Chapter Two: In Another World
Apokolyps
"Will you calm down?!" A big, buff girl clad in red and yellow jumpsuit armor exclaimed as she blocked the powerful punches and kicks of her blonde teammate. Her teammate though, didn't seem to hear her and continued her assaults with much more power than before. With one, powerful roundhouse kick, she sent the buff girl flying a few meters away from her.
The buff girl banged her clenched fist to the floor and stared at her teammate with annoyance. "What's the big deal, Gilotina?! We've been at this for hours!" she yelled as she stood up.
Gilotina didn't speak and started to stride towards her, her white armor glinting as if to reflect her anger.
"Gilotina, enough. You're going to kill Stompa at that rate." A new voice said.
Gilotina's stare went to a girl, sitting silently on the bench, her legs and arms crossed.
"Shut it Lashina." Gilotina said in a hushed tone.
Lashina raised her eyebrow at her teammate. "I still don't understand why you're still upset. It wasn't unusual for us to be beaten by her."
"I said SHUT UP!" Gilotina yelled as she turned her whole body to face the long, ebony haired girl.
Lashina, on the other hand, just stared at her comrade indifferently. She uncrossed her arms and legs. She stood up and adjusted the metal strips on her left shoulder.
Gilotina felt her temper rise. "What now?" she sneered.
"Well, we'd say to calm down— but that would be hypocritical of us."
The three girls whipped their heads to the door, where two new girls stood with scowls on their faces.
Mad Harriet, the one who spoke, was a green haired cackling mad woman. She jumped and settled herself on top of a table.
"I share your anger towards her. But I also share Lashina's logic." she added in a mocking tone.
A gust of wind, accompanied by the flashes of yellow and red suddenly passed Gilotina. The blonde girl whirled and saw another yellow and red clad woman observing Stompa with her bruises.
Laughter erupted in the room. "Geez Gilo! I know you're a ticking bomb when angry but this is just—" The Speed Queen trailed off as she stared at Stompa's bruises, hands on her hips.
Gilotina growled. She could feel her shoulders shaking and all she could see was red. She wanted to rip these people's heads off. She wanted to tear them limb from limb. But she forced herself to calm down, inhaling and exhaling deeply. It seemed to work a little as her heart's erratic beating seemed to lessen and she could now feel the strain of her muscles. However, it still did not lessen the anger in her whole being.
A loud sigh broke everyone's trance. They all looked at Lashina, who was pinching the bridge of her nose in between her thumb and middle finger.
"Listen," Lashina started, "I know we all have some kind of issue with her—"
Mad Harriet cackled loudly at Lashina's words, but then stopped when she saw Stompa's glare.
"—however, it shouldn't be enough reason for our work to be hindered—"
"We already acknowledged that bull—"
"Gilo!"
"Stop it you—"
"Hahahaha! Now this—"
All the murmurs of the girls were cut off by the crack of Lashina's metallic whip and the wall breaking. They all turned to her wide eye when they saw the dent Lashina's whip made.
"— can't do anything about it but accept the fact. We will gain nothing from resenting her." Lashina finished with a hiss.
All was silent then Mad Harriet did a somersault before landing gracefully on the ground. "We could always just kill her you, couldn't we?"
"Even if we could," Stompa started, "We all have to admit that she is a valuable asset to the team."
"Hate to admit it, but Stompa's got a point." Speed Queen added.
"You all seem to be missing the point."
Everyone looked at Gilotina, who quietly spoke but anger was evident on her face. Gilotina glared at each one of her teammates before crossing her arms. "I don't care if she's a valuable asset to the team. I don't care if our masters get angry if we hurt her. I don't care. I just want her dead."
Lashina clicked her tongue. "Pride issues then." She taunted, clearly amused.
"Call it whatever you want." Gilotina sneered as she walked towards the long raven haired woman. "Even if you don't admit it out loud, it angers you to know that she effortlessly achieves everything we all had worked so hard to get."
The blonde's statement earned different reactions from her teammates, but before anyone could say anything, there was a knock on the door. Lashina gave one last look to Gilotina before answering the door.
Lashina stared coldly at the soldier before asking, "What is it?"
