📚A world of nightmares never seen before

Athena has a dangerous encounter with a bitter enemy… but not for the reason she’d thought.

For Dainty Halloween contest: Monstrous Encounter

Characters: Athena, Amity, Pandora

Warnings: Athena experiences a near-death situation, and a hostile monster/creature is killed non-graphically.

Wordcount: 2,668

Vibe: uh oh!

AN:

aaaaaaaaaaaa im anxious abt submitting this one >__< just cuz its for a Big Contest hoo hoo

anyways athena is normal until she hears she gets a chance to punch her host’s assassin in abandoned city ruins that happen to be filled with an extremely dangerous alien species (which happens to be an ultra beast from hit game pokemon sun and moon (2016) for the nintendo 3ds)

what could possibly go wrong

(amity is also here i guess)

ok bye -explodes-

---

“So like, anyways, that’s the last time I’ll ever willingly attend a pet pageant here, yeesh.”

The end of Athena’s story was followed by a snort from Amity.

“Heh, jeez, I wouldn’t have wanted to be the one who’s glorified rat pissed on the queen, hah!”

“It’s not my fault that those… creatures seem to be held together by the genetic equivalent of tape and paperclips.” Athena said with a huff, swirling her drink.

“I’m just glad I get to end the day by relaxing here with a familiar face.”

It had been a long day for Athena, just like all the days prior. Ever since she’d been crowned as the kingdom’s queen, she’d barely had any time to herself. But Athena was efficient, and always made sure she’d have time for some ‘alone time’ in the palace’s thermal bath, just like old times.

Though, Athena didn’t mind the company on occasion – she thought of it as a rare treat, in fact. After a long and frustrating day, seeing her sister figure Amity’s face was a well-needed refresher.

“So, what have you been up to?” Athena asked, propping her arm up on the ledge of the pool.

“It’s gotta be more interesting than running around to public events all day.”

“Mm…” Amity muttered in response. It was a bit unlike her to be hesitant in speaking.

“…Promise you won’t tell mom?”

“Why are you making me promise? You’re not doing something that’d piss her off, right?”

“Well…”

“You’re not inspiring confidence, Amity. Just spit it out, I can keep a secret.” Athena sighed, taking a sip from her glass.

“I’ve been… going back to the Ultra Ruins lately.” Amity grumbled. 

Athena’s expression quickly grew wide-eyed as she struggled to not spit out her drink.

“Hey, wait, don’t look at me like that!!” Amity said in a scramble, before Athena could say anything.

“There’s someone there! And… I think they’re trying to get into my stuff I left there!”

“Oh, well now this just got interesting.” Athena said, lifting her brow and setting her drink down.

“I thought you cleaned out everything you had when you left.”

“I was MEANING to! But then this weirdo starts shooting at me with a crossbow!! Like, who DOES that?!” Amity exclaimed.

“So now we’re kind of at odds, I’m hoping I can just annoy them enough so they’ll stop trying to steal what’s mine.”

Athena froze.

“A… crossbow?”

It was quite the uncommon weapon choice, almost unheard of.

Almost.

The queen prior to Athena, who happened to be Athena’s host, was mysteriously assassinated one day. After a long period of tension, the assassin attempted to stage a coup, which ultimately failed and revealed their identity.

Despite Athena’s best efforts, the assassin was able to escape – a thought that had haunted her for months. The thought that she was unable to bring them to justice.

…The assassin’s weapon of choice, the tool they had used to taunt Athena…

Was none other than a uniquely mechanized crossbow.

“Thena? You ok? You’re kind of staring into space.” Amity said, waving her arm in front of Athena’s face to get her attention.

Athena grabbed Amity’s arm, with a dead serious expression.

“What did they look like? Did you see their face?” she said, her voice a bit frantic.

“Chill out!” Amity responded, pulling her arm away from Athena’s grip.

“Everyone except me’s gotta wear a special respirator in the ruins if they wanna last long, so I didn’t see a face. But they were wearing some weird black and red dress getup, if it matters.”

“That’s it…!” Athena said with a gasp, quickly getting to her feet with a splash.

“Huh?! What’s it?!”

“Amity! I need you to take me with you to the ruins, please!”

“Hey, wait a second-! Don’t you have queen shit to do?! You can’t just-”

“My lead advisor Coco can easily fill in for just a day. I’ll make it quick.”

“Thena, you have no idea how dangerous this place is! There’s these things called-” Amity started to say, but was cut off.

“And yet you treat it like your own personal playground? I’ll be fine. What has to be done far outweighs the dangers that the ruins foster.”

“You’re crazy. I’m not taking you!”

