The Dangers of Daring Officer Dolly

Chapter 35.  "Old and Accidental Enemies"

by Skytower

Merry McCormick was familiar with the concept of ‘Karma’. Simply stated Karma was the idea that what ever you gave out in life you got back doubled. Ever since she had been taken and enslaved by The Group Merry had wondered what terrible thing she had done to deserve it. They had taken her, shrunk her, completely took over her life and Merry was worse than helpless against them. Merry had never wanted to a an actress, she didn’t like to lie. But her life now was full of acting and lies. What was worse was that she was lying to people who she deeply admired and in one case loved with all of her heart. Merry lived with many fears, they haunted her while she slept and while she was awake. But one of the greatest fears was that she would see the look on Esmerelda’s round youthful face when Esmerelda learned that Merry lived a lie. That she was not a refugee from a doomed world. That she was simply Merry McCormick, a former cop who served a group of people who wanted to take over the world.

Merry had freed Esmerelda from slavery. Saved her from certain death and placed her on the path that was leading her toward being a fully self sufficient person. She’d done it at great risk and shown even greater valor by turning Esmerelda away when the young woman would have happily been her slave. But Merry didn’t think that her actions in anyway balanced the karmic scales.

Merry lay half awake thinking these thoughts. For a day and a half she had traveled with Esmerelda, Lady Serenity Highfield, Tranquility, Vickie and Dreft and his group of newly freed fairies. And Bitch-35, who had led an even harsher life than Merry had. Merry slept between Esmerelda and Serenity and they pressed against each other for warmth. On Faerun the wars were constant and even though they were in territory controlled by the United Clans that didn’t mean it was safe enough to light a fire. There were wandering monsters who didn’t trouble who’s side a person was on; they were just hungry. Merry slept on her back and she could feel Esmerelda’s head against her shoulder and the girls stocky body pressed against hers. Esmerelda was a were-wolf and for warmth she had half-shifted her body to its wolf form. It was very much like sleeping against one of the giant cats in Dollopolis. Merry smiled slightly when she thought of that. One morning she had gone into the shrunken city to find that Lizzie and Jessie were not in their house. A little searching had found them by the river. Months before Lizzie had been found and saved by a mother cat and in a temporary move the Group had put the mother and her kittens in Dollopolis until they could find better homes. But the cats had adapted to walking around doll houses and shrunken women and no one had made any move to get them new homes. The kittens had grown and were now a part of the city. Merry had found both Lizzie and Jessie curled up in the center of a curled up cat. Nude and comfortable. Merry had thought it a little creepy until, goaded on by Simone (who can get me to do just about anything Merry thought fondly) she had tried it herself. She liked it. Merry enjoyed sleeping on Simone’s chest when she was shrunk and Simone was full sized. The solid beat of Simone’s heart and the air moving in and out of her lungs was something Merry would never get tired of. Sleeping with the cat had been similar, but different. Sleeping in the center of a cat was like sleeping in a church. Merry’s dreams were different. She woke up with the impression that she had been told some great secret while she slept but couldn’t remember it.

At least we aren’t nude here, Merry thought. She and Serenity were wearing leather pants and chainmail shirts. Not that sleeping in a chainmail shirt was comfortable. Even though she had used a long bit of cloth as a makeshift bra Merry still felt the metal dig into her skin. And the cloth was scratchy. The leather was so tight it was almost a second skin. The only thing comfortable that Merry was wearing was her boots. Damn she missed underwear. Serenity didn’t seem to notice, but she was English and Merry wondered if that didn’t have something to do with it. She didn’t know why she thought that, she just did. Esmerelda wore a simple white shift. Serenity was on the other side of her. Tall and slim the woman slept tensely. Merry knew that Serenity was worried about her daughters.

Merry opened her eyes, realizing that sleep wasn’t going to come back to her. The dawn was just breaking over the horizon. At last it had stopped raining. Around her the air was filled with forest scents. Or at least that was what a Los Angeles born and raised Merry thought that they were. The air was the freshest she had ever breathed; no pollution. Faerun was a primitive world where magic had been the only science until Darksun had shown up. They traveled through pine and maple and Merry wondered if trees were the same on every world.

On her stomach Bitch-35 stirred and the chains around her ankles clinked. Sleeping on Merry’s stomach had been the only place where she would be safe. The other fairies had wanted her dead before Merry had exposed her secret. Once Dreft had found out that Bitch-35 was not a drowf, a dark elf/fairy hybrid, but a deformed fairy with artificial limbs; he had wanted to burn her alive. Only the fact that Merry had threatened to do to him what ever he did to Bitch-35 stopped him. That had taken some fancy lying on Merry’s part. As the First Knight of Dollopolis she couldn’t really show any noble impulses, they clashed with the character she had created. But she had found a way, pointing out that Bitch-35 knew Darksun’s castle better than anyone and that Bitch-35 was going to Earth with them after it was all over. There was also the fact that Bitch-35 was a creation of Darksun using Serenity’s eggs, making her a blood relative to the Englishwoman. That, Merry knew, was going to take some getting used to for Serenity. Merry couldn’t even guess what was going to happen when her other daughters found out. But while Dreft had relented he had done so with eyes full of hate. And he had insisted that Bitch-35 was still a prisoner.

For her part Bitch-35 returned his hate and refused to tell them much about Darksun’s castle until she got the pledge of the ruling council of the United Clans that she would not be killed. She had also refused to give Tranquility and Vickie the cure for their magical transformations until they were all on Earth. So all in all it had made for a very tense day and a half.

Merry took Bitch-35 in her hand as she sat up. The fairy was taller than most fairies, standing at a little under two feet tall normally. But as a prisoner she had been reduced to twelve inches tall. The only chains Dreft had that could hold a fairy were his own, so he had taken some dust from his wings and threw it on Bitch-35 when her back was turned. She had shrunk to twelve inches and cursed him but had submitted to the chains. Now the chain was attached to a clip on Merry’s chainmail shirt. Bitch-35’s wrists were also held around her waist by chains. Merry cupped the still sleeping fairy and stood up. It had been strange to sleep with a shrunken woman on her chest. When she slept with Simone Merry was the one who was shrunk or they slept at the same size. The guards that had joined them the day before looked her way and then looked away as she stared at them. Then they looked and stared at her again. There were four of them. Centaurs, battle hardened from the looks of the scars on their bodies. Each one wore heavy chain mail and carried swords and crossbows as well as riffles and pistols. On each centaur rode a fairy. The guards had been patrolling when they had come across Merry and her friends in the wagon. They had accepted Dreft’s authority and agreed to escort him to the main base of the United Clans. The main base was in a hidden valley and Merry wasn’t happy about going there. The UC had put a dead or alive price on her head. They only had Dreft’s word that she’d be able to walk out again.

"Don’t trust them." Bitch-35 whispered from Merry’s hand.

"I don’t." Merry said. She sat down again. "We just don’t have much choice."

"Our goals are similar." Serenity said sitting up.

"Good morning Lady Highfield." Merry said. "No they aren’t. You want your daughters back, I want to get back to Earth; the United Clan’s just want things to go back to the way they were before Darksun showed up. They want that and if we get in their way they’ll kill us."

"They are a desperate people." Serenity agreed. "You should know how that feels."

"I do." Merry said. "But even at the worst of it Simone never ordered someone killed because they might be a problem."

A short yell made Merry look up as Tranquility and Vicki trotted into the camp. Behind them came one of the guards. In a smooth move Merry had un-clipped Bitch-35 from her chainmail shirt and had handed her to Serenity.

"Stop!" Merry growled as the centaur continued to pursue Vicki and Tranquility. One thing that Merry had learned as a cop was never to shout ‘Hey’, but always shout out a specific order.

The guard came to a stop and Tranquility and Vicki hurriedly moved behind Serenity. They had both been human back on Earth. Tranquility had been a rich girl and Vickie her lawyer. But here on Faerun they had been magically changed into tiny centaurs. Barely two feet tall they were objects of curiosity; exotic pets to be bought and sold.

"They were out of camp." The fairy on the back of the centaur said. "That is dangerous."

"I needed a loo ok?" Tranquility protested.

"I didn’t know that such as you cared about such things as privacy for that action." The fairy said.

"I didn’t know that such creatures as you preferred to watch that action." Merry said coldly.

The fairy stuttered angrily and his wings fluttered but the centaur he was on snickered.

"No harm done." Merry ordered. "Leave them alone."

Without a word the fairy turned away and the centaur took the hint and moved back into the woods.

"Thank you." Vickie said.

"Yes, thanks." Tranquility echoed.

"Let’s get some breakfast." Merry said ignoring them and heading toward the wagon.

It was hard to overlook the hurt look that crossed Tranquility’s face. But it was in character and Merry always found it easier to stay in character after a brush with violence. She walked over to the wagon and climbed in. The food that they had come with the wagon was dried fruit and some sort of rolled up meat. It wasn’t too tasty but it was food.

"How long are you going to treat them like that?" Serenity demanded climbing into the wagon.

