Who did the Plumbers think she was? She was still the ruler of the Incurseans, even if Polema had been released from jail. That woman had not right to take over! None! Attea was going to kill her! And then, when she'd stained her hand with the blood of that filthy reptile, she'd punish Raff for betraying her! How dare he free that creature from stasis?
She should have checked his programming for hard coded loyalty as she had the chance to do so, and then decommission him as soon as she'd found the first traces of it.
The cloak did a good job at hiding her identity though. All Incurseans looked the same to those other aliens anyway. Of course a DNA-mask would be preferable but it was impossible for her to get one in such a short time! She needed a way to get off this back-water planet and back to 'her' ship, her fleet, her old life as the Empress. The horned queen was probably on her way to earth if she wasn't already here by now. It was just a matter of time before they'd meet- but not if Attea could do something about it. Did she have a plan? Of course she had a plan! What kind of stupid question was that?
As soon as word got out that Raff had betrayed her and released the queen the Plumbers had put a bounty on Polema's head, in the hope that they'd quickly catch her. The Incursean princess wouldn't even need to lift a single finger. Just release information about Polema's whereabouts and the problem would solve itself. But right now she needed a way to contact them and tell them the horned reptile was on this planet. Her eyes drifted towards a slightly larger building, standing out from the rest. This would do, she guessed. Attea drew her cloak tighter around her shoulders and opened the heavy, wooden door.
...
The Kineceleran at the bar, leaned over the counter and greeted the new guest with a big smile, asking what her newest cutomer would like to have.
"Do you have a room?" Attea asked, pulling the hood closer over her face, "With extranet?".
It seemed as if they were still unaware of who she was, good.
J-N frowned and put her hands on her hips, she lowered her voice, "You are aware that this isn't a hotel, darling?".
The Incurseans eye's wandered over to the small group of female aliens in the corner and then back to the Kineceleran, while pulling out a bag with Taydens, "I just need a place to sleep for the night.". As she saw the contents of the bag J-N's eyes started to brighten up. With a smile on her lips she called over the young Lewodan dressed in a light blue bedlah.
"Celes, can you give that woman your room-key?" she asked her as she floated towards the counter.
Apparently, lacking legs was not a drawback in her line of work. As the human's say: 'whatever floats your boat'. It seemed however as if that the Lewodan was a little mistrustful towards the new guest.
"Why should I?" she asked, frowning at the hooded woman.
J-N smiled, and winked at her, "It will just be for that one night, Celes. And you won't have to pay any rent for the time being."
The Lewodan bit her lower lip, "You know I can't just take the day off, J-N".
Sighing the other took ten Taydens from the bag and gave them to the alien "What about now?".
After a few seconds of hesitation the Lewodan handed the key over to the Kineceleran who in turn gave it to the hooded figure who quickly disappeared upstairs.
"That was weird." Mela, the black Revonnahgander, noted and Midori nodded, drawing together her thin eyebrows and watching after the cloaked woman as she disappeared up the stairs.
Her eyes wandered back to Mela and she lowered her voice, "Your room is next to Celes, give me your key. I'll give it back to you in a few minutes.".
The Revonnahgander could imagine as to why she was trying to get her room, "But only a few minutes. I have work to do." she told her as she handed over the small silver key. When somebody was asking J-N why she used such primitive technology she would answer that she liked the aesthetic of planet earth. It was maybe low-tech but at least it had a certain flair and charm.
...
Midori slipped into the room next to the guest's and searched for any peek-holes. This place had lots of them and J-N always complained that people kept drilling them into the walls which she had to repair! But now they were really useful. Unaware of the peeping tom Attea pulled back her hood and revealed her face. Out of her pocket she took a little round device, which she dropped on the floor. Before she left the mothership she had been quick enough to grab a calling card.
A holo-screen flared up, interrupted by static due to the bad reception.
"Princess Attea?" the bounty hunter, Ttetrax, was visibly suprrised, "Why are you calling me?".
