Long Live The Empire

Somewhere, deep in the realms of Asylumonia, a musical, flute-like song drifted through bleach-white hallways as the code for a nearly forbidden door was punched in.  Almighty Tallest Red, Almighty Tallest Purple, and Super General Heavyhoof waited as the door creaked open; Purple snacked on the doughnuts that he held in a bag. They had to come and check on a most unnerving thing, one that shouldn’t be true. Two weeks ago, they received word that there was an Irken taller than them, reports that another two had been visiting the other that was also quite tall, one seemingly as tall as the other while one was more or less a head shorter. No information was held on these two Irken, though considering the main Irken’s occupation, this one could not become the Tallest, they had to keep this on the down low.

Red walked confidently into the dark room, his feet not touching the padded floor below him as he floated through the air, closely followed by Purple, Heavyhoof trailing silently behind with her large, golden spear. The door shut with miserable groan, leaving only a pale shaft of light from the hallway filtering through the barred window on the door. Red and Purple stood in this bit of light, Heavyhoof taking to the shadows like a ghost. Despite having their race’s advanced eyesight, the room was frightfully dark. It did not help either of their nerves as some in the corner shifted silently before pacing warily in front of the two. They could see a tall, lithe outline in the dark as it stopped, took one step forward before back peddling quickly to the opposite wall. A hiss sounded before a wary, yet calm feminine voice cut the silence.

“Lookie, lookie. I have visitors. The Tallests, I am honored. And look! My dear Heavyhoof! It’s been a while, sweetie. What is the cause for you lot to be gracing my presence after 8 years locked away here, O Tall Ones? Why do you enter my territory after so long? Lock her away for a few years, then come back to face your fears?” The voice rasped, a cool chuckle easily covering the sharp enraged hiss.

“Come into the light and we might speak.” Red answered, his voice cracked as he stood straighter, stealing a doughnut from Purple in order to comfort himself. As he opened his mouth to bite into the treat, he froze as his reply came.

It started as a low, tinkling sort of laugh before it transformed into a loud, deranged cackle. Red could feel Purple shiver behind him as the cackle gradually smoothed into a rumbling purr. The room’s inhabitant’s next words were cooed as if she were speaking to a frightened child. “As you wish, my Tallest.”

The scrap of metal against metal and the soft whir of mechanics sounded as long mechanical legs extended from a Pak. A soft popping noise could be heard as the owner scuttled forward, the sharp ends puncturing the padded floors. Red and Purple recoiled sharply and backed into the door as a beast came before them. They could hear a sharp intake of breathe come from their guard.

Even without the spider-like legs that extended from the Pak on her back, the she-Irken was a good half-antenna taller than the two Tallest, yet still a good bit shorter than Heavyhoof. The pale, sun-deprived green skin was nearly a blue-ish white, which nearly blended with the tattered edges of the tan straightjacket she modeled. Her hands were locked to her hips with such heavy looking buckles and belts it was amazing she could move so freely. Long, curled antennas hung limply from her head, twitching slightly at every sound, making the two golden loops jingle as they knocked against each other. A long, red tongue hung limply from her sharp-toothed mouth. The wide grin on her face matched her dazzling blue eyes, for both screamed pure insanity. As she spoke, she wiggled her toes, curling the talon-like claws into the air before releasing what poor invisible creature that was within her grasp.

“Now you see me. Now come on, come on. Tell little Invader Tara what’s bothering you. Is it my mecha-legs? Is that why you look at me weirdly? Is that it?” She questioned, but before she received a reply, she lowered herself near the ground before sharply retracting the sharp legs back into her Pak. She landed upon the ground rather heavily with a loud “Oof.” She shifted a bit to get comfortable, considering she’d fallen atop her legs. A dry chuckle rasped from somewhere in the shadows, Tara to jump to her feet and twisted her torso sharply to snarl at the mocking shadows. “Shut up, Lulu!”

But the mocking laughing simply continued, smoothing out to a silent snicker. Purple and Red glanced at the shadows warily before looking at Tara; their antennas erect to catch the slightest sound. “Invader Tara, we did not know you had a… roommate.” Red stated, since Purple seemed to have lost all ability to speak, Heavyhoof in a respectful silence.