“Then I’m sure mom wouldn’t mind hearing about your escapades in the ruins despite her wishes, right?” Athena said with an almost impish grin, reaching for her phone that had been resting on the poolside.

“HEY, HEY!! DON’T YOU DARE!!” Amity said, splashing around wildly as she got up to try and reach the phone before Athena.

“FINE!! I’ll take you!! Just keep this whole thing a secret, ok?!”

“That’s the kind of thing I like to hear!” Athena said with a smug smile, squeezing the water out of her hair.

“I’ll get what I need ready, and I’ll meet you in my garden just before dawn.”

–

As promised, Athena gathered her things – which really only included a stylish jumpsuit, and an engraved dagger no bigger than the horn on her forehead. 

After consulting a very confused Coco, Athena sat on a stone bench in her garden, waiting for Amity to arrive.

Athena waited, and waited, and was starting to get impatient… so she grabbed her phone to text Amity asking where she was, but was interrupted by a voice as soon as she opened their text conversation.

“You’re going in that?” Amity said, in an almost mocking tone. She was still in her pajamas.

“I think I could say the same about you.” Athena huffed in response.

“Well, it’s almost like I have an immunity to the oversaturated energy that makes the ruins so dangerous in the first place.” Amity said, pausing.

“…Look, I got at least a proper respirator in my ship. Your species is resilient or something, right? I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

Athena gave an annoyed sigh, and followed Amity to her ship.

The spacecraft was on the small side, and while it was intended for two people, it was a bit of a struggle to fit inside with all the junk Amity had stashed on the passenger seat.

Among the pile of strange objects was a respirator that Amity picked out of the mess and handed to Athena.

Without any further words, Amity quickly started the ship up, and the two were off.

There wasn’t any talking during the flight, with Athena mostly browsing her phone to distract herself.

In what seemed like no time at all, the ship landed with a rumble and a thump. Athena needed some of Amity’s help to get the respirator on, but once it was snugly fit, Amity opened the airlock.

“By the way, don’t you wanna tie up your hair or something?” Amity asked as she exited the spacecraft.

“I’ll be fine.”

“Alright, if you’re sure…” Amity said with a sigh.

“Follow me.”

Athena hopped out of the ship behind Amity, and followed as closely as she could. It was a bit hard to distinguish her surroundings through the visor of the respirator, but Athena could clearly tell this was a skeleton of a city.

“Where are we going?” Athena asked, before she was promptly shushed by Amity – when Athena tried to speak again, Amity shushed her even more harshly, so Athena just figured talking here wasn’t a good idea.

Halfway through their walk, a gut-wrenching noise rang out – what sounded like a loud, almost human scream, followed by various loud impact sounds.

Athena stopped dead in her tracks. It was a noise unlike anything she’d heard before, and just hearing it put a horrible feeling in her chest.

Amity stopped too.

“We should get moving.” she murmured, before grabbing Athena’s hand and starting to sprint.

Athena did her best to keep up, and eventually the two turned a corner into an enclosed space, in front of a busted-open door.

The two took a few moments to catch their breath, before Athena spoke up.

“Can we talk now?”

Amity was still winded, but gave a nod.

“What… WAS that?!” Athena gasped.

“I thought the raider you mentioned was the only other person here!!”

“You wouldn’t let me tell you.” Amity grumbled.

“There’s a REASON nobody comes here! Look, just admit this was a bad idea and stay here to keep watch while I grab anything important.”

Athena let out a frustrated sigh.

“Whatever. Just make it quick…”

Amity hopped through the door, and descended into a bunker after entering a code on a keypad.

And so the wait began.

Athena heard a few more of the distorted screams, again followed by the sounds of destruction. She was worried, as they seemed to be getting closer… but the entire ruined city was so empty, it could’ve just been an effective echo.

She was starting to space out, leaning against the cold walls of the out-of-the-way pocket.

It wasn’t until the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps caught her off-guard.

Athena quickly shifted into a more ready stance, and fumbled to grab the dagger she had brought earlier.

The sound of the footsteps grew louder, until the person turned the corner and froze.

It was undeniably the assassin.

The assassin didn’t seem to expect to see Athena there, as they jumped a bit. But they didn’t reach for their crossbow – they raised their hands in front of them, almost as if trying to explain something.

But Athena wouldn’t hear it.

Adrenaline took control, and she charged towards the assassin – dagger in hand.

The assassin was able to swiftly dodge the attack, and began running off.

“HEY!!” Athena shouted, sprinting after the assassin.

“COME BACK HERE!!”

The assassin didn’t slow down, so Athena had no choice but to chase after them.

