Minx Ep. 02: Return to Anima

The tiger-man lined up his troop, paced along the entire line once, and then stood before their centre, facing them. Minx had to admit the tiger-man was an impressive military leader, with his massive size and well-muscled body. She shook off the wistful thought that they might be happy together if only she were not the way she was.

"Attention! The General is sending us in there to face the hyperman. We have six hours to get our work done and then it's assumed that we're dead. I want each one of you ready to fight, but we're going to let Minx try to talk to this hyperman first. If she can convince him to leave Anima peacefully then that's what we'll do. If not..." Rudy put his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Without another word, the tiger-man turned around and walked to the entrance of the House of Morovan. There was a hesitation and then the entire squad followed him, with Julius and Fran keeping as close to Minx as they could. Minx had demanded a sword, but Fran and Julius had both shied away from the idea of carrying a weapon.

They reached the gleaming metal surface of the structure and looked up, following its curve with their eyes. Minx knew the material and construction of this place must be frightening the animen, because it was so alien to them. She put her hand out and touched the cool metal. There were a few gasps of surprise at her brazen act.

"Minx!" called out Rudy.

She walked over to him, her two companions following her. "You're wondering how we get in?" she asked.

The tiger-man nodded in response. Minx pointed to a small square panel to the side of the door. "Press that with your palm open. I don't think it'll be genetically coded for entry...I mean, the hyperman got in so we should be able to, as well."

Rudy put his hand out tentatively and the soldiers went quiet. Minx wondered how many of the men would follow them in; the fewer the better, she thought. Rudy's hesitation to place his hand upon the plate made her frown.

"Allow me, Captain," said Julius. Clearly relieved, the tiger-man stepped back, allowing the chimp-man to approach and place his hand flat upon the plate. The door opened silently, sliding to the left.

Rudy peered in. From her vantage, Minx could see the inside was lit, and there was a large foyer immediately inside the door.

Rudy and Julius each took a deep breath, and then walked in side by side. Minx and Fran went in next, followed by the shuffling soldiers. There was a large pile of gold and platinum bars stacked against a wall, but no furnishings of any type. The soldiers eyed the fortune, but Rudy and Julius completely ignored it.

"Which way?" Rudy asked Julius. Julius shrugged as he took in the size and appearance of the chamber. To Minx it was a typical building foyer, with a tile mosaic on the floor and ceiling, and walls made of some durable plastic. Lighting was concealed but Minx recognized the lack of shadows indicating there were multiple sources, probably microscopic ones.

"That way," pointed Minx as a door across the room opened of its own accord. "The hyperman wants to talk to us."

With renewed confidence Rudy led the way, with the two cat-girls and the priest right behind him. The others followed them in a tight group, likely afraid to become separated and lost. They passed through the opening and walked down a long hallway. There were screens on the walls, spaced a few paces apart. The screens showed images of landscapes that Minx knew were unlikely to be from dry and dusty Anima.

Another door opened as they approached the end of the passage. Rudy peered cautiously through and then led the group into the room. There was an abundance of machinery scattered about the large chamber, which Minx thought might be scientific equipment. She also wondered if this chamber was some type of laboratory in which Morovan actually created the animen, centuries ago.

"Ah, Minx, you came looking for me!" said Dragon, although no-one could see him.

"Where are you, Dragon? We have to talk."

Suddenly the animen gasped in pain. As Minx turned around to see what was wrong, she watched as they all dropped to the floor with their hands over the ears. She rushed over to Fran, but the cat-girl was insensible to the presence of her friend as she writhed upon the floor, crying out in pain. All the animen were in agony, but Minx could not discern why.

"Hypersonics of just the right frequency that it incapacitates the natives but doesn't affect us. So how have you been, my dear?"

Minx looked over her shoulder in the direction she thought the voice was coming from just in time to spy Dragon stepping out from behind an invisible wall. She raised an eyebrow. He wore his normal black, form-fitting outfit, but he had a belt and sword similar to that worn by most of the animen.

"Oh, a field that bends light rays rendering those behind it invisible. One of Morovan's minor miracles. Aren't you going to say hi?"

"They're in pain!" she said angrily, standing with her fists clenched.

"A blessing, believe me. I could have killed them instantaneously with all the toys around here, or done much worse. Morovan was a genius!"

"Turn it off!"

