TOS - Vol 2, Pt 3, Ch 31

The Overlord Saga

Vol II. Versus

Chapter 31: Twisted

The Overlord awoke without a start, but with a giant headache. She groaned, rolled over onto her side and blinked, realizing she was not on the usual prisoner’s cot, but on a bed. She forced herself to slip from the mattress and onto the ground, her feet wobbling as she tried to support herself. The staff appeared in her hand and she used it to stable herself. Moving to the door from what looked like some odd bedroom, the Overlord found herself in a small stone corridor, curving around to an unknown destination. She began to walk, only because she felt unnerved by the thought of what could happen if she stood still.

Her pace quickened, breathing parallel, and eyes darting toward the shadows. As she glanced over her shoulder in paranoia, the hallway curved suddenly, snaking around and catching her off guard. Slamming straight into something, she, at first, believed she had hit a wall. A few moments later, it dawned on her that she had run straight into someone’s back. Staggering back a few paces, the Overlord’s right hand summoned an orb of flame, lightning the dim corridor.

“What the hell!?” the Overlord demanded, the fiery orb pulsing with an unseen animosity.

“Oh,” a brief pause. “You’re awake.”

Vision snapping into place, the Overlord took notice of the long, flowing navy robes that draped over the woman’s torso, stretching down to the floor and covering her feet. The woman’s hair was an inch or two past shoulder-length, a mixture between brown and blonde, and framed her face. She had a pair of glasses that sat neatly atop her nose, giving her a more intellectual look than the goons that stood behind her, who were far more rough and brutish. Her left hand was on her hip, her right hand carrying a well-designed metal staff that was topped with some clear sphere.

“Sorceress,” the Overlord said suddenly, eyes stretched wide in realization. The orb of fire vanished instantly, and she lowered her guard, breathing a sigh of relief.

“Way to trespass onto my territory,” the Sorceress remarked, her voice not edged with the usual friendliness that the Overlord was used to. Brows furrowed, the Overlord’s shoulders tensed, debating on whether or not she should summon the fire back. The Sorceress flung her arms around the Overlord suddenly, taking her off guard, “Chica, I missed you!” The Overlord grinned in response and hugged the Sorceress back.

“Scared me for a moment,” the Overlord chuckled, then released the Sorceress, “So... You were the guys that ambushed us?”

“Yeah, we thought you were... Someone else,” the Sorceress said, slightly abashed, “But, hey, whatever, it’s cool now, I guess, right?” She sounded overly hopeful, but the Overlord wasn’t about to make any moves to anger her.

“Sure,” the Overlord shrugged, “So long as you bail me out of some trouble.”

“DIB?” the Sorceress asked, quirking an eyebrow and catching the Overlord by surprise. Before she could ask, however, the Sorceress explained, “They were by here. A group of them. Looking for you. We thought you guys were them, so we attacked. Their leader wasn’t the nicest of people...”

“The Nemesis...?”

“No. Some scrawny, pissy guy.”

“Oh. Jester.”

“Yeah, that was his name.” There was a pause of silence as the Sorceress motioned for the Overlord to follow her. As the two began down the stone hall, the Sorceress began talking once more, “Your friends... The boys... they were half-crazed when we got them here. Kept ranting and raving about these hallucinations they were having. Took me a bit to realize they’d consumed some of the local cactus juice. Not a smart idea out here.”

‘Figures. Sexist would totally have crap luck like that,’ the Overlord thought with a wry smile. “Are they okay?” the Overlord asked, glancing at the Sorceress. In response, the Sorceress giggled, gesturing for the Overlord to enter a door to their left. As the Overlord turned the knob, she heard various voices in the next room, recognizing one as the Soul-Keeper’s. Feel a twinge of fear, the Overlord opened the door, stepping in to see a few of the Sorceress’ cronies attempting to feed the Soul-Keeper some sort of concoction. The Soul-Keeper was running around the room, flailing his arms about in protest.

“I DON’T WANNA, I DON’T WANNA, I DON’T WANNA!”

