Chapter Four – “Cat Out of the Bag”

The awed look on Jason’s face spoke volumes. Before him was a battle not unlike the ones he often read about in his weekly comic book stash. Simone, the giantess, smashed her way through the Amazon army like She-Hulk. Her fists pounded the smaller warriors into submission, and when she slapped her two hands together, it echoed like a thunderclap, rattling his eardrums. Haley, the blonde inventor he met at the outset of the convention, stood off to the side controlling a robot she called Brute. Brute was much like Iron Man, albeit an oversized model. He would burst forward with surprising speed, ramming his way through the battle and occasionally produce an optic blast that confounded the army’s archers. Finally, there was the demon, Anibelle. She was by far the fastest of the three, as she weaved between the Amazons as if they were standing still. She attacked by any means necessary, stealing one of their spears, slashing with her razor-sharp tail, or just pummeling them with her fists. As she threw herself at her victims, it seemed as if she had a total disregard for her own well-being, which probably explained why she was missing an eye. She was the Elektra, the Deadpool, or the Wolverine of the group. Which one, Jason could not decide, but there was no doubt that she was as dangerous as any of the three.

The strikingly magnificent Amazon city was quickly becoming a devastated war zone. Simone delivered a double axe handle to the pavement, cracking the ground in a circle around the point of impact that looked like spider webs branching out. The resulting tremor had Jason’s knees wobbling, and just like the Amazons who were trying to surround the giantess, he found himself losing his footing.

Anibelle clung to the head and neck of a particularly tenacious woman who was trying to pry her off. Like a scorpion, the demon stabbed her prey at every soft spot she could find. Even as blood drained from the open knife wounds, coating the gladiator’s legs in scarlet, the woman would only fall to her knees.

“Just die already!” The succubus demanded, as her extended battle with the woman left her an open target.

From the parapet, an archer pulled her bowstring taut, steadying it as she took aim. She had the demon perfectly in her sight. Her fellow warriors distracted the massive armored man for her, as they attacked it in waves, leaving only divots in its hide, no matter how hard the struck. This was the perfect time to strike, she thought as she waited for Anibelle’s back to face her. She did not count on the fair-haired girl who was only the size of their handmaidens however. In fact, none of the Amazons took much stock in Haley, who was using Brute both as an offensive weapon and as a shield for herself. Brute’s one, red eye turned away from the advancing horde and fired just close enough to the archer that her aim was lost, sending her arrow swerving out of control.

The blast ignited the city walls, and it filled Anibelle’s nostrils with a familiar scent. Her eyes lit up and she snapped the gladiator’s neck with one quick movement before hopping back to the ground and admiring her kill.

“Way to go Haley! Raze the place to the ground!”

Haley was not nearly as enthusiastic as Anibelle was to see the city start to burn. There were plenty of women in the village, after all, that were not warriors. The start of the flames sent the soldiers scattering to help the children and the elderly up the stone steps of the temple. Most of the structures in the village were made out of wood, but the temple that served as the centerpiece of the village was not. Thus, it provided the best possible shelter for the Amazons.

While out of the way of the heart of the battle, Jason was still watching as the bonfire began. The flickering orange flames reflected in his eyes, catching his attention almost immediately. Embers danced in the sky as a pillar of black smoke rose through the canopy, visible for miles around. The sandy-haired man was even more entranced by the blaze than he had been by the battle itself.

“Fire pretty.” He marveled.

It took a bump to his shoulder by a girl his same height but probably only half his age, to snap him out of it. He wheeled and her long black locks seemed to wave at him as she ran. All of the Amazons were fleeing, heading for the stone steps. He wondered why he had taken leave of his senses for so long. Here he was in the center of a burning ring of fire, which was an active battlefield until just a moment ago and he was daydreaming. His sense of urgency increased as he dashed in the opposite direction that the Amazons were running. Rather than take up sanctuary in their temple, he wanted out of this deathtrap and wanted out now.

Jason was not the only one enthralled by the spreading flames. Anibelle giggled with glee as she watched, taking advantage of the respite to see the results of their handiwork.

“It’s just like ho—” Her windpipe was cut off as a massive hand tightened its grip around her throat.

Angry grey eyes stared at her, framed by tangled red hair that seemed to burn just as brightly as the flames around them. Anibelle lashed her tail at her attacker, who grabbed it in her other hand as the demon flailed about, kicking with her specially designed Chuck Taylors.

