by Prax Venter
“Same,” said Vale as she moved to stand near his doppelganger, protectively. A new shiver of terror ran through him.
“He’s really scared. Is this part of the test?” Roo asked, carefully stepping around him to join Vale and Ahnix standing by the Other Mark.
“Guys, it’s me… I was trying out my new ability… and…”
And what? He created a ghost of himself? The fear of losing everything to an impostor climaxed, and Mark sucked in a shaky breath as he opened his eyes.
It was as if he teleported back into his own head, surrounded by his girls all looking at the place where he had just been standing.
They all turned to face him, and his need for their comfort pulled them toward him. Ahnix, Vale, and Roo pressed their bodies into him, and he felt like he could breathe again.
“Useful for scouting,” he said after a moment of quiet contentment, and they all pulled away but remained close.
Vale nodded. “We’ll also have to make sure someone stays behind and guards his real body.”
Roo stepped in again and pressed her lithe body against his. “I volunteer!”
He took a deep breath. “Alright, Ghost Mark is… something. But it doesn’t seem to help with our current problem.” He nodded toward the three immovable stone blocks. “How do we give Vale better traction?”
His mind was still shaken by the thought of another Mark taking his loves from him, and instead of thinking of ways to solve the problem before them, his mind wandered to the real-world version of himself. Was he really dead? This was now something that Mark needed to clarify- as soon as possible.
Roo offered a solution and derailed his dark thoughts. “What if Ahnix stood on her hands and used her claws to anchor- and Vale pushed off her butt… maybe?”
“No,” was all Ahnix said.
“Actually…” Vale began. “What if you roughed up the ice next to the stone with your claw attack instead? Make a surface I can grip with my scales.”
Ahnix nodded and walked over to one of the stones. “Now that could work.”
The cat-girl began using Wind Claw and basic attacks to chip away at sections of the ice. It took her about a minute, but after she was done, a handful of grooves had been carved into the slippery floor.
Ahnix stood and turned to Vale. “You put your giant naga ass into that stone while I hack up another patch.”
Vale looked down at her ample hips before she wove her body up to the smooth pillar of rock. She placed her bare shoulder right against its surface and tried to push her tail off the newly created traction. There were little slips of her powerful tail here and there, but overall her hard bottom scales were able to find purchase. Mark watched as the giant naga’s core muscles stood out while she bent her entire body on moving this single massive object.
There was the tiniest of scraping sounds indicating she had begun to move it, but with a great puff of expelled air, Vale gave up.
“It’s too… heavy.”
Mark was tired of this- he had enhanced Vale’s strength plenty of times and prioritizing her ability to move heavy things was obviously the right thing to do.
“Let me know when you’re ready to try again- I’ll give you a boost this time.”
She nodded and shook out her arms, then she bunched up her serpent half just right, bracing against the places where her thick bottom scales had the most grip. Once his giant naga was all set, she gave Mark another nod.
Modulating his enhancement ability to target her general strength instead of a specific ability took a moment, but years (and lifetimes) of practice had honed this concept, and Mark quickly figured it out. He sank to one knee as his lifeforce sucked right out of his chest, through their bond and right into Vale.
She leaned forward weakly, pressing her enormous tits into the stone as a blast of intense pleasure washed over her. The giant naga shook it off and turned her shoulder into the massive pillar.
Through his weakened state, he saw that Vale was actually moving the object forward, but way too slowly.
“You can do it!” shouted Roo nearby and he looked over at her. Through the gray mists threatening to steal his consciousness, she was glowing like a velvet lightbulb.
“Sorry, Roo,” he mumbled before he Prioritized Vale’s strength over both himself and the velvet-girl. The fabric construct pulsed out a wave of shock before she slumped down onto her soft ass.
Vale screamed as the new jolt of power ripped an orgasm directly from her body. Laughing, Vale collected herself and shoved the stone pillar across the floor like it was made of paper.
As soon as it plummeted into the hole with a thunderous weight, Mark dropped the double strength enhancement, and both he and Roo regained their energy.
