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"Mmmhmhmhm... mmmwaahahahahaha!"
Fauna did her best to hold in a yawn, her eyes wincing slightly as the horned leader of Secret Society HoloX stood across her, behind the table. The light was dim, the walls a dull grey cement, and only the lamp to her right illuminating her surroundings.
The villainous brat laughing to her face (annoyingly) was Laplus Darknesss, a demon of unknown origins who she was pretty sure knew nothing about world domination and had no business even leading a group.
Next to the horned girl, a pink haired secretary shook her head. That was Takane Lui, who she would've believed to be the real head of the organization if it weren't for the fact that she was following all the whims of Laplus despite having long since been able to takeover the group.
Then there was her... Ceres Fauna. An avatar of Mother Nature, created by the will of the world, serving as the embodiment of all things nature.
It was a shameful situation she was in, but she had been captured. Captured, by these (questionable) villains, and held hostage against the entire world.
Without her efforts, plants would begin to die, animals would begin to rot, the ecosystem would begin to fade away into ruin.
That was something that should not be allowed. Of course, she wasn't worried about being killed off, however, because these not-so-savage savages weren't looking to harm her. (She knew very well the deepest potential of sentient cruelty. Real villains would've plunged the planet and all life into terror by now.) If anything, she highly suspected that their achievement of capturing her was nothing but a mere whim of Laplus, and even as she pondered and stared at the two before her, she had an inkling Laplus herself didn't even think they'd get this far.
"It seems you are speechless, frightened by our prowess, avatar of nature," Laplus eventually spoke. Oh, finally. That was a very long and unnecessary evil laugh. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
Fauna stared at the probably-a-kid leader, her brows furrowed. There was a reason she hadn't said a thing this entire time.
Her mouth was covered by duct tape. That was something she admittedly thought was smart of them to do when they managed to get their hands on her, if it weren't for Laplus quickly assuring her that they were just doing 'normal kidnapping procedure' back when they were carrying the embodiment of nature off.
And to add to her amusement, Laplus didn't seem to even consider the fact that the tape was still on. "I see. I understand. You are so scared of us, you can't even utter proper words. That is very pleasing to hear!" She broke into another fit of evil laugh. Forced, evil laugh.
The secretary, Lui, shook her head. "Boss, she isn't saying anything because we haven't removed the tape from her mouth."
Laplus paused and looked to Fauna again. "O, oh. ...well, then, what're you waiting for? Get 'em off her!" she yelled. "You tryn' to make me look stupid!?"
"By your own words, boss, you wanted to make sure she couldn't interrupt your introductory villain laugh."
"Oh, right, I did say that." The leader snickered. "I guess that was a success. Never you mind, get the tape off of her, we're finished with that."
Lui rolled her eyes, as Fauna did as well, and gently peeled the tape off.
"...thank you," the embodiment of nature eventually said, because at the very least, these clowns were funny and polite (debatably, to a degree), so she might as well as be rational and return the... niceness. "Now... what, may I ask, are your intentions with me?"
Laplus blinked. "...yes, right. Intentions. That is what we brought you here for," she said. To Fauna's amazement, the girl turned around with her secretary.
The whispering that ensued, almost made her laugh out loud.
"Hey, uh... what exactly did we capture her for again?" Laplus asked quietly, so as to not ruin her (already ruined) image.
Lui shrugged. "Beats me, boss. You just suddenly told us we were going to capture the avatar of nature."
The organization's leader had the nerve to be shocked. "Seriously? And I didn't explain anything more?"
"No, you just said it'd help our purposes immensely and sent Sakamata to replenish your fries." Lui's voice almost sounded as tired as she sounded amused.
Laplus huffed. "Well, those fries were pretty good. After this, promote Sakamata to the next rank of permanent intern."
"She's already the sixty-seventh rank of permanent intern, boss. You don't suppose it's time we give her a better role at this point?"
"No, no, she loves this whole thing we got going on, trust me. I know her heart like I know my puzzles."
"...boss, you don't know your puzzles."
"...huh."
The two turned back to readopt their evil (pathetic) grins at Fauna.
"Now then, sorry to keep you waiting, Ceres Fauna."
"I could hear everything," the embodiment of nature muttered. Lui buried her face in her palms, but the leader huffed.
