)
(See card: Sprouting Vines)
"None of the rooms make any sense!" a man yelled. "The lunchroom is over here and the quad is…where's the quad!?"
Reforming the whole college by moving rooms, Tamara managed to confuse and frighten all the people.
"Raging hormones," she sighed. "Delicious raging hormones!"
Unbeknownst to Tamara, Sam Claus stood at the top floor, surveying the area.
He searched the place up and down, using all his senses barring his taste to check everything.
"Big pile of coal for you…," he mused.
He heard a screeching and turned around to see a dark shadow leap at him.
(See card: Graverobber Spider)
(Youtube music: Wizards in Winter - Trans-Siberian Orchestra)
Jumping back and back further with the agility of a much younger man, he parried the shadowy creature's swipes with his own punches until it had him cornered.
"You know, I always tell my kids one simple thing," Sam calmly told the spider. "It doesn't matter who starts a fight, but you always should be the one to end it."
Sam released a massive green blob to surround the spider and both the ooze and the spider disintegrated and sank into the ground.
(See card: Yule Ooze)
"Well, looks like I might need help after all," he smiled. "Now…I wonder how the kids are doing…"
12:30 p.m.
Two and a half hours of huffing and puffing and Luna had reduced a goalpost, most of the track, half the football field, Zane's left arm, and all but Jack's head and left leg to popsicles. Basically, everything except the myrs.
Luna plopped on the ground, out of breath and very red-faced. Zane smashed the ice on his arm against a goalpost to crack it open and free himself.
"Okay, enough on power. You built up enough power," Zane concluded. "Let's work on aim."
Jack waddled to the goalpost and began clanging it to gradually free himself.
Luna sighed. "You know, you're asking me to do what you can do after twenty or so years of practice. I was a newborn when you started learning magic."
"Yeah, but I could breathe fire day one," Zane explained as Jack continued to clang away. "I'm just asking you to get started. And maybe not turn the school into a walk-in freezer."
"You're hilarious," Luna rolled her eyes.
"I know," Zane quipped back. "Now let's measure that power. Your cold and my heat. Bring it."
Luna had a second of doubt in her mind, but figured it could only help to test her power. She stood up and prepared herself. Her brother never held back when they sparred as kids. She knew the power he held. He could beat an army.
At the same time, he knew she could be ruthless and competitive her own right. She had once dislocated his shoulder in a fight. Of course, she had spent the whole night in the hospital and a good chunk of the morning after profusely apologizing, but he knew to never his guard down around her.
Zane exhaled pressurized steam from his nostrils. Luna exhaled a swift burst of condensation from her nostrils. Zane opened his mouth wide in an almost animalistic way as Luna puffed out her cheeks. Both of them inhaled and prepared to release their respective elemental blasts…
(See card: Fireball)
Luna's phone went off, causing both of them to falter and spray spit into the air.
"Seriously!?" Zane yelled, wiping his mouth.
Luna looked at her phone and sighed, "Dad…"
She accepted the call. "Hey, Daddy. Wait, what? ARC? The whole place!? Yeah, we'll be there! Jack, stop clanging! No…I…just please don't engage the enemy! I think I know who's behind this! No, promise me you won't engage the enemy! Okay, thanks! Give us a moment. We'll get there! Bye."
"What happened?" Zane asked.
"Let's go!" Luna demanded. "I'll explain on the way! We need to get the others! Dad's in trouble! People are in trouble!"
"Are you sure we can't just spend a bit more time? I just wanna see how we stack up in power against each other!" Zane complained, amidst more clanging.
Luna is about to counter when they hear a crunching sound. They look around to see that Jack had broken the goalpost with his clanging. On the bright side, he was completely defrosted.
"I didn't do it," Jack quickly straightened up.
The goalpost came down with a massive clang.
"Let's go!" Zane yelled and the three of them hauled ass.
1:15 p.m.
After getting the rest of the team, the Hands of Heaven arrived at the community college in Fleety.
(See card: Fleetwheel Cruiser)
Getting out of the car, they gave the place a once-over.
"Whoa," Mary summed up. "It's like Jumanji on crack."
"Tamara is strong," Hannah observed. "And it seems like the Hell Brigade has no respect for property."
"Sounds like three more people I know," Becky shot a look at Zane, Luna, and Jack, who started looking in different directions and whistling.
