Mirrorball

Mirrorball is the forty fourth chapter in the Wombles Eight.

Stephanie was crying on a street corner with a bloodied penknife held loosely in her hand. The creepy old man certainly hadn’t cured her of insanity, oh, no, he had driven her half-mad. She couldn’t control her temper and she felt as though she were a schizophrenic. She was surprised when a voice suddenly said, “Hello murderer.”

Stephanie looked up to see Katrina Purdey pointing a gun at her. “You can’t say ‘hello murderer’ and then murder me.” She sobbed. “That’s just hypocritical.”

She was right, obviously, but Katrina didn’t really think that way. She wasn’t planning to shoot unless she felt there was a reason though. “What’s your name?” she demanded. “Stephanie Kingsley.” Whispered Stephanie. “Stephanie Kingsley,” said Katrina, producing a pair of special Spiders cuffs. “You’re under arrest.”

Tara, Gordon and Melissa were reciting the riddle to themselves and sleuthing away trying to figure out what it meant. And who was this I.N. James? They’d corrupted the power, so they must be “a figment of the depths of burning hell” but what did the I.N. even stand for? And why would there be some unawakened magic in LA? And why would it now be in London?

Katrina managed to get Stephanie to The Spiders quite quickly, thanks to her powerful motorbike. Bridge looked somewhat displeased to see Katrina again, but said, “Thank you, Purdey. Is this one the lot?”

“Yes, I think so.” Said Katrina. “Throw her in the prison for now, we can deal with any insanity or motives later. Then head back to whatever chosen hiding place from Summers.” Said Bridge.

Katrina threw Stephanie in the prison and headed back to the now closed yet still crowded outdoor market.

Katy finished up with her chopped pear and checked the clock. Not time yet. She curled up on her throne and went to sleep again.

*Katy screamed as if she’d seen the devil. Then she hit the woman with the back of her hand. No reaction. The woman sharpened a blade with gold nine-inch fangs and –*

It wasn’t that much after she fell asleep that Katy woke up. She was glad to have done so, as she really couldn’t make sense of these nonsensical dreams. “Gold nine-inch fangs indeed.” She muttered.

Just then, a voice proclaimed behind her, “Good evening, Katy.”

Katy turned around to see Lady Diana Forbes-Blakeney. ”What the – who the -how the –“ spluttered Katy. “Lady Diana Forbes-Blakeney.” Replied Lady Diana. “I was given the gift of magic by a witch when I was thirteen, after I helped her with some serious house issues. I thought I may as well come and deal with *this* serious issue. Don’t bother trying to get me to your side. I’m not disloyal and I’ve learnt some tricks to stop myself from being hypnotized. No-one can get into *my* mind now.”

But Katy just threw Lady Diana out the window. Lady Diana broke her fall with a spell, but was too shaken to bother going after Katy again.

Cornelius Snow was still looking for Emma Peel. He was hoping that with how mad things had gotten then it might be legal to start a revamped seventy-sixth Hunger Games, and Mrs Peel seemed like a perfect competitor to him. His dream plan was to have her, Kathryn Hudson, Taylor Swift, Tara Keel, Carol Wilson, Alderney Womble, Diana Forbes-Blakeney, Mal daughter of Maleficent and Hades, Clarissa Fray, Catherine Steed, Isabelle Lightwood, Evie daughter of The Evil Queen, Nathaniel Messervy, John Constantine, Harry Potter, Michael Gambit, Magnus Bane, Templeton Peck, David Vincent, Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, Hal Jordan, Harry Hook and Jay son of Jafar.

Katy was in the same street as him, having decided to go for a stroll while she waited for Domination Time. “Hello, sweetie pie.” She purred. “Who might you be?”

“Ah, Miss Hudson.” Said Cornelius. “I was hoping you might show up. I need you for something.”

“Do you now.” Said Katy. “Well, I do apologize in advance but I’m bored.” She pulled her knife out from inside her bikini and stabbed Cornelius to death. She sucked the blood off of the blade and said, “That was fun.” Then she continued strolling.

“Hello there, Katy.” Said a sharp female voice when Katy had walked a few more steps. Katy looked them in the eyes and saw that they were Esmerelda Summers. “Esmerelda? What do you –“

“I know you like songs, so perhaps a rhyme will make you understand. I didn’t join your domination team to walk together hand-in-hand. I’ve stalked you across this street so I can usurp you just like I planned. Then I’m going to seek out Katrina Honour Kylie Purdey and – cut off her pretty little head with your home’s candlestick stand!”

Katy felt rather hurt by Esmerelda’s betrayal but she just transported herself elsewhere with a dash of dark magic. She found herself at a rather large disco with Taylor Swift’s *Shake It Off* playing. Only everyone was standing still as a statue. Everyone, except for the woman standing in the midst of it all. A brunette woman with angel-feather wings dressed in a green-and-white trouser-suit complete with green tie. *Tara!* Katy realized with a start. Yes, that was most definitely Tara, standing right under the disco ball.

“Katy.” Said Tara, smiling just like Inlustris. “Katy, I know the truth about you.”

“Of course you know the truth about me!” Katy snapped, irritated. “You’ve been working with me since day one. That is, until you *betrayed* me.”

“Not that truth.” Replied Tara. “You were friends, once, with Inez Nina James, weren’t you?”

“I’ve had *dreams* about such a person -or demon.” Katy hissed through her teeth. “But there is no such thing as this gold-fanged beast.”

“Please.” Said Tara. “I looked her up. You were friends, back in LA. Back in The City Of Angels. You mysteriously stopped being  seen together after a while. In fact, Inez stopped being seen at all. On the exact same day which was the first Inez wasn’t seen, there was a girl who claimed she saw you kill someone. Using a blade that, by description, sounds quite demonic to me. You woke up with it, didn’t you? In your hand. Alone. The magic you were given this year was *already* inside of you. A mistake, perhaps, but it was there. And it *could’ve* been unlocked by someone good, and you could’ve been with me, but Inez knocked things the wrong way, didn’t she? And so now you’re here – and yet things can be knocked back to the right. Probably someone will usurp you as you did Venus, but at least *you* will be saved.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Said Katy. “I don’t have any recollection of your stupid claims.”

“Because Inez cursed you. To hear and rely on the claim of ‘you shall rule’ and remember nothing about your true self. But this mirror ball is shining just for you, and it’ll show you every version of yourself tonight. So then you can meet me in the afterglow, and you shall never make bad blood or really deep cuts ever again.”

Katy stared into the disco ball. She remembered, as she gazed into its mystical moving pictures, exactly what had happened.