The Mistress (Part I)
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“Heya Meb! Good to see you made it safely! How was the ride this time?!” Jordy’s expression infuriated the Mistress.
With a harsh backhand, Mistress Buzz knocked the insolent pest to his butt, “How dare you speak to me that way?! Why are you looking at me! My coach should be waiting!” the Mistress kicked Jordy in the gut, “Damn you insect! I said move and get my coach!!!”
Spitting up blood and holding his gut, Jordy struggled to breathe, but jumped to his feet none the less. The Mistress watched him scurry away with all the enthusiasm an Orc might squish a roach. As she followed him, she started noticing more troubling issues. Why weren’t the goblins in their chains? They were wandering about freely! The overseers should have already killed half to make an example… but…
Scanning the city, she found no sign of her Night Elf overseers; no sign of forced labor, Gadgetzan seemed an independent thriving village. The Mistress grinned widely. She had heard about these things, a small transporter malfunction and two people switch places. Something about a different dimension, same people, but different, everyone would be nicer here. The Mistress spit on the ground in distaste, Exchanging pleasantries and saying hi to strangers. Disgusting, but it would make it that much easier to conquer this pathetic land. She rummaged the bag, it was different, it had a few trinkets of interest. A small note caught her eye, scanning it over she noticed a line…
*See the Dr, learn first aid triage
Healing? First aid? She had outlawed those long ago, if they weren’t strong enough to recover on their own it wasn’t worth the empires time to heal them. This could be a fun first step. She decided to go there and test just how gullible these fools were. She hurried outside Gadetzan and demanded a gryphon to Theremore. The attendant there obliged without word. Well, at least a few could be trained easily.
No sooner had she grabbed the bird than she heard voices coming from her bags. Holding the bird and rummaging she encountered a talking stone. Studying it, she smiled at the wisdom of her counterpart. Apparently she had some pull in the land; she had already organized associates to help in a goal of conquest. Perhaps the Mistress from this dimension wasn’t such a fool after all.
“It’s time! I’m ready to begin my campaign of chaos and conquest! Who is ready to join me!” the voices responses didn’t thrill her. They seemed…. surprised, are you okay Meb…. Do you need help… what’s happening to you… they seemed concerned; they had no knowledge of a conquest. Perhaps the mistress here wasn’t quite the planner she had first thought.
“Ha! Wait till I make a few of these royal guards check out! An infirmary! I’ll make sure they all get what they deserve! They will all die painfully! Now let that be a lesson!” she clicked the guildstone off. It didn’t matter that she told them. They probably thought she was just joking, and even if they didn’t they couldn’t reach her in time.
Stepping off the gryphon she ran to the hospital to test the ignorance of these peons. Speaking with the doctor he sent her straight to triage advising to let as few as possible die, or there would be consequences. The Mistress smiled wickedly in spite of herself, it couldn’t be this easy. Stepping to the first patient she reached to check his forehead, then with a quick jerk snapped his neck… pathetic. She walked nonchalantly to the next, he was ripped almost in half, easy to fix! The mistress grabbed his hanging entrails and pulled finishing the job, now he was in half!
The ‘good’ doctor was busy tending to his own patients, this was too easy. A shiv into a neck, a roll of gauze suffocating the next patient, an extra cut on a third to let him slowly bleed to death. The doctor came by to check on things, “how many have you… dear god!! You haven’t saved one yet! That blood letting! You’re releasing way too much! Get away from him!”
“Oh my! I’m so sorry doctor! Please don’t send me away yet, I just need more training! I know I can help them!”
The doctor sighed, relenting, but insisting on observation, “all right, let’s look at this patient then, he got a tauren axe to the leg, this should be easy to diagnose and fix, why don’t you start by showing me how to check the wound?”
Smiling as sweetly as possible, the Mistress walked to the patient, then unceremoniously jabbed a hand into the wound, ignoring the screams of pain. With a single twitch of the hand, she separated the femoral artery in a spray of blood drenching her and the doctor as the patients screams quickly faded into a death rattle. She walked out ignoring the doctor’s protests. This had lost its appeal, besides, she learned what she needed to know.
The mistress studied the bags outside the infirmary, mostly useless stuff. The crimson from the soldier was drying and she hated to wallow in it for long. There had to be something a bit more… aha! A low cut shirt with a note attached, “Glad to help Meb! I hope you and Oak Like it!... Antigone.”
The mistress caught a boat changing into the fresh clothes. Much better! Clean, plus much more revealing. A bit of cleavage never hurt when the men needed some convincing. Another note caught her eye, rather short, but it had an address. Might as well see where the runt liked to hang out, besides, it might be a good starting point to gather her forces here. When she arrived, there were already several waiting, most she recognized. They certainly did look like the ones she knew, but they seemed… nice. She spat in distaste walking the rest of the way in.
