The Archway, Part 7 (Patreon)

Part 7

The insane golden shapes suddenly shifted, as though they were being turn inside out. They resolved into the shape of a familiar corridor. We were on Level 3, just outside Analytics.

“Sammie! I told you to take us to...” I began, but stopped when I saw her. She was hunched over and panting for breath. Sweat was beading on her skin.

“I'm sorry, Boss! I just...couldn't carry you that far.”

I tried not to take that personally. Sammie hadn't been joking when she said it was hard for her teleport other people.

“It's alright! You got us out of danger. How soon before you can go after Megan and Suki?”

Sammie was nearly hyperventilating. “I'll...I'll try, Boss! Just gimme...oh gawd!”

That's when I felt it. Something like a cold, dry emptiness opening up above me, as though the universe suddenly had a hole in it. It hurt. I felt tears form in my eyes. I had never experienced pain coming from outside my body before. I fell top my knees as the awful sensation ripped through me. I was certain now that we were too late. Megan and Suki and all my teddy bears were now victims of Duchess Cross's nullifying beam. Everything I had given to them and shared with them was gone. I felt my strength drain from me. Everything that I had stolen from those Knights that had become teddy bears was gone now, and without Suki's enhancing device, I had no way of getting it back.

I felt awful. Megan had placed herself completely under my power, and I had let her get captured. I wondered what that beam had done to her, and if it had hurt her the way it had hurt me. Maybe it had even been worse for her and Suki, and who knew what my bears were experiencing. Maybe they had turned back into the men they had been before. If so, the Duchess had her army back, which was way more of an advantage than she needed.

This was bad. For a while there, I had felt like I was getting on top of this situation, but now I was cut off from all my allies, with nothing to my name but one dose of super strength from Princess Boom-Boom, and an exhausted Diaper Elf. Without Suki, my main source of guidance was gone. I looked up, and noticed the security cameras that dotted the corridor. They knew exactly where we were. We needed somewhere to hide, and fast.

Analytics was right there, the door clearly marked. Suki had warned me that this place was probably a trap, since they had tried to convince us all the three Oddballs that Suki claimed I ought to convert were there. Still, the trap had turned out to be on Level 4. Besides, I had been in there for hours yesterday, so everything in there should be saturated with my quantum effect by now. I decided that was worth the risk.

Sammie, stay behind me. I'm going in to Analytics. There might be a surprise when I do, so just stay back and recover. Okay?”

Sammy panted more lightly now. “You...huh...got it, Boss.”

I pressed the button to open the automated doors, hoping nothing would explode when I did. They slid open without complaint. Inside, I saw the familiar circular platform with the control panel next to it. A petite woman with short, black hair in a gray inmate's uniform was running laps around the platform. Two more were huddled in the back of the room. One was tall and strongly-built, the other was middle-aged with an old-fashioned poofy haircut and wore an intensely serious expression.

I held up my hands as I stood in the doorway. Everyone cringed a little. The jogging woman switched to doing jumping jacks, but she was now watching me intently. I let my hands drop. “It's okay, guys. I'm not here to hurt you.”

The taller woman stepped forward, slowly. “What do you want? Please, just leave us alone.”

“I just need a place to hide for a little while. Do you know if there are cameras in here?”

She shook her head. I watched as the petite woman steadily hopped backward, until she was doing jumping jacks right next to the older one. They looked odd back there, one scowling and the other exercising.

“No.” said the tall woman. “The Duchess doesn't want what goes on in here recorded.”

My own turn in the Analysis Machine had been pretty unpleasant, but judging by the way she spoke, I wondered if I had gotten off easy.

“That's...good, I guess. Uh, what's with the health nut back there?” I asked. She was doing push-ups now.

“That's Jang-Mi. She can't stop.” she answered.

“Can't?” I asked.

“She has the power of unlimited stamina. Can never get tired no matter what she does. But if she stops moving, her body will start destroying itself. Sorry if it's distracting.” she said in a tired voice.

“Damn. Does every Oddball power have a shitty downside?” I asked, thinking of Sammie behind me. She had just traded in her original downside for my thick, padded one.

The woman turned. “You wanna field that one, Cynthia?” she said in a mocking tone.

The woman now known as Cynthia remained in stony silence, while her companion turned cartwheels nearby.