“Let go of me you oaf! I’m on your side!”

“That’s what you think, Mistress!” Simone spoke the title she had been calling Anibelle with venom in her tone. “I’m going to make you pay for embarrassing me in front of Haley. You are not going to just push me over this time.”

“Si–?” She started to ask, not recognizing the giant as the short bald weakling she had in her thrall just a few short hours ago.

Once again, her breath left her and her face started to turn red, then purple. She continued to struggle, her wings flapping desperately behind her. Her features slowly started to change as her demon side asserted itself, trying to save her. Her horns elongated, and the purple hue of her skin was now only the result of blue replacing the natural skin tone she usually put forward. She was like a chameleon coming out of hiding. The more demonic her appearance became, the more fruitful her struggles were. She tucked both legs against her body, and as her favorite shoes were shredded by her feet becoming cloven, she thrust them into Simone’s sternum and freed herself.

The giantess doubled over, holding her chest where she had been donkey-kicked. Anibelle righted herself with her wings and landed with only a slight skid along the cobblestone, preparing her next attack already. The two were on a collision course once again. Simone’s fist flew at the succubus with the power of a wrecking ball, only to have it stopped in its tracks. It was held back by the four finger-like appendages on Brute’s right hand.

Haley saw everything that the Brute’s lens picked up. A screen was mounted in the back of the control panel wired into her mechanical arm. Besides the video link, it displayed a variety of data from how much battery life Brute had left, to topographical statistics. Right now though, there was a flashing message on her screen that read:

 

RETINA SCAN RECORDED

MATCH FOUND: Simon Fett

 

She stared at the large woman’s rage filled eyes through her video link, and could not believe what she was seeing. Even with the low-resolution video, she clearly saw Simon’s normally reassuring grey eyes.

“Simon!” She shouted, leaving her covered position without any hesitation.

Haley rushed to the larger woman and hugged her tightly, unable to wrap her arms around Simone’s muscled frame fully. Simone calmed, letting her hands drop to her sides as her friend hugged her. The small sign of affection was something she had longed for, and now she could not help but smile.

“I missed you too Haley.” She comforted her friend with her soft feminine voice.

 

***

 

Rana stormed through the antechamber and swung the ornate doors to the throne room open so that they crashed against the walls behind them. Torches hung on the walls leading down the great hall to the throne, which was just opposite a balcony with the curtains drawn to block out the sunlight. Rana was the commander of the entire Amazon army, though she was dressed in a way that showed off her station rather than the armor that her soldiers wore. Her flowing white robes stood in stark contrast to her golden sword and belt, as well as the long curly mane of black hair atop her head. Her sandals clicked against the stone floor as she approached the throne. Handmaidens with hair and skin of all colors stayed close to the Queen’s side.

“My Queen! Our forces are outmatched and we’ve already sustained heavy losses, I request permission to bring the Stone Gazer into battle.”

Queen Luce sat in her throne, well aware of the situation at hand. The woman dressed in her royal purples, with a golden tiara adorning her head had watched the carnage from on high. Her fingers drummed against her well-crafted seat as she stared at the earnest warrioress in front of her.

“You know our rules Rana. The Stone Gazer is never to set foot inside the city walls. Our soldiers may be trained to avoid its gaze, but what of the children who have yet to go into service? Would you risk our future for your pride as a warrior?”

Rana’s fist clenched, her knuckles turning white as she tried to hold back her anger. She earned her position on the battlefield while the Queen was born into hers. Even if Luce had served, she still knew very little about a warrior’s pride. Victory was the only acceptable outcome of any battle, and until now, Rana had delivered that time after time.

“The children and the elderly have already been evacuated into the temple’s storm shelter. We cannot allow three fighters to embarrass us like this!”

“I saw the battle Rana. They may be but three, but they are of the likes we have never seen before. Can you kill the walking armor or quell its flames? Can you avoid the imp’s grasp? Can you match strength with the giant? If the battle continues, we will sustain losses from which we will not recover. Do you wish to leave us vulnerable to Ilamaral’s Guard? That is what continuing your crusade will accomplish.”

“But we have the goddesses on our side! With their guidance there is no opponent we cannot defeat.”

“There is so much of this world you do not know Rana. There will be no divine intervention. We are alone. Did you not see our serum fail us? Instead of another loyal servant, we were delivered the instrument of our destruction. There is nowhere to look but to ourselves.”

