by Jamie Hawke
“Gale, I can’t…” I protested.
“What? Hit a woman?” She laughed, looking me up and down, squaring off against me. “You’ve not only hit women, you’ve killed them!”
“Only… only the bad ones.”
“Don’t think of it that way, then. Think of me as a supervillain, if you need to. Hell, I was in prison as one, anyway. Me? I’ll think of it as foreplay.”
“Um, what?” Twitch asked.
“You heard me. I’m not into a man beating me or anything disturbing like that. But a man who’s not afraid to treat me as an equal? To spar with me and not hold back… that’s fucking hot.”
“Gale, I just can’t—” I started, instantly cut off as she slammed a knee into my nuts. My gut reaction was to strike back, and I did. A good punch right in the kisser, before I fell back, holding my sack and groaning. “Fuck, fuck. I didn’t mean to do that.”
She was wiping blood from her lip and laughing, and leaped on me, pinning me down. “Come on, man, let’s see what you got,” she said, and then started whaling on me! Punch after punch, and I was getting pissed.
One of them hit a cut on my arm from the arena fight, and I howled in pain.
“Don’t hold back on him just because he’s injured!” Twitch called out, laughing as those punches came raining down hard.
With a thrust of my hips I tossed Gale off, spinning and following to give her a swift kick in the ass that sent her sprawling.
“Enough!” I said, still feeling the discomfort in my stomach from the knee to my nuts, but also now feeling a stinging sensation on my right cheek. She must have caught me good.
“Is it, Breaker?” she said, standing and glaring, fists held tight. “Because from where I’m standing, we haven’t gotten through, you still need that level, and I find this sexy as fuck. So come over here, give it your best, and later, when this is all done, I’m giving you the best I got, if you get my drift.”
“I think he does,” Twitch said, and laughed.
“This isn’t funny,” I protested. “I don’t know about you all and this weird, supers bullshit, but on Earth, a man doesn’t hit a woman.”
“Rightly so,” Twitch said. “But right now, you’re being a chicken shit and treating her like she’s less than you. You want to be a gentleman, right here, right now? Defeat your opponent.”
I was getting damn sick of them trying to emasculate me, but that wasn’t enough to make me be okay with this. It was like I was in my worst nightmare, only it was true, and this was the only way to make it through.
Somehow, I needed to convince myself to do this and realized that if I didn’t think it was her I was hitting, or could at least do a good job pretending it wasn’t, then maybe this could work. So I pulled on my ability to cloak, which was still messed up from this crazy world, and it sent an image of myself out.
Gale cocked her head, then her eyes went wide. “Whatever you need to do.” Stepping up behind the image of me, she said, “Kick your own ass.”
I hated myself at that moment, but charged forward, and unleashed. She blocked while the replica of myself pretty much followed suit. It wasn’t perfect, such as when she struck back and my replica went for a kick instead of a punch, costing me a good hit. And something about that strike made my head fuzzy, so that when I finally went at it, I almost believed I was fighting some evil version of myself.
With a final kick, Gale fell to the floor, and my screen popped open with the words “Level up” flashing.
“Oh my God,” I said, kneeling next to her. I didn’t even know where to put my hands. I felt horrible, I just wanted to shoot myself in the face. “I’m so sorry, I—”
“Stop being a pussy,” she said, laughing, and then pulled me on top of her and down for a deep-tongue kiss. Her hand cupped my package and she pulled me in with her legs, and I was caught in a mixture of horror and arousal.
“Not the time,” Twitch said, putting her hand between us so that Gale licked it once by accident, and then pulled back with a laugh.
“That was so fucking hot,” Gale said. “Damn. Damn!”
“You’re not… hurt?” I asked.
Gale looked up at me with a humored look. “Breaker, come on. You couldn’t break me in a thousand years. You think I made it to Major in an air force of supers without taking a few hits? Shit, I could do that all day and then fuck all night. In fact, anytime you want to, I’m down.”
“Here I was thinking she was the normal one,” Twitch said, folding her arms but smiling as she stood.
“Hey, I’m normal,” Gale let me stand, then took my hand as I helped her up. “I just say fuck it to gender bullshit. Sure, if a man was way stronger than me and hit me to prove he was, or in some way abused me in a way that I was uncomfortable with, I’d freeze him and then break him into a billion pieces. But what we just did? Would you feel wrong if I was a guy?”
“No,” I admitted.
“So then sack up and get over it, sugar. This is the real world, and every bit of it was consensual and hot. Don’t ruin it with a shitty attitude.”
I turned to Twitch for help, but she just smiled at me and shrugged. “She has a good point. You ever hit a woman out of rage or whatever I’m going to delete you, but this was different.”
“Whatever,” I said taking a deep breath, totally conflicted by moving on. “I didn’t realize I could go up levels by sparring,” I admitted, wondering about the ramifications of that. “I mean, how much do you think light sparring helps?”
“Might be based on how hard you’re going,” Twitch said, considering the question. “I bet even shadow boxing gives you something, though maybe the same amount of experience would’ve taken you hours to achieve with something like that.”
