PPC: TM. Chapter Six.
Previous Chapter
The Song Disclaimer
Song List of Chapter Six:
11) Rockabye Princess
Rockabye Baby
Classic lullaby
12) When This is Through
Somewhere That's Green
Little Shop of Horrors
Disclaimer: Not mine, in a lot of ways.
Part One: Pearls
Nea, Loki and Spot were sneaking down the darkened hallways of the castle, not really sure of which way to go. They knew they were looking for a laboratory of some kind, but it was a big castle, and it was rather short on signs.
The walls were cluttered with portraits of what had to be the previous owners of the place. They were rather uninteresting, classical Suvians if they ever saw one, but it almost seemed as if their eyes followed the Agents wherever they went. It was extremely spooky.
Nea's hand reached for Loki's, and he squeezed it assuredly. He'd almost lost her once. He wasn't planning on doing it again.
He felt the presence of Her. It was everywhere in the castle, in the very walls. The air reeked of Her perfume, and Her eyes stared at him from every painting they passed. She knew he was there. She knew that they were all there, that they would fight Her, and She didn't even bother to find out more. They were just that insignificant to Her. Loki shivered. Somehow, She both scared and fascinated him. He could remember Her touch, and a part of him longed for it again.
He felt sick just thinking about it, and his hand clenched tighter around Nea's.
"Ow!" she hissed and swatted at him. "Take it easy, will you?"
"Sorry," he mumbled.
She must have seen his expression, because her face softened. "'S all right. Are you... how are you feeling?"
"Fine. Just fine, don't worry."
He didn't face her. He just couldn't bear himself to. Maybe he'd tell her all about it later, right now he just felt so tired. The corridors seemed to go on forever, and they had no idea on where to start looking. They walked in silence.
"I get a feeling that we really should have had more of a plan before getting here," mumbled Spot. "Or perhaps a map of some kind."
Loki nodded. "A map would definitely have helped matters." Suddenly he stopped. "Do you guys hear that?"
Nea and Spot stopped as well and listened intently. Yes. There it was. The soft, almost unhearable sound of children breathing calmly in their sleep. Someone was snoring softly, while another was crying. They could also hear the clear voice of a Sue singing a silly little lullaby. They started to run. And somehow, no matter how unlikely, the Laws of Narrative Comedy chose that very moment to work in their favour for once.
Suddenly they stood in front of a door onto which someone had painted a few balloons, a smiling sun, and a couple of butterflies. The door itself was light blue, and on top of it was a sign.
CHILDREN'S WARD
Please keep quiet.
"Would you look at that!" said Spot cheerfully. "That wasn't so hard."
Her companions said nothing. Nea bit her lower lip and reached out one hand to feel the door. It wasn't locked. Very, very carefully, she opened it.
The room on the other side was filled with cradles. Most of them were pink, but here and there they could spot a blue one as well. The walls were decorated with a pattern of rainbows and stars, and colourful drawings that were clearly drawn by small children hanged everywhere. Over the beds hanged mobiles of moons and stars, and a various assortment of toys lay scattered across the floor.
A woman sat beside one of the beds. She held a whimpering baby in her arms, rocking in back and forth while singing a lullaby:
Hushabye princess, thy cradle is pink
You'll be an adult sooner than you think
You'll have a husband and he'll be a king
And many nice jewels he to you shall bring
Rockabye princess, sleep in my arms
You will have everyone fall for your charms
You'll have an eagle and a unicorn
And a crown made of mithril you head will adorn
She hadn't noticed the newcomers yet, and Loki and Nea meant to keep it that way.
The woman had a very Molly Weasley quality about her. She was rather robust, with a friendly, freckled face and red cheeks. Her dress was plain and brown, and she bore an apron. But her voice was nice. Very nice, in fact.
"A Yenta-Sue," mumbled Nea. "Huh. Hadn't expected that."
Her voice made the Yenta turn around, and when she spotted the Agents, she gasped.
"Oh deary, deary me, now it's Judgement Day, fer sure! Please dun hurt them kiddies, they haven't done nothing!"
