Prologue

“What are we looking for down here, anyway?”

A feminine voice breaks the silence before a door on the far side of the room opens, illuminating the forgotten room for the first time in ages. Three people stand in the doorway, peering into the darkness before the man standing in the middle of them finally steps in, looking around at stacks upon stacks of boxes in various states of dishevelment.

“Hell, I didn’t know this was even down here, figured it might be worth a look-see.”

He reaches out to his side, feeling the wall for a light switch and turns it on. It’s then that he can see the full capacity of this room. His companions step in beside him, both aghast at the sheer amount of… information? before their eyes.

“Jesus, Rogan…” The blonde woman says, looking up at the man beside her, and then back out at everything in front of them, “You really didn’t know any of this was down here?”

The man shakes his head.

“If I had, I tell you I’d of been down here a lot sooner. God only knows what they’ve got hidden down here.”

The second man steps off to the side, reaching out and grabbing a stack of papers that have been seemingly thrown down and forgotten. He reads a few lines of whatever is on the sheet, a furrow forming between his brows.

“From the looks of it, you all could have been keeping tabs on just about anyone.”

The one named Rogan steps towards the other man, politely taking the papers from his hand and reading them for himself.

“I think you might be right, Tweeder.” He says, his eyes moving from left to right as he reads, the frown on his lips growing as he reaches the bottom of the page. “As a member of the Engine, one would have thought I’d of been privy to the existence of such a room.”

He puts the papers lightly back where his friend found them, and the two men turned around expecting to find their female counterpart still standing near the doorway, but all they saw when they did was empty space and even more boxes.

“Lucy?” Tweeder questions, stepping further in front of Rogan.

Getting no answer, the two men begin rummaging through the boxes as they walk through the room. A discussion starts between the two as to why anyone would need this much dirt on so many people.

“If that’s what all of this is, of course.” Rogan replies to Tweeder’s concerns, he himself unsure of what to make of an entire room of details and privacies that he didn’t realize even existed.

Tweeder nods his head, “Well from what I’ve read, and that’s not a whole lot.. That’s exactly what it is.”

Rogan sighs and knocks the top of another box, haphazardly sifting through page after page of what can be assumed is someone’s private information. Just as he was opening his mouth again to speak, a loud crash is heard across the room – garnering the attention of both he and Tweeder. As they both look over, a small head peeks out from above a large stack of boxes in the far corner of the room.

“Guys, you’ve gotta come look at this.”

With nothing of note keeping them there, Tweeder and Rogan head over towards Lucy’s excited face. Within a few seconds, the three are standing in front of an old television set that seems to be plugged into what looks like an ancient video gaming system with three controllers attached to it. Lucy crosses her arms over her chest, looking pleased with herself as Rogan and Tweeder look to one another and then back at their enthusiastic companion.

“Well?” Lucy says happily, “What do you think?”

Tweeder scratches his head, and Rogan shifts uncomfortably as either of them struggle for a response that won’t upset their counterpart. Rogan steps forward and clears his throat, examining the TV first.

“Aye. This is a– Well, what is it exactly?”

Tweeder picks up a controller and shrugs, “Looks like some video game to me.”

Lucy perks up instantly.

“Yeah, yeah.. But you haven’t looked at the name of the game yet. That’s the best part.”

The men take the hint and bend down to the gaming system itself, reading the name printed on the front of the cartridge. Almost instantly, both men’s eyebrows raise in question.

“Lucy…” Tweeder says, chuckling as he stands back up, “That’s a good one. Really.”

“Fookin ‘ell, Luce. You really had me for a good minute, girl.” Rogan says, sharing Tweeders amusement as he too brings himself vertical once more. But Lucy isn’t wavering, instead she’s uncrossed her arms and she herself is now fiddling with the game system.

“What’re you doin?”

“It’s real. I’m telling you. I found it sitting here, just like this. Had to move a few things to get to it, but I swear… I’m not screwing with you guys.”

She doesn’t have any luck getting the game itself to come on, so she pulls the cartridge from the system and she blows on it a few times before inserting it again. Tweeder and Rogan stand idly by, shaking their heads at Lucy as she vehemently works with the game, wanting desperately to prove that she wasn’t the one who put this here in this room for them to find.

How does she know it was put here for them?

She just does.

Rogan scoffs, “Tell me this, how could it possibly be real? I was told no one has been down here for a long, long time. But this kind of makes that–”

“A lie.” Tweeder interrupts.

“A lie, that’s right my good man. A lie. I don’t think Jase would lie, do you?” Rogan asks, looking back and forth between Tweeder standing beside him, and Lucy kneeling on the ground in front of them.

“Obviously they kept the room from you, didn’t they?” Lucy replies, her face still focused on the game, still trying to get it to turn on. Rogan’s face contorts into anger as he thinks of the trust he’s put into Jason Ingalls over the last month or so, only to be betrayed.

Tweeder opens his mouth to say something, but before he can pronounce the first syllable, Lucy shouts ‘yes!’, and points up at the television screen as the music begins playing and the title screen for the game comes up, requesting that player one press ‘Start’. Lucy quickly clambers back to her feet, grabbing the first player controller and pressing start as fast as her slender fingers can muster.

“Come on, don’t worry about it. Let’s play.”

Rogan shakes his head. “No, thanks. I’ll just watch. By all means, Tweeder–”

“Why would I want to play.. This?”

Lucy grunts as the character select screen comes up, “I’ve already picked who I want to be.. Come on guys. I know the choices aren’t the best, but it’ll be fun.”

Rogan sighs heavily and bends down, grabbing the second player controller.

“Good Lord, can barely recognize them, can ye?”

He makes a selection, but by the look on his face, it’s not one he’s exactly pleased with, leaving Tweeder to select the only character left, much to his chagrin. The television screen begins fading out, as Lucy, Rogan and Tweeder all begin looking to one another with panic in their eyes.

“Do.. You feel that?”

“It feels like an earthquake…”

“Oh Shi–”

As if they were never there, the three people holding the controllers disappear into thin air as the television screen goes completely black and a dark, mysterious voice booms out from the television speakers…

“Welcome… To Courtmanji”

 

Chapter One: Welcome to Courtmanji

Our three protagonists open their eyes to find themselves in a different world, but not as different as one would think. All three of them were standing amid an empty hallway, staring at a large, towering black door with a golden doorknob. Lucy is the first one to step back, taking in her surroundings as Tweeder and Rogan remain motionless; simply staring at the door in front of them, wondering when it’ll turn back into the television that they were once standing in front of not too long ago.

