by Jamie Hawke
“Enough,” I said, yanking myself from the woman’s unnaturally strong grip. “Tell me what’s happening right now!”
“You didn’t tell him?” the strange man asked of the woman, who he’d called Navani.
“There was no time,” Navani replied. “He was fighting Eclypse here, nearly killed himself to save the others.”
The man turned a curious eye to me, then nodded. “Truly his father’s son, no doubt.”
“My father?” The mention of him here, like this, made no sense. “I’m going to tell you right now, my father went missing years ago, and I mean a lot of years. Even then, I’m adopted. So whatever weird game you’re playing ends now. Who the hell are you, and how are you doing this?”
All I got for a response was a stare, as the two seemed to be debating how best to deal with me. It was only under their gaze, a barely noticeable glance down on her part, that I looked too and realized why I felt so free—I was completely nude!
“What the fuck—” I started, but then the man on the floor—Eclypse, apparently—suddenly jolted up, turned on me, and growled. His eyes glowed silver again, then a darkness started to take over until each eye was half silver, half black, and I had a sense of how he’d gotten his name. His fingers started to glow with a flame, but then the other man sighed, stepped up beside him, and placed a hand on the back of his neck.
Eclypse collapsed, a strange light flowing out of him and into this man.
“Xin,” Navani said, “come with us.”
“I wish that I could, but the only way we can find these others is with my help.” With a deep breath, he walked over to the circle in the center of the room and knelt. “Go, now. I don’t want you to see me like this.”
She bit her lower lip, nodded, and then turned to stroll over to the ship. Xin bowed his head, light pulling from him and flowing toward the statues, and he said, “Call the first hero.” The light intensified and I could see his skeleton within, hear echoing cries of torment, and then—
“ANDREW!” Navani shouted. “Move your ass!”
I’d responded so quickly to that phrase over the years and was in such a state of shock, that I immediately did as commanded. I high-tailed it out of there, following Navani up and into the craft. Only then did I pause to wonder when I’d get my clothes back and where I was going, as the doors were closing behind me. Of course, by then it was too late.
What the hell had I just gotten myself into?
2
The look in Navani’s blue eyes when she turned to me was confusing—how do you interpret eyes that were completely blue? The ship was sailing through the sky, the image of a strange planet and even stranger metallic, pointed buildings were all disappearing below, but all I could focus on was this woman.
“What the fuck happened back there?” I asked.
She continued to stare, and then the blue of her eyes faded slightly so that they almost looked normal aside from a faint hue. Her hair now fell behind her, tied back in a ponytail but long, down to her ass, I assumed.
Instead of answering, she frowned, shook her head as if trying to process something, and then stumbled past me.
“Hey,” I said, following her. “I’m asking you a question.”
With a glance back, she held up a hand and then motioned for me to stay close. “When we know we’re safe.”
“Safe?” I asked, but she was walking fast, not looking my way. We passed through a hallway and onto the bridge of the ship, where a transparent woman stood, hands behind her, staring out at the view ahead of us.
This confirmed my suspicion that I wasn’t on Earth anymore, as large space stations were visible but blurry. On the display, the space stations were displayed more clearly, along with strange, far-off planets. In the distance was the white, flowing shape of the Milky Way galaxy, a mind-blowing sight when you’ve never left the place and you’re seeing it for the very first time.
I took all this in with shock and awe, wondering why me, wondering what was going on back there on my home planet, so far away. Would my brother somehow have guessed what happened to me? Chad had always been a smart guy, but never one to go off on adventures like this. He’d probably assumed it was a medical-related hallucination and gone back for a bowl of rice soup and mint tea, knowing him.
Hell, it wasn’t like I would’ve known how to react much better, had I seen him disappear through a portal and witnessed what had likely looked like a man exploding.
“Lamb,” Navani said, earning a glance from the transparent woman. “What can we do for our friend here? Clothing, I mean.”
