8-3: Horthe

Thanks to my online boyfriend I have pretty much come up with the complete outline for this story. Hopefully my rabid mice won't get jealous and attack him. They're very protective of me.

(((-3-)))

The Pawn by the name of Horthe stood up in Samantha's body unsteadily. She breathed in deeply, inhaling the pungent scents of paint, pastel, dust, rubber, sweat, and everything else all around her. It smelled so wonderful!

"You have your orders," her Master's voice echoed powerfully in her mind. "Do it and I shall let you live."

She nodded happily, glad to be doing the Master's bidding. The dark-skinned girl sauntered down the aisle, breathing in the smells of paintings hanging on the plywood walls. They were so rich and copious! Oh, if only she could spend more time around them.

Horthe caught sight of some students that looked almost familiar. She felt as though she knew them from someplace, but no other information was in her databanks. Well, she had her orders and would carry them out willingly.

Oooh! This one smelled like something she could eat. Mmmmm… She touched her tongue to the paper and instantly spit out the chalky substance. Tasting things was weird. She didn't like it.

Hey, wait! That person near the door…the one with pink hair…she was the one!

(V)

Yumi groped for something to say, but her mind was blank. All she could do was stare at them as they walked over to one of the tables off to the side and sat down together. Together.

Jeremy was too busy explaining art to Aelita to notice and Aelita herself was busy trying to figure out what the purpose of the clay sculptures were. She pointed at one and read the label out loud.

"'Michael, my True Love.' What does that mean?" she asked, fingering the head and shoulders of the figurine.

"It's just something this girl did to…uh…she wanted to show this guy that he was…erm…special to her." His arm snaked around her shoulders and she glanced at him quizzically. He removed it. "Uh, well…you want to go look at Janika's art?"

She nodded and they entered the art show's maze, Yumi trailing silently behind. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't realize where she was going until she bumped into someone standing with his back to them.

"Oh, sorry," she mumbled looking up, then she froze.

Ulrich stood there, staring at her as if he didn't know who she was. "Hello. Where is the one called Sissy?" he said slowly in a voice that didn't sound like his own.

Yumi screeched in anger and slapped his face as hard as she could, throwing him into a wall. It wobbled dangerously and some paintings fluttered to the ground. Jeremy and Aelita turned around to see her standing over Ulrich and shaking with fury.

"I'm going home," she said through gritted teeth. Before anyone could say anything, she darted away, slipping through crowds and heading for the door. Tears blurred her vision and she felt that she had been betrayed. She crossed the park, heading for the exit to the grounds.

"Yumi, what's wrong?" Ulrich asked, catching up with her.

The black-haired girl turned around coldly and gave him another slap. He staggered back, eyes wide. "What was that for?"

"Don't play innocent with me! You know very well what you did! You have the gall to go play with Sissy, then ask me about her, and then deny it to my face!" She tried to whack his cheek again, but he caught her arm.

"I did not! I told Sissy to shove it when she came to my room this morning, that's it! The whole thing about a play-marriage was something she came up with and she forged my signature on the sign-up sheet. I had nothing to do with it."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Ulrich, but I'm not going to put up with any of it anymore. Whatever we were, we're through now. Let me go!" She struggled in his grasp, but he wouldn't release her.

"Stop it, Yumi. You're really starting to freak me out. Now just calm down and tell me what the problem is," he tried to reason with her.

The Japanese girl punched him in the stomach and raced away while he was on his knees doubled over.

(V)

Jeremy helped Ulrich to his feet. "What did you do to make her slap you?" he asked, brushing his friend's shirt off.

Ulrich just stood there looking at him. "Where is Sissy?"

"What! Is that what you said to her? Gee, no wonder she smacked you. What do you want with Sissy anyway?"

"I need to take care of her," he said slowly.

Aelita stepped past the blonde boy and took hold of Ulrich's shoulders. "Ulrich? Is that you?"

"No," he replied after a moment.

She nodded. "I think we have our answer, Jeremy. He's—"

"Look out!" Jeremy yelled as he dove on top of the pink-haired girl. The breath was knocked from her lungs as she slammed into the cement floor beneath his weight. Something crashed and shattered behind them where she had been standing. Aelita recognized it as one of the larger clay sculptures.

"Samantha?" Jeremy said doubtfully as he got off his friend, obviously shocked and also embarrassed about being on top of Aelita.

The girl with black hair with several red highlights in it smiled cunningly at the end of the row. Some other girls joined her. "Hey, Sam, you don't have to break everything just because your art didn't get first place."

She looked at them confusedly. "Mine?"

"Yeah. That bowl right there," another girl pointed at some of the pottery.

"Oh, okay." She picked it up and pitched that one at Aelita.

Jeremy ducked, but the pink-haired girl was too slow! She screamed, but without any warning, the clone leaped forward to stand in the way of the flying object. The bowl hit it in the chest and its cry was half-formed when it vanished in a puff of smoke. Everyone gasped.

"What did you do to him?" The girls behind Samantha looked frightened.

Samantha herself only smiled with a playfulness that made her seem like a little girl. "I didn't expect that. Oh, and my name is Horthe, not Sam or Samantha." She advanced on Aelita, full of purpose. "And now I think I'll just destroy the program."

Her eyes glowed, rose-colored.

Jeremy thought fast. His foot shot out and kicked the wood bracing the plywood wall beside him and then he yanked the corner toward him. The heavy wall groaned as its support vanished. Horthe barely had enough time to turn her head before the panel collapsed on top of her!

Samantha's friends were caught by the wall beside it that had been dragged down also. Jeremy's action created a chain-reaction that resulted in all the walls going down like dominoes. He yanked Aelita to her feet and tried to escape the disintegrating maze. They barely made it out in time.

So there they were, standing outside the mess of strewn art and collapsed plywood walls surrounded by about two hundred surprised and angry people, some of which were caught in the ruins.

Odd and Janika ran over to them. "What just happened?" the teenager in purple wondered as he looked with amazement at the destruction. "Don't tell me you did this!"

"We have a problem," Jeremy muttered.

Before he could say anything else, a colossal wind tore through the gym, throwing posters and pictures around and blowing clothing about. The wind intensified and centered around one area in the fallen jumble of dividers.

The children covered their faces to keep the flying sand and grit out of their eyes. The wood was thrown forcefully away and any walls that had survived the mass-breakdown were instantly added to the heap.

People screamed and cowered, most of them headed for the door. But several could not help watching as a girl rose from the rubble supported only by the air, coal black hair flaring out accenting her gleaming eyes the color of bright coral.

But even more shocking to Jeremy than the fact that she was flying was the way she was laughing, as if she'd just been given a piece of candy. He couldn't help wondering what sort of person she was.

The new poll is: If Sissy was personified by one of X.A.N.A.'s monsters, which one would it be and why?