“Guys…”

Finally Tweeder shakes his head and turns to Lucy, who gasps upon seeing him. A pair of bright blue eyes and cascading brunette curls stare back at her, not the grizzled face of the man known as Tweeder.

“Jesus, Tweeder.. Is THAT you?!”

“What do you mean is that m– Oh holy hell, Rogan?”

Tweeder says, pointing over at Rogan, who is also sporting a rather different look than the one he’d been wearing when they were standing in the basement of the Engine of Chaos’ facility back in San Jose. Rogan suddenly comes to, stumbling backwards as he glances up at Tweeder and over to Lucy – whose eyes are wide as saucers as she herself looks back and forth between her partners.

“If you look like…” Lucy points at Tweeder, “And you look like…” Then she points to Rogan and drops her hand down at her side.

“That means that I must look like–”

Before she can finish her sentence, the door in front of them clicks and begins to open. The door opens slowly, painfully slow as the trio move closer trying to get a glimpse at what’s inside.

“Fookin ‘ell… what’s goin on?”

“I-I have a theory… But I don’t think you’re going to like it.” Lucy replies, watching as the door completely opens, revealing nothing but darkness. She throws her arms up in the air and moves to walk away.

“Ah! Gabriel! Eden! I’m so glad you are here!”

The loud booming voice comes from the darkness and startles the three. As they all come to look inside the room again, the lights come on – revealing Donovan Hastings sitting behind a golden desk, his arms spread wide as if to welcome the trio into the room.

“Come in, come in! We have much to talk about!”

Hesitantly, Tweeder, Rogan and Lucy all step into the room, and jump as the door slams behind them. Hastings stands up from behind his desk and motions to two chairs in front of it.

“Please, sit down. As I said, we need to talk.”

Lucy moves towards one of the chairs, but as she turns to sit down it feels as if an invisible forcefield is blocking her from doing so. “I can’t… sit.”

She looks up to see Tweeder sitting just fine in the other chair, an amused grin on his… well not quite his lips. Lucy moves to the side and motions for Rogan to sit, which he does easily. Her confusion is apparent, but she sighs and stands beside the chair.

“Good, good. Let’s get right to business, shall we? The UGWC is in grave danger and The Court are the only ones that can help us. You two.. Are the only two that can save us from what is about to happen.”

Rogan moves forward in his chair, “What are ye talking about Hastings?”

“And why haven’t you mentioned me?” Lucy asks, stepping towards the desk. Hastings holds his hand up, shaking his head.

“Shut up Jet.” Lucy’s, or rather Jet’s mouth drops open as Hastings directs his attention to Rogan again, “Gabriel, they’re trying to take over the UGWC. They’re trying to turn it into their own image, and force us all to cater to their every whim. It’s unbearable.”

“And who is ’they’?” Tweeder asks, shifting in his seat – suddenly noticing his painted fingernails and grimacing.

Hastings sits back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Don’t play coy with me, Eden. We all know who. The Killing Joke. Lucy Wylde, Rogan Maclean, Jason Ingalls… and somehow they’ve convinced that jerk from Carnage Wrestling to help them in their evil plot.”

Tweeder reaches up and touches the hair on top of his head, while Rogan is looking down at his, well Gabriel’s hands. The two have barely listened to a word that Hastings was saying, since he’d said their names. Lucy, however was listening to every word.

“Forgive me for saying, but that sounds an awful lot like what the Court is trying to do in the re–”

“JET! No one wants to hear you!”

“Well apparently I am a member of the Court…”

“He is.” Rogan, or Gabriel says, glancing up at his partner. “And so is… She.”

Rogan and Lucy can’t help but to chuckle as they both look over to Tweeden (Tweeder + Eden); who is busy trying to chip the paint from his pink fingernails. Tweeder hears them chuckling and extends a well manicured middle finger in their direction.

“This is no laughing matter! The UGWC needs its fiercest warriors… And Jet Somers. We cannot be taken over my those mongrels. Will you help us?”

Jucy (Jet + Lucy) steps forward, examining the contents of Hastings desk, much to the annoyance of the Lord of Creative Directors. Gagan (Gabriel + Rogan) leans in, the smile on his face growing as he picks up a picture.

“Hey!”

“Look at this… You and Zane getting along pretty well, huh?”

Jucy turns to see what her partner is talking about, only to be standing slack-jawed mere moments later. Tweeden leans in and shakes his head. But as the three are about to continue laughing and joking about the scene in the picture, a low growl can be heard emanating from underneath the desk.

“Well, now you’ve done it.” Hastings says, sliding his chair back – allowing a pink horn to emerge from beneath the desk. “You’ve upset Lord Pink Glitter Princess.”

Gagan drops the picture back onto the desk, and stands up. Tweeden does the same as the horn gets bigger and bigger until they can see the head attached to it, with eyes that are glaring a hole through the three of them. Hastings reaches forward and begins to pet the head of… Zane, or Lord Pink Glitter Princess, as his entire face is now visible. The trio don’t know whether to be scared of amused at the sight of Zane Scott in a My little Pony costume, sitting in front of Lord Hastings as he pets him.

“Shhh.. It’s okay Pinky. They’re here to help us. Why don’t you go lay back down with your World Championship… Daddy’s got things handled out here.”

Jucy cannot contain the laughter that’s caught in her throat, garnering a sideways glance from her partners, and a less than happy look from Hastings and his little Pony. She covers her mouth and looks down as the lights begin to dim inside the office.

“You will have to travel to the domains of each member and you will have to beat them in order to bring UGWC back to its former glory.” Hastings voice suddenly deepens by an octave as he pulls a device from his desk drawer and slides it across the desk, “Take this. This will get you wherever you need to go. It will not be easy, that is why I place this heavy burden onto the greatest fighters in UGWC history…. And Jet.”

Jucy rolls her eyes.

“Now GO! The UGWC is depending on you!”

Everything goes to black.