“Still, it’s something.” I turned now, ready to make our move. Pulling up my screen, I went to the last skill tree and froze. “Oh, right…” I turned back to Twitch, gulped and said, “I forgot, I need to unlock your powers again for it to work.”
Gale chuckled, and glanced around, then said, “I’ll stand guard. You know.”
It was clear neither of us wanted her to leave, and when she had, we turned to each other awkwardly, standing there, not sure what to do next.
“Blood mixing… or sex?” she asked.
“I prefer the latter,” I admitted.
She grinned. “Of course. Me too.”
“Why’s this so weird?” I asked with a nervous laugh. “It isn’t our first time.”
“You look like shit, for one,” she said, clearly trying to clear the air, but it just made me feel more awkward. My hand went to my swollen eye and I cringed. It was getting better already—enough so that it didn’t hinder my sight, but I imagined she was right about it looking horrible. That plus the various cuts and scrapes, and yeah, I could see this being harder for her.
“Sorry,” she said, apparently noticing my reaction. “Maybe just strip,” she said. “That’ll make it easier for me.”
“And even more awkward for me,” I protested. But when she put her hands on her hips and stared, waiting, I took a breath and went to it. When I had pulled off my boxer briefs, hanging out there for the world to see, she let her eyes roam across my body, her smile spreading, and then she stepped forward once, paused, and then again. I met her the rest of the way, and she took my hands and placed them on the seam of her armor.
“Now undress me,” she commanded, and so I did. Finally, she was nude too. She took me by the hand and led me to the ship’s showers. Her hands moved across my body, washing me, and then she joined in. When we were clean, we threw some towels on the ground, and I lowered myself on top of her.
Unlike every other time, now we went at it slowly, like two teenagers trying this whole thing out for the first time. I cupped her breast, kissed her neck, and then ran my tongue along her skin until I reached her nipple, which I tenderly massaged with my lips. She pulled me up, pressed her lips to mine as she put a leg between mine and felt my cock against her.
“Slap it,” she said. When I hesitated, she shouted, “Spank me!” I went with it, slapping her ass softly at first, but then she reached down between her legs, guided me in, and said, “Again!”
Now I was going at it from behind, thrusting and slapping her ass and then I fell forward, leaning partially on her and grabbing her breasts, and she was loving it. It fucking hurt, with all my injuries from the gladiator fights, but there was no way pain was going to stand between us. Twitch moaned hard, rubbing herself, and then when she came she bent over and grabbed my balls at the right moment, right as I was about to cum, and then it was my turn. I pulled her hips to me, as if that could help me go any deeper, and thrust out of control as my cock throbbed and the cum shot out, over and over.
Finally, I pulled out and we both collapsed, leaning against the wall. When I looked over, I realized her hand was in mine.
“That’ll do it,” she said, grinning at me, and then she lifted my hand and kissed it.
“Is this… okay?” I asked. “I mean, this thing we all have going here. It’s so confusing. When it’s one on one, even more so.”
She kissed my hand again, then held it to her breast. “Let me give you a word of advice. Two words, actually. Shut up.”
“That’s your advice?”
“Yes. When you have something good going, just shut up and enjoy it.” She licked her lips, then took my hand and placed it on her pussy, rubbing my finger along her clit. “I know that’s what I’m doing.”
She came again, then opened her eyes wide and said, “Shit, we need to get to it. Come on, stop jerking around.”
I was about to protest, but just then Gale walked in, whistled at the sight of us both nude, and then clapped her hands. “Bravo, you two. Bravo. Can we do this now?”
Without even bothering to dress yet, I stood and pulled up my skills, glad to see the Twitch skill tree fully ready to go, my skill points with just enough to max out one full branch, ending with the troubleshooter skill. When it was done, I turned to see Twitch there, fully nude and gorgeous, pink screens spread out before her.
At first, I just looked at the screens and they were as confusing as ever, but it became clear—not that I could read them, but I knew there was a strange shroud over them.
Not fully understanding what I was doing, I reached up to her main screen, touched it, and pulled. Sure enough, it was as if a tinted window with strange glowing symbols was lifted from her pink screen, and she gasped. My new powers allowed me to see it too. The code was back to normal. With my troubleshoot skill and the ones before it, I was able to make out what it all referred to now. One screen had code on me, straight down to my IQ, my measurements—in all places—and, when I scrolled farther down, all sorts of info related to what my DNA held.
“Huh,” I said. “Part Portuguese, I never knew that.”
“Focus,” she said, pulling up a larger screen. “That wasn’t the only issue with this place, only a mask to hide it. Look.”
Sure enough, the new screen was representative of this galaxy, and it had a line of code crossed out, smeared like someone had spilled coffee on it. Only, as I moved my hand across it, the letters and numbers appeared.
Twitch grinned, inputting them with quick touches and movements of her hand until the code was complete. With a final motion, it was done, and she closed the screen, replacing it with another.
“Ready?” she asked.
I nodded.
“You two might want to get dressed first,” Gale said with a laugh, standing in the entryway. “I was wondering where you two got off to.
