Needle and Thread

Order of the Phoenix

[@2D3D4D]

Nereida couldn't pass through the gate.

She'd been going last that day, just behind Benny. After he'd gone through, he heard a yelp and whirled around to see Nereida, pounding on some sort of invisible barrier. "I can't get through!" She yelled in a panic.

Everyone came back to the gate.

"Calm down," Benny said. "Calm down."

"I don't want to calm down," Nereid said. "I don't want to be the bad guy, I don't want to be the bad guy, I don't want to be the bad guy, I don't want to--"

"Woah," Benny said, backing away a little, "Nereida, you're not going to get anywhere if you don't explain!"

Nereida looked up at him. "Do you trust me?" She asked.

"Yeah, with my--"

"Don't say that," Nereida interjected, tears running down her face. "I'm sorry, Ben. I thought if I ignored him, he'd get out of me, but he's part of me."

"Who--"

"The Boss, Ben," Nereida sobbed. "There's a reason why I wasn't really affected by Trickster Mode. There's a reason I couldn't hear that noise that knocked you out, and there's a reason I threw that cursed sword away! It had the spirit of the Universe Boss in it, and I'm sorry, but I thought I could control it, but I can't." Nereida slammed her fist against the invisible barrier, and to Benny's surprise, it became visible for a second. Dozens of tiny yellow polygons flashed red where her skin touched the barrier.

"You're the Universe Boss," Benny said.

"Aw, crap," Lyra said around what sounded like the biggest lump in anyone's throat, ever. "I thought we were done with the whole 'kill real people who feel real things' thing."

Nereida laughed through her tears. "I'd love not-- I'd love to kill-- I wish I could...not kill you." She winced. "But I have to. It was hard just saying that sentence."

"You can fight it, Nereida," Ananda said confidently. "You can keep the thing at bay."

Nereida looked at her for a second, tears glistening on her cheeks. "No," she whispered. "I can't."

Her hair began to grow out again, until it was waist length, knee length, ankle length. It seemed to take on a life of its own, waving around and striking at the barrier as Nereida grew taller and taller. Reptilian spikes sprouted like weeds from her skin. Her clothes morphed into some form of armor that glowed with poison that dripped off her and steamed on the ground. Her mouth grew row upon row of shark-like teeth. She reached up above her head and gave a scream that made everyone's ears ache. Above the former-Nereida's head, the air shone and solidified into a sword that looked like it was made of pure diamond.

"It's a pity," The Universe Boss boomed, "That the Player with the weakest mind is the one you need most." She pointed down to where the Players stood. Benny looked around just in time to see Lyra disappear, reappearing in a poisonous looking globe levitating between the Boss's hands. It was hard to tell from there, but it looked as though she'd been knocked out. "Let's see how you do against her."

[<3 <> <3< c3<]

Roxy screamed wordlessly as the green orb dissolved at the barrier and Lyra hurtled towards the ground. Everybody stepped away as Lyra stood up, grinning evilly, except Roxy.

"Sup, PopRox?" Lyra asked. "Wanna dance?"

Roxy didn't bother answering. She wasn't sure she could formulate one that would appropriately address the fucking tidal wave of anger that had swallowed all reason.

Roxy got the first hit. She swept Lyra's legs out from under her with a gust of wind, the first elemental magic since she'd come to this planet, and swept down with her staff, which hit the ground. Lyra was behind her now and held her in a stranglehold, but it was quickly broken with an elbow to the gut.

"You aren't really using your powers, are you?" Lyra asked. "Don't you have some sweet powers? Come on. Show me."

"She should not have to," another voice broke in, and a tan blur crossed Roxy's vision. Nereida was standing in front of Lyra. "You may be brainwashed, but you should still respect her."

"I do respect her," Lyra said. "I respect her showing her powers to me!" She tried to grab Ananda, but the faunus quickly leapt out of the way. Roxy jumped in again.

[@2D3D4D]

Benny, Andesine, and Winter sat on the sidelines, watching the girls fight.

"You wanna...?" Winter asked.

"No," Benny replied, as Roxy slammed two boulders together like a flytrap while Lyra tried to sneak up on Ananda. "No, I'm good."

"I'm gonna try something," Andesine said. He disappeared and reappeared underneath Lyra, and grabbed her ankles. She tripped.

"Andesinnne!" She growled. She tried to get up, but was quickly pushed back down into the dirt by Ananda. Roxy raised her staff--

--and cleaved down on dry dirt once more. She shrieked her frustration as Lyra reappeared between the Universe Boss's hands once more.

"Aw," she said. "It's so sad when kids gang up on other kids. I guess I'll just keep her as a doll. Doesn't seem to be useful for much else."

"You're worse than the Air elementals!" Andesine yelled angrily. "She's not yours!"

"She's not your either," the Universe Boss retorted, "Much as you'd like to think so."

Andesine was struck speechless. "I don't... it's not like that..." he muttered.

"She's my friend," Roxy said. Everybody turned towards her, surprised. She hadn't said anything coherent in a long time. "She's my friend. And you've hurt her."

"Crybaby, crybaby," the Universe Boss started.

"I will KILL YOU. I will rip out every single one of those damn spikes and shove them up your ass. I will make you drink your own poison and dig through your eyes until I reach your brain. I will carve my name on it, so that you will always remember who you're dealing with." Everyone looked up at the Universe Boss, and was surprised to see that it was scared. "And that's a motherfucking promise."

Benny hadn't heard Roxy curse that much since... well, never. Normally she tried not to curse.

"Very funny kid," The Universe Boss said. "I'd like to see you try."

"You will!" Roxy yelled savagely, as the giant monster rippled like a mirage and vanished. Silence fell over the TARDIS garden.

"That speech," Andesine said. "Was the schist."