Almost like no time had passed, the trio finds themselves on the outside of that big black door. They look up just in time to see the door slam right in their faces. Jucy steps backwards and shakes her head, again looking around the hall just as they were before Hastings got to them.

“Well, that wasn’t nice.” Jucy says, rubbing her hands together.

Gagan shrugs his shoulders, motioning for the other two to begin walking down the hall with him. The other two oblige.

“I mean, that was funny.. But where are we exactly?” Gagan replies, “What was your theory, Lucy?”

“It’s really the only thing I can think of, but… I think we got sucked into the game.”

“How?” Tweeden says, stepping up in between his partners. “How could we be inside that game?”

For a moment Gagan and Jucy don’t speak. They can’t pull their eyes away from their partner, and watching him walk uncomfortably on the heels he’s wearing, wiping off the lipstick on his face, throwing his long, beautiful hair around…

Gagan laughs softly. “Sorry, Tweed… But hearing your voice come out of her body, I just can’t.”

“Well hearing your accent coming out of Gabriels mouth isn’t much better.” Jucy says, shaking her head.

“Well, hearing your voice coming out of Jets mouth..” Tweeden starts.

“Doesn’t really sound that different, does it?” Gagan finishes with a chuckle that slowly fades out as they continue walking, “But really… How do we get out of here?”

Jucy shrugs her shoulders. “I don’t know. The only thing I can think of is… We’ve got to beat the game.”

“You mean we gotta go beat ourselves?”

“I guess so, Tweeder. I don’t know of any other way.”

The three of them stop as they reach Gorilla position. Tweeden moves to step through the curtain, but another invisible forcefield stops him from doing so. He steps back, stunned as Gagan and Jucy step forward and put their hands on the invisible wall.

“This is exactly what happened to me in Hastings office. I couldn’t sit down in that chair.”

“They really don’t like you, Jet.”

Jucy rolls her eyes.

“Yeah, well at least I didn’t pick Gab–”

“Guys…”

Gagan and Jucy turn around at the sound of Tweeden’s interruption to find him staring at the exit of the arena.

“What’s wrong Tweeder?”

“We can’t leave the arena either. How are we supposed to beat this game if we can’t leave?”

That question stops all of them in their tracks. Gagan begins pacing around, examining all the walls for any openings while Jucy crosses her arms over her chest as she thinks. Tweeden’s eyes widen as he turns to look at Jucy, and he extends his arm, pointing above her head.

“What in the hell is that?!”

“What? What’s up there?” Jucy says, panic in her voice. Gagan turns around to see what his partners are talking about.

“How’d you get that to happen, Luce? There are words above your head.”

“I just crossed my arms… Words? What words?”

Gagan walks towards her, a small smile on his face.

“Please don’t smile like that Rogan… I–”

“Right. Still have Gabriels face. Got it.” He replies, as he reads the large square that appeared above Jucys head. “Apparently, this is a list of Jet Somers’ Strengths and Weaknesses. Let’s see… Strengths: Agility, Speed…”

“..And hair? Hair is considered a strength now?” Tweeden replies, his face filled with a mixture of surprise and agitation.

Jucy reaches up and runs her hands through her hair, then drops her hands back down to her sides. “You know, I expected Jet’s hair to be a lot more full and bouncy than this. He always talks it up, saying how luxurious it is… Well let me tell you right now, that’s a damned lie. His hair is shit.”

“Well Jet is shit, so… There’s that. But get this, weaknesses: Ego and… Eden’s wishes. What does that even mean?”

“I don’t even know… Here, cross your arms, Rogan.. Let’s see if the same thing happens for you.”

Gagan nods his head and crosses his arms, and as expected a box pops up above his head as well. Jucy bends over in laughter as Tweeden examines Gabriel’s set of Strengths and Weaknesses.

“Oh, this is rich. Strengths: Animal Magnetism, Brute strength… and a manipulation. Wow.” Tweeden says, unamused.

Jucy finally calms herself, “Sorry. Animal Magnetism. I think I know who created this game… Hahahaha. Let’s see what it says under weaknesses… Edens wishes.. And Tea!”

“Tea? Ya got to be kidding.” Gagan says, shaking his head.

“She isn’t, mate. I guess we should see what I’m working with, huh?”

Gagan and Jucy nod their heads, as Tweeden crosses his arms.

“Sex appeal as a strength? I guess I can see that… As long as she doesn’t open her mouth.”

Jucy nods her head, “Intelligence. Mind Games. Eye Roll. All true. Anyone find it funny that she’s got more strengths than her stable mates?”

“And what about her weaknesses?” Tweeden says, looking as if he is beyond over having Eden’s body for his own.

“Weaknesses… Shopping. I guess we could ask Jet and Gabriel to make sure that’s really a weakness. Heh.” Gagan says, smirking, “But this one is the best… Tramp. At least the games information on her is correct.”

Jucy touches Gagan’s shoulder, “Yeah, but this one is interesting… Traitor.”

Silence settles between the three as they stare back and forth between themselves.

 

Chapter Two: All things Carnage

“Okay, come on. Just because it says that on that list doesn’t mean that Tweeder is going to betray us.” Jucy says, breaking the silence. The trio are still standing amid the hallway that they started in, surrounded by nothing and doorways that they can’t access. To say they all look frustrated and worried is an understatement.

“But what if he can’t control it?” Gagan chims in, glancing over at Tweeden who’s turned his back to his partners. “I’m sorry, Tweeder. It’s just–”

“We don’t know what’s going to happen. I get it. Can we just figure out how to get out of here so we can get back into our own bodies… Hopefully. I feel dirty.”

Gagan nods his head, pulling the device Hastings gave them from his pocket and examining it, “Hastings gave us this and told us that it would get us to wherever we needed to go.”

“But we don’t even know where we need to be.”

Tweeden finally turns around.

“Carnage Wrestling.”

“What does that have to do with this, Tweeder?” Lucy asks; shrugging her shoulders, “Why would we need to go there?”

Gagan steps up and begins typing something in on the device, “I think I get what he’s saying, Lucy… Hastings told us that we needed to go into each enemies domain and defeat them.”

It’s like a lightbulb goes off in Jucy’s mind.

“You’re right. Carnage Wrestling is definitely Tweeders domain. Nice thinking guys.”

