Minx Ep. 04: The Sphere, Mesozoic Zone

The beast shuddered. Then it collapsed. Almost faster than the eye could follow, Dragon pulled his sword free once again and kicked himself away from the falling mass of meat. The allosaurus continued to struggle, swinging its legs and puny arms back and forth, but from the amount of dark red blood spurting forth from the wounds it was clear that it was dying.

The hyperman rolled across the ground, then pushed himself to his feet in one smooth motion. He looked around to orient himself, then began backing toward Minx. She ran to him, not quite believing that he was really there or that he had come to her rescue.

Dragon put his free arm around her waist. "Did you miss me, Minx?"

"Oh, yes!" she responded, surprised by her own response.

He gave her a smirk. "You know, it's not very often that a dragon has come to the aid of a damsel in distress."

"Dragon!" she pleaded. "Stop playing games! There are two more of them!"

"No problem, my dear. No problem at all."

The other two dinosaurs, just having realized that they would no longer have to share a single prey, began to approach. Their heads tilted closer to the ground and their tails rose.

"Should we run?" asked Minx.

"No. They tried to eat you, and now I'm going to teach them a lesson."

Minx turned to him in astonishment, only to find that he seemed perfectly sincere. There was a grim smile upon his lips, and he had stopped backing away from the dinosaurs as soon as he'd put his arm around her. Minx wondered if the arm was around her waist protectively or possessively, and then realized she didn't care.

"And exactly how are you going to teach these dinosaurs a lesson?" she asked, giving in to the urge to be sarcastic.

"I haven't a clue.

The dinosaurs both stepped forward, then snapped at each other once. Their massive jaws slamming shut with a distressingly loud sound.

"Okay, Dragon, you've had your fun. I'm scared out of my wits. What do we do?"

"Die together?" He tightened his grip on her waist.

25

A door quietly slid to the side, and Alice led her squad into the large room. About ten metres away from her stood a strange man. His attention was entirely upon a strange cloak that looked to be made of giant and furless bat wings.

Alice's eyes darted about the room, but aside from some pillars decorated with images of spiders the chamber was empty. She pointed with her sword, indicating the pirates with her should spread out.

"And you would be some of the pirates that Dragon required to gain entry to my world." It was more statement than query. The man's voice was rich and deep, and Alice could not help noticing the way his one-piece outfit was tight across his broad shoulders. She felt her heart quicken and she licked her lips slowly as she felt the hyperman's pheromones begin to cloud her mind.

"I'm..." She paused and cleared her throat. Her voice had been more soft than the commanding tone she had intended. "I'm the first mate from the King Midas. Who are you?"

The man turned to face her, his hands still busy over some small control box attached to the cloak. He was very handsome, breathtakingly so. Alice caught a movement out of the corner of her eye and spied the only other female in the room lowering her sword. She, too, felt like surrendering herself to this man.

"I am Mahar," he announced. "The man you've been sent to kill," he added. He had a smile like a saint.

"You don't have any weapons, so I suggest you surrender and I'll let you..." Her mind was wandering, but thankfully she'd stopped talking before she'd said too much. Damn those pheromones! "Surrender and you won't be harmed!"

"Surrender? To animals such as yourselves?" He eyed each one of Alice's squad. "You'll have to take me by force."

Mitch was on Alice's right, and he had always been a little bloodthirsty. He took a step forward. Mahar's arm shot out from his hip, and then the hyperman was standing at ease once again. Mitch stopped, took another step, then put a hand to his face and fell forward.

"Who's next?" asked the hyperman.

The pirates stared at Alice, waiting for her to lead the next attack. Alice recalled the duel between her former captain Black Eye and Dragon. "Microscopic robots?"

"I'm afraid I ran out of those some time ago. Knives. Watch." Both of his arms went to his hips then flashed out. Again he was standing calmly a fraction of a second later, as if he had not moved at all. A man and the only other woman in the room collapsed to the ground simultaneously.

"How...?" asked Alice, not quite believing how fast the hyperman had moved.

"Ah, these are very small throwing knives. I simply have to find an easy access through the skull, such as an eye or nose, and the blade does the rest. Once it is inside the body the blade splits apart and then spins. Very effective against the simpler hominids such as humans, but not so effective against dinosaurs. Would you like another demonstration?"

