Reunion

Holly didn't even notice to begin with - The Dwarf's sensor systems simply weren't that accurate

It all began with a quantum singularity; the kind that spontaneously burst into existence countless times a day across the skein of reality, only to decay and vanish into nothingness before anyone or anything has even registered the event
This one, however, was different - focused even; it sprang from the void and rapidly expanded into a three metre high vertical, black line, so thin that it was barely visible to the naked eye

By this point there was precious little that could be done to prevent the humanoid form of the Doombringer from sliding between dimensions and emerging from the portal

At over three metres tall, in it's natural state, the Doombringer cut quite a dash in a smart black suit and matching tie, which it felt set the chrome toaster set atop its shoulders off in a suitably menacing manner
Straightening it's tie, it brushed an imagined speck of lint from its suit with long, clawed fingers and, trailing a long, freyed extension cable back into the dimensional portal, it stalked some twenty or so metres down the promenade, it's ruby gaze swinging left and right as it examined its surroundings

It hungered

It had been centuries since anyone had dared blaspheme the gods like this, and all the while, the Doombringer had been left to slumber fitfully, its desire for murder left unsatiated until finally, when it had all but given up hope of ever tasting blood again, the infidels aboard this decrepit ship had attacked and destroyed one of the cathedrals, making it's spirits soar with the prospect of imminent violence and murder

Feeling almost giddy with excitement, the Doombringer paused to raise its chrome head and sniff the air
Prey was near

- - - - -

Cass felt utterly miserable
She knew that there had always been the chance that her and Jay's relationship might not work out, but then there was always that risk with every relationship - even the one's that ran for years; but for it to fail in this way, with her own dark influence from the future as the source of her pain, felt stupid and unfair in the extreme

What was so wrong, she wondered, with her just being happy?
Was it so much to ask for just a tiny slice of what everyone else had in their lives!?

While she was angry that Jay hadn't had the decency to mention his relationship with her to Katrina (who had so obviously moved on from him); when it came down to it, she didn't particularly blame him, or even hold Katrina in any more contempt than anyone else, since this was all, ultimately, her own fault
Even Jay's weird six hundred year long obsession with his (until recently) dead wife could easily be explained away by Cass' influence in the future, and was probably the result of some subtle neurological programming inflicted on him to keep him motivated by the STCP; it's sudden cessation, she glumly assumed, almost certainly explaining why he fell into her arms as easily as he did as soon as he had left their employ

After having fled her heartbreak and humiliation in Parrotts, she had choked back her tears and had morosely made her way down the promenade, stopping only to pick up a bottle of gin and a pack of fags from an off-license, staffed by a large, enthusiastically friendly rat, and had begun to make her way back to their... her quarters

Realistically, she knew that she was going to have to go back and face everybody sooner or later - even her own conscience demanded that she help with rescuing Katrina's son; but frankly, given that they could mount this rescue in days or even months time, and it wouldn't make any difference, everyone else could bugger off while she self-medicated her pain with the large bottle of gin she had bought

It was such a pity that things had gone this way, she reflected as she trudged off the promenade and into one of the feed corridors, to make her way back towards the accommodation decks
Her lip curled at the thought
Smeg it - He might come back yet, and regardless: The risk had been worth it, and whichever way you looked at it, she only had herself to blame for all this

"Narcissa!" a rough voice bellowed behind her, startling her from her melancholic reverie

What the smeg!?
Nobody had called her that since...

She turned, her eyes wide with fear
He was just as she remembered him - tall and athletically built with the same dark hair and sardonic curl to his lip that was so recognisable in herself
"How!?" she croaked, the bottle of gin slipping from her numb fingers to shatter on the floor at her feet "I killed you, you goit!"
The man surveyed her in contemptuous silence for a moment before prowling towards her
"Get your sorry little arse over here, you little bitch" he growled "You and I have unfinished business!"
Cass backed away a few steps
"Smeg you!" she hissed venomously
"I said: Come here!" he shouted, swinging a hand out to make a grab for her, but Cass dodged back, away from him
"No!" she snarled, swinging a punch back, only to have it effortlessly batted aside and followed up with a backhanded slap across her cheek like a hammer blow, rattling her head hard enough for stars to blister across her vision and knock her to the floor
Cass' father advanced towards her, unbuttoning his jeans, an evil grin on his face
"I'm going to enjoy this" he leered "And then I'm going to choke your last breath out of you, you little bitch!"
"I don't smegging think so!" she spat, kicking uselessly out at him and scrambling to her feet with the intention of putting as much distance between her and him as she was able, but he was onto her in seconds, his weight dragging her down and pinning her to the ground
"Get the smeg off me!" Cass screamed, struggling wildly beneath him, his hot breath washing against her face as he fought with her to roll her over onto her back
With one hand around her throat, her father levered himself upright to punch her twice, three times in the face, attempting to subdue her as he had so many times before, but a lifetime away from this bastard had equipped Cass with more fight than she was even aware of and she twisted from his grip, clawing at his face
"No!" she screamed "Never again, you smegging goit!"
"You'll suffer even more for that, you little cow" her father snarled, his hands closing tightly around her neck again as he levered himself up to sit astride her
With Cass still struggling beneath him, he repeatedly swung his heavy fists, her weakening cries echoing down the corridor with each punch, until only his mocking laughter could be heard
"I always hated you Narcissa" he sneered "I wish you had died instead of your mother"
Dazed and bruised Cass stared venomously up at him and pursed her bruised and split lips to hawk a bloody gob of spittle up at him
"You little cow" he snarled raising his fists once more
"No!" another voice bellowed, the air suddenly erupting with the violet hiss and crackle of a burst from a neutron pulse rifle, catching Cass' father across his torso and blasting him away from her

The Doombringer morphed back into its natural form and skittered away from Cass on all fours, eyeing Jay and the others warily
"You can run but you can't hide Narcissa" it hissed as as the extension cable trailing from the toaster suddenly began reeling the creature back into its dimensional portal, to the accompaniment of heavy fire from Jay and the others, but disappearing before any of them managed to score a hit
"Shit!" Phil swore "There's no telling where the damned thing has gone or who it'll try to hit next!"
"Holly!?" Jay barked as Cass groaned and rolled herself over onto her side "Keep your eye out for the next major singularity aboard the ship!"
"Shit..." he hissed as he realised how bad a condition Cass was in and ran over to crouch down by her side
She looked terrible, her face battered and swollen, mottled with red
"Oh Cass" he whispered, helping her up from the floor onto his lap, gently cradling her head against his chest
Cass moved her lips to say something, but just crumbled instead; tears streaming down her cheeks, her body heaving with wracking sobs, crying like a little girl

<tag / tbc>
Anyone else fancy encountering the Doombringer?