The cogs turned in the Rokurokubi's little green head. Attea- Attea- of course- the Incursean- hm- maybe Psyphon would know more about her? Why was she here? She listened intensively: Polema was on the planet? Who was Polema? Whatever! She had to give that key back to Mela and then- figure out where Psyphon went.
...
"We're sorry Mr. Harangue but we cannot allow you into the ICU." the nurse told the once human man, leaning on the reception-desk, who started to complain loudly.
"I am a man of the press and I think I- the people"he quickly corrected himself "have a right to be informed about the medical state of Benjamin Kirby Tennyson!".
The nurse closed her eyes and shook her head, threatening the reporter, "Mr. Tennyson is still in shock and the last thing that poor girl needs is to see your face. Now get out or I'll call security.".
He wanted to reply something but the nurse already held up the phone-receiver and the reporter went for a death-glare as he turned and left, his camera-man trailing behind him.
A red-haired young woman passed the duo and stepped towards the reception, "I'm Gwen Tennyson. My cousin has been hospitalized?" she inquired showing her I.D to the nurse.
Being busy she only looked up as she received the I.D and nearly fell back from shock. Staring at the large purple bruise she asked concerned if she wanted to see a doctor, too. Absent minded Gwen's hand wandered towards the large bump on her brow "No- I guess it's fine.".
She noticed the way the nurse furrowed her brows and once again tried to convince her of her physical fitness. The nurse was still a little suspicious: "It looks as if you received a concussion.".
"Jit's nothing. Can I just go and see Ben, now?" the red-haired witch inquired and was let through without further ado.
...
Waking up the brunette was still a little dizzy and tried to figure out where she was. Tubes went in and out of her body, a machine was busy cleansing her blood and she had a cast on the other arm.
The Omnitrix was still there, though. So she didn't have to worry much. Through the glass-panel on the other side of the wall she was able to see to the corridor and saw her cousin walking up the hallway. Gwen stepped through the door, not looking very happy about seeing Ben, but didn't seem to be too upset at her either. Putting a chair next to Ben's bed she took a seat and exhaled. The brunette frowned at her cousin, unsure what to make of that entrance.
"Gwen are you okay?" she asked concerned, "I'm sorry about that head-butt earlier today.".
The witch shook her head, "This isn't why I am here, Ben. I came to talk about today- about what happened between you and Khyber.".
Hearing that name brought back the memory of that cold steel on her naked body and she averted her eyes, gripping the bed-sheet, "What do you mean? Me and Khyber?
"Broken, poisoned, beaten and stripped of your clothes- Ben tell me, what does that sound like?" she inquired, but didn't get an answer. "Listen, I am not sure how to say that to you but- We're just concerned about your well being and- you are a girl now.".
Something snapped inside Ben and she started yelling at her cousin; "Shut up! I don't want to hear it anymore! I am not a girl!".
"You are now!" Gwen shouted back, "Stop it! Stop lying to yourself! You bleed like one, you have the body of one- and you get treated like one! Those monsters you fight- they exploit weaknesses and right now you're weak!".
The brunette shook hear head. "I am not weak!", she insisted and realized that Gwen had taken a step back spreading her arms.
"Look at yourself, Ben. You're hooked up to machines in an ICU, your arm put in a cast and you're completely out of balance mentally. I guess this is the first time that your outside reflects who you are inside-" Gwen stood back and Ben glared at her.
Before Gwen could go Ben asked her a question, "Did I deserve this?".
The witch wasn't sure how to reply to that, "What? What do you mean?".
For a while Ben was unsure what to say next. "I mean," she started, "being turned into a girl. Was the punishment womanhood alone or is there something more I don't get? Why is it a punishment to be a woman?".
Gwen turned around and gaped at Ben unsure how to answer, "I- I guess it's because- ". For the first time in a long while Gwen had no idea what to say. The smart one was stumped. She blinked at Ben, "I have to think about that one- Get well.", with those words she departed.
...
Gwen met Kevin outside, trying to convince the nurse that he was Ben's best friend and needed to see her. Over the head of the nurse their eyes met and quickly they looked away. She wanted to walk out of the room, out of the hospital but she stopped and turned around, standing next to the mutant, "It's alright to let him through ma'am, Kevin is a friend of Ben's."
