by Jamie Hawke
“That’s not creepy at all,” I interrupted.
“Point is,” she continued with only a cursory glance at me, “I’m starting to get your code, which is why I could share the map with you. It’s why the color wheel makes so much sense to me now, in relation to your powers, and why we want to be careful with which offensive power to try and get for you.”
“To be clear,” Charm said, grabbing her by the arm. It seemed a defiant act, but her eyes showed resignation. “We’re doing this?”
“Blood or otherwise,” Twitch said, “as long as we win, keep our lives and help Breaker become an Elder, I’m willing to see this through.”
“Then so am I,” Charm said.
“And me? Do I get a say?” I stood there, hands out, annoyed that we’d stopped yet again and that they were discussing me as if I wasn’t even there.
“Are you seriously going to argue if we convince another woman to go down on you?” Twitch asked.
“Give me a break,” Charm said, turning away.
“I have two beautiful women, one who clearly doesn’t like this idea,” I protested. “Let’s do the blood thing if we find someone, but not the other stuff.”
“With blood, we’d have to cut you. You’d go into this fight injured?” Twitch shook her head. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“I choose though,” Charm said, glancing back at me, then fixing her gaze on Twitch. “We get our resistance going, and I get to decide who it is.”
“Excuse me.” My patience was running thin, and I was annoyed that I had another boner, this time at the thought of doing something I really didn’t want to do. “I at least get veto power.”
“Fair enough,” Twitch said, to both of us. “And good point. We need to keep moving.”
As we continued, I tried my powers a few more times, even attempting to look like Twitch once. She glanced over at me and nearly had a heart attack, though Charm seemed to think this was even hotter than the wolf illusion.
Swearing to never do it again at Twitch’s insistence, I changed out of her image and gave the illusion trick a break. Which worked out fine, because the flashing image on my mini-map showed that we were almost there.
It was time to see if we could figure out this resistance business and, apparently, find a suitable badass chica to go down on me. What a weird fucking day. Amazing… but weird.
14
Moving into the Orange District meant traversing a spinning tunnel, finding a ladder built into the metal that took us along a corridor, and finally letting us out into an area of the prison ship that felt entirely different from the others. Here it was more like what I’d always imagined a submarine felt like. Cramped, low, yellow lighting, and thick metal doors.
We moved on in silence here, Twitch and I able to see how close we were on our maps, Charm sensing our tension. She was good at that. After we’d gone through the third door, she cloaked, and I knew something was up. Twitch moved to the left wall, motioning for me to go to the right. One doorway ahead, we moved up on it as if we’d stand a chance if anything happened.
Each step echoed, my paranoia amping up three levels as I wondered how my brother with his special forces training would handle this situation. He’d have a weapon, he’d clear the room, and if anyone got in his way… death by pinky. Not me. I was ready to throw some kicks and punches, but I had about as much practical training as a gopher in a snake pit… You get the idea.
A shimmer showed as Charm decided to run in first, and there was a yelp followed by a flashing light, then we charged. Gusts of wind hit us and we were knocked back, though Twitch was already adjusting her screens mid-fall, and made it so that she flickered and landed on her feet. A wall of air—fluffy like a pillow—caught me and I rolled, safe, recovering and scanning for enemies.
Info screens popped up before I could see the attackers. Sounds of a scuffle carried through the doorway, so I charged back in, this time ready. Twitch came in right behind me, and we found a man held by the neck, Charm only just then coming into view.
“Get off,” the man shouted, “or by Oram, I swear I’ll fry you till you’re nothing but bones.”
“You’d be dead before you lit a spark,” she said, digging her nails into his neck—I’d never realized how sharp they were! I guess it went with the fox territory.
“Let him go,” Twitch said. “And Twista, calm down. The Big Guy and Plasma sent us.”
The man in Charm’s grip, apparently Twista, frowned but held up his hands. “Sent you, why?”
“We’re making a stand against Ranger,” she said. “These two are with me.”
He cocked his head, pushed away from Charm, and walked over toward Twitch. I prepared for the worst, but was caught off guard when he embraced her, stood back and looked at her like she was his sister.
“You two know each other?” I asked.
“Only used to be besties,” Twista said with a silly grin. The man who’d appeared quite intimidating a second ago suddenly had a very playful way about him. Now that I saw it in the personality, I noticed the way his hair was gelled over, a bit too much volume in it, and the way he’d opened up his suit to show off his chest.
“Twitch and Twista,” Twitch said, smiling and nodding. “Wasn’t sure you’d remember me, you know… after.”
His eyes took on a distant look, but he shrugged. “Life happens. Shit, life’s a bitch, but here we are, together again. Ready to take on the universe.”
“So it’s true? You’ve started a resistance?”
He chuckled and held out a hand. From the corner beyond us, a small man appeared, dressed similarly but with a gnarly tuft of hair on his exposed chest. His eyebrows met in the middle, and he had a thick beard.
“Tidal and I have become the new T&T,” Twista explained. “Only this time, I put out.”
Twitch laughed. “You always were a bit of a prude.”
“Fuck you,” he said, playfully, then added, “You wish.”
