mutant haven. (havenpeople) wrote in mutanthaven, @ 2010-10-09 08:41:00 |
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Entry tags: | alison blaire, arthur centino, plot: mojowood, shatterstar, spiral |
we gotta get out of this place. [NARRATIVE]
"There's got to be a door. There's always a door." Art had seen the Truman Show, even in a studio this size, there had to be a way out.
And he'd been right. But the door out of the set for Gilligan's Island had brought them to a series of empty corridors, not a person in sight. He and Shatterstar had hurried through the halls, checking every door to see if they could find something, someone - their friends, the people who had brought them here, something.
They'd just gotten to the point where Art was going to suggest they take a break when they found it. Command central. Screens upon screens flickered, and they could see exactly where their friends were. Labs, roads, New York City, all kinds of places Art didn't recognise. His gaze immediately sought out Ali, hoping she was okay, wherever she was.
"So, you found me." An amused, sultry voice interrupted their check of the screen, and both guys spun to see Spiral standing there, one set of arms crossed over her chest.
-- wait, set? Art's eyes widened at her appearance - this was definitely not the girl he'd known. Not by a long shot. Where once she'd had the normal set of two arms, now she had... six arms? And that's the last thought Art had about it, because Star had launched himself at her, and the fight had began.
The fight was more evenly matched than you'd think - they had the disadvantage of being without weapons, and Spiral's six arms moved faster than either of them could keep up with. She'd constantly dance out of their way, laughing as she did.
The laughter stopped when Star wrenched one of her arms hard enough to dislocate it, and she screamed, before pulling away from both of them and yelling something neither of them understood. But the effect was quickly noticable - Ali was in the room, quickly trapped in a cage of Spiral's arms, a knife to her throat.
"Back off, both of you," she hissed, and Art pulled Star away, not wanting anything to happen to Ali.
"Let her go, Rita," he said in a low voice, deadly serious for once.
"It's Spiral," she shot back, her grip on Ali tightened.
"What do you want?" Art ignored the indignation, concentrating only on the trapped blonde and the knife at her throat. There had to be someway they could get Ali away from the crazy lady, without her getting hurt.
"Ratings?" She laughed. "What else? Mojo's going to rule here, and --" Spiral didn't get a chance to finish, Star interrupting as he charged at her. Art leapt as well - but not towards Spiral, but the control board. Hitting one of the buttons, the room suddenly flooded with sound, the chatter and the background music for all of the shows spilling into the room, layered across each other.
And then just as suddenly, the sound stopped. Ali glowed briefly for a moment before the light burst from her, throwing Spiral clear across the room and away from her. Art's face lit up with a big grin until a horrible grinding noise filled the room, and all three of them turned to watch robots detach themselves from the walls, and start moving towards the people who had attacked their area to protect.
"Ali, hide!" Star and Art threw themselves into the fight, their powers having made almost a complete recovery. Art ducked and weaved, throwing himself into impossible situations and landing a hit every time. Star was far more methodical - he might have been without his swords, but that didn't stop him from tearing the robots from limb to limb.
When it looked like they had won the day, Art ducked out of the fight, finding Spiral watching them with a gloating smile.
"Please, let everyone go," he said simply, his gaze meeting hers. No cute smile, no shrug of the shoulders, just a simple, earnest request.
"No, why should I? Ratings have shot through the roof since you guys got here. They've been even better since you all started remembering who you were. You think they won't climb even higher as we watch your attempts at escape?"
"Please," he said again, stepping forward to press a hand against her cheek. "This isn't you, Rita. Don't you remember? I loved you, and you loved me. It doesn't have to be like this."
"Me?" Spiral just laughed at that. "It's not me you love, and you know that. It's always been her, it's always going to be her." One of Spiral's arms waved in Ali's direction, and Art's gaze dropped from hers, coloring a little bit.
"See?" She sneered, and Art's head snapped up again, his moment of sheepishness past, determination set in his face as he met her gaze once more.
"What if I stayed? Here with you. By choice. Would you let everyone else go?" In the background, Ali spluttered with indignation, protesting against the very idea.
"You'd do that?" Her eyes narrowed, searching Art for any hint of a lie. But Art didn't lie, especially not about something like this. "You'd stay here with me? If I let everyone go?" He just nodded, not daring to look over at either Ali or Star as he waited for her decision.
"Oh fine," she said at last, stepping back away from Art. "I'll send you back." Six set of swords materialised in her hands, and she begun the spell that would return them to Earth, her gaze never leaving Art. Once Star and Ali faded from view, she stepped closer to Art, leaning in close enough for a kiss.
"One day, I'll hold you to this promise. One day you'll return here to stay, I've seen it. But it's not today, and..." Her lips curled into a smirk. "I don't think I've done you any favors today, not really. Her - you won't be happy with her, not like we were. You think you love her, but it's just a stupid crush. And she won't love you back, she loves herself too much for that. So enjoy it while it lasts. Because it won't."
And then Art faded as well, finding himself back at the hotel, sprawled in front of the television like he'd been before he'd been Gilligan. A quick scramble through the channels told him he'd only been gone for an hour, not the days it felt like.
But he was home. And so was everyone else, if the shouts he was hearing were any indication.