The eyes of the remaining four pirates pleaded with Alice. "No."

"Too bad." His arms were a blur of motion again.

Alice heard the thumps as two more bodies struck the floor, but she had already turned and run from the room. She bumped against the corridor wall, and then ran in terror.

She had no idea how far she'd fled, nor where she was when she spied the giant spider ahead in the hallway. It was just passing through an empty doorway. Alice called out to the spider unintelligibly, but the door closed just as she reached it. Alice had caught a glimpse of an array of armoured spiders standing perfectly still beyond the door, before it had slid shut behind the spider-crab thing.

The sound of someone running toward her nearly stopped her heart. It sounded like one set of booted feet and she knew that had to be Mahar. She continued her run, fleeing from the sound as best she could, but the echoing boot steps grew louder and louder behind her. She passed other halls, sometimes turning left, sometimes right, but most of the time running straight through any intersection she found. At last, the hallway she was in came to a dead end. Alice, with tears streaming down her cheeks, pounded her fists on the closed door she found there. Her pursuer drew near. Finally she fell to her knees in front of the door. A whiff of the hyperman's pheromones filled her nostrils. She closed her eyes and wondered what wonderful and terrible things Mahar planned to do to her.

26

"How long before they charge?" whispered Minx, while keeping her eyes on the two allosaurs that slowly approached.

"I don't know. I was going to advise you to shut off your pheromones, but I don't think it will make a difference at this point." He waved his sword before him to ward of the carnivores, slowly and probably pointlessly. "Minx? I just wanted to tell you..."

A clicking noise interrupted him. Then there were multiple clicks, performed in a rhythm, and increasing in volume. The dinosaurs paused. They looked around for the source of the sound that echoed about the courtyard.

"There!" called out Dragon, much more loudly than he'd intended to.

Minx looked up the wall of the tower to see a dozen gleaming, armoured spiders, each a little larger than Arachne, crawling down toward them. She wondered how these arachnid-knights could climb far better than Arachne, especially with their bulky armour, but then realized they were machines.

The dinosaurs backed away a few steps, cautious about the arrival of these unknown creatures. Dragon and Minx stood their ground. The spider robots stepped onto the dirt, and headed straight for the carnivores.

"They're sentries," explained Dragon. "I encountered them on the surface, when I was first trying to get into this world."

The two watched in fascination as the confident dinosaurs roared and then rushed forward at this new prey. Dagger-filled jaws lifted a robot. The screech of bone against metal revealed the immense forces the allosaurus had ready, but the robot continued to battle against the saurian. The other dinosaur went down quickly, one of its legs severed by a laser beam. Blood pumped onto the dry ground. The battle was over very quickly.

Dragon pushed Minx behind him. "When I give the word, run."

"Wait! If they meant us harm they would have attacked us as well." Minx stepped out from behind the hyperman. "If only Arachne were here, then she might be able to communicate with these robots."

"After only ten thousand years her people's language would have changed dramatically, while that of the robots would not have changed at all Minx. Arachne could no more communicate with those robots than we could!"

"They haven't attacked us yet." She raised an eyebrow at the hyperman and put her hands on her hips. "And you do have a knack for inviting attacks." He gave her a sour look, but there was a small smile there too.

The robots crawled over the carcasses for a minute then returned to the tower. Minx and Dragon watched in wonder as the machines climbed up the wall, seemingly immune to gravity, and then eventually disappeared through a temporary portal.

27

A finger traced along the left side of Alice's jaw from chin to ear. She refused to look at the hyperman and kept her eyes tightly closed.

"You've led me on a fair chase, young woman. You should be punished. You do know that I wanted you to stand where you were?" His voice was soft and deep, but very cold.

"I know. But - you were going to kill me."

"Perhaps." Mahar stepped up to the door. "I had locked this door," he explained, as it opened before him. "I didn't wish for my new servants to be roaming while I had visitors to attend to."

Alice opened her eyes and turned to the hyperman. Her heart was beating faster than it ever had before. She felt light-headed. She stood up, unable to stop herself from following him, and went with him into the chamber beyond.