He frowned at her. "They did come to attack me, Minx. I think I'm well within my rights to defend myself."

"Please turn it off!" she pleaded, casting a glance back at Fran.

"Oh, very well." He slipped behind the invisible wall, and a second later she could see Dragon standing in front of a control console of some type. The animen relaxed, clearly not subjected to the pain any further. Minx helped Fran stand.

"I suggest none of you act against me!" announced Dragon, now facing the group. "I can make you feel that pain any time I like."

"What do you want, hyperman?" asked Julius, rubbing his temples.

"Amazing! I'll call you Corneli..."

"He has a name!" interrupted Minx. "It's Julius!"

The hyperman sighed and leaned back against the console. "Oh, very well. Julius, I want to rule the galaxy."

"What?" replied Julius and Minx, simultaneously.

"You heard me. This laboratory contains marvels that your uneducated brains will never fathom. With it I can modify you people into a race of perfect warriors. I can outfit you with proper weapons and ships and then send you out against the galaxy. I'll create an empire the likes of which has never been seen before!"

"You don't sound mad," stated Julius.

"He is," hissed Rudy.

"What are you doing, Dragon? I thought — I thought you were past that nonsense that the other hyperman believed in." Minx advanced toward him, wondering if something had happened to him in this building that had somehow damaged his reason.

"I'm not doing this for me, Minx."

"Enough!" shouted Rudy. "Minx, it's clear that he won't listen to reason. We have to deal with this another way."

Dragon raised his hand over the console. "I don't think so, tiger-man. Oh wait, Minx, is this 'the' tiger-man?" Dragon scrutinized Rudy carefully. "He is quite a specimen. He'll make an excellent field marshal, or perhaps an admiral in the space navy. What do you think, my dear?"

"You can't do this," Minx pleaded. "You really can't do this!"

"I'll fight you, hyperman!" exclaimed Rudy. "Hand to hand combat. If you win, then I'll serve you. If I win, you die."

"No." Minx felt a horrible emptiness growing inside of her.

"What possible reason would I have for submitting myself to such a wager?" asked Dragon. "I can incapacitate you, subject you to some of these instruments and you'll serve me willingly for the rest of your life."

"No!" shouted Minx. "No-one's dying! No-one's fighting! I won't allow..."

"Boss!" called out Ship. "We have visitors and they're not the good kind!"

"Who...?" asked Dragon. Minx glanced at him and realized he was asking her.

"Who is it, Ship? Can you tell?"

"Mercenaries, boss. And they're armed and heavily armoured! Hephaestus and I'll do what we can up here, but..."

"Don't let yourself get killed, Ship!" cried out Minx. Fran, Julius and Rudy all asked Minx what the matter was, but she waved them away.

"Oh, static!" Minx heard her vessel's curse and then there was a burst of it across the communications device. And then, "They're firing some serious stuff at us, boss! And they're training guns groundward! Take cover..."

There was a roar that drowned out all other noise, and the ground jumped. Minx landed on her hands and feet, but many of the others landed more awkwardly. Equipment fell around them. Minx watched as Rudy leapt to his feet, drew his sword and rushed at Dragon, who had his back to him.

The hyperman ducked at the last split second, drew his own sword and spun to counter-attack. Rudy brought his sword down quickly and parried the blow. Sparks flew into the air around them.

"Boss! Hephaestus has a free hand! Dragon gave him a free hand! Oh, I'm fighting beside the machine I love! They're in for it..." The message ended in static again.

Some of the other animen rushed forward, to help their Captain defeat the enemy, but Minx stepped in front of them and held up her hands. There was another explosion outside and the ground shook again, although less violently.

Minx turned her attention back to the combatants. Both had cuts across their shoulders and arms, but nothing serious. The swords slashed and whirled almost too fast for Minx to follow. What amazed her most was that their swords almost never touched. She quickly realized that each had sized up his opponent as a dangerous swordsman and each was waiting for a mistake which would allow for a killing blow.

"Don't hurt him!" Minx called out, desperately.

"Don't worry, little one!" returned Rudy. He stepped back as Dragon's blade narrowly missed slicing his chest open. "I'll try not to, but he is a hyperman!"

Dragon smiled. "She wasn't talking to you, my healthy, young, tiger-man rival. She was talking to me!" He feinted and then smacked the flat of his blade against Rudy's.

Rudy's eyes opened wide, briefly, but his distraction was long enough that Dragon passed by his guard and nipped his forearm.