“Oh Lord,” the Overlord facepalmed.

“The antidote speeds up recovery. Even if he doesn’t take it, he’ll be fine in a day,” the Sorceress said reassuringly.

The Overlord snorted, “Serves him right.” Glancing over at where Sexist was curled up in the fetal position, she frowned, then began to walk over to him. He sent a kick to one of the goons’ groin, knocking him over, before returning back into his huddled stance in the corner. The Overlord knelt down next to Sexist, who was shaking uncontrollably. “Psst. What are you doing?” the Overlord whispered to him, motioning for the cronies to give them some space.

“It’s awful,” Sexist whispered back, “They want to give me this drink. I think it has date-rape in it.”

Puzzled, the Overlord stared at Sexist, frowning at him, “Why do you say that?”

“Because it’s a conspiracy,” he whispered back, a very serious expression on his face.

The Overlord’s eyes widened, “Ohhh... Gotcha...”

“I usually don’t like talking to trees. But you’re a very nice one,” Sexist added.

‘... Oh wow, he thinks I’m a tree,’ she thought dismally. The Overlord stood up, glancing back at the Sorceress, “... I don’t care if you have to strap them down to something, make sure they’re better within the day. I have a lot I need to get done.”

“So I hear. Your Advisor was telling me about your travels,” the Sorceress remarked lightly, “She told me that the Corporal is with you...” There was a certain light in her eyes that made even the Overlord smile- albeit ever so slightly.

“Mmmhmm,” the Overlord gave her a knowing look before glancing back at the Soul-Keeper and Sexist. The Sorceress’ minions were starting to calm them both down- either that or the two boys were beginning to snap out of their delusional states. Absent-mindedly, the Overlord added, “The rest of the Elite will be there. You should come. It’ll be just like old times.”

“I haven’t fought since the Great War,” the Sorceress mused, leaning against her silver staff in thought. “I haven’t seen the others in years.”

“The Elite was formed to banish darkness like the one we face now,” the Overlord replied firmly, “And I know you’re dying to see him again. You can wipe the dazed, love-struck grin off your face.” There was a chuckle added at the end of the phrase, and the Overlord had the satisfaction of seeing the Sorceress blush.

“Perhaps I’ll go... Then,” the Sorceress said softly, unable to keep the smile suppressed. The Overlord nodded her head vigorously, though said nothing for awhile. The two women slipped from the small room where Sexist and the Soul-Keeper were being kept, and began down the hall in silence. As the walls opened up, the Overlord took note of how big the Sorceress’ lair was, particularly as the corridor ended in a massive room, the ceiling reaching up what looked like miles. ‘We’re in a stone tower’, the Overlord realized, but the lack of sunlight only confirmed her theory- they were underground. Shafts of light poured in from above, however, so she made the assumption that the top quarter of the tower was at least above ground.

“Jester is still in the area, and I cannot allow that. He is a menace to the locals,” the Sorceress added over her shoulder. She had begun to walk once more, and the Overlord hurried after her. Stopping at a massive set of doors, the Sorceress continued, “He’s set up a base near here. It’s quite odd, though, I haven’t seen anything like it. It’s in a city. A mansion of sorts. There’s claims that he’s awoken the dead there.”

“Awoken the dead? Zombies?” the Overlord asked. ‘Of course. The one time I don’t bring the Captain or the Lieutenant with me...’ She folded her arms as the Sorceress opened the chamber doors, revealing what looked like an ancient library. The two stepped in and began walking down the main aisle, past what seemed like countless books.

The Sorceress guided the Overlord through a few rows of books, towards a desk, covered in novels, dictionaries, and a large map. Taking the map in both hands, the Elite member rolled the parchment up and handed it to the Overlord in a few brisk, yet flowing movements. “This will guide you there. I advise you investigate,” the Sorceress stated gently, “... Once Sexist and the Soul-Keeper are healed, that is.”