“Let’s go.”

Gagan nods again, pressing a few more buttons. Suddenly, a bright light begins shining down on the three heroes and before any of them can look upwards to see what it is – they’ve all been sucked up into it!!!

“Jesus Christ I hate that!”

“You and me both.” Gagan says, nodding over at Jucy as all three uncover their eyes to see the inside of the Carnage Arena in front of them.

Tweeden steps out in front of them, a giant smile on those red painted lips of his. Jucy and Gagan stay just behind him as they begin exploring the backstage area of this little Baltimore promotion.

“Home.” Tweeden says, walking with purpose, that is until he trips and nearly falls over. “These damn shoes. I can’t do this anymore. Who wears fucking heels to fight evil?”

“Eden Morgan, that’s who.” Jucy replies, looking rather pleased with her conclusion.

“Well she’s a stupid twat anyway. I need to get out of these clothes.”

He turns and motions for his partners to follow him down a narrow hallway until they come up to a door labelled ‘Tweeder’. Tweeden wastes no time in opening the door and stepping through the threshold. Jucy and Gagan follow, but Tweeden stops them.

“I like you guys and all, but I’d like to change in private.”

“We really shouldn’t be separated.” Jucy says, garnering a stern look from Tweeden, “But.. We’ll be right outside…. Come on Rogan.”

She grabs Gagan’s arm and pulls him back out of the locker room.

“So this is Carnage Wrestling…”

“Yep. Hasn’t changed much.” Rogan says, stepping towards the dressing room door across from the one that Tweeden currently resided. “Hmmm… Kyra Mohr. Interesting.”

Jucy turns suddenly and moves towards the door. “This is Kyra’s locker room.. Holy shit. No fucking way.”

Just as she reaches out for the door, they hear a scream coming from the room that Tweeden’s in. Gagan and Jucy rush back to the door, not bothering to knock.

“What’s wrong?!”

“Are you okay?!”

“I can’t get these fucking clothes off!” They stop in front of Tweeden, who’s still wearing the same clothes he was when they left. He reaches up and tries to pull the shirt off of his shoulder, and the fabric gives.. But when he moves his hands down to the lower seam and tries to lift the shirt over his head, the fabric won’t move an inch. He tries to kick the shoes off, but it’s like they’re glued to his feet. “FUCK!”

“You’d think since she’s a tramp…” Gagan says with a shrug of his shoulders.

Jucy pats Tweeden on the shoulder apologetically. “I’m sorry, Tweeder. But we really should find you so we can get out of here. Sooner we do that, sooner you won’t be wearing that anymore.”

The three head back out of the locker room only to come face to face with a large indian man brandishing a rather large weed whacker.

“Holy shit, Boy?!?!” Tweeden says, only for the large, angry man to start the weed whacker. The three heroes jump backwards as he revs the engine and lunges towards them.

“Boy? Who the fuck is Boy?!?!” Jucy says, the blades of the yard trimming equipment getting dangerously close to her face as the big man lunges at them again. It’s obvious that Jucy is out of her element in this environment. Where Gagan and Tweeden duck and move away from the moving blades… Jucy stands her ground.

Her partners stare at her incredulously, “What in the hell are ye doing?!” Gagan says, moving forward.

“I can’t move! Oh Jesus, I–”

“DIE TWEEVER!!!”

But Jucy can’t finish the sentence as the Big man known as Boy shoves the blades of the weed whacker into the once beautiful face of Jucy, sending blood splattering everywhere. Jucy’s body goes limp and she falls to the floor, much to the horror of Gagan and Tweeden. But as she lands, she disappears, leaving only the splattered blood all over the walls and Boy’s face and torso.

“She’s… Lucy’s…” Gagan says, unable to speak after witnessing is partner die in front of them. He almost doesn’t notice the big Indian man coming at him now with the same appliance that murdered his friend, but Tweeden reaches out and pulls him out of the way.

Tweeden ducks another shot and slides under Boy’s arm, ending up behind him. “Hey!”

Boy turns around and instantly his eyes widen, and he drops the weed whacker!

“It’s your.. Your… Shit.. OPEN YOUR SHIRT!!!” Gagan screams out from behind the now slack-jawed giant and Tweeden looks down to see that his shirt has in fact been ripped open by the activity that’s been going on. He follows the glance of Boy and knows that the invalid is staring directly at his jugs. He looks around the giant at Gagan and nods his head.

“Frosted flakes!” Boy exclaims as Tweeden opens his shirt and at the same time Gagan leaps up and grabs the big man by his head, twisting it until he feels a pop and the big man goes limp. Both men land on the ground, one incapacitated and one shaking his head in disbelief. The body of Boy disappears as Gagan climbs back up to his feet.

“Holy shit… I guess sex appeal does work.”

Tweeden shrugs and pulls his shirt back over his tata’s. “I guess so. But what are we going to do? Lucy is–”

“I’m right here.”

The two men whip around to see Jucy standing at the end of the hallway.

“Lucy!”

“We thought you were–”

She holds her hand up, “I was dead, thanks to Jet’s Ego. And by the way… Ouch. I don’t recommend taking a weed eater to the face.” She reaches up and touches her face. In the meantime, her partners approach her, the relief apparent on their faces. But when they get closer, she extends her arm to them and they examine it.

“Two owls.”

“Yeah, I had three. You guys should have three too… That means we’ve got three lives.”

“You dare come here…”

The three whip around, coming face to face with Tweeder. The three gasp and step back, taking in this worlds form of Tweeder, the red eyes, the long black hair that looks like it’s been dipped into a deep fryer, the foam coming from his lips – and the link of chain that’s burning in one hand and a pointy hammer in the other.

“You have come to destroy me, no doubt. You have destroyed my loyal subject, but you will not live to visit my associates. This is Carnage Wrestling…”

“Do I really sound like that?” Tweeden says, stepping towards his counterpart with an examining eye.

“Now’s not the time, Tweed… Don’t go near him until we figure out how to–”

“It’s me, God damnit. If I don’t know how to beat myself, then I don’t deserve to–”

But before he can finish the sentence, the evil Tweeder lashes out with his fiery chain, catching Tweeden in the chest.