Both women turned to look at me, standing there with my arms still spread in my motion of protestation, fully exposed. I blushed and covered myself, frowning. Lamb—as her name was, apparently—was damn hot, aside from the whole transparent thing. She had long, black hair and, in spite of being quite thin, wore something that looked like spandex, really showing off her hips and moving aside at the top to show ample cleavage. She had a red tint to her, though I wasn’t sure if that was her or the lighting and her see-through state.
Lamb nodded and said, “Have a seat, Andrew.”
“And that’s another thing,” I said. “How do you know my name?”
Both continued to stare at me, waiting, so I shook my head, unable to believe this. As I took a seat, I remembered to keep myself covered. The chair was actually comforting on my bare ass, with a gentle warmth to it.
“Choices are before you,” Lamb said, finally turning away. “Will you need further assistance?” She turned to Navani, waiting.
“That’ll do, thank you,” Navani replied, bowing her head slightly.
With that, Lamb vanished. Navani stepped up next to the chair, eyes moving across my nude body, stopping at my hands where they covered myself.
“You mentioned clothing?” I said, not sure if I should feel offended at being treated like such a piece of meat.
She looked disappointed but nodded. “Lamb will be… helping you, in that regard.”
I glanced around, confused. “She’s a hologram?”
“That wasn’t really her, no. That was part of her, a portion of her essence that has been merged with the ship to form an A.I., unlike anything you can imagine. And as for clothing, you certainly don’t have to.”
“It would make me feel more at ease,” I said, unsure if she was joking.
She smiled, then nodded again. This time, the metal of the chair floated out like liquid metal, surrounding me, clinging to my body, soon covering my skin up to the neck. I tried to stand, but found I couldn’t.
When I looked at her with fury, angry that she would try something like this, she laughed.
“Relax, Drew,” she said. “You do prefer that over Andrew, no? Drew?”
“Lady, right now I couldn’t give a fuck what you call me. I just want out of this. I want you to send me home, I want—”
“Clothes, yeah.” She smiled and watched as the metal shimmered, and suddenly I could see a screen in front of me. I blinked, confused. In my Marine armor I’d had screens similar to this projected via my HUD, but not like this. I had to assume it was coming from a holo-screen in the chair or something. Basically, it showed various outfits with images of me in them.
“I don’t understand,” I admitted. “I’m online shopping here?”
“Pick one,” she answered. “You’ll see.”
I glanced over, watching the way the light reflected off of the armor covering her tits, and then remembered myself. She noticed and raised an eyebrow. As my cock started to harden, she laughed and said, “Yes, Lamb, I noticed.”
“Noticed what?” I asked. “And how are you talking to Lamb?”
“You can talk to me too,” a voice said inside my head. “If you want, while you’re on the ship. It’ll be harder when you’re not.”
I gulped, confused as hell, but then noticed an outfit on- screen that I could feel right at home in. It was the Marine Corps green shirt and camo bottoms, along with boot
s and all. There was an option next to it, what looked like an upgrade, that resembled the armor I’d worn in my Space Marines days.
Once a Marine, always a Marine, I figured, so selected the first option. Comfort would be important as I got my bearings.
As soon as I’d selected it, the liquid metal around me formed into the outfit, even taking on a consistency like the clothes I’d been used to.
“Nice choice,” Navani said, grinning. “Not as nice as the previous one, but nice.”
“You mean when I was nude?”
She winked, then turned to the display with a heavy sigh. “We’ll be exiting atmosphere soon. Exiting the protective barrier of the Citadel, though that is failing anyway. Then it will be up to you to save our world.”
“Excuse me?”
She turned back to me, all mirth lost. Her eyes held a deep sorrow, a longing, and even a hint of confusion. The blue was coming back, and it was the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen, with her silvery-purple hair framing those eyes.
“Drew, what I’m about to tell you is going to be hard to swallow.” She hesitated, grinned, and tried not to laugh. “Lamb, not the best time for a joke.”