“Her thing is that she can feel other people's pain. They mostly use her for medical diagnosis. One touch, and she feels all the pain that you do. Perfect for heavily restrained patients.” the woman's voice was totally flat. She didn't seem the list bit sorry for either of her companions.

“And you?” I asked.

She smiled. I immediately took up a boxer's stance. That was the smile of a predator. “The name's Judith. My thing is that once I bring your little diapered ass in, you get to fill my cell on Level 4, and I get to roam free down in minimum security with these little dweebs.”

“You're a Joker.” I stated.

“Knave, actually.” corrected Judith. “I was told all about you. Cross says you're a Knave, too. Even though your power takes a long time to kick in.”

“That isn't true.” I said. I hoped she couldn't tell how scared I was. Now I understood why Cynthia and Jang-Mi were hugging the back wall. With two Knaves in the room, any reasonable person would would be petrified.

“Last chance to come quietly, diaper girl. Cross told me to bring you in alive, but come on! She wouldn't have let me out if she was too particular about the whole “dead or alive” angle.”

I backed away toward the door. Right now, I had the equivalent of one Knight's power. Any Knave worth the title would be able to deal with one Knight, especially an untrained one. I decided to try negotiation.

“You want freedom, right? That's all I want. If you help me, we could get out of here together.”

Judith rolled her eyes. “Oh, that sounds great! I'll be free to shit in my pants and do your bidding, like all those other dweebs! No, I think I'll stick to my big girl pants, thanks.”

With that, Judith exploded. In an instant, her muscled swelled in all directions, and she stretched toward the ceiling. Before I could make a sound, I facing a towering monster. It was easily eight feet tall, covering in black fur, and had massive teeth and claws. The head was that of an enormous panther with glowing red eyes. I spun on my heel and ran for the door, but I wasn't even close to fast enough. The massive creature reached out and slapped me across the room. I struck the steel wall, leaving a significant dent. Even with my knight powers, the Impact was like being struck with a sack of frozen oranges. I tried to stand up, but another blow flattened against the floor. I was totally outclassed, and I knew that this monster could and would keep striking until I either gave in, lost consciousness, or died.

“I surrender! I surrender! Stop!” I shouted from the ground. Another blow planted my face in the floor. I could feel blood dripping from my face and into the depression that was being beaten into the floor. She wasn't even giving me the option to surrender. She was just going to beat me to death.

“Here kitty! Here, kitty kitty! Ppppbbbb!!!” Sammy was standing next to the giant panther-monster. Her thumbs were in her ears and she was blowing raspberries for everything she was worth. The snarling beast turned and brought her giant claws down with lightning speed. I thought for sure that my little Diaper Elf was going to splatter like a watermelon, but the next thing I knew she was standing on Judith's claw, still mocking the huge beast without any sign of fear.

The monster kept slamming her huge claws back and forth, but Sammie was never where the claws were. She was so brave. I knew she couldn't keep it up, though. Jang-Mi may be able to keep moving forever, but Sammie couldn't, and she was already tired from teleporting me. I had to do something. I stood and tried to take stock of the situation.]

Another blow sent into the wall like a cannonball. I lay on the floor in agony. Blood and a small amount of vomit appeared on the floor under me. Judith was quick to anger, but shje wasn't stupid. She wouldn't just ignore me to deal with Sammy. Sammy was everywhere, popping in and out of existence. It was like skipping quickly through a slideshow. Then, I remembered part of the reason I was in here. After stewing in my quantum effect all night, this place should be ready for conversion, whether or not the people in it where. I looked at the platform that Suki had called the examination table. After I had stood trapped in it for hours, I ought to be able to convert it, even without Suki's power booster. I just needed it to do something other than scan.

I reached out with my will, and shouted. “Grabber!”

The platform suddenly went from steel gray to metallic hot pink. The control panel beside it swelled and stretched  and sprouted all sorts of sliders and bells, until it looked like a something a toddler would play with. A large plastic crank appeared beside the panel. It looked like the handle of a Jack-in-the-Box.

I tried willing my creation to activate remotely, but it sat quietly as Judith continued to tear the room apart in her desperate attempts to catch Sammy. I had to get to that panel.

