Chapter Thirteen – “Nine-Tenths”

Humidity hung in the air of Anne’s dressing room. The dampness of the room’s atmosphere was so heavy that it felt tangible, as if it was a living, breathing being unto itself. Hours without air conditioning in the fervid heat of the jungle birthed the creature. The gyrations of sweat-coated bodies, locked in a lustful embrace became its life force, and the events that set this all in motion, were about to hit critical mass. Torn fragments of Anibelle’s dress littered the floor. During a particularly strong pheromone spike, it had been pulled off the demon with such force that it was rendered useless—not that the woman minded. Her chameleon-like ability to mimic other skin tones was faltering through her arousal, and her natural azure hue bled through her flesh. In the state she was in, it was nigh impossible to hide her otherworldly features. As her ankles entwined behind Robin’s back, her toes gave way to a pair of hooves. She reveled in the satisfaction that her choice of mates was proving to be as potent as she had hoped. From the caress of his hands and the exploration of his tongue alone, she was already feeling stronger. She imagined Robin as an untapped well, and all that stood between her and her ultimate prize was the thin fabric of his boxer shorts.

Robin had the fiendish girl pinned to the couch, admiring the glory of her naked frame. Pointed, puffy nipples rested between his knuckles as he treated Anibelle’s breasts like two lumps of dough, kneading them beneath his palms. Even with the alteration of his new lover’s body, Robin’s fervor did not diminish. The succubus’s long, slow seduction was bearing fruit.

Robin straddled the girl’s hips, but as he sat up straight, he caught a refreshing gust of chilled air blowing across his face. It was unclear how long it had been on, but the view of a vent about eye level on the opposite wall made it evident that the air conditioning was back on, which meant that all the power was back on. Robin stalled, scanning for more signs. The standby lights of the electronic devices in the room were now on. Light from the hallway nosily poked between the door and its frame. This was a moment to rejoice, but there was an impatient demon that would have disagreed.

“Focus!” She shouted at Robin, trying to will him back to her.

The addled man gazed into the eyes of his transient concubine. For a moment, he wondered how he had ended up in such a compromising position with the young woman. Those thoughts soon faded as the magic wove itself around him once more. Anibelle would have been insulted to think that a few lights and a cool breeze could pry her quarry from her delicate hands. No, it would take something of a monumental level of annoyance to halt their congress with one another. Though, to be safe the succubus beckoned Robin back to her lips where they locked in an ardent kiss.

Unbeknownst to the impassioned pair, they had a visitor emerging from the shadows behind their couch. As if there was an elevator behind the piece of furniture, Jenette’s head pierced through the floor, or rather a shadow on the floor. Shadow walking was a technique that all demons possessed, but unless they were trying to sneak up on some unsuspecting soul, there was little need for it. In this case, it was a sign of Jenette’s brazenness. Her eyes breached the apex of the sofa and she peered down at Robin’s back, and of course, her naked sister beneath him. With a quick hurdle, the shapeshifter made her presence known.

Anibelle felt the crushing weight of an extra person smothering her at the bottom of the pile, and much like Robin, struggled to free herself. Her cybernetic green eye zoomed in on the culprit through a gap in their pinned down bodies, and her rage overflowed.

“Get off’a me, you buffalo! You’re going to give us both some kind of Jenette-al disease!” She screamed, rolling out from under her sister with Robin’s help.

“What’s going on?” The baffled man asked, raising his head up to see what the commotion was.

“Someone’s about to lose a limb, that’s what!” The naked demon growled, squirming her way back to her feet, quite ready to rip her sister’s head off.

“Is something wrong, Ani?” Jenette asked as if she was completely unaware of her actions.

“Yes, something’s wrong. Your brain is more defective than a condom that’s been in some guy’s wallet for ten years! What kind of retarded monkey interrupts someone in the middle of sex?”

Jenette shrugged and sat on the couch listening to her sister scream. Anibelle’s insults rolled right off her.

“Hey, I’m sure that she had a good—” Robin started.

“No, she didn’t. She was probably just bored or lonely or some shit again. She never has a good reason. If Jenette ever had a motive for the things she did, the world would collapse in on itself from the paradox.”

“Actually, she’s here because of me.” Haley’s ghostly voice spoke up behind the outraged demon.

Anibelle spun around, and stared at Haley with disbelief. The phantom girl lowered her head as if she was ashamed to stand there in her current state. The demon’s loss for words did not last long.