She put her thick arms around the baby in her lap protectively. Her big brown eyes were filled with fear. Nea smiled comfortingly at her.
"Don't worry, ma'am, we're not here to hurt you or the children. We just wanted to see how you're doing."
The Yenta frowned. "But ye're dressed in black, lass. And, may I add, not a very good black. It's grey in some places. I can fix that right up fer ye, if ye'd like."
Nea blushed slightly, and Loki took over.
"That won't be necessary. We're just passing by, really."
The Yenta tilted her head and thoughtfully stroke the baby's soft cheek. It laughed an adorable baby laugh in its sleep. She smiled at it and put it down in its cradle again. Loki gave Nea a look, and she nodded almost without moving her head at all. She got out her wand and mumbled a few words...
The Yenta fell to the floor without a sound. Her eyes were closed, and her chest showed no sign of breathing. Spot's eyes widened in terror, and she stared at Nea.
"I thought you said you wouldn't kill nobody!"
"Take it easy, Spot." Nea's eyes darted around the room. Apparently these kids could sleep through anything. "She's not dead. She's just sleeping. I'll wake her up again before we leave, don't worry."
"But she's not breathing!"
"It's a magical sleep. I prefer it to stunning spells. This way she didn't feel any pain. And that's good, considering that she hadn't done anything to me. Come on now, don't make a fuss."
Loki nodded towards a door marked "LABORATORY Authorized personnel only." It seemed very, very locked. They zigzagged between the cradles, careful not to wake any of the adorable sleeping babes, and they reached the door. It was indeed locked. It had two keyholes and a slot for identity cards.
"Impressive," said Nea.
"Why is this place locked anyway?" muttered Loki. "I thought it was illegal to break in!"
"Kindly don't point out the plotholes," whispered Nea nervously. "Who knows what might open up. Besides, I don't think we have to worry. Check the Yenta for the keys."
Minutes later they were inside. Behind the door was a white corridor, not unlike any hallway you might find inside a hospital. There were sounds here, buzzing of electricity and the faint sobs of someone crying.
"I think we've found what we're looking for," mumbled Nea.
The corridor ended in an elevator that went to a room which size defied belief. It was enormous and boiling hot. It was filled with strange metallic machines that gleamed in the pale lamplight. They looked like a mix between medical equipment and work out machines that one could find in any gym in the Real World. TV screens were put up all over the place, showing what appeared to be different parts of Sparklee. Something hummed, and different coloured lamps flashed on and off, seemingly at random.
In the middle of the room there was something that looked quite a lot like a huge cage. There were people in it. Young people. They were crying.
Spot's eyes widened again, but in sorrow this time. She saw the people in the cage.
"Mouse," she whispered. "Vidja. Whisper. They're here. This is were they went."
"Oh. My." Nea turned pale. "They're... they're THEM aren't they? The ones that..."
"Yes." Spot's voice was so faint that they had to listen very hard to hear what she was saying. "They're MSTWs. Or at least they were."
Around the cage stood Mary Sues in white coats and wrote down things on notepads. Sometimes they said a few words to each other and laughed softly. And then the cage opened. A couple of Sues reached in and dragged out one of the MSTW. The girl in question was covered entirely by brownish fur, and she whimpered like a kicked puppy the moment they touched her.
The Sues however did not care. They giggled a bit and pushed her so that she slid across the floor. The bang when she hit her head in a machine could be heard up to the place where Nea, Loki and Spot were standing. Spot's body was shaking with rage, and her hand was reaching for the dagger.
"How... how DARE they?!" she hissed. She sounded like she was about to cry as well. "They can't just... They... How can they DO something like this? What did she ever do to them?"
Tears started falling down her cheeks. Nea laid her arm around the crying girl.
"I know," she whispered. "Shhh, dearie, don't cry. There, there. We'll make it better. This... this is just not acceptable."
Loki couldn't do anything else but stare. This was Her doing, he knew it. He didn't know how, but he knew it was Her.
