Chapter 8: Heart of the Core part 3: Puppet Master!
'Sasha encountered Anne and she did not look like herself and Darcy is to thank for her transformation! Or does Anne appears to have no allegiance to her nor Sasha? Does the core truly have control over the cyan warrior?"
Previously
"Don't worry Sasha, I am in total control!" Anne snipped as she threatened to bring the blade closer to the blonde. Darcy released the thai while watching the display in front of her with delight. "And Darcy is right! After everything you've done to me, I could never forgive you!"
The last part of Anne's sentence was spoken in the deranged voices of the core.
"No matter how much you say you've changed, you're still the same wicked witch that bullied me when you couldn't get your way and better yet, when you wanted to have your way no matter what!" Anne continued as she lifted Sasha off the ground while still pinning her against the wall, the blonde's feet dangling beneath her. "All the manipulating, the lying, the bullying, I've forgotten about none of it! But not to worry, you'll have plenty of time to think of how you're going to make it up to me while rotting away in the dungeon!"
"How are you so strong?!" Sasha continued struggling.
Smirking, Anne swung the blonde to her right with Sasha landing roughly on her left side, a sickening crack heard from the blonde's shoulder. Gripping her throat with her right hand, fits of coughs erupted from the blonde as she struggled to catch her breath from nearly be chocked to death.
Anne's muted orange and red eyes briefly shined brightly as frobots entered the area and quickly scooped Sasha up.
"Oh before you go." Anne began as she walked up to the disheveled blonde, her thin frame towering over her. Sasha's body immediately tensed up at how close the girl was to her, fearing the girl would continue her assault. "I'll be taking these as you won't be needing them where you're going."
Anne then snatched the bag of boom shrooms from Sasha's belt, victoriously holding the bag in front of the blonde.
"Get her out of my sight!" Anne demanded to the frobots.
With no strength to fight back, Sasha's body fell limp in their grip as they hauled the blonde away. Darcy then embraced Anne once more as she giggled with delight.
"My love, that was perfect!" Darcy nearly squealed as she interlocked her left hand in Anne's right hand. "Come! I must show you around the castle, more specifically where, we will be ruling from here on out! After that, I'll be giving you a grand tour!"
Placing a kiss to the thai's cheek, Darcy began leading Anne to the recuperation room. With her back turned, Darcy did not notice the sinister look growing on the thai's features…..
Currently
Song(s) played: Get Your Wish by Porter Robinson (Anne and Darcy)
One In a Million by Bebe Rexha and David Guetta (Darcy)
The Core's Consciousness
"Anne! Anne! If you can hear me, answer me!" A near hysterical Marcy called out as she continued to helplessly watch as her best friend's outline continued being downloaded into the core's consciousnesses.
Taking a step forward to begin towards the thai with the hope to rescue her, Marcy was suddenly met with an invisible wall that sprung up to separate the two. Touching it, Marcy's anger quickly surfaced that had the raven-haired girl firmly pressing against the invisible wall to hopefully shatter it and reach her best friend.
"I am tired of your dirty tricks Darcy!" Marcy nearly screamed as she began banging on the resilient shield. "You are not going to keep me from Anne and there is nothing you can do to stop me from reaching her!"
Continuing to bang on the shield, Marcy felt her fire beginning to burn out to fight against the core. Her breathing being heavy and a bit shallow, Marcy's rage came to a crawl as tears appeared in the girl's eyes as she looked helplessly towards Anne.
"I am so sorry Anne!" Marcy squeaked as she tried to fight back her tears while pressing her open palms against her side of the glass wall. "It's all my fault that we're in this mess! If I would have just moved away, at least I would have seen you guys again and none of us would be in this mess right now!"
"Dude, how long are you going to keep blaming yourself for that?" Anne's playful voice spoke out from behind the whimpering girl. "You screwed up, we know."
Hearing the voice of the girl she tried to desperately save in front of her, Marcy's frame suddenly froze as the tears that were threatening to pour out suddenly rescinded. Whipping around, Marcy eyes grew wide at the sight of the messy haired teen as the thai girl smiled back at her. Marcy's expression was tied between excited and frightened at seeing her best friend.
"Hey Marc." Anne nervously greeted to Marcy.
"Anne!" Marcy screamed as she lunged for Anne only to pass through her and hit the ground behind Anne. Sitting up, Marcy looked to her hands and then to Anne in confusion.
"Yea, I should have led with that." Anne laughed a bit. "I'm here, but I'm not at the same time."
"Ok, but how are you standing here when you're over there?" Marcy inquired further as she got to her feet. "But more so, out there?!"
"Just like you." Anne replied. "I can walk around here like this while my physical body is in the world. This place is pretty big you know?"
"Anne, why are you here and why are you so calm about being HERE? What did Darcy threaten to do that brought you here?" Marcy frantically asked as she walked up to Anne, stopping a few feet from the girl.