Luce stood, as her maidens straightened out her robes and cloak. She banged the barrel of her quarterstaff against the floor, which brought all of her servants to attention. They stood in a V-shape, as if they were a flock of geese following its leader.

“Rana, we will lead our people to the tunnels beneath this temple and traverse them back to our ancient home in the mountains. There, we will be able to regroup and in time, return and rebuild our city and our civilization to be even greater than it is now.”

Infuriated, Rana stood there shaking. She was quiet as her Queen approached her side, and placed her royal hand on her shoulder.

“Do not worry young warrior, we will return stronger than ever and defeat these weeds that have invaded our lands! Now come!”

Rana’s jaw was clenched shut. She wanted nothing more than to yell at the woman her people called their Queen, to tell her she was a coward and a traitor to her people, but she stood still, letting the woman and her servants leave her behind. She was already resolute in what she must do. She took the piece of white cheesecloth that hung around her neck like a scarf and tied it around her eyes.

 

***

 

The city gates were unguarded. With his camera in hand, Jason wondered what Robin and Anne would say about what he witnessed. There was nothing he could have done to rescue the prisoners the Amazons had taken. After all, other than the ones that were stuffed into iron pots, he had no clue where most of them were, nor did he want to stick around a city full of kindling looking for them. Embers came down like the last drops after a rainstorm from the archway, as the fire’s destructive path widened. If he were not on the wrong side of it, the effect would have been beautiful.

Two of the embers seemed to hover in the air, and for some reason he did not connect that their glow came from beyond the gateway and amongst the trees until he carefully left the city behind. They stared at him, unblinking. Without backing down from the gaze, his fingers set the digital zoom to its maximum magnification. Slowly he lifted the lens to his eye, trying to focus in on his stalker. The picture was blurry at first, but gently he adjusted it. Without the fire reflecting off them, he could see a pair of green eyes with slit-like irises staring at him, though the leaves seemed to obscure the rest of the creature.

He snapped a quick picture, and the auto-flash kicked in. Foliage rustled as the creature darted into the background. He sighed, looking down at the viewfinder, trying to make out what had been watching him. A sickening feeling developed in his stomach as he contemplated the fact that even though he escaped being burned alive, there was a good chance that whatever was in the trees may want to eat him.

 

***

 

“Complete and total waste of my time, that’s what this, is.” Anibelle grumbled as she examined the sealed iron drum.

Her fingers traced along the rim of the lid, before finding the best place to grip it. In one swift motion, she tore the lid from the drum and tossed it down the stone staircase. The girl inside the drum looked frightened, her dulcet brown eyes staring back at Anibelle as if waiting for instructions. She was pale with long black hair, though to Ani, she looked like all the other soft women the Amazons used as servants.

“Don’t stare at me, meat sack.” The demon, whose features were once again mostly human, growled at the submissive girl. “In fact, just stay there in your hole until we’re ready to leave. I don’t need any of you following me around like a lost puppy.”

She was referring to the fact that several of the freed girls were doing just that to Simone. The muscular woman was freeing them at a much quicker pace than Anibelle, and had developed a following of her own, to the point that she was like a shepherd leading around a flock of sheep. Haley was checking the damages to Brute, finding that everything was still operational and there was only minimum structural damage. This was a better result than she could have expected from the robot she designed to help mainly with excavation work.

“Don’t worry girls; we’ll get you all back to the hotel in one piece.” Simone reassured her flock.

There was only one barrel left to open. Simone popped the top off it as if it were a can of soda and smiled her reassuring smile at the girl inside. She seemed to return it when Simone noticed that she looked just a bit different from the other girls. Her hair was the same slate color as Simone’s eyes, and it looked rigid. In fact, the girl’s entire body was rigid, stuck in a gaze that looked directly over the tall woman’s shoulders. She had been turned to stone. Simone’s entourage went quiet as well. There was not even a single scream to warn her. As she turned around, a scaly green tail caught her flush in her abdomen.

Simone’s body tumbled down the stairs, accompanied by the rubble of the statues that were her followers just a moment earlier. Her body bounced and she crashed through a building whose roof had already caught fire. It collapsed around her as Haley looked on in horror, thinking her friend to be dead.

“Simone!” Haley screamed, as the basilisk descended from the roof of the temple, driven by its rider towards the screaming girl.

“Shut up!” Rana demanded of Haley. “You have no right to mourn, not when you have taken so much away from me!”