"Hm- I guess I can let him through then." the nurse reasoned and nodded friendly to the redhead.
Kevin sighed, "Thank you, Gwen.".
"Don't mention it.", her tone was cold as the words left her. She turned around and walked outside into the starry night.
...
"Hey, Kevin!" the brunette greeted him warmly, holding up her arm which was in a cast, "How was your day."
"Less stressful than yours."
"I saved Rook."
"I heard so. He called me- on your phone" the raven haired mutant added.
"You could sign my arm if you want but- eh- I don't have a pen.", she tried her best to forget the words spoken between her and Gwen and shoved them far back into her mind.
The silence between them panned out until Ben couldn't hold it in anymore: "Why did you break up with Gwen, Kevin?".
"Listen Ben, nothing lasts forever and- I met someone new over the internet. A mutant- another osmosian a girl and-!". Ben looked up and frowned, Kevin continued talking: "You know that's rare and I was just so happy to have someone I can actually talk with, who feels like I do- and-" he broke off.
"Talking became a little more?" Ben suggested, and Kevin looked down at his hands.
"I didn't want it to end like this. Gwen walked in and saw me and Holly- it was just a chaste-kiss! On the cheek! And suddenly Gwen is all up in arms about it."
Ben drew her eyebrows together, not believing that Kevin told her the whole truth, "Things escalated a little and Holly called Gwen a- a 'mule'."
"Holly-" Ben didn't know her, but then suddenly realized something: "I can't believe it! So you told her that Gwen is a hybrid?"
Kevin sat down on the chair, "What else should I have told her? But I didn't tell her she was infertile!"
The brunette glared at Kevin, "How many female, fertile hybrids do you know Kevin? Everybody knows that alien-hybrids are sterile!". Shaking his head she looked to the machine, which was peeping frantically for some reason and a mechanic jumped in.
"It's just because of Servantis! It's-"
Ben looked down. He knew of that horror-story. Everything had been removed, by him, poor Helen.
The mechanic couldn't help but overhear their conversation, "Servantis?" he mumbled while opening the inside of the haemodialysis-machine.
Kevin didn't even realized that he affirmed the other mechanics question.
"Hm- makes me think of that big U.N meeting today. They talked about a Servantis there too-"
Ben looked up and stared at the mechanic, "What?", Kevin besides her frowned too.
"Yeah," the mechanic clarified, while reconnecting a wire, "some guy from the Plumbers has to give a big speech- they're talking about compensation for crimes the Plumbers committed against humanity- stuff like that.". The mechanic pressed a button and the beeping stopped, "Don't either of you read the newspaper? It's on every news-channel too.". He turned on the TV in the corner and passed the remote to the brunette while excusing himself.
They stared at the screen and Kevin turned up the volume, "Today," the news speaker said, "Magister Maxwell Tennyson has to face the U.N Human Rights convention as a crime against humanity committed by a rogue-splitter faction, called the Rooters, came to light. Files given to us by an anonymous informant led to shocking pictures of-"
The channel was changed. "Torture! Little kids subjected to inhuman conditions and used as ticking time-bombs- and who is to blame? Nobody else but-". Urgh! Harangue, she quickly changed the channel again.
"Ben Tennyson has yet to give any comment. The brunette has been reported to be last seen in Bellwood, where she was att-".
The brunette flipped to another channel, "Witnesses report that the crime was committed by an alien who recently escaped Plumber captivity. The extra-terrestrial under the name Khyber is reported to be dangerous and should not be approached- ".
She protested as Kevin took her remote and turned off the TV, "I've heard enough!
"But-"
Kevin glared at her, "No, but! Enough, Ben!".
The sudden outburst stunned Ben into silence. "Why are you suddenly so aggressive?", she muttered under her breath. The look in Kevin's eyes was suddenly, the way it was before. Way back in the days- back to his eleven year old self-
Before Kevin was able to reply his phone beeped up, signaling that he had received a message, the Osmosian picked up the phone and bit his lip, "I am sorry Ben. I have to call Holly."
