"No! Please, not my baby! You can do anything you want to me, but
just don't take away my baby!"
"I'm sorry. I truly am. But he has been corrupted."
"No. . .no, he hasn't. You just think he has. . .you're delusional!"
"No, I'm afraid you are the one that is delusional. And sadly, it is about it become even more so."
"Phil. . .?"
The words automatically sputtered from her mouth as Mitsuko awakened, her lips moving freely now, not jerking out of their own will from misfired electron messages. She wondered where she was, exactly, as the ceiling above her was not of one she remembered waking up to, such as Dr. Sloth's laboratory. No, this one was high and elegant, obviously belonging to someone of royalty or high-standing. The bed she lay on was not metallic, much to her relief, but comfortable, the weight of her body sinking deeply into the soft bed.
Her body.
She sat up quickly in the bed, immediately noticing that she could now voluntarily move without having to concentrate, as well as being able to think clearly without being disrupted by disturbing images of a past life she did not remember. Her body was fixed and shone, polished wonderfully. The hole in her stomach was virtually unnoticeable unless someone took the time to look hard at the wound. Feeling her forehead, the metal plate was completely fixed. Craning her neck so she could look behind herself, she was quite pleased to see her wings attached to her back nicely, appearing as if nothing had ever happened to them.
"Is this real?" she mumbled to herself. It seemed like a dreamland she was in, everything repaired and perfect. Surely the harsh world she knew couldn't offer luxuries such as that.
"Quite real, Primrose."
The voice came from her side, and Mitsuko immediately snapped about, even though the voice did not mention her name. Sitting in the corner, nearly invisible from view as she blended in quite nicely with the darkness of the corner, was a female form, her voice familiar. It struck Mitsuko that it was the voice of the faerie who had emerged from the box to announce that she had the eighth robot ready-and thus, must've been the one that had entered the nearly-lethal 01 carbon copy of herself into the RBT. If Mitsuko had had fur, she would've bristled-her guard was up in a second.
"Or Mitsuko, sorry. You don't have to get personal about it," sniffed the voice. There was another form next to the faerie, sitting like a dog next to her, but she couldn't quite make that one's detail out either, meshing into the darkness.
"Personal? This has nothing to do with my name. I'm talking about that murderous clone of myself that you entered into the tournament. Did she destroy all of her opponents like that?"
"No-she just had a disliking for someone with her face. Besides, she was programmed to destroy you in particular. Those other robots were just launching pads, experience, per say, in order to get to the final 'boss.' You, in this case. But that's in the past-she's been destroyed, and won't be coming back at any time. Especially since making another would involve taking the memory spell off dear Krishna.and I DO enjoy the company my little lap dog."
"Your lap dog. . .? Then you must be. . ."
"I am the Empress Tahora, indeed. Tahra is fine, though, for you."
"Where is Dr. Sloth?"
"Oh. Him." Her tone was dismal. "Collecting the prize money. God knows what he'll do with it. . .now there's a bad egg. Thank the faeries that you're in good hands now. . ."
"What do you mean by that?"
"What do I mean? I mean that you're my property now, Pri-Mitsuko. Well, technically, you always HAVE been, but you're memory's shady, and I don't want to shock you too soon, dearest."
"Impossible. Dr. Sloth and I had an agreement-I would enter the tournament and we would win the money. Yes. We will buy Krishna's freedom."
"Hah! Is that what you were planning to do, dearest? Crafty, I must say, but Krishna is a rather amusing pet. I so enjoy toying with the mind of men of science," she purred, almost hypnotically. "Thinking they won't submit to magic. . .they soon learn well enough. Besides, money doesn't interest me. It was mine in the first place-why should I want it back?"
"I don't know. . .but you cannot enslave him like that."
"And what makes you think I can't? You're just a robot, Mitsuko, if with some kind of organic brain about you and a strikingly organic face, a common warrior/messenger robot. Do you dare challenge me?"
"For the sake of Krishna? Considering I entered that hellish tournament in order to rescue him, I'll wager yes."
"Oh, but. . .I have a creative shield that you would never dare break through."
Mitsuko felt her stomach churn, suspecting what she was talking about. Indeed, the feminine figure in the corner that was the Empress Tahora suddenly snapped her wrist, the form sitting next to her standing up to its full height, that of a human male. Walking forward with a gait a bit like a zombie's, the form emerged from the darkness to reveal itself as the person that Mitsuko had feared it would be the most: Krishna, his eyes just as vacant as they had been.
Mitsuko looked up at her father figure, regret in her eyes and body, wishing, hoping that somehow that somehow Krishna would break out of the spell because of the intensity of her gaze. But it was a stupid notion, and she soon gave up on it, looking away from Krishna, the image of the person she had remembered varying so differently from the current one, too painful to look at.
"Then what do you want, Tahra?"
"For the freedom of Krishna? It's a bit more complex than that, Mitsuko."
"Is it? I have just won the RBT. It's safe to say that I could very well at least draw some of your blood."
"Hah! You amuse me, Mitsuko." The feminine form stood up from her seat, taller than Mitsuko had been expecting. The chains connected to the shackles of Krishna clanked, and immediately Krishna fell to his behind, sitting down hard. Slowly, the faerie from the shadows emerged, her appearance becoming apparent as she migrated into the light.