The furry girl seemed to have lost conscience after hitting her head in the metal. The Sues snorted in contempt, but agreed that she would be useless now. They put her back into the cage and left her there. The other imprisoned MSTWs hurried up to their fallen friend and tried to wake her up. It wouldn't do her any good. Loki could see the blood. He only hoped Spot couldn't.
"Nea," he mumbled. "Get her out of here. I'll go closer, see what I can find out."
She nodded. "Come on, Spot. We'll come back for them, I promise. But we have to go back to the apartment. We have to leave a rapport to the others."
Spot, who was shaking violently, didn't protest. She seemed to be in a state of shock. Loki watched the two girls as they took the elevator back up to the children's ward again. Then he looked back at the Mary Sues, who were arguing on which one of the MSTW they would pick instead. And then Loki put on a faint smile and walked out to them.
"Good evening, ladies."
* * *
The other group had more luck with their search. First of all, the
prison wasn't hard to locate. It was under ground, in the dungeons, and they were also heavily guarded. The Agents got a feeling that the Sues in charge had decided to increase the number of guards around the prison since the breakout.
"We're truly insane," mumbled Zit as they watched the Sues. "No one in the right mind would ever consider going in as it is."
The three saviours were currently crouched behind the stone staircase that led up to the world above. Things were quiet and cool down here. Through the perfume of lemon detergent they felt the smell of rich, dark soil, and the walls radiated cold that chilled to the bones. The Agents could very well understand that Blessie had stayed sick under these conditions.
The only sound to be heard was the dampened voices of the guardians. Any prisoners appeared to be either asleep or refraining from speech for different reasons.
"Weapons at the ready," mumbled Milano, raising her wand.
Ekwy unsheathed her sword. Zit took a firm grip of the crossbow. Despite the cold, he was sweating. His entire body was shaking. This was it. This was his chance to get back at the people who had imprisoned him for so many years, that had treated him as less than nothing. As if he wasn't equal to them. As if he wasn't worthy of their divine presence.
"You guys okay?" asked Milano.
Her partner nodded. "I'm all ready."
"Zit?"
He couldn't speak. His face was as pale as snow. All he could do was nod.
"Go."
Milano's first spell hit a raven-haired beauty clad in shining armour. She went down like a ton of bricks (but a ton of very graceful and alluring bricks, of course), which made it quite clear for the Sues that they were no longer alone in the dungeons.
There were five of them standing on guard outside the room leading into the corridor with the cells, and probably more on the other side of that door. The Agents had agreed on not go for the kill at first. After all, the Sues had so far done nothing do actually qualify an assassination from the PPC (other than kidnapping its Agents), and they had done nothing to interfere with canon characters or plotlines. Yet. Anyway, their own real crime was basically existing in the first place.
The saviours therefore aimed to stun. That is, Milano did. Ekwy was just aiming and hoping that her spells wouldn't backfire somehow. Zit simply waved the crossbow around, threatening to fire. There was something burning in his eyes. A fire that hadn't been there before. A determination.
It took a while for the Sues to realise that they were under attack. But when they did they struck back with great force and surprisingly developed technique.
A blonde Sue with golden streaks in her hair raised her hands and formed a ball of fire, which she hurled at Milano. The Agent managed to Finite Incantatem the fireball and sent a Jelly-Legs Curse at the Sue. The Sue danced her way right into a wall and fell to the floor unconscious.
In the meantime Ekwy avoided a spell aimed for her heart. To avenge she somehow managed to turn the nose of the Sue that had sent it at her into a cucumber. This of course caused the Sue in question to shriek in terror over her mutilated face and faint.
Zit found himself being throttled by the two remaining Sues. He waved the crossbow around helplessly, and finally managed to fire it. The arrow hit Sue #1 in the arm, and she yelled out in surprise and pain.
"Aim for their faces!" shouted Milano and kicked Sue #1 in the ribs to get her off of him.