"Please, it was a ruse on purpose to make you let your guard down," Laplus said. "Now, you probably think we're not such a big deal, and that you could probably escape from us easily!"
Fauna nodded. "I do indeed believe you're not such a big deal, and that I could probably escape from you easily."
A comedic flair for drama, Laplus clutched her heart and collapsed to her knee. "Ugh... Lui... my heart... it hurts..."
Lui rolled her eyes again. "It's okay, boss. What doesn't exist, cannot hurt."
"Oh, you're right." Laplus got up once more. What are these people... the greenette had to hold in her question. "Anyways, uh. Yeah, Ceres Fauna. We demand your submission to our whims. Your powers and... uh, mythical... godly... things, they would help our cause with world domination smoothly. What do you say?"
Fauna frowned. "...I'm not going to say yes," she said.
The horned leader gasped. "B-but why not!?"
"...you don't seriously expect me to just be okay with this, right?" Fauna asked, because she was beginning to feel huge shame in being captured by these clowns.
Laplus touched her fingers together and pouted. "I... I mean... yeah, kinda..."
Exasperated, she looked to Lui, who shrugged. I just follow the boss, don't ask me, her expression said.
"...h-how about this?" Laplus exclaimed. "If you don't pledge yourself to us right now... we'll be forced to call our inquisitor to interrogate you! And, uh, torture, stuff. You know... the scary and painful stuff."
Oh. ...well, okay, so there was at least some level of competency here. Fauna had an inkling their 'torture' wouldn't amount to much, but the thought of any harm coming to her at all was still unsettling. If, by any chance, something irreparable happened to her, the planet would be in danger. ...but then again, she had a feeling she'd be fine, so maybe it was fine to take her chances. "...I maintain my stance."
"Ah, you just thought we wouldn't amount to much, didn't you?" Laplus accused (accurately). "She so just thought that! That's it, bring Inquisitor Mumei over!"
Lui nodded and pulled out her phone. "Hey, Kazama. Can you send over the inquisitor please? For interrogation, yes. 2nd wing, room 202, please."
Then they waited for a while. Silently. Awkwardly. Fauna raised an eyebrow the longer they waited, Laplus opting to look away and whistle (crudely).
Eventually, the door opened and someone walked in. The avatar of nature found herself a bit mesmerized, only for a second or two - the 'inquisitor' was a rather cute but also beautiful girl with brown hair, who looked like she could kill with a cold glare. She strutted into the room with confidence, with every intention of making someone pay, and that someone might possibly be the deity herself.
"Honored, boss," the girl - Mumei? - said. Simple and precise, before turning to Fauna. "I see... Ceres Fauna. The avatar of nature, the one who maintains our planet's wellbeing. Left by the gods above with the other concepts... how pathetic."
Well, that was just uncalled for. "Excuse me?" Fauna said.
"It must be nice, simply embodying things that are already living. Plants, animals... and yet, being a deity and all, you still let yourself be captured so easily." Mumei shook her head. "As a fellow Concept, I'm appalled."
Laplus and Lui winced, as Fauna glared at the brunette. "I don't appreciate you mouthing off like you're any better," she hissed. "Besides, it's best not to underestimate a fellow god. There's no level of intimidation you can display to get anything out of me. That is, if you're even on the same level of softness as these people, if not even softer." After all, for Mumei to be in the same organization as (admittedly funny) people like Laplus and Lui, she had to be just as incompetent.
Mumei narrowed her eyes, leaning forward. A hand on the desk, another caressing the ethereal greenette's chin. "Perhaps. But will you be able to endure a long session of torture? I don't mind getting my hands dirty for that," she whispered.
The thought of being hurt didn't sound nice to her, but Fauna right now was thinking of something else. The inquisitor's face drew near, obviously to intimidate her, but it was at the same time rather awkward. Wait, wait, she's getting too close, nature's embodiment thought. I know she's not trying to seduce me, but this is kinda... oh no. The girl almost blanched. Now that I'm thinking about this. She's kinda hot.
"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" That sweetening yet sexy voice was not helping her case. If she could get a glimpse of the mirror, she swore, her face should probably be red right now.
Perhaps she could signal to her capturers, to do something about this. This wasn't going to go the way they want, clearly.
But the moment Fauna's eyes even darted towards Laplus and Lui, she knew her hopes were in tatters, because they were smirking knowingly, slyly, those little motherfu... mischievous lifeforms, ahem.