The room was a hangar, of sorts. A large egg-shaped spacecraft sat in the centre. There was odd, mechanical-looking equipment along the walls, lifts and exos, fenced in areas, raised and depressed areas of the floor. Everywhere she looked was strange writing and symbols, except upon the ship. Alice marvelled at the smoothness of the craft and the perfection of its shape. It sat upon the floor on two struts, but had not tipped over.

"So you like my ship, do you?" asked Mahar, a trace of emotion showing in his voice.

"It's beautiful, but scary." Like him, she thought. Like Dragon, too. "Are you going to kill me?"

"Perhaps." Alice stared at him, trying to think of some way to save herself. Dragon had been swayed by her body. Mahar was a man, so would he also keep her alive as a sex slave? The hyperman seemed lost in thought for a few seconds. "I'm afraid I must be going, young woman."

"Should I go aboard your ship? Do you want me to wait for you to return?"

He turned to her in surprise. "My God! Do you actually think I wish to fornicate with you? A human?"

"Ah...Well, Dragon liked me to give him a blowjob when he woke up and..."

"You're a lower animal! I might as well have sex with a dinosaur!" He cringed. "I almost cannot believe that another hyperman could ever be so corrupted as to wish to have relations with one of your species!"

"I can cook," she suggested, meekly. She was willing to take whatever abuse he hurled at her, as long as she could be near to him. Consciously she knew this was an effect from the hyperman's pheromones, but part of her did not care.

The egg hissed behind her. Alice turned about to see a doorway opening down, becoming a ramp as it slowly lowered. A few seconds later two monstrous but semi-human creatures loped down the ramp on all fours. Some of their features seemed man-like, but the prominent brows, fangs and excessive hair made it clear that they were one of man's distant ancestors.

Alice backed away, as the two naked hominids raced over to Mahar, sometimes on four legs and sometimes on two. They crouched by him, waiting for his command.

"What are they?" asked Alice.

"Well they were once humans, like you. I've merely enhanced some of the recessive genes found within your genetic make-up and improved upon them. Now they're faster, stronger, less prone to think about moral issues, and completely obedient to me. This one is Paul, and this one is Miguel."

Paul's hair, or fur, was dark, while Miguel's was grey and going white. Alice stared at the two creatures and somehow knew that Mahar had spoken the truth.

"Why did you do this to them?"

"Why not? They were just humans. I might do the same to you, if you survive them. You see, I have to show these two that there are rewards when they obey me. Food is one. Sex is another."

Alice's eyes opened wide. "They're not going to eat me, are they?"

"They might at that." He shrugged his shoulders. "If they do I'm sure that I can find someone else to breed with them." He turned down to the two once-men, who were staring hungrily at Alice as saliva dripped from their open mouths. "She's yours!"

With that, Mahar turned and left.

Alice let out a scream as the two leapt upon her and knocked her to the floor. While they seemed as tall as normal-sized men, they were far stockier. They grabbed her with iron hands and began to rip her clothing from her. She fought, swinging her fists wildly and desperately.

Instinct took over in her as one of them tried to position himself between her thighs. She kicked up as hard as she could, launching one assailant almost a metre into the air. He fell across her and then she scratched and tore at his face, fearing she hadn't hurt him.

The older one wrapped his fingers about the other's arm and yanked him off of Alice. She scrambled back. Miguel's other hand clutched at her ankle and jerked her back to him. Paul was curled up, moaning painfully.

Alice looked about for a weapon, any weapon, then suddenly remembered the sword at her waist. She drew it and slashed her grey-haired attacker across the chest. Blood sprayed her cheek, but he jumped back. He put a hand to his chest, over the cut, and growled at her.

Quickly getting to her feet, Alice waved the sword at him for good measure, then turned and ran for the door. She could hear the sound of bare feet slapping the floor behind her. The door slid aside just as she reached it. Whirling around, Alice stabbed at Miguel, forcing him back. The door started to slide shut so she pulled the blade away so it wouldn't be caught.

Just before the door closed completely, she spotted Miguel rushing at it. Fearing the door would open for him, she grabbed the pommel in both hands and jammed it into the door, right by the frame. The portal opened, just enough to let Miguel squeeze his arm through to attempt to grab her. Alice took a few steps back and watched the doorway in terror. The blade shivered, then there was a brief whining sound but the door was stuck!