She was very obviously a faerie as her form was revealed, but there was something drastically wrong about her. Her body was not made of pure flesh-no, in some parts it was interrupted by metal. Her face looked normal, with blue hair coming down to about her ears, red eyes and brown skin-that was, if you could ignore the fact that one of her eyes looked more like a targeting and radar computer, wrapping around to the back of her head. There was also a plate on her forehead, much like the one that Mitsuko had, expect that it was labeled SF. Her neck was made entirely of metal, connecting her to an iron upper chest, a small panel on her chest monitoring her bodily functions. Both her arms were organic, save for at the wrist, where her hands seemed to be connected to the arm by handcuff- like bracelets. Her stomach was of flesh, but her waist to her thigh was made of metal, ending in long, womanly legs. Even one of her wings (which were really four different wings, for they were segmented) was made entirely of metal, the other one a light blue color, translucent.
"But you're a. . ." began Mitsuko, confused upon what she saw before her.
". . .a cyborg, yes. Half faerie, half machine. This is the prime reason I have become the Empress even over Queen Fyora, who has the birth rite to the kingdom.I overpowered her," grinned Tahora.
"How did you come into existence, then?"
"Simple. I was not always a cyborg, of course. . .I was once fully organic, just like any other faerie. Well, perhaps more powerful, as I was assigned to being the protector of Neopia from alien invasion. Indeed, I was the Space Faerie-nobody knew my real name, of course, but I was fine with that. Unfortunately, there was an accident. . .one injury led to another, and nearly killed me. Fortunately, the faeries decided it would be beneficial to actually use technology to their advantage. . .only proving to make me more powerful. . .powerful enough to overthrow the current monarchy and put my own in their place," said Tahora, throwing her head into the air triumphantly.
"You're crazy. . ." mumbled Mitsuko. "And I was never your property. Dr. Krishna found me in the junkyard for spare robot parts."
"Oh, did he?" cooed Tahora, stroking Krishna's hair as if it were the fur of a Persian cat. "Well, no wonder he knew so much about you. It was to my advantage, for making the unit 01. Still, I wonder how you ended up in a junkyard. . .Not that it really matters that much-I probably could've reconstructed you myself," she commented, waving her hand dismissively. She began to withdraw from the bed that Mitsuko lay on, pulling Krishna along with her, who got to his feet and slumped forwards, walking almost like a caveman. "I must depart for now, dear Mitsuko-rest now. You will need it for later."
Tahora lifted one sleek, tanned hand and waved it in Mitsuko's direction, emitting a flow of dust towards the robot. Even though she held her breath, believing that she was somewhat safe from the magic due to her primarily robotic body, she still felt her body beginning to feel sluggish, her eyelids feeling heavy. Though she fought against the influence of the magic, she couldn't resist the urge to shut down and rest, feeling her limbs relaxing against the soft bed, her head hitting the pillow.
"That's a good Rose. . .sleep now. . .you'll have plenty of time for activity later. . .sleep. . ."
The grogginess was overwhelming, and soon Mitsuko found she could fight it no longer. She submitted herself to the bliss of the darkness of her subconscious, Tahora's sickeningly sweet voice fading into the distance.
When Mitsuko woke up once again, she was alone, much to her relief, in the room. Still, she could not feel totally relieved-there was something askew within the building, an instinctive feeling inside of her. Instantly, she leapt out of the bed, feeling revitalized, though still a hint of grogginess in the corner of her eye. She wondered how long the spell had affected her as she unlocked the door with her finger, checking the hallways before exiting the room.
Mitsuko wasn't sure where she was, but it was certainly not the house of normal folk. The hallways were wide, and made of marble, the ceilings high above her head, laced with golden wooden statues and murals on the wall. Although Mitsuko had never seen any castle besides the ruins of Sakhmet City's, she would've guessed that this was what they looked like, grand and magnificent. Lighting her boosters so that her feet wouldn't make noise against the marble floor, she floated forwards inches above the ground.
The castle, much to her surprise, seemed mostly deserted. Faeries that she did see she kept out of sight from, but they seemed to be guarding select doors, and concentrating hard on the walls in front of them. The doors they guarded, however, did not hold the thing that attracted Mitsuko behind their doors, so she was glad enough to pass them by.
As she came to the end of the hallway, she entered what seemed to be an enormous ballroom, complete with a fountain in the middle, life-size water faerie statues squirting water from their mouths. At the end of the ballroom was a set of stairs up to a throne made entirely of gold, save for the crimson velvet cushions. Next to this throne were two smaller seats, made out of cheaper materials and significantly less impressive. And naturally, the walls were decorated with scenes from all sorts of faerie mythology (or so Mitsuko guessed, for they all seemed to tell a tale). As she came to one picture on the wall, she noticed it seemed more recent, the paint less faded. It depicted a faerie embracing what seemed to be some kind of demon-next to that picture was the same faerie mangled and beaten on the ground, as if she had been attacked by some brutal force. After this picture came the same faerie once again, standing up tall and proud, smiling and glowing brightly-yet she was attached to something. Mitsuko looked closer and discovered that they were metal wires, connected to her body, as if giving her some kind of life support.
