03 Collections and Complications

. . . The two Farfuck'd in the superhero outfits materialized, and froze as they saw the man. He held the faintly glowing, green rock very close to their faces.

. . . "I have a pistol and a rifle with a gold shell each, if that becomes necessary," he began reasonably, "In the meantime, eat up, it's only milk, but it's quite fresh." He sat back, pulling the rock away from them as he did. They both saw there were more of them on the floor around them. Softly glowing and reducing their powers.

. . . He waited patiently as each of the pair drank the entire pail of milk that had been set before them.

. . . "Your rivalry with Supergirl is well known, and I don't care what the justification is. If she shows up, I'm certain we can all discuss it. The simple fact is, I don't want you two fighting because 'there can only be one'."

. . . "I'm from Earth-1," one medallion told him.

. . . "I'm from Earth-2," two medallions added, "And we have no problem working with each other."

. . . "Good, what happened to your gloves, those look like ordinary surgical gloves that have been painted. And they're green."

. . . The pair looked at each other, and kept silent.

. . . "All right, I have some things you'll need to understand about this world. First, I don't know how, but both of you were exposed to red kryptonite, that's why you are so hungry under a yellow sun. I had one of my allies chelate the isotopes, and that should stop the damage, but you shouldn't expect your powers to be standard for some time."

. . . "We heal very quickly," Earth-1 explained.

. . . "Draksied will pay for sending us here!" Earth-2 shouted and stood to shake her fist, before tottering over.

. . . Somebody didn't do all the research, he didn't say.

. . . "If we give our word we won't harm you or your allies, will you continue to restrain us?" Earth-1 asked and pointed to the rocks.

. . . "I'll have to insist on an oath not to try to escape, until we can return to my ally's complex. Your bodies have somehow adapted to this world. There's a trade off for females with powers, a creeping insanity and loss of sentience. There's a temporary cure, but I think you will both want to avoid that until all other avenues have been exhausted."

. . . "You're being very reasonable about this," Earth-1 said.

. . . Earth-2 concluded, "Despite not giving us our freedom."

. . . "Your freedom to die or go insane in the wilderness, and force me to hunt you down and kill you? That's not freedom," he said.

. . . They nodded. He began collecting the rocks and putting them in a gray metal box.

. . . "If you really are stuck here, I'd like to offer you a place with my group, until you regain your full powers, or the other members of the JL or JSA come to get you."

. . . "How do you know about them?" Earth-2 asked suspiciously, then seemed to remember the green rocks.

. . . "I also am an emigre from another world, one where your exploits are widely known. My point is, you should come with us, until we can determine what your powers are here, and they may not be what you've grown to expect."

. . . "Because of the red kryptonite," Earth-1 said, "We give you our word, we will not try to escape, unless you take advantage, or are lying."

. . . "There may be misunderstandings because of the differing cultures, but I assure you, I will not try to deceive you . . . unless you know I'm trying to deceive you. Some of the races here take fooling people as a sign of power. If we encounter them, I may - elaborate and brag, but I'll warn you first."

. . . "Who are you people? A war band?" Earth-2 asked as she offered her hand.

. . . He took it, the handshake was firm but not overpowering. "We are training to engage a band of people who would enslave all the sentients, and prevent the manumission of those already held as slaves."

. . . "Why would they do that?" Earth-1 asked.

. . . "There are three major races on this planet, the humans and unfortunately we're as good and bad as the specimens you're used to. There are the Sanctuary Goths, don't ask me, they named themselves. They are superhumans, with varying powers. They also have all the typical arrogance of the 'genetically' superior, they also are racist and misandristic."

. . . "Well, there goes our fan club membership," Earth-2 said.

. . . "The third is the balance, the real power, except they can't use that power. They're called Pokègirls, and they are genetically engineered humans too, and are even more powerful than the humans or Sanctuary Goths."

. . . "But they have a submissive mentality," Earth-1 said, "So whoever gets them on their side wins?"

. . . "Yes. Many humans do that by providing the treatment for the disease which afflicts them, and I suspect you've got a touch of it too. Some humans are working on a true cure, to allow these people as much autonomy as they wish, because some want none at all, others a great deal. The Sanctuary Goths want to give them none, despite saying that they are freeing them from human bondage."

. . . "Some of us like human bonds," came a voice from outside. Both of the FarFuck'ds stared at the tent, then at each other.

. . . "As I explained, things are very different from the world you know. I frankly want to stop Sanctuary, to prevent them from 'helping' all of us whether we want that help or not. I'll admit, none of your colleagues would approve of my methods, but the alternatives are open warfare, and you can guess which of the three races would make up the bulk of the soldiers."

. . . "You'd break the very ones you're fighting to control," Earth-1 said with disdain.

. . . "Like I said, it's not like your world, and it's not like mine, but we're stuck here, at least for the moment. If you find a way home, take it. I intend to do the same."

. . . "What's the treatment for the disease?"

. . . "You're going to think I'm making it up," he warned.

. . . "I'd believe anything!"

. . . "Orgasms and human DNA." He shrugs at their gasps. "I told you, you wouldn't believe it."

. . . "That's ridiculous. You might as well use leeches. There has to be a better treatment!" Earth-1 said.

. . . "Oh there is, probably dozens of them, but Sanctuary has killed the people who developed them, and destroys their notes. It seems they don't like the idea of sex being free, they prefer to demand it. I frankly think if someone wants to give something away as a gift, you're a dangerous maniac to rob that person."

. . . "Beat up Santa to steal the coal," Earth-1 said, and laughed grimly.

