FicWad

-Emily wasn't sure what was happening. She could hear something dripping and felt cold stone with her hands. It certainly didn't seem like she was in heaven. She opened her eyes and her heart stopped for a second. Less then five feet from her was an enormous white wolf chewing on a piece of meat.

-Emily recognized the beast immediately, the wolf from the battle. The one that had flipped tanks with ease and had eaten her men as they fired machine guns at it was laying there chewing on a bone as if nothing had happened. The animal bit down and Emily heard bone cracking. The lump of flesh fell from the animal's mouth and Emily recognized the green cloth that wrapped it. The wolf was chewing on the leg of one of her soldiers.

-Emily slowly stood up without making a sound. The wolf didn't seem to notice her so she started to sneak towards a large door to her left. She made it five steps when she heard a woman's voice snap at her. "Don't even think about escaping, human. The master said he wanted you alive, he didn't say you needed to be in one piece."

-Emily looked over her shoulder but she didn't see anyone. The only other living thing in the room was the giant wolf that was staring at her. Emily wondered if the beast had spoken. She took a step back towards the wolf and the animal, satisfied that Emily had given up, went back to chewing on the human leg.

-"What do you want?" Emily asked the monstrous creature. The wolf glared back at her and answered, "What I want is to bite your face off, but the master has other plans. Just stay put and be quiet." The animal spoke without moving its mouth or lips; instead Emily heard the words echo inside her head.

-With that warning Emily took a more detailed survey of her surroundings. She was in what she guessed was a throne room. There was a large chair slightly elevated that overlooked the room. Across from that there were two large double doors and a smaller entrance at the back on the left wall. The whole room was made out of some kind of dark, rough stone. There were several wet pools that Emily hoped were water.

-Above the throne, sticking out of the wall, were two human torsos frozen in stone. They appeared to be the forms of a man and a woman, both of them had expressions of terror etched on their faces. Emily shuttered at the thought of what they might have done to offend the dark lord so much that he would display them as trophies in that manner.

-To the right of the throne there was a terrace that overlooked the dark territory. Emily briefly thought of using it to escape but where could she really go? She was in the dark castle, at the very heart of enemy territory. There was no escape, no rescue coming to save her. She was trapped.

-Emily quickly turned to face the large double doors as they swung open and a young man stepped boldly forward. He was wearing some kind of armor that was dark red in color and looked like muscle without skin to cover it. He had a black cloak attached to his shoulders and a sword on his left hip.

-"Welcome to the dark castle, General Emily Perkins," Jeffery said with a big smile. He looked her over as he stood next to his beloved guardian. She still had a defiant look in her eye but now it was mixed with a bit of fear. That was a good start, now it was time to add some pain and torment.

-"What do you want?" Emily asked, her voice clinging to her former authority. The wolf looked at her and growled, baring its large, pink teeth. Apparently the animal didn't approve of Emily's tone. Jeffery reached out and gently patted the beast on the head as if it were a dog.

-"Easy Marrow," Jeffery said in a soothing voice, "this is our guest after all." The wolf looked to its master and went back to chewing on the leg. Jeffery stepped toward Emily with his head tilted to one side as he tried to read her. "What do I want," he repeated to himself, "well I suppose information would be a good start."

-"I wont tell you anything!" Emily snapped. Jeffery cocked an eyebrow, "I didn't say I wanted it from you." He said. The door at the back opened and a petite girl with red hair walked in with an innocent smile on her face and blood on her clothes.

-"Ah, Kikki, just who I was waiting for," Jeffery said with a smile. The girl giggled happily as she stepped forward. Her hands were both behind her back and her bright eyes were filled with excitement. "I'm done plying with my friend master," she said without so much as a glance towards Emily.

-"Excellent, and what did you learn?" Jeffery asked. Kikki held up Hughes' severed head. Emily stared in shock at the face of her second in command and her friend, permanently twisted in agony. It couldn't be, Hughes had died on the field, the dark haired girl had stabbed him.

-"Before I broke him my friend told me that what we faced was the last of the former military," Kikki said, "it is doubtful that this country can muster enough force to challenge us again master."

-Jeffery thought that Kikki almost sounded sad with her last statement. She probably was, if there was no one left to challenge them there would be no one left for her to play with. "Thank you Kikki, that will be all." Jeffery said. Kikki bowed her head and went to leave. She paused for a moment and looked at the head she was carrying. With a shrug she tossed it to the wolf, "here you go Marrow," she said as the beast snatched the bloody gift out of the air. One chomp and Hughes' head shattered like a smashed pumpkin. Bits of bone and brain matter splattered on the floor and with that Kikki skipped away.

-"Well now that that's taken care of," Jeffery said with a pleasant smile, "back to you." He looked directly at Emily, the look I his eyes reminded her of a lion looking at a zebra, she didn't like it. But more than her own safety she was concerned with what had happened to her friend.

-"What was she talking about?" Emily asked, "Hughes was already dead, he couldn't have told her anything. That dark haired girl killed him during the battle." Jeffery looked at her as if she had just told a joke. He chuckled to himself as he turned his back to her.

-"Funny story," Jeffery said, "I sent Raven out with the expressed purpose of capturing you. And true to form she did, but imagine my surprise when she decided to go above and beyond the call of duty and bring me your second in command as a bonus. And by the way, he wasn't dead, just wounded. Though Kikki took care of that part."

-Jeffery turned and saw the look of despair and grief overcome Emily's face as her mind conjured up images of her beloved friend being tortured to death. She closed her eyes and regained her composure before addressing him again. "Then what do you want with me?" she asked.