Before she could begin to translate the artistic story in her mind, her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of voices coming from the distance, a soft hum, occasionally interrupted by an angry spat, which was louder and more audible than the rest. She moved in the direction that the voices were coming from, and quickly recognized both of them: the first, angrier and feminine one was of the Empress Tahora-the second, calmer and masculine one belonged to Dr. Sloth.
". . .dare you come to my castle!" hissed Empress Tahora's voice furiously.
"It really wasn't my choice, Tah-Mitsuko wanted to join. I merely sponsored her."
"Don't you dare call me that ever again. I am the Empress Tahora to you-you are beneath me."
"Sorry. It was an automatic reaction."
"It shouldn't be. Did I not make it clear that I hated you when I relieved you of your legs?"
"That wasn't you."
"Oh, wasn't it?"
"No. And this isn't you either. It's the computer talking."
"You mean this? Don't presume so much, Frank. Perhaps I never really liked you at all-or maybe I was just desperate. I was rather alone up there in space-just like you. We made some stupid mistakes." Mitsuko continued her voyage forwards, silently following the voices, growing louder.
"Those weren't mistakes."
"Yes, they were. I regret every single time we so much as touched one another."
"I don't."
"Of course you don't. You're a man. A horrible man."
"You didn't used to think that. You saved my life, once."
"A mistake. They were all a whole slew of mistakes."
There was silence between the two voices, and finally Mitsuko was in sight of the two. They were standing in the hallway, Tahora silently fuming, Dr. Sloth looking calmly up at her, his expression sorrowful.
"Never mind that. Personal issues are beside that. We are discussing the matter of Krishna and Mitsuko," snapped Tahora, her head turning away quickly.
"Fine."
"The robot is rightfully mine, Frank. You gave her to me, far back as it may have been. You just don't take gifts back."
"I thought you said our whole relationship was a mistake."
"That's beside the point. She's mine."
"I made her, I programmed her. . .I encoded all of her warrior programs by hand. If that doesn't give me the right to her ownership, then I don't know what else does."
"You still gave her away."
"Fine. I'm sure that she'll agree to be yours, as long as you release Krishna here."
"And why would I want to do that? He'll only cause more trouble.it's better that he's a vegetable. Men of science are exceedingly meddlesome."
"Let him go, Tahra."
"And what makes you think I'll listen to you?"
"Because he's our son."
Tahora looked like she had swallowed a red hot Negg for a moment, her eyes enlarging to an enormous size. For a moment, the hard expression faltered, and she looked quite helpless, stripped of all of her power by that simple sentence. That moment did not last for long, and soon she was back to her flaming self, perhaps more so, her jaw clenched, her voice low and sinister. Next to them sat Krishna himself, staring at them blankly, seeming deaf to the entire conversation.
"How dare you bring that up. My child was taken away from me by those WRETCHED monarch faeries. . .God knows what they did with him. . ."
"They set him on Earth, in an orphanage. He grew up among the remaining Neopets near Tyrannia. He became a scientist-Dr. Krishna. Is that so difficult to believe, considering his parentage?"
"Shut up, shut up! You're lying! You were always a liar. You lied to me when you said that I'd be safe! You said that they wouldn't find out! You're the reason that I'm like. . .THIS! "
"I said that I had done all in my power to make sure that they wouldn't find out. But Fyora found a loophole in my plan and discovered it through there. I'm sorry-there was nothing I could do."
"Shut up! It's all your fault that I'm hideous now, having to rely on power, having to be just like YOU used to be!" She snarled, reaching down to him and grabbing him by the lapels of his lab coat, pulling him up to her, their faces only inches apart. "You took away everything that was important to me. . ." she hissed between clenched teeth.
"You gave me everything that was important to me," replied Dr. Sloth, and kissed her firmly on the lips, grasping her by the cheeks. She pulled away fiercely, slapping Dr. Sloth hard across the cheek with the chain that connected to the shackle around Krishna's neck.
"How dare you. . .how dare you. . ." mumbled Tahora, wiping her lips with the back of her hand. Mitsuko was convinced that Tahora's head was set to burst off at any time now. Tahora's hands twitched at her sides, her head looking at the ground, having pressed herself against the wall in order to get as far away from Dr. Sloth as possible. Krishna looked at her nervously, a pup worrying about its owner's mood. "First you say that this.wretched little worm is our child and then you.you." With little warning, she shot forward and knocked Dr. Sloth clear from his wheelchair, sending him skidding across the floor. Helpless, he could do little but back away with the aid of his hands, which couldn't move nearly as fast as Tahora. Tahora pounced on him like a Kougra on her prey, fitting her sleek hands around his neck, emitting a low laugh. "I'm going to enjoy killing you."
Tahora didn't get very far, however-before she could hardly clamp down on Dr. Sloth's neck, Mitsuko was upon her, knocking her off of Dr. Sloth and to the ground, making her stumble and fall onto her back. Without hesitation, she grabbed Dr. Sloth from the ground and shot into the air, Dr. Sloth dangling from her arms. He was not a burden, as she could probably carry much more than his weight, but he was obviously uncomfortable, his legs nearly grazing across the ground.
"Let's get out of here," grunted Mitsuko, looking for a doorway.
"No-we can't escape just yet. They've captured Phil, and he's in a cell-and Krishna is still under her spell."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
"Everything."