Mac walked over to them, decked out in an infrared visor, headphones, and a harness that held levers and mechanical arms, each with a small screen on them. Checking something on his center screen, he wandered over the team and then looked up.
"Holy shit! What happened!?" he exclaimed.
"Welcome to the land of the aware," Becky droned.
"All right, let's go," Zane commanded.
"Are you sure?" Mary asked him.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Zane replied.
"Because it's less than six and a half hours till the full moon," Luna replied.
"Six and a half hours till you try and kill everyone in sight," Jack summed up.
"Hey, we'll be fine," Zane held his hands up in an attempt at reassurance. "We get in, find Tamara, fillet the sexy bitch, get home in time to lock me in a cage designed to torture and kill me, sound good?"
Zane walked on.
"If we don't die during this fiasco, I'll punch his nads off," Becky droned.
The team entered the building, ready to fight.
Deep inside the maze of vines, mud, and water, a nervous-looking couple find themselves lost.
"Jeremy, the exit can't be this way because everything got switched around!" the small, nervous girl exclaimed.
"I'm telling ya, Brit. Even if it's messed up, there's still gotta be some organization. The rooms can't travel that far because they're all still connected. C'mon, you're not scared, are ya?"
"Aren't you?" she hissed.
"Yeah…but I gotta stay calm. The military really shoved that into me. I gotta stay calm because you're dependent on me."
Britney smiled at him and hugged him. They looked at each other and kissed…which of course, turned into a make-out session. As they began getting more and more passionate, they began taking off clothes and laying down in the vines and mud, and they're love consumed them, making them unaware of the vines wrapping around their bodies, until…
(See card: Entangling Vines)
(Youtube music: Fortress of Seduction)
"Cute," a voice cooed. "But very, very stupid. I could smell your lust from miles away."
"Who the hell are you!?" Jeremy yelled.
Tamara descended from the vines covering the ceiling, upside-down and naked.
"The apex predator," Tamara announced and lunged at the now screaming couple with a long, lashing tongue and a mouth full of fangs.
(See card: Prey Upon)
(See card: Venomous Fangs)
2:00 p.m.
"What was that?" Zane asked.
"What was what?" Jack asked back.
"Did someone scream?" Zane asked right back.
Everyone looked around and shrugged. They had been walking around aimlessly for the past half-hour and found nothing but vines. They had just entered a large room with pillars and what looked like the remains of many double-doors.
"Weird…," Zane whispered.
"The fact that someone screamed?" Mary inquired. "It makes sense that you'd hear it. Your senses and all."
"Plus, with the full moon less than six hours away, you'd be getting rather good with your wolfy powers," Mac summed up.
"Making any headway there, Bill Gates?" Jack asked Mac, who was typing away.
"Ha-ha," Mac replied. "If you must ask, I am creating a map of the area we've covered so far. With the entire college restructured and whatnot, I figured it was best to create a visual display of our progress for obvious reasons."
"How are you gonna handle that, Mr. Visual Display?" Becky pointed to the hallway they had just entered. Everyone looked to see vines cover the doorway and make it utterly unrecognizable as an exit.
"Uh…heh…maybe, it's just temporary…?" Mac gulped.
"It's okay," Hannah rubbed Mac's shoulder who looked both disappointed and thankful. "I'm sure this is useful."
"Zane, use your nose," Luna recommended. "Maybe we can find some clues."
Zane sniffed around, rotating as he checked. "Aside the mud, vines, weird swamp water smell, and of course, the profuse smell of dead plants and shit, I can smell a lot of living things, mostly this sickly, sweet, gross smell of something…"
He stopped rotating and looked up and slowly craned his neck down as he spoke. "…with long legs, bright green eyes, glowing with energy, and deadly shiny, with fangs and venom."
Everyone went on their guard.
"How do you know all that?" Mary asked.
"It's right behind you," Zane concluded.
Everyone flipped around to see a massive black spider glowing with venomous green accents descending from the ceiling, clacking the massive sharp pincers on its mouth. The spider screeched at them and they screamed, but no one screamed harder and longer than Luna, who immediately went into rage-on battle mode and froze the damn thing solid.
(See card: Blightwidow)
(See card: Rush of Ice)
"What the-?" Hannah started, staring at Luna's complete one-eighty in personality.
