Queen Orbita from the Shadowlands of Malica

In the Lands of Malica, armies of orcs, trolls and other unseemly creatures celebrated their triumph over Iron Mountain. All of these minions, forged by the whims of their Queen Orbita, surrounded her palace. Her palace was a dark fortress in a lava-filled mountainside where the ground itself was stained black with ash and malevolent magic.

Queen Orbita sat on her throne with an expression of pure glee on her face. Her fingers rapped against the armrests of her throne as she heard the news. Her plan had gone off without a hitch; Iron Mountain had fallen. There would be very little standing between her and total victory. The poor fools of Laena had once again played directly into her hands, and Iron Mountain was now hers.

"Bring in the chieftain," Orbita demanded with a lazy wave of her hand. Two orcs marched in, between them Steelarm, the former Chief of the Dwarves.

“So glad you could make it, my dear Steelarm. You know I’ve been hoping to invite you to my palace for quite some time.” Orbita sneered in mock politeness. “It’s really too bad you’ve been so rude. You really ought to apologise.”

The dwarf said nothing, his eyes glowing with rage and defiance.

"Tsk, how rude? Did your mother have any manners? Did she not tell you that you bow before your Queen?"

"I'll never bow to you bitch. You can take Iron Mountain, but you can never make me one of your slaves." Steelarm shouted back, his voice gravelly and rough, sending a lob of spit at Orbita. Which Orbita responded to with all the attention one might treat the smallest rain drop.

"How revolting. Make him kneel." Orbita said with a lazy wave of her right arm as the other wiped the spit away from her pristine face. Whilst she waved a hand to summon a magical mirror to examine her features, she heard a rough and painful thud and found Steelarm flat against the floor, his head pulled upwards to face Orbita. “Much better. I do hope you won’t make things more complicated than you needed to be. I do hope you’ll reconsider working with me; you made such a useful ally before.”

Steelarm glared, an expression of pure hatred that simply made Orbita’s blood tingle. “Don’t play games with me, witch.”

“Oh, but I had such fun playing them with you. I mean, you’ve been playing to my tune.” Orbita grinned, placing two fingers to her mouth and chuckling cruelly. “Oh, look at you, you’re so badly confused. How unfortunate, do you think I should explain it to this fool, Velthara?”

Orbita grinned at Velthara, her spymaster. Like all dark elves, Velthara had once been a normal elf that Orbita had corrupted in her baths of darkness. After changing the wood elf ranger into her dark elf advisor, Velthara had become Orbita’s second-in-command and the closest thing she had left to a friend.

“Yes, my Queen, I think you should.” Velthara purred, putting one leg behind the other and smiling maliciously.

Steelarm looked between them with growing dread. “What vile trick have you played, witch?”

“Witch? No, nothing of the sort. Lately I’ve been something more akin to a muse. Exploring the dreams of people and giving them ideas. I had quite the time exploring your dreams, Steelarm. So anxious about defending your dear Iron Mountain, I thought you might need some…ideas." Orbita purred as she relished how Steelarm's face turned white.

"I am of course referring to the Celestial Forge you created. A forge capable of developing the perfect armor, one that came to you in a dream. The dream I implanted into your mind." Orbita purred, chuckling darkly as she leaned forward.

"But why? It was my greatest invention. It kept your armies at bay for years." Steelarm demanded, but his eyes were wide. "You're trying to get in my head, witch, trying to confuse me. It won't work."

Orbita threw her head back in open, wicked delight, her laugh as haughty as it was horrifying. Like nails on a blackboard, and she could see the dwarf's confidence begin to wane. "You short little fool. I may be an expert in getting into people's heads, but I assure you this wasn't all that I did. Yes, I was the true genius behind your precious Celestial Forge, the refining of mithril, the imbuing of magic, a perfect forge that forged more armour than any other."

She got to her feet to march around Steelarm like a dragon circling its prey. "Naturally, I suspected you'd pour all of Iron Mountain's resources into it, just as I was hoping. Dwarves have always believed they can forge a fix for any problem; that was what I was hoping for."

Steelarm was silent now, his face going pale, doubt seeping into his expression. "You acted exactly as I expected, creating a forge perfectly aligned with my designs. And of course you never did suspect for even a second that the designs were flawed in some way, nor that you had dreamt up a weapon with critical vulnerabilities. Such a simple change would have fixed the design flaw, but alas, you couldn't understand my genius. Simply following the path I laid out for you."

"In the battle, our armor was useless," Steelarm whispered, horrified realisation on his face.

