After allowing plenty of time to bolster their strength and spirits with rest, Kim decided to explore the stone ‘forest’ and ponder the issue of the underground lake.
Shego was asleep, so Kim left her in as safe a location as could be found and walked towards the shore. As she did, she examined her surroundings.
The stalagmites and stalactites seemed normal thought she really had no idea what she as seeing. The crystal formations, however, were something totally different in her experience.
Whatever the mineral was, it’s crystalline matrix caused it to form small, semi-transparent wafers, stacked several inches high. The wafers snapped apart easily, and a small cut on her finger proved to Kim how sharp the edges were.
The wafers were in the shape of little isosceles triangles, each one almost the size of a playing card. Kim carefully held a wafer on the palm of her hand, testing its weight.
Struck with sudden inspiration, Kim threw the wafer at a stalagmite several yards away. Upon leaving her hand, the wafer flew straight and true, taking a chip out of the rocky formation. Walking over to collect and examine the wafer confirmed that it was not damaged.
With a satisfied grin, Kim began to collect more of the crystal wafers. Now they had weapons!
“Nice shot.” Kim turned to see Shego walking towards her. The taller woman was only dressed from the waist down, her full breasts swaying slightly as she moved. Kim forced herself to not become distracted by the sight. “Do you have any more of those?”
“Plenty. I wanted to take some when we cross the lake. We have no idea what’s in there.”
Shego nodded her approval and moved closer to the edge of the water. “How do we plan to cross, exactly? On your board?”
“Yes, using one of the thinner formations of stone to either punt ourselves across, or as a paddle if it’s deep, which is very likely.”
Shego starred at the lake. Kim knew that Shego’s trained mind was assessing the dangers they might face, and the vulnerability of their position. Shego acknowledged that they had no choice but to continue to more forward.
As she sauntered back to where Kim stood, Shego said, “Too bad there isn’t any breeze down here. We could use our clothes to make a sail.” Shego looked down at her bare chest.
“We could have used my bra, if I had worn one. I mean, after all… ”
Kim took the bait. “Don’t you dare!”
“Mine are still bigger than yours, anyway.”
“Oh, no you didn’t!” Kim ran at Shego and tackled her, though it wasn’t really a tackle at all. While Kim appreciated the levity that her mate could bring into this otherwise dire situation, Kim knew that Shego’s attempt at humor was a distraction.
Even in the dim glow, Shego didn’t look well. The most obvious change was how she had moved. Kim had known ninjas that were less graceful, but now Shego was practically staggering when she walked. It was far too dark to be sure, but Kim suspected that Shego looked drawn and even paler than usual.
Taking care to collect their few remaining possessions, the women carried the rocket board down to the lake. Still basically a surfboard, the ‘Moon Doggie’ remained afloat under their combined weight. Shego had agreed to ride in front and watch for hazards while Kim used a makeshift paddle to get them moving.
Since there was nothing on the shore that was exactly ‘paddle-shaped’, Kim searched until she found a crystalline formation that could be broken away from its base. The heavy, axe-like extension was hardly suitable, but it would have to suffice.
Other than the improvised paddle dipping into and out of the water, there was no sound. They found themselves unwilling to speak, as if breaking the silence would provoke forces unseen.
Though Shego normally had as much, if not more, upper body strength than Kim, the pale woman was too weak to make more than a token attempt at her turn to row. This made her sullen, so she rode at the front of the board with her legs drawn up against her chest and her arms locked around them.
After several hours of gliding across the surface, they began to wonder if they had made a critical mistake. There seemed to be no end in sight, in as little sight as was allowed them. At the end of the second day, by their closest estimation, the women sat down to discuss their options, including turning back.
Given that they were using an upgraded surfboard for a raft, space was at a premium. Shego was lying on her back and looking towards the glowing cavern roof, far above them. Kim stood on the board, straddling the other woman; Shego took full advantage to make comments intended to provoke her young wife.
“You know,” whispered Shego, “you might be more comfortable if you slipped out of those wet clothes.”
“And into a dry martini? You watch too many movies.”
“You would know. I seem to recall many a make-out session during an action flick.” Shego reached up and caressed Kim’s inner thighs.
“Cut it out, you’ll make me lose my balance.” Kim lifted the crystal paddle from the water, using it to playfully tap the crown of Shego’s head. The ‘Moon Doggie’ rocked slightly.
“Careful there, Pumpkin. You’ll tip us over.” Shego relaxed into a light doze.
Kim had become adept at controlling the their motion and stability in the water over the last two days. Kim looked around them into the watery void.
“Shego, I don’t think… ”
The raft heaved as the water suddenly churned beneath them. Kim dropped to her knees and shielded her wife. Shego clutched the raft and searched the darkness for the cause of the violent motion, but neither woman could see a thing.
And then the water rose up beside them.
Down in the stygian depths, many forms of life had learned to adapt to a world without light. Whatever the original design of the creature had been, it held no resemblance to anything alive today that lived above ground.