"Arachnophobia strikes again," Jack explains.
"Arachnophobia, thy name is Luna Kay Howell," Zane groaned. "And it gets worse. Just watch."
Luna used her control over ice to repeatedly lift the frozen spider up and slam it into the ground over and over again.
"DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!" she screamed, gaining a manic look her face and sending her long hair flying everywhere.
Becky pointed at her with two thumbs and gave Zane and Jack a questioning look. They both just shrugged.
Then Luna suddenly stopped. The spider lay dead with what could only be understood as an expression of shock and confusion on its otherwise dead face.
She recomposed herself, quickly straightened her hair out, put a big smile on her cute face, walked triumphantly back to her team, and summed up, "I hate spiders."
Zane gave her a thumbs-up.
"What room are we in?" Hannah asked.
Mary walked over to the walls and started checking them until she found it. She moved the vines around to uncover a sign that started: MAXIMUM OCCUPANCY 220 PEOPLE.
"Cafeteria?" Mary offered.
"Cafeteria," Zane confirmed.
"The map lives!" Mac screamed.
Everyone else sighed.
2:25
A pair of ladies ran through the halls of some unknown area of the school and found themselves completely lost.
As they breathed hard and looked around, one of them fell to the ground and grabbed her head. Her friend ran over to her and kneeled to her level.
"What if we don't make it, Barb?" she whispered. "What if all those things that are making people scream around us get us?"
"Nothing will get us, Trish!" Barb tried to console her. "We're walking to the exit and when we do, we'll go and get the police, the army, the fucking coast guard if we have to, okay?"
(Youtube music: Fortress of Seduction)
Trish nodded. Barb stood up and immediately regretted her words as Tamara was right in front of her, hanging upside from the ceiling. Barb barely had the time to open her mouth to scream as Tamara shoved a long, snaking tongue into her mouth, grabbed her by the shoulders, and pulled her up into the vines covering the ceiling. Trish screamed as she stood up and tried to run, but Tamara descended, pivoting around a terrified Trish from the ceiling.
Tamara then dropped down and stood up, keeping her eyes upon Trish. Trish breathed hard, on the verge of a panic attack. She tried to put an inhaler to her mouth, but Tamara's tongue got there first.
Her scream echoed as her blood splattered the vines on the walls.
2:45
Following the sound of the screaming, the team ran into another room.
"Nothing makes sense," Luna sighed. "If the rooms and walls keep changing, we could be on the other side of the college and not even know."
"What if even Tamara doesn't know what's what?" Jack asked. "If we can just find a system that works…"
"Zane's nose could be that system," Hannah offered.
"Zane…?" Mary wondered, concerned. Everyone turned to look to see Zane clutching his ribs.
Everyone checked their phones/watches to determine two things.
"No reception," Becky summed up. "And less than five hours away."
(Youtube music: Crawlspace)
"Zane?" Mary made to touch Zane's arm, but Zane suddenly roared. It was a human roar but it made everyone jump nonetheless. Zane breathed and growled and suddenly ran off.
"I think our system just bailed," Jack observed.
"He's losing it!" Luna yelled. "Mary, please! We can't go alone in this place! It's like a bad horror movie!"
Mary nodded and ran after him to match his speed.
(See card: Accelerate)
"I'll come too!" Hannah exclaimed. She ran off, copying Mary's spell.
(See card: Reverberate)
"If you're going, take me, too, Hannah!" Mac followed them at a much slower pace.
"Three and three for each group," Jack explained. "And they get the monster!"
This earned him a well-aimed punch from Luna. "My brother is not a monster! He's just…"
"Fucked in the head?" Becky offered.
"Never mind," Luna mumbled.
"Where are we?" Becky asked.
"Gym?" Jack offered, pointed at what looked like broken basketball hoop lying on the ground and covered in vines.
"Do gyms normally have a massive net on the ceiling?" Becky asked, looking up.
Everyone looked up to see not a net, but a web. Suddenly, a massive spider with a bulging abdomen descended and hit the ground with a barely a small thud. It screeched.
(See card: Arachnus Spider)
Luna growled and went to attack, but the spider was faster. It shot a quick spray of webbing at her, trapping her.
(See card: Arachnus Web)
"Luna!" Jack yelled.
