Starlit Ruins

by Simon Woodington

  Rei awoke and the first thing she felt were broken bones. Or rather, the bonds that held them. They had not set her broken leg, there was no support for it, they had merely tied her to a chair, unsympathetic.

  Why should they care? she thought. Her hands were bound behind her back. Useless. She also felt something around her neck. It was cold, metallic. A collar was her first thought. Then: Why? Movement was limited to her head and shoulders. She felt a wetness on her cheek. Tears?

  She remembered suddenly the grinning armour and the tornado of manna which slammed the first of the threatening armours aside like a tinker toy. Juan had been so protective, and she had felt so safe in his arms, as if nothing could touch them…

  Yet something had, and now she was alone again. “D-Bee,” said a voice. There was a click, and suddenly lights were upon her, blinding her. She wished she could shed her robe; the lights were so warm.

  “Hey bitch,” demanded another voice. A hand appeared from the darkness, collided with her face, then disappeared again. “Answer the man.” He stressed the word; man.

  “Wh-wha…” she gasped, feeling her splintered lip pulse sharply.

  “You got a name there, D-Bee?”

  Silence. A stocky man stepped out into the silence, and the light, then hit her again, palm open.

  “Every time I don't get an answer, you get another one of those,” the voice from behind the lights said. “Okay, let's start from the top…”

  Rei kept her split-lipped mouth shut as she jutted out her chin defiantly, a clear expression of hatred souring her features. “Get vaped, losers,” she snarled.

  “You're not very smart, are you,” qouth the voice as the hand snapped against her face again.

  That was not a question.

  “What are you called?”

  Silence broken. A whimper.

  “Uhh…”

  “Clearly no intelligence here,” the voice stated coldly. “What do they call you?”

  Silence once again.

  “No name? Really?” Followed by a gesture, and the taste of blood. “Too bad. You know what? 'Bitch' sounds pretty good to me.”

  “It fits. She's a real tough Bitch. Real quiet, too,” a more robust tone growled as she felt a closed fist make her head snap to the side.

  “Uuuhk…!”

  “That's enough,” the voice said, “let her fry for a while.”

  They were all too soon gone. The lights did not relent their warming stare. She was sweating, close to tears, all hope fled. After a time of silence, she heard a barely audible hiss. The lights went out. Falra flinched numbly when she felt a cool cloth dabbing at her face.

  “Uhh!” she grunted, at first unable to think to speak, or to make her sore mouth obey.

  “Hey there,” a cool voice said. This one was different, it had a calm, trusting tone. “How are you doing, Rei?”

  “Huh-h-how do you know my name?” she whispered, mollified.

  “I'm a friend.”

  She was silent.

  “I know you can't really trust me, but you're in no position to refuse any help I offer. For Your Information, I have as much an interest in your life as I do that of your friends.” He wiped the blood from her lip, and pressed a finger to it.

  “Yes I know about them. We've found Mina, but we're still looking for the rest of them.”

  “Are…' she swallowed, tasting unpleasantly sweet blood as her tongue worked at the unusual mass of her split lip. “Are you going to free me?”

  “I can't, not just yet. I need some time. In a couple of days I'll be able to, once I've got the people I need.” She felt something, a vial, pressed against her lips. “Drink this.”

  Rei hesitated.

  “It'll dull the pain. I'd give you something stronger, but they might suspect interference if you don't react. I'm sorry.”

  Understandably reluctant, she hesitated several moments before deciding to trust him. Once there, she realized she was thankful for any help, at that point. She tipped her head back slightly as he held the vial. She breathed a slightly pleasured groan at the cool soothing liquid warding the burning in her throat. As he stood to leave, a warmth gradually fogged her mind.

  “Wait,” she said, “what do I…”

  “Silver,” he replied, still cool as ice. “I'll see you in a couple of days.”

  Only moments later did the two men return, with their words and violence.

