Miko

By Maggie Finson

CHAPTER TWELVE

Hell in a Hand basket, Coming Right Up!

Chapter 12

Author's Note:  This chapter is a very short one, but as the story goes, it needed to end just where it did.  Thanks to all of you who have been following this tale, and don't worry, it will be continued.  Regularly.

Maggie

 

"We had the bitch!"  Felicia raged, pounding the wall with a small fist in frustrated anger and paying no attention to how the wall was cracking under her assault.

"What happened?"

Peeling charred clothing away from equally charred flesh with a wince while muttering something along the lines of "This is getting to be a habit when we run into that damned Miko", Chloe glanced up with a grimace and shrugged at her ranting Mistress.

"Somehow, she found that I was running the jamming that prevented her from porting out of there,"  the blonde answered quietly, still peeling and wincing at the sounds of tearing cloth and flesh.  "So she hit me really hard, wrecked my comp pad, and the connection to the mainframe, then got out before I could recover and reestablish the block."

"How could she manage all that?"  Felicia questioned with a dangerous glint in her dark eyes.

"I've told you again and again, Mistress,"  Chloe let out a frustrated sigh of her own.  "Her tech is a lot better than ours, even with the addition of the stuff from that Inter-Dimensional bunch of cops we've got now.  We just can't match up to what she has available, and so are at a serious disadvantage when the techs collide."

"Then maybe we'd better begin planning to use something other than tech to get at her,"  The slender Hispanic beauty nodded thoughtfully.  "We do possess other means of doing things, though our Human backgrounds keep telling us that the tech is best.  I this case I think we should rethink our approach to the whole matter."

"Agreed, Mistress,"  Chloe grimaced as a particularly large bit of blackened flesh came loose to reveal the tender pink of healing skin underneath.  "Maybe we could utilize a combination of the tech we have, with the other powers all of us seem to have gained with our changes."

"I have something even better in the works,"  Felicia grinned quite nastily, but not at her subordinate, or anyone else in the room.  "It should be a rather interesting surprise for that little bitch."

"I had noticed that your newest plaything and convert hasn't been around lately,"  Chloe put in thoughtfully.

"Where did she go, I wonder?"

"That will be made clear in its own good time,"  Felicia chuckled with renewed good humor.  "In my good time."

"As you say, Mistress,"  Chloe went back to her own difficulties without another word while Felicia began her own arduous and tedious task of getting rid of the dead flesh and ruined clothing on her own form.

*    *    *    *

 

"Where are we?"  Karen Allbright questioned shakily while staring at the globe shaped room filled with what had to be machinery of some kind but dominated by a large chair and swinging console in the exact center.

"In a way station, of sorts,"  The slender Asian woman who had gotten her out of the jail, and something far worse, she suspected, answered while seating herself in the chair and pulling the console over her lap.  "A safe place to catch your breath, and a way to get almost anywhere we need to go."

Two other sets of eyes were also staring in stunned shock at their surroundings, but the owners hadn't yet voiced either exclamations or questions.  Leslie Costales silently took in their rather strange surroundings with a great deal of interest, but was still badly shaken by what had occurred in the jail.  Leland Carver simply sat himself down on the floor and did his best to even out his ragged breathing.

"You two ok?"  Carl questioned the pair with real concern, then turned to Karen with a small grin.  "This is something that not many people ever hear of, let alone get the chance to see themselves.  Explanations will have to come later, but for now, just accept that nothing in here will actively try to harm you."

"I suppose I'll have to go with that then,"  Karen answered, still staring at her surroundings with more than a little trepidation.  "What are you guys?  Some kink of aliens or what?"

"Or what would be more accurate,"  Will Clemens chuckled.   "Believe me, we're as human as you are, Ms.Allbright.  We just have access to some things most don't."

"What, exactly,"  Finding her voice at last, Leslie cautiously asked.  "Were those creatures that showed up the cell blocks?  I know they weren't human women no matter what they looked like."

"Grade A, 'don't fuck with 'em unless you have no other choice' Demons,"  the Asian woman responded almost absently while still working at her console.  "You've each fought lesser forms of the kind, but these were the real heavy hitters among that bunch. They were after me, by the way, you three were just a pleasant addition for those things to play with. Not to mention being bait to draw me in so they could take a few swipes at me."

"Demons?"  Lee Carver gave the woman an incredulous look then shook his head.  "You can't really mean that, can you?"

"Yes, I do,"  Jo nodded grimly.  "Tell me what the usual definition of a demon is, in your mind."

"Well, I always heard that they're malicious beings who delight in pain and suffering, so go out of their way to inflict that on anyone they can."

"That is exactly what those women in the cell blocks are,"  she replied.  "Human bodies possessed and controlled by entities that might have been human once, but aren't even close to that now.  What else would you call them if not demons?"