"I did what I had to to save all of you." Anne calmly replied to Marcy. "Darcy threatened to destroy the planet if I didn't go through with marrying her. So I said yes to keep her from doing anything drastic. I didn't want to, but I honestly had no choice."
Bringing her left hand into view, the emerald frog ring on Anne's left hand sparkled brightly. With each glimmer of the ring, Marcy felt her anger bubbling back to the surface. How dare Darcy force her crush to marry her and then trap her in the same hell hole she has been trying to get out of since arriving?!
"Anne, you could have found another way!" Marcy nearly screamed out of frustration. "You didn't have to go through with this! Now you're stuck here for all eternity with no one out there to stop Darcy! You saying yes to her will not stop her destruction! She's entirely too reckless!"
"I wouldn't go so far as to say no one will stop Darcy." Anne smirked. "I still have a bit of control of what goes on out there so we're not at a total loss."
"How do you still have control of yourself now that you're being integrated into the core?!" Marcy frantically asked as she tried to once more grab Anne, but caught herself as she nearly fell. "I keep forgetting about that. I have absolutely no control of myself or what that psycho is doing with my body, but somehow you do?!"
"Trust me Mar-Mar, I know what I'm doing." Anne stated with encouragement. "Darcy is only aware of what she thinks she can control, but is being blinded by what she thinks she's getting for eternity, which is me. I will get us both out of this, you just have to trust me."
"And what about Sasha?" Marcy inquired while steadying her nerves. "Isn't she a part of the rescue party to stop Darcy?"
"Of course she is, but she's a bit out of commission right now." Anne stated with a nervous smirk as she scratched the back of her head nervously. "I kind of let my anger get the better of me in my new form so…"
"Anne!" Marcy nearly screamed. "What did you do to Sasha?"
"Nothing I can't reverse." Anne simply replied. "All I ask is that you trust me and know that what control I have, I can overthrow Darcy when the time is right. I just can't give away too many details right now and only have one shot to get this right. Can you trust me Marcy?"
Turning her vision to the ground away from the ghost of her best friend, Marcy gripped her right arm with her left hand. Taking in a deep breath, Marcy turned her vision back to Anne and nodded.
"I trust you Anne." Marcy softly spoke. "I trust you to turn against Darcy, save me and Sasha, and destroy the core! I trust you!"
Smiling to Marcy, Anne nodded at her words of encouragement.
"That's all I needed to hear Marc." Anne stated with a smile.
Before the thai could continue her thought, her right arm began fading in and out, which caught the girls' attention.
"Well dude, looks like my fifteen minutes of fame are up." Anne joked as her right arm faded back in. "I know this is the last place you wanted to see me in, but trust me when I say, I will get us out of this."
With those final words, Anne faded into the room's darkness as she waved to Marcy. Seeing her best friend, once again, ripped away from her, the tears that Marcy held back earlier resurfaced and poured down her cheeks like a water fall. Wiping her face, Marcy was overcome with determination as she turned back to the outline of Anne as her data continued being downloaded into the core.
"Anne, I trust you with my life and I know Sasha feels the same!" Marcy sternly spoke as she kept her eyes glued to Anne. "Your days are numbered Darcy so you better start counting them!"
Marcy then balled up her right fist and slammed it against the invisible barrier that separated her and Anne.
While reviewing the amphibian alphabet with Anne, Darcy suddenly felt a pinch in the back of her head that lead the girl to scratch that area of her head. Noticing the girl scratching kind of furiously, Anne turned to Darcy with her left eyebrow cocked.
"Hey, you ok there?" Anne inquired to Darcy as her muted orange and red eyes briefly shined.
"Of course my love, just had a bit of an itch is all." Darcy replied as she turned her attention back to the alphabet. "I think I may need to switch my shampoo and conditioner to something a bit stronger than I have."
Newtopian Castle
Tightly holding hands with the core's newest host, Darcy gleefully pulled Anne into different rooms and areas within the castle to introduce her to her new home. The first room was their bedroom that both woke up in after their wedding reception. Darcy displayed to Anne their wedding photo from the reception in which Anne looked drowsy and terrified at the same time. Grinning at the photo, Anne pulled out her new phone with the core's symbol on the back of it and she and Darcy posed for their new "wedding" photo. After the picture was taken, Anne and Darcy reviewed at the photo on Anne's phone, Darcy pecking the thai on her right cheek in the photo.
"Ah, you're my
You're my one, one, one in a million,
It's like someone picked you out of the sky,
Maybe I met you for a reason."
The next room Darcy pulled Anne into was the door that led to the castle's study that contained all the information regarding Newtopia dating back to the time of the city's build to present. Placing the palms of her hands on the faux white and black marble tile of the door, the door shined a bright muted orange before it slid open with a quiet whir. Darcy then pulled Anne into the room while displaying to her shelf after shelf of the ancient scrolls of Newtopia.
