Stalking Evil : Pages 71-80.

“Don’t use that kind of language in my lab, Peon!” Lego’s voice came from elsewhere.

“Eh, sorry boss!” Claude looked around, keeping the necklace and machine close to his chest in case Lego materialised again. When he didn’t, Claude pulled the machine out again and hit one of the nine buttons with the recognisable “power” symbol on it. It blipped into life, the screen went white briefly before a picture was clearly visible. What Claude was looking at now were the stalkers. He’d only been told about them but they matched the descriptions. “That would be Cortland,” he poked his finger at the large man with the beard on the screen. “Then that would be War…” he poked at the other figure on screen, wearing a plaid shirt. “Not completely what I pictured, but there you go… This must be one of Lego’s prototypes before the spiders…”

It took Claude a few moments to figure out that they were looking at other dimensions. A few more to decide that he should really tell someone about this. It must have been somewhere between these moments when he decided he wouldn’t, feeling that he should be allowed cool gadgets if all Bob did with his was break them, and that if it came into the masters’ knowledge it would be bye-bye TV thing and bye-bye awesome necklace. He twiddled one of the dials and amused himself greatly looking over what the other stalkers were doing.

Footsteps awoke him from his TV junky state and he tucked the machine into one of the less shadow-gunked pockets in his jacket, grabbing his hammer at the same time. Then he set off for his private quarters. His new toy would be safe there; no one ever came looking for him in his room. Well, no one except RA. With any luck, she wasn’t around.

End RYClaude

***

From CJ

CJ walked back to the main control room where Cortland and Sprite appeared to be watching a TV program of some sort on the stalker detector screen. She figured it must be a slow day. She walked over to where war had the dead, tiny, Lego spider somewhat dissected on a table. She was about to poke it with her finger when a hand clamped down on her, startling her.
"Komi, you about gave me a heart attack." She said, pulling her hand away.
"You're too curious for your own good sometimes."
"Afraid it will leap back to life and bit me?"
"no." He almost looked offended at the thought that CJ was accusing him of assuming her of being helpless. "I'm afraid that War will protest if you mess up what he's doing."
"That makes sense. Truly though, I can't figure out how Legos, um, plastic blocks, could just move on their own. The only thing I can say is maybe a magic of sorts. I'm not sure if War can figure that out on his own if it is. He seems to be more of a science man." CJ
picked up the spider, despite Komiyan's obvious dislike to her touching it. “Relax. It's not going to bite me.”
CJ touched the spider's underside and then it's head. She couldn't help but admire the way it's creator had fashioned it. It looked just like a real spider. Looking closely, she could even see that it had all eight eyes. It was very amazing for being a tool of pure evil. Had she not known it was plastic, it would have even creeped her out. She set it down, not knowing any more about it than she did fifteen minutes ago.
“Are you happy yet?” Komiyan gave her a stern look.
“I didn't say I'd really figure it out... I'm just mostly curious.” CJ looked back at Cortland who was switching between channels on the screen, looking into different dimensions. CJ Couldn't help but wonder what was going on in her own world. She missed it, but bottled it up. Her friends and relatives probably think she was murdered in the woods. Some one had to have noticed that she didn't go home after her jog. She hasn't answered the phone, or contacted any clients. There was no way anyone would have never noticed her missing.
“excuse me,” She said to Komiyan as tears started to fill her eyes.
“CJ...” The sudden and unexplained tears surprised the elf and as he reached for her, she pushed him out of the way without ever touching him
CJ started back to her room, not sure if anyone was actually talking to her on the way or not. CJ had a strange toughness about her and she didn't like people seeing her cry. She wasn't about to cry in front of the boys. Suddenly another thought struck her mind. She was the only woman there. The only female stalker soul. She had no one to talk to, no one to cry to. She was truly alone.
Her door swung open and she looked at her faux bedroom. It wasn't her real room though. It had dog dishes on either side of the bed, but no dogs there, greeting her. It had photos of her best friends on the wall, but no messages on her answering machine from them. Some of her girlfriend's clothes were hanging up in the closet, but there was no warm embrace waiting for her under the covers. CJ had never felt so alone.

End CJ

* * *

From Pimpette

"Strange."

