by Jamie Hawke
“I just… supers where I’m from, especially the males, rarely apologize.” She grinned, nodding with respect. “You’re more man than I thought.”
“That’s all it takes?”
“Hey, for some guys, that’s a lot.” She looked me up and down, then said, “Too bad I’m not a real being. I mean in the flesh and all that. I’d go down on you right now, I’m so turned on. If it’s possible to be turned on in my state… it’s confusing.”
“Well, thank you.” I shifted, uncomfortably.
“Shields!” she exclaimed, likely trying to get her mind back on track.
“What?”
She avoided my eye contact, pointing at the screen. “For shields, you’ll be able to upgrade to all sorts of elemental resistance, even upgrades that send an attack back at your enemy when they hit you, but on the first level it’s really about increasing the power your shield can take and the recharge rate.”
“And this shield, it’s part of my current outfit?”
She nodded, glanced down, and laughed. I looked to see my cock was showing, sticking up again, of course. Apparently, even though the conversation had moved on from the topic of her going down on me, he hadn’t.
“You can change it with your thoughts,” she said. “The outfit, that is. Visually, if you prefer, but it’s not necessary.”
The screen of outfits popped up like earlier, and I picked the Marine outfit with battle armor.
“And attacks?”
She selected the knife on the screen now. “Mostly, due to the nature of your powers, you’ll be getting increases to damage, stun attacks, stuff like that in the early tiers.” Scrolling across, she showed me a few of the lower tiers, all grayed out, as they weren’t available. “As you can see, there are some pretty cool options as you progress in the skill tree.”
She wasn’t lying. While some were simply upgrades to damage dealt, other options included a berserker mode, stun attack, and even an explosive attack. I could already imagine myself punching Goros in the head and seeing that thing pop like a watermelon.
“Wherever you want to use the skill, just touch it, and it’ll go through,” she explained.
I frowned, lifted my finger, and debated. Who was I kidding, though? I’d always been more of a charge in and take the hill kind of guy. The first attack skill was one that said it increased damage with the number of hits landed in a row, without interruption. I liked the sound of that! Selecting it, the image lit up, the line to it as well. It was part of my skill tree.
“Man, I can’t wait to try that,” I said, pumped up and ready for action.
“You can go ahead,” Lamb said. “We will jump soon, when we’ve reached the next gate. Hadrian has certain ones already set up, only accessible to those who know where they are. We’ll be using one that’s about an hour away. Until then, hit up the dojo, see what you can do.”
She didn’t have to tell me twice, and when she showed me how to pull up a mini-map on my screen and highlighted the dojo, I thanked her before jogging off to kick some punching bag ass.
9
A voice in the back of my head said I should be checking in on Navani, but she was the one who wanted to keep it impersonal. If anything, I’d been used. Well, fuck it. I didn’t mind. And I assumed she wanted a break by the way she’d simply stood up and left when we were done.
Either way, I kinda needed another form of release. I liked to think that I could fuck and be totally emotionally detached, but it just wasn’t me. Was I a tough guy? A Marine who had done my share of killing, and now, as it turned out, was destined to be some great Elder of the superheroes? You bet your tiny ass. I was a badass. But.
It’s always been that way for me. It’s not like I needed her to stare into my eyes and say she loved me—that would have turned me off instantly, I was sure. But the moment a woman’s hand was on my dick, it was like she’d reached into my soul, been one with me. Become part of my life, even if we never spoke again.
Of course, if anyone ever told that to my old Marine buddies, I’d cut off said person’s dick and shove it so far up their nostrils they’d be fucking their own brains. Just saying.
Point is, I needed another form of release.
I stepped into the dojo, ready to tear a punching bag the fuck open. And then I stood there, confused. It was a large, empty room. Pure white, but with a metallic gleam.
“Um… Lamb?”
“Yes,” she said, not appearing.
“I wanted to punch something.”
“Then you’re in the right place. Step forward and say so.”
“Okay.” I frowned, but stepped forward and said, “Give me something to punch.”
Lights dimmed, then flashed out. When they came back on again, I was surrounded by humanoids—not living, I realized as they started moving for me, but liquid metal hardening as they approached. They moved just like humans, only faster. Like supers.
“Welcome to the simulation dojo,” Lamb said. “If it gets to be too much, use the safety word.”
“Ah, right. What safety word would that be?”
A laugh echoed throughout the dojo, and she said, “Good luck,” voice fading.
“Excuse me? Lamb? Lamb?”
But she wasn’t answering, and the robots were closing in on me. Well, not robots I guess, but that was the closest way I could comprehend them.
“Let’s see what you’ve got,” I said, preparing to take them down as I had the supervillains.
They came at me at once, all of them, surrounding me and throwing a barrage of strikes that were sure to leave me battered and bruised. I tried to dodge a strike, got slammed in the forehead. Bobbed and weaved, took a shot in the gut. When I went for a takedown, one of them connected its knee with my jaw, and I fell, hard.
Luckily for me, they all backed off. Apparently, this wasn’t a “kill Drew” simulation. With a deep breath, I pushed myself up and ran at the closest one. My side-kick actually caught it, sending it sprawling backward. I ducked immediately and took a step back, only to find a robot had moved with me and came in for an arm lock. Damn, that hurt.