Pandoran sat in a chair, idly tossing a dagger. She could already tell he would be a thorn in her side. “Ahh good. You already know I’m not your ‘Meb’ as you call her. You can call me Mistress Buzz. This empire is pathetic, led by a child, they need a new ruler! I am to be it! Should you wish to gain favor, ally yourselves with me now and you will find great fortune!”
The room stood in silence for a long time, then finally the trouble maker spoke up, “Mistress? Ruler?! You’re nothing! I’ll personally stop you if I have to! I’ll call you no such thing!”
“Very well! You shall be my first example! Those that wish to gain favor! Step forward, execute the traitor!”, the mistress watched in long silence, until Ravine stepped up. “Good! You are quite wise! Now kill the maggot!”
“I would… but… I can’t, I wish to serve you…”
“Can’t?! fine! I shall personally make the example of him!”, Mistress Buzz started calling forth her magic, the whelp ignored her, oblivious to the danger. Releasing the most powerful bolt of cold she could, she froze him to the floor, then immolated Pandoran sending him screaming to the floor. She smiled at his screams of pain, when she was hit from behind. Thrown to the table, she heard orders barked from Shirath, “quick bind her! Don’t let her go!” Mistress’ Buzz’s hands were quickly bound in rope, then she was stood upright. The fools underestimated her. She flicked her fingers uttering a single word, the ropes falling away as she reappeared on the other side of the room.
“Ha! I shall see you all destroyed! You will all perish for your mistakes here today!”, making a break for the door, she thought herself clear when a large weight fell on her from nowhere.
Voices called out over each other in a cacophony, “I’ve got her, she can’t blink away for a while! Gag her too! She can’t cast it if she can’t talk! She’s fighting back!”
Mistress Buzz fought against her captors, turning up to see Shirath running towards her, “You’ll spend the rest of your miserable lives as sheep! I’ll have you served as dinner in Ogrimmar! You all will…” her words were cut short as a plate clad hand clanged into her face. Mistress Buzz saw red, then spots as the world swam, then faded out, unconsciousness granting a reprieve from the pain shooting through her jaw.
Regaining consciousness was even less appealing than being put out. The slip into darkness was thankfully fast. It started with a searing headache and ringing in her ears, slowly she saw a bright splotch of light that faded back into colors, then shapes. Voices swam around the Mistress, but she ignored them. Shirath sat across from her keeping careful guard. The mistress took inventory of her resources. Her mana was fine, but she wasn’t ready to slip away yet. The whelp Meb was a decent engineer, there was something in the bags that could help her, she just had to wait….. It was ready again.
She did it, the convulsing was perfect, she gagged and pretended to spit the gag, while really she sucked it deeper into her throat. The friends swarmed to help. Morons! They were all so easy to fool! Sucking in the cloth in her mouth, she let the gag reflex take over, puking into the gag and spewing through her nose. It wasn’t the most pleasant thing, but she was running low on time and needed to get away fast. It worked, they pulled the gag. Quickly the Mistress jumped to her feet, blinking towards the door, unleashing a wave of binding frost she rounded the corner and activated the cloaking device. The voices inside called to grab her, but it was too late. They came out to see only an empty park.
She had made a plan. Obviously the direct method wasn’t an option here, but they were still easily fooled. This would still be a walk in the park…
The Mistress came to the meeting, few approached her, but she didn’t care, they figured she would be gone soon. She had convinced Jordy to shut down the transporter until it was proven safe again, but not before she secretly made a few modifications. She wouldn’t be going anywhere soon, but she still had to make this convincing. The damned fools moved slow though, she had wanted to wait for the right moment…. No time was left. She dashed to the table, “This isn’t over! I shall see you all crushed under my heel! This isn’t over!”
The Mistress feigned exhaustion collapsing on the desk, waiting patiently. When she opened her eyes, General Grendel was standing next to her. She knew how her General loved violence. This one was probably compassionate and caring. This would be way too easy. The mistress ran away screaming in terror waiting for Grendel to follow. He did it, HA! She was right about General Grendel! Maybe she would make him her first concubine. They all seemed to believe the story, they thought they had their Meb back. Fools… all damned fools!
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The wretched prisoner hung from the chains, beaten, and tattered. The chains made a faint metallic clinking sound as her sobs shook her body. General Grendel looked to the prisoner on the wall smirking, “You said we were engaged in your realm, I would figure you would enjoy that! Hrmph… no matter! You’re barely adequate as it is.”
The General walked out ignoring the sobs as the dungeon door clanged shut.
Meb plead to the silence between sobs, “Oak… where are you Oak…. Please help me…”