Haley never looked up at the basilisk as it moved towards her. Her eyes stayed focused on the video link between her and Brute. The robot launched itself between her and the oncoming lizard mere feet away from Haley. She could see the giant beady eyes staring at her, and the spark behind them that would have turned any living creature into stone. Through the link, there was no effect. Brute’s laser charged, aimed directly between the reptile’s eyes. Haley intended to end this in one shot.

“Not this time!” Rana leaped from her steed’s neck, launching herself towards the robot, her sword thrust forward. She landed on Brute’s shoulders as sparks went up around her. The sword pierced the robot’s eye, which was now erupting in sparks and emitting a great deal of heat. The Amazon warrior pulled her blade free and jumped away just as a small explosion erupted from the mechanical man’s head. Haley was concussed by the blast. Her body flew like a rag doll to the edge of the stairs. The lights in her cybernetic arm went dark, as she slumped over lifelessly.

“Don’t mess with my minions bitch!” Anibelle shouted, as she sprang into the air.

Rana looked up to see the demon descending on her like an eagle with its talons out. Through the cheesecloth, she could see just enough that she was able to throw her sword up and block the attack. The blade clanged against Anibelle’s tail, as if it had struck another sword. Fortunately, she now had the advantage though. She whistled shrilly through her lips and the basilisk snapped at Ani, trying to eat the girl alive. Neither woman’s impaired vision seemed to affect them. Even with Godzilla trying to tear her apart, Anibelle somehow maintained her attacks, and Rana continued to repel them. She used the lizard’s head as a springboard as the sharp bone tip of her tail met steel once more.

“I can do this all day, you blind bucket of suck!” Anibelle taunted Rana. “I’ve tangled with sloth demons sprier than you!”

The succubus’s foul words stung Rana’s ears and the Amazon swung her sword wildly. Deftly, Ani ducked under the swing and managed to get behind her. Her arms hooked Rana’s in a full nelson and she turned the woman’s head to face the stone gaze of the basilisk. The cheesecloth fell from around her eyes, and the struggle stopped.

The terrible lizard bellowed, its mouth wide open, as it lunged at the demon again. With no rider to direct its actions, it clumsily tried to swallow the girl whole. Anibelle, having been too fast for the experienced Rana to follow, was like a fly avoiding the swatter. She vaulted up onto the beast’s neck, taking hold of the leather harness, intending to strangle it to death, when she caught glimpse of a quicker death for the creature.

“Sorry, you’re fun to play with and all, but I just don’t have a doggy bag big enough to pick up after you!” She quipped, wrapping the harness around the jaws and pulling back with all her might, exposing the soft underbelly of its throat just long enough for a smoldering conical tipped log, thrown by Simone from the bottom of the stairs to impale it. The lizard slumped forward forcing the spear further up into its brain with a satisfying squish.

 

***

 

Jason heard rumbling, like thunder, back in the direction of the village. He could not see the sky through the canopy, so it was impossible to tell whether the weather was turning bad on him. This place is proving to be just as bad as the Savage Land, he thought, putting his experience in comic book terms once again. All I need is for it to start raining. The susurrus whisper of the leafage taunted him once again. Ever since he left the Amazon camp, it followed him. It did not allow him to take a step without reminding him that it was stalking him.

“I know you’re out there!” He called out, receiving silence as an answer.

The wide path left by the Amazons and their gigantic reptile was easy to follow, yet Jason could not help but think that it was narrowing as he walked along. His pace quickened, and he wondered if the forest itself was conspiring against him. There was no possible way he could have taken a wrong turn, but the thought that something was driving him into a trap would not leave his mind. His toes reacquainted themselves with the stinging sensation he experienced during his time in disguise.

“Son of a bitch!” He cursed, looking down to see the same stone squirrel he kicked the first time, resting amongst the decaying undergrowth.

This isn’t right. He thought, staring ahead at the ever-narrowing path. Boughs bent at angles that nearly blocked his heading, but when he came through this same area before, it was wide enough to drive a semi through. He picked up the rodent statue and hurled it into the bushes. He turned, looking about to find his bearings once again. Someone had probably just moved it and the correct route back to the hotel, must have just been a little farther off. He thought for sure he could hear muffled voices after all. There was a good chance that Robin and Anne had sent a search party for him.

Something bounced in front of him, and it only took a glance to see the fluffy frozen tail and know what it was. That glance was enough for his eyes to move away from the brush however, just enough time for his stalker to strike. He felt the weight push him back onto the soft soil, and could feel slightly clawed fingers pinning him down, but felt nothing but dismay at the sight of his attacker.