I frowned, but she waved it off.
“The point is, this is all about your father. Or both parents, maybe.”
“As I said, I don’t even know who my real father was.”
“Right, but we do.”
Now she had my attention. I tried to stand, and this time there was no resistance. A quick stretch, and then I turned to her, waiting.
“This is as good a time as any,” she said, but looked like she was convincing herself. “Okay, you might want to sit down for this. It’s not going to be easy to believe, but you’re not going to have much choice in the matter, I’m sorry to say.”
“I’d prefer to stand,” I countered, not wanting to be bossed around.
“What you saw back there was the fall of the Citadel, or the start of its fall if we don’t all succeed here. Xin and the others have sacrificed themselves to find new Elders, as they had already been defeated. With their last blast of energy they were able to summon Death Girl—I know, weird name but that’s what she called herself once she took on the role—and she gathered the powers for them to be able to make this ultimate sacrifice. It’s all…maybe best for another time, another story. But the simple version is that now they’re finding new heroes to stand against Ranger and his forces.
“Only, none of that will ultimately matter if you don’t fulfill your end of this equation.”
“My destiny?” I scoffed. “Welcome to dreamland. Maybe I’ll meet my princess and we’ll live happily ever after?”
“It’s a bit more complicated than that,” she said. “Nobody said anything about destiny or…a single princess. Hell, we might fail here…we might not. It all comes down to DNA.”
“Ah, the topic of my parents.”
“Exactly. Your parents weren’t just any regular supers, but the legendary tier one supers known as Apollo and Artemis.” She paused for effect.
“Who?” I asked, assuming by the look on her face that those names should mean something to me.
“Oh, sorry, I just assumed you’d know they were gods, worshiped on Earth a long time ago.”
“You’ve got the wrong brother if you want geek history discussions,” I said.
“Not geek, Greek,” she replied, forcing a smile that quickly faded at my glare.
Yeah, it annoyed me that she knew something about my planet I didn’t. But Chad had always been the one fascinated with that stuff, while I was more of a realist and pragmatist. I studied military ethos, memorized stories about famous Medal of Honor recipients. Learned how to shoot the enemy and take the hill.
She pursed her lips, then said, “Suffice it to say, our two supers had taken on the names because they were tier one supers, practically worshipped, and their powers resembled those gods specifically. They even looked at love like old gods supposedly often did—to be shared. Our mother, me and my sisters, was the same way. She would travel the planets of our galaxy, finding mates and… er, we’ll come to that. The point is, they were powerful beyond belief until they vanished.”
“Vanished?” I asked, ignoring the talk of shared love, as curious as the topic made me.
She nodded. “The questions surrounding that event are many. The answers, few. All I can say is that they had two boys, we now know.”
“Okay…?”
“You, Drew. You and Chad.” She frowned, giving me a look I’d come to hate over the years. While I wasn’t as smart as my brother, I didn’t deserve condescending looks like that, and the words coming out of her mouth were nonsense. No way was I a son of some god-like superhuman.
“Maybe it’s time I should leave,” I said, glancing at the door.
“You can’t,” she said.
“So I’m a prisoner here?”
She shook her head, sighed, and said, “The simple truth is this—you have the DNA in you of the most powerful supers ever known. That’s incredibly rare.”
“What you’re saying is,” I asked, leaning forward excitedly, “I’m going to be put into some sort of superhero academy, trained to use my powers, and ultimately go up against the evilest supervillain to ever live?” As nerdy as it sounded, the idea thrilled me. It totally reminded me of some super old nerd-fest movie about a boy and a magic school that my brother had been obsessed with.
“Not at all,” Navani said. “But…good imagination. The thing is, you might have superpowers. You survived the flames from Eclypse, and hit him with something interesting, but you’re not strong enough. Definitely not enough to ultimately destroy the evil of this galaxy and save the universe.”
