Previously: The Dark One has transformed Helga into his demon servant.
This had to be some sort of nightmare, Olga was sure of it. The thought that her sister, missing these last four weeks, had been transformed into some sort of horrific demon-creature was ridiculous beyond words.
"It's real, 'Big Sis'," the demon girl said with a wicked grin. "This is the real me."
How does she know what I'm thinking?
"Mind-reading. Ya gotta love it."
Big Bob, tired of being in a situation he had no control of, drew himself up to his full height. "Okay, missy," he said. "I don't care what you've been turned into, but you're under MY roof, and you're gonna listen. Now I wanna know WHERE you've been for the last month, and what happened to you, and-"
The last words of his sentence were cut off as Helga, a red blur to the naked eye, cleared the distance between them and grabbed her father by the throat. "So... you actually noticed I was gone. I guess I owe my new 'therapist' five bucks."
"Let him go!" cajoled Olga. "He was worried sick about you the whole month, Helga!"
"Okay, first of all, stop calling me that. My name is Hellga. I know it sounds exactly the same, but it's with two L's. And second, what do you care? What did anyone ever care?"
"But we do!"
"Cram it, Ms. Wonderful! All you care about is your guilty conscience. Well, when I'm done with Daddy Dearest, I'll go to work on you. We're gonna have FUN, big sis. We're gonna see just how much your pretty little body can takes before it breaks in half."
"I don't care what you do to me, but let him go! If you hate ME so much... then take your anger out on me!"
"No..." Bob managed to choke out.
"Y'know what? You're on," snarled Hellga as she let go of her father.
Olga slipped a fireplace poker into her hand. She stood her ground, a little nervous, but defiant. Hellga would probably kill her, but she wasn't just going to lie down and die.
Once again moving faster the eye could perceive, Hellga struck with her talons, slicing cleanly through the poker. "Uh uh uh. No weapons."
Olga dropped what was left of the poker and tried to dive out of the way as Hellga pounced. She was only partially successful, as one of her sister's elbow-spurs left a gash in her arm. She rolled into the corner, clutching her wound.
"Oops," Hellga sneered. "That was supposed to be your stomach. Oh well... I guess you'll just have to suffer more than I planned." In a burst of inhuman speed, Hellga grabbed Olga by the scruff of her neck and bashed her face into the wall.
"Had enough? I haven't." She dumped Olga in a heap on the ground and kicked her in the ribs with her tough hooves. A satisfying crack told her that she'd broken a couple of ribs. Olga howled in pain.
"So... what part of you should I ruin next? Hmmm..." She grabbed Olga's left wrist. "How 'bout we play 'This little piggy.' "This little piggy went to market... " She grabbed her index finger, and bent it back until she heard the bone splinter. "And this little piggy stayed home," she said, snapping the middle finger. Grasping the ring finger, she continued "...and THIS little piggy..."
A vase to the back of Hellga's head spared the rest of the piggies. Helga turned to see Miriam advancing, battle-ready. "Leave her alone," she said.
"Fine," Hellga groused. "I guess I'll just kill you first."
"So, how do I get out of here?" asked Rhonda.
"You're not nearly ready yet!" pleaded Brother Allen. "You haven't mastered even a quarter of your abilities yet! Training you fully could take years!"
"And in a year, whatever's out there could wipe out who knows how many people? Besides... with what you've already taught me, I think I can manage.
She concentrated, and the molecules of her clothing began to reweave themselves. Soon, Rhonda was clad in crystalline armor from neck to ankles. She moved around experimentally, satisfying herself with her armor's flexibility. "The right outfit for the right occasion, n'est-ce pas?"
"Hmmm... I don't remember teaching you transmutation yet, Rhonda."
"Oh, this? I've been practicing during my off-hours. I came up with this stuff one day while trying to make gold lamè. It's as strong as steel, as lightweight as cotton, and as flexible as rubber. I call it 'crystallium.'"
"Well... it's impressive, but you're still not ready!"
"Look... I'm the only one on this planet that's even close to having the power to handle this... I don't even know what it is, but I'm the one who can handle it! Now either show me the way out of here, or I'll fight my way out!"
With a sigh, the monk relented. "Go up that hallway, then take the elevator to level F, exit to the right, take the second left, and the blue door. It leads to an access tunnel in the New York subway. Be careful... you do NOT want to cause a panic."
"I'll try... but this world'll have to get used to me sooner or later."
"And one more thing... you're very strong, and very tough, and very powerful... but you are not, repeat, NOT immortal. You can very easily die if you're not careful."
Darn... I was trying not to think about that.
Hellga lunged at her mother, claws bared. Miriam leaned backward under her, catching hold and using her momentum to flip her. Helllga crashed into the wall. She struggled to get to her hooves.
