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Strange to say, this is my first Deviation of 2023. Sigh!

Yes, I'm still here. Thankfully! My one big piece of advice to anyone reading: *if you want free time, don't work as a delivery driver.* DOUBLE-sigh!

Anyhow, I'm finally getting back in the saddle after so long here on DA, and I kind of need to in order to finish my latest Slayers story! This is the fourth part of "The Case of the Spider Girl!" The art above might preview a bit much, but our heroes must go to save Hieko's sister...

...and unfortunately, things are going to get real dark real quick!
---

"The Case of the Spider Girl!" -- Part Four!

--1--

The raid happened early that evening, and after a lot of preparation.

Part of that preparation had to involve the authorities of the Tokyo Kingdom, naturally, very specifically the official agencies the Slayers Organization needed to work with to rescue Hieko's sister. It was the same for when Rika Tsukino needed to be rescued from the Sapporo Scions: the SO didn't work independently to tackle such major cases. They needed to cooperate with Imperial authorities for operations like this. (Well, most of the time!) In this instance, to save Marieta, the Ministry of Justice decided that the SO would work with the Public Security Intelligence Agency...the PSIA was equivalent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States. However, fortunately, this Japanese agency wasn't so -- to be polite -- subject to being used for political will as the FBI often was!

Exceedingly efficient, the PSIA's mission was to gather intelligence and investigate any and all possible criminal activity and worse that could threaten the innocent citizens of their kingdom. It hardly took any time for its agents to gather intelligence on the remote site that Hieko said was her home and prison, and the place where her sister must have still been kept captive. However, those of the PSIA quickly saw that the facility in question, a long abandoned public works installation sold to private interests, was clouded in at least a thousand layers of smoke and mirrors. It wasn't just the case of the PSIA being unable to confirm that Hieko's parents owned the site, they had zero idea who could have because it was handed from one shell corporation to another, and it would have taken days -- if ever -- for the authorities to figure such a puzzle out! Time was of the essence if our heroes wanted to save Marieta, and so such a concern was put on the back burner to be investigated at a later time.

Both the SO and the PSIA couldn't help but note, though, that this had similar hallmarks to the methods of operation of someone truly dubious...and as far as the world knew, she was dead. Kyoku Kuju had also used many personal 'black sites' for her criminal scientific work, such as when she created the E-Breeders. It had been long suspected that there was some kind of link between her and Yoshimasa Sakamoto, who the world didn't realize was in fact the Prime Demon Barumusu Yuuma...however, because Kyoku's many facilities now sealed off and watched over carefully by the Imperial authorities were also clouded under many shell corporations, people could still only theorize to this day who could have backed the renegade scientist.

Some in the PSIA even had to speculate if there was a relation between Kuju and Hieko's parents, who were also scientists...?

Again, though, there was a major crunch of time if they wanted to save Marieta, and so they were focused on that noble objective. In many ways the PSIA was more efficient in its operations than the Slayers Organization -- rest assured, Hikari was taking notes! -- and by the late afternoon, both the SO and the Public Security agents were ready for action. They quickly but quietly sortied to the remote location, and of course the Inazuma Fighters were there to be among the first ones to bust through the front door. Only Tobi and his girlfriend Soraya and the veteran Enko stayed behind in the staging area and watched over Hieko as the rest of the team and some valiant law enforcers took their final steps to moving in.

Above all things, they needed to be careful for Marieta's sake, and so scanned the location thoroughly with everything from heat sensors to other much more esoteric and mystic means. Unfortunately, all of their scans were telling them one thing. There were no signs of any activity, heat, or ANYTHING...

...the site seemed to be vacant.

The Fighters and everyone rushed inside as Hieko could only watch and pray.

--2--

Minutes later, Fubuki was the first to slowly walk out of the main doors, and she was doing a slow and LETHAL burn as Raya, Tobi, Hieko and Enko moved to meet her. Some of the Fighters slowly filed out behind her, along with PSIA agents who looked at turns flummoxed and frustrated. Enko had a bad feeling she knew why, but still had to ask, "Daughter, what's the situation??"

Fubuki looked at her mother and snarled, "There's nothing. We didn't find Marieta or anybody! We did find a lot of rooms converted into labs, but they were stripped bare! There's no computers or anything that we can use for information, there's hardly any furniture..." Beyond crestfallen, Buki looked at Hieko and said softly, "...nothing was left behind."

Hieko swallowed thickly as Soraya gently held her shoulders from behind...the girl asked with true fear, "Wh-what happened to my sister???"

Buki shook her head sadly. "I-I don't know, Spider Girl. Your parents and whoever the hells was running this place must have taken her with them...!"

"Oh, no...!" Hieko's voice was full of undeniable, elemental grief, which prompted Soraya to gently move and kneel before the pale beauty. The Fighter in green looked into Hieko's unique eyes as the girl moaned, "No-no-no-no-no, I should have said something sooner!" Then Hieko began to cry out, "Marieta's gone and it's my fault -- !"

Soraya swiftly lifted a hand to stroke one of Hieko's cheeks as she urged, "Shhhh! Don't say that, Hieko...!"

Tobikage tried to keep himself formal -- it was hard as hell to do -- as he asked Buki, "Do we know how long ago they cleared out?"

With a heavy frown, clearly distracted by Hieko's despair, Buki managed, "Chi was working on that the last I saw." Seeing the pale girl's agony brought her a lot of pain too, and the leader turned to the front doors. "I don't know how much longer -- oh!"

Fubuk stopped herself as she saw Chi, her sister Kiki, and Shizuna walk out to join the rest of the team. Pure business, Enko asked, "What do you have, Chi?"

With a grim expression virtually mirrored by her sister and Mama Shizu, Chikage informed them all, "I used Soul Measure on the few things that we could find in those labs." The firebrand regarded Hieko. "From what we've been able to tell, they started packing up to leave about 24 hours ago, which was about the same time you said you escaped from here. They must have started cleaning up and preparing to move the moment they realized you were gone. The only other thing I can tell for sure is that they were gone only a few hours later."

Hieko's eyes turned even sadder than ever as she tentatively asked, "A few...hours...?"