She stared after him as he walked out to make a phone call, "And what is with me?" she asked into an empty room, all alone by herself.
...
Chadwick continued to complain, he didn't like working with aliens; he didn't like that Anastasia was drinking too much, he didn't like the drapes, the light, the donuts- dear god, why was she even feeding them? Anastasia turned her eyes upwards to the ceiling in a silent prayer and tried to ignore the wishes of her doctor by drinking even more. What was a better ice-breaker than liquor?
The Forever King continued to glare darkly, like it hadn't stopped raining the whole week, at the happy crowd. He wasn't even touching his liquor, that's how pissed he was. If Anastasia thought that he was going to enjoy this temporary partnership she was very wrong.
Unbelievable, that Anastasia met up with the likes of Psyphon and, whatever Zombozo was, behind his back.
Anastasia downed another glass, "You couldn't at least try to pretend like you're happy?"
The doctor didn't even see it necessary to reply, crossed his arms and turned his head away from Shishkin who squinted at him.
"Fine, be like that.", she turned her back to him, "two can play that game.". After a while she just decided to mingle with the other party goers, that guy with the antennas looked weird but it beat King Salty-Sour standing next to her.
Carl Nesmith and Kane North did come after all. They were too late however but at least they got to participate in the after-party. "I told you it was before sunset! But no! You said 'we probably aren't the last ones'!" Nesmith complained.
"Oh, I'm sorry. But if we'd gone at the correct time we'd probably have made it before sunset, if someone, I'm not telling names, didn't need to take an hour to get ready." the other argued.
Captain Nemesis frowned as he looked past his companion, catching sight of Dr. Animo, "Hey, I think I know that guy. Maybe we should-"
"See, that's your problem! You never listen to me!" the older of the two started again filling his glass with wine.
The billionaire rolled his eyes "Here we go again. I don't listen but you interrupt me?".
Dr. Animo frowned at the couple, while Anastasia joined him, downing her second glass that evening a little bit more drunk than five minutes ago, "It's so sad to see a relationship break apart like that." she mumbled between sips, suppressing a hiccup.
Animo agreed, "Communication problems can really destroy a couple.". He shook his head as she offered him a glass of wine, he had to drive today.
"Oh- hm- that reminds me of how I lost my license. Let me tell you a very long story-". Animo sighed defeated and just passed the glass on to Charmcaster who didn't decline.
The witch was trapped in a meaningless argument with Rojo. Neither of them remembered who it started, but Charcaster blamed Rojo. "I am sure the ruler of the great Ledgerdomain can tell me what she does around us humble mortals?", Rojo mocked her.
Charmcaster sipped at her glass and wrinkled her nose at the biker, "Like I need to tell a dy- someone like you anything."
"What did you just wanted to call me, you little-?"
Before the situation was able to escalate a slim green alien pushed herself between them to get at the donuts. This caused them to stop their bickering and directed their attention at the Rokurokubi.
"Hey!" Charmcaster jumped back, which caused the liquid to spill over and onto the ground.
Rojo glared at the green one, visibly irritated, who was stuffing her face with donuts, "Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?"
The green-skinned alien decided to ignore those two and made her way over to Psyphon. "What a- argh!" Charmcaster looked down angry that the alcohol had gone to waste.
Rojo eyes traveled to the table and at the empty box shaking her head, "Are we letting everyone in here now?", the red-head complained.
"I know!" Charmcaster replied watching after the slim girl, "Who's that anyways?"
...
Psyphon was trapped between the hulking forms of Fistrick and Sunder. Well, it wasn't really trapped and more like hiding from his employee who waved at him while stuffing more donuts in her face.
"Bro, do you know that girl?" the tattooed crook asked the slimmer cyborg, who averted his eyes.
He tried to ignore the stretch-neck advancing like a sign of doom, "Never met her before." he denied.
Sunder frowned at the little green girl, "Hey; I think I know her."
