by Jamie Hawke
Someone cleared her throat.
The first sight when I opened my eyes was Navani, staring up at me with shock. Maybe I’d gotten a little too into the charade? The next thing I saw was the woman standing there, holding the curtain back with one hand, her other on her waist. She had an eyebrow raised, eyes full of annoyance.
“Bullshit,” she said. “Good acting on his part, but you think I don’t know the sound of a blowjob?”
We hesitated, Navani glancing up at me, and then she turned to reveal that my dick was indeed still in my pants. “Okay, you caught us.”
“Yay for me,” the woman said. “Now mind explaining why you’re eyeballing me one minute, pretending to give head to this guy while hiding the next?”
Navani hesitated, glanced at me—so hot, that view—and then stood. “See, the thing is, we’ve wanted to spice things up a bit between us, and we thought you might be able to help us.”
“What?” I said before stopping myself and nodding instead.
“That so?” the woman asked, looking me over. “What’d you have in mind? A blowjob while you watch? A good fuck?”
“Actually,” Navani said and shrugged, “yes, all of the above.”
“Right. Okay, whip it out then.”
My eyes went wide and I hesitated, but Navani stepped back in. “We were actually hoping you’d come back with us and do it in our room. More comfortable, right? Room for me, too, if that’s allowed.”
The woman eyed her, chuckled, and said, “Yeah? I might have to charge more than usual, but…” She gave me another look and grinned. “I’m Sakurai, by the way. Figured we should get that out of the way before we fuck.”
“Ah… Drew,” I said.
“Now, where is this room?”
“Not far, it’s—”
Screams interrupted her, and not the good kind. As she turned to see what was going on, a sound like sizzling bacon with the smell to match came, growing louder and more intense, and then a large explosion shook the place.
We stepped out into the hall as naked men and women darted out of booths, running for their lives but not sure which way to go so they were bumping into each other, some falling and getting trampled underfoot. A burst of green light hit one, like a bolt of electricity only focused, unending, until the person basically melted. More attackers were rushing in, and a small army was beginning to form, armed with guns. They started to mow down those they could before they were taken out by orange blasts from the bartender’s hands.
“Holy shit,” I muttered, while Sakurai and Navani went into kickass mode. Navani pulled a blaster from her newly-reformed armor, rolling aside as her eyes scanned the room, and she started firing. Although her shots were aimed right at the wall, they went through. Muffled shouts of pain followed as at least one corpse falling against the wall, I guessed by the thud.
I had ducked back into the room, or sex closet, and was watching when I recognized someone. It was the man from the display screen earlier, the one who was with the fleet that had attacked us before our jump—Goros. Navani had said we were safe, that they didn’t have the capacity to jump. So, then, how come he was here?
Goros had his hands out, his black and green cloak flailing out behind, and another burst of green lightning shot out, taking down three in its path. He turned on Sakurai, and I was ready to step in, but she wasn’t so defenseless. With a thrust of her hand, I heard the sound of metal rattling, as a sword shot through the air and seemed to form as it flew. Then it was full, and the hilt landed in her hand. It was similar to a katana, only with a thicker blade and more pronounced at the top. Its hilt bore a resemblance to a dragon, and as she thrust, it became clear why. Her tattoos lit up, and the sword seemed to come to life, light and shadows mixing around it until there appeared to be a large dragon circling it and moving out to attack her enemies.
Shooters fell as she charged them, sword slashing and the dragon of light spinning, encircling, exploding. Holy fuck, this was bordering on the hottest and scariest sight I’d ever witnessed. Her skirt flipped around her as she fought, tight ass exposed, and suddenly I wanted to be the one to ensure she came with us. Was it sexual? Not in the back of my mind, but right then my hormones were definitely driving me. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been so foolish as to do what I did next.
As more attackers ran in, some with superpowers flaring, I charged out to meet them. There was no way I could compete, I knew that. But that didn’t matter. This was my fight as much as anyone else’s.
It wasn’t only that, though. Something else was flowing through me, an inexplicable power, a drive to push myself to the limits. Like the pump you get when you’re at the gym, or after you’ve just slammed someone to the mat in MMA, this was an exhilarating dance of my fists and legs. When I took down the third shooter, I snatched his rifle out of the air before it hit the deck, then spun around and took out two more.
A super came flying at me with an orange light forming at her fists. I shot her in the fucking face, then Navani was at my side, sending two more shots into the super’s chest. She gave me a nod of appreciation and a look of surprise, and that fueled me even more.
It was like a bear had woken from its slumber, and now all of these fuckers were trying to take that bear’s first meal. With a roar, I ran at a super with a jump kick, feeling unstoppable.
Until that super threw up his hands and an invisible wall slammed into me. My leg hurt like hell, my head cracked against the floor as I fell, and for a moment I lay there, dazed. Navani and Sakurai were fighting around me, the bartender and a couple of others finally joining in. I lifted my head, shaking it, trying to get rid of the ringing.
What the hell had I been thinking, running up on a super like that?