“Wow! That was intense,” Vale said, gliding up to Mark as he helped a pouting Roo up to her feet.
“It sure was,” Roo said, rubbing her bare ass under her skirt.
“Yeah, my new enhance comes with some drawbacks. But there’s no cooldown!”
“Wait! Let me sit down first this time!” Roo said.
Having finished her ice scoring, Mark watched as Ahnix stalked up quietly behind Roo. The stealthy cat-girl reached out with her furry paw and pinned Roo’s hand behind her back, pressing against her own ass.
“Bruised bottom?” she whispered into Roo’s ear. “Want me to kiss it?”
Roo turned her head, so her thick lips were inches from Ahnix’s small frown.
“Mmm, definitely.”
The amorous cat-girl curled one side of her mouth and moved around Roo, letting her go.
“Sap me this time,” she said, facing Mark. “We’ll trade off.”
Vale shrugged and moved to the second pillar. “I’m ready when you are.”
“I bet you are,” said Mark with a smirk. From the way she howled, he knew that she really dug the erotic jolt.
Just as he was about to turn and ask Ahnix if she was ready, he felt her furry fingers lace through his. He found her dark, half-lidded eyes and she nodded.
“Let’s hit her- together.”
Mark turned back to Vale and unleashed an epic blast of power into the giant naga. Both he and Ahnix ignited their bond with Vale and sent her their strength. Holding Ahnix’s hand seemed to mitigate some of the drain he had felt before, or maybe it was that she was a willing participant this time- either way, this was a powerful enhancement.
Vale arched her back and screamed, her ragged throat gargling out a cry of absolute mind-melting pleasure.
Mark heard Roo mutter, “Lucky…” behind him.
The giant naga shuddered and then regained her composure before shoving the second block in the hole. With a swift glance back at Mark and Ahnix, they wordlessly communicated the fact that they were able to keep going.
Dark shadows fluctuated at the edges of Mark’s vision, and they would have to stop soon. He squeezed Ahnix’s hand as the life force was pulled from them. Just as it was becoming too much, Vale dumped the final square peg into its square hole.
Mark dropped the enhance, and their energy returned. The thick ice door shuddered and pulled up into the ceiling with a hollow scraping sound. Just like before, a long tunnel of ice in the exact shape of the square door stretched out in front of them.
They made it about halfway through the frozen tunnel before Ahnix noticed something moving at the far end. If Mark squinted his eyes, he could definitely see a white something shifting around in the ice-room beyond.
- 9 -
“Why don’t you practice your new Ghost ability and scout it out?” Vale said, turning her vivid eyes on his.
“Yeah… you’re right.” Mark looked inside his core and embraced the idea of making a weak copy. He felt an almost imperceptible blip and opened his eyes. He spun and saw the eerily silent version of himself standing between his girls. Mark wondered if he would ever get used to this.
“Go ahead. We got you covered,” Roo said.
Mark gave her a quick nod and moved into the
ice tunnel beyond. Still unsure of exactly how this ability worked, he carefully treaded along the frozen floor as he drew closer to the next room. Mark saw movement again and could have sworn that he saw a giant white spider with eight black eyes.
Mark stuck his head out into the ice-encrusted room to scan the ceiling for any hidden threats and braced himself for quick ability cancellation, just in case. He still had no idea what would happen to him if this ghostly projection got damaged. He carefully scanned every corner, but the ice-covered room seemed completely empty. No puzzle, no giant spider, nothing but ice.
He took one step out, and a sudden warmth on his dick made him shoot his eyes downward- but he saw nothing.
“You think he can feel this?” Roo whispered right in his ear.
“I think he can,” Ahnix said with a small smile in her sultry voice. The warmth moved around on his stiffening junk. Were they fucking with his abandoned body?
He became wholly distracted by phantom fingers sliding into his pants and magically pulling them open. His ghost pants mirrored what was happening to Real Mark, and he looked down at his exposed penis.