The spider started pulling a screaming Luna towards itself when Jack decided to grow to a massive size, towering over the spider.
Becky released a swirling deluge of water and washed the spider up, sending it careening towards Jack who punched it out and broke every important part it had in one strike. It ricocheted off a wall and lay there, quivering until it died.
(See card: Hydrosurge)
(See card: Giant Growth)
Jack shrank back to normal size and ran over to comfort a shivering Luna.
"As soon as we can, we need to go," Becky advised.
"I'm okay, I'm okay," Luna hugged Jack back and got up, putting her hands on his arm and face to reassure him.
Suddenly, a couple of guys burst onto the scene carrying bats.
"Who are you!?" one of them yelled.
"We're not gonna hurt you!" Luna yelled back.
"Ha! We're the ones carrying bats!" the other guy yelled. "And you're just two girls and one non-girl!"
"Oh, good," Becky droned. "They're intelligent."
"Hey, listen, assholes!" Jack commanded. "We're here to help people, so put the bats down unless you wanna see how the military teaches us to sodomize prisoners of war with sports equipment!"
The two idiots put the bats down and backed off.
"Did the military really teach you that?" Luna whispered.
"No, but I figured they didn't know that," Jack answered.
Luna and Becky facepalmed.
3:15 p.m.
Zane, Mary, and Hannah ran into a room. Zane nervously sniffed around and roared.
"What is wrong with you!?" Mary yelled.
"He's about to transform into a homicidal raging man-beast," Hannah reminded her. "Duh."
"Thanks for the blatancy, Hannah," Mary sighed.
Mac ran in, weighed down by his equipment and out of breath.
"That…was…more…running…than I…needed," Mac gasped.
"How can you be so skinny and so out-of-shape at the same time?" Mary asked, shaking her head.
Mac shrugged.
Zane sniffed around.
"It's all that blood and forestry and that awful smell…wait!" Zane yelled. Then he shoved his face into the swamp water around them and spat it out.
"EW!" the other three exclaimed.
"Wolfsbane! And blood…but wolfsbane!" Zane realized. "It's not just the full moon approaching. Tamara's laced the water and probably added spells to the building to fuck with me. I'm…I'm…compromised…"
Mary put her hands on Zane's shoulders and began rubbing them. "Hey, it's okay. We're here to help."
"If it's wolfsbane," Mac wondered. "How are you not vomiting?"
"Hmmm," Zane thought for a second. "Oh! It worked! Luna's experiment worked! I'm immune!"
"Wow, so you can ingest all the wolfsbane you want?" Hannah asked.
"I don't know about all that I want," Zane replied.
"Let's not test that right here," Mary advised. "I don't want you to die."
"Thanks, I…," Zane started but suddenly tensed up.
"What?" Mary asked.
"Something's coming, something familiar…"
Zane stood up. Everyone got ready to fight. Out of the entrance opposite to the one, there came a creature the size of a very large dog with brown fur spotted with white and large golden antlers and curious look in its eyes.
(See card: Golden Hind)
"It's a deer," Mac observed.
"It's a reindeer," Zane corrected.
"A Golden Hind," Hannah specified.
"Santa?" Mary gasped.
Sam Claus came up behind the hind and waved to all. Everyone sighed loudly.
"Yeah, hello to you, too," Sam sighed right back.
"Sorry, just we've been really tense," Zane explained.
"I know, you got four hours left," Sam waved it off.
"You know?" Hannah asked.
"Course! I'm Santa. It's my job to know about you all," Sam explained. "Don't worry, I'm not a stalker. Just a really engaged guidance counselor."
Everyone nodded in understanding.
"By the way, the water is smelly and not swamp-smelly, according to my deer," Sam pointed down.
"Yeah, that's wolfsbane," Zane replied. "But thanks to Luna, I'm immune. We've been trying new stuff with wolfsbane. I'm up to a full plate of purple pasta Alfredo now. Alfredo no-puke-o."
Sam gave him a thumbs-up.
"Hey, can we use the hind to send a message to Luna and the others to tell em we're okay?" Hannah asked. "I just tried to use Becky's telepathy link but I think something around this place is interfering with it."
"Yeah, sure," Sam replied. "Just need a piece of paper."
"I got paper," Mac offered. "I'm always prepared with technology!"