. . . Earth -2 frowned. "So these - Pokègirls - "

. . . "We love sex with humans!" came the chorus from outside. "We love sex with each other," was added by another voice.

. . . The two Farfuck'd looked pointedly at him, he shrugged again.

. . . "They use it to cement their hierarchy. Who is sexually dominant, who gets more from whom, that kind of thing."

. . . "Rape is love?" Earth-2 growled, "And you want to save this world?"

. . . "Better rape than crawling around like a real animal. It's not perfect, but just because it's bad, doesn't mean it can't get worse."

. . . "Can we talk alone?" Earth-1 asked. The man nodded, collected the last of the green rocks into the box full of them, and left the tent.

---

. . . "Do they believe you?" Isaik asked quietly as she canceled the illusion on the box of rocks.

. . . "If Warden put enough hypnotic in their milk, they would believe I'm the ArchDuke Ferdinand reborn."

. . . "Why are you doing this?" Isaik asked.

. . . "Because there's just a chance they've convinced themselves they are that powerful, and we could use even a couple of 1/1000th strength Kryptonians."

. . . "I'm worried that my Master is going to get crushed or ground to bits by those two," Isaik said, "If they are that powerful."

. . . "That's why we'll find out just what their powers are."

. . . The pair came out of the tent blinking at the bright sunshine. They looked nervously at Kitten and Warden, but seemed to take the rest at ease.

. . . "We've decided to join your group," Earth-2 said.

. . . "Good, you'll need secret identities, different from each other. Nobody around here knows who you are, and I'd frankly like to keep it that way."

. . . "I'm Kara - "

. . . "Different," he reminded them, "And taking your real name, and leaving your friend with just an alias? Not fair."

. . . The pair frowned at him and stepped away. They quietly argued, while Maus lounged, her ears rotating to pick it all up.

. . . They returned. "Aurora," Earth-1 told him.

. . . "Roxanne," Earth-2 said.

. . . "Dawn and dawn," he replied, "Cute." He ignored their stunned expressions. "Let me introduce you to my group. Due to the treatment, the collective noun is Harem, and frankly, the Pokègirls insist on it. One of the few things they are adamant about, go figure."

---

. . . They marched in a loose formation, Maus at the point, Warden as rearguard. Aurora was taking instruction from Isaik, while Roxanne talked with Warden. Occasionally the twig Aurora held would emit a wisp of smoke. Neither had proven as strong as Maus or Warden, but they were close. Neither could match a speeding bullet and locomotives were out of the question. Tall buildings could easily get a panty flash, although sustained flight was beyond them.

. . . "You don't have to couple with him like an animal. What's so funny?" Roxanne asked.

. . . "You'll understand what, when you start being affect. When you have to convince him to 'couple like an animal'. He's quite shy, and while it's endearing, it's also wearing when you feel your mind slipping away. I don't think he understands just how enjoyable it is for us."

. . . "Wouldn't you rather be in charge of your life?"

. . . "Heavens! No! Speaking of that, weren't you supposed to be trying your heat vision on that stick. I saw Aurora get a wisp of smoke from hers."

. . . "I'd rather use the X-ray vision and the flight. Fly home."

. . . "Now you sound like him, and he - trouble!" Warden halted and started looking around as her Master was.

. . . The road had led into a clearing, and her Master was looking around as if he'd sensed something.

. . . "There!" Isaik shouted as she pointed, the entire group scattered off the trail.

. . . "Crap," Warden said as the two Pokègirls stepped out on the road behind them. She whispered to Roxanne, "Sanctuary Goth, follow our Master's lead, he is the expert."

. . . The group who'd caused the halt revealed themselves. A woman in a leotard, shorts and hiking boots. She had a lone Pokègirl with her.

. . . "She seems to think that one girl is a match for all of us," Roxanne whispered.

. . . "You aren't at full strength, so they might be," Warden warned, "The forward group is like this one?"

. . . "Different clothes, different tattoos, but same tall, gray Pokègirl, and same arrogant certainty," Roxanne said.

. . . "Did you really think that your trick couldn't be over come?" the forward S-Goth shouted. The one in the rear grinned and drew a finger across her throat.

. . . That gray one, who is she staring at? she wondered.

. . . "Your scent could still be found, once you ventured out of your little hole," the front S-Goth crowed, "We cut your trail, and were tracking you back, but here you are instead."

. . . "Keep an eye on them," Warden said, and looked to where the rear S-Goth's slave was staring.

. . . Crap, she's looking right at Kitten. She may be tough for a human, but against one of those, I wouldn't bet on her, Warden thought, then looked back and cringed as the girl began drooling and fidgeting.

. . . She looked back, and the forward Goth had uncovered a shallow hollow containing three figures. "Oh this just gets better," Warden murmured as she realized who their captives were.

. . . "Oh crap," their Master said.

. . . "Who, the captives or the captors?" Isaik asked.

. . . "You have history with those three?" Roxanne asked as she readied herself for the gray, leathery Pokègirl's charge.

. . . "You could say that," Warden admitted, "If those are hostages, these Goths are in for a surprise." She saw Roxanne's inquisitive look. "They tried to kill Maus and me, because we were dangerous monsters."

. . . "Actually Miss Croft, I was wondering who bit off your hair," their Master said.

. . . "Don't try to make sense of it," Warden warned, "He makes mental leaps."

. . . "If you're going to release them to me, I'd rather have your Tyrannodames eat me," he added.

. . . "You will surrender - or -"

. . . "Don't make my decision contingent on their survival," their Master interrupted, "It will skew the results terribly."

. . . "He's crazy," Roxanne said, "That's what's happening."

