Alara the Dark Temptress

Alara and the Order of the Stinger

After gaining complete mastery of her powers, Alara returned to her planet. Her next move was simple to her. She was doing some research on her computer about the Demon Realm, particularly it's history. Her research takes her to a familiar article on the "Order of the Stinger." Alara thinks back and remembers. "Ah yes, I do remember this. Ace and Tonya stumbled upon that little nugget of information. But something about this struck a nerve with me. The hidden underground hive housing a secret civilization, coupled with all of those metal men we fought, something else is going on in the Demon Realm. Some kind of unknown threat that I need to get to the bottom of. I need some kind of lead. A logo, a name, a location." Alara says as she continues. After her best efforts, she's still unable to find any further information on the Order of the Stinger. After a few hours of searching around online, she eventually gives up, standing up from her computer. "Ugh. I'm wasting my time here. I guess I have no choice but to try and find whoever is behind this myself. I was hoping to avoid going back to the Demon Realm as much as possible, but I suppose I don't have much of a choice." Alara says as she teleports off of her planet and back to the Demon Realm. Meanwhile, just outside of Universe 6's Demon Realm houses a small planet. On the planet lives the assistant and Angel of Universe 6's God of Destruction Prisco, a woman named Orianna. Prisco has just arrived to the planet and opens the door to the house where he works and Orianna lives. Once there, he's greeted by Orianna snapping in front of him and firing an ice blast at his face. Prisco quickly yet nonchalantly catches her hand and blocks the attack. "Good morning, Orianna." Prisco says as he closes the door behind him. Orianna lowers her hand and yawns. "Ah, hello Prisco." Orianna says in a bored monotone. "Are you really gonna do that everyday?" Prisco asks. "I must have my wits about me at all times. You must stay sharp as well, you know." Orianna says. Prisco rolls his eyes a little. "Yea yea. Anyway, we should get to work." Prisco says. He frowns before taking a whiff of the air in the house. "Dude, when's the last time you took a shower?" Prisco asks Orianna, holding his nose. "Hmm. I'm not sure. I've been doing research the last few days since you weren't here." Orianna says. "Well, you're starting to smell like a zombie too. Go wash up or something." Prisco says. Orianna frowns. "How rude. Don't visit your best friend for days on end and then getting offended that I've allowed myself to relax a little. I'm the victim here. Shame on you, Prisco." Orianna says shaking her head. Prisco sighs heavily, already exasperated with his lifelong friend's antics. "Okay. I'm sorry Orianna. It's my mistake leaving you here. However, you deciding NOT to take a damn shower is not my fault! Now please, go make yourself decent." Prisco says. Orianna grows a small smile, chuckling a little. "Very well. If you're so insistent, we can get to work after I've freshened up." Orianna says as she makes her way down the hallway.

An hour or so passes and after Orianna washes up and changes into her Angel clothes, the two go about their day as normal, Orianna looking for work for Prisco on her computer. "How was your little vacation, Prisco?" Orianna asks without looking up from her screen. "It was nice. Hey, did you hear about what happened to the Demon Queen in Universe 7?" Prisco asks. "Demon Queen Tara? I don't believe I have." Orianna replies. "Well, Tiana told me. Her father said that she got stuck in some kind of fusion with an old friend of hers. The Guardian told everyone to stay away until he finds a way to fix it, but no one has seen or heard from her since then." Prisco explains. Orianna pauses, looking up from her screen for just a moment. "Hmmm... interesting. I wouldn't think that the Queen would make a blunder like that. Even more curious that no one has heard from her..." Orianna says. Prisco looks over to her concerned. "Oh boy, maybe I shouldn't have told you that. Listen, I was just sharing a story. You've got that look in your eye." Prisco says. "Look? What look???" Orianna asks tilting her head. "You know exactly what look." Prisco says as he puts on his best Orianna impression. "Hmm. This could be something worth investigating, Prisco. I've always wanted to learn about the intricacies of Demon Fusion. Something something, research, science, blah blah blah..." Prisco says. Orianna frowns, her face turning slightly red. "I do NOT talk like that!" Orianna says puffing out her cheeks angrily. "You talk exactly like that..." Prisco responds. "I would obviously assess the situation before blindly trying to pursue it. I'm not a fool, Prisco. I didn't realize you had so little faith in my risk management." Orianna says in a huff. "It's not that. I just know you have a tendency to get tunnel vision whenever you want to do something. And this isn't the kind of thing to just dive into like your top secret search forums online." Prisco says. Orianna sighs. "Yes yes. I suppose that I can't argue that much. I do wish you would trust your advisor more." Orianna says. "Look, it's not that big a deal. Universe 7 isn't even in our jurisdiction anyway, so worse case Tiana and Raiden will take care of it if it turns out to be a problem. Let's just forget about it, okay?" Prisco asks. Orianna yawns, putting a hand up to cover her mouth. "Very well. After all we have things of our own to do. I shudder to think how far behind you've fallen in your training since you've been gone." Orianna says. "What, nothing to destroy today?" Prisco asks half-jokingly. "Afraid not. Besides, you've already thoroughly bruised my ego..." Orianna says with a small smile. "Hey, I didn't tell you not to shower for three days." Prisco says defensively. As their day continues, back in Universe 7's Demon Realm Alara arrives near the pod where the first metal man arose from.