She backed away down the corridor, refusing to take her eyes off the jammed door. Eventually, her back hit a wall. She took several deep breaths, pulled her torn top closed, and then ran down the hall as fast as she could.

28

Mahar froze as he walked down the passage. The faint and somewhat familiar gentle clicking sound was a clear indication that Minx's arachnid friend was about. He advanced slowly until he came to an open doorway. Inside the room was Arachne, as Minx had named her, and two of the guardian robots that her people had built millions of years ago to protect this world.

The arachnid turned and faced the hyperman. She hissed menacingly, and raised her two front legs high.

Mahar drew his laser pistol and fired at the floor beneath her feet. He smiled as she scurried back. "So, you do remember me? And I suppose you remember exactly how dangerous I am?" He aimed at the arachnid. Then, he remembered how large the room was. "There would have been twelve guardian robots..." he whispered. "What have you done, you insect?"

He considered killing her then and there, but regained his composure and holstered his weapon. Arachne clicked curiously.

"I've hunted you for far too long to kill you simply because you thwarted one of my amusements. When next we meet I shall be sure to modify you just as I have the rest of your people. This world is mine!"

Mahar left the confused arachnid in the room and hurried down the hall. His vessel had just alerted him that Dragon was outside the tower with Minx, and that the allosaurs had been slain. If he was to keep control over this world, the hyperman needed to deal with Dragon decisively. The others were unimportant. After all, they were only human.

29

"So, you think they're in there scheming how best to strike at us?" Minx asked in a mock-innocent voice. She wasn't looking at Dragon. "As they were retreating up the tower I could tell it would be just a matter of seconds before they returned to kill us."

"Oh, very amusing. Everything else on this world is trying to kill us, so why wouldn't they be?"

"They look like Arachne, and she's my friend. She's a sort of large spider-thing. Ship believes her people might predate the dinosaurs." Minx kicked at the ground with her bare foot.

"Ship is right."

"Hallelujah!" exclaimed Ship through the cybernetic implant in Dragon's skull. He rolled his eyes.

"She's one smart artificial intelligence. She's pulled me through a few tough scrapes." Minx picked up a stone and threw it over the columns of cubic blocks.

"I've come to appreciate that, Minx."

She turned to him in surprise. "You're admitting that you were wrong?"

"About some things." Dragon walked over to one of the stone columns and ran his hand over it. "There are symbols here, perhaps script. Millions of years have eroded it so it's now meaningless," he observed. "You haven't thanked me for saving you."

Minx looked at the ground. "I've heard that you have a companion. Another woman?"

Dragon stared at Minx. He wondered if jealousy were the way to get Minx to agree to be with him. Then he dismissed the thought, realizing it was beneath him. "You didn't want me. I found something to pass the time." He shrugged. "She's only a human."

"I'm only a human, Dragon."

"You're different."

A shadow passed over them, and they looked upward simultaneously. A few hundred metres above them, a bat-winged figure was soaring in circles over the courtyard. Dragon ran over to Minx, grabbed her by the wrist and then roughly pulled her to the shelter of a column. He held her against his chest as they searched the sky.

"That was Mahar," stated Minx.

"And how do you know that?" he asked, too sarcastically for his liking. He glanced at her, but Minx had taken the question at face value.

"He visited me while Paul, Miguel, and I were floating across the ocean on a raft of trees." She rubbed her arm where the small wound she'd woken up with had healed perfectly. "I think he thought I might be a hyperwoman, so he performed a genetic analysis on me."

"I see. He didn't harm you in any way?"

"You mean aside from stranding me out here with no weapons and three ravenous allosaurs, and then ringing the dinner bell?"

"So, he's being a typical hyperman. Then I only have to kill Paul and Miguel for trying to hurt you. I've brought the others with me. They're likely still in the tower...if they're alive."

"Including your girlfriend?"

Dragon peeked out from under the cap rock and searched the sky. He pointed at a distant black speck. "There he goes. Although, why he's leaving I don't know. He should have been aware we were coming and ready for us."

"We're safe now?"

"As safe as we can be in a world populated with prehistoric monsters, Minx."

She leaned into him, and he suddenly realized how little of her was covered in clothing. His eyes dropped to her throat, then her chest. "You haven't shut down your pheromone production," he pointed out.