“If you’ll join the ANF, then I’ll investigate the mansion,” the Overlord promised confidently, pocketing the map without much of a care,“I’ll make sure Jester clears the area. Especially if he’s causing trouble.”

“Excellent,” the Sorceress said pleasantly.


---


“This is a bad, bad idea,” the Grasshopper looked up at the dark, foreboding building, her small, thin self falling within the mansion’s shadow. The Overlord stood next to her, hands on her hips as she eyed the eerie structure. It looked like a mixture between a temple and a house- awkwardly erected amongst the smaller houses and shops. She presumed that the mansion once belonged to the leader of the town, though, it looked abandoned with its iron gate, unkept grass, and grimy windows. Weeds were abundant in the flower beds, cobwebs clung to the window sills, and the Overlord sensed a chilling aura about the mansion.

“Meh. Who says DIB’s even here?” the Overlord said stubbornly, “Maybe we should just... Not go in and say we did. And say we found nothing.”

“Uhhh I think the DIB flag says that DIB is here,” Sexist pointed at a flag mounted atop the mansion’s roof, clearly expressing the letters ‘D’, ‘I’, and ‘B’. The Overlord’s eyes narrowed at him and she folded her arms with a huff.

“Oh shut up.”

“You promised to do this, remember,” the Advisor folded her arms, giving the Overlord a pointed look, “And you’re the leader. Why don’t you go first?” The Soul-Keeper gave the Overlord a little push forward, silently clutching onto his staff.

“Pft. Whatever. You guys are such wimps,” the Overlord began toward the darkened mansion, moodily pushing open the gate with a hand and not even bothering to hold it open for the Soul-Keeper. “There’s probably nothing in here anyways!” the Overlord hissed over her shoulder as she marched toward the porch, kicking a rock as she did so.

“Angry little thing, isn’t she?” the Soul-Keeper whispered to Sexist.

“Yep, pretty much,” Sexist nodded in agreement.

“ARE YOU COMING OR WHAT?” the Overlord yelled over her shoulder at her minions as they trailed along after her, feet stepping in a monotonous beat. She grabbed the doorknob and opened it confidently, eyes narrowed and chest puffed out.

“I’ll take up the back,” the Advisor remarked, pulling out her machine gun, “Just in case.”

“Good idea,” the Grasshopper nodded, “That way, you die first.” The Advisor shot her an unamused look as they entered the rugged building. The first thing that was blatantly noticeable was that the mansion seemed more like a long hallway, filled with darkness and without light but every few paces.

The Overlord marched forward, not even bothering to draw her katana. The halls seemed deserted in the house. Dust and dirt covered the floors, the tiles either gone or mostly eroded away. The chandelier in the entryway was a nest of cobwebs- the Overlord didn’t even want to think of how many spiders could have been lurking in the cluster. A few pale lights hung ahead, though it didn’t do much to banish the shadows the lurked around her. The only thing that really irked her was the smell- it was so musty and disgusting that she wanted to gag. The piercing silence wasn’t an issue... Until she realized that it was silent.

‘That’s not right.’

Turning around suddenly, the Overlord drew her katana, breathing in deeply and staring at the nothingness that followed her. The pure quiet, the shadows, the empty space where the Soul-Keeper, Sexist, Grasshopper, and Advisor should’ve been. Gasping, the Overlord drew back, then whipped around to face where she’d been going.

“What the...!?”

Where had they gone? Had they taken a turn without her knowing? How long had she been alone? The shadows were beginning to creep in on her, suffocating and closing in. The Overlord turned a third time, this time facing the wooden wall. Kagi’s blade glowed faintly in the unnatural darkness, the sword radiating such warmth that it brushed against her face. The hallway was cold, chilling, and reminded her of death- unchanging no matter how far down it she traveled. Shouldn’t she have hit the back of the mansion by now?

‘This place is a madhouse.’

