Reminder…What ain’t mine, still ain’t mine.

-

The New Warrior Maiden

Chapter 3 – The Stranger Becomes Known

August 30th seemed a relatively normal day in The Village, or at least as normal as could be hoped for. Stella spent the past couple of days going to school with her brother, hanging with her friends, and helping her mother with meal preparations. She’d just gotten off the bus from school, and was walking to Jake’s, a convenience store, to buy some drinks and food. She heard a commotion through the open door.

She entered to see a couple of shelves broken, their contents strewn about the floor. A bottle was smashed on the ground in front of her. “Stop that right now!”

A bulky being shuffled in front of her. It had a featureless face, save for a pair of glowing pink eyes, and while human in shape, it was covered in skin that resembled cracked dried mud. A loincloth made of rags and a belt were all it wore. It grunted, before punching a hole in the wall.

“I’m not scared of you!” She punched the thing in its chest. It was hard as rock, and the being was unfazed. It pushed her, and she slammed against a variety of sauce and soup cans. She scrambled to her feet. The being dashed at her like a runaway train, and she had to tumble to avoid it, as it crashed with enough force to crush the cans and spill their contents onto it. “Who are you?”

“That thing doesn’t speak,” came a man’s voice from behind her. “It’s dangerous.”

“YOU….WILL….DIE!” grunted the creature, as it thrashed about its enormous hands. Its right hand was swung back, ready to punch Stella. As it came forward, she grabbed it with her hands. She hefted the fist upwards, and it smashed into the head. The eyes flashed a bright white, before losing their glow. Cracks formed over the body, and a cloud of dust emanated. The body broke apart into clumps of dried hard mud, and shattered on the ground, before dissolving and bubbling with a loud hiss, leaving only the clothing behind, along with what appeared to be a pair of circuit boards. A red light flashed on one of them. A bright pink spark appeared on one of them, and it brightened up to fill the room. When it died down, the circuit boards were devoid of all circuits and attached wires, as though it were all “erased,” and the handful of microphips attached had all exploded.

-----------------------------------------

“NON-FUNCTIONAL”, proclaimed flashing white letters on a flashing red screen, as an alert buzzed. Dr. Worm was livid.

“Somebody is trying to be a hero,” he stated. “But I want to know WHO!”

“You surely put the ‘circuitry’ into the Hard Mud Soldier. Where was it last?” asked one of the Stranger’s faces. This was the oddest face of all, having no visible mouth, and three large eyes fitted into what looked like an enormous oversized brick. Its three holes flashed colors whenever it spoke with that voice.

Sullen Moon, who was standing between the two, pressed several buttons. The NON-FUNCTIONAL screen was replaced with a large map. Dr. Worm pressed a button, and then a few more, and green flashing lights appeared. “Over there, in that village.”

“It is on the Third Mesa,” added Dr. Worm.

The Stranger’s head turned to show the mask with the large mouth and the tongue hanging out. “It is time to introduce you to one of my loyal followers. Dark Corn Maiden, I summon you, through the Gateway must you pass!”

A sphere of glowing light sprung from the Trapdoor, and landed next to the Stranger. It morphed into the form of a teenage girl. She wore a purple manta, light brown moccasins, and a necklace of mutated corn pieces. She had buckteeth, and feet with claws on them (that protruded through her footwear). Scraggly and unkempt black hair was on her head. She had it in a Squash Blossom hairdo, sometimes nicknamed a “Bjork” or a “Padme”, after the people most non-Hopis associated that hairdo with. Hers, however, was slightly crooked, and sticking out through either “whorl” were strange antler-like growths. She carried a pair of large flat stone slabs. “I am the Dark Corn Maiden,” she proclaimed.

The Stranger’s face changed to the round “nervous” mask. “There is a threat to us. You will come with us, while the Worm will watch our base. We must claim the Third Mesa NOW!”

“As you wish, my master!”

“Take these,” requested Dr. Worm, as he handed both of them devices that resembled first-generation cellphones. “These are Com Links. If you need to contact us, or vice versa, this shall be the way.”