  “Okay, let's start from the beginning…”

  When her eyesight quit on her she was not sure. All she felt was the searing scars of pain. Since they returned, she only vaguely recalled the questions they asked. Names, something about names… A name? She groaned, unable to move as she lay face first on the white floor. They had wanted to know about someone. Who… Her? What? They finally called her a name. Mostly curses, angered, taunting words. Where did she come from? Who was she with? Who was her boyfriend?

  Juan was not her boyfriend. Not anymore!

  Oh Juan… Tears failed for lack of strength. What happened?

  Who taught you magic? Who taught you. Was it Lazlo? Are you a criminal of the State? Yes, you are. Never forget that. Never.

  Finally she lost consciousness. Even then, the words rang in her mind, in her dreams. She screamed at them, and managed to avoid the striking hands. Darkness consumed them. The darkness gave way to light.

  Pain flared in her stomach. “Wake up, Bitch.”

  She scrambled away from the source of the pain, gasping. Something caught her hand. Her eyes opened, perceiving distorted images of a man dressed in white. She also saw a pair of black towers behind him. No, those where men too. She felt a pulling at her arm, dragging her to her feet. She stumbled, still half blind, one eye swollen shut. Clothes were a thing of the past; they had relieved her of them before the beating.

  “Come on!” he cursed. “We want you to see someone.”

  Rei was afraid to ask, even if her throat had not been too dry to let her. She just followed him, stumbling, and falling twice. Some doctor had come in and set her leg, so she could walk. Every step brought a new variety of pain to her already beaten form. She wished she could remember the doctor's name. He had been so nice.

  It was… was… Dr.… Silt… No, Silver. Dr. Silver. He had not said anything, but he'd smiled. The smile felt familiar. How…? I've never seen him before! He was so gentle…

  “Hey Bitch,” the man snapped, pulling her forward with a jerk. “Keep up, will ya!”

  Rei flinched. He grinned.

  “They got ya pinned real good, huh,” he laughed callously. He stopped.

  “Well, here we are, Bitch!” He jabbed a series of buttons. “Go on.”

  He pushed her through, after which point the door closed automatically behind her. Rei fell forward and landed on her face. For a while she just lay there, not really caring who it was they were talking about. Finally, she staggered to her feet. Her eyes blurred. Adjacent to her was a girl, shorter than she. She wore the same as Rei, a collar, and what appeared to be a band of metal strapped to one hand. The other arm looked somewhat strange, a little discoloured, but Rei took scant notice of it. She was slight of build, had harsh blue eyes, and shoulder length blue hair.

  “By Lazlo's good name!” Rei muttered, her voice cracking. “Ami!” she cried, finding strength to run towards her. Rei hugged her, and the girl just looked… confused.

  “Well aren't you friendly!” she said. “Have we met?”

  Rei froze, emotionally as well as physically. “You don't remember me Ami-chan? I'm your friend, Rei!”

  “Ami-chan? I ain't heard that name before…” she blinked. “You do seem awfully kind, but… no, I don't think I know ya.” She gazed down at this strange black haired girl. “Oh my!” she said, voice sounding shocked. “What've they done to ya? Poor girl.”

  Rei dissolved into tears.

  “My name's Sarah,” she cooed, holding Rei gently. “Sssh darlin', I know. I know what they did. It's gonna be okay.”

&nbs
p; Several minutes passed while Rei cried. Hope, after the last night's beating, had fled into some distant shadow with her only seeming friend; “Sliver.” Even with his actions of the night before, and the meticulous binding of her shattered leg, she trusted him about as much as she did a rogue Fury Beetle. Sorrow welled within her, for living to see the next day had become suddenly a very uncertain thing. Slowly, her tears ebbed, and she calmed.

  “You going be okay now?” Sarah asked. Rei looked as if she had been asked if she would survive the world ending. She shook her head, and said nothing.

  “I'm sorry I don't remember ya. Ya seem so nice. Were we good friends?” She seemed genuinely curious.

  “I don't know. I might be wrong,” Rei said as she stepped away from her. “She and I were, yes.”

  This can't be right. Carl said it was her… but they almost look nothing alike! she lamented in thought alone.