"When did YOU grow a backbone, Miriam?" Hellga queried, incredulously.
"I'm a black-belt in Kung Fu. Trained under Master Shenru himself," replied Miriam, getting back in fighting position without missing a beat.
"Wow, really? Good. I hope he taught you how to fall!" she yelled, lunging again.
Miriam dodged this time, as Hellga smacked into the other wall.
"You've got a lot of power, but you have no idea how to fight. Now why don't you calm down, and we can talk this out like reasonable human beings after I call the hospital, 'kay?"
Hellga got up again. "Hate to break this to ya, Miriam... I'm NOT a human being anymore. And I'm bored."
And suddenly Miriam Pataki felt herself engulfed in flames. She screamed in a combination of horror and agony as she rolled on the floor trying to snuff them out.
"Now... where were we, DEAR sister?" Hellga said with a smirk, turning back toward the broken girl. "I suppose I could torture you a bit more... but all this evil is making me work up an appetite."
Olga stared through her remaining eye (the other one was swollen shut). What did she mean?
"And since you probably won't live much longer anyway... wellllll..." She licked her lips with her serpentlike tongue. "I don't wanna waste fresh meat."
Terror gripped Olga as she realized just what Hellga was going to do to her...
She could feel it calling her from across the distance; it was like a beacon of hate and anger. Rhonda's demonic side was drawn to it like a moth to a light.
She followed the trail, her wings carrying her as fast as they could. Icy winds battered her, but she persisted. Her hearts were beating faster than any human heart had ever beat.
She'd have to fight soon, she knew. It couldn't be avoided. But at that time, in that place, she felt more alive than she had ever been.
For the first time since her transformation, Rhonda was truly at peace with herself and what she had become. What she had always been meant to be.
That peace didn't last long, however, once she realized where she was heading.
"Oh no." she muttered. "Not here."
And as she crossed the Hillwood city limits, she didn't know which she dreaded more... the upcoming fight, or a panic-stricken mob.
"Now, let's see... I can't very well swallow you whole, can I? I'll have to cut you up into bite-sized pieces..."
It was like a scene straight out of Stephen King. Her sister had been possessed (it had to be possession; Baby Sis couldn't possibly be doing this on her own) by a demon, and was about to literally carve the flesh off her bones and devour it.
It was so insane that her mind refused to accept how agonizing the pain was.
"...oh, but I can't eat you RAW, can I?"
Flames burst into being around her...
...and were instantly snuffed by an icy wind.
"Hey! I'm tryin' to cook here!" growled Hellga indignantly. "Go ruin someone else's barbecue!"
"Sorry, but 'human being' isn't on the menu today," answered a familiar voice.
Hellga looked out the hole in the wall at the speaker. She'd changed almost as much as Hellga herself had, but there was no doubt who it was.
"Well, well well... Rhondalloid."
The new arrival stared back, as if trying to process something. "Oh... my word. You're Helga. The monster I'm supposed to fight is in my class."
"No... it's HELLga."
"Duh, we established that!"
"Two Ls, Princess. You know, as in Hell, as in pit of evil, as in I'M evil?"
Rhonda floated down through the hole. "Fine, whatever. You have three seconds to get away from the girl."
Hellga planted her hooves firmly and crossed her arms defiantly.
"Make me."
"'Kay," replied the violet girl, her middle eye glowing.
The bolt of energy caught Hellga right in the chest, propelling her through the opposite wall. She got up, shaking herself out of her daze.
"Cheap shot, three-eyes. Just for that I'm gonna rip out your organs one at a time."
"Bring it, Goat Girl."
Hellga lunged at full speed at Rhonda...
...who stepped out of the way as Hellga's momentum carried her right out the hole in the wall. Unable to react in time, she fell, leaving an impact crater in the street below.
"Huh. That was kinda easy," the pre-teen superbeing said to herself.
She looked back at Helga's family. Mr. Pataki looked more-or-less all right, though a little shaken up. Mrs. Pataki had a few minor burns, but seemed alert. Olga, on the other hand... Rhonda could sense her life-force fading away.
For the first time, she regretted leaving the compound early; the order had never gotten around to teaching her how to heal. Well, she'd learned to use many of her powers by experimenting; she just had to hope that her healing abilities would instinctively kick in.
Unsure of how to begin, she touched two fingers to Olga's temples. She could feel the ebbing spark of Olga's life-force. She could also sense her own, a massive pulsing sun at her core.
Contact.
She felt her life-force bond to Olga's, sustaining it. She could sense everything that was wrong inside. Shattered ribs, massive internal bleeding, cerebral contusions. Instinctively, she knew what she needed to do to heal her. Concentrating on the worst injuries, she channeled her own life energy into Olga's body. She felt bones pulling back into position and mending, hemorrhaging arteries drawing blood back in and sealing, It was taxing her tremendously, but it was working.