Standing in the middle of Grim's rather spacious bedchamber, Laurel gazed at the reflection of her naked body in the huge floor-to-ceiling mirror bolted securely to one stone wall. Flames from the nearby fireplace bathed her in a warm red glow, lit her eyes with strange dancing lights.

She had been standing there for some time, examining her new form. Grim lay, happily exhausted and quite unconscious, on the massive bed against the opposite wall. Aside from the occasional glance to ensure herself he was still asleep, Laurel ignored him. It would be interesting to see him clash with Lego, later on, for being so late - but for now she wanted only to be alone to think over this new development in her life.

Or death, she mused silently. I died. Does that mean I am alive again, now? Or am I merely a walking corpse? She had difficulty remembering her death, or any part about her previous life. The memories were all mixed up in emotion and feeling, things which felt alien to her now. It did not sadden her - she no longer understood sorrow, or love, or any other sort of strong emotion she had carried with her before that cursed Stalker had pierced her frail human body and stolen her human life.

There were advantages to this new form, though. Raising her hands, she examined both of them, stroking each new blackened claw that had replaced a fine white nail on each finger. These were stronger than fingernails - she had actually left gouges in the hard stone walls during her long rout with the skeletal Grim. Laurel looked up at her reflection again and stared at the dark red wings which had sprouted from her back.

I wonder if they would hold me? she wondered, not for the first time. She was used to them now, used to the sensation of the new bones and muscles firmly attached just below her shoulders. But she wasn't as adept at controlling these new appendages as she wanted to be. She would work on developing skills with these new muscles before attempting anything as interesting - and possibly dangerous - as flying. Laurel wasn't sure if she could die a second time, but preferred not to find out the hard way. The sensation of death was not a pleasant one - all pain of sword injury aside - and she did not wish to experience it again.

An image of Husha's burned and mangled body flashed through her mind, and she shook her head as if she could shake it away. All memories of Husha were confusing. A strange mixture of hate, love, admiration, possession - the tall, skinny drow had inspired all of these things in her once.

Angry, she slashed at the mirror, shattering it to pieces. She would not remember! She would forget! These memories made her weak. She snarled at the broken shards of glass, seeing her own fanged expression snarl back at her a thousand times on the floor.

A stirring sound from the bed roused her from herself, and she whirled to see Grim reclining against a mound of monotone grey pillows, watching her curiously.

"Do you hate your new form so much?"

"Hate it?" Laurel was confused for a moment, then realized how she must have appeared. She gave a small laugh. "No, indeed, I do not. I find it far superior to my previous form." Glancing at the shattered mirror behind her, she added, "I am afraid I do not yet know my own strength."

Grim grinned - as much as a skeleton can grin. "That, my darling daemonette, I do believe." He sat up, looking her over admiringly.

Enough of this, Laurel told herself. I am satisfied.. for now. Oddly alluring as she found this man - after all, had he not brought her back from death itself? - she would not simply fall victim to her own newfound appetites. At least, not right now. She eyed him appreciatively. There would be other times.

Out loud she said, "Lego's little servant came looking for you. Something to do with your scythes, I believe."

Grim sat erect. "What? When?"

She let a small sly smile twist her mouth as she replied, "Oh, some hours ago. I told him I would let you know when I - when we were finished."

He looked at her a moment, then nodded and grinned. "Fair enough. Let us go now - I will see Lego first, and then we will go and see Sihodael. I am sure he will be very pleased with you."

She followed him out the door in her skin, tucking her wings against herself so they would not drag against the walls. Smirking at the wide-eyed stares she was attracting - how many naked daemonesses walked through these halls? Surely not many - Laurel added a little sway to her stride, enjoying the attention.

They approached the door to Lego's lab and Grim shoved it open.

"Nice of you to join us," a voice called, and Laurel peered over Grim's shoulder, through the door.

Lego was standing in the middle of the room, looking impatient. Nearby, the curvy assassin was toying with a rather bloody and terrified manservant. All three were now staring at the two figures at the door, with expressions of impatience, dislike, and - in Tynan's case - a thin sort of hope.

Ooh, Laurel thought, trailing a clawed finger lightly over Grim's back, This ought to be fun.