-"Glad you asked," Jeffery said cheerfully, "I want to reward you for all your hard work. You tried so hard to see me so, here I am. And as a special treat I had one of my generals cook up something just for you." He clapped his hands and the chamber doors opened again. This time a woman with an eye patch walked in.

-Ah, Scylla, just who I was hoping to see. Are we ready?" Jeffery asked. Scylla smiled and held out a small device in her hand, "of course master," Scylla said as she handed it to him. It looked like a TV remote control to Emily but Jeffery handled it as if it were a weapon. He looked over the device and then pointed it at the floor. After pressing a button a beam shot out and a hole opened up in the ground.

-Jeffery looked down into the hole in his floor and gave an impressed whistle. He looked at the device again, found the button he was looking for and fired another beam at the hole. This time the beam made the hole seal back up and it appeared as if it had never been there at all.

-"Nice work Scylla, as always." Jeffery said. Scylla bowed with a satisfied smile and handed her master a hand gun. "It isn't complete without this master, your special medicine." She said.

-Jeffery took the weapon and pointed it at Emily. She didn't have time to protest before he shot her in the leg with some kind of dart. She cried out from the pain and quickly pulled out the dart. "What did you just shoot me with?" she asked trying to hide her fear. No doubt she expected it was some horrible flesh eating virus or something to that effect.

-"Immortality," Jeffery said as he tossed the weapon back to Scylla, "another special invention I had Scylla create for me, a substance that stops ageing and instantly heals any wound. You are now immortal; you cannot die no matter what is done to you. It does have the adverse side affect of suppressing the release of endorphins and dopamine, the body's natural pain killers. So when you get hurt, it really hurts. And with that in mind," Jeffery said as he pointed the device at Emily's feet, "enjoy." He pressed the button and the beam created a hole below her.

-Emily fell down and saw no ground anywhere below her. There was now floor, no walls, no earth, not even a ceiling. There was nothing but open space; it seemed she was falling through the clouds. Then she saw them, shinny metal orbs floating below her. They varied in size from smaller than a person, the as large as a van.

-Emily fell toward one of the larger orbs and she tried desperately to brace herself. She struck the metallic ball and instantly felt her bones brake. Her organs were mashed; a broken rib punctured her lung, making her screams of pain a whisper. Blood sprayed from her nose and spilled from her mouth.

-She practically bounced off of the sphere and as she fell away she felt her bones reset themselves. Her lung healed and she screamed in agony as her organs instantly repaired themselves. Her body was again whole, though the pain remained. She was still falling and she looked in time to see another metallic orb rushing up at her.

-Jeffery sealed up the hole in the floor and pointed the device at the wall. He pressed one of the buttons and a beam shot out, this time opening a window that was fixed on his little victim. He watched as she fell and struck one orb after another, spinning from the impacts, her body bending in unnatural ways as her bones broke and then healed only to be broken again. She tried desperately to cling to the smaller ones but they were too smooth and polished to allow any kind of grip.

-"You really outdid yourself this time Scylla," he said proudly, "our Mrs. Perkins will fall forever in an unending bottomless pit filled with metallic balls to crush her bones until the pain has driven her out of her mind. And then, perhaps I will let her join our ranks."

-"The pocket dimension I created is the perfect prison, it never ends and if she tries to stay on a large orb it will disappear after five seconds of contact to ensure that she never has a moment of peace," Scylla said as she bowed obediently to her master.

-Jeffery watched Emily's torment a moment longer while he thought about what Kikki had told him. There was no longer a force in America that could appose him. He should have been pleased, but deep down he was disappointed. There would be no more great battles to fight, no more wars to entertain his subjects. Things would get boring.

-"Scylla, get the others," Jeffery ordered, "We're going to have a meeting in the war room." Scylla nodded in acknowledgment, "Right away, master." She briskly walked out of the room to fetch her sisters while Jeffery took one last look at the falling Emily. He used the device in his hand to close the window, he could watch her torment whenever he wanted but for now, he had business to attend to.

-Jeffery went to leave when he heard the voices again. He covered his ears and dropped to his knees from the overwhelming amount of noise. Voices whispering in his head, the same ones he had heard that brought him out of the darkness that very first day of his awakening. Still he heard them, sometimes they weren't to bad, but others they were so loud he couldn't stand it. He didn't know where they came from; perhaps they were the thoughts of his creations. They might be linked to him in some way, or perhaps they were the cries of all his victims trying to get revenge anyway they could.

-Either way Jeffery knew it wouldn't last. He endured the pain and suppressed the noise in his mind and slowly the voices stopped, just as they always did. He picked himself up and turned to look up at the two people that hung over his throne. "Well mom and dad, I don't suppose you two know what's wrong with me do you?" he asked, not expecting an answer. The frozen figures kept their silence and Jeffery left to meet with his generals.

-Jeffery entered the war room and found his generals ready and waiting for their orders. As he stepped in he turned to raven and gently brushed the back of his hands on her cheek. She closed her eyes and almost smiled as she received her reward for a job well done.

-If the others disapproved they showed no sign of it, they would never question his orders. After his display of affection Jeffery walked to the map and with a wave of his hand brought up the image of the American continent with the dark territory's boundaries highlighted.

-"Ladies," Jeffery said, "We have just destroyed the last remaining military force in the united states of America. For that I am proud of all of you, but at the same time I feel regret. Never again will we face a worthy adversary in this country; never again will we wage war with the United States army. And that is why..." Jeffery tapped on the map and it zoomed into the coast where the outer edge of the dark territory had finally reached the ocean, "we are going on a trip."