by Jamie Hawke
It was complicated, but my understanding of it all now was that the black hole power, if you could call it that, basically folded space. In theory, it could have taken us to Earth instead of this place. We followed the map Shimmer had passed on to Twitch, and on the way I spent some time thinking about Shimmer and her people, imagining how the Solar System would’ve reacted if a planet had suddenly appeared, along with a few supers. People of Earth still didn’t know this whole superpower thing was real, as far as I knew. At least the normal people didn’t, though I was wondering if it was one of those secrets the Elites knew and kept from us normal folk.
Well, I wasn’t so normal anymore. Had nobody seen the superpowers used to attack me in the prison transport, or those used to take me out of there? Just as they’d managed to not see that day when my brother had been attacked by a supervillain and whooped his ass? People’s minds worked in strange ways, covering up what they couldn’t explain.
Now I knew for sure what my brother was up to, and it sucked not being able to help. I knew our paths would cross eventually, but right now I was focused on defending this planet and finding out what had happened to our father. We each had our battles, me and Drew, and we’d meet back up at the Citadel when it was time.
The chieftains had come to greet us, and we’d explained what had happened. It would take Ranger time to find us, but he would. That revelation led to everyone gathering and discussing plans of action, but I was too exhausted. Instead of sitting there any longer, I went for a walk. I had to see it again for myself, the sky without a fleet, the planets, that not so long ago had been absent but were now visible even to the naked eye.
More than anything, though, I wanted to sleep, so I found a comfortable spot, leaned back against a smooth rock, and cradled my head in my arms. It must’ve been an hour later when I heard someone approaching and so leaped up, ready for a fight.
“He’s up,” Charm said, and I turned to see her standing with hands folded, eyeing me affectionately.
When I realized she hadn’t been referring to me, I asked, “Who?”
“Wendlor,” she replied. “They have him in the healing bath still, but he’s awake.”
She looked away for a second, and I knew something was troubling her. But when I asked on the way down to see the old man, she insisted it was nothing.
“I thought for sure he’d sacrificed himself to get us to you,” I said. “It’s… it’s a blessing he survived.”
“He’s not the only one to make sacrifices in the name of saving me,” she said, and again there was that look. I racked my brain, wondering if it was the fact that I’d nearly died in the coliseum or what. But no, that wouldn’t make sense. We had all nearly died many times more than that during all of our journeys.
She didn’t offer anything up, so I walked at her side in silence, figuring she’d tell me what it was when the time came. We made it down to the paths, and she smiled when she stopped at the entrance.
“You’re not coming in?” I asked.
“Was in there earlier,” she said. “I’ve seen enough wrinkled old naked people for a lifetime.”
It wasn’t until I entered that I understood what she meant. Renowt and Wendlor were both in the baths, completely nude as I saw by Renowt’s pasty ass as he lowered himself in. There were others too. Apparently, this was the thing to do.
Wendlor looked up at me, motioning me over. “Come, join us.”
I walked over to his side and waited to hear what he had to say.
“In, in,” he said, then pointed at my arm. “That hasn’t healed yet, I’d bet. In here, it just might.”
“No, I—”
“Come now,” one of the female chieftains said, exiting the next pool over. She too was completely nude and I averted my gaze, feeling very out of place here. She stopped at the stone ledge nearby and said, “Humor the man. It’s about the healing, not your pride or humility.”
Not feeling it at all, I undressed and slipped into the water. It was hotter than I was used to. Scalding hot, and I was certain my skin might come right off when I tried to stand. That said, it was damn relaxing. After a minute, I thought I could fall asleep in there.
“Ah, see,” Wendlor said, nudging Renowt and pointing at my arm.
When I looked at it, I startled. The wound was healed! It was still a pink line, but nothing more. I imagined my other wounds were clearing up nicely, too.
“That will help when Ranger comes,” Renowt said, his smile fading. “We’ll need everyone in tip-top shape.”