"Boss!", Psyphon cringed at the annoying high-tone Midori used when she tried to be cute and sweet. He tried to shoo her away, but she continued pestering him, until he finally gave up.
"What do you want?"
She grinned from pointed ear to pointed ear, "You'll never guess who came to work today!". Fistrick and Sunder thought the little girl was cute and couldn't figure out why Psyphon didn't like her. Well, they hadn't to deal with a hyperactive little bitch tugging their robes and chewing off their fin. "You have to guess! Come on!" she cheered on the grumpy shark-like alien.
He closed his eyes and exhaled, unwilling playing the game; "Fistina?"
She frowned, "No, completely wrong. First hint: green skin."
The cyborg's eye started to twitch, "-Pakmar?"
"No it's a girl!". Psyphon frowned, and massaged his brow. Before he could answer she just decided to blurt out the solution "Attea!", Psyphon just stared at her, and she blinked stumped at his reaction and looked at the equally gaping Fistrick and Sunder. She laid her head queer, unsure what to make of this: "I- um- ".
Pspyhons hands laid down on her shoulders and shook her, "This is the best news in ages!".
…
Polema watched as Psyphon was shooing off Animo, who seemed actually quite relieved to not have to be around that drunkard anymore. Anastasia laughed up and went towards Chadwick whose eyes widened, then he put on a solemn face and his eyes searched for the reptile who he quickly found. This was suspicious and she didn't like this one bit. Her chaperon looked distrustful at Anastasia, Chadwick trailing behind her.
"I am so sorry, but this party is over!" she suddenly turned around raising her voice.
She waited patently until all of them were gone, Charmcaster letting a few bottles of booze disappear into her purse. Some of them wondered how she'd fit all those bottles in the tiny bag, others were uninterested. Rojo commented that if she kept that up she'd fly into the bell tower by accident. The witch didn't get it. Daisy left too, trailing after Khyber but keeping distance to his alien-mutt which had something weird and smelly in its mouth. Zombozo caught up with them and demanded that the alien-mutt would give his arm back this instant!
As they were gone, not before plundering the leftovers, Anastasia turned around and smiled at the reptile with the largest smile on her face, staggering a little back and trying to stay on her heels. Nearly falling down but Chadwick kept her steady.
"Polema!" she stood straight up again and spread her arms, "I have WONDERFUL news for you! Just fantastic!"
The reptile squinted at her, "And that's why you sent everyone away? After your big speech-"
"Listen, of course we all are a team, but we still have our own little projects, don't we? You have that weird thing with your daughter- I have my own enterprise and Chadwick wants to kill all aliens- but enough about me, let's talk about you." she leaned close to the taller alien and leaned on her shoulder, before continuing.
Well, she wanted to then she laid her head queer, "But tell me first why are you so obsessed with Athena. Just out of curiosity-"
"Attea-" Raff corrected her and was promptly ignored.
Polema closed her eyes, "I want to eat my daughter.".The horned queen didn't think any more explanation was needed. To her, it made a lot of sense. You ate bad eggs and hoped the next batch turned out better than the last.
Anastasia laughed, and they were unsure if she was able to hear right, "Well- I guess we all were there at one point in our life? Oh well, what do I know?"
She didn't have kids. Polema apparently had a daughter which caused her a lot of trouble. This was why she enjoyed the single life with double income and being able to sleep without little kids screaming her awake.
"May we inquire what the big news are?" Raff spoke up, furrowing his brow.
"We found Attea. But-" Anastasia couldn't even speak out her full sentence as she was grabbed by her neck and Polema had begun choking her. This caused the Russian some issues with her breathing apparatus.
"Where is she?".
"Drop the Russian, alien!" Chadwick threatened her, robots appearing behind him. He kept a few in store just to be on the safe side. Can't be too trustful towards aliens. They glared at each other the king and the queen until Polema let go of the Russian who fell down and scrambled up to her high heels. Failing at the first try but succeeding at the second to stand up.