“What happened to you?” She asked the girl, which got Robin’s attention.

“Wait, who are you talking to? I don’t see anybody.”

“Nobody, but could you get dressed and leave?” Ani asked. “I think that my sister and I need to have a private talk.”

 

***

 

Simon’s short frame fidgeted anxiously as he waited for the elevator on the tenth floor. Not long ago, he had been climbing up the stairs, slowly making his way back to the roof and Haley. However, when the power came back on, the thought of climbing up that many more flights of stairs seemed like a complete waste of time, and he thusly exited and moved to the elevators. Waiting for one to arrive was a completely different problem. In a convention full of out of shape geeks, it was unsurprising that many of them staying on the higher floors did not want to make the arduous ascent back to their rooms. This meant that the first few elevators going up were packed to the brim. The overpowering stench of unwashed bodies lingered in the air long after each time. The prospect of being trapped in a small box, unable to breathe because of the acrid stench was not appealing, but neither was climbing up those stairs again without the benefits of Simone’s strength.

It was because of these circumstances and Simon’s growing impatience that he resolved to get on the next elevator regardless of its destination. Finally, the steel doors slid open and let out a few people. It must have been going down because it was not packed to the brim as the others had been. The bald man stepped on board and immediately saw a familiar face. Damon Blake stared right back at him at first, and then Simon got the distinct feeling that the scientist was trying to avoid eye contact with him.

Damon’s paranoia shot through the roof when he saw Haley’s assistant step into the elevator. Did he know that the young inventor was dead, and if so, did Simon know that he was the one who was responsible? There was a forlorn look in the assistant’s slate-grey eyes, but Blake’s experience with the man made him think that this was just the way Simon looked. He felt trapped away from his soldiers and stuck in a box with a few other people. If he had been alone and somewhere private with the man, he could easily have just killed him and eased his worry, but here he could not act.

“Hello, Mr. Fett,” Damon greeted Simon, hoping to get a sense of his demeanor.

“Oh, hi. I guess this means that I’m too late to help out.” Simon sighed as he spoke. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that the power’s back on, but I wish I could have been of more use to you and Haley.”

“Don’t worry too much.” Blake responded, a grin returning to his lips at the revelation that the man knew nothing. “Miss Ravenlock most certainly could have used your help, but we managed. I’m sure that wherever she is, she’s hoping that you join her soon.”

“Wait,” Simon stopped him. “Are you saying that she’s not up on the roof anymore? I was just headed up there with her drinks. Even with the power back on, I thought we could at least celebrate.”

“No, she practically flew out of there once we finished.” Damon said with a disgusting smirk. “I suspect that she’s gone back to her room or is perhaps hanging out with Anibelle. They seemed to be rather good friends the other night.”

“Oh.”

Simon’s short response unnerved the roboticist. The thought that he might have just unraveled his entire facade occurred to him. He had never been formally introduced to the demon, and should not have known her name. Now was not the time to be discovered, not before he was running things and could easily pick off the others. This mission was paramount in securing the success of his company for centuries to come. Ananke assured him that his future wealth would make Bill Gates and Warren Buffet look like paupers in comparison, and when she leaked future tech for him to reverse engineer, well, then the idea of some mysterious benefactor from the future did not seem so crazy.

“I mean, she could be anywhere right now. I think your best bet is to take your time and ask around or even better, go back up to her room and wait for her. She’s bound to return eventually, right?”

“I guess so.” Simon murmured.

“Chin up, my bald friend. I’m sure you’ll be right next to her before you know it.” Damon asserted. “I’d even help you locate her, but I need to have a talk with Robin about what we should do from here. This place needs strong leadership right now.”

The elevator came to a halt, and Damon straightened himself out.

“This is my stop. Good luck finding Miss Ravenlock.” The scientist trailed off, not able to resist adding, “you’re going to need it,” under his breath.

 

***

 

After seducing Robin for over an hour, Anibelle was not happy to see her work go to waste, but there was more than a bit of humanity left in her tortured soul. The succubus was fiercely loyal to those that she considered her friends, and while her relationship with Haley had to this point been nothing but a series of ultimatums, she felt a camaraderie with her and her need to tinker. Of course, if asked about these human tendencies, she would deny them and say that she was only helping because her sister ruined her evening, and thus she had nothing better to do. Still, the demon dressed herself and then sat down to listen to her ghostly ally.