End Pimpette

* * *

From RYClaude

The microwave shattered under the weight of Claude’s hammer, sending plastic, metal and glass flying out across the floor. “DAMMIT LEGO!” Claude slammed his foot down on the floor, “I’m teamed with Orangenius AGAIN?!”

“Claude, you will do as ordered!”  Lego had had of this, the last mission for these two had gone started just as badly, and he was getting sick and tired of Claude’s sulking. Sihodael should try giving his orders directly, thought Lego, see how he enjoys dealing with imbeciles.

Claude stuck out his lower lip, “I shouldn’ta sold out to you people, I was could have done perfectly well where I was.”

“Maybe it’s true in your past life you had a better deal than some of the rest of us. But it’s a different scale now, and you’re small fry, boy. No deities to watch your back now.”

“Don’t think I couldn’t handle myself out here, I still have power!”

Legostar just laughed in his face “I HATE you! I really bloody HATE you!” Claude shouted, he considered lifting the hammer to take a shot at Lego’s head. Embarrasment and frustration fuelling him. But if he popped lego’s head off, he wouldn’t hear the end of it, lego probably wouldn’t even feel it.

Instead he just walked out of the lab, stomping his booted feet on the ground, a sour look on his face. The hallway echoed with his footfalls until he was far enough from the lab for comfort. Claude lifted his hamer and struck the hallway wall, turning the large stones that made up the wall to dust. He struck again and again until the wall collapsed forward to reveal...

“Oh no...” Claude hadn’t realised what part of the facility he was in.” Nononononono...”

“Claudey Baby!” RA grinned and tugged her tube top up and claude blushed bright red as he attempted to take his eyes away from her chest but failed miserably.

“I... I was just leaving” He told her boobs. Before making the best start he could in an escaping sprint down the hallway. he could do fast when he wanted to, but unfortunately, he didn’t excel in it like others did. RA Tackled him from behind. and he fell like a stone, landing with a smack on the floor, He turned over and attempted to sit up, but was already thwarted, RA was on top of him, pinning his arms with her feet and dropping her weight on him by sitting her behind on his gut.

“You won’t get away, Claudey, you never get away.”

“My career advisor used to say that escapologist wasn’t the route to take, but I never did listen.”

“mmm, you’re funny, pet.” She pulled a knife from between her breasts and dangled it between thumb and forefinger above Claude’s neck.

“Can I go? please?”

“Aww, you don’t wanna play?”

“No, not today.”

“Tough luck, Luv.” in one swift movement, Ra dragged the knife across Claude’s chest, cutting open his green t-shirt, she ran a clawed finger over his chest lazily, while he squirmed.

“GERROFF!” Claude yelled, too late as she found his necklace.

“OHHHH, this is Pretty!” she exclaimed. “Where did you get this, Claudey?”

“Not telling.” Claude said, and pulled an imaginary zipper across his mouth with his right hand.

“Oh I think you will!” RA bounced on his stomach, knocking the wind out of him, “Or You’re coming straight back to my room.”

“Okay *cough* Okay! It’s a magic thingy, i made a deal with someone when I left my dimension, to take them with me, he’s a little vicious thing called Jim, he lives in it now, fixes stuff. For Christ’s sake, don’t tell Lego.”

“Why would I tell the plastic man? I don’t care. I dont want him killing you anyway, you’re no fun dead.” RA paused, “Well... You still would be, but there’s a cuttoff point for the deceased...” She leaned forward, bringing her face closer to his. “Your pretty little shiney makes me wonder what else you’re hiding away in that room of yours, though.”

Claude gulped.

* * *

If you’ve ever seen a medieval castle chamber approximated to look like a north London teenager’s bedroom, then you know what Claude’s room looked like. If you haven’t seen this particularly rare sight, then lets just say that it’s an appalling mess.

Where some may prefer their rooms decorated with gothic spiderwebs, or hang an impressive array of weapons on their walls, Claude has junk everywhere. Comic books, loose sketches, balls of hair and as many T-Shirts as you can pull from the rack in a charity store. And by God, that’s a lot of shirts.