“As you wish,” replied The Stranger. They took the devices, and then teleported.

------------------

Stella had just arrived home, and was watching TV with Phil, while Diamond-Lucie was preparing dinner. She was going to tell them about the strange being she fought. A low tremor was felt.

“Earthquake?” asked Phil, as it stopped. They heard a voice coming from behind them. Stella turned off the TV, and the voice didn’t stop. It came through the windows.

“YOU WILL ALL OBEY US!” continued the voice. “WE ARE THE STRANGER! WE ARE FROM THE THIRD EARTH, THIS MESA IS UNDER OUR POWER!”

“Tell Mom I’ll be late for dinner,” instructed Stella to Phil. “The Warrior Maiden is needed!”

----------------

A group of men in dark brown uniforms formed a circle around The Stranger, who was standing in the plaza and making his pronouncements.

“Have you come to submit to us?” asked the Stranger, with the “tusked dragon head” engaged.

“No, we’ve come to tell you to get out. We don’t care what the situation is, nobody’s pushing us around, would you like to join the Owl gang in prison?” asked one of them through a loudspeaker. “We are the Hopi Militia of Peace. This is OUR land, not yours!”

“You will address us with respect. We are the Stranger, and the Dark Corn Maiden is our servant.”

“We’ll give you to a count of five to stand down, and you won’t threaten us.” They aimed rifles, shotguns, Tasers, lasers, and handguns. The Stranger was unmoved, and Dark Corn Maiden assumed a karate stance, but while holding the stone slabs. “TASERS!” The taser-holders fired their weapons. Some of them fired wire-attached barbs, others fired more advanced electric blasts. All of the projectiles were blocked by the Dark Corn Maiden’s slabs, and by an invisible forcefield around the Stranger. “ESCALATE!” The other guns were fired. While pieces of dust flew from the slabs, that was the only result. “The bullets aren’t stopping them.”

“Your insolence has a dire price, Tewa worshippers!” The head aimed at the ground, and what resembled dancing sparks appeared on the ground in front of the Stranger, and slowly snaked over towards the Militia. When it was under the feet of one of the members, the odd magical entity detonated, throwing the person into the air and spraying blood in all directions. One man came from behind, hoping to baton the two into submission. Dark Corn Maiden spun around, and clapped the two slabs on either side of his head, reducing it to a bloody pulp.

“I’ll make piki out of your soft heads, fools!” She danced on the lifeless body.

“FALL BACK!” ordered the leader. The force slowly retreated. “We have no choice!”

The head of the Stranger rotated, to show a mask with a cactus-like surface, and large star-shaped eyes, as well as a crescent-shaped mouth. “We rejoice, we are satisfied, they offer no resistance!”

“STOP RIGHT THERE!” boomed Stella’s voice. The Stranger noticed Stella standing at the other end of the plaza, holding a megaphone. “I have no idea who or what you are, but this madness ends now. This is your last chance.”

“Do you have any idea who we are?” asked the Stranger. The head spun to the dragon-head. “The Stranger does not have to obey you, for you are inferior! Now identify yourself. You are not one of the children of Tewa.”

“Oh, you don’t know anything. My Mom is Hopi, from the Kokyang clan. What do you know about the significance of spiders?”

The Stranger changed masks again. It was the neutral conical expression with a tongue hanging out. “That is irrelevant, little girl. We shall take the land that we are entitled to.”

“No.”

“No?”

“No way!”

“No way? No? NO?” The face switched to the dragon-like one. “Who are you?”

“Stella Laaya Kalashiavumaana Kokyang-Sefiewa. I am the He’e’e-Yania. I am a daughter of both Tewa and YaYa. And now tell ME something. Did you arrange for that dried mud creep to trash the store?”

“It was YOU who defeated the Hard Mud Soldier. You actually have some fighting skill. Yet we are not impressed. The Dark Corn Maiden is far superior to the Hard Mud Soldier. You two shall duel!”

“Are you ready?” laughed the Dark Corn Maiden. “Well, come on, come and die!” She pounded her slabs together for emphasis.