"For as long as I feel like it." Merry said handing her a tray with the food piled on it.

"Vicki never did you any harm and Tranquility is sorry for what she did." Serenity said taking the tray.

"Vicki is on her side." Merry said. "She’s joined to Tranquility. Tranquility’s only sorry because of what she’s been through. Take that away and she’d still be the same useless nobility that she was." Merry put as much hate as she could into the word: ‘nobility’. "Don’t push me Lady Highfield, you’ve got my oath that I won’t do anything against them."

"I don’t deny that what she did was wrong, that what my daughter and her friends did was wrong." Serenity said. "But don’t you think she’s paid?"

"I think she’s paying." Merry said harshly.

"So how long does she have to pay?" Serenity demanded angrily.

"How many times have you forgiven the supervillains who tortured you?" Merry demanded.

"Is the food ready?" Esmerelda asked sticking her head into the wagon.

"Yes." Serenity said handing her the tray.

Good girl, Merry thought. It wasn’t the first argument that Esmerelda had broken up. She seemed to have a knack of breaking in at just the right moment.

"We should eat quickly and get moving then." Esmerelda said. "Dreft said that we’ll make the main camp by this afternoon."

The valley of the United Clans was well hidden. They descended a narrow mountain path that was barely big enough for the wagon and saw nothing at first. Then they passed through a magical barrier at the foot of the path and everything became clear.

‘Everything’ being an armed party of men, fairies and centaurs. They waited at the bottom of the path, swords drawn, crossbows ready and two machine gun nests manned. And that was only what they could see. Merry was sure that there were more hiding in the trees. A thick forest came into view at the same time the magical barrier let them through. Merry sat still beside Serenity. In the wagon Esmerelda waited with Bitch-35, Tranquility and Vicki. Dreft road ahead on one of the centaurs and talked with the commander. The commander was human, a grizzled and scarred veteran that Merry suspected had seen more battles than stars in the sky. He looked skeptical at first but then Dreft must have told him who was driving the wagon. A mummer of amazement went through the men and a few of them stepped back.

"Your reputation precedes you." Serenity said.

The commander walked over and looked at Merry.

"You are Mystery Woman of Dollopolis?" He asked in a voice that sounded as gruff as he looked.

"I am." Merry said. His face was as aged and weathered as the rest of him. She saw scars under the beard he wore, a beard worn short and filled with gray. This man was not as old as he looked Merry guessed. But his soul was long past being young. Pain looked out through his calm eyes. Accepted and lived with, but deep, deep pain. Merry wouldn't want to face him in a fight.

"I thank you for killing Darksun." He said and walked back to his men.

The centaur that Dreft was on walked back to them.

"We have safe passage and runners have been sent ahead." He said.

"Let us get moving then." Serenity said urging the horses to start.

All eyes were on them as they went through the line. Merry kept her face a mask of calm indifference. It was hard. There were a lot of men like that commander. Eyes that were dead and dying looked at her and pain walked with everyone. How many lives had Darksun destroyed? Merry wished that she could have killed him again.

She didn’t make eye contact with anyone, but she studied everything she could. It was an army alright, one with tight discipline. But it was also the last of an army. The equipment looked old, the personal armor was patched with discolored metal and the men were thin, almost gaunt.

As they road on Merry saw more evidence of an army on the edge. They passed a field filled with at least 20 MIG fighters, but only five of them looked in any shape to fly. Another field held helicopters; modern Chinooks that looked good enough to fly and a few Apaches, but most of them sat next to piles of damaged parts. As they came closer to the main camp Merry saw squadrons of men training with wooden sticks and riffles with bayonets. The men were either raw recruits or exhausted veterans it was hard to tell. She hadn't seen any farms.

The main camp was a mix of tents, RV’s, Ford and Volkswagon vans and trucks. The place looked like a cross between Lord of the Rings and The Road Warrior. All sorts of races could be seen. But Merry saw that they were also all segregated. The centaurs were the closest to the fairies, but not part of them. The camp was laid out in grids, and each grid held a specific race.

In the center of the camp was a round building. It stood two stories tall and it was built of white brick and gray wood. Windows made of stained glass that formed geometric (and probably magical) patterns were spaced evenly in the walls. The roof was pure crystal.

These were the die-hards, Merry realized. For them there was no victory or defeat, there was merely the battle. If they somehow won the war many of them would have no idea how to live. They reminded Merry of aging hippies in Los Angeles. For them every year was 1969. Everybody stared at her. Everyone stopped what they were doing or came out of their homes and stared. Merry had to fight to keep from blushing.

Dreft came to a stop in front of the hall and Serenity stopped the wagon.

"The Earliest One will receive us." Dreft said.

They got down off of the wagon and Vicki, Tranquility and Esmerelda got out of the back.

"Shouldn't we take some sort of gun?" Tranquility asked. "I don't like the way everyone's looking at us."

"No." Serenity said. She cradled Bitch-35 protectively against her stomach.

"If they want to try anything we're out of luck." Merry said. "We're in the center of the frying pan."

"We have Dreft's word." Serenity said.

"Let's hope that's good enough." Merry said moving past her and heading toward the door.

"These are reasonable people Merry." Serenity said following her.

Merry didn’t say anything as she walked into the hall. The place was a command center. Like the camp outside a mixed one. Lining the walls were tapestries, maps of Faerun. But next to the tapestries were blow ups of aerial photographs. Merry saw humans sitting in front of computers while on the desks next to the monitors were fairies writing with quill pens. A radar station was manned by a satyr. At the far end of the room was a large table with maps spread across it. A small group turned from studying the maps and a quick silence descended as everyone became aware of the newcomers.

The group at the map consisted of a man, a female satyr, a centaur, a fairy and a young boy. They were all dressed richly, but poorly. Their robes were worn and the colors faded. Dreft was carried over to them by a small boy and held in his hand.

"I greet you honored one." Dreft said.

"And I you Dreft of the Sunflower Flyers clan." The boy said. "It is well that the queen is dead and that you are free. I am glad also that you have brought us two of the ones we seek." The boys voice had been formal and pleasant but now changed to angry. "But you bring others, two useless oddities and an abomination. Explain this."

"They are with us." Merry said coldly before Serenity could speak.

"I did not ask you." The boy said coldly.

"I don’t care." Merry said matching his tone. She knew he wasn’t a boy, he was a fairy. And old one. But that made it more important to speak up and not be passive. Merry didn’t think that people in wars respected passivity. "I’m the First Knight of Dollopolis, I speak when I want and only one person can tell me to be quiet and have it carry any weight."

As she spoke her title a ripple of whispering ran through the room. Merry tensed but didn’t back down.

"You live up to your reputation." The Satyr said smiling. "I am Chiren, Queen of my people." He nodded to the man. "This is Lord Glen of Urosdale." The man nodded and the satyr moved on to the centaur. "Iron Hoof of the Golden Valley Centaurs." She gestured toward the fairy. "The small one is Mosta of the Deep Valley Clan." Then he nodded to the boy. "And the one you speak to is the Earliest who’s true name is lost in the ages."

"This is Lady Serenity Highfield of England." Merry said nodding at Serenity. Then she turned and pointed to Vicki and Tranquility. "Vicki and Tranquility." Merry pointed to Esmerelda. "Esmerelda Rothschild and Bitch-35."

There was no mistaking the look of disgust on the Earliest’s face when Bitch-35 was named.

"That one should have been burned at birth." He said.

"That one will help you." Merry said. "Even though you don’t deserve it, and then she is going to leave this world forever."

"Don’t deserve it?" Lord Glen snapped.

"Don’t you know what Lord Darksun did to our world?" Mosta demanded.

"You still have your world." Merry said. "He's dead, his daughter won't last long. You can rebuild, that puts you ahead of the game."

"He has..."

"Enough." The Earliest said interrupting Mosta. "If we stop to catalogue all of the evil that he did we will still be here a year from now." He looked angrily at Serenity. "Wife of Darksun." He said. "It is your daughter who now threatens us."

"I was never his wife!" Serenity shouted. "He captured me, raped me and then stole one of my daughters hours after I gave birth. If you think you hated him more than I than you are sorely mistaken. I hated him more than you can believe. He took my daughter and twisted her! I know what she’s done to your world and it's torn my heart out! Now she has her sister! I came to this world to get my daughters back. I came with Ms. Dream, Miss Shadow and Merry. We were betrayed by Miss Shadow, who we think made a separate deal with Hellspite. We didn’t even know that Hellspite was on your world."

Everyone on the other side looked surprised at her words. They turned and whispered to each other and then turned back.

"It seems we have been miss-informed." The Earliest said. "Chairs." He called out and servants started to bring in chairs and place them a round the map table. "Let us all sit and talk and hopefully the picture will become clear."

Merry couldn’t help but notice that the door to the room closed as they sat down.