"That- HURT!" Shishkin yelled rubbing her poor, abused throat, she shook her head, "This is why I am not telling you where your daughter is! You're unreasonable and- eh whatever- ". She pointed at Polema, "You want to play this game- you have to play by earths rules- first rule: Don't be an idiot! Second rule: don't commit crimes in broad daylight, and third: You will never be alone from now on.".
For a moment she seemed to think about her own words, pretty sure that she had mixed up the order. Oh well, it wasn't as if anyone cared.
Polema glared darkly at the woman in white, "That sounds like a threat.".
Anastasia put two fingers into her mouth and whistled loudly. "That's Sunder." she explained as the gray alien stepped in, and her shoulders sagged as Chadwick behind her was groaning. She took a deep breath, "You'll get with him to the place where Attea is supposed to be, we capture Attea, you get to um- eat her- I'll even give you a kitchen and you're staying with me and my friends until we get the military grade scrambler from your ship. Clear?"
"And what makes you think that I will follow your rules?" the alien asked, her tone threatening.
A smile spread over the Russians thin lips, "You can die, I can not.". The reptile was confused about that statement and was not sure what exactly the Russian meant by that.
...
And while some were doing that, others had to suck some cows to get back much needed energy. It was humiliating. Lord Transyl was above such a lowly energy-source. Sucking the life out of non-sentient beings was way below him. Why was he reduced to do this?Though, it was just for the moment, he told himself, until he regained his powers. His fangs retreated and the cow fell lifelessly down. The Valdat felt a lot more lively than before. Next he had to find a proper place to sleep, somewhere dark and cool. Then he had to cobble together a plan. A way to go back to Anur Transyl.
...
Meanwhile, back inside the opera hall, Raff was forced to stay with Anastasia, who ensured him that she was not interested in hurting him, and Chadwick, who looked like he was ready to murder someone. To be fair, he always looked so gloomy, so murderous intent seemed to be his default mood.
The three of them, Anastasia placed between the doctor and the commander stood around and did nothing, for a while. Until Anastasia decided that they should all go back into the opera hall. It wasn't long until she fell into a deep drug-induced sleep, leaving Chadwick and Raff alone. As the Forever King leaned over the knocked out woman Raff sunk further down into his seat.
"Tell me alien,", the doctors voice was cold, "what can you do?"
That's it! His survival instinct jumped into action and he teleported off into the far back.
Oh, Chadwick grinned, so that's how the alien wanted to play? That was fine with him, he had time to spare.
He shouted into the empty all, knowing Anastasia was knocked out for a while, "Running off? Come, stay a while longer!". The doctor took the sword from one of his robots, and regarded the sharp blade, grinning.
There was no way the Sylonnoid was going to come out of his hiding spot! That human was crazy!
"Come out!" the voice called from behind him, "Leaving is against the rules!". Thus started a depraved game of hide and seek which was going to last until Polema came back.
With a sneer she observed her surroundings. This was the place that Attea had picked? Seriously? To think that she had expected so much more from her. It was kind of funny, from the throne of her kingdom to the seedy room in a brothel.
As they opened the door the first thing she noticed were all the different smells. It wasn't pleasant, her tongue retreated. The reptile walked up the steps to the rooms, while J-N was occupied with Sunder who did his best to divert any attention away from Polema.
All the girls were busy with their customers. Of course she had gotten the number of Attea's room. There was no need to knock, she just busted open the lock and let herself in. Finding a completely empty room. It took her another step as she lifted her boot and leaned down to pick up a strange little pearl.
Turning it around in her hand she noticed too late that the pearl was a smoke bomb. In shock she let it fall on the ground, but by that time she was already surrounded by a nauseating cloud of smoke.
This was Attea's signal to roll out from under the bed and dash past the queen, jumping down the stairs and running outside. From the stairs Polema screamed down to Sunder to follow her. Thus they ran after her.
Neither Attea, nor Polema knew their way around Undertown. So it wasn't surprising that her escape ended in a dead end. Sunder gasped for breath and the Incursean held up her hands high, turning around slowly. "I am disappointed." the cold-blooded one said and sighed as she stepped closer, "I thought you were a tiny bit better at this.".