Between breaths, Rudy taunted, "You do know that she's human, my hyperman friend?"

"Yes, I did. Although I will admit to being surprised that you knew."

The fight continued, and listening to the continuing banter made Minx wonder if they were fighting for the safety of everyone on Anima or merely to impress her.

"Stop it!" she yelled. "That's enough!"

Yet the fight continued. Sweat flew from their arms and ran down Dragon's forehead. He paused to wipe it from his eyes and Rudy attacked. He thrust at the hyperman's face, but it was a feint and as Dragon moved to parry that blow Rudy swung at his opponent's wrist. The guillotine blade came down. Dragon released his own weapon. His hands gripped Rudy's wrist and weapon hand, and with a quick twist the tiger-man was thrown into the air. Another twist, and with a grunt from the exertion, the hyperman swung Rudy onto the floor. The tiger-man landed flat on his back and his lungs emptied.

Dragon let go of Rudy and stepped back. A furred, feminine figure rushed past Minx. Fran ran at the hyperman with her hands clawed. Dragon caught her by her wrists and extended his arms until Fran was no threat to him, even with her attempts at kicking.

"Minx, call off your hellcat."

"She's rather upset at you, Dragon. Why don't you just kill her? Isn't that the way a hyperman does things?"

"I don't want to hurt her. I don't really want to hurt any of them, Minx. But I won't allow her to hurt me."

"And I won't let you harm her, Dragon. So we seem to be at an impasse."

Fran's fury had not abated. She hissed and struggled in Dragon's grasp.

"Minx, I was doing this all for you."

"Explain," she demanded.

"I'm not the only hyperman out there. There are others and we will likely meet some of them. My kind is not going to stay out at the edges of the galaxy forever. When they come I intend to have an army to either turn them back or destroy them. With you as my empress...you'd be perfectly safe." He turned to her and implored her with his eyes. "They won't be as kind to you as I've been, Minx."

She understood what that meant. She might be seen purely as breeding stock. If the old stories were to be believed, she might find herself confined for the rest of her life, as she was impregnated time after countless time. She shuddered.

"Fran!" The cat-girl wasn't listening, so Minx walked up to her and placed her hand on Fran's shoulder. "Honey? The fight's over. You need to go take care of Rudy."

The cat-girl stopped her attack upon the hyperman and he released her. "Rudy's dead, isn't he? He hit the floor so hard..."

"No, Dragon made sure not to kill him. Rudy's knocked out and possibly injured. He needs someone to take care of him. Can you do that?"

Fran's eyes teared up. She gave Minx a quick hug and then rushed over to the unconscious tiger-man.

"So you have a rival, as well," whispered the hyperman.

"She's not my rival, and he's not yours. It wasn't going to work out with either of them." Minx watched as Fran cradled Rudy's head on her lap and talked to him soothingly. "Maybe they'll work something out. I think they'd make a good couple."

"So that leaves you to me, then," said Dragon with a confident smirk.

Minx whirled about and punched him in the jaw. He was knocked back, onto the floor. "I don't belong to you, either."

Dragon rubbed his jaw, and then opened and closed his mouth a couple of times. "It was a poor choice of words. I apologize, Minx."

She sighed. "Apology accepted. So you're not going to experiment upon the people of Anima?"

"No. I'll find some other way to keep you safe."

"Good enough." She held out her hand. He took it and she helped him to his feet.

"Uhm, Minx?" called out Julius. He left the group of curious animen and tentatively walked towards Minx and Dragon. "Are we to assume that the hyperman is no longer a threat and that he will soon leave Anima?"

"Yes," she said. She turned to the hyperman. "I'm coming with you."

"Well isn't that sweet!" said a male voice from across the room.

Minx and the others turned to see who had spoken. Standing just inside the room was a person in a light brown battle suit. He was entirely covered by the blocky material of the suit, which had the look of porous ceramic, except for the perfectly smooth, black and opaque faceplate. The heavily armoured person cradled a large laser rifle in his left arm and bounced a round, black, fist-sized object in his right hand. Minx recognized the battle suit as military equipment and knew the lack of insignia and bright colours indicated the soldier was a mercenary. She had completely forgotten the battle in orbit! From Dragon's disgusted look she realized that he had forgotten, as well.

"Ship!" she called out.