She began moving faster down the hall now, suddenly taking a turn down another hall that looked almost identical. Almost, except for the light at the end. An exit? She hoped- and began to run, sheathing her katana despite her fears. This was just a mirage. An illusion- that’s what she hoped above everything else. ‘None of this is real.’ It couldn’t be. Her pace transformed into a sprint, her boots clanging against the creaking floor and her hands clasped close to her. Something was moving in the shadows behind her- she was certain of it. A rat? No, it was too big. A flash of something next to her and she swore she saw eyes. And there was breathing other than her- that’s what terrified her the most.

Glancing over her shoulder, a figure framed itself in the light, a mere dark silhouette. ‘Nemesis!’, her mind screamed as the glint of a machete was evident, even in the darkness. And from beneath the helm, she saw the frigid, winter eyes that pierced into hers, paralyzing her. Fearfully, she shut her eyes, trying to block out the image, but he was there, too, within her mind’s eye, glaring her down. The Overlord’s hand grabbed the hilt of her sword, but her shoulder collided into something else- something big. Staggering back, she stifled a scream, heart racing and hands shaking as she stared up at what she’d hit. Fear was overcoming her and she didn’t know why. There was just something so wrong about this place...

“You...” Sexist stammered, appearing in the light. His eyes shone briefly in the dim light, and the Overlord felt a wave of relief. Moving closer to him, she turned and took a gander behind her- finding that nothing was standing there any longer. “Was there something following you?” Sexist asked, too, looking back at where she’d come from.

“I thought...” the Overlord’s words were fumbling over themselves, so she shook her head.

“I got separated from the others,” Sexist admitted, “I can’t find them.”

“How did this happen?” the Overlord asked quietly, “I don’t understand...”

“Stay with me,” he sounded scared, but she didn’t blame him- she was scared, too. The Overlord nodded and the two began down the hall once more, so close to each other that their shoulders constantly brushed each other. Despite their previous animosity, both silently acknowledged that they were all they had to cling onto- whether they liked it or not.

Shuffling down the hall, the two found that the corridor was merely snaking throughout the entirety of the mansion. There were stairs every now and then, and when they reached those, the moved slowly. The Overlord caught glimpses of things moving in the shadows- pale eyes that bore into hers, then vanished as soon as she blinked. She was starting to think that everything within the manor was a part of an illusion. However, this theory was quickly disproved. Upon approaching a corner, the Overlord found herself almost within a foot from a large, masked entity- of what actual species, she was unsure. The only fact remained that it was there, it was humanoid, and it seemed malicious. In all actuality, the Overlord saw the wrinkled, distorted skin, and decided to attack rather than actually look at what was standing before her. This was fortunate as Sexist decided to do the same- and in a flash of both ice and fire, the thing was obliterated- knocked away and sent slamming into the far wall.

However, as soon as both the spells had been launched, the Overlord had thrown her arms around Sexist’s right arm and had buried her face in a high-pitched, ungodly scream that was only outmatched by Sexist’s own cry of fright. There were a few moments of panting and clinging onto each other before either of the two peered over at the entity that they had struck down, taking note that it wasn’t moving.

“Is it dead?” Sexist breathed, his nails practically digging into the Overlord’s back.

“I-I don’t know,” the Overlord’s voice was less than a whisper.

“Let’s go,” Sexist said suddenly, and the Overlord was not about to object. The two began down the hall swiftly, though, the Overlord kept a tight grip on Sexist’s arm, just for comfort’s sake. However, their pace eventually slowed, the Overlord’s limbs trembling too much to even walk properly. A glance over the shoulder was a glimpse at the shadowy version of the Nemesis that seemed to stalk her every move. Without even realizing it, she had moved to where she merely shuffled beside Sexist, her eyes shut and her face buried into his arm.

“Are we almost out of here?” she whispered quietly.

“I-I think so,” Sexist stammered. She hoped he was paying attention to where they were going. She hoped he wasn’t shutting his eyes too.

“You’re the man,” the Overlord said quietly, “You have to be strong and fearless.”