The facts were these: early this morning, approximately 6 hours, 42 minutes and 37 seconds ago, Haley fell over the side of the Triumph hotel, only to have her tether save her life. Sensing the opportunity to rid the world of his rival, Damon Blake severed the line and sent Haley crashing to her untimely death. Haley awoke to see her body walking away without her and not wanting to lose such a valuable commodity, followed it back into the hotel. When the body reached the stairwell which led to the second floor concourse and the Triumph Mall, Haley felt a barrier preventing her from following any further. Try as she might, it seemed that the girl could not leave the first floor. She then launched a futile search for help, which culminated in finding Simon in the theater. Despite her best efforts, she could not get her assistant to notice her. Stricken by grief, she went to find a place to hide, a place where she would remain until a certain shapeshifting demon happened upon her.

“I had a feeling that corporate douche bag was hiding something. He walks around with that grease stain haircut of his, lucky that his father’s pin dick slipped out of the condom when he was conceived. Haley, I’m going to make sure that you get your chance to shove his little prick glasses right up his ass.”

“Um… thanks, but how am I going to do that when you two are the only ones that can see me or hear me? I pass right through people, you know.”

“Psh! Why do you think my chest-heavy sister brought you to me? Us succubuses are experts at soul manipulation. It’s practically the thing we do best.” Ani declared.

“I thought spreading your legs was the thing you did best.” Jenette stated flatly.

Anibelle displayed her middle finger to her sister with flair, and then proceeded to snub the ignorant cow for the rest of the conversation.

“As I was saying, all we need to do is find your body again and I can tie your soul to it again.”

“So… what? All you have to do is touch my skin and then poof, I’m alive again?”

“No, it’s way more complicated and time consuming than that. It requires a tediously long ritual as well as a body that is still fit to maintain life. I see no reason why it won’t work. You’ve only been dead for like seven hours.” Anibelle explained. “In the meantime, have you tried possessing somebody yet?”

“No, I didn’t know it was possible, let alone how I would do it.”

“Of course you can do it. Don’t you watch horror movies? Possession is practically a staple of them. I’m not very good at it, myself, but it’s entirely possible for both demons and spirits to possess a human being.”

“Okay, but, won’t there be side effects for the person I possess? It feels like it would be an invasion of their privacy or something. Besides, what reason would I have to do it?” Haley asked, sounding just a bit concerned.

“Convenience, that’s why you’ll do it. You think I want to be stuck alone with this imbecile yammering my head off while I look for your body? Plus, if you’re with me, I won’t have to lug a corpse back here. Speaking of which, I have no idea how one gets up and walks around without a soul attached to it,” Ani mused, “and don’t worry about side effects. Nothing too horrible will happen to the person.”

“Well, then, I guess if I have no other choice, it does sound like it might be interesting to take control of another person for a while. It would be like piloting my own personal robot.” Haley relented, and then smiled to show that she was on board.

“That’s the spirit! Now, let’s go get your Swayze on!”

 

***

 

“Excellent job, Nim.” Professor Ilamaral passed his hand through Nim’s hair—or at least the facsimile of her hair—caressing the girl’s neck.

The girl, who consisted of millions of tiny nanobots, cooed graciously, enjoying her reward for a job well done.

“Now, I want you to stand guard while I talk to our treasured guest. I doubt that he’ll offer much resistance, but if he does, I want you ready to come in.” He instructed.

The Professor picked up a canister that until now, he had left sitting at his feet. It was shaped like an hourglass with one side filled with blue sand. Naturally, it was more complicated than the typical timepiece that is used in board games, but it still served about the same purpose. Ilamaral stood, waiting as his guard opened the air lock. As soon as the professor was inside, the door was shut behind him.

Slumped over against one of the sidewalls, Jason sat with an apathetic look on his face. Rationally, he knew that he stood no chance against the Professor’s guards and that breaking out of the compound on his own would be somewhere on the level of foolhardy. He had his fill of dangerous situations already and despite his Babylon 5 upbringing, he could not bring himself to fulfill the first duty of a prisoner. Instead, he would have to rely on the fact that two girls out there knew this ship quite well and were going to try and rescue him.