"Simple spider venom, easily fixed with an addition of phoenix magic. But you could barely understand my own genius, and overlooked such an 'insignificant detail'. So as soon as you dwarves became dependent on my designs, it was simply a matter of coating our weapons, and your legendary metals became no stronger than mere cotton." Orbita grinned before letting out a cruel, ruthless laugh of triumph.

"Thanks for all the help! Guards, take him to the dungeons." She said with a snap of her fingers before marching to her war room, all the more delighted the more insults that she heard from Steelarm.

"That was delightful, my Queen. Your genius is unmatched as always." Valthara said sycophantically.

"Yes, I know this already," Orbita said, barely noticing her as she made her way into her war room. "Now, you said that one of your spies had arrived."

"Here, my Queen." A raspy, dark voice said. Another dark elf, a former wood elf ranger, Darkblade. He had proved more stubborn than Valthara had been, hence his much creepier and less appealing appearance, not that it mattered much to Orbita. She wanted minions, not trophies.

“Ah, I suspect you have important news then? Is that why you’re bothering me?” Orbita eyed him in boredom.

Her spy looked offended, but Orbita could not find it in herself to care. “I have information on Laena’s last hope.”

“Oh?” Orbita’s interest was piqued and a smile grew. “What false hope have they held to now?”

“Our agent tells us that they’ve received some kind of invitation from the Gods, a contest of nations between empires with the reward of anything their nation desires as the prize.” Her spy rasped, his grin wide. “It’s clear they’re putting all their cards on this. Even sending none other than their precious chosen one Ashara herself. Sounds like a fool’s dream, no?”

Orbita froze, however. Whilst it makes sense for her advisors to consider such a possibility nothing more than a hopeless delusion, Orbita knew better. Just a few days ago she had received a familiar letter, one that, just by looking at it she had been able to tell was sincere.

“You’re dismissed.”

"But-"

"You're dismissed," Orbita repeated sharply. Sensing her fury, the spy wisely silenced himself and lifted his arms in surrender.

"Of course, my Queen, I exist to serve." He quivered, swallowing.

Orbita tsked. “Valthara, follow me.”

Leaving a confused spy behind and a subordinate yet confused Valthara following behind her, Orbita took Valthara to somewhere where Orbita had never taken another soul. Her bedroom. It was elaborately decorated with much of the treasure and luxury that she had taken from her enemies' lands.

She reached behind a portrait of herself and exposed a magically sealed vault. Inside were a series of documents and artefacts that Orbita kept secret not only from the world but from her minions as well. Among them was an envelope; it seemed unassuming, yet something about it felt unnaturally important.

“This is likely what the Kingdoms of Laena found. It was something that arrived to me a few days ago." Orbita admitted, holding up the envelope. "It may not seem like much, but I have tested it with all my magic, and I can tell with every instinct in my body it is sincere."

She unfolded the letter once again and gave it to Vaelthara to read.

Shadowlands of Malica,

You have been invited to send a champion to partake in a contest of nations. Should you participate, the lands of Malica will be granted the ability to travel to and dominate other worlds beyond your own, and further expand your kingdom. Should your champion emerge the victor, she’ll also be granted a magic wish. Upon acceptance, your champion will be summoned to us immediately.

We are eager to hear your reply.

Vaelthara studied this letter. "You hid this?"

"Naturally," Orbita admitted proudly. "It seemed irrelevant to me at the time, what with our war with the Kingdoms of Laena being all but won at this point. Why gamble with those I do not understand when victory is assured? I'm more than capable of developing the magic to travel to other worlds myself. But should Laena have this power..."

"You believe they will use it to win the war?" Vaelthara said, nodding. She was one of the few not intimidated by Orbita’s presence.

“Indeed, so now the calculation becomes less about gaining the knowledge to spread our dominion but more about preventing Laena from snatching victory from the jaws of defeat,” Orbita said, curling her fingers as her mind calculated how to respond to the Blue Wizard’s actions.

“And here I was thinking it was all over.” She chuckled. “I’ll say this for the Blue Wizard; he certainly knows how to keep things interesting.

“Even with the fall of Iron Mountain, it would take weeks before we’re ready to siege Vael. An elite team of dark elf assassins would not be able to overcome their precious little chosen one, never mind the Blue Wizard. Which leaves us only with the option to join the contest and win it.” Orbita calculated, amused by the situation. “And I shall have you as my champion.”

Vaelthara knew better than to question her Queen nor to refuse her. Instead, she dropped to her knees in submission. “My Queen, I am honoured.”