She squinted at Attea and her tongue slipped out. There was something in the air and her eyes widened as a large grin spread over the Incurseans lips.
The attack was sudden and came from above. A second later and she'd surely been hit by a lasergun. The Sotoraggian jumped back a step and then charged at full speed at the reptile who did her best to evade the blows. The first two were easy, but the third was a fake one which distracted her from the kick Eighteight delivered to her midsection.
As the reptile groaned, she could hear laughter coming from Attea who was held up by Sunder. Damn it! They couldn't waste time like that! The horned queen evaded another blow and unexpectedly grabbed Eighteight's arm drawing her forward until they were facing each other. In a millisecond the reptile forced her sharp teeth through the neck armor of the other alien. Attea and Sunder stopped fighting for a moment as they watched the neck of the bounty hunter getting crushed.
Blood gushed out of the open wound and the laser guns fell upon the pavement as the bounty hunter struggled with death. It took all her willpower to not devour the rest of the Sotoraggian. Her white tank top was stained with dark red blood and instead of her normal voice she growled at Attea in an inhuman way.
Sunder was taken aback by the sudden change. There was no hint that this was in any way a sentient creature. Polema released an animalistic scream into the air and charged at Attea, the taste and smell of blood on her tongue.
The Incursean did her best to dodge the crazed creature and extended her tongue to get hold of the laser gun Eighteight didn't need anymore. Once again she took up running, narrowly evading an empty fruit stand, in which the reptile, blinded by her blood lust ran.
It didn't however keep her from pursuing her prey. Attea stopped as she didn't see her anymore, having ran once again into another dead end, gripping the laser gun tightly. She listened to the sounds around her trying to figure out which were ordinary background noise and which signaled her that the monster sneaked up on her. There was a crack and Attea spun around just in time to hit the reptile with the business end of her gun, knocking out a tooth of hers which caused her to yowl.
Polema shook her head and charged again, trying to snap at Attea with her teeth all reason replaced with animal instinct. Attea nearly forgot that she had the gun as she was too busy evading Polema's teeth. She activated the trigger and the reptile fell back howling and grasping her thigh, blood streaming from the wound. Attea grinned and then laughed, aiming the gun at Polema's head and activating the trigger.
And again and a third time. While Polema was still groaning, a sign that she was suppressing the pain, Attea gritted her teeth and punched the gun. It wasn't working!
Finally the gun begun charging up again and she could aim at the vile creature again, which had recovered quickly, more enraged than ever. Attea spun around and aimed, shooting at the reptile while the reptile jumped at her. The laser gun dropped to the ground again, as Attea landed on the pavement. As she extended her tongue, the reptile snapped at it and with a forceful bite she snapped it off.
Blood filled Attea's mouth as she heard the squishing sound of her tongue being bitten off.
It lay there, on the ground and she gushed blood over her own purple uniform. This was it, Polema opened her mouth, showing her stained teeth and then started screaming again as her shoulder was hit by a laser blaster.
The Plumbers came just in time. Had they taken any more of it, she would surely be dead by now. It was then that she realized that Sunder was still on foot and probably had followed them.
The reptile's eyes grew wide as she stared into the lights which the space police had directed on her. Attea was unsure if she was frightened or just delirious from all the pain she was in.
Really, they should shoot her and just get it over with. They had their guns aimed at her and seemed ready to fire, Polemas shoulders were tense and seemed ready to dash forward again. Instead faster than any of them could react, a third party, Sunder, had pulled a sack over her head and escaped with the queen leaving a wounded Attea and the Plumbers back. Attea's eyes fell upon her bitten off tongue, she had been so close to the laser gun- a few more moments and she's surely had killed Polema by now. No such luck- her eyes grew heavy and her eyelids sunk, causing her to drift into a dreamless sleep.
…
During that time Charmcaster had already made a deal with Hera and Chadwick was going to help her, if he liked it or not. And if he didn't like it Hera would force him to like it.