“When Ranger arrives,” I said, remembering what we’d seen coming at us before bringing the planet back to where it belonged, “no amount of healing will save us.”
“That’s what I want to talk to you about,” Wendlor said, leaning forward. “If you could find your father and the rest of the Tier One superheroes before Ranger’s arrival, you might be able to restore their powers. We might stand a chance.”
“But… how?” I asked.
“Pyramids,” he replied. “Like the one you found me in. It’s all part of a system the Nihilists set up to sap powers, only they can’t use them on themselves, so they find cronies to apply them to. Cronies such as Ranger. If we can find those pyramids, though, we might still have a chance at finding the Tier Ones.”
“Before, you made it sound impossible,” I pointed out.
“That was before the three of us were involved.” He took on a very intrigued look, looking at me and then Twitch. “With our powers combined—”
“Yeah, I get it,” I said, holding up a hand. “But wouldn’t the Tier Ones be fully sapped by now?”
“Not them. With powers like that, he’ll want to keep them going, to continuously drain them.”
The steam was getting to me, my head swirling. “I wouldn’t know where to start.”
“We find his most guarded corners of the galaxy, we look for large fleet movements, we corner him.”
“We?” I asked.
He grinned. “I need a reason for you all to trust me and want to keep me alive, and you all need the Tier Ones. Looks like both of us win.”
I nodded. “I’ll speak with the team, but it sounds like we have our mission.”
“We’ll be looking forward to it.” He stood, holding out his arms with his shriveled balls only a foot from my face. I held out a hand and took his instead of the hug.
“On Earth, we do it like this,” I said, shaking. “Especially when nude.”
“Oh, how quaint,” he observed as if really quite fascinated.
I gave him and Renowt nods, then went for a towel and my armor. As I finished dressing, a young woman entered and addressed the chieftains in the next bath over, saying, “Reports show incoming.”
“Incoming?” I asked.
“Tarupis, for one,” the chieftain I’d met on my last visit said, standing now and heading my way for a towel. “I understand you had a run-in or two with him?”
“And he’s coming here?”
“He, and the army at his back,” she said. “Wants to strike first, take us out before Ranger arrives, if my intel’s correct. So he’s coming with locals and whatever Nihilists were on-planet when we vanished. He’ll have your head if you’re still around when he gets here.”
“Or I’ll have his,” I countered.
“Right.” She turned and began dressing, still speaking as she did. “We’re bringing in all the supers we can muster, having stone barricades and other defenses formed. Holding nothing back against this crew.”
“How long until they arrive?” I asked the young woman.
“Hours, I’d guess,” she said.
With a nod of thanks, I went off to find my team, to let them know. Twitch was already aware, but was very interested when I told her what Wendlor had said about my dad.
“One step at a time,” she replied, “but that’s definitely high on the list.”
While she went off with Gale to meet with Shimmer and the chieftains to plan the defense, I wante
d room to think. I wasn’t sure if something was left behind of the Nihilist form I’d taken, or if there was some other reason the light was hurting my head, but I wanted darkness. Maybe it was all the stress and excitement, the idea that I might actually have a chance at finding my real dad.
I meandered down to the dark caves below, to the glowing stones where I’d met Shimmer before journeying into the other realm. Although I hadn’t been looking for Charm, I was relieved when I found her down there. She’d been quiet, not knowing what was eating away at me.
She sat on a rock, staring into a pool of water.
“Charm, are you okay?” I asked. “Nothing happened over there, did it?”
“Oh, a lot happened over there. So much, I’m going to have to spend a whole day telling you… but not today.” She glanced over, frowned, and turned back to the water. “But no, nothing like what you mean.”
I sat next to her awkwardly, on the rocks, then put a hand on her shoulder. A moment later, her hand found mine. She groaned and sat up to face me, but stared for a long moment as if debating how to say something.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“I know you’re not mine or whatever,” Charm said, pouting. “And I know I shouldn’t get jealous. It was to save me after all. I just keep looking at her and that perfectly white hair and imagine you fucking her and—”
“Wait, hold on,” I said, interrupting her. “That’s what this is? Using Shimmer’s power to save you?”