“So then we’re wasting our time here,” I pointed out, pissed. Just another reminder to not get my hopes up.
“Not at all.” She stepped close enough that I could smell a faint scent like lilies and waterfalls if that made sense. It didn’t, but that’s the image, or sensation, that her smell filled me with.
“I’m not following,” I admitted.
She bit her lip for this part, the otherwise perfect posture bending slightly, and then she reached out, suddenly and unexpectedly, and took my hand in hers. Her metal armor moved back from her hand as it reached for mine so that I could feel the warmth of her skin.
“It’s asking a lot of you, I know,” she said.
I stared down at her hand holding mine, then up to her eyes. “You haven’t asked anything of me, yet.”
“Yet…but now.” Her other hand came to mine too so that she held my one hand with both of hers, and her eyes were wide. “There was my mother, as I mentioned, a super so strong they considered her a goddess, too, and she had several daughters. No sons. The thought is, with all of the power the enemy is bringing against us, we need a super that would be a combination of the so-called god that was your father, and the goddess that was my mother, and that of my sisters. Well, mostly half-sisters.”
“Holy fuck,” I blurted out, suddenly starting to understand where this was going, and why she was holding my hand. “You’re going to kill me and take my DNA, using it to make a mutant version of you and me somehow.”
She dropped my hand, holding hers up to her face as it scrunched in confusion. “What?!”
“That’s where you were going, right?” I protested, stepping back. “Well, it’s not going to happen!”
“No, you big, sexy idiot.” She laughed, then looked at me as if debating whether I was joking, then laughed again. “We supers have a very, very low chance of getting pregnant. Comes with the territory of being very hard to kill, I guess. Maybe something to do with the effects of our sun, which gave us these powers in the first place. Except for my mother, where it seemed the sun had the opposite effect, allowing for increased fertility. Maybe that worked for others in our galaxy, but it’s quite rare if so. Since I have many half-sisters that I’ve traced across the galaxy, while you only have the one brother, I have to assu
me. But yes, all of this… it’s speculation to a degree. What I do know is that someone with your genes needs to have a baby with someone with our genes.”
“A baby…”
“That’s right. The enemy has already sent one of their greatest warriors to hunt us down. We’ll have to find the others, my sisters, and half-sisters, and save them. Along the way, we…hope that you, well…we hope that you’ll do your damned best to work on impregnating us.”
My chest rose and fell quickly. My cock shifted as blood flooded into my groin at the thought of what she’d just proposed. I opened my mouth to speak. No words came out.
Had this sexy-ass lady just asked me if I’d be willing to fly around her galaxy saving damsels in distress and then having sex with them? It was confusing, it was ridiculous…and it was sexy as fuck. Every man’s fantasy, in a very twisted and outlandish way.
We started exiting atmosphere and I stumbled back into the chair as the ship shook around me. Navani fell back into the chair in front of mine, but then spun it around so she could face me.
“Do you understand, Drew?” she asked, speaking loudly so I could hear her over it all.
I took a deep breath, and nodded. “Except, if it’s hard to impregnate supers… are there no people on the planets? Not many? How many sisters are there?”
“The number of sisters I’m unsure of, and I don’t even know most of them. We’ve tracked down only a few.” She took a deep breath. “I’ve told you about rumors that certain supers, including my mother, were more easily able to procreate than others, but there’s even a rumor that my mother’s powers allowed others to be more susceptible. They gave her the name Arianrhod.”
“Doesn’t sound so Greek,” I said, finally wanting to show off I knew something too. “In fact, wouldn’t Aphrodite be more appropriate there?”
“Different planets have tended to fascinate themselves with different parts of Earth lore and history,” she pointed out, frowning at being put off track. “Some don’t care one lick, others are completely fascinated by it all. Point is, it goes that she could kind of bless others by being nearby or something, so they too could have children. She met your mother at one point, they say… and the rest is history.”