Soraya did the math just like everyone else and commented, "That means...they were gone well before Tobi and I found you, Hieko." Hieko burst into tears then, and Raya was so tempted to take the pale waif in her arms and never let her go. Instead, the kind beauty managed to tell the girl, "I'm so sorry. Even if you did tell us where you came from right away, it...it wouldn't have made any difference...!" But that knowledge absolutely didn't bring Hieko or anyone any comfort at all.

Fubuki asked Chi, "Were you able to pick up any clues on where they might have been going? Do you have any idea where they could have taken her sister??"

Enko advised her daughter, "That's not how Soul Measure works, Buki. The spell only lets a person see what happened to an object or environment in the past, not the future...!"

Shizuna said softly, "And we'd need an expert with decades of experience in Soul Measure who can read anything to even get a hint of where else her parents could be right now."

Homare groaned, "That's a long shot in itself, Shizu. Basically we're up shit creek without a paddle, huh?"

Kotoya quietly answered, "Not such a dignified way to put things, brother, but...you're basically right."

Barely a few seconds later, someone else came out of the remote complex, and she wasn't as unhappy as everyone else. Hells, you could hardly tell if this lady in law enforcement blue had any emotion as she moved slowly yet with purpose toward the Fighters and Hieko. The lady was gorgeous, but again her expression was so cold, as she marched toward them. Easily the most distinctive aspect of the lady was her fingernails which were also in brilliant, noble blue polish. She was the one in charge of the Public Security agents, yet she hardly even introduced herself to the Fighters. Until now. With brisk authority, she announced, "Supervising Agent Ruka Mitsurugi, PSIA." With a cool, level gaze that betrayed no emotion, she said flatly, "I suppose I have you Inazuma Fighters to thank for having my agency assist the Slayers Organization in expending a lot of time and resources...over nothing."

IMMEDIATELY most of the Fighters didn't like her...stiffly, Fubuki shot back, "This wasn't for 'nothing', Mitsurugi-san. As Zong-dono must have told you, it was to find and rescue this girl's sister!"

Ruka clinically told the leader, "And I have absolutely nothing but her word that such a thing happened, or that she and her sister had been held captive for all of their lives." Her eyes did narrow a bit as she looked at Hieko. "I do not even know this girl, so anything she would have to say for herself or anyone else is suspect at best."

Stunned, Hieko asked, "Y-y-you don't believe me???"

A fire suddenly lit under her, Fubuki took a step closer to Ruka and said, "Lady, I don't know you, but I do know you don't have to be so damn cold about this!"

Ruka responded, "I'm simply being a professional, Inazuma-san. With as much experience as you and your team has had, I'd expect more professionalism from you. Public Security and any law enforcement agency in our kingdom needs much more than a little girl's word. We need evidence that there has been any wrongdoing, and we do not have such things. Until we do have more than this strange girl's word, there is literally nothing we can do.

"Until you or anyone else can give my agency or anyone in authority more, I'm wasting my precious time explaining this to you." Ruka bowed in a sparing way and reported, "With respect, I'm ordering my fellow agents to extract. We are done here." And just like that, Ruka marched away.

Herene stared at the lady as she left and snapped quietly, "Cold-ass bitch!"

Marika moaned, "Herene...!"

"Well, she is!"

Kotoya quietly said, "Mitsurugi-san is also right, unfortunately. There's no point to being here another moment."

"That lady wasn't cold." That quiet observation came from Hieko, and she suddenly had the team's attention. The girl looked at the Supervising Agent as she left them and said thoughtfully, "She was just acting that way."

Soraya asked the girl, "You can tell...?"

Hieko reported, "I could see it in her eyes. You couldn't?"

Chi was also staring at Ruka with more than a little interest as she said, "I could sense something else, too. Can you, nee-chan?"

Kiki nodded and answered, "Yeah." Both she and Chik were Telepaths, and they both felt the same thing from the Supervising Agent. Kiki told everyone, "Mitsurugi-san is...afraid!"

Fubuki had a thin frown on her face as she immediately asked, "Of what, Kiki? Could it have anything to do with this situation -- ?"

Kiki interrupted gently, "No, Buki. What she's feeling is totally unrelated to everything at the moment. Me and Chi would have noticed if she was being deceptive about Hieko-san or anything else about her."

Chi concluded, "Something else is making that agent really afraid, but that's all we can tell for sure. We'd have to ask her permisson to read her mind to know what it could be."

Fubuki sighed and said dismissively, "Everybody's afraid of something, girls. Besides, you couldn't pay me to care to know what that cold lady's scared of!"

Kotoya gazed at his leader and asked, "Are you sure? It could be important."

Homare said snarkily, "Hey, I doubt that woman would say a damn thing to us even if we asked." He nodded toward Hieko and said much more quietly, "Besides, we've got someone else to think about right now...!"

Despondent, lost, Hieko could only ask Soraya, "Where could Marieta be now??? What's going to -- ?"

Raya gently interrupted again, "Don't ask that, Hieko. Please don't."

As tears fell down her pale cheeks, the girl asked, "Will I ever see my sister again??"

Carefully, with Heavenly kindness, Raya counseled, "Have hope that you will, honey. Have hope that you will...!"

--3--

When she was born, she was given a name she grew to hate almost as much as she hated her parents.

That was why she asked that she and her sister play a very secret and very covert game, in spite of the constant surveillance, to give one another new names. Names that would be theirs. This girl took a lot of thought to figure a name to give her sister...Hieko. Hieko in turn took as much time and love and one day, years ago, gave her elder sister a name.

Marieta.

As angry as Fubuki was, Marieta was feeling an incredible fury that could only build and build within her. Unfortunately, she could do nothing about it. Nude, she was shackled to a high tech chair that drained her of her mana in such ways that she couldn't use her fledgeling powers she was born with or her hypernatural strength, which was far greater than Hieko's. Because of this damn chair, she couldn't use magic or break her bonds. She was still a prisoner in this cold, dark place her parents and many more people hustled her to, and her anger had long ago graduated to that fury which was akin to a living thing in her breast, and she was so desperate to give that fury expression.

Still, her senses were above and beyond ordinary as well, and the chair didn't hinder them, really. That was why, in spite of the cold reinforced steel door to her cell, she heard voices through its seams. She heard the voices of her parents, voices she absolutely hated...and she heard a third voice of a stranger that only moments ago arrived to speak to them.