At least I was being challenged.
I managed to roll out of it, then spun and landed a punch—good thing the metal wasn’t actual metal, too! My fist hit, and the robot’s face gave way slightly, feeling somewhat like a silicon job this girl I used to date had. Talk about hard-ass titties! I still had my fun with them, and they never hit me back, unlike these guys.
That shot cost me my position, and I was overexposed. Three good hits from surrounding robots dropped me, and again I had to lie there, taking deep breaths. Something wasn’t working here, and I had to adjust.
It had been too long since I’d had sex, I realized. Whatever bonus I’d gotten from that was gone. But I was still a fighter, I still had my recent upgrade. Problem was, I needed to land a couple of punches in a row before that would matter.
Which meant I had to think smarter.
I stopped going for power strikes, instead focusing on quick dodges and weaves, jabbing with my left, moving around them, and backing myself into a corner so they couldn’t surround me. So much of this was the opposite of what I’d normally do in a fight, but with so many opponents and with my specific power, it totally worked.
When I landed my fourth strike in a row, I realized I was already punching harder, and probably had been since the second. My fifth, for example, was barely a hook to one of the robot’s midsections, but it sent it stumbling back as if I’d landed a roundhouse kick to it. One of the other robots landed a kick on my thigh, breaking the combo, but I used the moment to strike back, get out of dodge, and then quickly catch him twice in the back.
Since one was recovering and this one fell to its knees, I turned on the other three and sidestepped to get them in a line. When I came in throwing punches, they barely saw it coming. The fifth was a kick to one of their shins, and the robot’s leg flew out from underneath it. My punch hit the back of its head, slamming it into the g
round so hard that the metal dented.
A moment later, it was reforming, but the other robots had backed off, smooth, metallic faces staring at me. If they were humans, that would have been awe or shock.
“Not bad,” Sacrada said, and I spun to see her standing in the doorway.
She walked in, looking me up and down, then said, “What tier are you?”
“I’m not a… tier.”
Her brow furrowed in confusion. “You’re not from here then. It’s true, you’re really…a descendant of Apollo?”
“Hell if I know,” I admitted. “But I’m here, my powers are apparently working, so yeah, let’s say I am.”
She glanced away, then at the robots, who had formed a line, ready for more training if we so desired.
“What’re you doing here?” I asked.
“Same as you,” she replied. “Wanted something to punch. Maybe it should be you?”
I gulped. As far as I knew, and from what I’d seen back there, this lady could be the most powerful super ever. “You said something about tiers?”
“I’m sure Navani mentioned something to you about it, no?” She started moving about me, assessing me, preparing for the attack I wasn’t sure I could handle. I’d had buddies in the Marines who always laughed at the idea of getting beat by a girl. Those same buddies, when put to the test, often were. And this wasn’t just any lady, this was a super. One with the DNA of someone who’d been considered practically a goddess. “Very well. Tiers—basically how supers are ranked. Those like Lamb are able to analyze one’s powers, see what they’re capable of, and pretty much rank us.”
“That sounds… horrible.”
“It’s not used as a way of putting anyone down,” she said. “At least, it wasn’t under the rule of the Elders and the Citadel. But if Ranger comes into power? You can bet your ass that would change.”
“So we can’t let him.”
She nodded, then came at me. At least she didn’t flare her golden powers or anything like that, she was fighting straight normal-person style. Still, she was fast. When she tested me with a jab, I barely moved out of the way, her hand stopping an inch from my nose. I attempted a counterstrike, but she sidestepped and caught me in the ribs with a roundhouse kick. It was strong, pain shooting up my ribs, and yet I could tell she was holding back.
“We’re going to rescue her,” I said, recovering.
“Shut up.”
“I’m just saying—”
BAM! Her kick took out my leg, and I flew up, then slammed down onto my back.
“Trying not to think about it until it’s time to get in there and save her,” she said, offering me a hand to get back up. “So how about you focus on something else. Anything else.”
Taking a step back, I caught my breath and put up my fists, trying to relax. “It’s not fair, you know.”
“What’s that?” She took a defensive stance this time, moving around me. “I’m not even using my powers.”
“Sure you are. Your strongest one, from what I can tell.”
“You’re wrong.”
I grinned, circling with her now, squared off, ready for the attack I knew would come. “Come on, with your looks? Any man would have a hard time focusing. And the last thing I’d want to do is mar that beauty.”
“What the fuck?” She lowered her guard, about to laugh at my cheesiness, when I dove in, throwing a good combination of a fake jab, then a right cross, left uppercut, and another right cross. She dodged the first three, but my last hit caught her, right in the tit.
“Oh my God, I’m sorry,” I said, putting my hand to my mouth.
She growled and came at me, sweeping me down and landing with her knee between my legs—not hard enough to cause damage, but enough pressure to let me know she could.
“Hit me in the breasts again, and find out if balls pop like grapes,” she said.
I grabbed her by the collar, smiling. “I’m liking the foreplay.”
She slapped me, using the moment to break my grip and push herself off of me.
