Book V: Chapter 6| Necare Ne

"Okay, KuKu, I want you to bring 30 troops over to the yummy treats. We need to fortify against this. Meet them, cut them off at the head before they get to the silly slides. He will meet up with Midori and his guards. There are only 12, there are only 20 elves. We should be able to fight this, Your Majesty."

Dori has declared herself the true Psycho Queen and has established herself as Queen of the Funny Feasts. We can't get in contact with her. She's currently talking with Pliny, the Queen.

The Queen shrieks. Barbara writes down, "The Queen was not taken aback by this most unfortunate setback; however, it only fed into her greater plans of further domination of the realm."

"Silence!" the Queen hisses. "What about the arena? Gather up any of the onlookers you can. And if there's anyone left in the arena, press-gang them into service."

Most of the arena has scattered. They have already taken to their houses, guarded their possessions, but many are fleeing the city. In this moment of moral test, Barbara writes, "The Queen saw that those who were cowards were expelled from her city, leaving only the true and virtuous Daughters of Necoccan."

"I said, shut up!" She strikes her again, but this time, Barbara is undeterred. She stares at her, the blood streaming down her cheek with pride.

"Nori Nekoni, to me! If we gather a contingent of force, if we gather those who are remaining in the palace and at the extra tunnel, we can block them off from escaping, Your Majesty."

The Kiddie Palace has already raised the banners of Pliny the Great. The Queen, never one to shy from a challenge, was eager to accept an even greater loss, as it would only lead to her rising farther.

"I said, shut up!" The Queen was pacing back and forth, looking around her. Above on her balcony, there was only chaos. The cats had taken to looting their own possessions. Those who lived in the apartment slums had locked their doors, waiting for this all to end.

Civil wars had broken out, every single commander claiming themselves to be the true Psycho Queen, marching with their armies of five soldiers, only to be betrayed by one who then calls themselves the next Psycho Queen. It was every cat for themselves, except for those under the red banner, the banner of Pliny. The top of the slide now bore the sign of Pliny. Guards were hanging upside down from the top of the slides. Some guards were placed, arms extended out and gasping for breath, all hanging from the water slide.

She had to think quickly. "Exactly," she thought about her boat, the one that they built. Surely they could control it.

"All right, new plan, Neguni, gather as many slaves as we can. We are going to try to make it to the Tunnel of Love. We're going to get out of this city, find whatever remaining fire charges we have, cast them all. Burn the city to the ground! Burn the city to the ground, Neck Underneath!"

Nekoni looks in shock, her large black eyes trembling, looking back and forth

"But, but this is, but this is our home!"

"It was our home, but we are Raiders. We burn homes down, and we find new homes when we find someone else. Well, she worth taking. But oh, this is not how this was supposed to go. This is not how this was supposed to go at all. This was supposed to be my triumph. It was supposed to be the climax of your great return, to quote your exact words, Mistress."

"I said, shut up, you! Neko Nee, are we ready to leave?"

"Um, not really, Mistress."The young guard looked ashamed, her eyes downcast. "The tunnel is already blockaded. No one's able to get in." Nekoni's eyes look down. She scratches behind her ears.

The Psycho Queen shakes her. "And what you're telling me, what she turns—"

“Here she is, Lord Pliny. Please don't hurt me." She turns her spear towards the Queen.

The Psycho Queen looks to her left, and there, wrapped in their red cloaks, are Pliny and Pompanos. Behind them, with shields and swords, are the elves, all dressed, two in Roman regalia, others in armor that they retook from the shelves. The Queen's panicked look turned around for a moment, and then finding her sweet voice and her smile, turned back around.

"Well, my pet, you have proven yourself worthy of my service. Thank you for passing my test. I would most certainly be willing to work with you as a partner, as a friend, as a loyal subject."

Pompanianus and Pliny looked at each other, almost in amusement. That was until Barbara ran to them.

"Father!" she cries out, losing her sense as she runs to them, only to be yanked back by the chain around her neck.

Pliny's face turned cold with rage.

The Psycho Queen turned. "Father, I, you, I, you were, you were his secretary." Panic runs across her face as she looks at the two."I, I apologies to you and your noble house. Here, I have something to compensate for this here. Just allow me to—"

And she reaches into her blouse as if to pull out the sacred stone again. Alexander, shield in hand, walks forward, smacks her across the head with the shield. The Queen falls on her back, laying next to Barbara, who Pliny is removing the fasteners of.

 Barbara, with her scarred eyes, scarred face, no longer bleeding, turns to her.

"And another parallel that the Psycho Queen shares with Necoccan is that the encountering of the hero in the netherworld changed her fate forever, and this was only the beginning of her many adventures."

 Barbara smiles a wicked smile.