He didn't have an answer for that, and shook his head.  "Fairy stories, things to frighten the gullible."

"Use your head for something other than a rack to hold your hair on, Mr. Carver,"  the young woman snorted.  "You've seen them close up and really ugly.  Can you really keep on thinking of them as some nasty fantasy creatures dreamed up to keep people going to church and the movies?"

"No, I guess not,"  Lee agreed, though it was obvious he was still having trouble getting his mind around the idea.  "For now, I'll accept that they're demons, provisionally.  I sure don't have any other way to describe the damn things."

"Neither do I, Mr. Carver, neither do I,"  with a shrug, she returned to her activities on the console in front of her while calling out to one of her compatriots.  "Carl, why don't you make some introductions here, I'm going to be busy for a while yet, but we've been impolite to our guests."

"All right,"  the large, blonde fellow nodded then actually grinned with something like embarrassment before turning to the three newcomers.  "First, the young lady at the console there is Josette Narita, but we all just call her Jo.  She's the one who runs this operation in case you hadn't noticed, which would be kind of tough considering, I suppose.  She's what is called a Miko, but that is way too involved to get into just now.  All you need to really know about that at the moment, is that Jo is currently our best hope of getting rid of this demon infestation that's been hitting our town here.

I'm Carl Chamberlain,"  he continued with another grin.  "I've spent my life drifting around and doing my best to handle smaller scale situations like we just got you three out of.

That fellow with the big smile and calm demeanor is Father Will Clemens,"  the big man gestured to his other companion, who nodded without losing his winning smile.  "He is a trained exorcist and bona-fide psychic sensitive, which both come in handy given our present situation."

Will nodded again, greeting each of the three by name, but centering his attention on Karen.  "Ms. Allbright, how long have you known that you're a natural exorcist?"

"I've been -- different -- in strange little ways all my life, Father,"  she answered a bit hesitantly.  "I've been able to read people's intentions, and their basic personalities since I was old enough to remember anything.  Made for kind of an uncomfortable life until I learned to hide what I was seeing.  As for the exorcist thing, I really don't know.  One day I ran into someone who just wasn't right at all.  You know, so wrong that everyone noticed it, and avoided her.  So I did a probe."

"And?"  the priest urged her to go on with that single word.

"Well,"  taking in a deep breath to steady herself, Karen did just that.  "When I probed her, my friend who was acting so weird, I ran into something so disgusting that I almost threw up then and there.  But I could also see that my friend was still in there, just not in control.  So I reached inside her and somehow pulled the wrongness out and threw it far away.  That's all I can tell you."

"You, young lady, are a very strong exorcist, that's how you did all that.  Was your friend ok afterwards?"

"She was shaky, and needed some counseling after, but overall, yes, she was back to her normal self."

"Glad to hear it,"  Will smiled.  "So you just used that ability in the shopping mall when things got nasty, did you?"

"How did you know about that?"

"Look around you and ask me that again,"  the priest chuckled.

"Point taken,"  Karen grinned back.  "And yes, I felt the same kind of wrongness in those people who were berserk, and threw the operating entities out of the bodies.  I just hadn't -- hadn't expected it to kill them, the bodies, I mean."

"The original owners of those bodies were gone, dear,"  Will gently answered.  "consumed, or worse, by the demons in possession of the bodies.  They weren't there to take back over and without a driving force to fill them, the bodies died from shock.  Trust me, I've seen it too many times to deny that truth, even though it still hurts to see it."

"Yes it does,"  Karen let out a long, pained sigh.

"Ok, it's all ready,"  Jo moved the console away from her and stood, giving the three rescued humans a long searching look before telling them.  "You have a choice here, all of you, and it isn't going to be an easy one to make.

I can send each of you elsewhere, and you can try picking up your lives again, without the murder charges pinned on you recently, I've taken care of those, don't ask how, just trust me, the charges never happened, neither did your arrests.

But even without that,"  she went on,  "The demons know who you are and that you're capable of hurting them, so they will not leave you in peace no matter where you might go."

"Not exactly a pleasant prospect,"  Leslie pursed her lips.  "I gather the other choice your going to offer is something like a draft notice?"

"Yes,"  Jo nodded without so much as a change in her unreadable expression.  "To be honest we need all the help we can get here.  You three have proven your abilities to fight these things, plus shown the good sense not to go out hunting them.  Those qualities are exactly what I'm looking for.  Bluntly, we need you, and your help, very badly.  I won't be able to protect you should you go your own ways again, no matter how badly I might wish to.  There is just too much happening for me to be able to do so."

"So you're telling us,"  Lee straightened himself and stared directly into Jo's green eyes, "that on our own we're very likely to get killed, or worse, and you won't be able to pull our butts out of it again.  Does that pretty well cover it?"

"Yes."