“OUCH.. FUCK!!!” He screams, falling to the ground in front of Tweeder, who stares down at his prey menacingly.

“What do we do?! What are our strengths again?!” Jucy asks, as Tweeder begins moving towards them. “Rogan!”

“Fookin ‘Ell! I got manipulation and magnetism… and brute strength.. You got hair and speed!”

“That’s it! I’ll get his attention and… Look!” Jucy points at a spool of rope, “I’ll wrap his legs with this and you beat the shit out of him!”

She takes off running, grabbing the rope and rushing Tweeders legs as Tweeden crawls out of the way, clutching his chest. Evil Tweeder lashes out again, this time with the pointy hammer in his opposite hand, but Tweeden rolls out of the way, leaving a large crater in the floor where the hammer hit. Tweeder swings again, this time at Gagan but as he does he loses his balance due to the rope around his ankles and he falls to the ground at Gagans feet.

Gagan wastes no time in ripping the hammer from Evil Tweeders hands and impaling his chest with the instrument.

When he does, however, a flaming chain comes around, taking Gagan’s legs out from under him. He falls to the ground in front of Evil Tweeder’s face.

“ROGAN!!!” Jucy shouts, to no avail.

Evil Tweeder opens his mouth and a long, snake like tongue emerges, wrapping Gagan up in it. Before Jucy or Tweeden could get to him, Evil Tweeder pulls him into his mouth and chews. The sound of crunching bones and squishing flesh almost makes Jucy throw up as she looks around the hallway of the carnage arena, trying to find anything that could vanquish their foe, considering that he’s currently eating her friend and partner.

Tweeden is now on his feet, searching as well until he comes upon a steel folding chair. He grabs the item and moves towards his evil counterpart. He begins beating down on the face and head of Evil Tweeder as Jucy comes in from the side with a large metal spear and shoves it into the side of Evil Tweeders head!

The Evil Tweeder tenses up for a moment and then goes limp, his mouth opening and expelling a well chewed and mutilated Gagan, covered in saliva and God knows what else.

Tweeden and Jucy kneel down to check their friend for any signs of life, only for him to disappear in their hands. They both sigh and sit down on the ground in front of Evil Tweeder, who disappears soon after.

“Well that wasn’t that hard….”

Jucy shakes her head, “Yeah… Right.”

 

Chapter Three: The Engines Reunite

“He’ll be back soon… right? I mean you did when you–”

“Got fucked by a weed eater? Yeah… Don’t remind me.”

The two remain seated on the floor of the Carnage arena, waiting for Gagan to reappear after his unfortunate demise at the hands (or mouth) of Evil Tweeder. They both look tired and weary as they wait, unsure of how to proceed without their partner.

Jucy finally breaks the awkward silence as she climbs to her feet and brushes herself off, “So this is the Carnage Arena…”

“Yep. Home.” Tweeden says, coming to his feet as well, checking his shirt to make sure it was closed before nodding at Lucy.

“We can’t do anything until Rogan comes back, so you wanna show me around?”

Tweeden nods and the two set off. He shows Jucy the locker rooms, and tells her little bits of little known trivia about Carnage Wrestling as they head towards the arena. But as they pass the office of the current president of CW, they hear a familiar voice coming from behind the closed door.

“Wait.. Is that?”

“What the hell is he doing in Bridges’ office?” Tweeden says, a look of anger in his eyes as he approaches the office door, using a nicely manicured foot to kick in the door, except it does nothing except make a really loud noise.

Jucy can’t help but laugh, “You’re in Eden’s body… That’s not going to work. You don’t wanna chip a nail, sweetie.”

“I’ll show you a chipped nail…” Tweeden growls as he tries the doorknob. “It’s locked.”

Jucy moves in, knocking on the door, “Rogan! Are you in there?!”

“Wait a minute, Lucy… You’re Jet. You might be able to get through that door.”

Jucy scoffs.

“Please. I’m Jet. I’m not Zane or Vain… But I guess it’s worth a shot.”

She takes a few steps back and runs forward again, using her big man sized foot to kick the door open! She stumbles backwards in shock, staring at the door, obviously shocked that she had the strength to do that, much less anything else. Tweeden moves past her and into the office of Carnage President, Jason Bridges to find Bridges himself trying to persuade Gagan into signing a Carnage contract.

“You’d really be so much happier with us here in Carnage. You would be treated like a king, Mr. Baal. Personally, I love your work. You’re a pioneer in this industry, Gabriel. May I call you Gabriel?”

“Oh God, I want to puke…” Tweeden says, as Bridges looks up, his grin growing wider by the second.

“Oh! I see you brought your Court stablemates with you! Eden Morgan! A pleasure. You’re even more lovely in person! And Jet Somers! I’ve seen your work. Not as talented as Gabriel here, but talented nonetheless.”

Jucy stops in her tracks as Gagan turns around in his chair, his eyes pleading with her to get him out of here.

“Thanks?” Jucy says, approaching Gagan and pulling him up from his seat. “But we’re already with UGWC and we’re not looking for anymore bookings at the moment. Right, Eden?”

Tweedens eyes widen and he nods his head. “That’s right, Mr… Mr. Bridges. You ignorant, piece of shit. This shit is why I hate you!”

Bridges eyes widen in shock.

“Miss Morgan! Why, this is the first time we’ve met! Please, let me show you that I’m not… I’m not all of those things!”

Jucy and Tweeden pull Gagan towards the doorway as Bridges pleads with them from behind. His desperate begging hurts their ears as Jucy pulls the traveling device from Gagan’s pocket and shoves it into his hands where he begins typing in their next destination.

“Hurry.. Jesus, Tweed… Is he always like this?”

“Just about…”

Gagan presses one last button and the bright light shines down upon them again, sucking them up into it as Bridges is now on his knees, begging the Court to stay with Carnage. But soon enough, the nagging voice of Bridges fades away and another, more robotic voice takes over as Gagan and his partners touchdown in their new location.

— Welcome, Gabriel Baal. —

“Holy shit, Rogan.. That’s–”

“SAM.”

Tweeden steps forward and turns around to face Gagan and Jucy, “SAM? Who the hell is SAM?”