“Hello there, my name is Ilamaral, but like many people here, you can just call me the Professor.” The raven-haired man spoke. “I suppose you’re wondering why you’re locked away in an airlock. Well, let me tell you—”

“Let me guess, you’re going to go into some long speech about your evil plan. I really don’t want to hear it. I’m not James Bond and I don’t want to hear your grand scheme, so just cut it short, will ya?” Jason interrupted.

“You have quite the mouth on you. Lucky for you, I like the feisty ones. You’ll do quite nicely as my new wife.” The Professor said with a perverted grin.

“Why does everybody want me to be a girl so badly? I mean, sure, there’s nothing wrong with it, but there are plenty of other guys sitting around minding their own business in the hotel, not being turned into girls. I just want to go home and watch Heroes. Is that so wrong?”

“There is no place like home. I believe I’ve heard that expression somewhere before. Anyway, I’m rambling on. Here’s the deal: the sand in this hourglass will slowly seep through a filter, changing its structure. Once the sand has completely filtered through to the bottom, it will be released as a gas and change your form.” Ilamaral explained. “Breaking the glass before time is up will still release a gas, but an incomplete one. You could end up as one of those Athenian women, or some other being somewhere on the scale between male and female. I suggest you sit back and enjoy your time here.”

“Did you hear me? There are plenty of other men back at the hotel I came from. Why not go and kidnap one of them?” Jason pleaded.

“All in due time. Why would I throw away a perfectly good specimen? That’s just a waste of my resources. I also realize that it was terribly rude for me to not ask your name, but an hour from now you will need a new one. I believe I am starting to get long-winded now, so I will see you in an hour. I look forward to seeing the new you.”

 

***

 

Colette waited patiently for her friend. The last couple of days had been astonishingly strange, and like many others in the hotel, it was starting to fray her nerves. There were rumors of giant lizards that turned people into stone, Amazon women, and zombies floating about. Some even suggested that some of the more realistic costumes she had seen about were not costumes at all. All the girl with the chin-length brown hair had seen though was the inside of her hotel room. It was much to her surprise when she and her roommates came downstairs that first night, that they were in the middle of a jungle. Nobody was explaining it either, which disturbed her, but at least the power was back on now and soon everything would be back to normal. She shifted in her seat, her small dark brown shorts riding up on her a little. Why was June always running late?

Wearing a pair of camouflage pants and a white tank top, June waved cheerfully at her friend as she hopped off the elevator. Her blonde hair, highlighted red at her bangs, was held up in a ponytail. It bounced with every enthusiastic step she took. Like Colette, who was wearing her signature light blue visor, she disregarded most of the goings on at the Triumph as pure and utter nonsense. Other than the forest that somehow managed to spring up overnight, there were no signs that they were in danger. So, why should she worry? There was something very calming about being blissfully ignorant.

“Sorry, I just had to use the elevator. No power for two days makes June a grumpy girl.”

“Yeah, it’s great. I hope that they give that Mr. Blake some kind of award or something for getting it back on. Now, hopefully, they can clean out the pool and we can enjoy ourselves a little more. I heard that the water turned red somehow.” Colette told her friend.

“Listening to rumors again, Colette? What have I told you about those? They’re a total waste of time. Just because we somehow ended up in the middle of Brazil or something doesn’t mean that all these other weird things are happening. However, I will agree with you on that Damon Blake. Don’t you think he was totally hot? You have to like a guy like that, both cute and smart, and obviously someone who should be in charge of this place. I mean, he got the power back on in like six hours and all by him—”

Colette screamed as her eyes lost their color, looking vacant as if someone had just drained the life out of her. She just stopped mid-sentence and now she was sitting there like a puppet, slumped over limply in her seat. The brown-eyed girl shook June vigorously, trying to wake her up. To her surprise, the blonde’s eyes popped open, but something was not right. Colette was sure by the look in her friend’s eyes that June had no idea who she was.

“June, are you okay?”

“Um, yeah, I’m fine, but… I think I better go back to my room. I’m sorry; I’m just feeling a bit lightheaded I guess. Thanks for looking after me though, um…”

The girl was searching for a name, but could not come up with one. Before Colette could protest, she stood and quickly joined two other women with horns and wings, that she was sure had to be costumes, after all, she had been told that strange things did not happen. Still, that did not explain her friend getting up and walking away as if she was a complete stranger, nor did it explain what came out of one of the other women’s mouths.

“See, that wasn’t so bad, was it? I knew you could do it, Haley.” Anibelle grinned as she addressed June’s body.