"Dearest inquisitor," Laplus began - definitely up to no good. "If she were to continue withholding information from us, what punishments, pray tell, would you dole upon our lovely guest here?"
Seemingly having not caught on to the situation (was her face red or not? Fauna wasn't even sure anymore), Mumei huffed. "If psychological nuisances don't work, we'd have to move onto physical effects. Maybe a session of whipping or two would do something to her."
"Oh, yes please," Fauna rasped, before her eyes widened and she sucked her lips in. That was not supposed to have slipped out, she literally only pictured the adorably alluring brunette whipping her for a split second. What the absolute hell, me.
Similarly, Laplus and Lui stared at her, speechless, blinking once, twice.
"...I see the threat of whipping doesn't work on you," Mumei muttered. "Maybe I'll tie you up and choke you instead. How does that sound?"
She felt her throat tighten, but it wasn't from the brunette's hands. "Oh, my." Fuck, not again. Her face burned even hotter.
Laplus shook her head, eyes winced. "Oh, god, she's a freak."
"She is a kinky one, yes, Ms. Boss," Lui agreed.
At the very least, the inquisitor recognizes that her threats weren't working. She snarled, yanking the avatar of nature forward by her collar ribbon, face up close. "Listen, Ceres Fauna. We're looking to harness your powers to make our goal of world domination go more smoothly. If you don't cooperate with us, if you continue to make things difficult, I won't hesitate to make you suffer for eternity," she hissed. "I will beat you into submission and wreck your behind so bad, you'll wish you took our offer sooner. I will smash your ass to oblivion."
Fauna blinked. She could feel Mumei's hot breath against her lips. Behind the sexy beast of an inquisitor, Laplus's eyes were wide, having absolutely caught on to the word choice. Lui was... well, she was looking away and holding in her laughter, that skank.
"...wow," the green haired beauty rasped. "I, uh. Wow."
Mumei frowned. "Wow. Wow what. Why are you saying that. Why are you not scared." She let go of Fauna and turned to her boss. "Leader, she's not scared at all. I believe this is a very unique case. I may need some time to come up with a more effective method of interrogation."
The little brat flinched. "Oh. Um. N, no, no, I think you're doing, uh, great," she said. "Uh... righ, right, Lui?"
Lui jolted and weakly turned to them. "Y-yeaaaah... you're doing good, Inquisitor Mumei. ...pft."
Somehow, still not having caught onto their strange behaviors, Mumei nodded. "I'd like to suggest some options, perhaps you could give me your feedbacks."
Fauna watched as they continued to converse before her (well, Mumei was, the others were just trying not to laugh or make a retort). She bit her lips, not frustrated, but satisfied. Sorry, Kronii, but this is probably where my tale ends, she thought. To go out like a flame, victim to a hot sexy woman who can break me. That is perhaps the noble way for all gods to go.
Her first threat had been to whip her, wasn't it? Fauna imagined again, her hands tied, and Mumei in a black latex suit, or something. She'd carry with her a whip, and she'd strike it across Fauna's body. Oh, it'd hurt, and she'd also yell some abusive words, she'd hurt her feelings, she'd make her feel worthless, like something with value beneath Mumei's soles. And once their session would end, she'd caress her skin gently, whisper sweet nothings into her ear, reassure her that there was no better side to join than Mumei's.
...wow. She had to admit, as short as that imagination was, she kinda really liked the sound of it. Not that the ethereal being would admit it out loud, but she was almost tempted to just go along with them for the fun of it.
Perhaps even the other option was tempting as well. Just imagine, Mumei straddling her by the waist, her soft hands around her throat. ...well, the thought of being suffocated wasn't really appealing to her, but Mumei would probably hover her face dangerously close to her own, their lips almost touching. And she'd constantly release her grip and repeat, as if dangling the thought of breathing to mother nature.
What about that last option? She'd 'smash her ass to oblivion'. Fauna almost had nothing else but sex in her mind the moment she began thinking of that. Mumei completely reducing her to a bumbling mess after- "Oh, dear, no, I should stop that," the girl whispered, her face very close to combusting into flames.
Of course, the others heard this, and they glanced at her.
"Holy shit, Lui, this girl is on the same level as that other girl we kidnapped. That girl with glasses."