. . . Warden decided not to comment. Tyrannodames? What's that one so nervous about? She looks ready to piss herself. Is she that eager to kill Kitten? She looks - I don't know, frightened I guess, Warden thought, and looked at the front Tyrannodame, who seemed just as skittish, I didn't think those things were so nervous. That one looks either eager or terrified.

. . . The Goth's servant transformed from a tall woman, to a monster dozens of yards long. From the growls in front, Warden thought the other had too.

. . . "No!" Warden shouted as she tried to stop the charge. The monster brushed her and Roxanne aside and closed on Kitten. The creature engulfed the woman and raced off into the woods.

. . . As the group advanced, the other monster stepped into their path.

. . . "Crap," their Master said as they tried to outflank the monster to pursue Kitten's captor. As big as it was, it was also agile, and managed to block the two teams advance.

. . . "You stupid lump!" the front Goth shouted, "Kill them!"

. . . The monster growled, a weak sound for such a huge creature. Maus leapt straight up and raced after the other, the monster didn't bother to track the HeavenKat. Its eyes were fixed on their Master.

. . . "Kill - him!" the Goth screamed and touched her temples and concentrated.

. . . Isaik blocked whatever she did, Warden thought as she and Roxanne moved away from her Master, We could fly, but that would take most of the heavy-hitters from Master.

. . . The monster writhed for a moment, then growled at her mistress. She took one step toward their Master and let out a gargle that was more whimper than roar. Another shock and the creature practically got nose to nose with their Master, opened her mouth and roared with all her force.

. . . The Goths shrieked in delight at the impending carnage.

. . . "RAAHARAHAHGARA!" their Master waved his arms wildly and roared back, a deep bass note.

. . . The monster reared up. Isaik tackled him to the ground and threw herself atop. Aurora stepped in front in a combat stance. Warden watched as the Monster's head went back for the stroke, and kept going back as it toppled over backward onto the stunned S-Goth. The meaty crack as it fell sickened the Bust Angel. Then she saw the massive streams of urine running down the flanks of the monster.

. . . "It's, pissing itself?" Roxanne asked, and looked around at the stunned Goth, "Behind us!" she shouted.

. . . Isaik gestured at the other Goth, who vanished.

. . . "She's taken care of," Isaik shouted, "We have to go after Kitten!"

. . . He pushed Isaik off. "Agreed. Warden, catch that S-Goth. Then get this one subdued. Tell her I'll hurt her again if she doesn't surrender." He got up to head after Kitten.

. . . "The one who got away, is 400 yards that way," Isaik shouted and pointed down the trail, "And she isn't going anywhere." She ran after her Master.

. . . "What just happened here?" Roxanne asked, "Are you all crazy?"

. . . "Funny you should ask," Warden said as she walked over to the three captives, "Eriko, Erika, and - I don't know your name, but considering how our Master feels about you three, I doubt you'll live long enough to need one," she told the three bound and gagged Pokègirls.

---

. . . Underground ran to keep up with her Master. The trail was clearly marked, the monster hadn't bothered detouring around anything less than a foot-thick tree. "Why is it dropping Kitten's clothes?" Underground snatched up a sopping wet sock as she ran. "This is disgusting, but there's no blood on it."

. . . "How do you know that other S-Goth isn't escaping?" her Master asked as he ran.

. . . "I scrambled the exit vectors. One of Hild's nastier spells, and since it affects the space around the teleporter, and not the caster herself, there is no defense."

. . . "So they come back a bit scrambled." Her Master handed her a bra he'd plucked off a branch. "Nasty, and I don't know what's going on. It should feel like comedy, but somehow it doesn't. That one seemed so frightened, I just took a chance. I'm glad it paid off."

. . . "You're crazier than our two Farfuck'd! Combined! What kind of stupid chance were you taking. It could have fallen on you, or drown you!" Her diatribe was interrupted. "I hear Kitten screaming."

. . . "Yeah, I heard it a little while ago, before the roar. It takes a delicate touch to make someone scream like that for that long. A monster like that shouldn't be able to manage it."

. . . "A connoisseur of - oh, they tortured you, so you do know. My mistake."

. . . Despite his silence, she could practically hear his frown. "How did you scare something like that?" she asked, "Me throwing fireballs maybe, but you?"

. . . "Their Masters probably filled their heads with all kinds of crazy tales about me: how cruel and monstrous I am. It's a good way to dehumanize the enemy, but I don't think those morons knew when to stop." He slowed down, and waved for Underworld to do the same.

. . . "How does it feel?" she asked quietly as they crept ahead. Kitten's hysterical screeching continued almost without varying.

. . . "It still feels . . . strange, but at least I understand, this could go from comedy to tragedy very quickly." Maus had landed in a tree and was just watching the huge beast. Kittens shrieks were still clear and strong. He signaled her to stay put. "How long could you keep someone screaming like that, without magical intervention?"

. . . I really don't want to answer that question, she thought.

. . . "Not this long."

. . . "I could, but I don't think she could." Her Master's clinical tone chilled Underworld.

. . . "I can also only hear out of one side, I think I'm going to need some repairs," he said distractedly, as if chasing an idea that hadn't left a trail as clear as the Tyrannodame's, "Not as long or as enthusiastic as that, certainly not."

. . . The Infernal felt the hair on the back of her neck rise, while a darker part wanted to throw him down and Tame him until he screamed like Kitten was. Then the Eidolon understood. "Master!"

. . . "Yeah, Tyrannodames are bisexual, and you saw her Master. I've caught all of you staring at Kitten, and aside from her brusqueness, the doc did a great job, she's very watchable. If you were interested in girls, who would you choose?"