Marieta heard her father say with exasperation, "Mistress, we need to know what you're going to do for us! We must relocate and continue the experiments!"

She heard her mother mewl, "We'll also need our computers and all of our equipment back, mistress!"

It took a moment before Marieta heard that third voice...a voice that sounded like the purr of an apex predator...respond: "You need this. You need that. Well, I regret to inform you that all of your computers and equipment are in possibly more capable hands. At least, those hands had better be more capable than yours."

Her father's voice began to demand, "Mistress Lilith -- !" But just as quickly, the voice was cut short. A few seconds later, her father had taken a more craven tone as he said with pure deference, "M-Mistress. For over twenty years, we've served you faithfully. We've done everything you've ever wanted -- !"

The third voice growled, "Except that you haven't given me the results I require. For over twenty years, as you said, you have not given me what I earnestly need. For over twenty years, I have been forced to wait as you let the mission I gave to you become some foolish passion project. You bred those little girls unlike anyone else into existence, and ever since they've been little more than pets to you!"

She heard her mother blurt, "But both subjects were showing real promise -- !"

The third voice barked, "They showed me long ago they were inadequate and unworthy for my purposes! It's silly enough you produced two females, which wasn't what I wanted in the first place!"

She heard her father manage to say, "But we told you, there is the possibility they could grow and develop into beings who could breed -- !"

The third voice interrupted again: "Yes, yes, I remember, and that's the only reason I didn't have you abort them both before their full conception! Still, all of your experiments and observations since showed they might never develop the...traits I've long required. You poked and prodded at them repeatedly, kept them in their highly advanced cages for their whole lives, and what are the results?

"One of them escaped and now I have to cover your tracks, and all so no one sees my fingerprint upon all of this! Be thankful that there are many who can be called upon within the Cult. Be very fortunate that they have the passion to expedite my orders swiftly!

"Unlike others who worship me, you both failed. I had thought you would be so much more professional in your duty to me than that associate of yours, Kuju. Well, I should say former associate since she is dead now! I long ago decided that she was unworthy of serving my purposes because she was so unpredictable and obsessive, even if she had no idea she was serving me. I had thought you would both serve me better knowing full and well who I am...but it seems that I was so terribly wrong.

"And now you need this. You demand that. The only reason I humored you up to this point is that I have had my own desires, desires I desperately want fulfilled. If I was capable of such a thing, I would have honestly HOPED you would succeed. But. I have had to live with twenty years of failure that has cumulated into this moment, my patience has reached its limit, and I say enough!"

Marieta felt a chill in her cell as silence followed for a few beats...as her parents' master and mistress was making her judgment. The third voice finally spoke again. "The good news is, there are other servants and those I can contract into aiding me with their scientific knowledge of genetics. I have hope one day, fucking eventually, they will give me what I need. The bad news is, I am terminating your services effective now."

She heard her mother ask, "Wh...wh-what are you going to do to us? What will you do to our daughter?"

The third voice coldly answered, "'Daughter'? You've hardly regarded and respected her in such a way since her birth! I haven't decided the disposition of the little girl in the next room yet. But I know exactly what to do with you! BOYS!" Then Marieta reacted with a start as she heard MANY rush into the next area...there was some kind of commotion unknowable in context...and then the predator's voice ordered, "Take these two to the Maijin Realm. Ensure you arrive OUTSIDE of the protective bubble of my Bordello before you kill these fools. After they...acclimate themselves to my Hell, you may do whatever you want with them!"

For all of the heartless 'teaching' that Marieta and her sister were given by virtual reality, there were still many things they didn't know. For one thing, if someone born a mortal found themselves in any Hell -- and without any protection, as the third voice said -- they would die instantly because of the literally nightmarish environment alone. But that was only a new beginning as they would be damned to that Hell, body AND soul, no matter what they did in their mortal life. Most mortal Demons weren't immune to that terrible fact...there could be some exceptions, though, which was why Lilith also ordered that they be killed to ensure such a terrible transition. It wasn't right or wrong. It was just the way things were. Marieta heard her father scream, "Mistress, NO!!!"

She heard her mother implore, "Please don't do this! We've been faithful to you -- !"

The third voice interrupted with a barely contained, cold humor, "Whyever would I require the faith of failures? If it's any consolation, you will continue to serve me in my native Hell. After you reinitialize there, it may result in you becoming as mindless and animalistic as Dregs, but that's all right. Even as bottom feeders, you should still serve me quite well! AWAY WITH THEM!" There was a commotion again, the plaintive screams of her parents that were all too brief, and then silence.

It was a silence felt like it lasted forever to Marieta, even if it was only for a few moments.

What was going to happen to her?

That question was answered as she heard the electronic lock for the heavy door deactivate...it slowly opened...and Marieta almost gasped as she saw the woman with silver hair and skin the color of rust enter. The visitor was the owner of the third voice, her parents' mistress, as she stopped...scanned Marieta's nude frame with uncomfortable interest...and finally, coyly said, "Pardon me for simply coming in. Maybe I should have knocked first!"

With a tight, defensive expression, Marieta asked, "Your name is Lilith, right?"

Lilith, first of the Forsaken Demonkind and the so-called Goddess of Lust, hummed, "Mmm. You overheard my conversation with the failures responsible for you. And here I looked forward to introducing myself!"

Marieta snapped impatiently, "I don't give a FUCK who you are. Release me. Now."

Lilith offered a terrible grin, one that would have frightened the captive if she wasn't so angry. "Well, aren't you demanding! Of course, I can only imagine your mood being kept in captivity your whole life. Observed and experimented upon constantly. I understand you and your sister never got a moment of true freedom to yourselves." In a casual stroll, Lilith began to move closer. "No wonder you're a bit antagonistic!"

Marieta growled, "You have no idea how bad I can be, lady. If you don't let me out of these shackles, I will show you. Now release me."

"Patience, little girl. Patience!" Lilith stopped and leaned forward to rest her rust colored hands upon Marieta's shackled arms...the ultimate predator looked the girl dead in the eyes. "Indeed, give me just a moment...!" It took Lilith hardly any effort at all to use her PEERLESS ability of Telepathy to begin scanning the captive's mind.

Marieta felt the intrusion, realized, and she squirmed furiously in her chair as she screamed, "Stop it! FUCKING STOP IT!"