“Really?” Charm interjected, clearly annoyed at how smoothly this was going. “You knew him, and didn’t think to mention this?”
“As I said, I wasn’t sure he’d remember me.”
“Had a run in with the Super Squad,” Twista explained. “They did their best on my memory, but Tidal here betrayed them, saving me. We made it a damn long way, too, before getting caught and thrown into this place.”
“I never thought I’d see him again,” Tidal said, his voice rough. “Now hell itself couldn’t pull us apart.”
A couple of others appeared from the back of the room, which I now took in, seeing that it snaked around like a large, curved hallway. The lighting was still dim, but a glow came from the other side of the bend, leading me to assume there was more back there.
“Come on, we’ll show you around,” Twista said, gesturing for us to follow him. We went around the bend, which opened up into stairs leading down. This area that had started off feeling like a cramped submarine soon opened into a sort of ballroom beneath. Whatever this prison ship was, it clearly had been something else once upon a time. A grand vessel of some majestic fleet, perhaps?
We passed an area with chairs and beds clearly dragged from somewhere else and arranged against the wall, people lounging about, some sparring, others sharpening makeshift blades.
A woman at the far end was moving fast, obviously using some sort of power to do so at that speed. My best guess was there were about fifteen to twenty people in there, max.
“We’ve been actively recruiting anyone who we think wouldn’t stand with Ranger,” Twista explained. “He’s earned himself some enemies over the years, and while we might not be heroes in here, we’re not all the evilest of the evil.”
“Essence,” Twista addressed a woman as we passed, but she ignored us. She had flowing red hair and was elegant, like a queen. She walked among the others like they were her subjects, and as much as I thought she was beautiful, I doubted she’d ever consider lowering herself to my level. Probably the kind of w
oman who thought going down on a guy was submissive—a stupid thought for sure. At least, to my way of thinking. I mean, eating out a pussy was one of my biggest turn-ons. If anything, it was like I held the power over them when my tongue was dancing across a clit, determining their level of satisfaction. Likewise, when a woman held my balls in her hand and my entire soul in her mouth—that’s right, I just referred to my cock as my soul—then how could that be submissive? She was in charge at that moment, and I’d do anything for her.
This one? Not likely to see it that way.
Several women stood with a man, laughing, but none really caught my eye. A quick scan of their info screens showed that the most powerful of that group had the ability to freeze enemies with a touch, then shatter them. Pretty scary, but I was hoping for more of a ranged attack.
One woman sat back, staring at us with a bit too much attitude. She was on the larger side, but that wasn’t a deal breaker at all. Hell, Plasma back there with the Big Guy had a raw sexuality about her that certainly couldn’t be ignored. Maybe more woman than I could handle, but I’d never tried and was certainly curious.
“Who’s that?” I asked.
“Gale,” Twista replied. “She’s mostly stuck to her own, but can be a good friend when you get to know her.”
“Is there anyone here you’re not sure you can trust?” Charm asked.
He laughed. “Lady, we’re in a prison for supervillains. I’m not even sure I trust myself half the time.”
“You’d be smart not to,” Twitch said, teasingly. It was clear by the troubled look in Twista’s eye that there was some truth to that. Whatever had happened to him in the hands of the Super Squad who had captured him, it had clearly left its mark.
Charm frowned but dropped the topic.
Twista waved a hand and called everyone together to give us a quick introduction, warning them that they’d better treat us as family. Next he showed us to chambers in the back, confirming my suspicion that this ship had parts to it that weren’t just part of a prison, but had more history.
He pointed out a shower and toilets, much like Twitch’s hideout, and then stood, waiting, assessing Charm and me.
“You all need rest,” he asked, “or do you want to get in on the culling with us?”
“The culling?” Charm asked.
His grin betrayed the fact that he was excited to explain this. “Just our term for the slaughter of the supers who’ve occupied Subsection Echo. We make a trip over there once a day, slowly dwindling down their numbers, with the hope that we can either scare them off or wipe them out of existence. Taking down Ranger’s army small bits at a time.”
“Echo,” Twitch said, curious. “You mean the ones with Grade E powers, right? Not exactly the formidable type.”
“That’s right.”
She grinned at me. “Perfect for grinding.”
Twista frowned. “Sure, whatever you want to do to them, as long as you kill them. But, what, like grinding their bones and it gives you more power or something?”
“Not exactly,” I answered, disgusted by that.
He shrugged and repeated the question, “So you’re in?”
“Damn straight we are,” Twitch replied.
“Maybe a drink of water first?” I asked. “A couple bites of food, just so I don’t pass out?”
Twista laughed and agreed to that, though he said the feast would follow the culling. Soon we were following him and a group of about half his people out through more chambers, down into a lower area, and into darkness. One of them held out a hand, fire lighting our way… and then cast a fireball. It went out into the darkness, fading, fading…until it EXPLODED.
Screams sounded in response, then shouts of anger. Forms were charging us in the shadows, and Twista and his teams were moving out to meet them, laughing. It was a good reminder that, no matter how much they were on our side, these people were still twisted individuals.