"We can discuss that later-now you have to turn around, because the cells are in the other direction, the door leading to the stairway to the cells the second door on your right, TOWARDS our problem."
Mitsuko whipped around, nearly dropping Dr. Sloth in the process. She was still forced to place him on the ground, however, for otherwise Tahora would have an easy shot at him. Bracing herself, Mitsuko shot through the air towards Tahora, who was still recovering from being knocked over. She slammed square into the cyborg's chest, nearly cracking Tahora's monitoring screen, sending her sprawling against the wall. Acting before Tahora could recover once again, Mitsuko grabbed the chain link leash attaching to Krishna and placed it in her mouth, beginning to drag the hypnotized scientist towards the door. Krishna resisted with all his might, but Mitsuko's boosters were much stronger, causing him to trip and be dragged along the floor.
Mitsuko crashed through the door which Dr. Sloth said led to the cells. Sure enough, there was a stone stairway leading downwards. Picking up Krishna from the ground, as she knew it would be exceedingly uncomfortable to be practically bounced down the stone stairway, she shot downwards, crashing through any doors that came in her way, thanking a higher power that most of them proved to be wood painted to look like stone.
Krishna jerked suddenly, pulling Mitsuko downwards as they came to the last few steps before another door. She slammed against the ground, Krishna right next to her, tumbling down the last few steps and just barely making it through the door, rolling head-over-heels, hardly able to tell which way was up and which way was down. She came to a stop in the middle of a corridor of at least twenty cages, lined up against the wall. The cages contained a variety of occupants-faeries, Neopets of all shapes and sizes, robots, even Petpets. Krishna laid where he had fallen, staring vacantly at the ceiling.
Mitsuko got to her feet, head looking around the cages. The occupants began to awaken from their slumber due to Mitsuko's crash landing, rubbing bleary eyes and blinking hard when they saw a strange looking robot outside of their cell doors. Immediately, a chorus of those desiring release sounded throughout the air, trying to guilt-trip Mitsuko into trying to free them all. Mitsuko ignored their desperate cries, silencing them by smashing her fist into the wall, making a loud noise. They all looked at her fearfully, wondering if their face would be next.
"Is there a Desert Shoyru named Philokrates in here?" demanded Mitsuko, her head whipping around so she could see the whole of the prison. The quiet in the prison seemed to deepen. Mitsuko, becoming frustrated from the lack of response, headed to the closest cage next to her and seized the occupant through the bars, pulling it close to her face. "I said, is there a Desert Shoyru in here named Philokrates?"
"Yes. . ." squeaked the Aisha, her eyes wide with terror. She trembled beneath Mitsuko's grip, but Mitsuko had little time to consider the Aisha's feelings. She shook the Aisha a bit, as if trying to shake the information clear out of the Aisha.
"Well? Where is he?"
"In. . .The Cell. . ." Something about the way the tiny Aisha said 'The Cell' made Mitsuko believe it would be spelled with capital letters, although she wasn't a master in the Neopian language. Mitsuko took in a deep breath, licking her lips.
"Where is. . .this Cell?"
The Aisha pointed to the door at the end of the long hallway. Mitsuko, still grasping to the Aisha's chest fur, looked towards the door. This door, unlike the others she had barreled through to get to the line of cages, was made of iron, with metal bars over the small window at the top. From behind the bars, Mitsuko could only see darkness-not a speck of light came from that room. Swallowing, Mitsuko dropped the Aisha back into her cell, turning towards the door.
"Are you crazy, miss?" came the voice of an Elephante directly next to Mitsuko, clinging to the bars with his trunk. "There's a reason we're all afraid of that Cell-we've all been in it before, to soften ourselves up and break our will. Do you know what's inside of that Cell?"
"My friend," replied Mitsuko in a hard voice, and rubbed her hands together. Opening her chest cavity, she searched around within it to find the hilt of the Battle Faerie's sword, which had, thankfully, not been confiscated. Pulling it out, the blade retracted, Mitsuko hovering into the air. Wracking up her nerve, she angled herself horizontally to the ground, pointing the blade towards the iron door. The blade of the weapon began to glow a fiery red, seeming to match Mitsuko's eyes, burning with internal anger.
The Elephante still tried to convince her otherwise, getting as close to her as he could manage through the cell bars. "You can't open that cell, or break through it-you have no idea what you're doing. You might let. . .THEM out."
"As long as I get Phil out, I can handle whatever else I happen to release."
In a burst of energy, Mitsuko sped forwards, slashing that blade in front of her, her arms moving faster than the eye could follow. The door's metal hissed at the contact of the flaming blade, melting a small doorway into the middle of it. Mitsuko bust through the door, tumbling into the cell, the sword jarring from her hand and sticking into the door, separating from her hand as she hit the floor of the cell with a clank.
Blinking hard, rubbing a throbbing side, she rubbed her eyes and observed her surroundings. Or at least tried to, for she could make nothing out in the thick darkness. She wondered, for a moment, if her vision program had been impaired, but when she mentally checked it, she found it in tact. To boot, she could still visibly see herself, though everything around her was pitch black. Confused, she turned on her night vision, but found there was absolutely nothing around her-not even walls, even. She resorted to her rather primitive radar programming, but this, too, proved that she was surrounded by complete nothingness. That presented a question to Mitsuko's mind: what had happened to the cell?