Tara whipped back around to glare at the three, her jagged teeth still bared in a snarl before she saw who’d spoken. “Oh, yisss. I have a friend here with me. She was here long before I came.” She replied, but was cut off by another voice.

“They have no need to know that, Tara. They need not knowledge of Lulu.” The unseen Irk growled. A sound almost like cloth against cloth sounded, as if someone were using the wall to help get off the floor. Seconds later, another Irken stumbled into the small lit area, looking almost just as ragged as the first.

Dark purple eyes glowed against the pale green skin, having seen little sun in many years. A similar straight-jacket was on this Irk’s body, except slight tears could be seen from where she’d attempted to tear the restraining fabric off. Long, slender antennas hung low, nearly dragging across the floor in her hunched stance. She snorted as she stared maliciously at the Tallests before dragging her feet towards her companion.

Tara had long settled herself back onto the soft floor and occupied herself by swinging her antenna in front of her face, attempting to capture the elusive appendage in her teeth. Lulu decided to literally fall to the ground, using the other as a pillow. She took a glance at the three, noting Heavyhoof. “That’s the one you created, right? You said something about pale purple eyes, didn’t you?”

Once Tara remembered she had guests, she settled her antenna snuggly against her head, giving a slight whine as Lulu plopped herself across her shoulders and took to leaning against her, hearing the question and nodded slightly before turning to her guests. “Well then, come on, speak. You didn’t come here to look at my pretty face. Oh, wait, I’m sorry. I’m crazy aren’t I? No questions can be asked because all that you’ll receive is insane babbling! We can just forget those thirteen planets I conquered, the hundreds of slaves I retrieved, the creations I made for the sole purpose of the Empire, the millions upon millions of enemy ships I took down to protect the Massive while you two sat snuggly upon your thrones eating snacks all day!” Tara’s voice rose as she rambled, her excitement from earlier seemed to have morphed into some vicious anger. “Answer before I rip yer throats outs. I can do it. Trust me.” She growled, her blue eyes reflecting the dim light

Red and Purple stepped back slightly, Heavyhoof stepping slightly in front of the two, staff raised, sparks crackling and sizzling. Noting her presence, Red suddenly felt much bolder. He was a Tallest, the most powerful of the powerful. Why was he acting like a defective smeet in front of a lowly Irken who was forever exiled to a nut house? Cause this lowly Irken was glaring a hole the size of Conventia straight through his face with a few cannon sweeps and iron stakes. Besides that, how else could she harm him?

With this knowledge and a feeling of safety, Red stood straighter, put a hand on Heavyhoof’s shoulder, and took a bold step towards the grounded Irk.

“Tara of Insanity,” he started out with the formal name for insane Irken, “I am here to pronounce that, due to your height, in a number of years, you would reach the height of a Tallest. However…” He trailed off, uneasily aware of the little crazy’s antennas perking to stand completely straight, the glow in her eyes getting brighter by tenfold. Her attention was locked on him; you wouldn’t be able to get it off even if an elephant with a crowbar took a go at it.

“But, due to your condition, you can not be allowed to become a Tallest.”

Silence. Antennas slick back. Blue eyes narrow and vicious teeth gleamed dully in the light. Then a heartbeat…

Another…

“You bastards.”

Then she struck.

It was quicker than even the quickest eye could catch. Red and Purple’s sense of security fled as they pink leaked from Purple’s wounded arm, teeth stopped by the polished armor. Donuts rolled across the ground as Purple’s bag dropped as he let out and hiss at the sudden pain. Tara’s long tongue lolled between her teeth as she crunched down onto the armor. Much to the Tallests’ surprise, the armor cracked. Heavyhoof dashed over, dropping her staff and quickly began to attempt to wrench open Tara’s jaws with his long fingers, but only succeeded in getting those curved teeth to migrate from Purple’s arm to Red’s hand who had tried to help.

