Rebecca’s panicked report left Veronica and Gwen more than a little unsettled as they closed in on the life signs they were tracking. Susan’s death was a bit of a blow. The woman had always been so cautious, almost to the point of it being irritating. Whatever creature they’d encountered, it was nothing to be trifled with. They found Fuuka and Kay-Em not far from the destroyed bunker. Thankfully, the pair were just as eager to get on board the shuttle as the MVA agents were to get back into the air. Gwen explained the situation as best she could manage to Fuuka as she gave her a brief medical check, while Veronica fought back her unease with Kay-Em. She’d gotten used to living in a world filled with horrifying monsters capable of killing people in quick fashion, but the android’s head was a thing of technical wonder that could not be denied.

“You guys are just lucky we were able to take down that big ass dragon thing before you arrived,” Kay-Em told Veronica. “The air wasn’t a safe place to be back then.”

“You’re incredible,” Veronica gasped, unable to resist running her fingers along Kay-Em’s face and the torn seam of her neck, doing her best to get a clear look of her inner workings as she could. “Who made you?”

Kay-Em frowned. “Buy a girl a fucking drink first, geez,” she snapped. “I’m not just some talking toaster you can go jamming your fingers into. Consent is important!”

Veronica pulled her hands back swiftly. “Sorry.” She blushed with embarrassment. “I’ve just never seen anything like you before.”

“And you’ll never see anything like me again, honey,” Kay-Em shot back. “I’m one of a kind. The Beta Test that went pro. But you look like the technically savvy sort. I bet you could persuade me into spilling a few of my design secrets. On one condition.”

“Name it.”

“You make me a new body,” Kay-Em demanded. “And this time, I want some proper nipples, dammit!”

“Veronica,” Gwen called. “Stop playing with the talking head and get back up here. Our job’s not done yet. We’ve still got life signs to track down. Susan and Rebecca were supposed to pick them up, but…” She didn’t finish the sentence. She didn’t need to.

A somberness filled Veronica’s face. “To be continued,” she told Kay-Em before heading back to the cockpit. It was a little crowded with Fuuka standing there. “You should go back and strap in. We got a report of something nasty in that area, so this might get a little dicey.”

“She stays,” Gwen said. “Apparently, our new friend has a talent for finding people. Should make it easier to find these life signs.”

“Is this talent tech based?” Veronica asked as she slid into the co-pilot seat, glancing back at Fuuka.

“Stop,” Gwen growled. “You can drool over shiny new toys later.”

***

Samus and Kara had spotted Rebecca’s shuttle making a hasty retreat. Their attempts to flag the ship down had failed. Kara had tried to fly after the vessel, but her powers were still returning to her after expelling so much energy in her rage slaughter of Zarya and Rayne. When the second shuttle arrived, they eagerly scrambled on board. They had plenty of questions, but the majority of the answers could wait. The only thing they really wanted to know was how much longer they’d have to stay in the Necropolis.

“You were our last pickups,” Gwen told them. “You said you saw another shuttle? Flying?”

Samus nodded.

Gwen looked to Veronica. “At least Rebecca made it out. Would’ve been nice of her to relay that information.”

Veronica shrugged. “That girl is constantly losing her gear.”

Gwen got the shuttle back in the air and started a loop back around to rendezvous with Fate and the others. As they passed over the bridge, a gentle tickle crept through Fuuka’s senses. It was so weak she almost didn’t notice it.

“Wait,” she cried out. “Down.”

“What?” Gwen asked, confused.

Fuuka leaned over the woman, fumbling with the shuttle’s controls. “I sense another life sign down there.”

Veronica wrestled Fuuka back before she crashed the shuttle, allowing Gwen to regain control of the vessel. “Calm down, damn,” she said, holding her back. “We’ve got the best sensors in any universe. Your talent’s on the fritz.”

“It’s not,” Fuuka insisted. “Please. I know there’s someone still alive down there. It’s weak. Almost gone. Maybe that’s why you can’t detect it.”

Veronica looked to Gwen. “It’s too risky.”

Gwen frowned. “Fate said leave no one behind. And I’m just as familiar with the sensors as you are. We both know they’ve been known to miss things. We’re going down there to check it out.”

***

No one was more surprised than Samus and Kara as Jack’s limbless body was removed from the Doom Whale’s carcass. After witnessing what had happened to her firsthand, they’d not had any hope of her survival. Even a few minutes later and they’d have been correct in their assumption. Jack’s dark inked looked a good deal darker against her nearly bloodless skin. She’d slipped into a coma that was rapidly escalating into death until Gwen and Veronica lowered her into the shuttle’s med-pod. As the machine whirred to life, it went to hasty work to stabilize the limbless woman, staving off her demise.

