And here be the next chapter! It was very interesting how this one turned out, as you can see by the chapter title. That bit is very amusing... hehe. Please enjoy and leave feedback. As always, if you miss this fic check out Unlucky Clover which is updated pretty much on a weekly schedule as well, but at a different time than Windmill.
Chapter 32 Pushing Katherine's Last Nerve
Kimberly tried to calm her pounding heart. She could have sworn that Maroon could hear it clear as a bell. She swallowed and tried to forget her nervousness. This is just like a meet… I've got to be calm to perform well… then again… there's no enemy hunting me down to kill me at a meet…In the end, Kimberly felt no calmer than she had before she tried to think of happy thoughts.
Maroon took her time searching the small room. She knew that the longer she procrastinated, the more freaked out Kimberly would become. Fear was a terrible enemy to the weak of heart. She clutched a piece of broken glass in her hand, poised to throw it at the slightest thing that moved.
Kimberly peeked out from her hiding space, noticing the look on Maroon's face. She looked ready to kill. That glass she held didn't look very appealing, and it made Kimberly sick to her stomach to think of what her enemy would do with the glass or where it'd end up.
Maroon looked toward a corner of the room, and did a double take when she saw part of what looked like human flesh. She looked again, and sure enough it was a piece of Kimberly's leg that she hadn't been able to hide in the shadows. She grinned wickedly. Now that she knew where Kimberly was hiding, things became less stressful and easier for her. She began making rounds around the room again, pretending to check spots for Kimberly. She noticed that the patch of leg she'd originally seen had moved and was replaced with another body part. Maroon squinted, and realized that it was part of Kimberly's arm. She took aim with the piece of glass and threw. She was rewarded with a pained scream.
Kimberly clutched her arm. The glass was lodged in between her wrist and elbow. The pain was blinding. Kimberly watched the copper fluid ooze from its origin and contemplated how she could remove it without causing herself more pain.
Maroon watched Kimberly observe the glass and realized that if Kimberly didn't get that glass out of her arm, she'd have to place a piece of glass in her arm too. At the very least it was one more cut she had to make to make sure she was a Kimberly copy. She cursed her stupidity. In her haste to find Kimberly, she had let her anger get the best of her. Now she was going to pay, regardless of what Kimberly did next. She was more irked at herself now than at Kimberly. "Look what you've done," she hissed.
Kimberly looked up from her hiding space. She was busy tending to her wound and now Maroon was accusing her of something. "I did nothing," she returned coldly.
"No you've done everything. You've caused my anger to boil and now I have to copy what I just did to you."
"Oh yes, blame it on me. It is your own fault, not mine."
"I am made from your DNA, so yes, it is your fault. It is a hidden character trait of yours."
"Listen you," began Kimberly. "Stop placing the blame on me. It is your own fault for being loyal to Rita."
"I have no choice. It is all that I know and all that I will ever be. We share the same vision, the same goal. I will do whatever it takes to accomplish that goal, even this," stated Maroon as she thrust the piece of glass still in her hand into her own arm, mirroring Kimberly's own injury.
Kimberly watched the glass cut deeper into Maroon's arm. Maroon's face became distorted with the pain, but she said nothing. There was no scream, no cry. There was simply silence. Maroon pulled the piece of glass from her arm, satisfied that she had copied Kimberly's injury. Kimberly noticed that she treated her arm a little more gently.
Shaking her arm, Maroon tried to dismiss the pain that was lodged in the cut she had made. It seemed to be more of a sensitive spot than she had originally thought, at least for Kimberly's body. She kept her tongue in check though. Instead of cursing herself, she walked over to Kimberly's hiding spot and bent over. She looked closely at Kimberly's wound. She knew that Kimberly would do nothing to harm her from fear. She reached out a hand and pulled.
Kimberly emitted another scream and then gasped for breath as she nursed her arm once again. Blood again came rushing forth; she tried to stop the flow. The glass had originally kept most of it from spilling out the first time around. She looked up as Maroon was snickering at her.
"You're pathetic," she called.
Kimberly tried to ignore her, but found her inner Kimberly trying to break free. "Not as much as you," she mumbled.
"I think I'll choose to ignore that," responded Maroon.
A knocking on the door shushed both of them. "Yes?" called Maroon.
"It is time," came the voice. Kimberly racked her brain; she knew that voice from somewhere. The answer eluded her.
"Where are we needed?" asked Maroon.
"Earth. Take the prisoner too," added the voice.
"Will do," replied Maroon.
The voice said no more, and Maroon presumed them gone. She turned to Kimberly. "Well, well," she called. "It's time to actually put you to work—"
Another knocking came on the door. "What is it!" yelled Maroon in frustration. She hated interruptions.
"Your supplies are outside the door. Rita has requested that you use them in the plan. They are very crucial to the success of it."
"Right, right. Now if you are finished, leave and leave me to my task."
"Of course," came the answer.
Maroon turned back to Kimberly. "If you fail to make this work, I swear I will kill you by my own hands, regardless of whatever Rita may say."
Kimberly gulped, but did not let Maroon see the fear that was taking over her body. Whatever Maroon and Rita had planned, Kimberly did not want to be a part of.