I rolled aside to avoid getting hit by a wave of debris, pushed by a blast of energy that left a line of cracked floor in its wake. The attack hit Sakurai, and I was up again, not about to lay around while she got hurt. Was she more powerful than me, able to stand up for herself? Of course. More powerful by a thousand times, most likely. But that didn’t negate her need for my help.
At least this time I was a little more clear-headed, more cautious. A super had turned on her and was morphing into some sort of furry creature. Maybe a wolf? I didn’t allow for time to find out, instead opting to slam him in the back of the head with my elbow. Next, I snatched him up by his very hairy head and smacked it into the floor with all my might. Judging by the sick popping sound and blood, I’d at least broken his nose.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a figure approaching, so I rolled out of the way before a kick nearly got me. A spray of bullets came from another direction, but I was still rolling and managed to get behind the bar.
As I watched, the wood splintered, and a bullet came for me but then stopped. Right there, an inch from my face, it froze.
A glance over revealed the bartender, hand out with thumb and forefinger almost together, as if he were holding the bullet from the other side of the bar, and then he flicked it back and up. It connected with a super as she leaped up to the bar, so that she fell down, nearly on top of me. She landed head first, face right between my legs as I spread them and scooted back to avoid being hit.
Her eyes rolled up, looked at me, and then went blank.
I gave a nod of appreciation to the bartender, then watched as he threw out more shields to protect the sisters. He and Navani were throwing up shields, doing their best to protect us from the onslaught of attacks.
And then, to my horror, a super appeared like a shadow behind the bartender, thrust her hand up and into his back, and then dropped his dying body to the floor. Her arm was covered in blood, her eyes full black when she turned to look at me—but not fast enough, because I’d reacted the moment I saw her appear. As soon as she saw me, I was there with the pistol from the one who’d died at my crotch moments ago. Firing point-blank into one of those black eyes did the trick.
Shadows drifted away from her like a dark mist rising, and she co
llapsed. Navani darted past, purple energy coming from her as her shield deflected bullets, and she pulled me with her to the sex closet again.
Hand holding mine, she turned to me and said, “Get to Sakurai, get her out of here.”
“Me?”
“Do it, I’ll draw their attention.” She clenched my hand, giving me energy and new confidence. For some reason, she believed in me. After what I’d just done back there, I wasn’t so surprised.
“Go time,” I said, and together we sprinted out of there. It was like I was back in the Marines, charging a planet to take down a local warlord who’d gotten too powerful. All of that came back to me, only this time it wasn’t about putting someone down, but rescuing someone else.
I plowed through two shooters, feeling that strange burst of energy and strength from earlier, amazed at the power of my punches and my ability to dodge theirs. A shot hit me, but it was a regular bullet and simply caused my personal shield to flash blue. Even though I knew the shield wouldn’t last forever, seeing that bullet get deflected like that gave me new hope.
This had also, however, finally caught the attention of Goros.
He turned his attack on me, that green beam of lightning. I’d like to say I didn’t piss my pants a little, and maybe I didn’t, I honestly don’t remember. But whenever someone twice your size turns on you and green electricity flows from their hands to fry the flesh off of your bones, it’s terrifying.
That was the first and last time a dragon saved me. To be more precise, the dragon of light that Sakurai created with her sword. It flashed over, cutting off the stream of light—not blocking it, but diverting it so that a gaping hole remained where the roof had been, glass and metal falling in on us, and a moment later she was slashing at him.
He was fast though, or so it appeared. He had either teleported, or one of his supers had pulled him back with a similar power. Three more supers were teleported into the spot he’d been standing, all with swords, all standing their ground against Sakurai’s assault.
More were coming in too, though now Navani was drawing much of their attention. Their numbers were simply too many, their power too much for us to handle. She was right, we had to get out of there, now.
A blast came from Navani, and I turned with worry, only to see her standing there, sexy-ass suit hugging her tight little body, with her hands in the air as if she’d just clapped. All around her, enemies lay scattered. Nice.
Doing my part, I sprinted for Sakurai with every intention of getting her out of there. My legs were moving fast again, faster than normal, and I wished I had time to try and figure out why. What had changed in the last couple of minutes to give me such energy?
Maybe it was just my adrenaline taking over, I didn’t know. What I did know was that a group of attackers was moving my way again, and Goros was watching me with curiosity. I might as well give him a show, I thought as I threw a punch.
It missed, the super seeming to melt out of my way and come up behind me with a kick that sent me right into the punch of the next one. His fist hit me upside the head, and I was thrown to my left, ears ringing. Dammit, that wasn’t supposed to happen, not to me. I lifted my pistol to fire when one of them kicked my wrist and sent it flying. Another caught me with a punch to the gut, but I rolled with it, taking his arm and kneeling to flip him over me, as good old Marine Corps training had taught me.
“We have to get out of here!” I told Sakurai, and she glanced back from her fighting, long enough to earn her a slight cut on her shoulder.
She cursed, turning to retaliate, and sliced off the guy’s head who’d drawn her blood. Before his head even hit the ground, she’d moved on to the other two again, completely disregarding me.