“Y’know,” Samus muttered to Kara as the shuttle took to the air again. “It actually makes perfect sense. That bitch is literally just too angry to die.”

Fuuka kept her senses focused on the way back to the MVA ship, but detected no further life signs. Reuniting with the other survivors on board was a bittersweet moment. There were so few of them left, but even the limited number that remained seemed staggering compared to the hell they’d faced. Fuuka and Kay-Em shared the fate of their scouting squad with Baroness, imparting the sacrifices made and revealing the cause of the necrotic barrier’s collapse. Samus convinced Veronica to synthesize some alcohol for her before heading to the med-bay to sit next to Jack’s pod. She’d developed a deep respect for the woman over the course of their nightmarish journey through the sewers, starting with Jack’s decision to spare her life. She was rough around the edges – even rougher now that her limbs were reduced to ragged scraps of flesh – but despite everything, she’d been a good leader. Samus preferred to work alone, but she knew she wouldn’t hesitate to sign up for another suicide run with Jack at her side.

Zoey and Xian couldn’t help but call out Kara’s name to see which of the two Karas would respond. Thrace decided to have a bit of temporary deafness, ignoring the call, while Danvers headed over to the pair. The survivors in Baroness’s group who’d seen the cost of friendship with the pair subtly watched the exchange of words between the trio, wondering just how long the Girl of Steel would last.

As the MVA ship returned to base, Gwen looked over the wild assortment of women filling the ship. They were a mismatched group, to be sure, with their varied outfits. Not surprising, given that they’d all been plucked from different universes. The MVA was filled with similarly varied recruits, but they at least all had matching uniforms. The sight of them all standing around, reuniting and conversing, reminded her of the conventions she’d frequented before her recruitment. They look like a bunch of damn cosplayers, she thought, unable to hold back the soft laugh. After a moment, she corrected her classification of the group. No, they’re more Cosplay Babes. She spared some thought to what they’d been through. She’d only seen a little of it, but that seemed to be for the best. This whole thing feels like some kind of pervert’s sick game. Cosplay Babes versus the Legions of the Undead. She shook her head and returned her attention to her terminal. Stupid fucking title.

Fate’s thoughts were lingering on the survivors they’d picked up as well, although her considerations were more practical. The group had been through a lot. And while they were now safe, she couldn’t give them any answers in regards to what the MVA would do with them or even if they’d be allowed to return to their home dimensions. She imagined at least some of them would get recruitment offers. They’d certainly proven themselves capable and they now had a knowledge of the multiverse. And with the CED growing stronger and bolder in their efforts, the MVA was very much in the midst of a hiring spree.

The Necropolis was an even bigger mystery. How the place had been created, what had powered it and committed all of the abductions, along with thousands of other questions remained unanswered. Fate knew the MVA wasn’t finished with the place. With the barrier down and the pocket dimension seemingly inert, teams would be sent in to investigate. She didn’t doubt the possibility that she’d be sent back in. She didn’t look forward to it. The place disturbed her in ways no other hell hole had been capable of, inert or not. At the very least, she could take solace in the fact that figuring out all the answers was not her job. And for that, Fate was very thankful. She didn’t need that headache.

***

Taken to the frayed ends of her sanity, Kaya watched the MVA’s arrival and rescue of the Necropolis survivors in a stunned daze, half-convinced she was hallucinating the images. After all she’d witnessed, salvation seemed impossible. Convincing her overwhelmed mind that the sight could be genuine and that, even if it wasn’t, it was worth embarrassing herself a little bit trying to make contact with them, she turned to the communications array, calling out a desperate announcement of her presence and her desire to be saved as well. Once the words started flowing, she couldn’t stop them, tears of relief and the terror of being left behind rolling down her cheeks. Her eyes shifted rapidly, from the communications array, to the monitors showing the ship, to the observation window showing her the glowing orb she was suspended above, hoping to hear or see any sign that her message was getting through.

A dizzying nausea struck her. Her vision swayed. The sound of her own voice grew sluggish and distorted. She screamed into the mic, begging for the same salvation the Necropolis survivors had been gifted with, before vanishing into the swirling reality void.