Sexist didn’t say a word in response but merely continued walking. The Overlord wasn’t sure what was happening around her, but she sensed his fear and paranoia. Every now and then, she’d secretly open one of her eyes, peer around them, then continue clinging. However, it became increasingly aware to her that something was bumping against them. Something heavy.

“Emily...” she knew it was bad when he used her real name. She didn’t correct him, though. “... Don’t open your eyes.”

Of course, the Overlord opened her eyes then because he had told her not to. Whether he’d intended for her to open her eyes or not, she did not know. But she opened her eyes, in time to see a large bag hit her gently, and for the brief glimpse of a marred corpse to be imprinted in her mind. There was a scream, then she buried her face into his arm again.

“I OPENED MY EYES!” the Overlord screamed.

“I TOLD YOU NOT TO!” Sexist yelled.

“WHY WOULD YOU TELL ME THAT!?” the Overlord shouted.

“Not my fault!” Sexist argued, and the Overlord figured she couldn’t presently come up with something in response to that. It took awhile before the Overlord realized that they were no longer by the body bags. She opened her eyes, but still kept a hold of his arm, looking around the shadows in paranoia.

That was when she saw the light. A few yards away a door edged with light. Beautiful, glorious light. Sexist began making a full-out sprint for it, leaving the Overlord behind completely. “COME BACK!” the Overlord yelled, pursuing him angrily. ‘Get me out of this damn building!’ she thought desperately, but something seemed to manifest itself between her and the ex-Insurgent. Slowing her pace, the Overlord saw the ghostly image before her as it slowly came into focus, a silvery green with crimson tinging its torso and face.

“... Alexi?” the Overlord’s breath was caught in her throat.

The gaunt version of the Theurgist wavered before her, then lunged forward, stretching its jaws out wide in an attempt to devour her. In response, the Overlord’s hand drew forth energy and fire, combining it into some quickened spell that was launched at the specter. As the swirling spell struck the ghost, it vanished into a puff of smoke, and the Overlord pressed on forward, pushing the door open and staggering into the blinding light.

Falling onto her hands and knees, the Overlord bent over for a few moments, a few tears stinging her eyes. Hands shaking, she collapsed, elbows keeping her from faceplanting the porch of the mansion. Crawling forward a few paces, she sat next to Sexist, who didn’t make a noise.

“Way... to... abandon me,” the Overlord murmured, falling back onto her back, breathing heavily.

“What did you see when you were in there?” Sexist asked quietly, looking at her. When the Overlord merely looked at him, he added, “I saw the way you were looking around. Like there was something there.” When she didn’t reply again, he nodded, “The Nemesis.”

“Shut up.”

“You’re easy to read.”

The Overlord forced herself to stand up, not bothering to help him up. “That’s what you think,” she spat, dusting herself off, then looking back out toward the iron gate surrounding the property. Catching a glimpse of the Soul-Keeper, the Advisor, and the Grasshopper standing just outside the gate by the sidewalk, she tilted her head to the side.

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone that you were scared,” Sexist added with a bemused expression on his face. The Overlord shot him a death glare, then began walking over to the others, angrily turning her back to the mansion.

---


Jester sat at the computer with a triumphant look on his face. A few of the DIB soldiers were sitting next to him, one with a bag of popcorn and the other slurping on a Dr. Pepper. As he played back the a video on the computer screen, he grinned, pointing at the two frightened figures.

“That’s that Insurgent that used to be with us, right?” one DIB soldier pointed at a frightened looking Sexist.

“And that’s the so-called Overlord,” Jester nodded, pointing at where she was clinging onto his arm. “Ha! This will make excellent blackmail...”

“So... What was the purpose of this?” the second DIB soldier inquired lightly, tossing a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

“The Nemesis said to distract them so he could get something done. So... I distracted them,” Jester shrugged.

“And the things in the mansion?” the first DIB soldier asked.

“All fake,” Jester laughed, “But they don’t know that, do they?” The three began laughing raucously, Jester rewinding the video back to play the beginning, where the five were entering the “haunted mansion”.