A Precarious Gift

[Bile]

Outside of the Arena Office was a large, shiny wrapped Christmas-esque wrapped box. There was a note with pretty penmanship that read:

For Assistant Coordinator Gabby's Hands Only!

There was a string attached which would unveil the motherload of sweets:

and to top it all off:

[Gabby]

Gabby was leaving her office, which had been upgraded from the broom closet, and locking the door when she noticed the shiny wrapped box. Now, who could have left her a present? IT EVEN HAD HER NAME ON IT. She looked this way and that, to be sure the thieving G'nort was nowhere around to steal this from her like he had stolen the cake.

When she realized she was alone, the paper was rapidly torn from the box. When it was opened, her eyes widened and her mouth formed a perfect circle...right up until she was cramming sour gummy worms and icing roses into her mouth. "Oh man, so good. YUM!" The only sound that could be heard, and was actually amplified by the basement acoustics, was her noshing. One of the smaller cupcakes was unwrapped and stuffed whole into her mouth when she noticed that her vision was beginning to blur and her head was swimming. It was too soon for the sugar coma to hit; she had at least another pound of icing and candy to go before that happened, she knew from experience.

"Ugh, I don't feel so g--..." FLOP-SQUISH. The Cupcake Queen fell face first into the lovely box of sugary goodies.

[G]

(This event occurs a one or two days prior to the finals of Hydra.)

The story you are about to see is real. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. Or not innocent. Not really, anyway.

Gung gung! (Law & Order, peeps)

The Setting: A dark corner of a parking garage. There are dim lights hanging from the concrete beams off in the near distance, but not enough to shine any light on our subject. In fact, he had made sure to unscrew the lightbulb where he was standing to ensure that his place was dark. Hopefully, nobody had seen him perform this act, or being in the shadows would have been all for naught. Also, hopefully, maybe more hopefully than the previous hope, was that his disguise would be enough to ensure that no one would recognize him.

He was wearing a dark trench coat, charcoal gray, that reached to just above his ankles and covered up to his wrists. It was a designer jacket, only the best would do, no matter the situation. On his head was a fedora that matches the color of his coat. He'd wanted to wear a western style hat, or a Panama, but neither would go along with what was planned tonight. Also on his face to help with the disguise was a pair of dark glasses. Good for hiding your identity, bad for seeing things in a darkened corner.

He stood in that corner, quietly, waiting. One gloved hand in his pocket, the other arm tucked up with a large envelope placed just under his armpit. This was an important, stealthy, covert operation and he was taking very few chances.

Suddenly, a slightly raspy voice sounded in the distance.

"G'nort Dragoon-Talanador. I can sense your presence."

Curses. "Dammit, we agreed to using code names." Translated, I agreed to using code names but totally didn't tell you about it. "Call me 'Dr. Doom' and I'll call you 'Mr. Sinister'. Got it?" He grumbled.

"Whatever. As we have already agreed to the terms of this operation, all that remains is the compensation. I trust you have the agreed upon amount?"

He reached under his arm and pulled out the large manila envelope and held it out. "It is right here, Mr. Sinister. Everything we agreed upon. The cash, the location of the cadavers, etc. etc. Everything you requested for your.. X-Men. There are instructions on what to say, favorite items to draw her in, and even picture cards in case they might help."

The one being called 'Mr. Sinister' seemed to glide forward, reaching out a long arm to clasp the envelope and take it from Dr. Doom's hand. Doom/G gave a slight involuntary shudder as he was filled momentarily with a slight sensation of unease. Which was not an easy task.

He looked up a moment to where the shadowed, cloaked figure stood still and lowered his glasses slightly. "Hey, Sinister? This is just an intervention, okay? Maybe scare her a little, but I don't want her hurt. I need her. She just has a problem."

Of course it would never occur to G that this is more than likely -NOT- the best way to go about staging an intervention for sugar addiction. Probably the second worse thing he could do, really. But maybe his heart was sorta in the right place. Who knew?

The cloaked and shadowy Mr. Sinister's hood shifted slightly to regard Dr. Doom. Perhaps a soft sepulchral chuckle did escape that hood. "No harm shall befall the girl. It has been agreed upon." A pause. "If that is all, I shall be going now."

G/Doom swallowed and nodded, not exactly reassured by the tone of which that was said. Still, he had faith this would work out, for the best. After all, it was incredibly rare that any of his plots and schemes didn't work out. Except that one time the gnomes were involved and..well, we don't talk about that.