Disoriented terror forced Kaya to lose consciousness for a few moments during her transit between realities. She snapped awake moments after her journey ended, finding herself no longer tucked into the cramped interior of the observation satellite. She’d grown to hate the place after her long days of captivity there, but one glimpse of the new world surrounding her was enough to make her yearn for a lifetime spent in the orbital prison. She lay in a pile of bones, stripped completely of flesh and scattered out across the entirety of the endless landscape. The only thing to break up the monotony of the grim environment were the towering stone skyscrapers doted around her in disorganized fashion. Craning her neck to look up, Kaya’s dread grew as she realized the structures were not buildings, but massive grave markers.

A city filled to bursting with the dead had been a disturbing enough situation to contend with. Kaya was not prepared to handle an entire reality of the death. Slipping ever deeper into madness, the young woman’s dazed eyes full upon something else. A smooth egg, far larger than she was, hovered just above the surface of the ground. Swirls of shadowy purple crept across the shell, twisting into unnatural patterns that made Kaya want to puke. She’d not seen what had become of Homura, the Child, and the necrotic barrier. The camera showing the encounter had malfunctioned towards the end, allowing her to see only static and – flashing amidst it – nightmare faces screaming in agony. When the first crack split across the top of the egg, Kaya pissed herself in terror.

The flow of urine strengthened as the creature within the egg pulled itself free. Kaya stared openly at the thing, but her mind failed to truly comprehend it. She fought to, hoping that some manner of description might help her accept the thing’s existence, but the best she could come up with was a nightmarishly surreal fuck-up spawned from some madman’s clumsy efforts in Photoshop. Even that description paled in comparison to what she was looking at, but it was good enough to snap her out of her stunned, horrified awe. She turned away from the thing, already feeling the stresses on her mind relenting, although not much. The image was burned into her brain and she doubted it would ever come out. Finding she had the strength to run, Kaya did, although she had no idea where she could flee to offer her any form of safety.

Apophis stretched into its bizarre form, free of the egg. It took only moments to become acquainted with itself and the nest of decay it had been born into. Then it turned its gaze upon the solitary woman futilely rushing from its presence, illuminating her in the glow streaking from its single eye. Even at a distance, it had no trouble tasting her. The bouquet of terror and madness permeating Kaya’s sweat and piss stirred the devious side of Apophis’s fragmented psyche. Her identity felt important to it in some way. Not because of who she was, but because of who she wasn’t. Apophis labeled Kaya in the simplest means possible. She was wrong. Which meant she was prey. The being drifted after her retreating form at a sluggish pace, the hands of the bizarre clockface across the front of its body beginning to tick slower.

As Apophis grew accustomed to the labyrinthian pocket dimension, it discovered its power of creation through purely instinctive means. A glowing humanoid visage flickered into existence behind Kaya, equipped with the speed to catch her with ease. It continued to flicker as it moved, leaving behind afterimages of itself burned into reality, creating a trail of vibrant, dizzying colors in its wake. Even though the familiar’s creation had been a reflexive act, Apophis had an immediate intimate knowledge of what the thing was capable of. It settled on a name for its creation – Rip Van – and continued its slow pace towards the fleeing girl, excited on Kaya’s behalf for what she was about to experience.

Closing to within only a couple of feet of Kaya, Rip Van dropped low before springing into the air. He collided with her back, tackling her to the skeleton-littered ground. Rolling her onto the back, the familiar tore at her clothing. His touch was enough to wither the fabric down to loose, worn out threads, making stripping the shrieking young woman a simple task. Rip Van’s glowing prick rose from between his legs, leaving behind the same afterimages the rest of his body did, showcasing a colorful slideshow of his growing erection at its various stages. Pinning her thighs apart with his knees, he guided himself to her piss-soaked cunt. Both familiar and creator savored the piercing howl that escaped Kaya’s lips as the cock penetrated her.

Trapped in the observation satellite, Kaya had been sickened by the sheer number of violent rapes she’d witnessed on the monitors. At the darkest times of her captivity, she’d thought of those scenes and counted herself lucky that she was at least in a position of safety. Even if she remained there for the rest of her life, she wouldn’t have to experience the nightmare so many other women had. Now it seemed that the satellite had simply been a waiting room for the horror lurking to claim her at the very end. The surreal glowing figure perched on top of her was far from pleasant to look at, but it was better than the giant being looming over it. Her brain throbbed from the explosion of colors shimmering before her as Rip Van quickened his punishing thrusts into her. Her loins ached from the rough strokes, the pain growing worse as the familiar raped her faster and faster.