She was short, even shorter than Jason was, with brown hair down to about the middle of her back. For a moment, one could assume that she was just any ordinary girl. There was a bag slung over one shoulder and she wore clothing much like the handmaidens back in the Amazon village had, though the ones she wore were not nearly as sexualized. She still had bountiful cleavage, however, which Jason refused to look at. Instead, he focused on why this girl was his worst nightmare. Soft-looking, fuzzy, rounded orange ears rested on top of her head. The backs of them were black with a large white spot in the middle, which he could see as they twitched. There was also a long tiger-striped tail wagging back and forth behind the girl. She was not like the cat girls that annoyed him so much at every convention he attended. She was the real deal, and she had him right where she wanted him.

“Hello, my name is Sekkai, and you’re going to help me save the world!”

 

***

 

“I didn’t say you could follow me.” The girl with the cross-shaped scar reprimanded Jenette.

“I’m not following you. You just happen to be going in the same direction as me. Maybe you should stop looking for my sister. That way we wouldn’t be going to the same place.”

“I’ll look for whoever I want to look for. You can just shut up and leave me alone while I’m doing it too.”

“Why are you so grumpy all the time?” Jenette asked. Her eyebrows rose curiously. “I really prefer humans with a sunny disposition. Maybe you just need a hug.” The large-breasted demon opened her arms as if offering one.

“No! Get away from me! I’d probably smother against those things!” The girl grumped again. “Besides, I used to have one. It was overrated.”

“Used to have one what?” The demon questioned her.

“A sunny disposition. After seeing the things your kind do to humans, it’s a little hard to keep a smile on my face.” The blue-eyed girl lamented.

“Fine, be emo about it. You suck anyway. What kind of traveling companion doesn’t even share her name?”

“Probably the kind that thinks it’s none of your–”

What sounded like a cannon going off, cut off the rest of the girl’s complaint. Up ahead of them, they could see the faint glow of a fire. Jenette’s wings fluttered in excitement. The girl looked at her questioningly.

“Hurry up! We don’t want to miss all the fun!” The demon said with glee, taking off down the beaten path with surprising speed.

“Hey! Wait up!” The girl took off running. She was in good physical condition and worked out regularly, but there was no way she could keep up with Jenette’s supernatural speed. “How do you move so fast with so much drag!?”

Jenette whizzed between the trees, using her wings to propel her already superhuman speed. Things like physics had little effect on one when they were an extra-planar being. She could hear the shouts, and the sounds of swords clashing together not too far in the distance. The smell of burning flesh and splattered blood wafted across her nose. There was fun to be had, and she did not want to miss even an instant of it.

She rushed through the burning gates, and across the cobblestone street coming upon a great stone temple just in time to see her sister riding a giant lizard as it slumped to the ground with a sickening thud. She looked around frantically and saw no battle going on, only Anibelle standing triumphantly over her kill. The redheaded muscular woman at the bottom of the stone steps scaled them as quickly as possible, moving in the direction of a pale woman with black hair who seemed to be tending to the wounds of a young blonde. None of them seemed all that interesting when compared to her sister.

“Ani!” She shouted out, bursting towards the succubus with her arms outstretched.

“Oh dear Lord, Jenette? What the hell are you–” Anibelle’s words cut off, as well as her ability to breathe as her sister wrapped her in a bear hug. “Gah! Get off me! You’ll get your boob stench all over me!”

“You’re missing an eye, Ani! Where’d your eye go? Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving? It’s so like you to leave your poor older sister behind while you’re out having some fun adventure. You didn’t even save anybody for me to play with!”

“Shut up! Your stupid is making my ears bleed!”

Jenette pelted her sister with more questions as her traveling mate finally caught up with her. The girl staggered up the steps, huffing and puffing after the brisk run. Her eyes locked on the succubus’s two-toned hair and she almost smiled. She paused at the top of the steps, enough to gain her composure.

“Hello, Cassie.” She breathed out, just loud enough for Ani to hear her.

Anibelle turned, not having heard that name since the day she became a demon. She stared at the unfamiliar girl who was by all accounts dressed like a boy. She could see the scar on her face glowing a vibrant orange, the same color the dying embers had been before taking their last breath. Then she peered at the girl’s eyes. The remnants of memories flooded the demon’s brain at the sight of those piercing blues.

“It can’t be… Nurse Campbell?”