. . . "Kitten's also nice and -" The pieces started falling in to place. "You don't mean -? You do mean! That - that - that's some thing Macavity would -!" Underworld fell over laughing.

. . . "Or Adonai. Welcome to my world. And you can say goodbye to your dignity while doing it."

. . . Underworld's laughter had penetrated the monster's consciousness. She looked straight at him, with a terrified expression and urine running down her thighs.

. . . "And people wonder why I'm a cynical misanthrope," he said, and could make out a muffled shouting, growing more insistent as the monster stood transfixed.

. . . Finally the Tyrannodame opened her mouth. "I'm fine, leave my clothes and go away," Kitten told him, "Please."

. . . "You realize you're telling me that while you're inside her mouth, possibly with her tongue wrapped around your leg to drag you down her gullet, rather than what she's been using her tongue for," he said as he walked closer with the clothes.

. . . "Don't come any closer, you're scaring her!"

. . . "Kitten, look at the situation from the outside. I'm who I am, not who she believes me to by, and a Tyrannosaur-sized Pokègirl has you in her mouth, and she is afraid of me. In what rational universe does that happen?"

. . . "Wait there," Kitten told him, and turned to speak with the creature, who seemed to think whatever she was saying was dubious.

. . . "Janus -"

. . . "NO! Kitten. You tell her to put you down so we can speak privately, or I'll break her tail like I did her partner," he shouted.

. . . The monster tried to growl at him, but it came out as a whimper with delusions of grandeurs.

. . . "You're scaring her!"

. . . "KITTEN! I'll put both of you over my knee if you don't come down this instant!" he used the 'parade-ground' voice, not yelling but loud enough to be heard a long ways away.

. . . The creature growl-whimpered again. Kitten stroked her muzzle, and she put her down. Kitten stalked over, naked as the day she was born, except for a covering of Pokèslobber. She slapped him as hard as she could.

. . . "How dare you! She's just -"

. . . "See that I am not the monster she thinks I am. And I have no idea what modifications they could have done to her." He handed her her clothes. "Right now I can see she's torn between charging to your rescue, and running off to hide, and without looking, you know it too."

. . . Kitten blinked, and her face screwed up in confusions. She put on her sopping wet clothes while she thought. "I don't even think she understands the words I was using, but she understands." Kitten got it, and started laughing. "The only girl who could make me feel like a little toy," she said as she laughed. She sobered up a bit, her smile quirking as she struggled to keep from laughing. "I'm sorry I slapped you, but her fear of you is . . . almost painful, to me and to her."

. . . "Okay." He held up his hands. "If she doesn't speak our language, we'll need her help and yours for the other one. Tell her that you can keep me under control, unless somebody hurts the people I care about. Then no one can stop me."

. . . "They know the second," Kitten said, "Did you really have to break her tail. They're both very proud of their tails."

. . . "I'll have Underworld and our Celestials fix it. And it was that or kill her, would that have been better?"

. . . "No, she cares about her, and fears her Master only a bit less than she fears you," Kitten said, "So be gentle with her, when we come back."

. . . He looked at the nervous T-Rachel-sized girl, back at Kitten, then back to the dino-girl. "I just have images of that poor sentence dying a horrible death for lack of rational context. Should we leave you a tent? I'm already going to leave a set of clothes. I'm afraid your pack is slightly damp. And I'm not even going to ask how she undid your bra straps with her tongue. Or what else she can do with it."

. . . Kitten blushed at that. "Yes, we'll be along. Try not to scare them."

. . . "That's why she needs to be there, and so do you. I've got some people I need to be very scary too, and you need to explain the different between people on the outside who hurt us, and people on the inside who care for us."

. . . "I will. Oh, her name's, some flower that maybe you can identify."

. . . "Just call her 'Blossom' for now. She doesn't speak English or the Sunshine League's patios?"

. . . "No."

. . . "That's going to make things very interesting," he said as he turned away, signaled Maus to follow, and collected the desperately giggling Underworld. "Can you at least become Isaik? I ain't as young and spry as I use'ta was."

---

. . . He and the other two walked into camp. The Tyrannodame whimpered and tried to crawl away. Roxanne and Aurora held the giant lizard in place. "It's okay, you aren't the one I have to deal with. Where's the other S-Goth?"

. . . "We balled her," Warden said, "I'm surprised she's alive, having that much dropped on her." The Bust Angel looked at Underground. "What did you do to the other one? We dragged the dino over to see her, and she was -" Warden turned vaguely green.

. . . "Essentially ran her through a meat grinder, and glued all the pieces back." He approached the trio in the hollow, still staked down and gagged. "Scan them for bombs or anything else."

. . . Underworld stepped forward, chanting and gesturing as she did.

. . . Feel nothing, what they tried to do, they didn't actually do. And they are cops, so they are automatically trouble. For whom, remains to be seen. Warden and Maus stood on either side of him.

. . . "Kitten and Blossom Recognized," he told the pair standing guard over him, "And they don't speak the language, so we'll need Kitten to interpret. Did either of them have any Pokèballs?"

. . . "The crushed one had three Dameosaurs, a Nessidame, Pterodame, a Mazouku, a Banshee, and - and a Vampire," Warden said, "We haven't gone through her pack yet. Probably booby-trapped. The other . . . I'm guessing the balls are as scrambled as the rest of her, and I don't feel like cutting her up to dig them out."

. . . "Vampire," he said with hatred, "Just what we need, an aristocrat. I'd almost prefer the Mazouku, but they're going to law enforcement, so it - is - not - my - worry. Underworld, if you're done there, cut up that body and recover the Pokèballs, then we can decide what to do with them."

