“Alright girls, let’s see what kind of Crystallim has joined us,” he said.
Each of the girls made various noises of interest, or concern. Eina, who stood in the corner like a beautiful twin-tailed bundle of annoyance, snorted and acted like she was too good to be involved. Of course, if that was the case she would not be watching the event in the first place.
Scott raised his arm and called out. “Black Widow!”
A jet black beam of energy radiated forward from the Crystallim core on his arm until it stopped a short distance away. It expanded outward until it took up both the form and size of the spider girl from the Abados caves.
After she became physically coherent, it was revealed that she still looked remarkably similar to her Nightmare form. The spider girl possessed the upper body of a pretty girl with fairly substantial breasts, and a lower body that would look right at home in a heavy metal video.
The pale skinned girl looked around then spotted Scott. They stared at each other silently for a moment.
Scott’s eyes locked with hers, and her eyes locked with his. Neither moved, and neither spoke. However, after a tense moment passed the red-eyed girl did something truly strange. She began to cry.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” asked Scott. He reached out to the girl slightly. This was certainly a strange reaction.
She waved him off. “Nothing, I’m just thinking about the color of the dress I’ll wear at the funeral.”
“Funeral?” asked Scott.
She nodded then sniffled a little. “Yes, it will be a tragic ending. You’ll be so pale and lifeless, and I’ll be dressed in my finest attire.”
“What... Are you threatening me?” asked Scott.
Red eyes blinked slowly just before a bright smile appeared despite the fact that she was teary-eyed. “What? No, I don’t want anything to ever happen to my love. That would be far too tragic.”
“How can you say that with such a happy expression?” asked Flora. She leaned away from the strange spider girl a little. It was truly a disturbing sight.
The spider girl hugged her upper body tightly then closed her eyes. “Oh, beloved... The memory of your love will sustain me forever...”
Scott eyed the girl critically for a moment. She was more than a little odd. She was downright disturbed.
A soft blush appeared on the spider girl’s face. Before anyone could react she suddenly shot out a web-line from her lower body that capture Scott. She instantly snatched him to her with incredible speed. The other girls became alarmed and immediately moved forward, but the strange girl’s actions stopped them once more.
The widow hugged her master tightly then kissed him fiercely on the lips. “Let us never forget our love, though your body lies cold and forgotten...”
"Even your untimely demise shall not keep us apart, nor shall it dim the memories of our passionate days together!" she cried loudly.
Scott tried to push away from the girl, but she tightened her grip and overpowered him completely. Finally, he could not take it anymore and gasped out, “I’m still alive you know!”
She blinked once then looked at him. “Oh, good point.”
Scott’s left eyebrow rose up in a questioning manner, but his expression turned to panic again when she gave him a crushing bear-hug and squealed with excitement.
“I have a love of my own! He’s even currently alive!” She pressed his face between her breasts and rapidly rocked her upper body from side-to-side.
Scott suddenly had the strange thought that the girl was actually trying to smother him with her breasts. He wiggled and shifted to the extent that he accidentally kneed her in her vagina, hard, and with a surprising amount of accuracy. Yes, a strangely accurate and potent accident indeed.
The spider girl cried out in shock then pouted at her master. “I don’t mind a little sexual violence, but it needn’t be that rough.”
“OK, that’s enough. You should let him go now,” said Eina.
“Who are you, and why are you so concerned about the love of my life?” asked the still unnamed girl.
Eina cracked her knuckles then limbered up a little. “I don’t give a damn about that, but I don’t like to see that fatty look so weak. It pisses me off. So, step away from my—" she said, just before she coughed into one fist and corrected herself, "the idiot.”
The Black Widow rapidly wrapped her master in a web then tossed him aside. He ended up with nothing but a nose hole to breathe through and looked much like he suddenly formed a cocoon. Perhaps he would metamorphose into someone who had a clue about what was happening at the moment?
“Does the cute little caterpillar want to play? How tragic...” asked the black widow.
Eina smirked then snorted. Without warning, she seemingly faded out of sight.
She faded back into sight a split second later. Her fist impacted hard against the side of the Black Widow’s lower body. A loud cracking sound could be heard followed by the spider girl screaming in pain and surprise.
“Ow! That hurts, you know,” said the spider with a pout. She tossed her head a little and her jet black hair streamed down over her back like a silky waterfall.
The blond powerhouse blinked. “I just cracked your abdominal chitin armor. I could destroy you with another hit..." she said before tilting her head to the side. "All you have to say about it is, 'ow'?”
“Well. It does hurt, I suppose. But is that really something to be concerned about? What is pain in the body when your soul has been torn asunder by the loss of your one true love?” asked the spider girl. Her eyes were wide and tearful. It gave her the appearance of a strangely innocent girl who'd seen far too much ugliness in the world for her delicate sensibilities.
Eina leaned back slightly then glanced at the badly damaged chunk of spider flesh. She then looked up at the happily smiling Crystallim. The girl must be in incredible pain, but she was smiling. The battle mistress could only come to one conclusion.