"Fury Lashina, Madam Granny requested for your and Gilotina's presence at her office." The soldier said.
Lashina nodded and glanced at Gilotina. "Let's go."
Gilotina snorted but complied.
Mad Harriet waved as the two walked out on the room and Speed Queen nudged Stompa aside. "We'll take care of Stompa," the green-haired woman said before Gilotina closed the door.
They walked in silence— a very uncomfortable and deafening silence that neither broke. Once they reached Granny Goodness's office, the soldier knocked on the door. "Madam Granny, they are here."
A muffled 'come in' was heard and the soldier opened the door. Gilotina and Lashina went in, giving a salute to the mentor as they did.
"Lashina, Gilotina." Granny said, her eyes never leaving the set of papers in her hand. The two Furies stared at each other before stepping further into the room. They walked towards Granny's table.
"You called us Granny?" Gilotina asked, emphasizing on the word 'us'.
Granny Goodness set the papers down and glanced at them. "Indeed." she motioned them one by one "You three are asked to accompany Lord Darkseid on his business later."
Gilotina and Lashina raised an eyebrow while Granny just sat there. "Us, three?" It was Lashina's turn to ask.
Right on cue, another knock was heard on the door. "Madam Granny—"
"Come in." Granny interrupted, staring at the door. The door opened and the first thing they saw was a soldier holding the door.
Behind him was a female that wore a whole black body suit and gold armor. The armor covering her outlined the muscles of her body. On her lower waist was a belt with an oblong ruby at the center. Her forearm armors were plated with three medium sized blades (much like a fin of a shark... moving on). Her hands were decorated with knuckle braces and her fingers were free from any suit or armor, revealing reddish skin. Hiding her head was a helmet that looked like a distorted face, with the left eye bigger than the right eye. The lip of the helmet was designed as frowned, sewed ones and its nose was missing, replaced by three small holes for breathing.
Gilotina scowled while Lashina stared indifferently.
"At ease Gem," Granny greeted after Gem gave a salute. "As I was saying, the three of you are to accompany Lord Darkseid on his business later. The reason is unknown. But he said that you are to leave soon. So be ready in ten. Meeting place: Throne room." She simply said and lifted the set of papers after. "That is all. Be sure to accomplish whatever the Lord wishes, dismissed." The Furies nodded in understanding and gave one last salute before leaving the room.
Two of the Furies stared at the door while the other one was already making her way to her quarters. "That's strange. We don't usually accompany the Lord when he's dealing with guests. I wonder what the meeting would be about." Lashina said to no one in particular.
"I don't know, probably a new partner or something along those lines. We'd never know until later." The blonde said and turned her head towards the silent Fury. "What do you think Gem?" She suddenly called out.
'Gem' stopped, but made no movement of turning to face them. The blonde Fury waited for her to do something and ignored Lashina's glare. Knowing that she would not get any reaction, Gilotina spoke again, "Do you have an idea about the Lord's business?" She waited for an answer for a few moments before Gem shrugged and continued to walk away.
Lashina hid her slight amusement as Gilotina clenched her fist and was about to punch the wall. Luckily, Lashina caught her wrist with the same strength Gilotina had in store before the latter could do any destruction.
"You wouldn't gain anything from provoking her. I hope you behave later." She said to her.
Gilotina glared at her before pulling away her wrist and stared at the path where Gem disappeared.
"Don't worry, I'll behave— wouldn't want to disappoint." Gilotina whispered before leaving with Lashina to get ready.
"Are you sure it is wise to have those three accompany the Lord?"
"It was the Lord's order that those three will accompany him. I have no say about it, Desaad." Granny Goodness said, not even looking up from the papers she was reading.
Desaad sighed before closing the door and walking towards Granny.
"It is quite obvious that the other Furies bear some kind of hatred towards the mysterious warrior. Surely you would have noticed it by now."
Granny stared at the deranged scientist irritably. "I am aware of that. I have always been ever since Gem joined."
Desaad frowned. "Surely would have thought of something about it." He said.