. . . "Gross," Underworld said as she headed off. Roxanne fell in behind her. The Tyrannodame whimpered once, then scurried after the pair. The makeshift repairs to her broken tail were evident.

. . . "That's just disturbing," he said as he approached the trio. He ungagged the Nurse Joy.

. . . "I'm glad to see you, and very glad to see you two Pokègirls are alive and well. How did that happen?"

. . . He stared at her, not moving, not speaking. Just waiting. The others made muffled noises, but strained at their bonds to no use. Kay sat motionless and silent until the others got the hint.

. . . "We were sent to find you, by Granny, and to 'restore the situation'," Kay said, ignoring Eko's frantic noises. The Heroine had the good sense to remain silent and motionless.

. . . Warden handed him the slightly squashed Pokèdex. "Who is Lawrene Kali?" he asked.

. . . " 'Law' Kali is a saboteur and agent provocateur. She's too unsubtle to be an assassin, so she was probably sent to rough you up, before the actual capture team took you to Sanctuary. Her partner is Galla Juda, and is if anything, less civilized, more stupid and more violent than her lover." She'd kept her tone informative, and her answers concise. Now she awaited the next question.

. . . "Why shouldn't I just put you three down? I could be the only one immune to the mind control and illusions spell the S-Goths put on you."

. . . Rather than protest it's nonexistence she answered, "You shouldn't because we are helpless," she steeled herself before adding, "A Level 5 would erase all doubts. Our minds are stored back at Nuevo Tenochtitlàn, so after this is over, they could be overlaid." She ignored the noises and struggles of her sister. "We were wrong, I apologize." She bowed her head. "Whatever punishment you decide, is acceptable."

. . . "I don't see that I have to do anything. I could leave you here, exactly as the Goths did, and send word to your superiors. Of course with a bloodied corpse a few hundred yards away, it might make the wait more interesting. I also could search the Goths' baggage for spare Pokèballs. They are far less appetizing than flesh and blood."

. . . "I -" She looked at her sister, glaring her into submission. "We will accept any punishment you deem fit."

. . . He knelt down to face the Nurse Joy. "I just had a girl beg me to Level 5 her, because she couldn't live with what she'd become. I don't ever want to make that decision, ever again. I have all the firepower I need, in my Harem. I have people I can trust, in my Harem. I have contacts to the League through a safe buffer. I can sleep at night, without having to wonder what plots are being hatched against me, or my allies. You and your sister would erase that certainty, and bring absolutely nothing to the table to replace it. I already have nightmares, slitting a couple of throats would hardly add to them. So I don't care about the detriment, what benefits would you bring that I don't already have?"

. . . Kay bowed her head again. "None." When Eko began trying to argue Kay ferociously snapped, "Shut up!" The Officer Jenny shied away from her sister. Kay looked at him and in a firm voice said, "There is nothing you do not already have. We could offer our bodies, but you have better. We could offer our skills, but anything you could not do yourself, eventually, you count as a minus. We could offer our loyalty, but you are convinced that it is compromised, and unless you give us your trust, we cannot earn it. Whatever you decide, please do the same to me and my sister. I would not care to live away from, or without her. Adrian, she is mine, but she has never hurt you. Take her, in any case. For sale, for companionship, for whatever you need."

. . . The Heroine made a sympathetic sound, tried to plead with her eyes, then bowed her head.

. . . "Let the Heroine go," he told Maus, "At the first sign of treachery, kill all three of them." He stood up. "Do you have a razor in your kit?"

. . . "I won't slit my sister's throat, no matter what you say," Kay told him.

. . . "In France, after the war, women who'd taken Nazi lovers suffered a number of fates. A firing squad was one, the Maquis were communists, and there's little a Stalinist hates more than a National Socialist. What the people with no political affiliation and with the Allied armies looking over their shoulder did, was shave them bald." He removed the gag from the Officer Jenny.

. . . "Don't you have a razor of your own? Or am I too unclean for you to use it on me? Hey! That's my hat!"

. . . "I know." He carried the Stetson over to the small fire his girls had going, and dropped it in.

. . . "Hey that's my hat! It was a present from a friend! What are you doing?!"

. . . He tuned out the rest, watching the felt straighten and curl, so it writhed like a living thing. It was easy to imagine the Jenny's spirit doing the same. Then it blackened as other bits burst into flame. The Heroine and the two G-Splices stayed with the prisoners. Aurora stepped up, and stood across the small fire, watching him, as the smell of burning felt and feathers filled the air. Sometime during the fire, Underworld returned with Roxanne, they joined the group near the prisoners, and whispered nervously among themselves. As the last bit of the Stetson burned to char, he let the distractions around him filter in.

. . . Now it's time. They wanted to push, I tried to play the game, he thought, I've always kept that part chained down. Now I'm going to put it in a leash and let it out.

. . . More than the hat had burned away in the small fire. He returned to the prisoners. "You wanted my mercy, here it is. What you will do, is strip your sister naked, and shave her bald. Completely. Head, forearms, calves, armpits, everywhere. You can leave the hair in her nose and her ears, but all the rest goes. You will do that. None of the rest of us will hold her down, none of us will see to her wounds. When you are done, you will strip yourself naked, including your hat, and you will give all those clothes to me. I will decide what you are allowed to wear. And a word of argument from either of you on that subject means you will both walk around naked for a month. The alternative is I take an axe and break your necks, and leave you for the Ferals to eat. The choice is entirely up to you, you have five minutes." He walked away, ignoring the chatter among the girls, and the sobs of the prisoners.