Because of the warm, velvet hand sliding over his air-cooled cock, Mark almost missed the perfectly camouflaged giant ice spider drop from the ceiling and stab a fang right through his face. Fortunately for him, he looked up right at the last moment and personally witnessed a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
He opened his eyes with a flinch to catch Roo quickly letting his waistband snap back into place.
“Oh! Back so soon?”
What had gotten into them? Maybe it was his imagination, but it seemed like they were all a bit more rearing to go than before. Maybe they had essence sloshing around in their Lover Class lady bits. He shrugged- was this really a problem?
“I was just murdered by an almost invisible spider the size of a cargo transport, and- let me be clear, I’m not really complaining, but everything that happens to Real Mark also happens to Ghost Mark.”
“Good to know,” Vale said, growing serious, her violet eyes squinting down the tunnel. “If enemies can see you and not hurt you, I can think of all kinds of ways to abuse this power.”
“I say we burn it,” Roo said with conviction. “Seems like a common sense move.”
“Oh, you’ll get your chance to burn it,” Vale agreed. “But why take any chances? Mark, you send a Ghost running into the back of the chamber. Once you draw it out- drop the copy and join hands with Ahnix and myself. Together, we three will supercharge Roo’s Slow Burn and let The Flames literally take this spider from behind.”
“I love this idea,” Roo said as if Vale’s plan was the most beautiful poem she had ever heard.
The strategy set, Mark and his girls got into position near the edge of the next room. He closed his eyes and popped out a Ghost. He didn’t look back this time and just brazenly ran into the room.
He felt two swift taps on his shoulder and dropped his ability. His vision snapped back to his original position, and he saw its bulbous, bristle-covered abdomen raise a little as one of the monster’s front legs struck the ground where he used to be.
Ahnix and Vale clasped each of his hands, and together, they dumped an unprecedented amount of power into Roo.
With a terrible primal scream, the lithe velvet-girl began to glow a brilliant white. She knew she was supposed to take advantage of the surprise attack and strike swiftly, but the unfettered ecstasy coursing through her body was hard to ignore.
By the time she was able to gain control of her limbs again and point at the spider, it had already spun back around. Using tiny black claws at the tips of its eight, long legs, the monstrous creature advanced on them swiftly.
Mark felt the air rush past him from the tunnel behind as a searing pyre formed directly in the spider’s disgusting face. Screaming a horrible bug-like warble, the entire giant ice spider was reduced to swirling ash in about five seconds.
With the creature gone, Mark dropped the enhance ability and patted Roo on her soft back. She was doubled over with her hands pressed into her knees, trying to catch her breath, but turned her sparkling black eyes up to his when she felt his touch. He could tell she really enjoyed that and was fighting to not just mount him here in the ice tunnel.
“Collecting essence is an interesting sensation,” Vale said behind them.
Mark agreed. “And so is receiving it.”
Ahnix came up behind him, wrapped her furry arms around his chest and whispered into his ear, “I’m going to withhold my hot pussy until I have a full load, my handsome Enthralled.”
Yeah, it was definitely the essence messing with their heads. Mark was loving this.
The group of them crossed into the now empty room and found an open door at the back, with another tunnel.
As they carefully advanced through the icy tunnel, Mark realized that they hadn’t heard from AquaQuantum in a while. Maybe she was seeing something she liked.
The walls around them transitioned from ice to mud, and the temperature rose substantially. A white-noise static began to tickle his ears and increased in volume with every step, but Ahnix said she believed it was the sound of rushing water.
And boy, was she right. Eventually, they stepped out into a narrow dirt ledge carved into the side of a towering cliff that poured countless gallons of water downward in a series of majestic waterfalls. Fluffy, dark clouds drifted directly over their heads, completely obscuring anything above. Thousands of feet below, Mark saw an endless, sprawling grassland stretch into the horizon. Despite the vast openness to his right, the cliffside to the left almost felt like a jungle. Leafy green plants, vines, and perilously anchored trees made up most of it, and a lime-green moss coated everything else in living fur.
