Disclaimer: I don't own The Rocky Horror Picture Show

A/N: This chapter explains why Magenta's somewhat out of character. It also gives a bit more backstory. By the way... Lord Klaatu De'Lordy, Barada De'Lordy, and young Nikto De'Lordy are named after a quote from The Day the Earth Stood Still ("Gort! Klaatu Barada Nikto"). Barada is the 'evil' De'Lordy from ROTOQ


"What is it?" Magenta asked, staring at Brad.

He chuckled. "There're some people in the forest. Quite a number in fact, and-"

"You know I already know that," she growled. "What do you really want?"

Now an expression of fear appeared on his face. Though his 'Master' Magenta had never done him any harm he still feared her. At the same time, somehow, he loved her. Perhaps it was just Stockholm Syndrome… but he was very faithful for someone in that position.

"I wanted to ask about Janet," Brad explained.

Every month he did this. Every single month he'd one day begin asking about his fiancé. Soon after arriving on Earth Magenta had gotten Janet committed to a mental hospital – which was actually rather easy – and made Brad something of a slave via blackmail. Dr. Scott also had a fate similar to Brad's but he was far less useful so she called on him very rarely.

To keep him happy, Magenta gave him the impression she'd one day get Janet back and free them both. Though she never stated it outright so Brad couldn't claim she'd told him she'd free Janet. All this manipulation made her feel like the terrible man she'd once been forced to serve… though she avoided thinking about that.

"She's doing well enough," Magenta said with faked cheer. "Though I don't know how soon she can return home. Would you please do a favor for me? Perhaps something to get your mind off Janet?"

"What do you need?" Brad asked, knowing he couldn't refuse.

"Go separate the people in the forest. Use my traps to disorient them. Just make a mess. Also, sabotage their ship if possible," she told him.

"Right."

And so, he left the room. Once the sound of his footsteps had faded the only thing Magenta heard was the whirring and clicking of her inventions. They were like her diary, they were art. This house of stage magic tools and trickster's machinery was her life. Her darkest thoughts manifesting in the form of strange inventions. All of it had meaning that only she knew. Symbolism so complex, so personal that not even Miranda could understand it. Perhaps Riff could… but he was gone.

That was half the reason she invented those mad things. She missed her scientist brother – who probably thought her dead – and built things just as he'd once built a creature. The main difference between such projects was that she'd designed willingly and that fiend they'd once worked for had forced him to work.

Another thing induced by being away from him was all the talking. To fill the empty silence she spoke as much as possible. It seemed better than yearning to hear his voice every time she conversed with someone. Anyway, she was Master of this house. Her job was to order everyone about and that required a more talkative manner. Before she'd been rather quiet and hiding in her brother's shadow for safety's sake. Now she had little to fear and he was gone.

Well, not really. This ship that had crashed in the forest during the previous night's not-so-natural thunderstorm gave her some hope. She'd picked it up on her radar scanner. Knowing it would land near Denton – for that was considered one of the best places to land, since it's inhabitants lacked imaginations and therefore weren't able to believe in aliens – she caused it to crash in the forest. Laser beams were far from hard to build for anyone who'd trained in the Transylvanian army (as she once had).

She'd shot down a ship that was her brother's in the hope of… what? This was something new. Taking some sort of revenge on him. Perhaps observing his behavior through that elaborate security camera system – Magenta really did 'see all' – then deciding what to do. A test, to see if he was still the wonderful man she'd loved. Rushing to reunite with him might result in disappointment. For once she had power, so why not use it? A maze of tests for he and his companions would be clever indeed. Though it would also require the help of a certain Dr. Everett Scott.

"Good thing his office is here," she muttered.

She'd done that intentionally. It made things easier to have him living nearby. Yes, he could still do his usual work as science teacher. The forest was not far from Denton and it's high school. Though it was summer at this point and he spent virtually all his time in that nice study. This castle may've been a cage for Brad and Dr Scott – but it was a lovely cage indeed.


Meanwhile, in the forest

King Riff Raff, a young Earthling woman called Columbia, Lord Klaatu De'Lordy, and Klaatu's brother Barada were all standing in the middle of a wild maze of trees. Each tree looked nearly the same to them – especially in the slight darkness. They'd somehow lost their way to the wrecked ship by only wandering for a few minutes. Nobody was pleased by this, but Klaatu and Columbia tried to seem cheery. Both were by nature optimistic.

"What an odd place this is!" Klaatu said, smiling.

"Very odd," his brother agreed. "All I want to know is how the hell are we going to leave?"

Not far from there, though far enough that neither party could find each other, a young man named Nikto was wandering aimlessly. He was the son of Klaatu and less cheerful than his father. Now that it seemed all the others were dead he was in a particularly bad mood. This was clear from the expression upon his not unattractive face. Miranda, who happened to be watching on the security monitors, felt terribly sorry. Though she knew not why he was in the forest or who he happened to be she decided that she must meet him. He did happen to be the only young man she'd ever met. Brad was old enough to be her father and. So – even though Nikto was average in looks for a man his age – he seemed wonderfully attractive to Miranda.

This was, according to Miranda, love at first sight.


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