My eyes were on the enemy, but Charm nudged me and looked over at the redhead, and I realized she was here checking out the women. It made me laugh, and then the guy next to me laughed, figuring I was just getting into the moment like they all were.
What had her name been? Essence, I think. Sure, when she passed me I couldn’t deny the way her clothes hugged her ass, but when she started taking down enemies, I couldn’t tell how she was doing it. A scan showed some sort of absorption ability, but it wasn’t clear. The large woman was just past her, moving with grace and throwing lightning about in a way that made me think of a female Zeus.
“Not a bad skill to have,” Twitch said at my side, and then one of the enemies slipped past the front line to us.
We went to work on them, Charm and Twitch watching our female allies the whole time. My strength and speed were quite impressive now, but I was at about the same tier as most of these supers, it seemed. Except I now had the illusion power, and when I started using it, there was a visible difference. These supers would take one look at me coming at them as a massive wolf with glowing eyes and sharp claws, and fall back, some turned and ran, others attacked half-heartedly as they already assumed they would die. I couldn’t hold it long, but would always try to time it just right.
When I took down my third super with the help of Charm, and felt my suit helping me move faster, my next elbow landed harder, cracking a skull. The next time I transformed, it lasted a good ten seconds longer.
A quick check revealed that I’d gone up a level, and had another skill point waiting. Nice! It kept on like this, my experience increasing with each fight. It was crazy how much easier it was to move, and I was excited to use my skill points.
Patience was never my strongest asset, but here I reminded myself that if I waited to use those skill points, I would likely have more options. So I held onto them, anxious to find out what I’d be able to do next.
Twista congratulated us on the way back, others nodding with respect. We’d proven ourselves as warriors.
“We’ll go back out soon, when they’ve sent reinforcements,” Twista told us outside our room, then gave Twitch a kiss on each cheek. “Until then, rest up and let us know if you need anything.”
As soon as he was gone, Twitch and Charm turned to each other, comparing notes. They both agreed that Essence and Gale were the most powerful, and therefore my best bet, though Charm raised my concern, which made it set in even more.
“Can you imagine that woman taking off her clothes?” she said of Essence. “I’d hate to have to see how big the stick in her butt is.”
Twitch laughed. “Yeah, and her mouth was pressed so tight half the time, I’m not sure she could open it wide enough to get Breaker’s cock in there.”
“Um, thanks?” I said. “This feels wrong. Just so we’re clear. You two debating this while I stand here.”
“Take a walk then.” Twitch waved me off.
Charm offered me a shrug, and added, “It’s not like we can simply walk out there and challenge Ranger to a fist fight without powers. He certainly won’t be scared off by your wolf trick. We need you to be really powerful, so this is the price we must pay.”
“Oh, Oram,” Twitch said with a laugh. “As if it’s a price for him. He’s going to love every minute of it.”
At Charm’s glare, I quickly insisted I wasn’t going to enjoy it one bit, and then left the conversation. They started mentioning others that Twista had introduced them to on the way back, or that Twitch had scanned with her screens. One name I picked up was Aqua, another was Mud. Some she simply wrote off, others they debated for a few minutes before dismissing. It was too much for me though. Let them have their scheming, I figured—I needed to lay back, relax. I knew we didn’t have much time before we had to get back out there, but in the time we had, I needed to replenish my energy.
15
We were so close, I could taste it. Want to know what else I could taste in that room, waiting for the moment to strike? Hold on, let me get there. The short answer is pussy. But not yet.
When the women had finished their conversation and strategizing, Charm nuzzled up next to me, head on my chest. We lay on the bed in this room that the resistance had provided, her fingers moving along my shirt, circling my nipple, and she smiled. “You know I don’t want you and… another woman.”
“I know.”
She stared up at me, eyes moving across my face as if studying it, trying to memorize every detail. “Wouldn’t it be great if this could go on forever?”
“Fighting and worrying for my life?” I laughed. “No!”
She pulled back slightly. “Um, how about change your attitude, mister. You think of it that way, of course it’ll feel like shit.”
Twitch laughed, checking her screens and making adjustments, as she sometimes did. Whatever it was that she spent her time adjusting, she wouldn’t take the time to explain, so I’d given up asking.
“I don’t see how else I could think of it. That’s the situation, it is what it is.”
“Or...” Charm reached down and grabbed me by the balls, causing me to pull back and hit my head on the wall. She laughed, but kept her hand there, moving a finger to caress the area just below, almost at my asshole. “…you could think of it as a grand adventure with two of the most beautiful women alive. Two women, I might add, who give you immense amounts of pleasure.”
I gulped. “One of you does, anyway,” I joked, but regretted it as she squeezed—not too hard, but enough to remind me who held the power here.
“Joking, joking.”
Twitch glanced over at me, then leaned against the wall. She grinned. There was something about her expression that I couldn’t quite decide if I liked or was terrified of.
“Sounds like a challenge to me,” Twitch said.
“A… challenge?” Charm asked, glancing over. As she caught on, her smile widened and she turned back to me with a wide, Cheshire-cat style grin. “Oooh, that sort of challenge.”