Zit clenched the crossbow and closed his eyes tightly. He hit at random, loosely aiming for the Sue's lovely innocent face. The crossbow tore up a cut in her flawless skin. She screamed, and her arms flew up to protect herself from further damage. When she noticed the blood, her otherwise purple eyes turned a dark red.
"You meanie!!! I'll... I'll kill you!"
"Stupefy!"
The curse hit the Sue in the shoulder, and she fell to the side without as much as a whimper. Milano smirked, satisfied. Ekwy got up to Zit and pulled him to his feet.
"Well done," she grinned. "Very nice, for a beginner."
Zit blushed. "Thanks. Er... you did well too."
"Aw, you're so sweet. Now. Ready to kick some more butt?"
He nodded eagerly.
The Sues on the other side of the door were ready for them. This proved to be a bad thing indeed, since they attacked as soon as Milano had forced the door. Then a lot of things happened at once. One of the guards fired a curse that hit Ekwy squarely in the chest. Fortunately it wasn't an Unforgivable, but it did cause her to fall to the floor. Milano growled a Protection spell, but that was all she could do for her partner as it was.
There were many guards on the other side, more than they had counted for.
'Bad idea from the beginning,' thought Milano as she tried to keep them as far away from Ekwy as possible. 'We should have waited for backup. I'm gonna KILL Eki for this!'
But right now she fought for two lives. Three, counting Zit. And one should really count Zit to be protected rather than protecting. He wasn't a good fighter. As a matter of fact, he was probably the worst fighter she had ever seen. Mostly he seemed to work solely on instinct rather than talent, his arms flied wildly. Sometimes he managed to hit a Sue in the face with the crossbow, but it didn't take long for them to disarm him.
Sweat trickled down Milano's forehead. She was standing over Ekwy's body, firing curse after curse. And now she really didn't care which one she was using.
"Tarantallegra! Petrificus Totalus! Err... Relashio! Rictusempra!"
A Sue fell to the floor, giggling madly from the Tickling Spell. The sound gave Milano a headache that she really didn't need. She made a mental note not to use that spell again.
"Expelliarmus! Oh, to hell with it. Crucio!" She grinned, satisfied at the Sue's horrifying screams of pain. But her grin faded quickly. "Ow! Sonofabitch!"
Someone had cut her. Her arms was bleeding, her shirt torn. She was hurt. Not badly hurt though, or she would have cursed less.
"Din skithög, jagskaminsannvisadig, trettonfalt förbannade satmara, nuskadufåsepåfan... Crucio! Hey, back off! Tarantallegra, Stupefy, Incendio..."
One can only shout so many Latin based spells before getting tongue-tied. Milano threw her wand aside and began fighting with her sword.
Brightly coloured fingernails (probably claws too) were scratching at her. A magician was conjuring fireballs as if her life depended on it, and a good number of wands were aimed at Milano. She couldn't believe that she was still standing, with all they threw at her. She tried to hack away at them, but they were simply too many, and they were ridiculously skilled in sword fighting. Of course.
Duck one sword and jump over another, try to stand straight even though her arm was suddenly hurting quite a lot. Someone dug her nails into her hand, and Milano dropped her sword with a hiss.
"Give up, Killer?" a Sue asked, her teeth gleaming white in the shadows as she smiled.
Milano would rather have tried to cuddle a Blast-Ended Screwt before giving up to a Sue, but she seemed to have little choice. Unless... There was always an unless. Her gaze went to the doors surrounding her. Maybe she had a chance still. It was tiny, absolutely miniscule, but it was a chance. She welcomed anything she could get now.
She dropped to her knees, her left hand pressing at the wound in her arm. It did stung rather badly.
The Leader Sue smirked delightfully. She was just about to gloat when Milano once more reached for her wand.
"Reducto!"
The spell hit one of the doors with a bang that shook the entire castle. Milano smiled in weak satisfaction. Someone coughed on the other side, she caught a glimpse of bright red hair...
And when the dust settled a figure arose from the deepest and darkest dungeon the castle had. She, for she was female, smirked a smirk that not even Milano could match, and there was something utterly and definitely terrifying about her.