Completely oppressive, Lilith ordered, "Calm down! I'm just getting a good read of you. I doubt you would tell me about yourself if I asked..." A few beats of silence, and she finished with pleasure, "...Marieta!" Fuming, helpless, the girl could only squirm as Lilith finished her intrusion. Her Telepthic probing finished with care, almost gently. Now knowing all she need to know about the captive, Lilith commented, "You really are quite angry. You want so much, you..." With a sudden, wide grin, she said, "You want everything!"

Marieta shouted, "The first thing I want are my parents! I want to kill them, and kill them SLOWLY! WHERE ARE THEY NOW!?!"

Lilith sighed and answered, "I regret to inform you that they've already been taken out of your reach. Sorry if that disappoints you!"

Marieta was more than disappointed...she looked disturbingly devastated as she growled, "You lousy bitch...I wanted them...!"

The predator with ruddy skin dismissively waved a hand and proclaimed, "You can't always get what you want, as a not-so-old song says!" But then Lilith really looked closely at Marieta. "But, that same song also said that sometimes you'll find...you get what you need. I know the one thing you want most of all is to be free, Marieta. I also know you never, ever cared how you would get your freedom. Right?"

"Be kept prisoner for your entire life, bitch. You have no idea how much I need to be free. No idea."

"Hm. No thoughts about your little sister? You know, that other unique girl you named Hieko?"

It was honestly and unfortunately possible for the captive young Demoness to express even greater rage and toxicity in response...Marieta snarled, "Hieko left me...that bitch abandoned me. She said she loved me and she left me behind!

Lilith smiled with amusement. "Well, I wouldn't say that! Pardon me for being the...devil's advocate, but I know because of your Supervisors she stayed for several minutes trying to reach you. However, intelligent as she is, the poor thing didn't know the proper access codes to unlock your door." The beast in female form giggled. "Isn't that a bitch in this life and the next? No matter how much you know, there's always more to learn!"

Most regrettably, so full of toxic emotion, this girl had already passed judgment on Hieko...a most harsh judgment as she snapped, "That doesn't matter. If she loved me like she said she did, Hieko would have found a way."

Lilith gave her a level gaze. "You believed in her that much. And thus, it hurts so much to know she failed you."

Seething, Marieta said softly, "She fucking left me, Lilith. If I could see her again...!"

In the next instant before the girl could say anymore, the ultimate predator virtually swooped close...she laid her rust-red hands on Marieta's confined arms and their faces were uncomfortably close. Lilith growled, "Oh, do go on. I'm all ears! You're so tempted to hate her as much as you hate your parents-who-really-weren't. Are you really that driven by anger and bitterness? Would you kill your little sister if given the chance??"

Still seething, so toxic from years of confinement and denial of everything she ever wanted, Marieta finally said in a strong voice, "No...but I would make her hurt. I'd make sure she feels all the pain I feel right now!"

Uncomfortably, disturbingly close, Lilith nodded. "I believe you, Marieta...and I don't mind that. Indeed, this mortal world could become quite interesting if you were set free to run rapshod across it! I know your unique powers would make you quite formidable. I'm sure you would make anyone who might dare to stand in your way hurt. And that's exactly why I shall release you..."

Lilith let a beat pass, and she finally teased, "...but not just yet!" In response, Marieta became FURIOUS as she struggled in her chair! Lilith then commanded, "Calm down! Let me explain. I'm about to hold my latest auction in my Bordello, Marieta. I just completed acquiring the right candidates to make it one of the most profitable auctions in recent memory." And it would be most gratifying since one of those candidates included a literally just-captured Ryu Ranger! The one thing that would have complicated things was this Ranger was also the son of one of her most valuable assets: General Ira. Fortunately, Ira and her Circle of Sin were busy in the mortal realm serving Lilith on an unrelated task. If Ira caught sight of her son, it might cause...complications. It might even make Ira remember her previous life as Mai Miyamoto. That was the last thing the 'Goddess of Lust' wanted, so the timing really couldn't have been better! "I need to go to my native Maijin Realm now to fully focus on the auction, but when I'm done, I'll return to Earth at the first chance and we'll continue this discussion."

Lilith smiled openly in a most predatory, lupine way as she continued. "And when we do, little girl, this is what shall transpire! You will swear your total obedience to me. In return for being your benefactor, you shall bow to me as your mistress. In this world and the next, you can't escape rates of exchange, that good old give and take. If you say yes, then I promise your...orientation to my service will be full of the most carnal and unspeakable of delights. Then I shall release you with the understanding that when I call upon you to do as I say, you will answer me without hesitation.

"If you say no, then I shall leave you here in these shackles to starve and waste away until you die. Considering where you are at the moment, it would take a virtual miracle for anyone to find your body months or even years from now." Lilith looked right into the toxic captive's soul. "So! What say you?"

Again, most regrettably, the captive girl's mood only cooled to a low simmer. And this was how Lilith earned a willing servant when Marieta answered, "I say I'd be a fool to refuse you. If it means I'll be free, I'm yours...mistress."

TO BE CONCLUDED!
---
Sigh. Unfortunately, the good guys can't always save the day. The consequences of this turn of events will come to pass sometime in the future...so I'd start praying if I were you!

You must also be wondering what the heck Lilith is so desperate to gain from scientists like Hieko and Marieta's parents? That's an ongoing mystery that will have more and more light shed upon it as time goes by, I promise! Oh, and if you care, you may be asking yourself why a cold lady named Ruka Mitsurugi is so afraid? It really has nothing to do with Hieko...

...but her fear has a lot to do with OTHER things going on, and you'll see Ruka again when I start telling the story of a hero who's going to make her debut in SoDC7 in the near future...she's another awesome creation of the madman you know as , and she'll be known to the world as Agent X! :333333

For now, in the next and final part of this story, a lot of good people will need to figure out how to help Hieko next...! ^___^

Giving credit where it's due!

XNALara created by Dusan Pavlicek; XPS by Dusan and XNAaraL

Models:

Fubuki Inazuma, Hieko, Soraya Setsushi, Tobikage Koyanagi, and introducing Marieta, all by their mom, !

Lilith and that truly wicked chair are by the ever-maniacal ! x 1000!