  When she went to put her hand on her shoulder, she noticed a split in the skin where Sarah's arm visibly joined her body at the shoulder. Under it was…

  “Oh mercy,” she whispered.

  … the cold sheen of metal.

  Sarah seemed to barely notice Rei's reaction.

  “Oh yeah, my arm. Nothing special, just prosthetic.”

  Rei was frozen, not moving, not even breathing. Sarah took her by the shoulders.

  “Hey. You okay?” She shook her slightly. “Darlin'?” Sarah shook her again. She swore, then drew her hand across her face in a quick motion. Rei gasped, eyes jammed shut for a moment.

  “Better?” Sarah asked, studying the black haired girl's swollen eyes carefully.

  Rei sank to her knees and sat down, head bowed. There was a hiss as the door opened. A man in a white lab coat, and a black armored grunt entered. The man gestured for the grunt to wait. He approached the two. Sarah snarled protectively, noting the needle in his hand.

  “No, no, it's me, Dr. Silver. I'm just here to give you your shots,” he said reassuringly. Rei's head snapped up to him. She mouthed the words; 'You helped me,' and smiled slightly.

  “That's right,” he crooned, “this'll just take a second.”

  Rei put up as much fight as her strength would allow, which was not much. He kneeled close, as if he was holding her down.

  “I can't stay, they suspect me,” he whispered, “I promise you, I'll be back as soon as we can shift the blame.”

  Sarah also feigned putting up a fuss, but eventually took the needle. Then, with a snarl, she pushed him roughly towards the grunt. He fell against the armored guard, who cursed.

  “You bastard human,” Sarah snarled at the doctor as she got her feet. Something told Rei she enjoyed playing the feral aggressor.

  Play along, her gaze told him for not much more than an instant. She snarled and leapt at the grunt, who knocked her aside. Dr. Silver cried out in mock terror, and pounded at the door. Rei lay there crying, listless, and lost. Sarah continued to snarl at Dr Silver, who appeared to be scared out of his mind as he scrambled against the door, hoping to claw his way out.

  The grunt punched in the door combination as he eyed the Amazon warily. The doctor flew through the door like it was the pearly gates, leading to his salvation. The grunt seemed in no hurry to leave. Sarah decided he needed some convincing. She dove at him, aiming to wrench the weapon from his black gauntleted grip. At the last instant, the grunt stepped aside. She sailed into the wall, face first, her nose snapping like a thin twig. As she impacted, she felt a jolt of pain, and a numb sensation began to spread through her back. She felt limp to the ground, paralyzed.

  “That'll teach ya,” the grunt chuckled.

  If I weren't so weak, he'd not've hit me!

  Sarah's mind fogged as she watched the grunt approach Rei, still consumed by her tears. The grunt raised the mace, and Sarah found she could not get her voice to work. She could only watch as he stunned her, and carried her off over his shoulder.

  She feared for that kind girl.

  @~%~~~

  “Careful, careful!” he cried. “I don't want any unnecessary bruising!”

  “Yeah, yeah,” the grunt replied, letting her fall with no particular care to the examination table. “Do ya really think I give a flying frag? You do yer job, I'll do mine. Okay?”

  The doctor's scrawny features assumed an unpleasant expression, making him look like a dissatisfied vulture.

  “Moron!” he snapped. “I ask for elite guards, and what do I get? Simpletons like you!” he almost spat at the grunt.

  “Listen you,” replied the black suited grunt grumpily. “I didn't ask for this lousy job, so why don'cha just mind yer own crap!”

  “Oh go on, haven't you got a Dog Boy to associate with?”

  The grunt departed, muttering something about apes and the doctor's mating habits.

  “Philistine!” the doctor croaked as the door slid smoothly shut. He shook his head and sighed, muttering curses under his breath. As he neared the young woman the grunt had unceremoniously dumped on his lab table, a smile began to warm his face.