To the right of the door was an umbrella stand, and as said door opened, Claude’s arm idly tossed his sledgehammer towards it, The head collided with the wall, adding to the already substantial damage inflicted on the stonework. Claude and RA entered the room, RA darting past Claude excitedly as he closed the door behind them. “Nice Place” said RA, reaching to open a drawer over on Claude’s desk.

“I keep reminding myself to tidy it up. Never get round to it.”

“It’s nice, verrrrrry niiiiice.” RA rummaged through the drawer, pulling out several random objects Claude had aquired (read: Stolen) from his scouting trips with Orangenius. Some interesting shaped gems, a couple pens, some loose gadgetery, beyond repair from the looks of it… RA pocketed some of the more interesting items herself while Claude wasn’t looking. She Closed the drawer. “So, What do you wanna do?”

“Dunno. What do you wanna do?” Claude turned round to find himself pinned against the wall he had been facing, RA’s hands against it either side of his head, supporting her as she leaned in closer.

“I wanna plaaaaay…”

Claude’s eyes darted around, not caring to look directly at her. “What? Monopoly? Sabak? I think I swiped a Sabak set at some point…”

“Actually, I’m more fond of Blood Sports.” There was a particular emphasis on the word blood that did not sit well with Claude.

“I’d rather nooo-ot.” Claude said, ducking under Ra’s right arm and darting for the other side of the room. RA placed her hands on her hips and gazed disappointedly at Claude.

“You know Claude. I’m starting to wonder why you’re so protective about this room of yours. I haven’t seen anything in here yet that you need to hide.” Claude stared right back at her. She was looking for something. She couldn’t know, he thought, he’d given no hint about the Stalker watching screen. Nervously, his eyes flitted towards his cupboard. RA noticed.

“Aw, Balls.” Claude thought “She saw.”

She did, and leapt towards the cupboard, Claude did the same, franticly trying to defend the contents against this intruder. He got there before her, barring her way.

“What’s in there Claudey? Is this where you hide your dirty books? Naughty Boy!”

“No, it’s...” She shoved him aside, dropping him to the ground, and threw open the cupboard doors.

“What the…?” said RA, a look of Puzzlement coming oer her features as she picked up the TV device. “Lego wouldn’t let you have a TV! Noone gets TV! What is this?”

“Not telling.”

“Don’t start that again.” She kicked him in the stomach “What is this?”

“It’s from Lego’s lab!” Claude Wheezed, “It shows me the location of the stalkers in their base, it was broken, Jim fixed it!” RA kicked him again “ARG!”

As he rolled over, she placed a foot on his chest, holding him down. “How do I turn it on?”

“That… That d-dial on the top…” RA fiddled for a few seconds before finally making the device work, the screen lit up, showing a monkey waving a poleaxe around, attacking a training dummy.

“K-Dawg. The monkey? You have a thing for him? That’s a bit much even for my tastes.”

“Don’t be revolting…” Claude pulled himself back to his feet. “I’ve been watching the Stalkers, This guy seems the best match for my hammer.”

“So, our little Claudey has a voyeuristic streak, eh? I knew their must be something.”

“Don’t you ever think about anything other than sex and violence?”

“You’re the only one complaining.”

“Well I…” Claude didn’t manage to spit out his next comment. An enormous explosion rocked through the building. The pair looked at each other, and dashed out the door towards Legostar’s laboratory. The umbrella rolled on it’s base and fell over, as the sledgehammer was yanked from it’s resting place.

End RYClaude

* * *

Bob grinned as he looked in on Tynan.  The little bastard had done better than he’d hoped… everyone was distracted, either with torturing Tynan or having sex with each other.

He shook his head, the small device in his hand pulsating quietly.  The cloth he’d wrapped tightly around it muted the light it was giving out significantly, but it still was penetrating the cloth somewhat.  He swore under his breath as the skeleton man and a naked Laurel walked past, and he blinked twice.

He leered as they entered the room with Lego and the others.  Perfect.  His eyes watched Laurel’s naked ass enter the room before he shook himself back into reality and took off at a dead run for his chamber.

He’d only get one shot at this, and if that demon caught him… well, he’d be dead faster than he was supposed to be.  Sihodael hadn’t sugarcoated it at all… next failed mission, he wasn’t coming back, period. 