Description

Strange to say, this is my first Deviation of 2023. Sigh!

Yes, I'm still here. Thankfully! My one big piece of advice to anyone reading: *if you want free time, don't work as a delivery driver.* DOUBLE-sigh!

Anyhow, I'm finally getting back in the saddle after so long here on DA, and I kind of need to in order to finish my latest Slayers story! This is the fourth part of "The Case of the Spider Girl!" The art above might preview a bit much, but our heroes must go to save Hieko's sister...

...and unfortunately, things are going to get real dark real quick!
---

"The Case of the Spider Girl!" -- Part Four!

--1--

The raid happened early that evening, and after a lot of preparation.

Part of that preparation had to involve the authorities of the Tokyo Kingdom, naturally, very specifically the official agencies the Slayers Organization needed to work with to rescue Hieko's sister. It was the same for when Rika Tsukino needed to be rescued from the Sapporo Scions: the SO didn't work independently to tackle such major cases. They needed to cooperate with Imperial authorities for operations like this. (Well, most of the time!) In this instance, to save Marieta, the Ministry of Justice decided that the SO would work with the Public Security Intelligence Agency...the PSIA was equivalent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States. However, fortunately, this Japanese agency wasn't so -- to be polite -- subject to being used for political will as the FBI often was!

Exceedingly efficient, the PSIA's mission was to gather intelligence and investigate any and all possible criminal activity and worse that could threaten the innocent citizens of their kingdom. It hardly took any time for its agents to gather intelligence on the remote site that Hieko said was her home and prison, and the place where her sister must have still been kept captive. However, those of the PSIA quickly saw that the facility in question, a long abandoned public works installation sold to private interests, was clouded in at least a thousand layers of smoke and mirrors. It wasn't just the case of the PSIA being unable to confirm that Hieko's parents owned the site, they had zero idea who could have because it was handed from one shell corporation to another, and it would have taken days -- if ever -- for the authorities to figure such a puzzle out! Time was of the essence if our heroes wanted to save Marieta, and so such a concern was put on the back burner to be investigated at a later time.

Both the SO and the PSIA couldn't help but note, though, that this had similar hallmarks to the methods of operation of someone truly dubious...and as far as the world knew, she was dead. Kyoku Kuju had also used many personal 'black sites' for her criminal scientific work, such as when she created the E-Breeders. It had been long suspected that there was some kind of link between her and Yoshimasa Sakamoto, who the world didn't realize was in fact the Prime Demon Barumusu Yuuma...however, because Kyoku's many facilities now sealed off and watched over carefully by the Imperial authorities were also clouded under many shell corporations, people could still only theorize to this day who could have backed the renegade scientist.

Some in the PSIA even had to speculate if there was a relation between Kuju and Hieko's parents, who were also scientists...?

Again, though, there was a major crunch of time if they wanted to save Marieta, and so they were focused on that noble objective. In many ways the PSIA was more efficient in its operations than the Slayers Organization -- rest assured, Hikari was taking notes! -- and by the late afternoon, both the SO and the Public Security agents were ready for action. They quickly but quietly sortied to the remote location, and of course the Inazuma Fighters were there to be among the first ones to bust through the front door. Only Tobi and his girlfriend Soraya and the veteran Enko stayed behind in the staging area and watched over Hieko as the rest of the team and some valiant law enforcers took their final steps to moving in.

Above all things, they needed to be careful for Marieta's sake, and so scanned the location thoroughly with everything from heat sensors to other much more esoteric and mystic means. Unfortunately, all of their scans were telling them one thing. There were no signs of any activity, heat, or ANYTHING...

...the site seemed to be vacant.

The Fighters and everyone rushed inside as Hieko could only watch and pray.

--2--

Minutes later, Fubuki was the first to slowly walk out of the main doors, and she was doing a slow and LETHAL burn as Raya, Tobi, Hieko and Enko moved to meet her. Some of the Fighters slowly filed out behind her, along with PSIA agents who looked at turns flummoxed and frustrated. Enko had a bad feeling she knew why, but still had to ask, "Daughter, what's the situation??"

Fubuki looked at her mother and snarled, "There's nothing. We didn't find Marieta or anybody! We did find a lot of rooms converted into labs, but they were stripped bare! There's no computers or anything that we can use for information, there's hardly any furniture..." Beyond crestfallen, Buki looked at Hieko and said softly, "...nothing was left behind."

Hieko swallowed thickly as Soraya gently held her shoulders from behind...the girl asked with true fear, "Wh-what happened to my sister???"

Buki shook her head sadly. "I-I don't know, Spider Girl. Your parents and whoever the hells was running this place must have taken her with them...!"

"Oh, no...!" Hieko's voice was full of undeniable, elemental grief, which prompted Soraya to gently move and kneel before the pale beauty. The Fighter in green looked into Hieko's unique eyes as the girl moaned, "No-no-no-no-no, I should have said something sooner!" Then Hieko began to cry out, "Marieta's gone and it's my fault -- !"

Soraya swiftly lifted a hand to stroke one of Hieko's cheeks as she urged, "Shhhh! Don't say that, Hieko...!"

Tobikage tried to keep himself formal -- it was hard as hell to do -- as he asked Buki, "Do we know how long ago they cleared out?"

With a heavy frown, clearly distracted by Hieko's despair, Buki managed, "Chi was working on that the last I saw." Seeing the pale girl's agony brought her a lot of pain too, and the leader turned to the front doors. "I don't know how much longer -- oh!"

Fubuk stopped herself as she saw Chi, her sister Kiki, and Shizuna walk out to join the rest of the team. Pure business, Enko asked, "What do you have, Chi?"

With a grim expression virtually mirrored by her sister and Mama Shizu, Chikage informed them all, "I used Soul Measure on the few things that we could find in those labs." The firebrand regarded Hieko. "From what we've been able to tell, they started packing up to leave about 24 hours ago, which was about the same time you said you escaped from here. They must have started cleaning up and preparing to move the moment they realized you were gone. The only other thing I can tell for sure is that they were gone only a few hours later."

Hieko's eyes turned even sadder than ever as she tentatively asked, "A few...hours...?"