The man standing in the clearing looked like he could have lifted up a small building. Captain Pharaoh was one of the greatest heroes the world had ever seen. Prudence had known him since she had been a little girl. The Captain and her mother had been good friends once. Not now. Now they stood glaring at each other. Captain Pharaoh was alone. Behind Goddess of Justice stood Moon Girl and the Young Ancient. Prudence stood next to the transport. Inside Green Dream and Grim searched. For what they searched Prudence had no idea. Simone hadn't taken anything with her the night before.

"Timidious has severe burns over most of his body." Captain Pharaoh accused. Despite the cool morning he wore nothing except sandals and a loincloth. His massively muscled body was absolutely perfect.

"I know." Yoran said. "I treated him after all. And if he hadn't tried to mentally scan Simone he wouldn't have been attacked."

Prudence hid a smile. The Young Ancient had a way of talking, a tone in his voice, that could make almost anything sound like an insult. His patronizing tone sometimes drove her nuts. It looked like it was doing the same to the Captain.

"We only have their word that he was mentally scanning Simone." Captain Pharaoh said folding his arms.

"Their word and the fact that Yoran, Prudence and myself were mentally attacked as well." Goddess of Justice said folding her arms. "Why was he doing that Micheal?"

"I don't know." Captain Pharaoh said. "I thought he was in France last night. Why are you protecting them?"

"Why did Miss Shadow double cross us?"

"There is nothing to find." Grim said coming out of the transport. His dark suit and cloak were starkly contrasted with the bright morning sunlight. Behind him came Green Dream, wearing practically nothing. Her green skin stood out sharply against his dark suit. She was never that far away from him.

"Which is what we told you." Yoran said. "Like it or not Captain, admit it or not, Timidious is the one at fault here."

"He was viciously attacked." Captain Pharaoh said turning.

"Michael don't you dare." Goddess of Justice said. "I'm not sure you could get through the force shields anyway but our relationship with Dollopolis hangs from a very slender thread."

Our relationship with Dollopolis is over, Prudence thought. The only thing that keeps those ships here is Simone's hope that Merry will come back.

The ships hovered in air. Model ships of Thunderbird 2, an Imperial Destroyer from Star Wars called Dagger and a tri-nacelled Star Trek model named Deathflame. Deathflame and Dagger were the larger ships and the most dangerous. Thunderbird 2 was where Simone had fled with Lizzie and Jessie. The Deathflame hovered above Thunderbird 2 and enveloped it with a conical field that shifted the light.

"They think we've betrayed them." Prudence whispered to herself.

"What do you suggest we do then?" Captain Pharaoh demanded. "Timidious is in critical condition."

"We wait." Goddess of Justice said. "Timidious will recover, we both know that. Then maybe you can get some answers out of him. Right now Ms. Dream, Miss Shadow, Serenity and Merry are in that other world. When they come back Miss Shadow might have some answers for us. But if you attack those ships now Captain it won't matter what answers we would have gotten."

"Very well we'll wait." Captain Pharaoh said.

"Wait somewhere else." Goddess of Justice said coldly. "If I've any chance of even talking to Simone again your presence is spoiling it."

For a moment Prudence thought for sure that a fight was going to break out. If that happened she was going to try and take on Green Dream. Grim scared her and there was no way she could handle Captain Pharaoh. But he nodded and the three of them vanished in the blue flash of light that was the Pyramid's transporter signal. Prudence let out a sigh of relief.

"He's not wrong you know." Yoran said. "Timidious was seriously hurt."

"How bad?" Goddess asked.

"Third and fourth degree burns, some of their shots went right through his body."

"They started it." Prudence said walking over to them. "Simone was barely making it against that poison."

"Yes." Goddess said. "She was helpless, under our protection and we failed. And now she thinks we are to blame."

"Do you think Captain Pharaoh is behind it all?" Prudence asked. "What Miss Shadow did, what Timidious tried to do?"

"I don’t know." Goddess of Justice said. "I’d like to think not but I simply don’t know him anymore."

"The universe seems to be against this friendship Lucy." Moon Girl said. "At every turn you have been stymied."

"Yes well the good thing about that Moon Girl is that there are more turns to take." Goddess of Justice said. She stood up and walked toward the ships. When she was five feet away from them twin blue beams of force shot out from Deathflame and carved a two foot wide trench in front of her. Goddess of Justice turned and walked back.

"I'd say that means stay away." Yoran said.

"For mere models they are astoundingly powerful." Moon Girl said.

"Now what?" Prudence asked. "Mom if Merry gets back and thinks that we attacked Simone…"

"Yes I know." Goddess of Justice said. "That is a nightmare I don't wish to endure."

Goddess of Justice closed her eyes and took a deep breath. As she let it out the form of the Goddess of Justice faded and Lucy Rothschild appeared. As Goddess of Justice her mother stood over seven feet tall and had the body to match the height. But it took concentration to keep that form and the fact that her mother had let it drop showed Prudence that her mother was thinking hard. For a few minutes they were all silent. Then Lucy looked up.

"Prudence I need you to go and get me a calligraphy set. The school should have one. Moon Girl I need you to get back to the mansion as quickly as possible. If this works with luck you can have them here tomorrow night."

"Who?" Moon Girl asked.

"Calligraphy?" Prudence asked.

"What is your plan?" Yoran asked.

"I'm going to invite Simone to dinner." Lucy said.

Ms. Dream had learned early on in her career as a superheroine that having powers simply didn’t cut it all of the time. Actually a lot of the time. She could cloud the minds of up to ten to fifteen men, more if she really worked at it. But that didn’t mean that one of them, a really dumb one who couldn’t handle the mental images she sent, couldn’t sneak up behind her. In her first year as a heroine Ms. Dream had been knocked out every other month. So she learned to fight. She learned kick-boxing, karate, nin-jitsu and just about every other type of fighting she could. Ms. Dream could hold her own against nearly anyone in a fair fight. But Truly Darksun didn’t believe in fighting fair. She had tied Ms. Dream’s arms behind her back wrist to elbow and then tied her ankles together with a one foot cord. With her arms useless and un-able to kick Ms. Dream had been reduced to dodging Truly’s blows. And that really wasn’t working.

Truly’s foot came up and Ms. Dream tried to pull back but too late. The foot smashed into her breast, mashing it down and pushing Ms. Dream back. She stumbled because of the rope between her legs and fell onto her back. Pain shot through her arms and shoulders as her tied arms were trapped under the full weight of her body. Truly followed up and her foot smashed into Ms. Dream’s vagina. Ms. Dream gasped in pain and tried to roll away. Truly laughed. She waited until Ms. Dream was on her stomach and then jumped onto the small of her back. Ms. Dream cried out as the air was driven from her lungs.

"To think my father used to respect you." Truly said. She reached around and pulled Ms. Dream’s head back. Using both hands she covered "Ms. Dream’s mouth and nose and kept pulling. Ms. Dream whined and kicked her legs. It was futile but she did it anyway her desperation causing her to fall back on instinct. Truly kept the hold on her until Ms. Dream started to black out and then she let it go. Ms. Dream gasped for breath as Truly rolled her over.

"I really want to do this to my mother." Truly said as she started to punch Ms. Dream’s breasts again and again. "Father said that she used to enjoy this."

"Really nice guy wasn’t he?" Ms. Dream gasped out through the pain. "Bet he’s having a fun time in hell."

"You know my mother." Truly said. "Where would she go in this world? What would her plans be? Why hasn’t she tried to rescue you?"

Truly was frustrated. From what she had let drop Ms. Dream suspected that the young woman’s hold on power was slipping. Hellspite had come into the dungeon many times and they had argued and fought. Ms. Dream couldn’t understand what language they were using but it was obvious that their alliance was a shaky one. After each visit Truly had turned her attention to Miss Shadow and Ms. Dream. Now Miss Shadow lay on the floor of the cell, beaten unconscious.

"Maybe she’s waiting for mothers day." Ms. Dream said. It was a dumb thing to say and she knew it, but she couldn’t help herself. Ms. Dream had a strong sarcastic streak and her life as a heroine had only re-enforced it. What use to be pleasant to supervillains, they weren’t going to torture you any less because of it.

Truly’s face grew distorted with rage and she began to slap Ms. Dream’s breasts as hard as she could.

Grin and bear it Mary, Ms. Dream thought to herself. Remember you’ve got friends on the outside.

At least I hope I do.

The food didn’t taste that good. There wasn’t much of it either. But it was served on gold plates and the wine was poured into silver goblets. The food was a forest salad; a mix of nuts and berries with various herbs thrown in. Vicki, Tranquility, Esmerelda and Serenity ate what was put in front of them. Merry ate slowly and carefully. She sipped the wine at first and then merely kept putting the goblet to her lips for show. She noticed that Bitch-35 had not been given a plate and Merry casually eased her plate over to the fairy. Bitch-35 gave her a quick look of thanks and started to eat. The Earliest One scowled but didn’t say anything. He and the rest of the ruling council had been taking turns describing Darksun’s rule and the battles against it. An easily recognized pattern emerged while they talked. If Mosta was speaking then the valor of the fairies took center stage, if Chiren spoke then the satyrs were the heroes. Other races were reduced to sidekicks or stooges. The battles were the same way and the description of those quickly devolved into arguments over which race was the more glorious. A look at Serenity told Merry that she had seen the pattern as well. It was no wonder that Darksun had so much success on Faerun. Pushing the races into war must have been ridiculously easy. There was also an undercurrent of conceit in themselves. A full understanding of their own importance. When they spoke of the battles it was never ‘we’ as in everyone, soldiers and generals, it was ‘I’ as if one person alone took to the battlefield.