"But with you, we have a chance to survive all this."

"Succinctly put, Mr. Carver.  And accurate."

"Then it really isn't a choice at all, is it?"

"It's the best I can offer you, all of you,"  Jo let out a long breath.  "Or to anyone else."

"Consider me drafted, then,"  he replied quietly.  "These demons, or whatever they may be, have to be stopped.  I'm not fool enough to even think I could do that on my own, and to be honest I have serious doubts about it if I stay on.  But like I said..."

"Wish I could offer you another alternative,"  Jo shrugged.  "There just aren't any others."

"I'm in,"  Leslie replied slowly.  "Going back to the force might be a viable option for me, but not if I'm going to be a constant target.  So, I'll stay with a group I know can at least fight and hold its own against these things."

"There are too many really creepy things going on in Lawrence right now, I know I wouldn't be safe there,"  Karen slowly answered in her turn.  "So... I guess I'm in, too."

"Then let's go home,"  Jo gestured to a door that appeared in the curved wall to their left.  "And get you three settled in."

*    *    *    *

 

"THE FEMALE ESCAPED YOU AGAIN, MY CONSORT," Dur’Toc rumbled his displeasure with the fact, and his chosen companion.  "EXPLAIN YOURSELF."

"She is like no other Miko our kind have encountered up to now, Lord," Felicia replied quietly.  "This one not only use that damned advanced technology, but has immense power within herself that she seems to keep learning more about between each of out encounters.  This time we had jammed the signals that connected her to her base, which should have had her stuck in place and at our mercy.  Instead she easily detected the jamming and eliminated it long enough for herself, her companions and the three we baited the trap with to escape."

"ARE YOU TAKING STEPS TO GAIN THIS TECHNOLOGY SHE USES SO EFFECTIVELY?  IS THERE EVEN A CHANCE FOR YOU TO GET ACCESS TO SUCH THINGS?" the demon lord questioned impatiently.  "OUR KIND HAVE LONG CHAFED AT BEING CONFINED IN THAT EMPTY PLACE.  OUR ENTRY HERE HAS BEEN LONG IN ACHIEVING AND I WILL NOT TOLERATE ANYTHING THAT JEOPARDIZES OUR CHANCES OF REMAINING.  I HAVE ALLOWED YOU MUCH FREEDOM IN THIS DIMENSION IN THE BELIEF THAT ONE WHO WAS ONCE HUMAN WOULD BOLSTER OUR CHANCES TO DEFEAT AND RULE THESE RIDICULOUS HUMANS.  TAKE CARE THAT YOU DO NOT CAUSE ME TO LOSE THAT FAITH, LITTLE ONE."

"Your faith in me is justified, Lord," Felicia calmly responded with a deep bow to her master.  "We have all consistently underestimated this Miko, but now I have a surprise ready that will take advantage of the weak points we know she has.  One of the Humans in that jailhouse was meant to escape with her.  The others are nothing of consequence to us even if they did get away." 

"AND THIS SUDDENLY DISCOVERED WEAKNESS IS?"

"She trusts, my lord." Felicia answered with a lift of her slim shoulders in a shrug that held the other's interest in things other than just the shrug or topic of their conversation.  "She grants information and access to the things she knows to those around her.  It will take time, but she will learn to regret that stupidity, and I -- or more precisely -- my instrument, will be her teacher."

"YOU HAVE ONE OF OURS AMONG THEM, THEN?"

"I do, my Lord, but it will take patience until that one is able to strike as planned,"  the woman shaped creature answered while thinking gleefully to herself, One of mine, anyway, before finishing in her most persuasive tones.  "After all, my Lord, we want the Miko, and her technologies, do we not?"

"YES, IF THAT IS PRACTICAL."  Looking at his consort with a lust he allowed to run rampant in his stolen Human body, Dur'Toc nodded then gestured for her to go to him.

"IF NOT, THAT ONE MUST DIE, AND SOON.  BUT FOR NOW, MY CONSORT, I REQUIRE YOU FOR YOUR OBVIOUS CHARMS."

"I am, as always,"  Felicia gave him a radiant smile while beginning to stroke his chest with one hand and somewhat lower with her other, "yours to command, my Lord Dur'Toc."

*    *    *    *

 

"It is time,"  Felicia, still disheveled from her time entertaining the demon lord, announced to the gathered entities.  "For a show of power."

The apartment complex hummed with the presence of the disembodied ones who filled the buildings and grounds that made up the center of Dur'Toc's invasion.  Those creatures jostled, fought among themselves, and vied for the favor of those more powerful, or to undermine that power that they might take it for themselves. 

The more powerful among them, surrounded by sycophants and vassals placed themselves in positions advantageous to either simply see what this upstart had in mind, or to drag her down should that seem a viable option.