"Jackpot," whispered Milano.
And the girl spoke, and what she said was this:
"I am NOT happy."
* * *
The Sues looked at Loki in surprise. He smiled kindly at them.
"And how are you this fine evening? Good, I hope. Don't worry, I am from the high office. I am here to see if you take good care of the... prisoners."
He had to force himself not to wince in sympathy for the poor kids in the cage. There were four of them, he could see. All girls. The furry one was still not moving.
A Sue giggled, but was hushed at by another. The latter seemed to be the one in charge. She was tall, taller than Loki, with pale ivory skin and hair as black as onyx. She looked at Loki with doubt in her eyes.
"The high office?" she asked. "What is that?"
Loki sighed. "Well," he said patiently. "We are a newly instated group of people who travel our beautiful country and makes sure that things are done right. As for an example, we will send agents" (a few of the younger Sues grimaced at the word "agents," which pleased Loki to no end) "here continuously from now on. We don't want the prisoners to escape, now do we?" He smiled brightly and briefly flashed them his PPC ID card, in the hope that they wouldn't look at it too closely.
The Sue who had giggled before did it again. Someone nudged her in the ribs. The onyx-haired one (according to her name-tag she was called Unalthea) still seemed to hesitate.
"It is commanded by Her," said Loki with a meaningful glance at her.
Realisation dawned on Unalthea's face. "Oh! Oh, yes. I understand perfectly, Mr..?"
"Trixter," said Loki without hesitating. "Loki Trixter. The pleasure is all mine. Now, if we can get to business, please?"
Unalthea smiled sweetly. "Of course, Mr. Trixter. If you could just follow me..." She went up to him and attached herself to his arm. "Well, this is of course the main laboratory," she said with a nonchalant wave at the awesome room. "This is were the magic is done."
"I understand," said Loki, who didn't. "And what is this magic, more exactly?"
"Hm, yes, we have only managed to perform it once." Unalthea looked slightly uncomfortable, but then she smiled again. "It was a slight miscalculation that ended in success. We will find out exactly what happened. It is simply a matter of time before these... creatures will soon become just like us all, and a valuable asset to our wonderful city."
Loki disguised his horror with a pleased smile. "That sounds like a wonderful plan indeed. And how, exactly, is the procedure meant to work?"
"It's this machine right over here." Unalthea pointed at a monster in white plastic and chrome, which gleamed as viciously as the things in the doctor's office you don't know what they're for. "It is very simple, really. The FON-"
"FON?" interrupted Loki curiously.
"Freak Of Nature," said the Sue who had giggled before. "It is a scientific term, sir."
"Anyway, as I was SAYING..." Unalthea glared at the younger Sue. "The FON is placed inside the machine, and is subjected to a various assortment of the highest pieces of cultural refinement our beloved town has to offer. The divine Avril, Britney Spears, Evanescence of course..."
'So that's what's causing the singing,' thought Loki while listening interestedly. 'This machine is so powerful that it's leaking its poison into HQ...'
"There is also a mixture of different components, each one a symbol for the superiority of our race," continued Unalthea. "This mixture is injected into the blood stream of the FON, and if it is done correctly it shall produce a reaction, thus transforming the subject into an embodiment of all that is perfection. And there will no longer be a need for those creepy dungeons!" she added gleefully.
"That -- that is wonderful," stuttered Loki. He felt how all the blood left his face. "And... and you say this has worked once before?"
Unalthea smiled happily. "Oh yes. The experiment succeeded once."
She gestured towards something that looked like another door, but it was hard to tell since it was rather far away from the space around the cage.
"The ex-FON did suffer through some... complications however, and must be heavily guarded at all times. But the most important goal was achieved. Her appearance changed for the better, and we are convinced that this is only the beginning of a wonderful opportunity to help the less fortunate of our society." She smiled, and her full, pink lips separated to reveal two sets of teeth that were a little too pointy for comfort. "Isn't that thoughtful of us, Mr. Trixter?"