— Hello, Eden Morgan. Welcome to the facility. —

— Hello, Jet Somers. Welcome to the facility. —

Jucy and Tweeden nod their heads as they look around the Engine of Chaos compound. Gagan walks around, having been a part of this compound for a while, and takes note of what’s different than the real one. He finds it a shell of what it used to be. Be it lack of knowledge, or lack of care… It’s just an empty room with a glowing brain in the center of the room.

“SAM is that.” Gagan points to the brain.

Tweeden shakes his head. “You people and your tech. It doesn’t look like anyone is here, besides your brain.”

— I am owned by no one, Eden Morgan. Please refrain from insulting me. —

Tweeden’s eyebrows raise, “Duly noted, SAM. My apologies.”

— Apology accepted, Eden Morgan. Might I say your voice sounds rather hoarse today. Would you like a lozenge? —

“Yeah, Eden.. You need something in your mouth to help?”

“Fuck off Lucy.”

“Guys.. Someone is here. I know it. Like Carnage was Tweeder’s domain… This is my… well mine and Jase’s… and Gabriels.” Gagan says, stopping in front of the glowing brain. “SAM, is there anyone else in this compound besides us?”

— No, Gabriel Baal. No one else is here. Maybe you would like some tea while you wait? —

“Absolutely.” Gagan replies, almost before SAM can get the words out. Jucy and Tweeden look at each other as they step towards their partner.

“Uhm.. Rogan?”

Gagan turns and smiles at Jucy, “Yeah?”

Tweeden places his hand on Gagan’s shoulder, squeezing it softly. “Maybe you shouldn’t have that tea. Shouldn’t be taking anything from a robot in enemy territory, you know?”

Gagan nods his head, “It’ll be fine. Right SAM? Boy, I love tea.”

“Rogan.. Why are you doing this? You know that Tea is Gabriel’s weakness…” Jucy says softly, trying to pull Gagan away from SAM, but to no avail. Suddenly a cup of hot tea appears in front of Gagan, courtesy of SAM, no doubt.

— Your tea, Gabriel Baal. —

“Rogan… Don’t do it. We don’t know what will happen.”

“I can’t…” Gagan says between his gritted teeth as he begins reaching out for the tea, “I can’t resist the… tea….”

He grabs the cup and takes a healthy sip of the tea, pulling in a deep breath after swallowing. He exhales and smiles big as the group hears footsteps behind them. The three of them turn around, to see two shadows approaching.

“I think we found them.” Tweeden says, clenching his fists.

Jucy nods, glancing in Gagan’s direction, “You okay, Rogan? You don’t look too good.”

Gagan shakes his head as his head begins swelling. He grasps at his throat as his head continues to grow, expanding like a hot air balloon until the collar of his shirt busts open, shooting a button across the room where it hits the floor, echoing throughout the room. Gagan falls to his knees as the two shadows emerge into the dim light emitted from SAM – revealing the sinister faces of Evil Rogan MacLean and Evil Jason Ingalls.

— Welcome Rogan Maclean and Jason Ingalls. I have distracted the enemy like you instructed. —

“Very nice job, SAM. You may go now. We have things handled here.” Evil Rogan MacLean says, motioning to Gagan, choking on the ground. “Looks like ya had some bad tea, Gabe. Wish I could say I’ll miss ya.”

Evil Jason Ingalls steps in, patting Evil Rogan on the shoulder, “Oh I’ll miss him alright.”

Both men’s hands begin glowing red. Tweeden and Jucy barely have time to step out of the way before they’re shooting a blast of energy out of their hands, and into Gagan’s chest. Gagan gasps, his eyes bulging as the weaponized energy tears through his chest, sending the beam out of his back.

“ROGAN!” Jucy says, clambering back towards her fallen friend – the knowledge that he’s only got one owl left if he’s dead sitting heavy in her stomach. The Evil men cease their beams of destruction, to watch Jucy and Tweeden crawl back towards Gagan. But before they can get to him, he disappears.

Jucy falls back on her legs, putting her hands to her mouth.

“My, my Jet… I didn’t think you were that attached to old Gabriel. No worries, we’ll be sending you to join him soon enough.”

Evil Rogan and Jase point their hands at Jucy and fire. Jucy covers her face with her hands as she sees the red flash, knowing that this is the end for her.. But she hears a loud crash and a moan as someone hits the floor in front of her.

“Fookin ‘ell. Maybe Eden isn’t so bad afterall…”

Jucy uncovers her eyes to see Tweeden laying in front of her; a hole in his chest as well. She touches his face, “Tweeder… Why did you–”

But he doesn’t respond. He disappears, leaving Jucy all by herself to fend against Evil Jase and Evil Rogan. She climbs to her feet, her hands shaking as she steps over the spot where Tweeden died in front of her, hoping that one or both of them come back before these two kill her too.

The thought of a game over scares her, because there’s no guarantee that they’ll ever get out of here if that happens.

“Poor, poor Jet. The only one left.” Evil Rogan says.

“The weakest link. What say you, Jet?” Jase says, rubbing his hands together as if he’s about to eat the sweetest meal in the world.

Jucy continues moving towards her adversaries, puffing her chest out, “It’s a shame you have to use those weapons instead of just proving that you can cut it in a regular fight.”

Both evil men laugh out loud.

“Now, what fun is that? You all broke in here, trying to stop the Killing Joke from taking UGWC for our own… Trying to stop us from bringing order to the UGWC. We have every right to kill you where you stand.”

Evil Rogan nods in agreement, “Kill or be killed, right Jase?”

“Exactly. So keep coming, Jet. Let us end your pitiful existence.”

Jucy sees something moving behind the two villains, but she keeps her eyes on Evil Rogan and Jase, trying not to alert them to the presence of one of her partners – although she couldn’t be anymore relieved than she is in that moment, knowing that she’s not alone anymore.

— Welcome back, Gabriel Baal. —

Evil Jase and Evil Rogan turn around quickly to see Gagan standing behind them and within seconds both of them are on the ground bleeding from the mouth. A hit to the face with a baseball bat will do that. Gagan looks to Jucy, their eyes meet for a moment before he moves towards SAM – staring down at the brain in the center of the room.

“Rogan, what’s going on?”

“I’m going to disable SAM. It’s the only way. Somehow I know that disabling SAM will kill them….”

Jucy nods her head. “I understand. I’ll stay on them… give you time.”