The embodied, those demons fortunate enough to have taken over a Human body, gathered more closely to Dur'Toc's chosen agent and consort, feeling more kinship with her than with their own kind.

Which suited Felicia very well.  Those who had obtained bodies had also tasted well of the pleasures that flesh gave, and were succumbing to those to become the hybrid creatures she had envisioned since becoming reconciled to her new form.  Creatures both of flesh and the demonic, who gravitated towards her because it had mainly been her choosing that had given them those bodies.

Or her guidance that had helped them keep the solid forms all that kind craved.  Either way, those were mostly hers, and the ones who wavered, or dared oppose her power were allowed to die in the confrontations with Humans, or would soon see the foolishness of their opposition and fence sitting.

Her own Chosen, her Handmaidens, were gathered in a loose ring around her, their varied abilities ready for the potential storm their mistress' actions could soon cause.

"There are some among you who feel that I do not deserve the confidence and position Our Lord Dur'Toc has given me."  She surveyed the seething mass of disembodied to find her carefully selected target.  "Chua'Atai, do you still hold to that?"

The demon addressed, powerful, but not the most powerful among those gathered moved forward without responding.

It was a challenge to her own power, which she had expected, even helped to bring about in subtle ways over the previous weeks.

"You are ineffective, female,"  the demon finally answered.  "Yet you presume to dictate to your betters about how to take this world from these puny Humans.  You deny the strong among us bodies, or contrive to have those lose them before they become a threat to you."

"Do you, then challenge my right to do these things?"  She questioned with a soft, dangerous quiet in her voice.

"I do,"  Chua'Atai confirmed.

"As you wish, then."  Felicia braced for what was to come.  Even after carefully goading her opponent for months, she was not at all as confident as her exterior and surface thought showed.

The demon probed her for weaknesses in either physical defenses or mental.  Then gave a powerful shove to her spirit meant to dislodge it from her body.

Shaking that off with lips curled in cruel amusement, she reached out with her own power to grasp her opponent like taking an egg in one's clenched hand.  And held him immobile.  "I would have thanked you for trying that once, you know."

She let him struggle for a time, just to show the others that he was no match for her.  "It is now, too late for that, though.  I do NOT appreciate your attempt to take my body from me."

Her power began to exert more force and the struggling, cursing mass that was Chua'Atai shrank into a small ball of energy that seethed with rage that slowly became fear.

"Lady, I will serve you well..."  The demon writhed as he screamed out his offer.     

 

"Yes,"  Felicia answered with a smile as she squeezed even harder.  "You will."

"Mercy!  I beg of you, Lady!"  Chua'Atai wailed as his being became more compressed and began to loose cohesion.

"What does our kind know of mercy?"  Felicia asked almost gently as she increased the pressure to the point where the demon lost all integrity, imploding into a tiny mote that showered sparks and smoke as her victim died a real death.

"My answer to my own question."  She regarded the gathering calmly, hiding her own exultance at her success.  "Is nothing.  What we know is power, and that is all.  Does anyone else present choose to test mine?"

None did.

"Wise of you all."  turning slowly to watch all of them gathered, she continued.  "Now it is time to show these Humans our power rather than hiding it away as we have been.

Spread the news to your brothers and sisters.  Go to any part of this land mass they might wish.  Search.  There are Humans who would aid us simply to gain power over their own kind, or for vengeance for slights.  Or for wealth.  Promise these anything they wish, even give them a little taste of the power they crave.  Just gain their allegiance and tell them to wait for word from us.

Others are weaker in mind than many, corrupt them, drive them insane, whatever route to gaining the chaos we desire among them seems to demand.

Tempt them, cajole them, terrify them.  Take bodies as you like.  It is time to move to the next step of our conquest of this pathetic world and all the places it will lead us to once it is ours!"

The gathering surged back and forth, anxious to begin, but each individual awaiting the command to go from this half-human creature who held such terrible power.

"Go!"  she screamed, waving them in all directions.  "And take this message to the Humans as you do.  Abandon All hope, you who dwell here.  Hell has come to claim its HOME!"

Sarjak, now in a mature, but still female form nodded her head, causing her almost wild mane of glossy Black hair to wave like wings of darkness descending upon the unwary.  "Lord Dur'Toc is not going to be pleased about this, Lady."

"Lord Dur'Toc is my concern, Saara,"  Felicia answered without fear. 

"ALL OF YOU KNOW THIS."  Dur'Toc's voice boomed in all their minds.  "THE LADY FELICIA IS MY CHOSEN, MY QUEEN IN THIS REALM.  OBEY HER AS YOU WOULD ME OR FACE THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR DISOBEDIANCE."

"I knew this was coming,"  Saara bowed to her Mistress, now the Mistress of Hell in very real respect.

 

Continued in Part 13

 

 

since 06/20/03