The armoured man threw the black ball at them and Minx was unconscious before she knew exactly how.

"She's coming 'round," said a man, as the source of the voice moved away from her.

"Already?" asked a surprised woman.

Minx opened her eyes. "Who are you?" she asked as she pushed herself to a sitting position.

"I don't know why they have to walk around naked," complained the woman. She wore brown battle armour and had her helmet opened, each half of the faceplate off to the side. She was rather plain, but looked to be hardy.

The man, also with his faceplate split open, and wearing dark blue armour, shrugged. "Different planet, different mores. I don't mind the view."

"My name is Minxamallia Lazer. I'm a licensed bounty hunter."

The woman turned to her and sneered. "We know that! Don't you think we studied the whole file before we came to this godforsaken dustball? You've been captured and according to the code you and your friend, there, are booty."

Minx looked around and spied Fran sleeping peacefully on the floor of the small room. Minx wondered if it had been a storage room. It had been cleaned out, she realized, and recently, leaving only bare metal walls, floor, and ceiling. "So, what are you going to do with us, then?"

The woman laughed. The man looked away, almost in embarrassment. "Are you kidding? With the way you and your friend look? We're selling you to a Rixlox agent as soon as we meet up with him. You'll bring in a nice bonus to whatever the bank pays us for reclaiming its stolen loot."

Minx shuddered at the thought of ending up a slave on Rixlox. It meant a future as a sex slave until someone decided to torture her to death. "What have you done with everyone else?"

The woman spit at her and stood. The man looked briefly angry. "We don't have to mistreat them. Since when did you become a sadist?" he asked his companion.

"She just makes me feel..." She balled her fists and punched the wall, her gauntlet leaving a depression in the metal. The woman stormed away.

What the hell was that all about, Minx wondered, as she kneeled over Fran and checked that her friend wasn't seriously injured. Then she remembered her pheromones. "Is she always like that?" she called over to the soldier.

"Naw. I don't know what's eating her. Are you two all right?" He stood by the open door, but had his weapon ready.

"Yes. What happened to the hyperman?"

"He's restrained and under heavy guard. We're not taking any chances. None of the women are being allowed anywhere near him."

So they know about the pheromones, thought Minx, but they don't know I can produce them, too. "What happened in orbit? How's my ship?"

"Those two boats fled just before we landed. Are they on automatic or AI?"

"AI. They probably decided that they'd be destroyed if they stayed. I did give Ship orders to stay alive. I haven't heard anything from her since partway through the fight."

"We sprayed the system with interference. There's no communications to and from the ships, except for what we have." He shuffled his feet. "I'll see what I can do to keep you from being sent to Rixlox. It just doesn't seem right."

"Thank you. I'll — I'll be so grateful! The idea of ending up on — that planet just scares the Hell out of me." Part of her hated playing the imperilled heroine.

"I'm Sam. If there's anything you need just let me know."

Minx pursed her lips. "Well, since I'm probably not going to be on Anima much longer, can I have some clothes please? The cat-girls run around naked because they're all nymphomaniacs, but I'm just a normal girl from the civilized worlds."

"They're nymphos?" His eyes lingered on Fran and then returned to Minx.

The bounty hunter draped an arm across her breasts. "Yes, and everyone here kept thinking I was one, too! You can't imagine how many times I've had to turn away one of the animal-men, or come up with some alternate to 'I'm washing my hair'. And then that hyperman!..."

Minx raised her hands to her face, as if she were crying.

"Hey, take it easy. I guess you've been through a lot."

She heard him approach. When she felt the metal of his gauntlet upon her head she jumped up and struck him as hard as she could in the face. The soldier reeled back and collapsed against the wall, his face covered in blood.

Minx flexed her fingers and listened, but heard no-one coming to investigate. She skipped over to the armoured soldier and checked to see if he was still breathing. He was, but she had broken his jaw and nose with one punch. Minx picked up his laser rifle, leaving his daggers and grenades attached to the armour.

"Ohhh," murmured Fran behind her.

Minx cursed quietly and went back to her friend.

The blonde cat-girl's eyes opened wide and she sat straight up. "Where's Rudy? Is he okay?"

Minx knelt by her friend and put her hand on her cheek. "Rudy's fine. Relax Fran."

"What's going on Minx? What was that thing that talked to us?" Fran wasn't hysterical yet, but Minx could see the cat-girl was well out of her depth.