“As well you should be.” Orbita purred, curling a single finger to permit Vaelthara to rise. “As my most trusted spymaster, I would permit you to undertake this task.”

“I will not let you down,” Vaelthara promised. Orbita’s conditioning of her had truly been pitch perfect.

“With my guidance, you will not.” Orbita picked up the letter; it seemed to communicate silently to Orbita how she should answer it. “Alright, whoever you are. We accept your cursed challenge.”

Immediately, Orbita knew something was wrong. To begin with, it wasn’t Vaelthara who’d been thrown from the physical world but instead Orbita herself. Orbita had studied such travel in her magical studies, but it was all theoretical before now.

Someone out there was better at magic than her, and she didn’t like it one bit.

Orbita found herself coming to a stop; her feet found solid ground in a new location. She could hear the waves of the ocean outside, a sound that she had not heard since her childhood. She summoned balls of magic in her hands and moved into a battle stance.

“Who dares? Who dares defy the will of Orbita? I look forward to seeing you at my feet, tortured until you become another of my thralls!”

“Me, I dare! Me, the GREAT, the FABULOUS, the unbelievably sexy, HERA!” A pompous voice sang out that made Orbita’s skin crawl.

“YOU!” She snarled, and without waiting, she slung two balls of purple magic at the stranger. The stranger smiled and twirled on the spot, transforming her outfit into some kind of stage magician's outfit, redirecting the balls of magic around herself like a magic trick. A wave of applause broke out from thin air as the woman bowed to no one in particular in mock gratitude.

"TADA! And for my next trick, I'm going to make this woman's magic disappear." She snapped her fingers, and suddenly Orbita felt her magic drain away as if being sucked from her very bones. Suddenly, for the first time in decades, Orbita was completely powerless.

"What, I mean, you? She's powerless." An all-too-familiar holier-than-thou voice spoke out. Wonder and disbelief were evident, and she looked at Orbita like she was a different woman.

"Ashara. I suspect this was your doing?" Orbita said, stalling. Her face was a perfect poker face to hide how worried she was about losing her powers. Not to mention that she had noticed how Ashara was fingering the hilt of her sword.

"No," Ashara admitted, her smile becoming one of delight. Oh, how she must want to gloat. "But I'm more than happy to take the opportunity.

Ashara drew her sword in a flash and charged at Orbita like a bull. Her eyes glinted with an anger that had been forged from a lifetime of war against Orbita's armies. Orbita was waiting for her; it had been too long since she had fought without magic, but she was never a novice.

“Stop.” A young man’s voice cried out to no avail.

A flash of light appeared, and the mysterious woman appeared between them with a gust of smoke. The two were thrown back and slammed against the walls. “Ladies, ladies. Catfight all you want when the contest starts, but not like this. You might damage the Master's property.” The strange woman demanded.

She twirled on the spot, and Ashara was sent back to where she had begun, but this time when she tried to move, the muscles in her feet wouldn’t obey. Like they served a new master.

It was so casual, beyond even Orbita’s skill.

“You said contest,” Orbita said, turning to this mysterious woman with no shortage of venom. "I presume that this is the contest of nations I agreed to."

"You are correct; I have no doubt you are enjoying yourself. Quite the splendid display, as you've no doubt realised." The mysterious woman said, preening proudly. "I am the host of this grand and exciting contest of nations, and you are the contestant and-"

"I'm going to stop you right there," Orbita growled, placing a finger to this whore's mouth. "You've made a mistake."

Hera's eyes narrowed dangerously, her eyebrows knitted together like daggers. "A mistake?! The great, the fabulous, the unbelievably sexy Hera doesn't make mistakes."

Orbita grinned; if nothing else, she could anger this woman. "Oh, but you seem to forget that I SPECIFICALLY mentioned that my spymaster Vaelthara would be my champion."

Orbita's short-lived glee soon became frustration as Hera's scowl brightened into a wicked grin. "Oh, that- well, I'm afraid it wasn't me who made mistakes, but rather you. You see, in this contest, I, in my far superior intelligence and wisdom, get to decide the contestants. And in this case, I think it is you who should partake in this contest, not dear Vaelthara. I think a queen should fight her own battles, no?"

Orbita's hands were curled into fists on her hips, and her face contorted into an expression of pure rage. "That's...that's... you dare?"

"HA! About time," Ashara muttered in self-righteousness, arms folded with a satisfied smile.

"Wait!" A timid, squeaky voice yelled from somewhere. "You can't force people to compete; it isn't right!"