“As if I needed saving,” she said with a scoff. Then she looked down and bit her lip. “I know, it’s silly.”
“No, Charm, it’s not.” I took her hands in mine, kneeling in front of her, and pressed my lips to hers. “We never did it.”
“Huh?”
“Fuck. Me and Shimmer, we didn’t do anything like that, just exchanged blood.” I held up my hand, showing her where a scar was forming—though the healing had accelerated, thanks to the bath. “Right there.”
“Oh, I assumed that was from the arena fighting Gale told me about,” Charm said, and then her face lit up and she threw her arms around me. “Now I want you to fuck her!”
“What?” I pulled back, totally confused.
“Knowing that you didn’t but having thought you did, now it’s like you should’ve but didn’t get the opportunity. So let’s make it your mission—no, our mission! We’ll fuck her together.”
“Um, if she’s into it, or us,” I said. “But really, that’s what it was about? Nothing else?”
Ignoring the question, she leaned in, running her tongue across her teeth. “Trust me, she’ll be begging for it by the time we’re done.” Charm grinned, stood, and walked off, her tail brushing against my cheek as she went. I still needed to learn how to get used to that. “I want to hear all about your adventures,” she said, and so I told her as we moved through the tunnels to join the others.
“We have a plan?” I asked when I saw Twitch approaching.
“Yes. You all rest up. I’ll be rallying some troops, adjusting their code to boost what I can. Stamina should be an easy one, but we also need to see about shields and whatnot. You, take your time. I know you missed each other… enjoy it.”
“In case this is our last chance?” Charm scoffed. “We’re going to live forever, didn’t anyone tell you?”
“Now I know,” Twitch replied with a smile, then headed off to where a couple of the chieftains were waiting for her.
Charm grabbed me by my waist, pulled me close, and said, “Now’s our chance.”
“What?”
“For Shimmer!” she said as if that was obvious.
“I’m sure she’s busy, I’m sure she’s—”
“Sitting right over there, clearly in need of some way of releasing her stress?” Charm beamed and motioned over to where, sure enough, Shimmer was squatting against a stone wall, face in her hands.
Charm gave me a wink and then skipped over, leaving me to wonder what the hell she was getting me into. Not necessarily complaining, but quite confused… and aroused.
21
“He told me all about some dark place with glowing stones,” Charm was saying to Shimmer when I caught up with her. “Maybe you could show us?”
Shimmer glanced up at her, then to me, eyes narrowed with confusion, then nodded.
“Goody!” Charm held out a hand to help her stand. “Maybe you can show me, now? I need to clear my mind before a war. Every time.”
“You’ve been in lots of wars?” Shimmer asked.
“Oh, yeah. Plenty of them. The worst of the worst. You ever hear about that big fight to break out the super sexy guy from prison?”
“That’s not exactly accurate,” I said, but she was ignoring me. “This was the guy, and I was one of the main fighters there.”
“I see,” Shimmer said, smiling at me as if we were sharing an inside joke. We started walking down, and Shimmer hesitated. “They might need me.”
“They did say a few hours,” I noted, still not sure which way I leaned in this scenario. But hey, that was only the truth.
“Yeah, twenty to thirty minutes won’t hurt,” Charm said. “It’ll probably help. A lot.”
Shimmer looked confused again but kept on going, and soon we were down below. Charm made a big deal about the beauty of the glowing stones and everything, in spite of having been in here not long ago.
Then she turned to Shimmer and said, “Come on, let me show you how we calm ourselves before fights where I’m from.” She patted the floor beside her as she sat cross-legged, and waited. We both joined.
“First, close your eyes,” Charm said. “Now imagine yourself floating, and concentrate on your breathing.”