My only option was to clear a path, which seemed fairly doable considering the fact that more had run off to fight Navani, finally seeing that she was the bigger threat here. As much as my energy and confidence were soaring, I had to keep a level head here. As easily as that punch had caught me off guard, it could have been a bullet or a blast of lightning. Apparently, the shields worked against bullets, so there was that at least. But not punches, and probably not certain other types of non-ranged attacks.
Keeping that in mind, I decided to go after the guys with guns. Running in, arms up to block my face in case the shield didn’t extend up far enough, I plowed right into their midst and began tearing it up. As soon as I had a pistol again, I was a killing machine, a rough-tough-can’t-get-enough devil dog, do or die, mother fuckers! They landed a couple of strikes, sent a couple of bullets up against my shield, but in the end, I sent them all to meet their maker.
As I turned to see the damage I’d done, I froze. Confused. Shocked.
While I’d left a wake of corpses, it hadn’t mattered. Goros stood there with his hand on Sakurai’s forehead, energy surging on him, circling like a tornado and then, with a blast, it channeled off of him and exploded into her. Navani reached out, shouting as her eyes went blue, but it was too late…
Sakurai vanished in a blast of energy. Vaporized. Her sword clattered to the floor.
And then all eyes were on us. Weapons and superpowers, and what could we do against their forces?
“Run,” Navani shouted, sending out another blast that knocked the enemy over. We had no choice, and as much as I hated the word or the act of it, we were left with only that option.
Retreat.
6
We sprinted out of the bar, me following Navani as shots exploded dirt and glass behind us. Shouts from Goros echoed after us, but Navani was doing something that pushed us fast, pulling me along with my hand in hers again.
Her eyes glowed blue as she glanced around, and from time to time she would thrust out a hand and energy would ripple, the form of the teleporting super or others he’d try to send would appear in a flash but be gone just as fast.
Several supers burst into the air in flight, but we were quickly approaching the edge of the dunes, where there was a steep drop-off on the other side.
“We’ll have to jump,” Navani said, pulling me along.
My legs had that extra energy thing going for them, but I was still being pulled about like a rag doll. As with this whole fucking mission, I didn’t see any options about arguing with her.
We reached the edge, and she leaped down without hesitation. Hell, who was I to question? But when I saw the fall, I yelped, pulling my hand free as my arms flailed wildly. She was there a moment later, guiding me along the wall as she pushed against it, a purple light coming out from her as she seemed to manipulate the power around her. Another question for later.
Finally, we landed in a new part of the city, totally different from where we had just come from. We were darting around white buildings with blue trim as ships flew by overhead, it looked like a cross between a scene from an old science fiction film and a picture of a Greek village I’d once seen in what felt like another life.
“We failed already,” I said, leaning against the wall to catch my breath.
“No,” Navani said. “We weren’t just running randomly. Her direct sister is here, too.”
“Wouldn’t that be your sister too?”
“They’re all half-sisters.” She looked up at the ships flying overhead and sighed. “We came for both of them. We’ll leave with one.”
She held up a hand, waiting while another ship flew by, then signaled and we darted across, two buildings down and one up, before climbing the stairs to the back door of a house. She kicked it in, and there we were, face-to-face with a goddess.
When I say Navani is beautiful, or that Sakurai was gorgeous, that’s one thing. And this woman was too, but when I say she was a goddess, I’m not only referring to her beauty. She was tall, slender, with long blonde hair flowing down her back and eyes of gold that stared into my soul.
“Holy hell,” I stammered, trying to think of something to say.
She had apparently finished processing that two people had just burst into her home, because she sudd
enly transformed, golden eyes glowing hot, the power of the sun coming from her as her hair flew out like the wind was tossing it about.
The unintended consequence of this, I at first thought, was that the robe she had on went flying off. But then I saw that she wasn’t nude underneath, and was instead wearing a combat suit of black and red, nearly skintight and in spots almost looking like it was actually painted on. At her chin, metal came out, covering part of her neck and jaw, and wings shot out from behind her—black metallic wings with orange tips like razors.
Looking at her I thought two things at once—we were as good as dead, and dammmnnnn she was hot. And yes, there was the whole heat from her fire thing going on too.
“Two seconds to explain yourselves,” she said, voice firm, leaving no room for doubt.
“They’re after each of us,” Navani explained, moving aside and gesturing out through the doorway.
“Us?” Her heat died down slightly, which I took as a good sign. The longer we stood there, the more confident I became. That same sense of strength and speed was building up in my muscles.
Navani motioned to close the door and waited. The woman nodded. Once it was closed, Navani turned, holding out her hands to show we didn’t mean trouble, and said, “Sacrada, sister, the time has come.”
“Oh, shit,” the woman said. “You’re with the Citadel.”
“What remains of it, in a sense,” Navani said. She went on to quickly fill her in on the situation, what had happened with the fall of the Citadel, and how now they had found me with the help of this Hadrian character’s ability to create gateways or portals. Then she got to the awkward part. She held her head high, chest out, and said, “And now we have to get you to safety, to fulfill our mission. To bring a god back into this world.”
Sacrada scoffed, looked at me, then to her, and scoffed again. She let her fire finally die down, folding her wings back up so that they were part of her suit and not even noticeable. “Tell me you don’t actually believe our parents were gods.”