Of course, now that I understood my powers a bit better, I’d been able to use the situation to my advantage. Had I really been hitting on her? No. Not exactly. I’d wanted her close, for a situation just like that to get my endorphins or hormones or whatever working. Maybe it was cheating, but hey, there was no way she was that fast and strong without some sort of help from her powers.
When I stood, the hype was there, working its way through me. I stretched, grinning at her, as she arched an eyebrow in curiosity.
“Something up, big guy?” she asked, glancing at my crotch to check.
“It isn’t that,” I said, and came at her with a flurry of strikes. She started to smile as she blocked some, took a couple more, and threw her own. “This is more like it!”
“What’s that you say, you like it?” I grinned, knowing that wasn’t what she’d said. “You’ll love this, then.”
This time I swept around behind her, grabbed her by her midsection, and tossed her over me in a move I’d learned in high school wrestling. Going with her, I landed on her back and took the proper position—forgetting, of course, that usually, that was with men. My right hand was firmly cupping her breast, though not on purpose.
She shoved me off, and we both leaped to our feet, turning to face each other. Just when I thought she was going to punch me, she pinned me up against the wall and held me there, golden eyes staring into mine.
“So what? I’m supposed to stick your dick in me?” she asked. “I’m supposed to let some stranger cum in me to save the universe? That’s fucking stupid.”
“I…” I thought about what to say to that and nodded. “All I’m doing is going along for the ride. Am I drinking the kool-aid? Yes. Would I… cum… in you?” I took a deep breath. “Only if you wanted it.”
Her earlier statement to Navani had made it sound like she might be more into women than men, but the look in her eyes said otherwise. I’d had my share of women in my day—I knew that look.
For another moment she held me there, seeming as if she was either about to take me right there or slam my head into the wall and storm off. Finally, she pulled me to her and kissed me. It wasn’t just a simple lip press, either. Her kiss was passionate, tongue playing with mine, breathing hot and heavy, and then she was pulling back, eyes like fire, and she licked her lips with a glare.
“Right. You can fight, kinda. You’ll get there. Passion?” She wiped the side of her lips. “Definitely. And your cock works, as we’ve all seen.”
“Ah, yes. Check to all of the above.”
“Good.” She let me go and turned, heading for the door.
“That’s it?” I asked.
“You expected me to fuck you right here, right now?” She laughed. “No way, baby. You gotta earn my angelic pussy.”
As she exited, I stared after her, watching the way that outfit hugged her ass. Everything about her was, as she’d described her pussy, angelic. That ass was the type I could take one look at and instantly be able to imagine slapping against my hips as I took her from behind, or feel in my hands as I squeezed, her riding me.
The room was back to just me and the robots, and Lamb’s voice returned. “It’s going well, no?”
“I’m having mixed feelings on that,” I said, one finger going to my lips subconsciously, remembering the feel of Sacrada’s lips pressed to mine. “But yeah, I think so.”
“More sparring?”
I glanced at the robots, adjusted my boner while imagining one of them kicking me in the dick, and said, “No. Definitely not right now.”
She appeared then, grinning at the way I was adjusting myself.
“You’re a horny A.I., aren’t you?” I asked.
Her laugh had a tinge of sorrow to it. “Again, not an A.I. And… yes. I miss it, honestly, the feeling of having a real body, the feeling of a man’s body pressed against mine, entering me.” For a moment she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then her eyes opened wide.
“I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s perfectly fine.” In fact, her deep breath and little talk made my boner grow back to pre-sex-with-Navani levels.
“Not sorry for that,” she corrected, the smile that formed looking mischievous. “Sorry for what I’m about to say.”
“I’m getting worried. What is it?”
She blew out, building up her courage, apparently, and then said, “Can I touch it?”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Your cock. I mean, I know I can’t actually, but I can pretend, and use the suit. You’ll love it, I promise.”
“I literally just came like… what was that? Thirty minutes ago? An hour at most?”
“We don’t have to finish,” she said, appearing in front of me, her translucent hand hovering over the bulge in my pants but waiting, a look of begging in her eyes.
I nodded, and when her hand pressed against me, the suit reacted. I knew she wasn’t actually touching me, and that she could make the suit do this without her appearing right there, but it probably worked better for her this way.
And suddenly the suit was moving all over me, and it was bliss, unlike anything I’d ever felt. Imagine if you had hands on your balls, your ass, your legs, massaging your back, caressing your abs and chest—all of this at once.
I reached down, eagerly pulling out my cock, and reached to grab her by the head. I wanted to feel her mouth around me, or maybe take her and rip her clothes off and fuck her like nobody had ever been fucked before. My body was still feeling the rejuvenated powers from my interaction with Sacrada, I realized, and thought about the implications this power could have for my sex life.
My hand went through thin air, the sensation around my dick was gone, and Lamb pulled back, frowning. The sensation around the rest of me died off, all but the feeling of her hand on my balls, caressing them, playing with them.
“Dear, sexy man…” She shook her head, eyes sad. “You know I’m not really here. You can’t touch me, and when it’s out,” she glanced down at my cock, “as tasty as that thick sausage looks, I can’t do a damn thing with it.”
And then she was gone.