“Not bad at all, but I feel like I’m wearing a tight bodysuit or something. It’s a little disconcerting.” Haley responded.

“That will pass. Soon, it’ll feel like your own skin. Oh, and excellent choice by the way, I love the hair color. You could pass for my sister or daughter or something like that.”

Colette slowly approached June and her new cohorts. The closer she got to them, the more realistic they looked, and the glowing green eye that the one talking to June had seemed like something out of a science fiction movie. She was beginning to doubt everything she knew. Her mouth was dry and her hands shook. The demons—or at least that is what they looked like to her—frankly, scared the crap out of her. That was when the one with the larger chest noticed her.

“Hi there, we’re going to borrow your friend’s body for a bit, but we promise that we’ll bring it back when we’re done. So, um, shoo little mouse!” Jenette waved her off.

Stunned, Colette stayed in the lobby for quite sometime after the demons absconded with her friend, thinking to herself that maybe it was time to start believing that the rumors had been true.

 

***

 

Only two guards, this will be easy, Sekkai thought, watching the wolves march a well-worn path around the back entrance that she often used. Ordinarily, there was no reason to guard it, because it was well concealed and essentially closed in by a rocky formation near the ship’s landing site. However, security had been stepped up a few notches since the girls tried to get in the front door not that long ago. The wolves were built strong, and their biceps bulged beneath the Cossack-like outfits they wore. Apparently, the Professor got the inspiration for the outfits from one of his books, but the cat girl still thought they looked silly. Then again, like many of the transformed animals, she thought all clothes were silly.

“Their hats look like cattails, and I don’t mean the kind that I have.” Sekkai whispered to Shota. “They’re so ridiculous. I just want to smack them every time I see them.”

“I know they are, Sekkai, but you need to calm down. They will see us up here if you do not keep your voice down.”

“Hmph! It’s not my fault that the stupid human went and got captured. I don’t see why we have to rescue him. Let’s just go find another human to save the planet for us. This one doesn’t even have any powers.” Sekkai was pouting the whole time. “Oh, and I hate wolves by the way. Their faces are all furry and grey and stupid and they have those long dumb muzzles and black noses. They should learn to be cute, like me.”

“Oh my, you are a rambunctious little thing sometimes.” Shota gave her feisty companion a little scritch behind the ears and was rewarded with grateful purring. “You never let me forget that you are still very much a child. It is rather endearing.”

“You shouldn’t call me a child when you and I both know that we do things that children don’t do. I mean, you never call me a child when my tongue is—”

“Be quiet, dear. They are looking this way.” Shota put her hand over the girl’s lips, silencing her before she could say anything too embarrassing. Once the guards turned away again though, she lifted it. “Now, we need a plan, and since you are so keen on talking about naughty things, I suggest you provide a distraction.”

“But—”

“No buts, now, walk your shapely behind down there and distract those wolves.”

Sekkai seemed like she had more to say to her partner, but there was no sense arguing with Shota. She knew that she was going to end up giving in to the woman’s pressure eventually, so she might as well do it. Dexterously, the tiger girl leapt into the air before gracefully landing right in the center of the little arena that was formed by the ship and the rocks beyond.

“Hey boys, is this what you’re looking for?”

She bent forward, giving the wolves a full view of the bounty that was her chest. Like the dogs they were, their tongues hung from their open mouths as they ogled the voluptuous girl. This provided all the distraction that Shota needed. Two white pinwheel-shaped objects buzzed over the girl’s head and then stuck in the necks of the guards, dropping them almost instantly.

“Do not touch them, Sekkai. I only hit a pressure point on their throat, but the paper might go deeper if you touch it.” Shota instructed, before hopping down to join Sekkai.

Confident in accomplishing their task, the young women entered the compound. Much like the rest of the ship’s interior, the hatch’s walls were starkly white. It was something that they got used to, living on the Ark, but it always seemed bright when you saw it again for the first time. All that was between them and the interior of the compound was a long vacated hallway, or so it seemed.

“Ain’t no stopping us now. We’ll rescue Jason before anybody knows what hit them!”

As if on cue, the floating blue mesh of circuitry that belonged to Nephlite appeared about half way down the hall. The man’s familiar Gothic stylings flickered into view and he stared grimly at the intruders and then spoke in a monotone voice.

“I’m sorry, Sekkai, I’m afraid I can’t let you do that.”