Soraya did the math just like everyone else and commented, "That means...they were gone well before Tobi and I found you, Hieko." Hieko burst into tears then, and Raya was so tempted to take the pale waif in her arms and never let her go. Instead, the kind beauty managed to tell the girl, "I'm so sorry. Even if you did tell us where you came from right away, it...it wouldn't have made any difference...!" But that knowledge absolutely didn't bring Hieko or anyone any comfort at all.

Fubuki asked Chi, "Were you able to pick up any clues on where they might have been going? Do you have any idea where they could have taken her sister??"

Enko advised her daughter, "That's not how Soul Measure works, Buki. The spell only lets a person see what happened to an object or environment in the past, not the future...!"

Shizuna said softly, "And we'd need an expert with decades of experience in Soul Measure who can read anything to even get a hint of where else her parents could be right now."

Homare groaned, "That's a long shot in itself, Shizu. Basically we're up shit creek without a paddle, huh?"

Kotoya quietly answered, "Not such a dignified way to put things, brother, but...you're basically right."

Barely a few seconds later, someone else came out of the remote complex, and she wasn't as unhappy as everyone else. Hells, you could hardly tell if this lady in law enforcement blue had any emotion as she moved slowly yet with purpose toward the Fighters and Hieko. The lady was gorgeous, but again her expression was so cold, as she marched toward them. Easily the most distinctive aspect of the lady was her fingernails which were also in brilliant, noble blue polish. She was the one in charge of the Public Security agents, yet she hardly even introduced herself to the Fighters. Until now. With brisk authority, she announced, "Supervising Agent Ruka Mitsurugi, PSIA." With a cool, level gaze that betrayed no emotion, she said flatly, "I suppose I have you Inazuma Fighters to thank for having my agency assist the Slayers Organization in expending a lot of time and resources...over nothing."

IMMEDIATELY most of the Fighters didn't like her...stiffly, Fubuki shot back, "This wasn't for 'nothing', Mitsurugi-san. As Zong-dono must have told you, it was to find and rescue this girl's sister!"

Ruka clinically told the leader, "And I have absolutely nothing but her word that such a thing happened, or that she and her sister had been held captive for all of their lives." Her eyes did narrow a bit as she looked at Hieko. "I do not even know this girl, so anything she would have to say for herself or anyone else is suspect at best."

Stunned, Hieko asked, "Y-y-you don't believe me???"

A fire suddenly lit under her, Fubuki took a step closer to Ruka and said, "Lady, I don't know you, but I do know you don't have to be so damn cold about this!"

Ruka responded, "I'm simply being a professional, Inazuma-san. With as much experience as you and your team has had, I'd expect more professionalism from you. Public Security and any law enforcement agency in our kingdom needs much more than a little girl's word. We need evidence that there has been any wrongdoing, and we do not have such things. Until we do have more than this strange girl's word, there is literally nothing we can do.

"Until you or anyone else can give my agency or anyone in authority more, I'm wasting my precious time explaining this to you." Ruka bowed in a sparing way and reported, "With respect, I'm ordering my fellow agents to extract. We are done here." And just like that, Ruka marched away.

Herene stared at the lady as she left and snapped quietly, "Cold-ass bitch!"

Marika moaned, "Herene...!"

"Well, she is!"

Kotoya quietly said, "Mitsurugi-san is also right, unfortunately. There's no point to being here another moment."

"That lady wasn't cold." That quiet observation came from Hieko, and she suddenly had the team's attention. The girl looked at the Supervising Agent as she left them and said thoughtfully, "She was just acting that way."

Soraya asked the girl, "You can tell...?"

Hieko reported, "I could see it in her eyes. You couldn't?"

Chi was also staring at Ruka with more than a little interest as she said, "I could sense something else, too. Can you, nee-chan?"

Kiki nodded and answered, "Yeah." Both she and Chik were Telepaths, and they both felt the same thing from the Supervising Agent. Kiki told everyone, "Mitsurugi-san is...afraid!"

Fubuki had a thin frown on her face as she immediately asked, "Of what, Kiki? Could it have anything to do with this situation -- ?"

Kiki interrupted gently, "No, Buki. What she's feeling is totally unrelated to everything at the moment. Me and Chi would have noticed if she was being deceptive about Hieko-san or anything else about her."

Chi concluded, "Something else is making that agent really afraid, but that's all we can tell for sure. We'd have to ask her permisson to read her mind to know what it could be."

Fubuki sighed and said dismissively, "Everybody's afraid of something, girls. Besides, you couldn't pay me to care to know what that cold lady's scared of!"

Kotoya gazed at his leader and asked, "Are you sure? It could be important."

Homare said snarkily, "Hey, I doubt that woman would say a damn thing to us even if we asked." He nodded toward Hieko and said much more quietly, "Besides, we've got someone else to think about right now...!"

Despondent, lost, Hieko could only ask Soraya, "Where could Marieta be now??? What's going to -- ?"

Raya gently interrupted again, "Don't ask that, Hieko. Please don't."

As tears fell down her pale cheeks, the girl asked, "Will I ever see my sister again??"

Carefully, with Heavenly kindness, Raya counseled, "Have hope that you will, honey. Have hope that you will...!"

--3--

When she was born, she was given a name she grew to hate almost as much as she hated her parents.

That was why she asked that she and her sister play a very secret and very covert game, in spite of the constant surveillance, to give one another new names. Names that would be theirs. This girl took a lot of thought to figure a name to give her sister...Hieko. Hieko in turn took as much time and love and one day, years ago, gave her elder sister a name.

Marieta.

As angry as Fubuki was, Marieta was feeling an incredible fury that could only build and build within her. Unfortunately, she could do nothing about it. Nude, she was shackled to a high tech chair that drained her of her mana in such ways that she couldn't use her fledgeling powers she was born with or her hypernatural strength, which was far greater than Hieko's. Because of this damn chair, she couldn't use magic or break her bonds. She was still a prisoner in this cold, dark place her parents and many more people hustled her to, and her anger had long ago graduated to that fury which was akin to a living thing in her breast, and she was so desperate to give that fury expression.

Still, her senses were above and beyond ordinary as well, and the chair didn't hinder them, really. That was why, in spite of the cold reinforced steel door to her cell, she heard voices through its seams. She heard the voices of her parents, voices she absolutely hated...and she heard a third voice of a stranger that only moments ago arrived to speak to them.