She stuck her hand out and said, “Hi! My name’s Eina, we should be friends.”
Several jaws dropped upon hearing the constantly annoyed girl make an overture of friendship. What the heck was this strange development? Had the world somehow gone crazy? Could the blond girl even be on friendly terms with someone?
“That sounds nice, but do you have any references?” asked the Black Widow seriously.
Eina nodded. “Sure, what kind do you need?”
“This conversation...” said Flora, her eyes wide in a manner reminiscent of an owl.
“I’m a little confused,” said Shaia softly, and with her head tilted slightly to the side.
Pirouette started to say something similar then realized something. She ran over to where Scott wiggled around on the ground and started to try and cut him free. He was forgotten until now due to the strangeness of the social interaction that was happening on the training room floor.
After Scott was freed from his web-prison the girls gathered round more closely and chatted with their new sister. Eina stood next to her and the two girls shared frequent smiles for reasons that no one really understood.
“So, you want to be called Tara?” asked Pirouette.
“Well, sure. It’s a nice enough name, isn’t it?” asked Tara with a pleasant smile.
Scott started to speak, but Tara looked at him then burst into tears. He closed his mouth. Every time he spoke, she cried a little. It was one of the little quirks of her breed, as his quick assessment of her information told him.
“My beautiful love... Our time together was so short!” cried Tara before accepting a tissue from Eina. She blew her nose loudly then acquired a sad and introspective look.
“Why did you die so young, you fat idiot?” asked Eina, her eyes glistening with as yet unshed tears. She pouted at him. Really, he died and left a nice girl like this all alone.
“My condolences to the widow,” said Scott sarcastically.
Tara cried loudly once more then hugged him to her ample chest. It would take s
ome time for her to work it out of her system. Scott hoped that she worked it out of her system. Oh, how he hoped that she would work it out of her system.
“Hey, can you still transform into a humanoid form?” asked Pirouette.
She granted Pirouette a soft, tear-filled expression. “Yes, but to take that form... The form that my love ravished hotly day and night... It’s too much.”
“Oh the memories are too much!” cried out the girl before she pressed Scott’s face between her tits once more. She wiggled her body up and down while sniffling loudly and allowing the tears to fall where they may.
Scott couldn’t stand it anymore. He bit her square on her left breast. Unfortunately for him, his biting power was nowhere near the level needed to stress her natural durability. The only thing his bite did was make her act even feistier.
“Oh, it is like I can still feel him gently nibbling upon my heaving bosom. Why must my innocent maiden heart suffer so?” she asked melodramatically.
Suddenly, Scott realized something. Perhaps it was simple awareness of the situation making itself known at last. Perhaps it was lack of oxygen to the brain. Either way, he had an idea.
Scott stopped struggling altogether. It was not long before the girl pulled him back to check on him. She was a bit odd, but she wasn’t an idiot.
The hunter opened his eyes and looked into hers. “Tara, my love. I have returned to you from the battlefield.”
Her eyes lit-up. “D-darling? Can it really be you?”
He realized what it was that she seemed to need and acted accordingly. “Yes, my heart. I have returned to you despite the many miles, and the numerous enemies.”
“Oh, yes! You have returned to me my... My... Um...”
“Scott,” he whispered loudly.
“Oh, my beloved... Scott! You have kept your promise. Does your heart still beat for mine?” she asked loudly, and with bated breath.
“Eternally, my love. Despite the many erotic women who wanted to have relations with my magnificent penis, I have returned to your gloriously busty embrace,” replied Scott in an overly-dramatic and ham-fisted manner.
She acquired a brilliant smile and her eyes widened with the joy of it all. “In honor of your fidelity, let us make love for one whole year!" she exclaimed. She squinted at him briefly then took a soft breath and clarified, "Weekends depending, possibly twice on holidays if we can manage it.”
"Well, what about the landing festival? That's a whole week," said Scott.
"An entire week?" she asked curiously. "We may need a mini-fridge with beverages or something."
"Sounds good," said Scott with a laugh.
The black widow shimmered briefly then became a humanoid girl. She snuggled against Scott then giggled happily like a girl in love.
Scott could not help but smile, despite the odd nature of the girl. His new team mate was someone heavily into dramatic moments and over-acting. How that would go in the future was anyone's guess, but at least she was not actually insane.
He heard a whisper in his ear as the girl held him close. “Are you into cosplay, too?”
“Sure,” replied Scott, "It could be fun."
She kissed him on the ear and purred out softly, “Mmm, That’s hot.”
Scott chuckled softly at her antics. She promised to be a fun sort of person.
***
Alexis slid her fingers through her glossy hair and sighed at her last message from Scott. No missed texts or responses awaited her. There was no communication from him at all since that morning.
Petty, vindictive, either of those words would aptly describe her actions. Annoyed that he'd ignored her the entire night after her argument with that bitch Eina, her mental state deteriorated into hateful sentiment. When he finally contacted her it was both well after midnight, and far past the point where she could logically concede and admit the fact that she was happy to see his message.