  “Why… Aren't you a pretty one,” he observed appreciatively. “Hardly any fat at all. All muscle. It's too bad they won't let me do Juicer conversions on your kind. You're so strong already,” he said, as if she were awake, as if she were a child requiring nurturing. He began the task of binding her to the table. He hummed as he did so, some nameless tune that had no direction, nor key.

  “The doctor is going to have to remove this collar,” he singsonged tunelessly, “it will interfere with the tests.”

  As he moved up to her neck, his eyes fell to her long black hair. “Such pretty hair,” he muttered, running his sinewy fingers through the thick strands. “Dr. Ravelli is going to have to shorten it. A pity.”

  After he was finished binding her, he idly bandaged her bloodied nose, cleaning the scarlet substance from her face, and carefully securing a strip of gauze which contained a metal band. He then took a seat on one of his stool chairs, and spent some time just admiring her. The scanners did their work, querying the anatomy of the young woman, gathering the scores and details of her body. An hour must have passed before he noticed her eyes fluttering open.

  “Oho! She awakens!” he piped cheerily, hopping down from the stool so he could stand next to her.

  Her gaze, confused, fell on him, making her face look fear filled. He could see the muscles of her body tensing as she tried to move, as she realized she was restrained.

  “No no, you dear beauty, don't panic. It wouldn't be good for you to panic.”

  She relaxed somewhat. He smiled, the sags of flesh on his face tightening into lines.

  “Good good, that's it. Relax.” He reached for something out of her line of vision. She felt the tips of fingers on the inside of her arm, and tensed again. There was a sharp spike of pain as what she recognized to be a needle slipped into her arm.

  “No!” she cried. He flinched, digging the intravenous too deep into her arm. Blood began to trickle from the wound.

  “Now that's no good,” he said softly, “can't have you startling me like that!”

  He proceeded over to a wall of vials, beakers, and other scientific equipment.

  “No talking,” he whispered, returning with a gag, wrapping it around her head while she struggled.

  “See?” he mock questioned as he picked through a number of heated IV bags. “Isn't that better? I much prefer the silence, myself. Life is really much too loud.”

  The doctor finally settled on not the green bag, not the blue one with red spots, nor the neon one, but the gruesomely coloured rainbow one.

  “Ah-ha,” he smiled, “Hell In A Needle. Just what the doctor ordered!” he chuckled. “Will you listen to me? I just made a funny!” He laughed for several moments, not seeming to notice the wideness of Rei's eyes, how they watched the bag he held in utter horror.

  With great precision, he set the bag on a hook on the wall nearby, then hooked the tube to the IV in her arm.

  “Oh,” he gas
ped, noticing the blood on her arm, “my little goof up is making a mess everywhere, isn't it? I guess I'll just have to do something about that.” He disappeared from her sight for a moment, then returned.

  “Here,” and he slapped a bandage on the 'oopsie.' Rei gasped loudly into her gag. A solitary tear traveled down her cheek.

  “Is that better now?” he smiled at her as the rainbow sludge mixture drained slowly into her bloodstream. Eventually, his eyes began to wander. Rei watched those eyes, wondering what it would be like to crush them in their sockets. She also came to wonder how far you had to open the mouth to slip a knife in and carve out the tongue. Considering how would be the most painful way for him to die, her mind raced to the fire.

  The fire; it had always guided, helped her, in her time of need, and when the senshi had needed to know of the evil that the Negaforce unleashed. Even before, as a Priestess, it had never failed her in her times of need. Her mind saw his flesh boiling under the extreme heat it could produce. She saw him being consumed by the fire, and heard him screaming, pleading for mercy. Anything for mercy, please!

  Her mind waded and stood amongst death, knowing that these thoughts might be her last. She wondered what could possess someone to

  (kill)

  Why would you

  (crush someone's skull, sending pieces of bone deep into)

  Her mind faded, blurred, scurried at the reality that hers was changing.

  A silent vow came to her, a reaching, a probing, a lost hope:

  If I survive, I will kill him. I will use the fire to fry him alive!

  Then her reality ended.

  Chapter 11

  A Phoenix Razing