Operation: Pacifica, Cadbury by DeadLock the Feral (NYAR!), deadlock@one.net [Note: This story segment takes place several hours after 'Ethereal Spitballs.'] "There is no way to penetrate this barrier. It has the strength of a million souls, the power of the dead." -- Hexonxonx, _Skinny Puppy_, "Rabies" The darkness seemed to relent as a faintly lit passages offered itself to the Maenads. They debated its meaning in hushed whispers. Percival stood respectfully silent, occasionally rubbing the slash marks across his snout and chest. He'd misjudged the tolerance of Slider and paid for it in blood before his fellows could drag the snarling redcap away. Now he tried to be helpful, if possible. It seemed the only way out of this situation. "The 'saur's useless. Take 'im out," argued Jace. He referred to M.E.N.S.A.n's insistence it knew the path, then its confusion shortly after entering the maze of tunnels. "My paws hurt, but no one cares. Let's take it." Hanover stood on one paw and rubbed the other, tails swishing. Rather than let the convo drag out, BlackBlood strode forward. The others moved a split second later. Windigo's and Hanover's ears laid flat as low growls grew in their throats. Nemesis and BlackBlood narrowed their eyes and moved closer together. Instinctively, they paired off: Windigo/DeadLock, Shardik/Hanover, Slider/Jace. Claws[tm] extended fully as they crouched low, moving silently towards their goal. Percival's heavy clomping followed the Maenads as they closed in; wolves hunting prey. Slider and Jace were the first to the end of the tunnel. It emptied into a giant chamber, its amorphous walls disappearing into shadows in every direction. They stepped over the threshold to be greeted by a grinding sound immediately behind them. "Closing, the walls are! Move, now!" barked Windigo. The edges of the tunnel's end began growing towards one another. Shardik and Hanover ran through, the latter having to hop to avoid tripping on the rising paritition of stone. Windigo jumped through, followed closely by DeadLock. Nemesis dove through the increasingly small hole. BlackBlood stopped and looked back to see Percival charging towards him at a full run, the walls closing behind his tail. "Sam!" called DeadLock. BlackBlood moved, climbing through the opening. He squirmed, caught at the waist. Shardik grabbed both his arms and pulled hard. The wall released BB unexpectedly and then closed further, leaving Shardik to topple to the floor with his friend on top of him. "HELP!!!" screamed the M.E.N.S.A.n over the sound of grinding stone. He smashed his snout into the small opening, hollering for aid. The saurian's cries for assistance turned to shrieks of agony as the wall closed on his tail and crushed it between unforgiving stone. Blood spurted from the stump of Percival's tail. His voice thundered in the increasingly small space as he begged for freedom. The walls closed on his hips, and raw panic set in. A wet crunch and the saurian lost consciousness. "He's a dead genius; we can't save him." DeadLock turned from the horrifying sight. As if to confirm his judgment, the walls slammed together. Blood and mashed flesh erupted from the opening in the wall. The grotesque stream splattered and splashed across the floor, pooling in places, before exhausting itself. Gore continued to flow steadily from the wall, but in subdued volume. "Such is the price of betrayal," came the icy pronouncement from all directions. It stirred the room, causing the walls to emit a faint glow. The intensity grew, displaying the magnitude of the chamber. Majestic walls soared hundreds of feet overhead to join in a great, broad dome. The floor itself stretched for acres in front of the Maenads. Armies of statues, both human and not, covered the expansive floor in orderly formations as though prepared to march. The Maenads stood on a central aisle that ran clear to the back of throne room. Massive square stairs, requiring several paces apiece to cross, rose above the armies like a miniature ziggurat. Its apex defied the lighting of the room and remained shrouded in darkness. On an unspoken command, the darkness exploded as a solid thing. Its fragments ceased their flight and began swirling around their owner in a deadly vortex. Charn'El sat upon his throne in black