"That is all, Mr. Sinister. I appreciate your candor in this matter. And remember, if anybody asks, this conversation -Never- happened. You can validate your parking on the way out, if you need." There was no response as Mr. Sinister seemed to have already melded into the shadows.

"Talking to myself. As per usual. Okay, Dr. Doom, you can see yourself out now. The deal is struck. I hope nobody saw me." And he quietly left.

[Gabby]

A swinging lightbulb overhead was the solitary source of light in the metallic shipping crate. The sight of red was in every direction as riveted steel formed the walls, floor and ceiling. The lightbulb itself looked jerry-rigged and standing below it was the purple force user. Between the Assistant Coordinator who had been tied to the chair and himself, there was a table full of delicacies and sugary sweets that were so close yet so far away. He began to pace back and forth with his hands folded behind his back.

“I imagine you have no idea why you are here, Miss Gabriella. Allow me the pleasure to explain. A kidnapping is both exhilarating and commonplace when it comes to Rhy’Din. However being given permission to kidnap a staff member is something else entirely. It would seem that you have been blinded by the nature of these…” He picked up a cupcake as he was strolling back and forth and eyed it. “Disgusting objects.” He dropped it on the steel floor to the ‘room’ and stomped on it with the boot. “I don’t really care about your needs but I accepted this as a teambuilding exercise. And an opportunity to torture you.” He set both hands on the table and hovered over the copious amounts of sugar before him. “But I need some help.” That was when from the shadows behind her...

Ominous footfalls echoed behind the Assistant Coordinator as the black robed and hooded Lich made his appearance. “Disgusting is too light a word. Personally, I have no need of food, especially such frivolous, sugary concoctions such as these. But we have the cure for your particular disease, my cupcake ingesting mortal. HmmHmmHaHaHaHaHa.” Xanth’s steps halted as he stood next to Bile and crossed his arms.

Pleased with the addition of the Lich to the efforts Bile nodded his head as he picked out a large, round chocolate cake and pushed it forward almost to the edge of the table. He then pushed the table forward so that the cake was just below Gabby’s line of sight. “Xanth will be overseeing the… treatment for any legal discussions that may arise after.” He stuck his index finger in the thick chocolate and held it up to his gaze. “Disgusting.” He then gestured once more behind her with his hand when…

Out of the shadows did Layla appear. The woman reeking a mixture of dirt and body sweat; both which were visible on her clothing. Clenched between her teeth is a rather large combat knife. Her hands were busy counting the money that she had been paid for this endeavor. Gabby is spared a look, one which turned into a sneer. Intimidation tactics.

“And the… repuls-- courteous Layla will simply be making sure you do not feel the urge to fight back. I know how you addicts lose your temper.” He took a hold of the large manilla envelope from the table and tapped its base against said table to straighten out the documents. A crease to the top and the *pop* of the tie was heard. “Let’s see here…” The envelope fell to the floor and Bile pushed a treat in either direction of the other two while beginning to flip through the assorted documents. “There’s some things here about a process, what it means to be an addict, blah blah blah…” He tossed one page after another onto the floor and began to find the content that he imagined would serve well enough.

“Here we go. A lesson in health.” He took a seat on the opposite side of the table from her and set out a lime-icing cupcake. One finger pushed it closer to her and he began to read what was a clearly jumbled message, partly coherent yet loosely so. “Your health is very important to us.” Pause, flick of the page to see what followed, and then back to the current paragraph. “You are.. I’m sorry this writing is terrible, is he really a Doctor? That would explain this terrible handwriting.” Pause, double check, no he’s right where he needs to be. “You are… copious.. corpulent.. I.. I can’t make out what this says. Your health is important. Thus, you have before you a toothpaste cupcake. This embodies.. that’s just disgusting. I wouldn’t eat that and I don’t eat.” He was getting off track now but folded the paper again. “This embodies what you do to your body with all of the sugars you eat.” Page dropped and onto the next one. “This is to teach you that what you are doing is wrong. You are wrong. You should feel wrong. No one loves you.” He dropped that page and moved on. None of that had been written, but so be it. He looked up now to see how this ‘treatment’ was affecting his patient.