------------

“This is amusing,” mused Dr. Worm, watching on a monitor. “She’ll surely fail. She isn’t an Enega Warrior or even a Second City Enforcer. She’s just some Ya’a Naomi girl who thinks she’s Hopi!”

“Be careful,” advised Sullen Moon, “He’e’e was the name of the Warrior Maiden. And this being from a society that sees war as a last resort.”

“If I went I’d have just turned her into Swiss cheese, no questions asked!” remarked Number Three, before producing his guns, flipping them around, and firing at the ceiling while cheering.

“We have to stay here,” reminded Particle Man.

“I have an idea,” stated Dr. Worm. “We should build a heavy-duty elevator to go down into the Trap Door. It will be a help to both us and The Stranger.” They all agreed. “But for now we’ll see if Stella is a threat or a joke.”

-----------

The potential threat or joke ducked as Dark Corn Maiden slammed the two slabs together where she wanted He’e’e-Yania’s head to be. He’e’e-Yania struck back with an uppercut to the face. Dark Corn stumbled back, before unexpectedly spinning, slapping He’e’e-Yania with one of the slabs, and knocking her down.

Dark Corn towered over her adversary, and lifted her blocks. “Mmm, blood piki!” He’e’e-Yania used that moment to deliver a strong kick with both of her legs, knocking her backwards. Dark corn quickly recovered, and the two went at each other. After dodging another attempt to slam the slabs, He’e’e-Yania scratched Dark Corn’s face. She lifted her arms, and her slabs fell to her elbows, where they were secured with rope. She punched her opoenent in the face. Soon they were exchanging blows. He’e’e-Yania sunk her claws into Dark Corn Maiden’s sides, before head-butting her.

“Use your powers,” commanded the Stranger. The slabs took on a strange red glow, as did Dark Corn Maiden’s eyes. She leapt up into the air, and grabbed the slabs, and aimed them so that she would land on them. He’e’e-Yania moved backwards from where she expected her opponent to land. When the other one did land, a violent shockwave kicked up a cloud of dust, and threw He’e’e-Yania to the ground.

“You cannot win,” warned Dark Corn, as a strange grin filled her face. “Now you will DIE!”

“No,” replied He’e’e-Yania, as she rose, with a few cuts and bruises. “I will not, not yet.” She held her hands in front of her. “Golden Tewa Strike!” She did a circular motion, and a glowing yellow sphere darted from her hands and towards Dark Corn. She held her slabs in front of her, but the blast caused her to hit her own face. Blood gushed. The Stranger teleported next to her, and changed masks, this time showing the strange yellow brick with three holes. He’e’e-Yania sprinted towards them, but three green lights flashed from the holes, and a forcefield of green flashed and threw her back.

“We are defeated, but not permanently,” warned the Stranger, with a calmer, yet louder voice. “Our triumph will not be denied!” A bright blue light heralded their exit.

--------------

She did not notice someone in the distance, watching through binoculars. “This may put a cramp in our plans,” he commented.

--------------

“Your enforcer was good,” said Dr. Worm, “until she slipped up!”

“She cheated!” was Dark Corn Maiden’s response. “I didn’t know she could do a Tewa ball like that!”

“The Third Mesa is not undefended,” warned The Stranger, with his nervous mask showing.

“We must come up with an alternate plan,” suggested Particle Man.

“And we must strike harder,” added Number Three. “I want me a coon-skin cap!”

----------------

That night, Stella talked about what she did with her mother and brother.

“I thought we would be left alone,” commented her mother.

“So did I, but the Stranger from the Third Earth didn’t.”

“Excuse me?” asked Phil. “Third Earth? You mean that guy with the katsina masks done all wrong is from…there?” He pointed a finger down. “But if that place existed, shouldn’t it be all sealed? What’s up with that?”

“What’s up,” suggested Stella, “is that somebody unsealed it.”

“Who? The Glocks? Al-Harb? The Commonwealth? The Owls?”

“Or maybe none of the above!”

To be continued…

Author’s Note: Well, things are certainly getting interesting, aren’t they? And more will happen in the chapters to come.