As she moves towards the two downed men, Tweeden emerges from the darkness behind them.

— Welcome back, Eden Morgan. —

“Tweeder!” Jucy exclaims, “Rogan is taking care of SAM, all we need to do is keep these two down and out.”

Tweeden nods his head, kneeling beside Evil Jase, who is just now coming to.

“Hi there, Jason…” He reaches out and touches Jason’s face, her fingernails digging into his flesh as she caresses his cheek.

“Tweed, what are you doing?”

“Distracting them, the only way I know how…” Tweeden says softly, and it’s in that moment that Jucy knows that his inner Eden is coming out. She shakes her head and kneels down beside Evil Rogan, watching him writhe about in pain.

“You two are going to pay….” Evil Rogan says, bringing himself up to his knees in front of Jucy.

Tweeden digs his nails into the eyes of Evil Jase, a look of disgust taking over his face as he pulls his bloody fingernails from his eye sockets. Jucy shudders as Tweeden turns his attention to Evil Rogan, who shakes his head.

“Get away from me you crazy bitch!”

Tweeden licks his lips, “You have no idea, Rogan. Should have been with me when you had the chance.”

“Got it!”

Jucy and Tweeden turn to see Gagan slam his hands down on the table.

— W-l–om- -a–i-l B— –y —

The brain on the table in front of Gagan begins to glow a deeper red, and Evil Rogan screams out in pain followed closely by even louder screams from an eyeless Evil Ingalls. Their eyes, or eye holes begin glowing the same deep red, before all three explode into a shower of red sparks.

“Holy shit.”

“Well that was…”

“I got it done. Let’s get out of here.” Gagan says, stepping in between his partners holding the travel device. “Lucy. Your domain. Where would that be?”

Lucy doesn’t answer right away, the obvious dread on her face as she faces the fight ahead… against herself.

“Lucy?” Tweeden says, shaking her shoulder, “Where to?”

“M-Maggie’s shop.”

 

Chapter Four: Paper Street Beatdown

A couple of key presses and another trip through the bright light, bring our three heroes to the main floor of the Paper Street Tattoo Company. Another empty building, but our protagonists have learned through the last two experiences, that the building will not stay empty for very long.

“Rogan, you need to be careful.” Jucy says, pointing to the single owl on his arm, “I don’t want to find out what’ll happen if you lose that last one.”

Gagan shakes his head, “Me either, honestly.”

Tweeden has stepped away from his companions, and is examining each tattoo station.

“They do good work here, Tweed. You should come up. I’m sure Maggie would hook you up.” Jucy says, stepping towards the back of the room, where Maggie’s office lies. “She’s pretty great.”

“I might take you up on that… If we ever get out of here.”

Jucy nods, the events of the last…however long are definitely starting to wear on the three of them. They look more scared then they did when they met Hastings in the very beginning of this experience. Finally, after a few minutes of silence and rest, Jucy sighs and runs her hands through her shitty hair.

“Guys, I’m sorry for making you play the game… I shouldn’t have–”

Gagan puts his hand up and puts his pointer finger to his mouth, “Don’t. Let’s just get out of here and out of these bodies. I mean Gabriel is a good looking man, but I’d prefer to be back in my own body.”

“I’m tired of having tits.” Tweeden adds in, garnering a chuckle from his comrades.

Jucy points at her groin, “Yeah well I’m not a fan of having a dick. So yeah, let’s get this over with. Where could I possibly be?”

“Maybe we should check upstairs?” Gagan says, with a shit eating grin on his face.

“You would be so lucky, Rogan.”

“Am I missing something?” Tweeden chimes in, as Jucy and Gagan laugh.

“Lucy and Maggie are an item, Tweeder.”

Tweeden opens his mouth in shock, “No shit, really?”

Both Gagan and Jucy nod, as the door to Maggies office opens, revealing the silver-haired fox herself, her eyes a bright green as she peers out into her shop.

“And what are you three doing here?!” Her shrill voice pierces the ears of the trio, causing them to cover their ears. “You’re here to kill Lucy, aren’t you?! AREN’T YOU?!?!”

Jucy falls to her knees in pain, but Tweeden and Gagan approach Evil Maggie, holding their fingers in their ears to block out as much of her voice as they could. It wasn’t doing much good as she continued screaming about them trying to kill her lover.

“LUCY! They’re here! LUCY!!!”

Before they realize, Maggie lunges forward and falls to the ground where she ‘shatters’ into thousands of little pieces. Gagan and Tweeden look down, trying to figure out what had happened… until they realize that she shattered into thousands of much smaller Maggies who are currently climbing their legs and sinking their pointy little teeth into whatever flesh and muscle that they can get to.

“Oh my GOD… Luce!!” Gagan yells out, stumbling backwards, away from the pile of Maggies. He lands on his ass in front of Jucy, who jumps into action, squashing any and all of the Mini-Mags that she can see in a desperate effort to keep Gagan alive.

“It’s okay.. It’s okay… I… I’ve got you Rogan…” She says, between hits, “Tweeder! Are you okay? Tweed– OH my God…”

Gagan and Jucy look up to see a pile of Mini-Mags scurrying over the form of Tweeden. A feeling of despair grows in the pit of both of their stomachs. Jucy moves past Gagan, who’s busy trying to get rid of the last of the Mini-Mags that were biting him – and she grabs a clipboard from one of the tattoo stations, but just as she raises it above her head to come down on the mini versions of her girlfriend, another, much calmer voice comes from behind her.

“Oh, Eden’s already dead… Jet. Pity, really. Don’t you think?”

Jucy stops in her tracks, knowing that voice as her own, and she closes her eyes.

“Hi, Lucy.” Jucy says, turning slowly to face herself. She’s not disappointed as she looks at a raven-haired Lucy Wylde. Her black hair cascading down her back and over a black jumpsuit, unzipped in the front, just enough to show some cleavage. But more on her mind is the fact that Evil Lucy has her arm around the throat of Gagan, an evil grin on her face as his face turns redder and redder by the second.

Lucy leans in and licks Gagan’s face, from his cheek all the way up to his forehead. “Hiya, Jet. I’ve already killed your little queen. Want me to kill your king too?”

Jucy shakes her head.

“No.”