"You do not drink much." The Earliest One said to Merry after one of the arguments. Merry guessed that he was looking for a way to change the subject.

"It might be drugged." Merry said.

Everyone stopped eating. Serenity choked on her wine.

"I’m sure it isn’t." Serenity said.

"It is a precaution I would take as well." Chiren said. "Given the circumstances."

"It is an insult." Mosta said.

"You put a dead or alive price on my head." Merry said. "Alive I’m a threat since I may end up with Hellspite. From what I’ve heard since we sat down that’s still a fear."

"If we wanted you dead we’d kill you simply." Iron Hoof said.

"You might." Merry said. "But one of you may have decided to settle things on his own. From the stories I’ve heard so far that’s why Darksun was able to gain so much power. There’s no unity here."

"We fight together!" Glen snapped.

"You fight on the same field." Merry said. "You don’t fight together. "In the last battle you described the centaurs fought Darksun’s knights while the human’s fought his tank corps, the satyrs his infantry and the fairies used magic against his field guns. If you each hadn’t mentioned the date and where the battle took place I wouldn’t have known that all of you were there."

"The races are traditionally autonomous." The Earliest One said. "But we have come together against this foe."

"No you haven’t." Merry said. "Take a look out side and tell me how many centaurs talk to the humans? How many satyrs are working with humans to fix the MIGS?"

"Each race has its own specialty." Mosta said. "You might not understand that being new to this world, but on Faerun the rule is: to each his own."

"Would you have centaurs carry humans on our backs?" Iron Hoof sneered.

"No." Merry said. "I’d have you with satyrs on your backs, the smallest satyrs you could find armed with bows and arrows, not crossbolts, they take too long to load. Charge you both into the thick of the infantry. While you battle with sword the satyrs cover you with arrows. I’d put the humans against Darksun’s knights, with a fairy on each human’s shoulder casting blinding spells on the horses. Get the humans in close and the fairies can fly away and leave the chopping to the humans."

"And the artillery?" Glenn asked.

"Not going to be used if you close in with them." Merry said. "Save a strike force, humans and satyrs because they can move more quietly, cover them with a fairies invisibility spell, take them around the flank and have them attack while the artillery is watching the main battle. Capture it, use the guns against the tanks, but first use a weather spell to shroud the tanks in fog so that they can’t be used in the main battle."

"What you suggest is impossible." Mosta said. "You would relegate the Fairy to a mere support role."

"You would reduce us to horses." Iron Hoof said.

"We march on our own hoofs." Chiren said.

"What’s more important?" Merry asked. "Your egos or winning?"

No one answered her and Serenity spoke up.

"I’m afraid Merry has a point. But what I wish to know is the last battle, the assault on Darksun’s castle. What happened?"

"We had a spy in the castle." Glenn said. "A maid. She sent word to us that Darksun was going to Earth again, that somehow he was going to gain so much power we’d be lost. We gathered what remained of our forces and planned a suicidal attack, hoping that we could catch him off guard."

"Using my magic I was able to see into Earth." The Earliest One said. "It wasn’t easy, he had set spells to obscure the sight. We were hoping for the right moment to attack. Then you attacked him."

"That we all saw clearly." Glen said and there was some amazement in his voice.

"You did in mere minutes what we all failed to do in years." The Earliest One said and Merry could hear the stunned disbelief clearly in his voice. Amazement and offense. "Our contact was lost when he died."

"We realized instantly that this was our time." Mosta said proudly. "We attacked Darksun’s castle chanting of his demise."

"His forces put up a good fight regardless." Chiren said. "But we drove into the castle and..."

"And then the forces split." Merry guessed.

They were all silent and looked at their food or into their wine.

"Let me guess." Merry said. "The men went looking for his treasury, the fairies went looking for where he made that drug of his... What did the satyrs and centaurs do?"

"We were still busy fighting his troops outside the castle." Iron Hoof said.

"My people were carting off his wine cellar." Chiren said sadly.

"He was dead after all." The Earliest One said. "We never suspected that Theodora would return, let alone with an army of demons. Darksun taught his troops to hate women, to consider them as dogs, we never expected that they would follow his daughter."

"And now you’re in an even worse situation." Merry said.

"So what do we do now?" Vicki asked.

"We have a plan..." Serenity began. But her words were cut off by an explosion. One of the radar stations blew up and that explosion was just the start. One after another every piece of electronic equipment in the room exploded.

Prudence looked a the paper in her hand. It had taken her mother a few hours to figure out what to say and then write it small enough. The calligraphy of course was perfect. Prudence had mixed feelings about her mother. She loved her, but at the same time Prudence knew that her mother had lied to her and to herself. Her fathers insanity wasn't her mother's fault, but her lies had helped it along. But her mother also seemed to know so much, to have so many skills... It was so easy to feel small next to her. And not just because Prudence always woke up at twelve inches tall. Prudence loved her mother but at the same time it was like being the daughter of a saint: impossible to measure up. But at the same time Prudence knew that her mother wasn’t a saint. It was a constantly shifting view of her mother that ate at Prudence most of the time.

Prudence clutched the letter carefully. Her mother had been forced to write small enough so that a twelve-inch tall Prudence could carry it and a twelve-inch tall Simone could read it. Writing the kind of florid semi-gothic script at full size was hard, writing it tiny enough to fit on the paper was even harder. But her mother had done it.

"From what little we know of the world Dollopolis came from it was a very ritualized society." Her mother had said. "They had formal rules for almost everything. If we are to get Simone to talk to us we must try to mirror that formality. I suspect that this how things were done on her world. She may listen if we can only get past her anger."

"I'm not my mom but I'm still the only one who can shrink." Prudence said to herself as she walked toward the ships. "They won’t blast me." She told herself and hoped it was true. But it was, she was sure of it. Merry might have shot her, but not Simone.

Prudence stopped a foot away from the force shield. She had passed the spot where her mother had been shot at and there had been no reaction. After a minute to brace herself Prudence started to walk again. She had taken three steps before Dagger shot the ground in front of her. Prudence jumped back but she wasn’t thrown back. That shot had not packed the punch of the one that had forced her mother back. The ground was barely scorched.

"I am Prudence Rothschild." Prudence called out. "By the Law of Family I am sister to the First Knight and by that law I demand the right of audience with the Duchess."

Prudence braced herself for the next shot. Her mother had gotten a lot out of Lizzie and Jessie while they had talked. A rough outline of the Laws of Family, enough of one for her to extrapolate some of the loopholes. Simone hadn’t been happy about that but as crazy as the laws seemed to be she followed them. If she followed them now then Prudence would have a chance to talk.

A small opening appeared in the force shield. Prudence took one look back at her mother and walked through it. As soon as she did the opening closed and the field turned black.

"Don't move." Jessie said. She came down the ramp from Thunderbird 2 carrying a long spear with a curved blade at one end. Jessie was wearing a black ninja-type suit.

"I'm just here to talk and deliver an invitation." Prudence said holding her hands up.

"Take your costume off and shrink." Jessie said.

"What?"

"Do it." Jessie ordered.

Jessie was scared. Prudence could tell that from the tone in her voice and the way her hands were shaking. But the spear looked sharp and people who acted from fear were dangerous.

"I'm not letting you near Simone if you've got a chance of hurting her." Jessie said. "Do it or get out of here!"

"Ok, ok." Prudence said. Carefully she put the letter down and then pulled off her mask. Placing it on the ground she pulled off her gray top and folded it and then put it on the ground. The air in the force shield was chilly and her small breasts grew stiff. She took off her boots next and then her pants. Jessie didn't take her eyes off of Prudence for a second and the hard look on her face didn't change.

"How far down should I go?" Prudence asked.

"Half my size." Jessie said.

Prudence concentrated and shrunk. At half of Jessie's size the spear looked even more dangerous and Jessie herself looked frightening. At her smaller size Jessie looked to Prudence like an angry giant.

"Turn around and get down on your knees." Jessie said.

Prudence obeyed. After a moment she felt Jessie behind her and Prudence's arms were pulled behind her back and her wrist were tied together. Even if she had been planning to resist Prudence wondered if she could have fought back against the now double sized Jessie. Jessie used more ropes to tie her arms to her side and then stood her up. Another rope was looped over both shoulders and between her legs. Prudence couldn't help but jump as the ropes were pulled into her sex.

"HEY!" She shouted.

"If you try to grow now it won't be painless." Jessie said. She looped one more rope around Prudence's neck. "Come on." She ordered giving the rope a jerk.