[Gabby]

Beneath that jerry-rigged swinging bulb, the Cupcake Queen’s head lolled as she began to awaken from whatever-it-was that Bile had drugged her with. Drool trickled from one corner of her mouth yet somehow her mouth felt like it had been stuffed with cotton. Finally able to regain a modicum of control over her neck muscles, Gabby lifted her head to look around. Barely focused eyes narrowed from the strain of trying to see past the harsh, unforgiving light and into the darkness beyond. It was the strangest vision, seeing nothing but a purple haze and flame in the shape of a skull and appearing as a discombobulated head.

Her reaction time was lagging, an aftereffect of the drugs, but finally her brain registered what it was seeing, even if she couldn’t quite understand. “W-where am I?” was her first question, spoken softly as she finally began to look around for a moment. Her gaze stopped upon the cupcake Bile was holding and followed it as it dropped to the floor and was smashed. “You’re a terrible...thing. Terrible!” That was when she heard the terrifying sound of pure horror that would haunt her for the rest of her days...the Lich’s laugh. It should be trademarked, bottled, and sold to scare young and old. Gabby cringed and attempted to stifle a squeak but was unsuccessful.

Unwittingly, Bile managed to distract Gabby from the terror that was Xanth when he pushed that chocolate cake towards her. She couldn’t help herself, “...mmm. If you gimme a bite of that, I won’t cut your liver out and feed it to your buddy there when I get outta here.”

With the appearance of Layla, Gabby looked over her shoulder and gave the woman the evil eye. She remembered the filthy woman spitting on her and her own headbutt given in retaliation...if Bile expected that to keep Gabby from fighting back, he’d sorely miscalculated. “You! I remember you. You ready for your nose to get smashed again? Yeah? C’mere then!” No, Gabby wasn’t helping her case any, but it made Bile’s next words rather comical. I know how you addicts lose your temper.



“What are you talking about, Skeletor? Who’s an addict?” She watched as the lime green cupcake was pushed towards her and she licked her lips, barely focusing upon his disjointed words...until he said the two magic words ‘toothpaste cupcake.’ Gabby crinkled her nose, “blech...no thanks!” Her gaze refocused upon the skeletal haze of his face as he continued. “So, wait...toothpaste symbolizes what I do to my body? Uhhh. Yeah, dude, I totally clean my body...unlike some people. Not naming names or anything but I’m pretty sure you can smell her.” With a comical raise of her brows and a cant of her head, she tried to make it evident she was speaking of the unwashed Layla. Then her brows arched in real surprise. “I’m doing something wrong? I’m wrong and nobody loves me? Wut?”

Layla did not seem amused by Gabby’s choice of words. A sickening gargle of mucus and saliva mixing about in her throat. A puff of her cheeks then a release of the mixture off to the side. The glob met the floor with a splat. The silent woman resumed the toying with her knife as she set glaring eyes back on Gabby.

Fade to black.

[Gabby]

Picture a clock, its hands spinning rapidly as time passes.

The torture continued for days that turned into weeks. All Gabby was given to eat was filet mignon and lobster; never once did a sweet treat cross her lips. She screamed and cried and tried to kick anyone that got too close. She sweated and pleaded during the withdrawal hallucinations; cupcakes begging her to eat them but she could never get close enough.

Finally in the wee hours of the morning, not that she would know since she was inside a shipping container, a masked man stood before her. “Young lady, you have before you the evil and malicious Dr. Doom in the flesh. The one and only. The best. Number One. The criminal mastermind who orchestrated this nefarious plot. This sinister scheme. If anybody has said my name was anything other than Dr. Doom, they are sissy liars.” He reached down with a gloved hand to gently caress her cheek with his knuckles. “My dear, sweet child, should I decide to free you, would you go forth into the world remembering the lesson that you were taught in this grand hall of education?” Shipping container. On the docks. It smelled fishy.

With a weak little roll of her head, Gabby’s gaze lifted to meet his. “I will.”

He believed her and bent slightly to free her wrists, and then her ankles which led to her immediately kicking him in the jewels. “Learn this lesson, you crazy bastard. Never unchain the deranged sugar addict when you are the only thing standing between her and the wonderful, delectable taste of freedom and icing!”

The kidnapping of the Cupcake Queen comes to its glorious conclusion...with poor G, oops...Dr. Doom, curled into the fetal position upon the floor of a shipping container whimpering while Gabby stands over him, stuffing fistfuls of the prop cupcakes and icing into her mouth with not a single crumb dropped to the floor.

The End?

Thanks to the players of G, Bile, Xanth, and Layla for their collaboration.