"I'm sorry. I truly am. But he has been corrupted."
"No. . .no, he hasn't. You just think he has. . .you're delusional!"
"No, I'm afraid you are the one that is delusional. And sadly, it is about it become even more so."
"Phil. . .?"
The words automatically sputtered from her mouth as Mitsuko awakened, her lips moving freely now, not jerking out of their own will from misfired electron messages. She wondered where she was, exactly, as the ceiling above her was not of one she remembered waking up to, such as Dr. Sloth's laboratory. No, this one was high and elegant, obviously belonging to someone of royalty or high-standing. The bed she lay on was not metallic, much to her relief, but comfortable, the weight of her body sinking deeply into the soft bed.
Her body.
She sat up quickly in the bed, immediately noticing that she could now voluntarily move without having to concentrate, as well as being able to think clearly without being disrupted by disturbing images of a past life she did not remember. Her body was fixed and shone, polished wonderfully. The hole in her stomach was virtually unnoticeable unless someone took the time to look hard at the wound. Feeling her forehead, the metal plate was completely fixed. Craning her neck so she could look behind herself, she was quite pleased to see her wings attached to her back nicely, appearing as if nothing had ever happened to them.
"Is this real?" she mumbled to herself. It seemed like a dreamland she was in, everything repaired and perfect. Surely the harsh world she knew couldn't offer luxuries such as that.
"Quite real, Primrose."
The voice came from her side, and Mitsuko immediately snapped about, even though the voice did not mention her name. Sitting in the corner, nearly invisible from view as she blended in quite nicely with the darkness of the corner, was a female form, her voice familiar. It struck Mitsuko that it was the voice of the faerie who had emerged from the box to announce that she had the eighth robot ready-and thus, must've been the one that had entered the nearly-lethal 01 carbon copy of herself into the RBT. If Mitsuko had had fur, she would've bristled-her guard was up in a second.
"Or Mitsuko, sorry. You don't have to get personal about it," sniffed the voice. There was another form next to the faerie, sitting like a dog next to her, but she couldn't quite make that one's detail out either, meshing into the darkness.
"Personal? This has nothing to do with my name. I'm talking about that murderous clone of myself that you entered into the tournament. Did she destroy all of her opponents like that?"
"No-she just had a disliking for someone with her face. Besides, she was programmed to destroy you in particular. Those other robots were just launching pads, experience, per say, in order to get to the final 'boss.' You, in this case. But that's in the past-she's been destroyed, and won't be coming back at any time. Especially since making another would involve taking the memory spell off dear Krishna.and I DO enjoy the company my little lap dog."
"Your lap dog. . .? Then you must be. . ."
"I am the Empress Tahora, indeed. Tahra is fine, though, for you."
"Where is Dr. Sloth?"
"Oh. Him." Her tone was dismal. "Collecting the prize money. God knows what he'll do with it. . .now there's a bad egg. Thank the faeries that you're in good hands now. . ."
"What do you mean by that?"
"What do I mean? I mean that you're my property now, Pri-Mitsuko. Well, technically, you always HAVE been, but you're memory's shady, and I don't want to shock you too soon, dearest."
"Impossible. Dr. Sloth and I had an agreement-I would enter the tournament and we would win the money. Yes. We will buy Krishna's freedom."
"Hah! Is that what you were planning to do, dearest? Crafty, I must say, but Krishna is a rather amusing pet. I so enjoy toying with the mind of men of science," she purred, almost hypnotically. "Thinking they won't submit to magic. . .they soon learn well enough. Besides, money doesn't interest me. It was mine in the first place-why should I want it back?"
"I don't know. . .but you cannot enslave him like that."
"And what makes you think I can't? You're just a robot, Mitsuko, if with some kind of organic brain about you and a strikingly organic face, a common warrior/messenger robot. Do you dare challenge me?"
"For the sake of Krishna? Considering I entered that hellish tournament in order to rescue him, I'll wager yes."
"Oh, but. . .I have a creative shield that you would never dare break through."
Mitsuko felt her stomach churn, suspecting what she was talking about. Indeed, the feminine figure in the corner that was the Empress Tahora suddenly snapped her wrist, the form sitting next to her standing up to its full height, that of a human male. Walking forward with a gait a bit like a zombie's, the form emerged from the darkness to reveal itself as the person that Mitsuko had feared it would be the most: Krishna, his eyes just as vacant as they had been.
Mitsuko looked up at her father figure, regret in her eyes and body, wishing, hoping that somehow that somehow Krishna would break out of the spell because of the intensity of her gaze. But it was a stupid notion, and she soon gave up on it, looking away from Krishna, the image of the person she had remembered varying so differently from the current one, too painful to look at.
"Then what do you want, Tahra?"
"For the freedom of Krishna? It's a bit more complex than that, Mitsuko."
"Is it? I have just won the RBT. It's safe to say that I could very well at least draw some of your blood."
"Hah! You amuse me, Mitsuko." The feminine form stood up from her seat, taller than Mitsuko had been expecting. The chains connected to the shackles of Krishna clanked, and immediately Krishna fell to his behind, sitting down hard. Slowly, the faerie from the shadows emerged, her appearance becoming apparent as she migrated into the light.