Prudence nearly fell but recovered and followed her. Jessie kept the rope up high and led her up the ramp and into the ship. Prudence had to trot to keep up with her. The metal ramp was very cold against her bare feet. Inside on the far end was a bed and Simone was lying down. She looked just about as horrible as Prudence had ever seen anyone look. Her skin was gray and the black spots on her neck had grown larger. She turned her head as they came in and Prudence thought she saw a small smile on the wan face.

"Good heavens Jessie do you really think she's that much of a threat?" Simone asked in a weak voice.

"She's like her mom." Jessie said. She shoved Prudence onto her knees and then took the letter to Simone. "Like all cops. They act all friendly until they got the cuffs on ya, then the stick comes out and your pants come down."

"Well Prudence, how do you answer that?" Simone asked opening the letter.

"We're not like that." Prudence said. "We've never wanted to hurt any of you."

"Yea, right." Jessie said. "Stay down while she reads the letter."

Prudence stayed down. At some point in the future hopefully she'd have a chance to convince Jessie and Lizzie that her mother wasn't an ogre. Or her mother would try. She'd seen her mother work with kids like Jessie before. Prudence looked around. She saw a glass tube on the left side of the cargo bay and the outline of a person in frosted glass. Prudence guessed that it was Lizzie. She looked up as she heard a groan saw that Simone had fallen back. Jessie helped Simone to sit up and steadied her. After a few moments Simone started to read again. It didn't take her long to read the letter and when she was done Simone looked at Prudence.

"Your mother…" She began but coughed and had to control herself again before trying. "Your mother writes well."

"Yea." Prudence agreed.

"In order to discus and resolve the miss-understandings that have plagued us I invite you to a dinner tomorrow night." Simone read. "We will follow your customs according to the Laws of Hospitality. The dinner will be held in the clearing, all of Earth Force will be there on guard, you will be in sight of your ships at all times. Prudence has agreed to stay in your ship as a guarantee of your safety. The guest list follows…"

"Miss-understandings?" Jessie exclaimed. "They attacked you my lady!"

"We didn't!" Prudence said.

"Hey I was there you bitch!"

"Jessie your language." Simone said sharply.

Jessie flinched and looked away mumbling.

"Simone I swear to you we didn't know that Timidious was even in England!" Prudence said. "We don't know why he tried to read your mind. We really don't."

"But he's alive." Jessie said. "He tried to read her mind and he's still alive! If Merry had been here…"

"Enough Jessie." Simone said softly. "It is well that she wasn't. It will be hard enough to control her rage when she finds out." She looked at Prudence. "We came here in good faith Prudence. We placed enormous trust in your mother. Merry far more so than I. Yet Merry was betrayed and when I was wounded and helpless I was attacked. The poison was hard enough and my leg throbs with pain. And now she wants me to trust her again? And she tries to bribe me with the Obrien's?" Simone angrily tossed the letter down. "The one thing I am the most curious about, the two people I would be most likely to wish to see and somehow Mrs. Rothschild guessed it. And what better bait for a trap?"

"It's not a trap." Prudence begged. The trouble was the Simone had most of that right. Her mother had known that Simone would love to see Daisy and Brent Obrien. "It'll be safe. I'll be here, the whole group will be out there. Nothing short of an ICE Attack Squad could get through all of us. And our early warning systems will warn us long before they get close."

{That woman is remarkable.}

{The one play that might work and she finds it.}

{And we gave her only the briefest outlines of the Law of Family. We let her talk to Lizzie and Jessie for barely twenty minutes.}

{But will this work for our plans?}

Simone felt her head swimming and she had to fight to stay focused and awake. The poison was stripping away a lot of her strength and getting a laser beam through the leg hadn't helped. She was getting horrible flashbacks to her aborted sessions with chemotherapy. Back then her cancer had been eating her body alive and the sessions had been worse than the sickness. It was all beating at her: the poison, the pain in her leg, the worry for Merry and now the worry about what the Group was planning.

But I won't back down, Simone thought. Merry wouldn't, I won't. I sat down at this table and accepted the deal; I must now play the cards as they are dealt.

{We have to do something until Merry returns.}

{Simone, by tomorrow you will be strong enough to do this.}

{But we will not order you to do it.}

{We know you are worried about Merry. Do you think you can handle the play-acting needed?}

{We won't lie to you.}

{There is a good chance that ICE or Force Group J will make another try at you.}

{Timidious was completely un-expected on our part.}

{We have strengthened your mind shields, but there are no guarantees. If you are captured and they being to break through them we would have to shut you down.}

Simone understood. Shutting down was a way of turning off most of her brain. The Group had explained it to her and Merry when they had constructed the mind shields in their minds. There was no way of knowing if the brain could be revived.

Merry had shrugged at the news and outwardly Simone had gone along with her. That was the difference between them. Simone knew that Merry wouldn't even think about not doing it. She'd dig down and do what she had to do for them. No matter what the risk. Merry trusted them the way she trusted Simone.

I'm not sure I have that same trust, Simone thought looking at Prudence. She realized that Prudence hadn't spoken for a while. She was waiting to see if her pleading had made a difference. The look on her face was the same sort of look Simone had seen on Lizzie and Jessie's face when they were afraid of failing.

"Play the cards." Simone whispered.

"What?" Prudence asked.

"Prudence come here." Simone said.

I must play this as Merry would, Simone thought.

Prudence stumbled over to her and Simone took hold of the ropes that ran between her legs. Prudence swallowed and squirmed a bit but did not run. She was half of Simone's size and Simone used that advantage. She twisted the ropes to bring Prudence close to her.

"Do you what Jessie is carrying?" Simone asked. Prudence shook her head. "That is a Dollopian Battle Scythe. Merry designed that weapon and it is very lethal. So lethal that only a few years after she started to use it I had to ban it. That weapon makes killing so easy that it is barely equal to the effort it takes to breathe. Merry's use of it became far too free. I only allowed her to start using it again a short time ago. The blade is sharp both inside and outside of the curve and the spike on the other end can pierce metal. Now are you prepared to tell me-to promise me-that while I dine with your mother you will be in here, tied up and helpless in every way? Jessie will be watching the dinner and her blade will be ready at your throat. If she sees that any member of Force Group J, or any member of Earth Force or any of the numerous independents that roam this world attacks me, then she will use that blade to kill you. Because at this point Prudence I really don't know whom I can trust. Even now this could be some elaborate game. I have known many such games back on my world. Can you look me in the eye and agree to that? Can you give me as much trust as your mother is asking me to give her?"

"Yes." Prudence said without any hesitation.

Wasn't I scary enough? Simone asked herself. Or does she really have that much faith in her mother? Simone raised her hand and pressed it against Prudence's small breast. Prudence swallowed as Simone ran her finger over the scar above the right breast. That scar was almost the letter 'B'.

"This scar was given to you by Ida when she saved your life." Simone said. Simone bent down and kissed Prudence's breast. Prudence had shrunk enough so that Simone easily took the entire breast in her mouth. She let her tongue glide over the small nipple. Then she moved up to the scar. Was it her imagination or was there a spark of static electricity as her lips touched it?

A wave of dizziness hit her and Simone felt herself falling. Prudence fell as Simone lost her grip but Jessie stopped her from falling. Even in the dizziness Simone had to wonder what it was like for Jessie to handle a women shrunken smaller than herself. It didn't happen too much.

Maybe I'm not as scary because I look so bad, Simone thought. She rested for a few minutes until her head steadied down. Sleep was tempting but she fought it off.

"I will be there." Simone said.

"Milady!" Jessie protested.

"I will be there Knightling." Simone said sternly. She pulled herself upright. "Prudence you are Merry's sister by Ida, I can't believe that you would betray her. And it would be well that we resolve this before she returns. By tomorrow I will be at least well enough to walk. Prudence tell your mother I accept, but she will not follow Rules of Hospitality we followed when she visited me. I will not be patronized as if I was some primitive jungle chieftain. My lands on my own world were the size of this country. I will not be able to grow to full size, that is the only accommodation she will make on my behalf. We will eat and we will talk and I promise to listen with an open mind."

"That's all we want." Prudence said struggling to her feet. "A chance."

"This is your last chance Prudence." Simone said. She felt the dizziness hit her again and let her self lay back down. "Tell your mother that. The last chance."

Simone didn't hear whatever Prudence might have said to that. She fell asleep.

The acrid smoke filled the room so fast that no one could get to the door. Everyone was coughing and chocking. Chairs and tables were overturned in the chaos. The smoke was thick and gray and tinged with something that made Merry’s head swim. She dove down to the floor and tried to get her bearings. All she could see were feet and legs milling about in confusion. Her eyes stung and filled with tears.

But not all of them were moving randomly. Merry spotted the hooves of a centaur and a satyr moving easily through the smoke. She heard Esmerelda shout and then that shout was cut off. A few moments later Serenity’s shout was cut off.