More guards quickly dashed into the room, jabbing at the beastly Irk with the electrifying sticks to warn her off as she growled and snarled, never letting go of the Tallest’s hands. Heavyhoof barked at them, warning them to get back, reminding them that if they shocked her, they risked jolting their leader. Still, they were too close for comfort and Tara began to claw at them blindly with her clawed feet, landing a few marks and ripping a few masks as her long legs lashed out.

Lulu had yelped in surprise when her support suddenly vanished. She sat up and blinked, her purple eyes filled with confusion. She had been dozing considering that the conversation did not concern her. But, when she saw the riot forming before of her, she quickly bolted towards the writhing mass of bodies, ramming her head hard into Heavyhoof’s side as she leapt to pick up her electrifying spear.

Lulu herself curled her toes around the shaft and flung it up, catching it easily in her teeth and ran at the guards, swinging the large spearhead, stunning many. Something hard and sharp hit her squarely in her back, causing her to drop the spear and stumble. She had seconds before pain lanced through her shoulder. She looked to her shoulder to see pale violet eyes staring back. Lowering her vision, she could see row upon row of needle teeth shredding the fabric of her jacket, cutting into her skin and bone.

Without hesitation, Lulu opened her mouth wide and sank her equally dangerous teeth around the base of Heavyhoof’s antenna, tasting warm blood flow into her mouth and teeth wrench from her shoulder.

Lulu took her chance and latched onto Tara’s pierced antenna as gently as she could with her teeth and tugged her towards the shadows. Tara whirled on whoever was touching her sensitive antenna, but her senses were dulled and her eyes went wide as Heavyhoof drove the electrical sharp blade in between her shoulder blades, barely missing her spine and the Pak that hooked into it. Tara turned and saw who was assaulting her, ready to give on last attack before she saw the face of her assaulter. Her body went limp and all fight left her body. One other Vortian guards took this chance to place his electrifying rod onto the shaking Irken, her body trembling all the more violently.

“No!” Lulu yelled and leapt towards the spear and rod, kicking them away from her friend. The masked Vortian that had held Tara’s paralyzing rod in place had no time to see the sharp teeth coming at his neck. Purple blood gushed from his neck wound and he fell to the ground writhing in agonizing spasms. Lulu quickly rushed over to the dull-eyed Tara and hooked her claws into the straightjackets collar. Mechanical spider legs extended and hooked into the padding high up on the ceiling, lifting the two aliens into the air, far from the reach of any Irken, Vortian, or hybrid as Lulu swung farther into the safety of their well-known shadows.

Red and Purple only stared, watching the entire scene play out before them as they clutched their wounds. They both jumped back when a ripping sound was heard, like someone clawing at the material in the ground. They could just barely make out the outline of two Irken. One using mecha-legs to hook deep into the padding, barely managing to keep a strong hold on their captured companion. The other, however, was trying to break free and have another go at the two that stood before her, claws shredding the material as she tried to pull herself away from her captor.

Suddenly a rip sounded and a blur dashed at them, a terrible aurora almost pulsating through the air. Time seemed to freeze as the beast leapt high in the air, talon-like claws extended with deadly purpose. A snarl fixated on her face. Then, before anyone could blink, a long leg struck out to meet the air-born attacker. A large, polished hoof collided with that snarl, catapulting Tara back into the shadows.

They swore they could see two blue eyes glaring with fiery hatred at the two. They were sure, if those other faint purple eyes had not given them the warning to leave, slight loathing put aside, they would have never seen any sun nor moon again.

Heavyhoof refused any medical attention, insisting they took care of the Tallest first. She had seen the eyes of the one who had created her, the one who had given up her free time, her soul into a year of seamlessly intertwining DNA, her DNA, just to create the one who had just betrayed her. Those eyes. They were filled with memories, anger, confusion, and even sadness. She stamped her spear a bit harder on the ground, sending her creator a silent apology.

As they walked down the hallway, a group of medical specialist trying to wrap their wounds, they could hear a voice echoing down the corridors. As they stepped into the clear air of Asylumonia, it whispered in their antenna. As they flew light years away, they could still hear the screech of a ghostly promise surfing the stars, following them forever until it was carried out.

“Thou will never get away with this. I will be Tallest; I swear it! Even if I have to kill all of you!”