She was very obviously a faerie as her form was revealed, but there was something drastically wrong about her. Her body was not made of pure flesh-no, in some parts it was interrupted by metal. Her face looked normal, with blue hair coming down to about her ears, red eyes and brown skin-that was, if you could ignore the fact that one of her eyes looked more like a targeting and radar computer, wrapping around to the back of her head. There was also a plate on her forehead, much like the one that Mitsuko had, expect that it was labeled SF. Her neck was made entirely of metal, connecting her to an iron upper chest, a small panel on her chest monitoring her bodily functions. Both her arms were organic, save for at the wrist, where her hands seemed to be connected to the arm by handcuff- like bracelets. Her stomach was of flesh, but her waist to her thigh was made of metal, ending in long, womanly legs. Even one of her wings (which were really four different wings, for they were segmented) was made entirely of metal, the other one a light blue color, translucent.
"But you're a. . ." began Mitsuko, confused upon what she saw before her.
". . .a cyborg, yes. Half faerie, half machine. This is the prime reason I have become the Empress even over Queen Fyora, who has the birth rite to the kingdom.I overpowered her," grinned Tahora.
"How did you come into existence, then?"
"Simple. I was not always a cyborg, of course. . .I was once fully organic, just like any other faerie. Well, perhaps more powerful, as I was assigned to being the protector of Neopia from alien invasion. Indeed, I was the Space Faerie-nobody knew my real name, of course, but I was fine with that. Unfortunately, there was an accident. . .one injury led to another, and nearly killed me. Fortunately, the faeries decided it would be beneficial to actually use technology to their advantage. . .only proving to make me more powerful. . .powerful enough to overthrow the current monarchy and put my own in their place," said Tahora, throwing her head into the air triumphantly.
"You're crazy. . ." mumbled Mitsuko. "And I was never your property. Dr. Krishna found me in the junkyard for spare robot parts."
"Oh, did he?" cooed Tahora, stroking Krishna's hair as if it were the fur of a Persian cat. "Well, no wonder he knew so much about you. It was to my advantage, for making the unit 01. Still, I wonder how you ended up in a junkyard. . .Not that it really matters that much-I probably could've reconstructed you myself," she commented, waving her hand dismissively. She began to withdraw from the bed that Mitsuko lay on, pulling Krishna along with her, who got to his feet and slumped forwards, walking almost like a caveman. "I must depart for now, dear Mitsuko-rest now. You will need it for later."
Tahora lifted one sleek, tanned hand and waved it in Mitsuko's direction, emitting a flow of dust towards the robot. Even though she held her breath, believing that she was somewhat safe from the magic due to her primarily robotic body, she still felt her body beginning to feel sluggish, her eyelids feeling heavy. Though she fought against the influence of the magic, she couldn't resist the urge to shut down and rest, feeling her limbs relaxing against the soft bed, her head hitting the pillow.
"That's a good Rose. . .sleep now. . .you'll have plenty of time for activity later. . .sleep. . ."
The grogginess was overwhelming, and soon Mitsuko found she could fight it no longer. She submitted herself to the bliss of the darkness of her subconscious, Tahora's sickeningly sweet voice fading into the distance.
When Mitsuko woke up once again, she was alone, much to her relief, in the room. Still, she could not feel totally relieved-there was something askew within the building, an instinctive feeling inside of her. Instantly, she leapt out of the bed, feeling revitalized, though still a hint of grogginess in the corner of her eye. She wondered how long the spell had affected her as she unlocked the door with her finger, checking the hallways before exiting the room.
Mitsuko wasn't sure where she was, but it was certainly not the house of normal folk. The hallways were wide, and made of marble, the ceilings high above her head, laced with golden wooden statues and murals on the wall. Although Mitsuko had never seen any castle besides the ruins of Sakhmet City's, she would've guessed that this was what they looked like, grand and magnificent. Lighting her boosters so that her feet wouldn't make noise against the marble floor, she floated forwards inches above the ground.
The castle, much to her surprise, seemed mostly deserted. Faeries that she did see she kept out of sight from, but they seemed to be guarding select doors, and concentrating hard on the walls in front of them. The doors they guarded, however, did not hold the thing that attracted Mitsuko behind their doors, so she was glad enough to pass them by.
As she came to the end of the hallway, she entered what seemed to be an enormous ballroom, complete with a fountain in the middle, life-size water faerie statues squirting water from their mouths. At the end of the ballroom was a set of stairs up to a throne made entirely of gold, save for the crimson velvet cushions. Next to this throne were two smaller seats, made out of cheaper materials and significantly less impressive. And naturally, the walls were decorated with scenes from all sorts of faerie mythology (or so Mitsuko guessed, for they all seemed to tell a tale). As she came to one picture on the wall, she noticed it seemed more recent, the paint less faded. It depicted a faerie embracing what seemed to be some kind of demon-next to that picture was the same faerie mangled and beaten on the ground, as if she had been attacked by some brutal force. After this picture came the same faerie once again, standing up tall and proud, smiling and glowing brightly-yet she was attached to something. Mitsuko looked closer and discovered that they were metal wires, connected to her body, as if giving her some kind of life support.