I forced myself to my feet. Ever since I had first gotten Knight powers, I had been able to move with ease, but now everything hurt as I struggled forward. I wondered if I had broken bones. I hadn't even thought that Knights could get those. Judith was faster and stronger than anything I had seen or even heard of. In a blink, Sammy was standing on Judith's shoulders and holding her hands over the monster's red eyes. I hoped that Judith would knock herself out in her eagerness to catch the diapered elf, but she just reached up with her claws instead. Sammy was gone before the claws could catch her, and as soon as Judith locked eyes on me again, Sammy was back blinding her.

I picked my way toward the machine with agonizing slowness. Judith's claw came down in front of me, then behind me. She had decided to just give up on aiming on try to bash me blind. I tried to dodge, but now I was certain I had at least one broken rib. I could hear Sammie gasping for breath again. Teleporting herself was a breeze if she had no passengers, but it wore her down eventually. Another crushing attack sent me sprawling across the floor. I struggled to get up again, but as I braced my arm against the ground, I realize that it was broken. Sammy slammed against the wall a second later. Her blood was all over her. I screamed her name as Judith picked me up.

“What a fun toy you are.” said a deep voice that only vaguely resembled Judith's. “But fun time is over, diaper girl.”

One huge furry hand crushed my head, and another closed over my legs. I was about to be slowly ripped in two. My strength was nothing close to Judith's. I waited for the end.

A sound was just audible in the distance. A clicking noise. Then a simple musical tune played through the Analytics room.

“Do duh do, duh do do do do, duh do duh do duh do do! Do duh do, duh do do do do! Do do duh doooo doo!

I fell to the ground. Apparently, Judith had not expected to suddenly hear “Pop Goes the Weasel”.

I watched from ground. Cynthia was at the childish control panel, and Jang-Mi was turning the crank at amazing speed. My newly claimed machine whirred to life behind them. Dozens of trap doors popped open in the floor, sending strange-looking machines up into the room. The examination table was still frightening to look at, but in a very different way. Dozens of long, accordion-like arms tipped with giant white-gloved hands emerged from the pink floor. Plastic googly-eyes on long plastic hoses stared around the room. The thing was so ridiculous-looking that it went around the corner and became utterly terrifying, like something that Dr. Seuss would come up with if he mixed the wrong medications.

Judith lunged at Cynthia, who was wrestling desperately with the silly-looking control panel. The dozens of arms grabbed Judith's arm and wrapped around it. Judith thrashed  and stamped, but more and more arms joined the fray until her huge monstrous body was wrapped tightly in colorful, cartoonish hands. The Monster roared as she was dragged into the center of the platform.

I tried to speak, but it was no use. It felt like one of my lungs had collapsed. Sammy didn't so much as twitch. She was obviously no more durable than a normal human. If she was alive, she would not be for long. Despite restraining Judith, I was still going to lose. The pain started ebbing away into a sort of dull numbness, which indicated to me that my injuries might be very severe, maybe fatal. It hardly mattered, though. Cross would be here soon to blast me and everything with that awful nullifier, and it would all be over anyway. I spat out the blood that was dribbling into my mouth.

“Miranda? Hold on. I'm going to try to ease your pain.” said a soft voice. I looked up and saw Cynthia kneeling beside me. Jang-Mi jumped up and down nearby, the look of concern on her face somewhat undermined by her excited movements.

I wondered briefly if Cynthia was going to put me out of my misery, before I remembered what her power is. She placed her hands on my shoulder and gasped as the pain struck her. I immediately felt better, as though half my pain was flowing into her.

“Samantha? Oh my god! Samantha is dying!” said Jang-Mi. The sense of relief I was feeling from Cynthia's touch was replaced by sorrow. It was so unfair that she should be hurt like this after pushing herself so hard and facing that monster just for me.

“Oh...shit. Alright, bring her over. I can't save her, but I have to do what I can.” said Cynthia.

Jang-Mi carefully lifted Sammy's little body. She was struggling to stay still enough to avoid injuring her further. She cradled the Diaper Elf in her arms, supporting the head and spine as best she could.

She was already in pain, but she was willing to suffer more to help Sammy, even if that just meant making her comfortable while she died. I thought I could feel the pain lifting off of me and running up her arm like electricity.

“Ahh! She's pretty far gone. Concussion, broken ribs, internal bleeding for both. Miranda's still conscious, but she's having trouble breathing. Miranda can you hear me?”