The speed of Rip Van’s thrusts picked up alongside the speed of the hands on Apophis’s clockface-chest. The being experienced the young woman’s violation vicariously through its familiar, both satisfied and horrified by what it was doing to Kaya. Her body writhed beneath her attacker as a disturbing change crept through her. Wrinkles began to creep across her face, perky breasts losing their firmness until they grew saggy on her chest. Her eyes grew pale with cataracts as shimmers of grey and then pure white consumed her previously dark hair even it as it grew and stretched. Her pubic hair – a mildly unkept bush at the start of the rape – spread and underwent the same color shift, becoming a thick patch of curly grey that covered the lips of her drying cunt. Her nails – finger and toe – grew a sickly shade of yellow as they extended and curled before digging into her gnarled fingers and clenching feet. In less than the blink of an eye, the youthful woman became a senior citizen.

Rip Van was undeterred by the elderly state of his victim. He fucked Kaya with blinding speed, the passage of time continuing to race through them. Her blind eyes rolled back, choking on the crumbling dust that had been her perfectly functional lungs a half-second earlier. Her breasts became flat and loose, clinging to her increasingly visible ribcage. Hair dropped away from her wrinkled scalp in dry clumps as her skin pulled tightly across her skeleton. A pasty cloud wafted up from Kaya’s shifting form as Rip Van’s strokes caused dried out flakes of her skin to peel away. He hammered away at the tight orifice of dried out jerky that had been the girl’s snatch as she was reduced to a fleshless skeleton beneath him. And even then, he did not stop. Kaya’s bones turned brittle, cracking under the force of Rip Van’s rape, until she was finally reduced to a crumbling layer of pale dust.

For Apophis and its familiar, Kaya’s withering murder took only seconds.

From Kaya’s perspective, it took much longer.

She’d screamed herself mute under Rip Van’s unrelenting force. Her battered mind shattered completely, urging the thing to finish already after what felt like hours of abuse. As the hours stretched into days, she found the strength to scream some more. The nightmare rapist remained stiff inside her, never once reaching a climax. She spent what felt like the better part of a month laughing, muttering out insults at her abuser about his inability to get off. When the laughter finally stopped, she picked up screaming again. Consciousness came and went, blacking out for stretches of time and awaking to find herself still in the midst of the never-ending rape. Her inescapable nightmare became a droll stretch of boredom, lying beneath Rip Van and feeling the rhythmic pumping of his erection sliding into her body again and again. She started to count the number of strokes. When she lost track of the number somewhere in the three-thousands, a spark of Kaya’s sanity returned. She’d lost enough of her voice by that point that screaming wasn’t possible, so she settled for sobbing. She went on like that for a while. She had no way of knowing how long. How could she possibly track the passage of time when her existence was limited to an endless stream of pumping. Her abuser didn’t even seem interested in changing positions or trying out any of her other holes. Long after she ran out of tears, Kaya finally slipped into a semi-conscious daze, drooling as she stared up into Rip Van’s glowing face. She remained that way throughout the latter half of her life, barely registering the ravages of time as they took hold and withered her away into nothingness.

When Kaya’s body was reduced to dust, Rip Van was finally afforded the ability to cum. His jizz – possessing the same time-stuttering qualities as the rest of him – fired from his twitching prick, riding a rainbow trail of static images before splashing through the pile of bone dust lying before him. With the familiar’s task completed, he faded out of reality, returned to Apophis. Satisfied with its first destructive act, the being was finished with the timeline it was currently attached to. Its existence was confined to the pocket dimension, but it realized it was fully capable of moving the entire dimension, connecting it with other realities where it could wait for a fresh victim to stumble into its labyrinth. So Apophis did just that, yearning for fresh meat while yearning to discover something lost.

Kaya’s dusty remains were expelled from Apophis’s reality. With a shimmer in the air, a sneeze of milky white powder clouded the cramped observation satellite, drifting in the breeze of the air regulators before settling across the bank of static-filled monitors and control terminals.

***

The Omni observed Apophis’s birth with keen interest. Witnessing what the being was capable of with Kaya filled the entity with the closest thing it had ever felt to parental pride. It let the creation go, content to allow it the freedom to explore the myriad of universes available to it as well as itself. There was all of the time in existence to make contact and build a relationship with Apophis. For now, it deserved to roam free and play.

Playing was exactly what the Omni was interested in. The Necropolis had been an excellent playground, but the location was used up. The being shifted its thoughts inwards, testing its own mood to see exactly what sort of game it was interested in setting up next. The options – like the Omni’s very existence – were endless.