Before she could begin to translate the artistic story in her mind, her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of voices coming from the distance, a soft hum, occasionally interrupted by an angry spat, which was louder and more audible than the rest. She moved in the direction that the voices were coming from, and quickly recognized both of them: the first, angrier and feminine one was of the Empress Tahora-the second, calmer and masculine one belonged to Dr. Sloth.
". . .dare you come to my castle!" hissed Empress Tahora's voice furiously.
"It really wasn't my choice, Tah-Mitsuko wanted to join. I merely sponsored her."
"Don't you dare call me that ever again. I am the Empress Tahora to you-you are beneath me."
"Sorry. It was an automatic reaction."
"It shouldn't be. Did I not make it clear that I hated you when I relieved you of your legs?"
"That wasn't you."
"Oh, wasn't it?"
"No. And this isn't you either. It's the computer talking."
"You mean this? Don't presume so much, Frank. Perhaps I never really liked you at all-or maybe I was just desperate. I was rather alone up there in space-just like you. We made some stupid mistakes." Mitsuko continued her voyage forwards, silently following the voices, growing louder.
"Those weren't mistakes."
"Yes, they were. I regret every single time we so much as touched one another."
"I don't."
"Of course you don't. You're a man. A horrible man."
"You didn't used to think that. You saved my life, once."
"A mistake. They were all a whole slew of mistakes."
There was silence between the two voices, and finally Mitsuko was in sight of the two. They were standing in the hallway, Tahora silently fuming, Dr. Sloth looking calmly up at her, his expression sorrowful.
"Never mind that. Personal issues are beside that. We are discussing the matter of Krishna and Mitsuko," snapped Tahora, her head turning away quickly.
"Fine."
"The robot is rightfully mine, Frank. You gave her to me, far back as it may have been. You just don't take gifts back."
"I thought you said our whole relationship was a mistake."
"That's beside the point. She's mine."
"I made her, I programmed her. . .I encoded all of her warrior programs by hand. If that doesn't give me the right to her ownership, then I don't know what else does."
"You still gave her away."
"Fine. I'm sure that she'll agree to be yours, as long as you release Krishna here."
"And why would I want to do that? He'll only cause more trouble.it's better that he's a vegetable. Men of science are exceedingly meddlesome."
"Let him go, Tahra."
"And what makes you think I'll listen to you?"
"Because he's our son."
Tahora looked like she had swallowed a red hot Negg for a moment, her eyes enlarging to an enormous size. For a moment, the hard expression faltered, and she looked quite helpless, stripped of all of her power by that simple sentence. That moment did not last for long, and soon she was back to her flaming self, perhaps more so, her jaw clenched, her voice low and sinister. Next to them sat Krishna himself, staring at them blankly, seeming deaf to the entire conversation.
"How dare you bring that up. My child was taken away from me by those WRETCHED monarch faeries. . .God knows what they did with him. . ."
"They set him on Earth, in an orphanage. He grew up among the remaining Neopets near Tyrannia. He became a scientist-Dr. Krishna. Is that so difficult to believe, considering his parentage?"
"Shut up, shut up! You're lying! You were always a liar. You lied to me when you said that I'd be safe! You said that they wouldn't find out! You're the reason that I'm like. . .THIS! "
"I said that I had done all in my power to make sure that they wouldn't find out. But Fyora found a loophole in my plan and discovered it through there. I'm sorry-there was nothing I could do."
"Shut up! It's all your fault that I'm hideous now, having to rely on power, having to be just like YOU used to be!" She snarled, reaching down to him and grabbing him by the lapels of his lab coat, pulling him up to her, their faces only inches apart. "You took away everything that was important to me. . ." she hissed between clenched teeth.
"You gave me everything that was important to me," replied Dr. Sloth, and kissed her firmly on the lips, grasping her by the cheeks. She pulled away fiercely, slapping Dr. Sloth hard across the cheek with the chain that connected to the shackle around Krishna's neck.
"How dare you. . .how dare you. . ." mumbled Tahora, wiping her lips with the back of her hand. Mitsuko was convinced that Tahora's head was set to burst off at any time now. Tahora's hands twitched at her sides, her head looking at the ground, having pressed herself against the wall in order to get as far away from Dr. Sloth as possible. Krishna looked at her nervously, a pup worrying about its owner's mood. "First you say that this.wretched little worm is our child and then you.you." With little warning, she shot forward and knocked Dr. Sloth clear from his wheelchair, sending him skidding across the floor. Helpless, he could do little but back away with the aid of his hands, which couldn't move nearly as fast as Tahora. Tahora pounced on him like a Kougra on her prey, fitting her sleek hands around his neck, emitting a low laugh. "I'm going to enjoy killing you."
Tahora didn't get very far, however-before she could hardly clamp down on Dr. Sloth's neck, Mitsuko was upon her, knocking her off of Dr. Sloth and to the ground, making her stumble and fall onto her back. Without hesitation, she grabbed Dr. Sloth from the ground and shot into the air, Dr. Sloth dangling from her arms. He was not a burden, as she could probably carry much more than his weight, but he was obviously uncomfortable, his legs nearly grazing across the ground.
"Let's get out of here," grunted Mitsuko, looking for a doorway.
"No-we can't escape just yet. They've captured Phil, and he's in a cell-and Krishna is still under her spell."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
"Everything."