"Please tell me one of those things you got around you isn't a printer," Mary sighed.
"Okay, I won't tell you," Mac replied.
Everyone but Mac facepalmed.
3:45 p.m.
Luna's group of five people and three brains moved cautiously through the maze of vegetation.
"How are we gonna get out?" one of the guys whined.
"Maybe these guys know something we don't," the other dude offered.
"Oh, we know plenty of things you don't," Becky mused.
"Wow, mean much?" the first guy muttered.
Suddenly, the Golden Hind appeared from the other end of the hallway with a piece of paper attached to its left horn.
"Hey, it's dad's reindeer!" Luna jumped into action and ran to it.
"Dad's what?" the second guy asked.
"Who just has a reindeer?" the first guy wondered.
Luna took the note. "It says: 'found dad. water has wolfsbane, Mithridatism is a success, immunity is on!' Yes! It worked! Going on with the note. 'Coming back to you. See you soon. Love, Zane.'"
"Metha-wha…?" the second guy wondered on.
"What the hell…?" the first guy was just as lost.
"We need to get these guys outta here," Becky impatiently announced. "And I am not going with them."
"Jack, make a hole," Luna bossed.
Jack shrugged and punch a hole in the wall.
Luna sent a wave of ice over it.
(See card: Rush of Ice)
"How did you…?" the first guy asked as they looked into the hole. Jack shoved them both in, sending them screaming down a slide.
"Stay together!" Luna yelled.
"What if that takes them elsewhere and not out?" Becky asked.
"They'll still be together," Luna smiled. "Golden Hind, show them out please."
The hind nodded and went after the guys.
"Cute," Becky nodded and walked on.
They walked on until they heard something.
"Is someone…crying?" Jack asked.
They walked on and into another large room to see their team members and Luna's father. Mac was on his knees crying.
"MY MAP IS USELESS!" Mac cried. "TECHNOLOGY, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME!?"
Hannah walked over to him and patted his head. "There, there…"
"Oh, hey," Zane greeted his team as they walked in. Luna ran and hugged her dad.
"I'm so happy you're all okay," she said. Then she hugged Zane. Hugs went all around through the team. Mary hugged Sam twice.
"Mmmm…cookies…," she sniffed.
Mac got up, regained his composure, and stood proudly.
"I will not give up!" he announced. "I will see us through and win! After all, I'm Mac Lee Oster, colorless defender mage extraordinaire! HAHAHAHA!"
He leaned on the wall and it gave away. He went screaming.
"Mac!" Hannah exclaimed.
"I think he wrecked the integrity of the building!" Jack realized.
Suddenly, the ground shook…and gave away. They all screamed as they fell…only to be caught by a system of slippery vines. They began sliding around at ridiculously fast speeds.
(See card: Root Maze)
Around and around they went. Zane thought it couldn't worse until he noticed he was racing towards an icy area of the vines.
"What the-?" he started to exclaim but his junk rammed the edge of ice at top speed. He made on the ice but with painful consequences.
"Ow, my precious wolf balls…," he squeaked.
"I'm so sorry!" Luna cried out.
Suddenly, they were all deposited off and fell into a giant field of mud with a series of splats.
(See card: Quicksand)
"This may have been my fault…," Mac groaned.
"Ya think?" Mary groaned right back.
Zane, face-down in the mud, just flipped him off.
Becky tried to release water, but it just mixed with the mud. Jack tried to punch his way out but to no avail. Luna froze the area she was already butt-deep in but the ice started sinking.
"Good-bye, cruel world," Hannah groaned.
"Why do I feel so weak?" Jack asked.
"Because it's not just a Quicksand spell," Sam explained. "It's a Lignify spell. We're gonna be feeling like trees soon enough."
(See card: Lignify)
"I can't feel my legs already," Becky realized.
Down and down they sank into the muddy abyss. Black covered their eyes as the last of their breath ran out and the cold, unfeeling embrace of death held them…
Gasps of breath as oxygen returned to their lungs and feeling returned to their limbs. The spell had worn off. But as they tried to move, they realized they were still constricted. Looking around, they found themselves tied in a circle, sitting on something very soft and gray…like a…
"This is a bed…," Zane realized, squinting through throbbing pain in his head. It felt like his nose had been bleeding and then dried up.