They looked at each other, but the only way to go was forward. Vale pressed her long serpent body close to the verdant cliffside as they walked along the path while Roo, on the other hand, was practically prancing along the edge in her high-heeled boots.
After a short hike and a bend along the cliff, they came face to face with the first vertical torrent of water. The powerful force of nature hurtled down from some unknown distance above the clouds and had eroded a wide gap in their cliffside path. There was no apparent way around.
Mark stepped close to the edge, his head near the brutally fast water, and cast his eyes downward at what seemed like a mile of freefall plummeting.
Roo walked up next to him and carefully put her hand near the deafening white cascade but pulled it back quickly after she made contact. Mark watched as she brought her soft hand to her wide-eyed face. She sniffed at it once and then noticed him staring at her.
A huge smile split her puffy lips as she thrust her white hand close to his face for him to inspect. When his eyes refocused on the fabric that was her skin, he saw beads of water.
“That’s great.” He had to scream to be heard. “But, now what?”
Ahnix, apparently smarter than him, used their mental bond to communicate instead of screaming. She sent everyone a mental picture of her climbing up the cliff and up past the relatively low clouds.
Vale and Roo didn’t like that idea very much at all but acknowledged it was the best plan they currently had. While everyone silently pondered different ways to deal with this waterfall, Roo wandered back over to stick her hand in the cascade again. Mark wasn’t watching, but when a spark of alarm blossomed from the lithe fabric-girl, he spun to face her.
“Almost took off my arm!” she yelled, another huge grin on her face. But the grin melted before his eyes, and she clapped her soft hands together with excitement. Immediately after, they all received a short memory playback of Vale creating a shield over Roo’s head to stop the rain.
The velvet-girl looked around at them expectantly. When no one seemed to be understanding her plan, she held both hands up and with two fingers, pantomimed a person walking across her other hand.
Holy shit. Could Vale’s Wall make them a fucking bridge? Everyone got it at once
, and the giant naga’s sharp white eyebrows almost launched into space.
Vale immediately wove her body up to the edge of the path and focused her skill to create a narrow glass walkway. Mark remembered that she said she only had a limited amount of surface area to work with, and its limits were evident by the width of her bridge. Everyone but Ahnix seemed to think walking over this see-through tightrope over a thousand-foot drop was still a bad idea- especially Vale.
Searching for other options, his mind snapped back to when he was trying to show her how to lock it in place- so she didn’t have to move it around as they ran around in the rain. He was about to tell Vale to just lock it down and hope for the best when it hit him- and a mischievous smile slowly grew on his face. If what he was thinking would actually work…
Mark waved his hands to get Vale’s attention, then sent her an image. He wanted her to reshape her glass Wall- or was it a Floor now? Either way, he instructed her to create a perfect square, as big as she could, in the middle of the path.
Vale nodded, and when she held out her hand, the thin death bridge disappeared and reappeared as a large, perfect square.
Mark hopped into the middle and waved his girls over to join him. Vale’s eyebrows shot up again as they all packed onto its smooth glass surface. It was a tight fit, and the giant naga had to wrap her tail around their legs, but none of them minded the closeness one bit.
“Up, up, and away!” Mark yelled, and Vale took on a look of intense concentration.
With a careful slowness, Vale levitated the glass platform a few inches off the ground, and Roo let out an excited series of whoops. Her black eyes twinkled with the prospect of soaring through the air on their rigid magic carpet- but Vale’s worry was palpable.
Mark could tell this was going to be difficult for her. Not only did she have to deal with the dramatic height, but also being solely responsible for all of their lives, or at least passing this test. He still wasn’t sure what would happen if they “died” outside their home system.
Putting all his doubts aside, Mark put his hand on Vale’s firm back and channeled his unquestionable belief that she could do this directly into her. Ahnix’s warm, furry hand immediately joined his, and he looked over into her exotic eyes. All he saw reflected was unending love and admiration.