Loki felt nauseated, but he'd be damned if he was going to show that to the Mary Sues. He looked at the girls in the cage and met their frightened eyes. So young. They were so young. He cleared his throat.
"Yes. Well. Thank you." He was at loss for words. This was a rather uncomfortable position for him to be in. He had always had something to say, another great lie to tell. He wasn't named after the Trickster God for nothing.
He wanted to tell the MSTWs that help was on its way, that they were going to get out as soon as possible. That the Mary Sues would pay for what they had done. But he couldn't. It would be dangerous for him, and right now he really had to go back to Blessie's apartment to share his newfound knowledge. If he acted now, they were all doomed.
"Thank you," he repeated, looking back at the Sues and forcing a smile on his lips. "Now I think I should go. I have many... many places to visit. Yes. Have to maintain order. A good night to you all."
He cast a last gaze at the cage and saw the blood that spotted the brown fur of the unconscious girl.
"Oh, it was our pleasure," chirped Unalthea. "Wasn't it, girls?"
The other white-coats nodded and giggled excitedly. Loki managed a smile and turned around back to the elevator. His head was absolutely buzzing with thoughts. A giant tidal wave of feelings was crashing through his body. It felt like he couldn't process the information that had been given to him. It was too much. Too many bad things at the same time.
And there was still this nagging feeling deep down inside that She was watching them all the time. Laughing at their pathetic attempts to overcome Her.
Poor Loki. A lot of things had happened to him in a short period of time. And it was only going to get worse.
He got back to Nea and Spot, who were waiting for him at the children's ward. Oh yes, the children. They were what they had come for, anyway. But it wasn't them they had to worry about. Oh no. If these children were considered to be normal Sues they would be raised and cared for. But if not... Loki groaned and shook his head. Too many thoughts. Boy, did he need a nap.
"You don't look so good," remarked Nea. "What did you find out?"
"I'll tell you when I tell the others," he mumbled, and was surprised to hear his voice sound so quiet. "I... I can't say it twice."
She nodded, but her frown did not disappear. He turned his face away from her, not managing to look into her eyes. Nea was silent, but inside it felt like her heart was shattering. She watched how he smiled weakly at Spot and avoiding to met her, his Nea's, gaze. What had he seen?
Slowly, as if she was unsure of what to do, Nea followed him into the elevator up to the Children's Ward, and inside her head she was singing to him.
I know he's not the greatest
But he's changed since I saw him latest
Is it a spell that's over him cast?
Won't he do his own duty?
Is he entranced by this fictional beauty?
Still I dream of a time when we will be together at last
She tried to look into his eyes, to see a trace of what he had seen in the laboratory, but his face was empty and turned away from him. Nea sighed. He didn't seem to hear her.
A console of our own
That beeps when we must work
A portal glows electric blue
We know we cannot shirk
We gather our weapons, because
It's time to kill a Sue
And he'll smile and I'll be glad
When this is through
Nea smiled, losing herself in fantasies about what could happen once they were back at HQ, where Loki would go back to be his normal, happy self who never hid anything from her.
We hold hands through the gate
In each other find support
We watch how Mary Sue thrives
And at Hogwarts holds her court
We've finally had enough and
We both know what to do
'Cause we know just how it goes
When this is through
The company kept going passing the Children's Ward and the still knocked out Yenta Sue, who Nea woke up with a simple flick of her wand. The blonde Agent then followed her partner and the MSTW through the winding corridors on their way back to Blessie's apartment.
Between our tiring missions
To protect the right and true
We rest and we eat chocolate
With complementing Mountain Dew
Nea sighed. Oh, would she ever experience that with Loki again? Could they still get a happy ending? She only knew one thing.
I'm his, I'll always be
But now I am quite lost
Don't know if I've upset him
Or why he is so cross
That's why I hope and I pray that
Our love shall be renewed
Far from Sparklee
Just him and me
When this is through
The echoes of the song faded away, and there was nothing. Nea sighed in despair once more, and then she hurried to keep up with Loki and Spot.
Previous Chapter------------------------------------------------------------------------------>Next Chapter