The ruins of the city were fairly geometric, and the concrete-like material covering the ground wasn’t too hard on Athena’s hooves – even if Athena was more used to catwalking than a high-tension chase, she was able to get quite the gain on the mysterious assassin she’d been seeking out for months.

The assassin turned a corner, and Athena ran after them – only to find that it was a dead end, and Athena had the upper hand.

“You can’t run anymore!! I’ve finally got you!” Athena shouted.

The assassin simply backtracked until they hit the wall, and didn’t raise their weapon, despite Athena’s hostile approach.

“Don’t be so loud, you’ll-!”

The assassin was interrupted by the same distorted human-like scream – but this time, it was so loud it made the ground shake, and Athena had to cover her ears.

There were some thumps that made the ground rumble, almost like footsteps… but Athena’s ears were still ringing from the scream.

She noticed the assassin run past her, which made Athena perk up after the recoil.

“Hey!! Where are you running!?” she cried – and as Athena turned around, it would seem she found what the assassin was originally running from.

A black and yellow body, with two large, mouthed tendrils coming out of a massively endless gaping maw…

It was undeniably the beast that Athena had only heard rumors of. The living embodiment of destruction and decay, unstoppable by any force.

Guzzlord.

This must’ve been why everyone insisted on keeping quiet.

Athena froze, but she figured she’d have to start thinking quickly.

The beast reared up as if it was about to make an attack, and Athena had no real choice but to duck and cover.

The guzzlord’s giant, spiked flail-like tail crashed through the walls surrounding Athena, almost like it was nothing.

The walls crumbled down, but thankfully, Athena was only hit by dust and small debris.

After coughing away the dust, Athena did her best to get to her feet – though her legs felt about as unstable and shaky as a newborn’s.

She had no choice but to run.

Athena’s initial idea was to run back to the bunker where Amity was, but she quickly realized that she didn’t want to bring the beast in her way. So, Athena bolted in the opposite direction.

Unfortunately, running this way wasn’t as smooth as it was while chasing the assassin – since it was the direction the guzzlord had come from, the once-smooth and geometric city skeleton was a bumpy, debris ridden mess.

Still, Athena was relatively fast, and the guzzlord was much larger and less nimble. She had managed to make what she thought was an ok distance away from it, judged by her frequently looking back while running to make sure it wasn’t getting closer.

But when she tried to look back one more time, Athena’s hoof caught itself on uneven ground she didn’t notice – causing her to tumble down in a cloud of dust.

Desperately, Athena tried to pick herself back up – but the pain in her foot was far too intense.

But despite the pain, Athena tried to continue limping on. But it wasn’t long until…

Athena could feel and hear the breathing from behind her – it was like a cold breeze, and sounded a bit like a spacecraft engine.

Instinctively, she ducked for cover – only to feel a violent force grab her by her hair.

The tendril that had picked Athena up lifted her high up into the air, and Athena was completely helpless.

Was this it?

I failed.

I failed my kingdom, I failed her legacy…

One, two, three.

Three familiar sounding shots of a crossbow rang out, and the guzzlord stepped back in recoil – though it kept a firm grip on Athena.

Though, not for long.

The guzzlord appeared to have been shot by devices that were sticking to it, and after a few seconds, they started beeping and flashing red rapidly.

Athena felt like she had a good enough idea of what they were about to do, so she did her best to shield her face with her arms.

Surely enough, the sticky bombs exploded, and the guzzlord let out a soul-wrenching scream before closing its mouth and dropping to the ground – finally releasing Athena.

Athena limped away from the massive downed beast as fast as she could, turning back to look upon it with horror as it slowly disintegrated into ash.

The… ‘unstoppable force’…

Athena’s thoughts were cut off by the familiar sound of heavy boots behind her.

She tried to scoot away, but froze when the crossbow-armed assassin offered Athena a hand.

“But… why…?!” she gasped in between her heavy breathing.

“We’re enemies, aren’t we?! You… you killed the queen…! I tried to kill you! Why would you save me?!”

The assassin sighed through their respirator and crouched down to Athena’s level on the ground.

“Nobody deserves to die like that.” they said, extending their arm once more.

Athena was baffled, but considering how shaken up she was, she felt she could use the help to get to her feet.

“You may call me Pandora.” the assassin revealed, her voice monotone.

“Do you need help returning to that bunker?”

Had it not been for the respirator covering her face, Pandora would’ve seen Athena’s completely agape expression.

Still Athena gathered herself as best she could.

“I…” she started, pausing to try and figure out what to say.

“An escort would be… appreciated.”

“Alright” Pandora replied.

”And please, take my word: the next time we meet, I will allow you to kill me.”