Elsewhere…
Rito stood outside his room, delaying entering. He did not want to deal with a pissed off Katherine. A ticked off Ranger was not acceptable and he was not up to fighting today. Perhaps if I go away down the hallway and turn off my thoughts, she won't come after me and kick my ass. Yeah that's the perfect plan, Rito. He sucked in his breath and walked around the corner. Here goes…He turned all thoughts of desiring Katherine to thoughts of hatred. A scream was all he needed to see that it had worked.
Katherine looked down at herself and then at the room surrounding her. She couldn't believe what'd she'd been doing. As soon as the spell had worn off her body, she had realized that she had been rubbing her breasts. It creeped her out to no end. "Where am I?" she wondered out loud.
Her call echoed off the walls in the room. She looked closely at the interior design, noticing that much of the furniture incorporated a skull in some manner. It has to be him thought Katherine. No one else is a skull fanatic like he is. And he is going to pay dearly as soon as I find him…
Katherine leapt from the bed and put her helmet back on. She drew her blaster just to be on the safe side. She decided to search the hallways. She had figured that Rito wouldn't be far from his room if she guessed right. She turned right and went around the corner, finding him cowering on the floor. She noticed that he hadn't seen her just yet. She placed her blaster to the side of his head. "Tag, you're it," she said coldly.
Rito babbled incoherently at her, surprised to be discovered. "I didn't do it!" he shouted as he got to his feet quickly.
"I don't want to hear your excuses," stated Katherine. "I've been toyed with enough by Rita's henchmen, and I don't want to deal with your reasoning."
"Look, I'll be honest with you. I didn't want it like this."
"What are you talking about?" asked Katherine, not relenting.
"Honestly, I think you'd make a good sidekick, not lover. The Desire potion was stronger than I thought. Honest mistake, you know?"
"I don't think you're telling the truth."
"I am telling the truth, though it may seem strange. Just let me be and go after the others."
Katherine sighed. Why Rito was being sentimental and honest all of a sudden was beyond her. She withdrew the blaster from his head. "If I find out you were playing tricks again, I will destroy you."
Rito gulped. Katherine had never been like this before. He supposed that what Rita had put her through had had something to do with it. Then again, it could just be a human thing. Either way, Rito wasn't going to deal with her bad side.
"Tell me where Kimberly is."
"What?"
"Tell me where Kimberly is."
"I… I don't know!"
"Tell me or else!"
"I don't know where she is! Probably with Maroon somewhere. She's always been with Maroon."
"Then where is Maroon?"
"I just said I didn't know where Kimberly was. If I knew where Maroon was, then I'd know where Kimberly was. Sheesh."
"Don't get smart with me, Rito. I'm the one asking the questions here. You just shut up and listen."
"Yes ma'am," he squeaked.
"You're going to help me find Maroon and Kimberly, got it?"
"I can't do that to my sister! She'll have my hide!"
"Your sister isn't here right now, but I am. I say you do as I say or else!"
Rito cowered, holding his hands over his head. "Okay, okay!"
"Now help me find Maroon!" commanded Katherine.
"She's in my lab," called another voice from down the hallway.
Katherine's head turned to look at the being. Finster appeared from the darkness. "Are you telling the truth, or just anther string of lies?"
"Truth. Maroon took over my lab to torture Kimberly. I have no access to it until she has finished her business."
"See? Problem solved. Well, toodles," called Rito as he began to walk off.
"No so fast," answered Maroon, stopping Rito in his tracks. "You have a job to do for me."
"Aww sheesh," muttered Rito.
"Where's your lab?" asked Katherine.
"Just down this hallway," answered Finster. "But don't expect her to let you in. Maroon lets no one pass."
"I think she'll sing a different tune when I come knocking."
Finster shrugged, and then continued on down the hallway. He knew that he shouldn't have helped her, a Ranger of all things, but he couldn't help it. He wanted to get revenge on Maroon for stealing his lab and if he had to help the enemy do so, then so be it. Now was not the time to rationalize whether or not Rita would find out, or what she would say when she did. "Forgive me, my queen, for I have shamed you. It could not be helped. Maroon drove me to the last nerve, and I just can't take it anymore," he whispered.
Katherine watched Finster's retreating figure. At least he had given her the answers she sought, though she didn't know why. Things were becoming crazier by the moment and Katherine knew that Finster's strange behavior wasn't the last. She had noticed a change even in herself and all because of that Desire potion. As she turned around again to address Rito, she caught him sneaking off again. "Don't you even dare," she warned.
Rito froze in his place. "I… I wasn't doing nothing."
"There is no escaping me. Now let's go."
Rito sighed as he led Katherine to Finster's lab. If anyone saw this, he was a dead skeleton. Even deader than he already looked. He felt Katherine's eyes piercing the back of his head. She was keeping a close watch on him, no matter what he thought. There was no escape.
Here's a fact: it was totally fun making Katherine turn cold and getting Rito cowering in his boots. I quite enjoyed writing it, but what else would she do in that situation? Anyone who's been tricked not once, but twice, would probably find themselves in those same shoes.
Next time on Windmill into the Fall: Katherine comes knocking, but will Maroon care? And when will Rita's final plan go into action? Find out in the next chapter of Windmill into the Fall!