. . . Five minutes later, Maus and Warden escorted the two naked Pokègirls to him. They solemnly handed over the piles of clothing to him. The Nurse Joy's hat was at the top of the pile. He pulled out the two badge/ID wallets with the neck straps from the pile and handed them back without comment.

. . . "Can I use hot water, Master, or should I shave her cold?" Kay asked formally.

. . . "Whatever works best," he replied coldly. He noted the girls remained with the prisoners, none of them wanting to get close to him. Kitten and Blossom walked back into camp, their happy expressions vanished as they sensed the tone of the camp.

. . . "What happened?" Kitten asked.

. . . "Those were the two who tried to kill Warden and Maus, and would have tried to kill Isaik, if they could have found her."

. . . "What are they doing?" Kitten asked.

. . . "I'm punishing them," he said, "Have Blossom go watch, let her understand what I'll do to those who hurt my friends. And since she is now your friend, and you are mine, she is protected."

. . . Kitten looked worriedly from him, to her frightened partner, but sent the human-form Tyrannodame to watch.

. . . "I'm sorry we frightened you but it was so . . . "

. . . He smiled. "I'm very happy for you. I hope you have a long and happy life together. You deserve it."

. . . "And you don't?"

. . . "I have simply accepted what has happened. I begin to understand how easy Chamberlain's moral cowardice is, and what a great man Churchill was. To know you hold your destiny in your own hand, when everyone else fears what they can do. It's time to remind some people why we became authors. It was to exorcize and exercise the demons within, to let our feelings about the real world have form and be free, before they destroyed us. To indulge in love of beauty without fear of ridicule, and to allow the darkness to raven where it will, without fear of punishment."

. . . "You're frightening me," Kitten teased uneasily.

. . . "Good, I'm frightening me. And I am me."

. . . The assembly walked from the fire, towards the two humans. Kay was practically dragging the crying Officer Jenny. Only a few bandages adorned Eko, and she had covered her genitals with both hands. Kay couldn't be bothered.

. . . "Do you need to inspect the work?" Kay asked formally.

. . . "Maus?"

. . . "Dn," the girl growled, glancing nervously at her Master.

. . . "Good enough." He removed the hat from the pile, and the panties, handing them all to Kay. "Now, you both probably need a good cry, take anyone you need."

. . . Kay stepped clear of her sister. "Master, I request that you Tame me. However you wish. You are my Master, I need to know that."

. . . "Then live in doubt for one night. You have not yet earned that right," he told her and walked towards one of the packs to get out one of the smaller tents.

---

. . . Breakfast had been a morose affair. The start of the day's march held no joy for anyone. Adrian, the Heroine, had stripped down to just her panties until he'd made her put on a shirt because she had to carry the three packs, and chafing was a problem.

. . . "Janus?" Kitten approached with the too skittish Tyrannodames. "This is Blossom."

. . . "Blossom," the Pokègirl said, still ready to jump and run if he said 'boo'.

. . . "And this is Rainbow," Kitten introduced the other.

. . . "Rainbow," the Tyrannodame said, then bowed her head, "Janus." She added something he couldn't understand.

. . . "That's their world for 'Master'," Kitten explained, "It seems Rainbow, she would like to be with a man, and now that she's under your protection, you smell more interesting, rather than frightening."

. . . "You explained I'm not a very good Tamer?"

. . . "After last night, I doubt I could convince them. If someone tried to kill an S-Goth's pet, a little humiliation would be mercy beyond imagining." Kitten smiled. "They explained it to me. You make a thorough example out of the screw up, and everybody gets the message. It is harsh, but she tells me it works, and it's better than having to keep punishing an entire platoon until they get it."

. . . "You don't approve?"

. . . "No, I don't. It was cruel, but if someone tried to hurt Blossom. I wouldn't stop where you did."

. . . "I'm too cruel and too lenient," he said and smiled, "I can live with that."

. . . "I also understand when Warden and Maus first went to see that S-Goth, they had to put her out of her misery. As scrambled as she was, she was still alive. That's something maybe Miguelito would want to know about, but I'm glad I'm ignorant. They cried all night. Those three, and some of the others. Warden and Maus forgave them, I think. Isaik did, Underworld says she's going to wait. I don't know about Roxanne and Aurora. I think they're frightened of you."

. . . "More than Blossom and Rainbow?"

. . . "Considering that Tyrannodames are bred and trained to be fearless, probably not. Did you really eat the brains out of all those psychics, while strapped in a chair?"

. . . "Sort of," he admitted, "I did warn them. That was the image you all saw. You know the answer."

. . . "Oh, yes that's right." Kitten turned to Blossom. "He told them he would hurt them. He begged and pleaded, even after they were hurting him. Because he couldn't stop. You understand?"

. . . Blossom nodded, and translated for Rainbow. The other Tyrannodame looked at him as if he were crazy. She said something to Blossom. Blossom parroted it to Kitten.

. . . "Why, why would you warn, someone who you knew was bent on, no, insistent on hurting you? I'm afraid I get feelings and impressions, not actual words. I know what she means, and she knows what I mean, but for others, it doesn't quite work."

. . . "Understood. I did it because I can be very good at hurting people, and I try very hard not to. Sometimes people let me succeed."

. . . The message went the route back to Rainbow.

. . . "Shit!" he cursed as they approached a severe uprise in the path, "Speaking of people who won't let me succeed."

. . . "You thought you had defeated me, and tricked my foolish girl to try to drag me away from a Tamer's life! I've punished her, and I shall punish you!"

. . . "Yes, you can eat him. Quietly," he said as he moved up to the front of the convoy. Most of the girls were looking askance at the roadblock, but Isaik wanted to kill him. Especially when the listless GunValkyrie shambled into view.