Evil Lucy looks shocked, but that look of shock relaxes out into a look of pure and unadulterated happiness. Jucy looks confused until she feels the legs of her pants moving and she looks down to see the hundreds, or thousands of the Mini-Mags climbing her legs, having disposed of Tweeden, apparently. She winces in pain as each bite takes small chunks out of her flesh. She swats at them, only to have even more replace the one’s she killed.

“It’s no use, Jet. You’re done for. Your little crusade ends with me.”

Jucy collapses to her knees, crying out in pain as she can feel the teeth biting inside her body, her organs… everything. The pain is immeasurable. It’s intense and it doesn’t take long before she falls on her face, and the Mini-Mags begin doing to her what they’d just done to Tweeden.

Gagan watches Jucy disappear under a mass of Mini-Mags, and he closes his eyes, a tear slipping out – knowing that if his partners don’t come back soon – this could be the end for him. The permanent end.

“And now, Gabriel… It’s just you and I.” Evil Lucy says into his ear, “And I do have some plans for us…”

Her grip on his neck loosens and she lets him go. He falls to the floor, where the Mini-Mags begin assaulting his flesh once again, but Evil Lucy calls them off. He slowly climbs back to his feet, dusting his pants off as he looks up into Evil Lucy’s face. The look in her eyes says that she doesn’t want to kill him.

He’s seen that look before.

He’s just never seen it from his partner… But then again, she’s not looking at who he is inside of Gabriel’s body. She’s seeing Gabriel Baal.

“Lucy…”

“Shut up, Gabriel. Let me tell you what’s going to happen.” She stands up and steps towards him, her eyes darkening as she gets closer, “I’m going to use you. I’m going to get from you what I’ve wanted from you all along… and then I’m going to kill you.”

Gagan nods his head, knowing that he’s just got to stall her long enough for Jucy and Tweeden to return.

“Okay.”

“Mmmm… I thought so.” She says, pushing Gagan down into one of the tattooing chairs. Within seconds, she’s on top of him, pressing her chest into his. “You don’t know how long I’ve waited for this moment…”

She pulls in a deep breath, and Gagan looks away – closing his eyes, trying to put what’s about to happen out of his head. He feels her hands on his chest, her fingernails digging into it as she grinds her hips against his. She finally brings her face to his, forcing his face to hers…

“Excuse me.”

Gagan jolts upright, as Evil Lucy turns around to see Tweeden and Jucy standing behind her, their arms crossed over their chests.

“What are you two doing he–”

“He’s mine, sweetie. Back off.” Jucy says, grabbing Evil Lucy by the hair and ripping her off of Gagans lap, letting her fall to the ground amid a mass of dead Mini-Mags. Evil Lucy looks around her, her eyes filled with anger as she sees all of her girlfriends dead.

“What have you done?! She’s DEAD!”

Tweeden nods, “Yeah, that was my fault. Bugspray is a Godsend for these kinds of infestations. Don’t you think, Jet?”

Jucy grins and steps over Evil Lucy, “Oh absolutely. What do you say we do to this Bitch, guys?”

Gagan pulls himself out of the chair and stands beside his partners, “I don’t know.”

“Oh, I do.” Jucy says, pulling an axe out from behind her and burying it into Evil Lucy’s forehead. Gagan and Tweeden gasp and jump back at the suddenness and the violence of what their partner had just done.

“Jesus, Luce.”

“Holy hell.”

Jucy shrugs as she wipes the blood from her face and drops the axe on top of Evil Lucy, watching as it falls to the floor after the body of Evil Lucy disappears. “It had to be done. I won’t lie… Killing myself is definitely the weirdest thing I’ve ever done.”

“Ditto.”

“Agreed.”

“Can we get back to Hastings? Hopefully that’s all we had to do.”

Gagan nods and brings the device back into his hands, pressing buttons to send them back to where they started. Finally.

 

Chapter Five: The Saviors of the UGWC

“There you ARE!”

The trio are startled as they emerge from the light to find Lord Hastings and his little Pony standing happily among the rest of the UGWC Roster.

“You’ve done it! The UGWC has been restored to its former glory, all thanks to you… Thanks to the COURT!”

Jucy rolls her eyes, Gagan coughs and Tweeden sighs as the roster surrounds them, singing their praises, and thanking them for ridding the world of those bad people who wanted to ruin the UGWC.

“You are welcome, people of UGWC. It was nothing, Really.” Jucy says, unable to keep a straight face.

Tweeden steps forward, shaking hands with the likes of Alan Wallace and Jessica Mathis, “Truth be told, this should have been done ages ago.”

“Very true, my friends. But now, we must rest. Please, leave us.” Gagan says, pulling Jucy and Tweeden towards the locker room area. But before they can leave, Hastings approaches them again.

“As a final thank you for saving us from that evil… Here are three iron clad contracts for The court. Anything you want. Anything.”

Jucy and her partners look to one another and begin laughing as they feel that familiar feeling… Like an earthquake beneath their feet. They grab onto each other, trying not to fall as the quake grows more intense. Hastings and Zane the pony disappear, the roster disappears… Everything fades out to black.

“We did it!”

 

 

Epilogue

They open their eyes to find themselves back in the basement of the old Engine of Chaos compound, standing in front of that old television set with the pixelated start screen of ‘Courtmanji’ glowing in front of them.

Lucy reaches out and unplugs the entire thing, turning her head back towards them with a sheepish grin on her lips.

“Sorry. Don’t wanna risk anything.”

“Good idea.” Rogan says, grabbing the game cartridge and dropping it on the ground, only to stomp it a few times, sending shards of plastic careening around the room. “There’s a little bit of insurance.”

Lucy blushes as Tweeder moves in and grabs the gaming system, doing the same thing as Rogan did.

“Guys, I am really, really sorry. I almost got you two killed.”

Tweeder and Rogan shake their heads and put their arms around Lucy.

“Let’s go get a drink.”

“Yeah, I need one now that I’ve got all the right eqipment back.” Tweeder says, laughing, “Don’t worry about it Lucy. People make mistakes.”

Rogan nods, “And we’ll never let you forget this one.”

END

 

OOC: This story is entirely fictitious and well, I hope you enjoy it.  I had a ton of fun writing it.