Merry crawled along the floor heading for one of the walls. She didn’t shrink, it was too dangerous. As it was she was stepped on and fallen on too many times to count. By the time she had reached the wall someone had opened a door and the smoke was flowing out. Merry lay still and watched as the smoke slowly cleared. Suddenly there was an explosion and part of the far wall blew outward. Dim forms started to move through the opening.

Something grabbed her leg and Merry saw a large figure appear out of the smoke. Another figure appeared to grab her arms and someone pressed a cloth against her face. Merry recognized the scent of chloroform instantly. She smiled beneath the cloth and bucked and struggled for a few minutes before laying still. One of the things that the Group had cured her of was a vulnerability to chloroform. As they carried her she tried to listen to what was going on, but there was only confusion.

The glare of the late afternoon sun was blinding after the smoke but Merry kept her eyes closed for a few seconds before opening them slightly. All around her was the chaos of battle. Demons grappled with fairies in the air as human troops fought with other humans, satyrs with fairies and other parings. There were no sides as far as Merry could tell, it was just a gigantic melee. A black Chinook helicopter had been landed a few yards away. The Chinook was a giant helicopter with blades at the front and the back of the craft. The rear ramp had been let down and Merry saw an unconscious Serenity had been dumped into the chopper. Her wrists had been handcuffed in front of her. A centaur lay unconscious next to the craft bleeding from a wound in his side. Another satyr was carrying Merry. There was no sign of Esmerelda or the others.

"I have the prize!" The satyr called out as he ran up the ramp at the rear of the giant helicopter and dumped Merry into the chopper. "Wait and I’ll get Stromthrud."

"Sorry lover." Aphrodite said a second before her shot caught the satyr in the chest. He fell back with a look of shock and betrayal on his face before he closed his eyes and laid still. Aphrodite dragged him down the ramp and tossed him over the side.

"Come on bitch." Aphrodite said going back to Merry and pulling her into the chopper. She was wearing the gray and green uniform of the United Clans. She reached into a box of handcuffs.

"Not yet." Merry said chopping her in the throat. Aphrodite gasped and fell back. She tried to aim her pistol at Merry but Merry charged into her and slammed her fist into the other woman’s stomach. Then Merry rammed her head into Aphrodite's chin and taking hold of the head slammed it into the side of the chopper. Aphrodite fell unconscious to the floor.

Merry looked out of the door and wasn’t surprised to see that the chaos had gotten even worse. There were more Chinooks dropping troops into the chaos. It was impossible to tell who was fighting who or why.

Taking Aphrodite's pistol Merry ran down the ramp and out of the chopper and ran back into the ruined command center. Esmerelda, Vicki and Tranquility lay on the floor close together Merry grabbed Esmerelda first, carrying her out to the Chinook and then she went back for Vicki and Tranquility. She was surprised to find Bitch-35 in Tranquility’s hand. From the way they had fallen it looked like Tranquility had tried to shield the fairy.

Merry carried them out and dumped them in the pile on the chopper. Then she spent a frantic minute looking for the control that would raise the ramp. Once she found that and the ramp started to close Merry looked around. A quick check showed her that Aphrodite was still out. Merry glanced out of the window and saw a large shape. A giant cyclops had joined the battle. Merry had no idea who’s side he was on and she didn’t want to stay to find out. She sat in the pilot’s seat and took the controls.

Trouble was Merry knew how to fly every ship in Dollopolis, but not every ship period. The controls of the twin-prop Chinook were incredibly complex. But luckily for her Aphrodite had left the engine on and all it took for Merry to get the craft airborne was to find the throttle and control stick and figure out which pedals to move. But getting the ship off of the ground and controlling it were two different things. Merry managed to get above the trees and start the helicopter moving in one direction but that was as far as she could go. She had to fight to keep it in the air and the chopper heaved and tossed like it was in a storm at sea. Merry cursed silently and tried to figure out the controls as she flew but such on the job training was nearly impossible. Just when she thought they were going to crash Serenity jumped into the co-pilots seat and took the controls.

"Let go!" Serenity shouted and Merry let go of the control stick and pulled her feet away from the pedals.

The chopper started to steady down but before Merry could do anything she heard shouts from behind them. Merry looked back and saw that Aphrodite and Tranquility were careening from one side of the cabin to the other clawing, kicking and hitting each other.

Merry jumped up and dove into them. She chopped Aphrodite in the throat again and tore the glasses of Tranquility. Effectively blind without them Tranquility stumbled around until Merry pushed her down and sat on her. Aphrodite struggled to her knees but Merry still had the pistol and she leveled it at her.

"Don’t move." Merry ordered. "Lady Highfield can you hold us steady?" Merry called.

"Yes, but I have no idea where we are going." Serenity called back.

"Away from the battle." Merry said. "Let’s start with that."

"Capitol idea." Serenity called.

"Where is she?" Tranquility growled. "Where is that bitch? Let me up!"

"Shut up!" Merry said slapping her face. "Don’t move." She ordered again as Aphrodite started to stand.

"Mystery Woman." Aphrodite said tonelessly. "Why are you helping her? You know what she did to your friend."

"I know what you did to her before Aphrodite found her." Merry said. "So don’t look this way for help. Now stand up and strip."

"What?"

"Strip." Merry said harshly. "I don’t have the room to search you and I don’t want to take any chances. Strip and toss your clothes the other way."

"Bitch." Aphrodite sneered but she started to un-button her shirt anyway.

"Uh!" Tranquility grunted beneath her. "Will you get off! You’re hurting me."

"Shut up." Merry said.

Aphrodite had her shirt off and as Merry suspected underneath was no bra but a wide strap with small knives.

"Take it off slowly and put it down Merry ordered. "Then kick it slowly over this way."

Aphrodite scowled but did as she was ordered to do. Then she started to bend down to unlace her boots.

"Don’t." Merry said. "Turn around, hands on your head, get down on your knees."

"You wanted me naked." Aphrodite growled.

"I want you nullified as a threat." Merry said. "Do it!"

Aphrodite gave her one hate filled look before she turned around and got on her knees.

"Tranquility don’t get up or I’ll shove you out of this thing." Merry ordered. She grabbed a pair of handcuffs and pulled Aphrodite’s arms behind her back one at a time. When Aphrodite was secured Merry pushed her down and sat on her legs facing her feet. She found a knife strapped to each ankle and tossed them aside. Then she pulled the boots off and in each one found a handcuff key. Finally Merry pulled Aphrodite's pants off of her and found a small knife and a handcuff key in the belt.

"You came prepared." Merry rolling Aphrodite onto her back. She spread the girls legs and eased her fingers into Aphrodite’s vagina. Aphrodite growled and squirmed but she was helpless.

"What the hell are you doing?" Vicki asked still groggy. Behind her Esmerelda started to sit up.

"Making sure we’re safe." Merry said holding up a handcuff key. She grabbed another pair of handcuffs and slapped them around Aphrodite’s ankles. "Be thankful I don’t look through the other side."

"What happened in there?" Vicki demanded.

"What weren’t you there?" Merry sneered. She handed Tranquility’s glasses back to her and then went over and rolled Aphrodite onto her back. Merry grabbed another set of handcuffs and used them to fasten Aphrodite’s wrist to her ankles, hogtying the young woman. Then she pushed Aphrodite onto her side.

"You really believe in going overboard don’t you?" Vicki asked.

"Stop thinking like a lawyer." Merry snapped. "This is Leather Lady, a trained supervillain gets out of handcuffs the way you get out of a car."

"How did you know that I was leather lady?" Aphrodite demanded.

"I know things." Merry said. She went back up to the front of the chopper. "How’s it look?" Merry asked Serenity.

"We’ve got plenty of petrol." Serenity said. "But we’re flying blind as far as direction goes. She had put on a pair of headphones and tapped them. "I’m hearing a lot of chatter from the UC, seems they were attacked by the Rebels and the demons at the same time."

"Looking for me." Merry said. "There were charges in the electrical equipment."

"How did they put them there?" Serenity asked.

"No idea."

"I’m going to put this down over there." Serenity said pointing to a clearing by a river. "We better get undercover until we can figure out what to do next."

"I’ll keep them quiet." Merry said as Aphrodite and Tranquility started to shout at each other again.

A few hours later they all gathered in the cargo bay of the Chinook. Aphrodite was still hogtied and she still glared at Tranquility. The Chinook was covered with enough tree branches to hide it from the air. A search of the cargo bay had turned up a few crates of Israeli-made Uzi machine guns, grenades and even a few anti-tank guns and some explosives. The Chinook had been designed for cargo or troops Merry guessed that this one had been used as a commando transporter.

"Well we’re safe enough for the moment." Serenity said.

"You’re always safe in the moment." Merry corrected her. "It’s the next moment you have to worry about."

"Ok can we now find out what the hell happened back there?" Vicki demanded.

"There were smoke bombs planted in the electronic equipment of the command center." Serenity said. "Planted I’m sure by the Rebels."