. . . "That rotten bastard," Isaik said.

. . . "Speak the devil's name," he told her.

. . . This is my fault, he thought, If I'd been paying attention to the rules of this world, this wouldn't have happened.

. . . "What do you want?" he shouted at the other Tamer, "I already beat you once."

. . . "No Orange League rules!" the boy shrieked, "I shall defeat you, and take your entire Harem!" The maniacal laugh seemed forced.

. . . He responded with one of his own, higher pitched, more insane and more hysterical. The boy looked nonplused. He glanced back and saw that every Pokègirl was hiding behind Kitten, who was as white as a sheet.

. . . "Break up the comedy act!" he told them, then faced the boy, "Salvage battles are not mandatory, and making them mandatory makes them illegal."

. . . "We are out in the wilderness! Where is the law here?!"

. . . "Kay, Eko, stay where you are!" he shouted over his shoulder. "All right. But I -"

. . . "No Orange League rules! You can't fool me twice!"

. . . "I was going to suggest a sex battle, one-on-one, one fall," he replied.

. . . I can hear Maus purr from here, he thought, Not that she'd listen to orders yelled in the middle of a battle. So that skill is neutralized.

. . . "Ha! Accepted! You thought you'd trick me! But I know who you are!"

. . . Crap!

. . . "I shall enjoy taking your entire Harem, Simon Carver!"

. . . I'm dealing with a moron, he thought.

. . . "I look forward to returning your chibi Chimera to the pits, and living off her purses. Your Tanuki and Arachnae shall sate my lusts, while I revel in the darkness of your Fallen Angel and -"

. . . "Simon Carver was executed by the League. The execution was broadcast worldwide."

. . . "Ha! Any wizard cunning and ruthless enough to summon a Widow to destroy an army, and dismiss her, would be too cunning and ruthless to fall victim to ordinary punishments!"

. . . "And would allow you to live through pestering him, as part of his grand plan to reduce humanity to a pack of drooling morons!" he yelled at the boy, "Visit the fridge and use your brain for a second."

. . . "Ha, you fear my superior training and vast experience. This battle is a foregone conclusion."

. . . "Okay, okay," he shouted back, then muttered, "Anything to shut you up."

. . . "You agree to my terms?" he added to the boy.

. . . "No substitutions!" the boy added.

. . . "Agreed," he said.

. . . Maus kissed him on the cheek. "Bauzz, naw worrries."

. . . "I have faith in you. I won't distract you, do what you do best." He let her go, and signaled Isaik to get everyone ready for the inevitable treachery.

. . . "Sabrina! I screw you!" the boy shouted as he released her, "Wait! You aren't Sabrina!"

. . . "No substitutions!" Kitten reminded him.

. . . The boy was apoplectic.

. . . "We are here to assimilate - your cheese?" he said of the girl.

. . . Mech-type, and a Titmouse, Warmech or Battle? he wondered.

. . . The armored mouse looked around nervously, and nearly ran when she saw Maus licking her lips. Then the girl's gaze fell on the GunValkyrie, and her heart went out of her. She looked back at Maus and seemed to prepare herself for death.

. . . "I'll be merciful. I'll personally take on this girl, and you send Sabrina against Maus," he told the boy. The HeavenKat nodded eagerly.

. . . It's no fun defeating someone who isn't in the fight, he realized, With my luck it will be a Succubus.

. . . Sabrina materialized out of her Pokèball. Sabrina tugged on her skirt and looked around.

. . . "That's, a guy," Kitten said as they looked at the rather scrawny specimen, who's eagerness to fight vanished when she saw Maus, and the slack-jawed GunValkyrie. Sabrina seemed to pull into himself and started looking for a way to escape. He yelped and clutched his neck.

. . . "Fight or you'll be punished!" Sabrina's Tamer shouted.

. . . Kitten tossed something to Maus, and the catgirl charged Sabrina.

. . . Janus started towards the Titmouse at a slow walk. When she focused on that her opponent was him and not Maus, she turned and ran. She stumbled and fell, screaming in pain and clawing at her neck.

. . . "That goes for you too!" the Tamer screamed.

. . . Really encourages their libido, he thought.

. . . "Hey! Tackle isn't a fair move!" the Tamer shouted.

. . . "Why?" Isaik shouted, "We tackle our Master all the time. Haven't your girls wanted you so bad they wouldn't take 'no' for an answer?"

. . . "No, because I have discipline."

. . . "My condolences, our Master has a cock instead," Warden added sympathetically.

. . . The boy looked like a beached fish having a stroke.

. . . He tackled the Titmouse before she could get up and run again. She squealed in terror, and displayed all her weapons.

. . . "You can't use those in a sex battle," he chided her gently, while stoking her tail. He slipped a hand behind her neck and pulled her upright. The bright, frightened eyes watched him as he leaned over her. He breathed on her ear, sending them both flicking. "Resistance is futile," he whispered, emphasizing the aspirations, ticking her sensitive ears further.

. . . The Titmouse combed the fur around her ears back into place, leaving her open to let him sit in her lap, trapping her. With both hands stroking her tail, he gently licked the mousegirl's ears, and tugged gently with his teeth. She panted sharply, squeaking softly as her hands clutched as his chest and stomach.

. . . "Your biological and technological distinctiveness will adapt to service - us," he told her softly, and her squeaking increased.

. . . She's laughing, he realized, Yeah it does sound like some really stupid porno from a scifi geek.

. . . Her tail had wrapped around his wrist, forcing him to stroke her tail with his other hand. So he used that hand to rub her behind the ears. The only counterattack she offered was rubbing her cheeks on his throat, rubbing her hands on his chest, and tickling him with her whiskers. He nibbled her ears and tickled them with his breath.