"The one known as A-chan? Why, yes, I think I can see that."
Mumei, meanwhile, scowled. "Stop what? Are you attempting to escape?" she asked, and stomped back to the green haired prisoner. "Whatever you are attempting to do, you better stop that right now."
Fauna blinked. I mean, I did just say I should stop, but... the girl grinned, a devious idea forming. "Oh, yeah? And why, pray tell, should I do that?" she asked.
The inquisitor narrowed her eyes. "Because then you'd be forcing my hands to perform unspeakable acts to you."
Oh, my. Her heart burned, shamelessly. She ignored Laplus' look of growing judgement. "Yeah? ...like what?"
Her collar was pulled in closer to the brunette again, and Mumei's hot breath returned to her. "Wouldn't you like to know?" the girl hissed. "I'd advise you stop immediately..."
Fauna smirked. "Why don't you make me?" I might as well as ensure myself some good time, maybe, she thought.
Her interrogator stared at her, perplexed, and she scowled. "Maybe I should."
"Maybe you should."
Mumei growled. "Maybe I will."
She purred. "Will you?"
"I'm going to."
"Going to do what?"
"Beat. Your. Ass."
They were interrupted suddenly by Laplus' scream. That, and the walls of confinement suddenly exploding - that was probably what the leader was screaming at, but her red face definitely implied other factors at play. Smoke engulfed the entire room, and Mumei jumped back from danger as shards of debris scattered.
"Fauna!" an unfamiliar voice yelled.
The avatar of nature grinned and felt the ropes tying her to the chair be cut swiftly. "Thanks, Kronii!"
Lui frowned. "Ouro Kronii, avatar of time!" she hissed, her eyes still shielded. "Boss, what do we do?"
"We capture them both, obviously!" Mumei snarled and reached for the feathers atop her head. Swinging them down in each hand, they enlarged into polished blades.
Kronii, wielding dual blades of her own, instead put them away and wrapped an arm around Fauna. "Sorry, not here to battle today, just to rescue her!"
She immediately ran out the hole she put into the wall, Fauna in tow. The avatar of nature waved to Mumei as the brunette's dumbstruck look followed after her. "Call me~"
"I... what..." the girl rasped. She turned to Laplus, who shrugged.
"They're getting away," the leader pointed out.
"Not on my watch, that... that... that absolute bitch!" Letting her rage take over, Mumei ran to the cave-in herself and jumped out the hole of destruction. Out the building, high up above the ground, and somehow landed safely before giving chase.
Lui watched as Mumei, in the distant, faded into a speck of dust while chasing the now unseeable escapees.
"...well, that was something," Laplus muttered. "And here I thought things were getting pretty good."
"I... guess they were, boss." Silence temporarily taking over, the little leader scratched her cheek.
"...you know, I kinda feel like I should help them out. With, getting into a relationship, and all that. Is that weird to say? Especially about someone who was our prisoner?"
"...normally, yes," the secretary replied. "But you'd be surprised what goes on in HoloX, boss. You'd be surprised. At least this is Ceres Fauna, not Nerissa Ravencroft."
Laplus blinked. "The Demon of Sound? Why, what'd she do? Wasn't she under that special intern's jurisdiction... Elizabeth Bloodflame?"
"Elizabeth Rose Bloodflame, boss. And... yeah. They... well, it's best you don't find out," Lui muttered. Were her cheeks tinted a slight pink?
That just made her want to know even more. "Come on, Lui, tell meeeeee!"
Suddenly, another explosion from somewhere within their building.
"FOR CRYIN' OUT LOUD, CAN YOU STOP SLEEPING WITH OUR HONORARY INTERN!?" That was Chloe's voice.
"Elizabeth, really!? That's the sixth time now!" And that, Koyori.
"W, wait, wait, I can explain, I SWEAR!" That one was Elizabeth.
"See ya, darling! Thanks for the treat!" Unmistakably, their prisoner - now an escapee for the sixth time - Nerissa Ravencroft.
"She got away! We must recapture her, post-haste!" Iroha.
Laplus grimaced. "...ah."
"...well then." Lui promptly turned around and exited the room.
Left alone, the group leader winced. "...I swear, these losers would be nothing without me," she muttered.
She then promptly left the room, only to trip right beneath the door frame. Somehow.