Finally, she drew back her fingers. "Are you okay?"
"I'm... yeah, I am. What did you just do? And... what are you?"
"I'm, uh..."
"Yeah... and what'd you do to Helga?" the patriarch of the family added, red in the face. "Why'd you turn her into that horrible thing?"
"Bob, please..." Miriam interjected wearily. "She just saved Olga's life. She can't be bad."
"Oh yeah? I bet she did that just to cover her tracks."
"Okay, hold on. I had NOTHING to do with what happened to her, okay? This is all really terribly complicated, and I'm not sure I can explain it."
"Well, you better start, missy. Big Bob don't like bein' left out o' the loop."
"Okay... well... first off, my name's Rhonda. I'm in school with Helga. Or I was until a couple of months ago, before ...this happened. Turns out that I'm half-angel, half-demon... I'm supposed to be some kind of hero. There's an evil force, and it's taken over your daughter. I don't think she really wants this."
"Kid, if I didn't see my little girl walkin' around on goat legs and you wavin' that tail around, I'd say you were crazy."
"Yeah, well... so would I. In fact, I'm not so sure I'm not crazy."
"Is there a way to make her normal again?" asked Miriam.
"I don't know, but I'll try."
Somewhere down on the pavement in the deserted alley behind the building, Helga Pataki swam in and out of consciousness.
She was vaguely aware of what she was doing, as if watching herself in a movie from the back row. It all seemed so surreal... had she really been about to eat her own sister?
The last four weeks were all a blur. Sometimes, she'd wake, vaguely aware of the changes her body was going through, but most of the time had been spent enduring one nightmare after another.
The girl tried to pull herself out of the haze of rage and hatred that clouded her mind and was even now trying to take over her again. As she struggled to regain her awareness, she heard a voice in her head.
What do you think you're doing?
Trying to be myself again. Not the monster that you made me into.
I can't let you do that.
Helga once more felt raw hate and rage being funneled into her mind, suppressing the spark of humanity that valiantly held on, refusing to be extinguished.
No! I can't go under again! I mean, yeah, my family's annoying, but I don't wanna KILL them!
But you do. You do because that is your destiny. You are my vessel of destruction. You will defeat the accursed dark angel Rhonda Lloyd, and you will cleanse this world of the disease called life.
No... no...
Hellga's eyes snapped open.
"Yes."
The pint-sized she-devil once again took flight. Her injuries, mostly superficial, had healed completely. Now it was time for payback.
"There... that's the last of your burns, Mrs. Pataki," Rhonda said, wiping her forehead. Healing was a lot more tiring than fighting was. She doubted she was in any shape to take on Hellga, but it had to be done.
"Oh, thank you so much!" said Miriam, and Rhonda found herself the recipient of a crushing hug.
"Oh, ah.... thanks... "the girl managed to gasp. "Now I'd better see what happened to Helga..."
Rhonda leaned out the hole in the wall, looking down into the alley. She never saw it coming.
Hellga literally erupted from the pavement at impossible speeds, catching Rhonda squarely on the chin, knocking her back on her rump.
"Ready for round two, Purple Princess?"
Rhonda shook herself back to alertness. That really hurt. She's at least as strong as I am, and she hasn't burned up a lot of her power repairing fatal injuries. I probably can't fight her one-on-one, at least not 'til I recover my power. But I can't let her just walk over me either.
She pulled herself back up to her feet and made her way over to the smirking ten-year-old demoness. "I'm ready for what ever you have, Hellga."
"Ready? Yeah, right. You can barely stand up. Why don't I make this quick?"
Within moments, Hellga's fists were hammering away at Rhonda. Each blow felt like getting hit by a truck. Still, she stood her ground, waiting for an opening....
When her stinger struck Hellga's thigh, she was completely unprepared. The paralysis toxin worked its way quickly through Hellga's system, and she felt herself becoming sluggish and numb.
"Thatssa real cheap trick, Rhonna..." the blonde slurred. "Gonna getcha forrat... nextime."
And, in a puff of brimstone, Hellga vanished.
"Yeah... you better run..." mumbled Rhonda before she collapsed.
You were winning. You could have easily finished her off.
"Sorry... s'hard t'think..." slurred Hellga, her mind and body numbed by Rhonda's venom. She had retreated to an abandoned warehouse in Hillwood's waterfront district, to wait it out until her demonic metabolism burned the venom out of her system.
Your task is not to think. Your task is to kill, maim, and destroy.
"'ll'do it t'morrow..." the weary demoness mumbled.
You are proving to be a disappointment. You will be assigned another target, and you will kill it, thus proving that you are competent enough to be my champion. If you fail... you will be condemned to an eternity of suffering.
Your target is the one called... Arnold.
TO BE CONTINUED....