And being dead just wasn’t in Bob’s to-do list for the day.  Nope.  Not at all.

It’d been easy to convince that little turd Tynan to steal the last piece he needed.  The crystal from the Stalkers had been Lego’s most prized possession… the Stalker that the plastic scientist had ripped it from was still alive, imprisoned somewhere deep within the bowels of Sihodael’s fortress…  and Bob could care less about them.

What mattered most was that Bob now had the means to escape this hellhole and get back on with the process of making money.  He hadn’t stolen or scraped together the single first THING in this place that was worth much of anything, and since no one here bothered with money (an atrocious thought!) there hadn’t been much point of selling anything here.

His room was vacant, as expected; Sihodael hardly had any need of spies within his own realm, after all, and everyone else was busy around the area.  Bob closed the door to his chamber and unwrapped the device, bathing the room in light.

The crystal throbbed in synch with his heartbeat as Bob’s eyes took in its sight greedily.  He touched the control box in his hand and began to work the buttons at a frantic rate, and after a moment a small shimmer of light projected from the crystal.

The scene in the light changed slightly until Bob’s home dimension came into view, and Bob paused.  No, returning to his own personal dimension wasn’t a good idea; Sihodael had found him there, after all, and undoubtedly that damned Lego had a record of everyone’s dimension as it was.

He frowned and moved the knob, bringing the Stalker’s dimension into view.  The picture changed, showing the control room for the Stalkers… and he yelped as a small digital creature immediately turned and looked intently at him.  He spun the knob as hard as he could, and the scene changed again…

And he grinned.  A random dimension would be a darn good place to hide, and this one definitely looked good from this first view.  He whistled idly as he placed the device onto a nearby ledge and pulled a plasma grenade out of his vest pocket.

Casually, he pulled the pin out of the grenade and stepped through the portal.  The portal remained open for just a few moments until the grenade detonated, obliterating everything in his room and shattering the crystal.

Screams of shock and dismay greeted Bob’s ears as he materialized in the changing room for the Dallas Cowboys.  With his best, smoothest grin on his face, he held up his hands and said, “Ladies, ladies, there’s no need to worry…” 

* * *

Sprite frowned.  The man he’d seen had only been there for a split second… but he’d definitely been there.  And though none of the fleshy inhabitants of the realm had even noticed the man’s presence, Sprite worked on an entirely different level. 

And better yet, the man had been present long enough for Sprite to get a reading on his dimension of origin… and if the data did indeed match what was recorded prior with the attack of the plastic spiders, then they’d be able to triangulate into the dimension of origin…

Sprite ignored the others around him as he sat down, all of his computing power now being used to crunch the numbers. 

* * *

Net studied Komiyan with a frown.  Komiyan sighed.  “You might as well give up, Net.  It doesn’t seem like I’m going to have any magical skills at all.  I couldn’t even learn those basic things that Tdot tried to teach me.”  He frowned.  “It didn’t help that he said they were so easy.  Easy for him, perhaps…”

Net nodded.  “Well, he’s attuned to it rather well, just like CJ has attuned to her magic abilities.  But I can see the potential within you, somewhere… it’s just a matter of unlocking it.”  Net moved over to a mirror and began to trace lines across it, lines that remained behind and glowed with a faint green glow.

Komiyan smirked.  “If you wanted magic, you should have brought Mink instead of me.  I don’t have any particular magical inclination.”

“Yes, I’ve studied your actual dimension.”  Net moved away from the mirror.  “Your race, in whole, appears to be fairly proficient with magic, even if you personally don’t seem to have any.  However, I have a suspicion… stand in front of the mirror, please.”

Komiyan raised an eyebrow but did as asked.  He looked at his reflection for a moment and shrugged.  “What am I looking for?”

“It’s not what you are looking for… it’s what I’m NOT looking for.”  Net moved closer to the mirror and touched the first of the green lines with a scaly finger.  “This might hurt.”  The line flashed and went red.

“What might… AARRRRGGHHH!”  Komiyan gasped in pain as liquid fire replaced his blood in an instant, doubling him over in agony.  After a moment, the pain disappeared like it had never been there, and the drow stood again in rage.  “What do you…”

Next. . .