"We can discuss that later-now you have to turn around, because the cells are in the other direction, the door leading to the stairway to the cells the second door on your right, TOWARDS our problem."
Mitsuko whipped around, nearly dropping Dr. Sloth in the process. She was still forced to place him on the ground, however, for otherwise Tahora would have an easy shot at him. Bracing herself, Mitsuko shot through the air towards Tahora, who was still recovering from being knocked over. She slammed square into the cyborg's chest, nearly cracking Tahora's monitoring screen, sending her sprawling against the wall. Acting before Tahora could recover once again, Mitsuko grabbed the chain link leash attaching to Krishna and placed it in her mouth, beginning to drag the hypnotized scientist towards the door. Krishna resisted with all his might, but Mitsuko's boosters were much stronger, causing him to trip and be dragged along the floor.
Mitsuko crashed through the door which Dr. Sloth said led to the cells. Sure enough, there was a stone stairway leading downwards. Picking up Krishna from the ground, as she knew it would be exceedingly uncomfortable to be practically bounced down the stone stairway, she shot downwards, crashing through any doors that came in her way, thanking a higher power that most of them proved to be wood painted to look like stone.
Krishna jerked suddenly, pulling Mitsuko downwards as they came to the last few steps before another door. She slammed against the ground, Krishna right next to her, tumbling down the last few steps and just barely making it through the door, rolling head-over-heels, hardly able to tell which way was up and which way was down. She came to a stop in the middle of a corridor of at least twenty cages, lined up against the wall. The cages contained a variety of occupants-faeries, Neopets of all shapes and sizes, robots, even Petpets. Krishna laid where he had fallen, staring vacantly at the ceiling.
Mitsuko got to her feet, head looking around the cages. The occupants began to awaken from their slumber due to Mitsuko's crash landing, rubbing bleary eyes and blinking hard when they saw a strange looking robot outside of their cell doors. Immediately, a chorus of those desiring release sounded throughout the air, trying to guilt-trip Mitsuko into trying to free them all. Mitsuko ignored their desperate cries, silencing them by smashing her fist into the wall, making a loud noise. They all looked at her fearfully, wondering if their face would be next.
"Is there a Desert Shoyru named Philokrates in here?" demanded Mitsuko, her head whipping around so she could see the whole of the prison. The quiet in the prison seemed to deepen. Mitsuko, becoming frustrated from the lack of response, headed to the closest cage next to her and seized the occupant through the bars, pulling it close to her face. "I said, is there a Desert Shoyru in here named Philokrates?"
"Yes. . ." squeaked the Aisha, her eyes wide with terror. She trembled beneath Mitsuko's grip, but Mitsuko had little time to consider the Aisha's feelings. She shook the Aisha a bit, as if trying to shake the information clear out of the Aisha.
"Well? Where is he?"
"In. . .The Cell. . ." Something about the way the tiny Aisha said 'The Cell' made Mitsuko believe it would be spelled with capital letters, although she wasn't a master in the Neopian language. Mitsuko took in a deep breath, licking her lips.
"Where is. . .this Cell?"
The Aisha pointed to the door at the end of the long hallway. Mitsuko, still grasping to the Aisha's chest fur, looked towards the door. This door, unlike the others she had barreled through to get to the line of cages, was made of iron, with metal bars over the small window at the top. From behind the bars, Mitsuko could only see darkness-not a speck of light came from that room. Swallowing, Mitsuko dropped the Aisha back into her cell, turning towards the door.
"Are you crazy, miss?" came the voice of an Elephante directly next to Mitsuko, clinging to the bars with his trunk. "There's a reason we're all afraid of that Cell-we've all been in it before, to soften ourselves up and break our will. Do you know what's inside of that Cell?"
"My friend," replied Mitsuko in a hard voice, and rubbed her hands together. Opening her chest cavity, she searched around within it to find the hilt of the Battle Faerie's sword, which had, thankfully, not been confiscated. Pulling it out, the blade retracted, Mitsuko hovering into the air. Wracking up her nerve, she angled herself horizontally to the ground, pointing the blade towards the iron door. The blade of the weapon began to glow a fiery red, seeming to match Mitsuko's eyes, burning with internal anger.
The Elephante still tried to convince her otherwise, getting as close to her as he could manage through the cell bars. "You can't open that cell, or break through it-you have no idea what you're doing. You might let. . .THEM out."
"As long as I get Phil out, I can handle whatever else I happen to release."
In a burst of energy, Mitsuko sped forwards, slashing that blade in front of her, her arms moving faster than the eye could follow. The door's metal hissed at the contact of the flaming blade, melting a small doorway into the middle of it. Mitsuko bust through the door, tumbling into the cell, the sword jarring from her hand and sticking into the door, separating from her hand as she hit the floor of the cell with a clank.
Blinking hard, rubbing a throbbing side, she rubbed her eyes and observed her surroundings. Or at least tried to, for she could make nothing out in the thick darkness. She wondered, for a moment, if her vision program had been impaired, but when she mentally checked it, she found it in tact. To boot, she could still visibly see herself, though everything around her was pitch black. Confused, she turned on her night vision, but found there was absolutely nothing around her-not even walls, even. She resorted to her rather primitive radar programming, but this, too, proved that she was surrounded by complete nothingness. That presented a question to Mitsuko's mind: what had happened to the cell?