robes seemingly made from the darkness of space itself. His ornate mask held a permanent sneer of hatred as the sides flared out and backwards dramatically. Baleful green light burned from the mask's eyeholes, and tinted the floor at his feet. The High Mage lifted a bony finger in a small gesture. The armies of statues shuddered in unison, their glowing surfaces began to crack and pull apart. The room's flesh slid away from those it encased and absorbed its cells back into the floor. Thousands of Thanatins breathed their own air for the first time, then drew their weapons. The Maenads stood their ground, calmly estimating their odds of survival. "HEY!" yelled DeadLock as he produced a black leather disk and stout cylinder from inside his shirt. His voice echoed across the silent chamber to the High Mage who regarded him with mild contempt. "Don't waste your time! They'll all die if they attack." DL's fellow Maenads looked at him in open-mouthed shock. The unspoken question: 'You've finally, truly, deeply lost it, haven't you?' Charn'El cackled at the absurdity, then sneered behind his mask. His raised finger descended to point at his enemies. The silent command was obeyed instantly. Hordes of feet pounded the floor in obedience. Platoons rushed at the Maenads to prevent their escape. "Have it your way, jerky," laughed DeadLock. He strode forward, more eager for center stage than Bette Davis as the servants formed a loose semi-circle. He snapped the cylinder and disk to produce a magic wand and top hat respectively. DL tapped the brim with his wand, slid it into his sleeve, and reached into the hat. He pulled out a fluffy, pink-nosed brown bunny by its ears. The lapine twitched its nose in greeting to DL, regarding him quizzically. The Maenads sighed heavily. They were doomed. "Hi Cadbury," smiled DeadLock. "Kill." He turned Cadbury around to look at the Thanatins. The bunny twitched violently and made very non- rabbit snarling noises. Claws[tm] sprang from all four of its paws as its mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth. The Holy Warp Spasm[tm] seized the bunny and DeadLock released its ears. Rather than fall to the floor, the lapine streaked directly at the nearest Thanatin. The doomed creature gave up a blood-chilling cry as its torso exploded, limbs flying in different directions. The Thanatin's comrade behind him barely registered his death before the bunny ripped into its chest with a resounding 'Thud!' sending ribs and pulpy internals flying. DeadLock cackled, drew another bunny from his hat and threw it into the crowd. It Warp Spasmed[tm] mid-air and killed three Thanatins before another of its sisters emerged from their summoner's hat. Hanover yelped, then lept onto Shardik's shoulders. "What the hell are those things?!" he demanded, tails twitching frantically. "Ow! Get off!" laughed Shardik, trying to shake the Vulpine from his perch. "Bunnies! Bunnies!" laughed Windigo as DeadLock tore his hat in half, releasing a tidal wave of pink-nosed, furry death onto the Thanatin hordes. Fearless except when facing their master, Thanatins climbed over their kin to escape the snarling lop-ears. The stronger stampeded the lesser underneath their iron-shod boots and crushed the life from them. They succeeded only in buying themselves a precious handful of second before a flash of fur and eruption of blood released them from worldly concerns. Blackblood and Nemesis scooped up an armload of bunnies and chortled insanely. Slider picked one up, staring at it in disbelief. Jace looked around in shock. "Feral Vorpal Bunnies[tm], to be precise," replied DeadLock. From his ziggurat, Charn'El glared in annoyance at the expanding ripples of destruction. Concentric circles of gore quickly covered the throne room's floor in a thick layer of shredded bio-matter. His anger rose at this humiliating destruction of his servants. How dare they?! The loud snaps and cracks of DeadLock's bunnies[tm] breaking bones, large ears flopping back and forth as their heads moved to get at marrow proved particularly annoying. The Lyran's bony hand closed around a gnarled, black staff of alien wood. Charn'El's vortex gave off a high-pitched whistle as he stood to give battle. To Be Continued! -- DLtF(NYAR!) Copyright, Pyrokinetic Productions, Inc. (1997)