"Who the hell is he?" Orbita demanded, jabbing an unimpressed thumb at the pathetic boy.

"A man you should get to know very well," Hera said ominously. Then she snapped her fingers and appeared next to the young man. He yelped in surprise as he found Hera leaning over his shoulder. “And don’t you worry, my dear Alex. Allow the wisdom of Hera to help you out. Just leave it all to me and your life will take a turn for the better.”

Another snap of her fingers and suddenly Hera was back in Orbita’s personal space. “As for you, Orbita, yes, it’s your time to compete. Shall we go through your people’s history?”

A screen turned on, using a magic not too dissimilar from the magic of crystal balls or magic mirrors. But the detail was more refined, and there seemed to be no hint of magical dissonance that Orbita normally showed. It was an image of the flag of Malica, one that was meant to inspire terror and dread to all who saw it.

"Only about fifty years ago, the lands that were once called the dead mountains, one lone woman strode out there to seek a spot where she could find a place to build her army. A small little girl called Orbita, such a sweet thing she was back then, shy, nervous and all so bitter.”

Orbita was fuming with rage. “Shy? Not at all; patient would be more accurate. Patient enough to bring the world to its knees.”

“Oh yes. You had a massive chip on your shoulder, didn’t you? So desperate to be a lovely, pampered princess. Too bad for you that you were born a commoner.” Hera said, her voice filled with mockery.

“And why on earth shouldn’t I be? I knew more about magic and statecraft than any pampered prince or spoiled princess. Why should they have received power when they so desperately lack my genius?” Orbita hissed, her hands at her fists.

“Perhaps because you were unworthy,” Ashara said snidely.

“You’ve become bolder now that I’m without my magic, a shame you didn’t show any of this courage when it might have mattered.” Orbita hissed back.

“In any case,” Hera said loudly, her voice almost magical in how it cut through the tension. “It was here in the dark mountains that sweet little Orbita set up her work. Using nothing but the lava, the mud and the magic in the air, she started to craft herself a lovely little army. She started with simple little orcs and used them to build herself a lovely fortress, and then she got darker, more experimental. Soon she was crafting entire armies of trolls, dragons and all sorts of unspeakable abominations to declare war on the world that wouldn't give her power."

The screen changed to view legions of Orbita's marching orcs, with dragons flying overhead. Each marching in perfect sync with the others. Orbita recognised it as part of her campaign against Indigo Grove, one of her earliest victories which had taken the Kingdoms of Laena by surprise and thrown the night elves into disarray.

"She struck decisively, destroying the Elves of the Indigo Grove and soon corrupting them into her own new breed of Dark Elves. Sexy, alluring but dangerously intelligent that I'm sure anyone would want to rule." Hera added with a saucy wink at that boy in the oversized throne. “With their help Malica has spread across the kingdoms of Laena and now approaches total victory.”

Then Hera’s face became a grin. “Of course that depends on how she does in the contest. All her efforts are in one man’s hands now and should she rule or fall comes down to whether or not she can earn his favour.”

“What man? You dare insult me?” Orbita spat but to her great annoyance that Hera ignored her.

“So my dear Orbita, what say you? Got any words for our audience?” Hera asked, shoving her metal wand into Orbita’s face.

Orbita didn’t speak immediately, she was not a woman above fury but she had learned how to contain those emotions and not let them control her. It would be foolish to further antagonise this Hera further. She might vex Orbita, she nonetheless had far greater power and understanding of magic than even herself and the Blue Wizard.

“This contest has not developed as I expected, but nonetheless it is nothing beyond my abilities. I have fought stronger and more cunning foes than Ashara and anyone else you might bring to this contest, and when this is done I’ll use your prize and have spread Malica’s dominion far beyond the borders of one simple world.” Without another word Orbita ran her hand through her blood-red hair and marched onto her designated chair, feeling her powers return as she sat down, sitting on it as if it were a throne. She noticed, with no small amount of annoyance, that this man had a greater throne than herself. No matter, soon it would be hers.

“Not if I have anything to say about it.” Ashara said fiercely. What a feisty little girl.

“Oh such drama, such tension. I knew that their rivalry is going to be a good one. The Queen and the heroine, both competing for first place, but my genius won’t leave our young Master with just one world to toy with.” Hera declared, grin growing spooky and ominous. “For in the world of comics there are no ends to different worlds with legions of superheroes with the most common superpower available. But instead of Queens and chosen ones we’ll be sneaky and taking a rather unknown villain and thrusting her into the limelight as champion of her world. Here straight from Earth 372 give it up for DR. SYNERGY!”