Marieta heard her father say with exasperation, "Mistress, we need to know what you're going to do for us! We must relocate and continue the experiments!"

She heard her mother mewl, "We'll also need our computers and all of our equipment back, mistress!"

It took a moment before Marieta heard that third voice...a voice that sounded like the purr of an apex predator...respond: "You need this. You need that. Well, I regret to inform you that all of your computers and equipment are in possibly more capable hands. At least, those hands had better be more capable than yours."

Her father's voice began to demand, "Mistress Lilith -- !" But just as quickly, the voice was cut short. A few seconds later, her father had taken a more craven tone as he said with pure deference, "M-Mistress. For over twenty years, we've served you faithfully. We've done everything you've ever wanted -- !"

The third voice growled, "Except that you haven't given me the results I require. For over twenty years, as you said, you have not given me what I earnestly need. For over twenty years, I have been forced to wait as you let the mission I gave to you become some foolish passion project. You bred those little girls unlike anyone else into existence, and ever since they've been little more than pets to you!"

She heard her mother blurt, "But both subjects were showing real promise -- !"

The third voice barked, "They showed me long ago they were inadequate and unworthy for my purposes! It's silly enough you produced two females, which wasn't what I wanted in the first place!"

She heard her father manage to say, "But we told you, there is the possibility they could grow and develop into beings who could breed -- !"

The third voice interrupted again: "Yes, yes, I remember, and that's the only reason I didn't have you abort them both before their full conception! Still, all of your experiments and observations since showed they might never develop the...traits I've long required. You poked and prodded at them repeatedly, kept them in their highly advanced cages for their whole lives, and what are the results?

"One of them escaped and now I have to cover your tracks, and all so no one sees my fingerprint upon all of this! Be thankful that there are many who can be called upon within the Cult. Be very fortunate that they have the passion to expedite my orders swiftly!

"Unlike others who worship me, you both failed. I had thought you would be so much more professional in your duty to me than that associate of yours, Kuju. Well, I should say former associate since she is dead now! I long ago decided that she was unworthy of serving my purposes because she was so unpredictable and obsessive, even if she had no idea she was serving me. I had thought you would both serve me better knowing full and well who I am...but it seems that I was so terribly wrong.

"And now you need this. You demand that. The only reason I humored you up to this point is that I have had my own desires, desires I desperately want fulfilled. If I was capable of such a thing, I would have honestly HOPED you would succeed. But. I have had to live with twenty years of failure that has cumulated into this moment, my patience has reached its limit, and I say enough!"

Marieta felt a chill in her cell as silence followed for a few beats...as her parents' master and mistress was making her judgment. The third voice finally spoke again. "The good news is, there are other servants and those I can contract into aiding me with their scientific knowledge of genetics. I have hope one day, fucking eventually, they will give me what I need. The bad news is, I am terminating your services effective now."

She heard her mother ask, "Wh...wh-what are you going to do to us? What will you do to our daughter?"

The third voice coldly answered, "'Daughter'? You've hardly regarded and respected her in such a way since her birth! I haven't decided the disposition of the little girl in the next room yet. But I know exactly what to do with you! BOYS!" Then Marieta reacted with a start as she heard MANY rush into the next area...there was some kind of commotion unknowable in context...and then the predator's voice ordered, "Take these two to the Maijin Realm. Ensure you arrive OUTSIDE of the protective bubble of my Bordello before you kill these fools. After they...acclimate themselves to my Hell, you may do whatever you want with them!"

For all of the heartless 'teaching' that Marieta and her sister were given by virtual reality, there were still many things they didn't know. For one thing, if someone born a mortal found themselves in any Hell -- and without any protection, as the third voice said -- they would die instantly because of the literally nightmarish environment alone. But that was only a new beginning as they would be damned to that Hell, body AND soul, no matter what they did in their mortal life. Most mortal Demons weren't immune to that terrible fact...there could be some exceptions, though, which was why Lilith also ordered that they be killed to ensure such a terrible transition. It wasn't right or wrong. It was just the way things were. Marieta heard her father scream, "Mistress, NO!!!"

She heard her mother implore, "Please don't do this! We've been faithful to you -- !"

The third voice interrupted with a barely contained, cold humor, "Whyever would I require the faith of failures? If it's any consolation, you will continue to serve me in my native Hell. After you reinitialize there, it may result in you becoming as mindless and animalistic as Dregs, but that's all right. Even as bottom feeders, you should still serve me quite well! AWAY WITH THEM!" There was a commotion again, the plaintive screams of her parents that were all too brief, and then silence.

It was a silence felt like it lasted forever to Marieta, even if it was only for a few moments.

What was going to happen to her?

That question was answered as she heard the electronic lock for the heavy door deactivate...it slowly opened...and Marieta almost gasped as she saw the woman with silver hair and skin the color of rust enter. The visitor was the owner of the third voice, her parents' mistress, as she stopped...scanned Marieta's nude frame with uncomfortable interest...and finally, coyly said, "Pardon me for simply coming in. Maybe I should have knocked first!"

With a tight, defensive expression, Marieta asked, "Your name is Lilith, right?"

Lilith, first of the Forsaken Demonkind and the so-called Goddess of Lust, hummed, "Mmm. You overheard my conversation with the failures responsible for you. And here I looked forward to introducing myself!"

Marieta snapped impatiently, "I don't give a FUCK who you are. Release me. Now."

Lilith offered a terrible grin, one that would have frightened the captive if she wasn't so angry. "Well, aren't you demanding! Of course, I can only imagine your mood being kept in captivity your whole life. Observed and experimented upon constantly. I understand you and your sister never got a moment of true freedom to yourselves." In a casual stroll, Lilith began to move closer. "No wonder you're a bit antagonistic!"

Marieta growled, "You have no idea how bad I can be, lady. If you don't let me out of these shackles, I will show you. Now release me."

"Patience, little girl. Patience!" Lilith stopped and leaned forward to rest her rust colored hands upon Marieta's shackled arms...the ultimate predator looked the girl dead in the eyes. "Indeed, give me just a moment...!" It took Lilith hardly any effort at all to use her PEERLESS ability of Telepathy to begin scanning the captive's mind.

Marieta felt the intrusion, realized, and she squirmed furiously in her chair as she screamed, "Stop it! FUCKING STOP IT!"