"This is an altar," Jack countered, looking at the torches around it placed upon ceremonial-looking pillars. "And on here, is that the symbol for Venus?"
"Mars, and now Venus," Hannah observed.
"At least it's a sexy one now," Mac mused, which earned him an elbow jab in the ribs by Becky.
They all looked around, and despite only seeing a part of the whole symbol, they could make it out rather well if they looked around.
"Who are these people?" Mary asked as she realized that there were four yellow and bloodied skeletons in the middle of their circle.
Zane sniffed around.
"What do you smell?" Luna asked.
"Aside from the four corpses here? Well, Tamara definitely," Zane answered. "But I think Tibalt is here, too."
"Great, that's just what we need," Jack shot back.
"Weird…Venus…and this altar looks like a bed," Mary wondered.
(Youtube music: Fortress of Seduction)
"This bed looks like an altar," a voice replied. They all looked around to the best of their abilities towards the direction of the voice. Tamara, naked and covered in blood, the spider tattoo on her lower belly looking strangely alive, approached Zane and Luna, who were tied together. Mary was next to Zane with Jack next to Luna. The others struggle with their rope bonds behind them.
"Good evening, Luna," Tamara cooed. "You look so lovely in the almost moonlight."
"Wait, what time is it!?" Zane demanded.
"Almost seven," Tamara smiled. "Nice knowing your human side. Can't wait to let the dogs out for a bite."
"Almost seven!?" Mac exclaimed.
"We slept for like three hours!" Becky yelled. "I knew we should have left you back home, Zane!"
"It'll be fun seeing how you all do, tied to a werewolf," Tamara mused.
"But…what do we do now?" Hannah asked. "And why can't I use my magic?"
"Trip Noose. A fantastic little slipknot trigger noose that also works as a restraint tool that keeps you tapped out of magic power," Tamara explained. "Don't leave home without it."
(See card: Trip Noose)
"Who are these people?" Luna demanded, pointing her elbow at the skeletons.
"Sacrifices," Tamara explained with a manic glint in her eye. "You see, Tibalt's demon, Sathares, requires destruction to awake. Mine requires flesh. I consume the flesh and the demon takes my power to rise. Five sacrifices full of blood, meat, hormones, and lust. And you're number five, sweet Luna."
Luna growled, turning red as her heartbeat rose. She wasn't the only one. Zane and Jack were looking rather pissed off too. But it was Zane she was worried about.
"Why are you doing this?" Sam asked, calmly.
"Santa, I know you don't approve," Tamara replied. "But your daughter and I have a special bond. We're soulmates. Of course, until I do her and eat her pretty little head off."
Luna shuddered at this.
"Can I pretend I didn't hear that?" Sam sighed.
"So, what's your plan after you eat my head off?" Luna asked.
"Move on to the rest of the team. Maybe Mary. She's got nice thighs. Loads of things I can do with those. Becky's quite pretty. Tall and slender is yummy. Jack's got a good bod. Even Mac is kinda cute…"
"Uh…thanks?" Mac groaned. Everyone else was blushing and getting annoyed at this.
"And Hannah's just scrumptious like a little cupcake." Hannah let out a small squeak at this comment.
"All except Zane," Tamara answered and bent down to Zane, who was tried really hard to not stare at Tamara's hanging and ample breasts and focus on her eyes instead. She grabbed Zane's face.
"You're cute, but Tibby's looking forward to fighting ya and beating the crap out of you until you join his pack," Tamara explained. "But he never said I couldn't have some fun."
Tamara snaked out her long tongue, shoved into Zane's mouth, and tried to kiss him…until she felt it. Heat. She pulled it out but too late.
(Youtube music: Disturbed by Magi)
Zane blasted her with a powerful stream of fire.
Tamara fell back. The top half of her body was burnt. She got back up. The spider tattoo glowed and she regenerated right back with an angry look on her face.
(See card: Golgari Charm)
"How did you do that!?" she demanded. "You shouldn't be able to use magic at all!"
Zane stood up, free of his restraints. His eyes were glowing red and his pupils were slits, like an animal of the night. He raised his hand to show Tamara a phalanx of razor-sharp claws.
"Your noose forces me down," Zane replied. "But it does nothing to stop inherent abilities, like, oh, I don't know, the ones awakened by a full moon. So, I slipped the slipknot and burn, baby, burn."