"I care for the Furies," the elder started, "but what they feel among others are out of my league. I want to keep it that way." She stacked the papers before fully staring at Desaad. "Intervening in their relationships would be catastrophic. Unwanted emotions would surface, and they would most probably turn against each other— that is something I don't want."
"But the situation would eventually turn into that." Desaad pressed, "Can you not feel it? See it?"
"I do, of course." Granny leaned back. "But nothing dangerous happened and I'm pretty sure the other Furies are aware of the consequences they could face if they do something the Lord would not be pleased of." She said. "If you are done pressing ridiculous matters, I'd like to have a peaceful time alone."
Desaad snorted. "This conversation is far from over."
"Go experiment on the dogs, you lunatic."
Gilotina and Lashina impatiently waited outside Darkseid throne room as they listen to the hush whispers inside. They have been here a couple of minutes ago but Granny Goodness told them to stay outside, since Darkseid was still talking to the visitors and Gem had not arrived yet.
Lashina frowned. While she did not harbour the same resentment like the other Furies, she did not appreciate how indifferent Gem was when it came to certain things. The raven-haired warrior was dedicated to her oath, every single one of them. They worked through blood, sweat and tears— literally. They crawled their way into power from the moment they entered the orphanage. Everything they had now was the result to murderous years they had.
Gem, however, was the exact opposite. While Lashina accepted that the woman was strong, her efforts were clearly half-hearted. It annoyed Lashina to no end that she was garnering more praises when they clearly worked more than her.
Lashina's thoughts were cut off when she heard Gilotina scoffed. She stared at the blonde first. Silently asking 'what is it now?' Gilotina's glare hardened and used her head to tilt and motioned to her left. Lashina averted her eyes towards the direction Gilotina motioned. There, leaning on the wall was Gem, arms crossed.
The door suddenly opened and Granny Goodness stepped out. "Come now." She said with a stern smile on her face.
Once inside, the Furies stood erect, like they always do. Lashina, who was positioned in between the other two Furies, observed the visitors that are standing beside Darkseid's throne. One of them was much like Darkseid himself. He was tall, his shoulders were broad but not as much as Darkseid, his jaw was defined and on his face were three scars. Next to the scarred man was a thin boy who seemed to have two horns, made of hair and in his arms was a cat with tiger stripes and red eyes.
"Gentlemen." Darkseid's voice echoed through the room. "These are Gilotina, Lashina, and Gem. They are my perfect candidate for your plan." He trailed off slowly.
The boy walked towards them and examined each one of them. "Are you serious? We're going to have three puny girls to put our plan in action?" He exclaimed and his cat purred in agreement.
The scarred man rolled his eyes. "Mind your tongue Klarion. Not everyone is what they seemed." He then turned to Darkseid. "Forgive him. He's just a child." He loudly stated.
"Hey!" Klarion protested.
"I do not mind, Savage." Darkseid said with a grin. "Many people tend to underestimate my Furies." His gaze suddenly went to the three warriors. "And I like how my Furies prove them wrong." He added.
Klarion crossed his arms, causing his cat to descend to the floor. He studied each one of them, criticizing them. When he walked to the last Fury, the Witch Boy narrowed his eyes at her, but before he could even focus, Savage's voice broke his concentration.
"Behave, Klarion."
His red eyes glared at the older man.
"So it is settled then." Darkseid's voice brought all of them back to reality. "Lashina, Gilotina and Gem will journey with you. Treat them well Savage, or it is I whom you shall have to fear."
Savage stared at Darkseid. "I thought you are going with us." He said.
Darkseid grinned. "They are more than enough."
Savage graciously bowed down. "If you insist."
Darkseid's grin widened and turned his attention to the girls. "Furies, you are to journey to Earth and bring me something valuable. Savage and Klarion will be your guide. They will tell you what to do once you reach Earth. Never disobey Furies. You know the consequences." The Furies saluted and walked near Klarion and Savage.
Suddenly, a boom tube appeared in front of them and Savage motioned to it. One by one they went through the boom tube and found themselves in a meeting room, an oval-shaped table filled with people.
The Furies watched as Klarion and Savage took their seat in the table. "Ladies." Savage said. "May I introduce you to the Light."
Author's Note: Again, I'm sorry if it's dull as well. Please read and review!