La Diablesse/What's a Handbasket?
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
"WHO DARES??"
"Classification: Unknown. Significance: Irrelevant. Directive: Terminate."
The energy weapons discharged in Dia's direction, but with a mighty flap of her wings she'd already jetted upwards.
"You... you are not from this world! Yet... you smell... human!"
"Statement: Past tense. Genetics: Altered. Command: Remain Still. Termination: Painless."
One of the larger aliens looked at her funny... and she suddenly felt sensations of vertigo, and tumbled onto her backside on the ground.
"Wh... you try and use my demonic gifts... against me? Never!"
Dia concentrated, and most (but not all) of the squad of aliens suddenly found themselves locked in... rather amusing dreams. Normally Dia's visions and dreamstates were of the perverted and erotic variety, but she had no real sampling of what these creatures found stimulating.. or terrifying. So she pumped them into the first thing that came to mind... an advertisement for Up and Away Burger on a billboard across the street.
"Sustenance....: incompatible! Ground Beef and Cheese: Too Rare! Reality: Twisted! Pickles: Held!" The squad of Rikti bumbled around dazed, attempting to sort out the fast food propaganda from their own section of the hive mind.
She flew away, the effects of the Mentalist wearing off, two of the drones giving chase for a few hundred feet, then turning back. She wheeled in midair once she was sure she'd shaken pursuit, only to hear a muted rumble off to her right.
Oh, for the love of...
ZZZAPPT! the twin plasma beams from the Destroyer intersected approximately midriff-level and Dia felt a terrible burning pain in her gut as the matter within her was thrown out of phase for several seconds. She tumbled again, then regained control and flapped away seconds before hitting the ground. Another plasma X intersected on one trailing boot, and she yelped, banking sideways between two buildings... the Destroyer continued on its course, the insignificant gnat of a flying demoness gone for the moment.
What in the 9 rings of Hell is going on? This isn't the final confrontation... these things are offworlders!
She nearly bowled over a Rikti Gunman taking a bead at a group of robots, led by two mustachio'd men in goggles and driving caps. The Gunman's shot went wide, and as one the squad of 12 robots turned and unleashed everything they had at the Gunman. He was mid-teleport when his armor was blown off and he perished.
"Hey Red!! Don't just stare at th' blighters, HELP! These alien bastards'r out to take over! and for God's sake, lassie, DUCK!!"
Dia ducked, and another of those plasma blasts sailed by where her head was. She spun on one toe, to find the rest of the squad that the Gunman was scouting on behalf of.
Right. Forget good and evil, right and wrong, pleasure and pain. This is war. And even a demonic concubine can fight.... in her own way.
She flapped back up into the air, the squad of robots (and a rather large man in leather, smelling suspiciously like an Eidolon) taking the brunt of the salvo. She peered at the alien that seemed to be directing the attack, one wearing a large suit of powered armor and wielding a massive gunblade.
That's it, open up for Dia, darling... ew.. oh your thoughts are iiicky! But lets see... ah! Yes... I can work with this...
Suddenly the soldier turned on his fellows, the monomolecular edge of the gunblade slicing two small Monkeys in half, and then the gun blazing away at a Comm. Officer who was in the midst of calling for reinforcements. All three perished before the Rikti commander regained his bearings... and by that time Dia has started to rain hellfire down on the whole troop, even igniting the noxious cloud of fumes that the dead Monkeys had given off.
"This is MY town! My subjects! My property to tease and pervert and tantalize! YOU.. are UNWORTHY!"
"Located: Metahuman. Directive: TERMINATE!"
Dia grunted as several plasma blasts collided with her, and quickly focused her strength to resist the pain. At that moment, she felt her understanding of the Rikti mind coalesce in her head, and suddenly she knew which vision to send at them.
"MAIN PORTAL: OVERLOAD!! CONTACT: LOST!! FAILURE: IMMINENT!!"
The squad froze, some trembling in complete indecision, some firing on their fellows, still others wandering dazedly. The other locals quickly mowed them all down, until all that stood was a badly injured Chief Soldier.
"Query: Origin? Subject: Nonhuman. Abilities: Impossible!!"
"Oh no, darling... you just haven't met anyone from Hell before... but don't worry... I've got you a first class ticket there."
And on a street corner in Cap Au Diable, among all the chaos and bombs going off, a single Rikti warrior understood finally what humans were talking about when they said "going to Hell in a handbasket." It was ironic, in that even though he'd finally grasped the concept... he would be unable to tell his brethren about it.