"Well done!" Jack yelled. "Now, how do you avoid killing us?"
Luna lifted her hands. Zane had clawed his way through her restraints, too. Soon the whole team was out.
"Don't worry about being outnumbered," Luna smiled. "Apparently, Tibalt is on his way!"
"Wait…," Tamara's face went deadpan. "Tibalt is here, too?"
"You don't know!?" Jack asked.
Tibalt burst in through a door behind Tamara, covered in angry burns.
"TAMARA!" he roared. "Why didn't you tell me about all the fucking wolfsbane!?"
"You weren't supposed to be here, you idiot!" Tamara yelled back. "It was supposed to be for Hunter!"
The whole team started laughing at that irony.
"Oh, man! What else don't you know?" Zane asked. "Who else is here!? Montague!?"
At that moment, Montague fell from the ceiling, covered in mud.
"Tamara…," he groaned through clenched teeth, feeling the effects of the Lignify spell. "What the fuck, Tamara…?"
Tamara stomped on his head. He groaned but then stood up, the stomping having taken off the spell.
The Hands of Heaven laughed even more.
"We'll follow your lead, Zane," Luna offered. Zane nodded.
"Oh, this is gonna be fun," Zane growled, his canines glowing and reflecting the limited light in the room. "Becky, Hannah, and Mac, take dad out and escort any remaining people out."
They nodded and Sam and Becky teleported them out, using a lot of power in the process.
(See card: Teleport)
"Luna and Jack, handle Tamara and Montague. Mary, help me out. We got half an hour until I turn. We got this!" Zane commanded.
The fight broke out. Zane lunged at Tibalt, who grinned and ran out of the room with Zane and Mary in hot pursuit.
Jack beckoned Montague forward who got ready, but then decided…
"I'm pretty tired, dude," Montague whined. "Can we just not?"
Jack shrugged. Montague nodded and ran out. Jack focused towards Tamara, who didn't look happy.
"Idiots," she growled. "The both of them! I'll end you both together! Watch me!"
She began absorbing power.
"Uh-oh!" Luna warned. "She's about to do it, isn't she?"
The corpses sank into the bed as the mattress began squishing and stretching like it was alive or something. Luna and Jack jumped off the bed as it sank in on itself. A dark aura erupted from the center of the altar as the earth shook. Massive black spires shot of the pool of darkness and bend outwards, their sharp points connecting with the ground and hoisting something heavy up.
"Spider legs…," Luna squeaked. "Why does it have to be spiders?"
The creature rose as it unveiled itself. Massive, roughly the size of a large house, it had a swollen green abdomen with massive spike covered legs. A hard, dark green, exoskeletal cover embedded with gross-looking yellow fang-like spikes led up to a humanoid, female body, pale with a green exoskeleton, many bright blue eyes, and a gaping mouth lined with a long tongue and dripping fangs.
She held a long scepter with a blue jewel in it.
"Meet Asmodite!" Tamara screamed in glee. "The great demon of lust!"
"Wait, I thought you said you needed five sacrifices!" Jack yelled back.
"I will be number five!" Tamara announced and somersaulted into Asmodite. They began frothing and swelling up together as they combined. The pale woman was replaced by Tamara's naked body, her top half protruding through the exoskeleton. She seemed weak as she struggled for a moment in her new form.
"Until, of course…," Tamara announced. "I take you, my dear Luna."
She stood back up and roared at them spraying venom everywhere. Luna and Jack jumped back to barely dodge it. Tamara had a gaping mouth with an even longer tongue, massive blue eyes numbering in the teens, and sharp fangs.
"Ew…," Luna summed up.
"I will be the last thing you see, dear Luna!" Tamara/Asmodite screeched. "And even your angel can't help you! Not with me here and your brother there in the throes of his madness. Twenty minutes left."
(Youtube music: Fairy Tail Original Theme)
Luna pulled out her blank card and looked at it.
"Ready?" Luna asked.
"Ready," Jack answered.
Elsewhere…
"Ready?" Zane asked Mary, growling and shaking as energy surged through his body.
"Ready," Mary answered.
Tibalt and Tamara both grinned with their fangs out. They lunged. The heroes jumped into battle. Two two-vs.-one battles with the clocking running out, and laughter and howling filled the air…
(To be continued…)