Completely oppressive, Lilith ordered, "Calm down! I'm just getting a good read of you. I doubt you would tell me about yourself if I asked..." A few beats of silence, and she finished with pleasure, "...Marieta!" Fuming, helpless, the girl could only squirm as Lilith finished her intrusion. Her Telepthic probing finished with care, almost gently. Now knowing all she need to know about the captive, Lilith commented, "You really are quite angry. You want so much, you..." With a sudden, wide grin, she said, "You want everything!"

Marieta shouted, "The first thing I want are my parents! I want to kill them, and kill them SLOWLY! WHERE ARE THEY NOW!?!"

Lilith sighed and answered, "I regret to inform you that they've already been taken out of your reach. Sorry if that disappoints you!"

Marieta was more than disappointed...she looked disturbingly devastated as she growled, "You lousy bitch...I wanted them...!"

The predator with ruddy skin dismissively waved a hand and proclaimed, "You can't always get what you want, as a not-so-old song says!" But then Lilith really looked closely at Marieta. "But, that same song also said that sometimes you'll find...you get what you need. I know the one thing you want most of all is to be free, Marieta. I also know you never, ever cared how you would get your freedom. Right?"

"Be kept prisoner for your entire life, bitch. You have no idea how much I need to be free. No idea."

"Hm. No thoughts about your little sister? You know, that other unique girl you named Hieko?"

It was honestly and unfortunately possible for the captive young Demoness to express even greater rage and toxicity in response...Marieta snarled, "Hieko left me...that bitch abandoned me. She said she loved me and she left me behind!

Lilith smiled with amusement. "Well, I wouldn't say that! Pardon me for being the...devil's advocate, but I know because of your Supervisors she stayed for several minutes trying to reach you. However, intelligent as she is, the poor thing didn't know the proper access codes to unlock your door." The beast in female form giggled. "Isn't that a bitch in this life and the next? No matter how much you know, there's always more to learn!"

Most regrettably, so full of toxic emotion, this girl had already passed judgment on Hieko...a most harsh judgment as she snapped, "That doesn't matter. If she loved me like she said she did, Hieko would have found a way."

Lilith gave her a level gaze. "You believed in her that much. And thus, it hurts so much to know she failed you."

Seething, Marieta said softly, "She fucking left me, Lilith. If I could see her again...!"

In the next instant before the girl could say anymore, the ultimate predator virtually swooped close...she laid her rust-red hands on Marieta's confined arms and their faces were uncomfortably close. Lilith growled, "Oh, do go on. I'm all ears! You're so tempted to hate her as much as you hate your parents-who-really-weren't. Are you really that driven by anger and bitterness? Would you kill your little sister if given the chance??"

Still seething, so toxic from years of confinement and denial of everything she ever wanted, Marieta finally said in a strong voice, "No...but I would make her hurt. I'd make sure she feels all the pain I feel right now!"

Uncomfortably, disturbingly close, Lilith nodded. "I believe you, Marieta...and I don't mind that. Indeed, this mortal world could become quite interesting if you were set free to run rapshod across it! I know your unique powers would make you quite formidable. I'm sure you would make anyone who might dare to stand in your way hurt. And that's exactly why I shall release you..."

Lilith let a beat pass, and she finally teased, "...but not just yet!" In response, Marieta became FURIOUS as she struggled in her chair! Lilith then commanded, "Calm down! Let me explain. I'm about to hold my latest auction in my Bordello, Marieta. I just completed acquiring the right candidates to make it one of the most profitable auctions in recent memory." And it would be most gratifying since one of those candidates included a literally just-captured Ryu Ranger! The one thing that would have complicated things was this Ranger was also the son of one of her most valuable assets: General Ira. Fortunately, Ira and her Circle of Sin were busy in the mortal realm serving Lilith on an unrelated task. If Ira caught sight of her son, it might cause...complications. It might even make Ira remember her previous life as Mai Miyamoto. That was the last thing the 'Goddess of Lust' wanted, so the timing really couldn't have been better! "I need to go to my native Maijin Realm now to fully focus on the auction, but when I'm done, I'll return to Earth at the first chance and we'll continue this discussion."

Lilith smiled openly in a most predatory, lupine way as she continued. "And when we do, little girl, this is what shall transpire! You will swear your total obedience to me. In return for being your benefactor, you shall bow to me as your mistress. In this world and the next, you can't escape rates of exchange, that good old give and take. If you say yes, then I promise your...orientation to my service will be full of the most carnal and unspeakable of delights. Then I shall release you with the understanding that when I call upon you to do as I say, you will answer me without hesitation.

"If you say no, then I shall leave you here in these shackles to starve and waste away until you die. Considering where you are at the moment, it would take a virtual miracle for anyone to find your body months or even years from now." Lilith looked right into the toxic captive's soul. "So! What say you?"

Again, most regrettably, the captive girl's mood only cooled to a low simmer. And this was how Lilith earned a willing servant when Marieta answered, "I say I'd be a fool to refuse you. If it means I'll be free, I'm yours...mistress."

TO BE CONCLUDED!
---
Sigh. Unfortunately, the good guys can't always save the day. The consequences of this turn of events will come to pass sometime in the future...so I'd start praying if I were you!

You must also be wondering what the heck Lilith is so desperate to gain from scientists like Hieko and Marieta's parents? That's an ongoing mystery that will have more and more light shed upon it as time goes by, I promise! Oh, and if you care, you may be asking yourself why a cold lady named Ruka Mitsurugi is so afraid? It really has nothing to do with Hieko...

...but her fear has a lot to do with OTHER things going on, and you'll see Ruka again when I start telling the story of a hero who's going to make her debut in SoDC7 in the near future...she's another awesome creation of the madman you know as , and she'll be known to the world as Agent X! :333333

For now, in the next and final part of this story, a lot of good people will need to figure out how to help Hieko next...! ^___^

Giving credit where it's due!

XNALara created by Dusan Pavlicek; XPS by Dusan and XNAaraL

Models:

Fubuki Inazuma, Hieko, Soraya Setsushi, Tobikage Koyanagi, and introducing Marieta, all by their mom, !

Lilith and that truly wicked chair are by the ever-maniacal ! x 1000!