"What are they rebelling against?" Vicki asked. "Darksun was the Darth Vader around here wasn’t he?"

"Everyone hated Darksun." Tranquility said. "But they didn’t much fancy each other either. I heard it all while I was helping in the tavern. The Rebels wanted to destroy Darksun, but their leader also wants to destroy all the monarchies and unite the planet under a socialistic system. The Rebels have fought against the UC as many times as they’ve fought against Darksun’s forces. They love the technology that Darksun's brought to this world."

"That must have made it easy for you." Merry said to Aphrodite. "To worm your way into the rebels."

"They’re idiots." Aphrodite swore. "I lead them around by the nose and..."

"Shot them when they were used up." Merry said coldly. "The centaur and the satyr trusted you."

"They used me!" Aphrodite shouted squirming. "I got away from Theodora and ran straight into the rebels. The best way for me to get their confidence was through sex. Those two put me through... Both of them..."

"With a centaur?" Vicki gasped. "How? I mean... physically..."

"There are ways." Tranquility said shuddering. "Cleft used to have a regular night with one of the farmers wives. The farmer would come into town to get drunk and she’d show up at the inn."

"Bottom line is you got them to trust you with sex and then sold them out." Merry said. "Just like you did with Tranquility and her friends. What were you planning to do with me and Serenity?"

"Sell you." Aphrodite said. "For you and Serenity and the rebels Theodora would have given me a way back to Earth."

Merry’s leg shot out and kicked her savagely in the stomach. Aphrodite doubled up in pain as much as she was able to and coughed.

"Hey!" Vicki shouted.

"Do not interfere Vicki." Esmerelda ordered.

"Lie to me again and I’ll drag you over to that river and I'll show you what real pain can be like." Merry said coldly. "You were already on Earth, you had to be there to get Tranquility and Vicki. Now what were you going to do with us?"

"I was going to use you to kill her." Aphrodite said talking through the pain. "I was going to set you two up and when she and Hellspite got close enough I was going to blow you all to kingdom come."

"Why did you go along with her in the first place?" Tranquility asked. "I thought we were..."

"What?" Aphrodite shouted. "What did you and the others think I was? Another self centered brat filled with self pity? Another vicious bitch for your club? Someone who liked getting tied up and whipped? Theodora sent me to you so that I could gather information and set you up."

"What did you get out of it?" Vicki demanded.

"Power." Aphrodite said.

"The truth!" Merry shouted kicking her again. "All right!" Aphrodite screamed. "I killed two men! If I delivered Serenity and Verity to her Theodora promised to get them back for me!"

"That’s impossible." Vicki said.

"No it isn’t." Serenity said. "Death is not final in our world Vicki. The Yellow Man was brought back from the dead by his followers, the Young Ancient revived Savage... it can be done."

"Could she have done it?" Vicki asked.

"I think Darksun could have." Serenity said. "But not Truly. She wasn’t powerful enough even with the sacrifices she was going to make."

"I doubt she ever had any intention of even trying." Merry said.

"No she didn’t." Aphrodite said. "That much she told me in our last fight, before Hellspite showed up. The portal we used to escape from you opened near the mountains. He speared me though the chest and tossed me down a ravine. They thought I was dead but I survived."

"How?" Merry demanded.

"I found her." Bitch-35 said. "I was looking for some rare plants for my potions and she almost fell on me. I healed her and we made a deal. She was my spy in the rebels camp and I sold what she could feed me to the United Clans. I was able to put her in touch with the Deep Mist clans to further her vengeance plots."

"This world reminds me of the Byzantine Empire." Serenity said.

"Closer to Menzoberazan." Merry said. "When Bitch-35 and Tranquility vanished from their town you knew something was up didn’t you?"

"One of our spies in her tavern recognized you." Aphrodite said.

"So you did have a spy in my place." Bitch-35 said. "I was right not to trust you."

"So you followed us." Merry said.

"Right to the hidden valley. Then we made our move and I made my move. I tipped off the demons and..."

"Don’t you have any loyalty to anyone but yourself?" Tranquility demanded? "You betrayed us, the rebels, you were going to betray Theodora..."

"I’m the only one who counts." Aphrodite said.

"What were you going to do after you blew her up?" Merry demanded.

"Go back to the rebels." Aphrodite said. "The leader’s name is Throma, he’s a man with a vision. A world united under his rule. He likes me, likes my knowledge of socialism."

"From supervillain to queen." Merry said. "Not a bad jump."

"It’s horrible." Tranquility said. "What about Vicki and I?"

"You’d go to the stables." Aphrodite said managing to sound sweet and mean at the same time. "With the other horses."

"Not really a bad plan." Merry said.

"How can you say that?" Vicki demanded.

"Now the question is what do we do next?" Merry asked ignoring her. "We're out of allies and potential allies."

"If we could get back to Earth we could return with help." Serenity said.

"The Deep Mist Clan?" Bitch-35 asked. "I wouldn't advise it Lady Highfield. Not with the money they'd get for you two."

"She's right." Merry said.

"I think we must break Truly's power over this world." Esmerelda said. "Mrs. Rothschild has always maintained that a noble act will bring dividends. If we break Truly’s hold on this world..."

"She's got a castle full of demons and guards." Vicki protested. "We've got one helicopter."

"It’s a big helicopter." Tranquility said.

"Against the creatures she has guarding Darksun castle?" Bitch-35 said. "This craft would even get close."

Merry sat back and closed her eyes. Mentally she went over the problem and tried to find a way out of it.

Think, she told herself. How do you deal with overwhelming odds? If you were in a D&D campaign how would you do it? How do you do free the world and keep the First Knight character intact?

"Hellspite does not have a lot of time in his current body." Bitch-35 said. "We could simply wait for him to die."

"Truly will simply make him a new body." Esmerelda said. "Duchess Sidonia once hosted a demon for ten years like that, each year giving him a new body."

"The two of them make for a tough team." Vicki said.

"We don’t fight two of them then." Merry said as the idea formed in her mind. She’d used something like it before and it was basically a very simple plan.

"Bitch-35, can you sneak someone into the castle?" Merry asked.

"Yes." Bitch-35 said. "There is a ghoul tunnel that leads into the Cavern of Monsters. The ghouls sometimes sneak in to eat what the monsters don’t finish."

"You know where the drug is made?"

"In the Cavern of Monsters." Bitch-35 said. "The last place anyone would go."

"What is your plan?" Serenity asked.

"Divide and conquer." Merry said. "Right now Truly is standing on two legs, the drug that keeps the fairies off balance and Hellspite’s demons. We’ve got to take those legs out from under her."

"Serenity, you and Esmerelda sneak into the Cavern of Monsters and use the explosive we have here to blow up the drug lab."

"What about the demons?" Tranquility asked.

"Hellspite wants me." Merry said. "Aphrodite is going to use the radio to offer me to him. Only him though, she’ll make sure to keep Truly out of it. She’ll lure him to the helicopter and I’ll use one of the anti-tank guns we’ve got here to blow it up."

"What if you fail and he captures you?" Vicki demanded. "What if Serenity and the others get caught?"

"Then we loose and die slow painful deaths." Merry said. "Have you got any ideas? Both of mine don’t really have to work, one or the other will cripple Truly’s power base."

"But if Hellspite captures you the drug won’t matter." Vicki pointed out.

Sell it Merry, Merry told herself. Sell it so that they’ll buy it.

"Lawyer lady the first demon I ever fought beat me up and raped me. Then he turned his back on me. You know what I did then?" Vicki shook her head. "I grabbed a rock and knocked him out. I tied him up and kept him that way for two weeks. Then when he was starving and begging for food I cut off his fingers and fed them to him. I worked my way through two of his arms and one of his legs before he finally begged me enough to kill him. I know demons, I know what they do and I know how to kill them. And I know what they can do if they catch you. Hellspite won’t get me alive."

Their faces had paled as she described the torture and Merry felt her stomach twist in knots as she saw the look on Esmerelda’s face. But it was the only way.

"What makes you think I’ll help?" Aphrodite demanded. "You think I want those two back on Earth in their comfortable petty lives?"

"This works and we let you go back to your rebel friends." Merry said. "That’s about the only place you have left isn’t it? But if you say no I’m going to build a fire out there in the sand and I’m going to roast you alive!"

Merry packed as much anger into her voice as she could and mixed it with just a little lust. The result was just as she hoped it would be. They all believed her.

"You’d never..." Aphrodite said. "They’d never let you."

"I’m the one with the gun." Merry said. "I’m the only one with the gun. What you forget Aphrodite is that I was dragged into this by Miss Shadow. I won’t mind killing Hellspite again and I won’t mind destroying that drug." Merry leaned over and held the gun against her forehead. "But noble as all that is I’m not what you call a superhero, I’m the First Knight of Dollopolis. You stand between me and getting back to Simone then I’ll deal with you and Bitch-35 will make the call."