"And I can't believe that we're both alive at the same time
Is this heaven now? Am I dreamin' out? Am I dreamin'?
You're my one, one, one in a million,
And I can't believe that we're both alive at the same time!"
Darcy then removed a scroll off of the lowest shelf and handed it to Anne as the thai unrolled it and began reading the ancient alphabet that riddled the parchment paper. Watching as the thai concentrated on the document before her, Darcy then swooned as she observed the thai reading the scroll, unable to hide her excitement about spending eternity with the cyan calamity warrior.
"You got me speedin' through the red lights,
Yeah, I'm on my way,
We do it 'cause it feels right,
Yeah, you got me so,
High!
I tripped and found paradise,
No lie,
I tripped and found paradise in your eyes,
In your eyes, in your eyes,
In your eyes, in your eyes (in your eyes, in your eyes),
In your eyes".
The next room Darcy escorted Anne into were the resurrection room where Darcy recharged and updated the Core's servers twice a week. The machine that sat next to the bed Darcy laid on to recharge, it's low hum echoed through the quiet room which caused Darcy's ears to perk up at the familiar sound.
"I have been waiting what feels like a life time to show you this!" Darcy beamed as she pulled Anne to a small door inside the room. Her eyes shining their usual muted red and orange, the door quickly opened to reveal the music box sitting atop a lighted shelf that shined a bright gold and the key to the music box hanging on a hook above the golden instrument.
"Now that you are one a part of us, you too will have access to Newtopia's greatest secret!" Darcy confidently stated as she slowly, but carefully scooped the music box up into her hands. She then proudly displayed the box to Anne who carefully took the jewel from Darcy. Touching the surface of the box, Anne felt a slight jolt of excitement race through her frame.
"Isn't she a beauty?" Darcy cooed as Anne's muted red and orange eyes glossed over the box carefully.
"Very beautiful." Anne repeated as she continued looking the box over. "But why is this called Newtopia's greatest secret?"
"Because this box holds immeasurable power beyond even the oldest newt's imagination!" Darcy proudly exclaimed as she carefully took the box from Anne and delicately placed it back on the shelf. "This thing can conquer any universe or destroy any target we set our destination to! Having the box back in the castle couldn't have happened at a better time and it's all thanks to you my sweet!"
"You're my one, one, one in a million,
It's like someone picked you out of the sky (someone picked you out of the sky),
Maybe I met you for a reason,
And I can't believe that we're both alive at the same time!
Is this heaven now? Am I dreamin' out? Am I dreamin'?,
You're my one, one, one in a million,
And I can't believe that we're both alive at the same time!"
After showing the thai around the castle for a majority of the evening, the tour ended at Darcy's bedroom as two hosts settled into the balcony area outside of the bedroom under the setting sun. The night air provided a slight wind that blew the hosts' hair gently as they laid together. Darcy comfortably dozed off with her arms cupped around Anne's waist on the charcoal-colored loveseat. The thai closed her eyes and pretended to sleep alongside Darcy, but were waiting for the girl to fall asleep so she could tour certain areas of the castle alone without the careful eyes of a chaperone.
Carefully adjusting her body to look back at Darcy who was hugged up on Anne's back, Anne noticed a stream of drool were forming in the right corner of the girl's mouth that indicated that Darcy was in a deep sleep. Smirking and carefully slipping out of Darcy's arms, Anne quietly, but quickly exited the bedroom, making sure her exit was a quiet one so not to wake the sleeping hivemind. Making her way back to the resurrection room that were two rooms over from the bedroom, particularly back to the small closet that contained the music box and key to the instrument, Anne's eyes briefly shined muted orange and red as the door slid open to reveal the music box and key in their shiniest of gold coated glory. A cynical grin growing on the thai's face, Anne carefully plucked the key off of the hook while examining it closely.
"Well, hello there beautiful." Anne evilly smirked as she continued looking over the key. "We're reunited at last."
"Is this heaven now? Am I dreamin' out?
Is this heaven now? Am I dreamin'?
You're my one, one, one in a million,
And I can't believe that we're both alive at the same time,
You're my one, one, one in a million,
And I can't believe that we're both alive at the same time!"
In the dark regions of the castle's basement, the cell that contained the blonde warrior was suddenly illuminated by a boom shroom alongside Sasha's face. While Anne confiscated the majority of the explosives, Sasha ensured that she was not completely defenseless in her situation. Slightly smiling at the pint-sized weapon as it glowed with promise, a determined smile grew on the blonde's face as she kept her eyes glued to the illuminating explosive.
"This shroom is going to go boom very soon!" Sasha stated to herself as she kept her eyes on the mini explosive in her right hand…..
A/N: My sincere apologies that this chapter took so long to publish. Life has been life-ing and summer has been summer-ing with the over-the-top craziness since May! But here it is and stay tuned for the next chapter, Keep Your Friends Close!