A column of gelatinous flesh, so black that it could have been spawned from the darkness itself, reared over their heads. At first a shapeless pillar, the thing rose up from the water to a height of several yards before Kim could see a crown of tentacles grow out from the top, like the branches of a slimy, wet tree. These tentacles were thinner than the main trunk, but quickly grew to a length of seven feet or more.
Kim was shocked to recognize this hideous creature. She had seen one several years before, while back in Middleton High School, albeit under a microscope. This beast, or its remote ancestors, must have been hydrae. You can find then in lakes and ponds, but never as massive as this.
“Shego, hold on!”
The entire mass began to writhe and twist, like a windmill caught in a hurricane. It lashed down at the helpless women and the apex of main trunk split to form a gapping maw.
Without conscious thought, Kim took a handful of the crystal wafers from her pocket and hurled them at the beast. At such close proximity, all hit the target.
They hit and sank into the dark mass with no effect. Did this thing even have normal organs?
“Shego, find the ignition stirrup on the board! Don’t hit the switch ‘til I give the word!”
Instead of an answer, Shego simply let out a scream. This shocked Kim almost as much as the horror she was fighting against. Shego never screamed. Sure, in passion, in battle, at telemarketers, but never out of fear. This steeled Kim for what she knew might be a hopeless fight. She would not let this horror end their journey after they had traveled this far.
It wanted food. What it got was a heavy, crystalline paddle in the mouth.
Kim hadn’t waited for the beast to strike. Making certain that Shego was securely hanging onto the board, Kim raised the axe-like paddle and took a swing that would have made Babe Ruth proud.
The paddle cut right into the black flesh, meeting hardy any resistance. Kim wondered in the back of her mind if the creature had any rigid support structure at all, but she had little time to ponder the question.
Having a form that was designed to hold and feed, the ‘mega-hydrae’ wasn’t used to food that fought back. It heaved away from the board and brought all of its tentacles forward.
Carefully avoiding any motion that could capsize their tiny craft, Kim was severely hampered in her options for defense. In essence, fighting this creature wasn’t unlike fighting a nest of large snakes. Surely, Kim thought, I’ve done that at some point.
As unexpected at the attack had been, and as frightening as the creature was, Kim was gaining confidence that she could hold it off; at least until they could find a way to escape the situation.
“Kim! Watch out!”
The unfortunate truth was that even ‘the girl who could do anything’ just couldn’t keep her eyes on over a half-dozen writhing pseudo-pods in such faint light. Kim was able to slice away two of them before one made contact with her shoulder, and then another hit her on the back.
Kim felt a numbness spreading outward from the points of contact. She could still stand, but her limbs were feeling as if they were encased in lead. She knew that she had been stung, poisoned with some sort of venom.
Already finding it difficult to remain standing, let alone swing her makeshift weapon, Kim raised the paddle above her head in a vain attempt to ward off further strikes and protect Shego.
All round them the water began to heave and churn as more of the nightmarish creatures rose from the black water.
She barely felt the pair of hands reach up and pull her down onto the board.
Shego had been living her own private nightmare. Losing strength and hope, the former villain was caught in a fog of despair. Slightly feverish but not quite hallucinating, her condition was making it difficult to stay focused on her surroundings. The attack roused her, but she found herself unable to take action, not even to assist her beloved Kim.
Her body’s resources failing, Shego was able to grasp a spark of lucidity when adrenaline coursed through her veins. She had heard Kim say something about the ignition control for the rocket board. Shego looked down past herself towards the aft end of the board, and saw the ignition stirrup. Her foot could reach it easily, but then Kim had said something about ‘waiting’.
Of all the people in the world, there was only one other person that Shego trusted; if Kim told her to wait, she would wait.
But then she saw the hellish monstrosity hit Kim with it’s tentacles, saw Kim drop to her knees, watched Kim use herself as a shield in the hope of keeping Shego safe.
Shego’s mind was clear enough to know that they’d heard this song before. With a supreme effort, Shego grabbed Kim and pulled the younger woman down. Shego kicked at the ignition and heard the cough of the engine. The watery cavern lit up like the Fourth of July from the rocket flame and the board was thrust forward, away from the attacking beasts.
One last glance back gave Shego a last view of the mega-hydrae that had stung Kim: the bastard appeared to be on fire.
The ‘Moon Doggie’ was rapidly picking up speed; soon it was skipping across the surface. With no way to know where they were going, Shego hoped that they would eventually reach the opposite shore. Holding tight to Kim, Shego, rolled over and looked ahead. There was little to see and little that they could have done anyway if more dangers lay before them.
They were both unconscious when the engine of the ‘Moon Doggie’ sputtered and died. They could not know that they were floating less than twenty yards from the ground. Nor were they aware of the many pairs of eyes that watched their approach with suspicion.
To Be Continued…