She sighed languidly and stared at her empty inbox. Originally, she'd been thrilled that he'd gotten in touch with her. However, while he was on his way to her apartment the resentment within her began to creep up. She knew that their relationship was a contracted thing. There was no real connection between them. Still, it had hurt to be ignored, dammit! The longer he took to arrive at her door, the more resentful she became. So, she chose to express her frustration and resentment by not answering the request to send him up to her apartment.
Alexis looked into her bathroom mirror then bit her lower lip. She realized how foolish she'd been, but it was too late. Driven away by security, he refused to even answer her texts.
She looked down at the sink. Had she ruined everything? Why had she done something so stupid? Their relationship was just business, so why did she become so angry when that ridiculous tart of a girl fawned all over him?
“What do I do now...?” she asked the girl in the mirror. What could she do? Was there even an option left to her at this point?
It was difficult for Alexis for various reasons, but she knew that she must accept her responsibility in the matter. She forced aside her pride and did what needed to be done. Alexis sent Scott a new message, one that she kept short and simple. “I was wrong. Please forgive me.”
She received no response for a few hours. A girl also had her pride. She'd made the first real overture of apology. It would be inappropriate to force the situation for now despite the fact that every passing moment gnawed at her subconsciously.
When a response finally came it was short, but it made her laugh so hard that she started to cry. Scott's response came in the form of a picture. It was an edited version of one of the images that she sent him previously, but with his head on her lingerie clad body.
An expression of goofy perversity etched on his features perfectly seasoned the main dish that was the caption below the image. “Come to daddy, baby.”
She turned bright red and clutched at the sink. Her stomach hurt. Alexis gasped and wheezed a little while trying to fight back the laughter. What had gotten into him? She hadn't laughed like that in ages.
Alexis sent him back a message once she managed to get hold of herself, though she giggled repeatedly while sending her response. It was difficult to maintain her composure even now.
[Message]
I’m jealous... You wear that better than I do.
[--]
It did not take long for Scott to reply. Alexis’ face turned red for another reason. “You’ll take it off if I ask you nicely, huh?”
The idea had merit, but they did not really know each other that well. She originally thought to do something like that with him last night, but her annoyance had gotten the better of her. She sent back a message that told him that she would like to meet him later. He replied that he would be sure to wear something slutty.
Alexis giggled softly. She assumed that he forgave her, but he had not actually said it. That was fine, perhaps it even made sense. It was good that they could keep talking, at least.
There was one other point of interest, however. She giggled softly then touched two fingers to her lower lip and eyed her pictorial present. "You know, I'm a little curious about what he's hiding underneath that lingerie."
***
Scott looked over to the girls as they continued their training. Tara proved to be quite easy to fit into the group after she started to talk like a normal person instead of an overly dramatic tragedy girl.
He took stock of the spider girl for a moment. She was in her humanoid guise at the moment and gave off the appearance of a normal, if disturbingly alluring, young girl. Scott would have said young lady, but the outfit she decided to manifest for training purposes did not exude a ladylike aura. Wearing little more than a strikingly well filled black bra and a set of spanky pants, the girl looked better prepared for solicitation on the streets than a proper workout in a gym.
Her hair and skin tone were a little different today as well. Instead of the exceptionally pale skin and jet black hair, she sported slightly tanned fe
atures and reddish blond hair. The most noticeable new addition, however, was the cross around her neck.
Scott closed his eyes a little. "Seriously, are you a spider or a vampire? Pick a species already..." he said in a flat tone of voice. He did not call her out on her outfit, however. He wanted to support the girls in any endeavor they undertook. She was obviously a dramatic sort of girl who liked to change her appearance to suit her mood.
While the girls trained, he worked on battle plans and tried to determine what skill-sets to develop. It took time to gain true affinity with an element. If he wanted to maintain that affinity when the girls were not equipped, he would have to train. The problem was deciding where to start.
He looked through the list of current elemental affinities he could develop then rubbed his chin. It would be a while before he managed to become strong enough to fight effectively against higher level Crystallim, nightmares, and worse, the aberrations. While fighting directly was discouraged, it did become necessary at times both for bonding purposes and for survival. Against aberrations it was practically a must.
“Shadow, plant, vitality, water, and earth... Any of those elements would be good to work with at first.” Tara had added quite a bit to his affinities. Most humans naturally possessed a vitality affinity and a lesser affinity to the psychic element. When Tara joined the team his affinity for shadow and vitality doubled because Pirouette also had shadow affinity.
Scott chose between shadow and vitality then looked up vitality training skills. The most basic skills were Empower and Boost. He could learn both, obviously, but it would be best to focus on one first.
“Boost has a much shorter duration, but it enhances all stats... Empower lasts a lot longer but it only works for one stat,” he said thoughtfully.
He placed the side of his index finger against his lips then nodded. “I’ll go with empower.”
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