by T5
Zveidi and Mr. Smith rode on pale-skinned horses across the dusty dunes toward the flaming chaos of the former Lord Khung's palace.
"You will soon feed again, Mr. Smith... feed until you will almost explode." Zveidi laughed. Her spidery body morphed into a more humanlike version, but still retaining a few extra arms.
"Thank you, my queen. Will that damnable Naecken be there?"
"Oh, yes, but you will have to do me a small favor first. Then you can feed all you want."
"Okay, and that favor would be...?"
"Feed upon another insignificant rival demon that once bested me. Do that, and our deal is done."
"As you wish," Smith said with an evil grin. This was the perfect place for him. A world full of infernal energies, and he could have it all, a virtual smörgåsbord of evil. He smiled within, thinking that he would suck the soul out of Zveidi once he had enough power back. Then he would use the energies he gained to somehow negotiate his way back home.
Out of the sky, a meteor burned through the infernally red skies. It crashed far away, and while it was beautiful, no one really gave it any attention.
Only Ma Kalunga, now left in the palace owned by her mistress Zveidi, saw the object as something that maybe could be used to gain some sort of advantage. After all, how many meteors did you find in this place?
A magically created Porsche appeared before her, and she ordered it to go to the crash site. The dust whirled around her as she zoomed across the dusty plain, and she was deep in thought. It was great to have all these gifts from Zveidi, but did she really want to be here, in Hell?
The answer was, of course, no. She had to find a way home soon, and at least get her revenge on those stupid foreigners that had set up shop in her town. She longed for the day she could squeeze the marrow out of them. She counted the ways while the car continued its journey.
"If you grant me access to the Dead Zone, I will retrieve this peculiar being and use him as a conduit for traveling the dimensional warpways," Naecken said, looking upon his master, the Fallen One.
"Your plan is reckless and bullheaded... I like it," the Fallen One said with a smile; Naecken wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. "I will grant you your wish, but beware: any moves that may be considered disloyal will be punished severely."
"My loyalty has always been yours, my master." Naecken bowed deeply.
"Hmm... Enough of that. Go about your business, and I will see to this rabble that you've used as 'soldiers.'"
Naecken grinned. The souls he had used were expendable, and he didn't give them much thought, but to see his goals come to fruition was reason enough for this demon to grin. His status among the lords would ascend, and no one would dare oppose him.
As the Fallen One went outside to deal with the souls, Naecken took his trident and evoked its fiery powers to burn a hole in the fabric of the dimensional layer he now resided in and into the Dead Zone, a place where souls were tricked into believing they were completely alone, drifting in a gray infinity. In reality, the bubbles weren't much farther apart than a few miles.
Navigating with his trident, Naecken looked for the bubble that contained the most energetic aura. This would take a while.
Zveidi drove across the plains in the Porsche created by Ma Kalunga and sighed. She was desperate. The Fallen One would view her as a failure after the recent events, and he would punish her soon... very soon. And that's why she kept Mr. Smith. His abilities would be her last defense, if they worked here at all, that is.
She drove up to the newly created crater and stopped the car just a few feet from it. When she stepped out of the vehicle, she could hear a metallic clanking noise from the bottom of the pit, as if something was trying to climb up.
She looked over the edge and saw a metallic spider about the size of a human head crawling upward from the dark.
"Need help?" she asked, and gave it a long arm to grab onto.
The thing paused, and suddenly a mechanical eye was created from parts of the spider. It grabbed the arm and held on to it.
Zveidi pulled it up. And as fast as it reached the rim, it ran for the car and merged with it. The Porsche's lights and doors blinked and slammed. It drove around in circles in a frenzy, then calmed down and parked just in front of Zveidi. A door opened.
"Care to come in?" said the car.
Zveidi smiled and asked, "Who and what are you? You don't seem to have been created here."
"Nope. I am a retrieval unit from the Quadinc continuum. My designation is T5. And you are?"
"Zveidi, the trantranceulantuan lady of pain and pleasure. And I thank you for the ride."
"My pleasure. After all, one good deed deserves another. Where shall we go?"
"Uh, to my place, where I will give you answers to all of your questions that you undoubtedly have."
"Yes, there are a few." T5 gave the engine a push, and off they went across the dunes.