It worked. Aphrodite’s eyes were filled with fear as she nodded. It was a fear that Merry could feel in everyone. She saw it in everyone else’s eyes. Fear in Tranquility’s, disdain and fear in Vickie’s, fear and something she couldn’t identify in Serenity’s, fear even in Bitch-35’s eyes. And worst of all fear in Esmerelda’s eyes. In her eyes there was fear and sadness.

"Do we have any maps in this crate?" Merry asked Serenity.

Hell let them think of me as a monster, Merry thought. I’m doing the right thing anyway.

And that was the really crazy thing Merry knew. She’d have gone after Truly and Hellspite anyway, would have stayed on Faerun for years to stop what they were doing to innocent creatures. Would have done it alone if she had to. But she was with people who would never understand what her life was like and what the Group wanted to do. She had to play act, she had to make them think she was some sort of barely controlled monster.

"Under the pilot’s seat." Serenity said.

"Get’em." Merry said. "Let’s find a place close enough to the castle to set up the ambush."

Merry was able to blink away her tears as she followed Serenity up toward the cockpit.

I’m getting too good at being the First Knight, she thought.

"There they are." Jessie said as the Earth Force transport landed.

"Daisy and Brent work for Earth Force now." Simone said. "After being shrunk and held for a year I’m sure that Mrs. Rothschild felt that they needed a good home."

"She’s a good person I guess." Jessie said.

Simone smiled and put her hand on Jessie’s shoulder. For someone like Jessie it was hard to think of anyone in power as anything other than a bully. Simone had broken through that with patience and kindness, but she knew that some of Jessie and Lizzie’s attitudes would never change completely.

"I’m worried milady." Jessie said. "Without Merry here... I mean..."

"It’s alright Jessie." Simone said. "Remember Merry isn’t our only protection. They have things well in hand. Just do what we discussed and if all goes right I should be back in a day or two."

"I guess." Jessie said. "But milady with all those superheroes are you sure your going to be snatched?"

{It is very probable.}

{Ever since Merry killed Hellspite the intelligence agencies of the world have been screaming for information about her and Dollopolis.}

{We thought that they would make at try for her here, we did not expect Miss Shadow’s treachery.}

{With Merry gone they will do anything to get hold of Simone.}

"And if they don’t I’ll at least have a pleasant dinner." Simone said watching as Prudence started to set up some doll furniture on a banquet table.

Simone wished she were as confident as she sounded. The Group had concluded that the last attempt on her had been made by ICE working with Force Group J. They had also decided that what ever connection there was between those two groups had to be severed. Once Simone was kidnapped they would wait a half a day or so and then Jessie would tell Lucy where Simone was. The rescue would be achieved and that would give Simone the excuse to form closer ties with Earth Force. It would also elevate Earth Force above Force Group J in the public opinion polls.

At least that was the plan. Simone kept her doubts to her self; along with her fear. Merry had been tortured and she never talked about it without a shudder. The Group was gambling that ICE wouldn’t go for torture directly. They would try mind reading and persuasion first.

"I think I’d best go out now." Simone said as Prudence started to set the table. "How do I look?"

"Beautiful." Jessie said.

Simone smiled. It was hard to get Merry to try on formal dresses but Lizzie and Jessie had discovered how much fun it could be. They had taken to dress making with enthusiasm once she had provided better material. Their tastes were a bit too Gothic for Simone, but she generally let them wear what they wanted. Simone was really looking forward to the formal dances she would have once Dollopolis was more populated. Simone was wearing a full length gold evening gown with silver gems sewn into the fabric. A soft blue trim framed the gold. On her head was one of the tiaras that Snowbelle had made, it was shaped like a twisted maple branch and sported gold leaves.

The effect was spoiled a little bit by Simone herself. Her leg was still throbbing and she had to use a cane. A metal rod from Thunderbird 2’s control system since that was all that they could think of to use. Her skin was pale and the black spots on her neck had turned a dull gray. She was tired and still had some bouts of dizziness.

But I started this and I’ll finish it, Simone thought.

"You go first dear." Simone said. "Just like we planned."

Prudence had just finished setting the doll table up when she saw the force field around Thunderbird 2 blink out.

"Mom!" She called.

Prudence rushed over to the end of the table and her mother met her there. Picking Prudence up her mother put her on the ground and they walked to meet Simone and Jessie.

"She looks a bit better." Prudence whispered.

That wasn’t true. Simone looked like someone had taken a Barbie doll and sprayed it gray and then drawn black lines on it. The gold gown she wore only made her skin look worse. She walked slowly with a cane and Prudence saw that Jessie was ready to catch her if she fell.

"I hope I am not too early." Simone said stopping in front of them.

"Not at all." Lucy said easily. "How are you feeling?"

"Well enough." Simone said.

"Hello Jessie." Lucy said.

Jessie mumbled something and looked away.

"Jessie." Simone scolded.

"Hello." Jessie said sullenly.

"Are you prepared Prudence?" Simone asked.

"Can I keep my clothes on this time?" Prudence asked.

"No." Jessie said.

"Jessie." Simone said sharply.

"Sorry milady but Merry always tells me and Liz that prisoners should be stripped in case you have to..."

"I am well aware of the Laws of Captivity Jessie." Simone said. "But they do not apply to a hostage. You will follow the Laws of Diplomacy. You may bind Prudence as we discussed but you will not strip her, abuse her or take any other liberties with her body. Is that understood?"

"Yes milady." Jessie said and Prudence was sure that there was disappointment in Jessie’s voice.

"Prudence you will go with Jessie. I have decided that you will view this dinner from the co-pilots seat on Thunderbird 2."

"Thanks." Prudence said.

"Before we go any further Mrs. Rothschild I will tell you this: the weapons systems on both Dagger and Deathflame are fully charged and I have one more ship standing by. Also Prudence I require you once more to shrink to half of Jessie’s height. Do not think us helpless simply because Merry is not here."

"It’s not a problem." Prudence said shrinking. It was going to be a tense dinner and Prudence realized that she wouldn’t mind missing it even if she was going to be tied up.

"We have taken all the precautions we can." Her mother said. "Simone I hope we can sort all of this out at last."

"So do I Mrs. Rothschild." Simone said. "Jessie."

She stepped aside and Jessie looked expectantly at Prudence. With a last look at her mother Prudence followed her into Thunderbird 2.

Once they were in the ramp closed with an ominous clank. Nothing had changed in the small ship.

"How is your sister?" Prudence asked.

"She’ll be ok." Jessie said. "The Duchess needed the healing tube more but she put Liz in there, she said that the poison had to be handled one to one. Something called the Law of Poisons. Come on."

Prudence followed her up a set of stairs that led to a short corridor and into the cockpit.

"It really does look just like the show." Prudence said looking at the controls.

"More or less. Merry said it had to." Jessie said. She took a cloth and placed it onto the co-pilots seat. "Sit down."

Prudence sat down on in the right hand side chair and looked out. Through the haze of the force field she could see that everyone was seated at the table. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong yet. Prudence felt like she was in a high chair. At half of Jessie’s size the cockpit looked enormous. Jessie took her arm and smeared something on Prudence’s sleeve. Then she pressed it hard against the chairs arm rest. She let it go after a minute and Prudence realized that her sleeve was glued to the chair. She also realized that the cloth that she was sitting on was some sort of glue pad.

"What is that stuff?" Prudence asked as Jessie did the same to her other arm.

"Crazy Glue." Jessie said.

"But it never comes off." Prudence protested.

Both arms were now glued to the chair and a thought came to her.

"Hey, you wanted me naked! You were going to use that stuff on my skin?"

"Would have kept you from shrinking to escape." Jessie said.

"But how would you have let me go after the dinner?" Prudence demanded.

Jessie shrugged and before Prudence could say anything else Jessie shoved a cloth into her mouth and tied it there.

"Iii tis ag eallyy necsary?" Prudence tried to demand but failed.

"I don’t want you sweet talking me into trouble like your mother did to me and Lizzie." Jessie said.

Prudence growled but then went silent. Sighing she looked out the window.

Simone was impressed. In a very short time Lucy had thrown together a very well proportioned dinner. She might have done it through the Wallingford school cafeteria but the food tasted good anyway. Lucy had also pre-cut the food so that Simone’s plate did not have a giant chicken leg on it. Things were actually going quite well until the Earth Force transport blew up.

Simone had been tense all along. It showed and she felt a bit sorry for Lucy as the host strived to keep things convivial. Simone had hosted more than one dinner party and she knew how hard it could be sometimes. She had played her part, at first stiff but then gradually softening. She could tell that Lucy was relieved to be making progress.

Just before the explosion a sonic wail had cut through the air. Simone’s ears stung and Lucy’s form shimmered from that of Goddess of Justice to her normal body. Just after the wail the transport exploded spectacularly.

Then Simone found herself in the middle of a battle. She recognized some of the combatants, supervillains and ICE operatives. Two of them were armored and carried the brunt of the battle to Earth Force. Simone had a moment to admire how well Earth Force responded then a fresh faced young woman in a silver suit appeared on the table, grabbed her and the world around them vanished.

...to be continued.

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