“We got off right here,” Twitch said with a chuckle.
“Yeah, yeah,” Gale waved the comment away. “Do it soon, because I’m honestly getting turned on like crazy right now. I know we have a mission to get to, so I’m holding myself back, but… hurry!”
We laughed and threw on our clothes, my mind racing with curiosity regarding all of the other skills I’d just upgraded without taking the time to look them over. We were ready to enter the other side.
16
We had Wendlor land the ship near a bog past the other side of mountains, well out of reach of the enemy. At least we hoped it was, because we weren’t sure how long we’d be gone or how all of this travel worked. For that matter, we weren’t completely sure we’d even be able to return, but we held onto our optimism. The alternative was too terrifying. I stepped out into what had become a cold night, dark red mist rising up from the murky waters on the ground nearby, and I turned to Twitch.
“I’ll go alone,” I said. “We can’t risk us all going.”
“We can’t risk coming back without Charm,” Twitch said. “Then there’s the whole matter of you needing me if we have a chance of coming back. Obviously, the three of us will go.”
Gale cleared her throat, then said, “Actually, shouldn’t one of us be here in case there’s trouble?”
“You don’t want to go?”
“It’s not that, it’s what I said and…” Gale fidgeted with the armor around her neck and jaw, the part that folded out into a helmet. “Traveling like that, yeah, I don’t want to go.”
Twitch nodded. “It’s your choice. We’re going.”
“You’re sure?” I asked her.
Twitch didn’t even respond to that, but turned, and pulled up her screen again, the one I recognized from earlier, now that the code was starting to somewhat make sense. With a swipe of her hand, a black hole formed as it had on the prison ship to take us here, and when it was large enough, I took Twitch’s hand in mine and we stepped forward to enter.
Only, it moved away. Then, again. Each time we stepped toward it, it was gone, reappearing elsewhere.
“I was afraid of that,” Wendlor said, appearing at the doorway.
“Of what?” Twitch asked.
“It’s not going to let you. You need… an escort.” He stepped forward and said, “Not within, but to get you through.”
He held his hand up, hesitant, eyes flickering back and forth.
“Wendlor, what is it you’re not telling us?” I asked.
For another moment he stared at the black hole, then finally pulled up his screen. When he moved a shaky hand along it, he said, “You’ve heard of the old arts… the dark arts?”
“Like magic?” I asked.
He nodded. “This isn’t magic, but… there are similarities when using powers related to the Nihilists. For one, what it takes out of you. Part of your soul? Sometimes. Your life? Perhaps.”
“Wendlor, what will this do to you?” I wasn’t sure I even wanted to hear the answer, but had to know anyway.
For another moment he stood there, then hit the screen again and a darkness surrounded him, his skin growing pale. “Someone, keep Renowt where he is. He can’t see this… and tell him I had to do this. To make amends.”
“Tell him yourself,” I said, horrified at what was happening. “He’s in the next room over.”
“I may not have that chance.” With those last words, the portal magnified, and this time we could see inside, see a vision of a city in darkness. Black metal rose high, strong spikes under a sky of vibrant red gases that floated along in front of the stars.
Before we went, I turned to Wendlor and said, “Thank you.”
He nodded, then whispered, “Go. You should be able to return on your own… perhaps. If not, find
a Nihilist, force them to help. Somehow…”
He collapsed to one knee, motioning us on, so I gripped Twitch’s hand, and together we stepped through.
Unlike entering this world where everything was mostly similar to the world we’d come from, here even the air tasted murky. It was likely intensified by the knowledge that someone had just possibly sacrificed himself for us to make it here. A ribbon of red gas passed above the starry sky, distant gray moons stared down at us like dull eyes.
We stood next to a wall that jutted up far above, shaping a building that resembled twisted metal more than a place people would enter. The streets were darker than the sky, without so much as a reflection of the light. I started to take a step forward, but Twitch took me by the arm as two forms walked past. To our relief, neither looked our way. Still, we were able to make out their forms—long robes, faces of pale skin.
“Change us to look like them,” Twitch whispered.
That should’ve been my first thought. I focused on doing it, but hit a snag. It wasn’t like I couldn’t do it, but that someone had thrown a wrench into the mix. Like when you know you can cum but are super drunk so it’s going to take some real work to get there.
“What’s taking so long?” she asked.
“I… just a second.” This time when I tried, I searched within myself, pushing harder, and a screen popped up. Not my normal stats one, but something similar to Twitch’s, only more of a dark purple. Also unlike my stats screen, she could see this one, as evidenced by the way she blinked when it appeared.
“Oh, because we…” She grinned. “But, let me see.”
She stood next to me, running her hand along code that didn’t make sense to me—only three lines of it. My best guess was that the color palette analogy had come back into play, now that I had more than one power in my system again. It also seemed that the more recent power affected the old one more than the old one affected the new, as we’d been able to open the portal to get here without any need for illusions and weird alterations to it.
“There,” she said, showing me where to press. “Simply hit there. It’s like clicking ‘Accept,’ basically.”