I joined in, not knowing where this was going but figuring why the hell not.
“Now,” she continued, “I want you to imagine the sunlight on you, on your bare skin. No clothes, just the sun, you floating, a gentle breeze caressing your skin as the sunlight warms you. The breeze tickles your lower back, moves between your thighs, gently massaging—”
“Charm,” Shimmer said, opening her eyes. I knew, because I had opened mine too in surprise.
“This is really how you relax?” I asked Charm.
She grinned. “Not exactly. This is the part that leads up to the thing.”
“Where do you come from, did you say?”
“Same place as you,” Charm said, nodding to the woman’s crotch.
Shimmer’s face flushed and she stood. “This is… awkward. I’m sorry, I have to—”
“Wait,” Charm stood too, looking lost.
“It’s not for her,” I said. “It’s… me.”
“What’s that?” Shimmer asked.
“Yeah,” Charm went along with it, trying to hide her smile. “Sorry, it’s just, all the pressure of becoming an Elder with the Citadel and all… Breaker here wanted to relax, and I thought if I could get you down here, maybe, oh, I can’t say it.”
“Go on…” Shimmer said, not looking completely insulted, which was a good thing.
“Well,” Charm leaned in, whispering something in her ear. Shimmer’s eyes went wide and she pulled back, but then looked at me, and bit her lip curiously.
Charm leaned in, motioning for Shimmer to come close, and then I overheard her whisper, “He’s got the most amazing, beautiful cock. Tastes like pineapple, when he’s really aroused, it can get like this,” she held her hands out, then adjusted a bit more, “no, more like this big.”
Shimmer laughed, trying not to look at me, I could tell. I was glad—I didn’t want them to see the awkward smile on my face or the extent to which I was blushing.
“Actually, I’ve seen it,” Shimmer said. “And it was much bigger than that.”
“Oh?” Charm asked, confused.
“He made himself look like his penis with my illusion powers,” she explained. “Full size, head to toe. I got the magnified view.”
“WHAT?!” Charm turned to me, eyes glowing with excitement. “You can do that? Do it agai
n, do it again!”
“There’s no way I’m doing that,” I said, but then she started cracking up, pointing at me. I turned to Shimmer. “You didn’t do it to me, did you?”
“Hey, just having some fun,” Shimmer said, holding a hand to cover her eyes.
“Shimmer…
“It’s okay, she got it all wrong anyway,” Charm said, and she came over to me, analyzing what I knew was me but she saw as a huge cock. My cock, to be more accurate. “See, right here his head is more like… well, and… Oh, it’s better if we just show you. Turn him back.”
A moment later Charm nodded, smiling, and said, “See,” as she knelt and pulled out my cock.
Shimmer’s eyes went wide and I froze, totally lost as to what I should do in this situation. Charm was stroking it gently, watching the other woman as it grew, and then her other hand went to my balls.
“It’s really easier to get a good view from up close,” Charm said, her touch sending a chill through me. I closed my eyes, enjoying the moment and trying to ignore the awkwardness of what was actually happening right now.
“Just to… get a better view,” Shimmer said, and I opened my eyes slightly to see her approaching. “You know, for the joke to work better when I use the illusion on him again.”
“Yeah, yeah, of course.” Charm took her hand from my balls and reached out, taking Shimmer’s hand in hers. “Here, try this.” She guided the other woman, placing her hand on my cock and, with a hand on hers, worked it together.
My eyes were wide at this point, wanting to memorize this moment. Shimmer was standing there in front of me, staring at my dick, while she and Charm caressed it together. After a moment, Charm stood and left the other woman’s hand there, then went behind Shimmer and started undoing her clothes.
“What—what’s happening right now,” Shimmer asked.
“That’s just Charm being Charm,” I said, very aware that the woman hadn’t taken her hand away yet. Her fingers played with my tip, a mixture of massaging and getting to know it, studying its curves and moving along it, enjoying the smooth hardness of it.