I nodded. I didn't know how she knew my name. Maybe she had been present when Judith had been briefed about me. I could hear the massive panther monster still struggling in vain to escape my Grabber Machine. I wondered if it would turn back into a high-tech examination table once I was dead.

Cynthia spoke in a strained whisper. “Miranda, I need you upgrade my power. Do for me what you did for Sammy. I accept that it will be weird and freaky, but I want to actually be able to help people, not just make them feel better. Can you do that?”

I had come here hoping that she and Jang-Mi would be willing to accept conversions, and it did seem like the only way to survive this. Still, I wondered if Duchess Cross had a point. I was going around assimilating practically everyone I encountered, and they all became blissfully subservient to me. I wondered if I actually was a Knave. Maybe the pleasure I got from converting people was the same pleasure Judith got from casually shattering them like porcelain figurines.

Still, there was no other way. I reached up with the my unbroken arm, and put over Cynthia';s hand.  I spat up more blood as I struggled to speak.

“You...you...are mine.” I choked out. I felt the flow of energy between us grow in intensity. I could feel Cynthia's compassion and endurance, her heroic willingness to suffer so that others would not have to. I willed for that strength and empathy to grow, to blossom like a rose. Suddenly, the connection between us was two-way. I could feel the pain in her that she was siphoning off of me. More, I could feel Sammy's pain in her as she siphoned it off as well. I focused all my willpower on allowing her to dissipate that pain. To experience it and then let it go.

Then, the transformation took over, and Cynthia's own will began to assert itself. I cool, greenish light seemed to fill the room. My lungs filled with air, and I realized that my lung was back up and running. Faint crunching sounds were audible as my ribs snapped painlessly back into place and knit themselves back together.

When my vision cleared, I had to stop myself from laughing at my newest recruit. As per usual, her outfit had been altered to match my general theme. On her head was an old-fashioned doctor's head mirror, only much larger than normal. She wore a white doctor's coat with a name badge that simply read “Doc” over a set of light green footie pajamas with snaps at the crotch. I could tell by the bulge that she was now heavily diapered, just like me and Sammie and the others.

I looked over at Sammie. She was sitting up on the ground. There wasn't a scratch on her. Even her blood had vanished from the wall and floor.

I was swept into a hug that probably would have been painful if not for my enhanced durability.

“Ha, Ha, Yes!” said Cynthia as she squeezed me. “You did it! You fixed my power!”

Jang-Mi was doing jumping jacks. “Are you...ya know...” she said nervously.

Cynthia jumped up and slapped herself on her padded butt. “'Fraid so! Bye-bye big girl pants, hello legit superpowers.”

I looked at her. “Wait, you wanted this the whole time?”

Jang-Mi cut in. “Pretty much. We've been hoping that some Oddball would eventually show up who could give us real abilities instead of the garbage ones the Archway gave us. We weren't thrilled to hear about the side effects, of course, but we're not letting an opportunity like this pass us by.” She turned to Cynthia. “How are those, by the way? How are you feeling?”

Cynthia was examining her new outfit. “Well, what Cross said about the mind control aspect is definitely true. I feel...fantastic! I definitely want to do whatever Miranda wants now. I mean, it doesn't feel like I'm being forced or anything. Just that I really like her and think she's cool!”

Jang-Mi switched to jogging in place. “and... the other thing...that we discussed?”

“Ya know, I thought it was going to be embarrassing, but now that it's happened, I just feel really silly and cute. Look at me! I'm like a toddler playing dress-up.” Cynthia's mouth was suddenly wide open. “Oh, I just realized! I'll need to be changed now! I'll be in the middle of healing people, and I'll have to run off for a diaper change! That's hilarious!”

Jang-Mi turned to me. “Alright, I'm convinced. Sign me up.”

I was having a lot of trouble processing this. “Are you...”

“Come on, come on, come on! Cross is gonna be here any second! We need to move! Convert me, and I can help you fight her!”

“Why? What's so awful about your power?” I asked.

She spoke very quickly. “I can't sit still for even a single minute. I haven't slept in over a year. I can't just sit down and chill like everyone else. I am literally doing jumping jacks at 3 a.m. When everyone else is asleep. I want the ability to give energy to other people so that I can finally relax!” she said.

Well, she had a good point. A power like that would incredibly useful, especially in combination with Sammy...

“Alright, you talked me into it.” I put my hand to her stomach as she bounced up and down.