. . . Maus had the 'boy's' skirt up and shorts down, and had engulfed the boy's erect cock. She was purring up a storm while her head bobbed up and down. She's trapped the boy's hands beneath him, and held them there with her tail, leaving her hands free to rub at the boy's crotch. The HeavenKat's wings stroked his side and face.

. . . The boy cried out and Maus quit bobbing, trying to drink down all he could spurt. Then started again. He turned the mousegirl slightly and let her up, so she could watch, while he worked on her. The mousegirl sat on his leg and rapidly rubbed herself on him while he worked her tail and ears.

. . . I'll change the clothes later, he thought as he felt her wetness penetrate his pants, Maus knows the effect of one Pokègirl getting good sex has on another. Her rapid cheeping as she rubbed harder and faster ended. She settled against him, her heart pounding and her breathing coming in fast pants.

. . . "It was all or nothing," he told her, "You're mine now. You can stay with us, or tell me where you want to go. All of you."

. . . She leaned back and stared at him with a terribly hurt expression.

. . . "You can also stay, but it has to be your choices," he reminded her. She snuggled against him, emitting little cheeps of happiness.

. . . The Tamer was not so happy. "You, you can't leave me out here! Not with nothing!"

. . . "There's a town three miles that way," Kitten told him, "If you run, and keep running, you can be there by nightfall." She threw him one of the balls they'd gotten from the misteleported S-Goth. She took his belt of balls in return.

. . . He scanned it. "What am I going to do with a PsiDyke?!" he shouted at her.

. . . "Buy her a dildo and learn to enjoy taking it up the ass," Isaik shouted at him, "Or I'll find you a lily pad and you can enjoy eating flies!"

. . . The Tamer took the hint and ran for it. His screams receded into the distance.

. . . "That was mean," Warden said.

. . . "When you've seen what happens to a girl who gets Level 4'd, you won't think so," Isaik said, "Washu showed us. Someone who misbehaved. It's like being Feral and paralyzed, at the same time and you're aware of it and remember it," Isaik shot back, "Underground wanted to kill him, and I wouldn't have blamed her."

. . . "I would," he replied as he escorted the Titmouse-mech to the groups. Then he looked at Maus. "Does she know that she doesn't have to render her opponent unconscious to win?"

. . . "Ask either of them if they care," Adrian said, "May I speak to you? Sir."

. . . "In a moment. Nurse Erika, see to the GunValkyrie." She had winced by his use of her title. "I can already guess multiple Level 4's, but I don't want any surprises."

. . . "Yes, sir," Kay said as she headed to the girl.

. . . "They might be more helpful if you allowed them their shirts," Adrian said.

. . . "Thank you. The subject is closed until we are in sight of Doctor Carmen's compound. You have that long to come up with a better reason. They have nothing I need, and if they decide to leave, I can't stop them. If they stay here, they are under my rules. Is that understood?"

. . . "They can have proximity, or dignity, understood clearly, sir," Adrian said angrily.

. . . "Sir, they've been chipped," Eko said of the Titmouse, "It's probably one the acts as a mix of ident chip and pain collar."

. . . "Isaik!"

. . . "Of course I'm blocking transmissions!" she replied, and rolled her eyes, "If you wanted a working radio, you would have brought one."

. . . "We'll get those out when we get back to Doctor Carmen's."

. . . "Let us see what we shall see," Kitten said as she held up the departed boy's belt, "I'm surprised the transport didn't mess up the PsiDyke, I thought I was giving him essentially an empty ball, that wouldn't work."

. . . "Another puzzle for the good doctor. I wonder if he'll be pleased to see us," he said, adjusted the 'dex and scanned, then adjusted again.

. . . "Strictly speaking, 'all-harem' battles are illegal," Eko said.

. . . "If you don't see forfeiture of his Harem pursuant to the 'Gross Malfeasance and Mistreatment' section of the League's codes, then I did. If you wish to contest the legality of my seizure, I'll be happy to let a magistrate decide the issue," he said distractedly as he fiddled with the 'dex. "These aren't standard, they aren't reading out properly."

. . . "If you felt that way, you should have arrested him. Citizens are permitted to arrest, in most of the Leagues that made up the American Empire," Eko told him.

. . . He didn't even bother looking at her. "Or you could have. I'd have given back your clothes and headed in the other direction. I have already had a taste of your view of things. I have to wonder, if the S-Goths' actions were legal, how vociferous would your opposition be? Here and now, you can either do your job as a spy, or do your job as a cop. I suggest you pick one, or I'll buy you a nice, new, fancy hat, let you both dress, and send you and your sister straight back to Nuevo Tenochtitlàn. How about that? You could wear more than your panties, shoes and a badge. Would you like that?"

. . . "No," Eko said quietly.

. . . "Then decide whose side you're really on, and stick with it," he told her, "Because the cardinal rule of Engineering is get all the variables together and start canceling them. And I'm an Engineer."

. . . Eko bobbed her head and moved back through the crowd.

. . . "I'm sure the doc has the containment facilities to open these safely," he said.

. . . "Sir." The Titmouse extended her hand. "They are encrypted, I can input the cryptokey."

. . . He handed her the 'dex. "What was your primary function? I can't imagine you'd be psychologically suited for heavy assault. Besides, you need a delta-bond to access the unit's heavier weapons."

. . . "That is correct. I am fluent in most of the Earth's languages and dialects, and - "

. . . "Okay 3PO," he said and scratched behind her ears.

. . . She pulled her head away. "I never pee, except in properly designated areas," she replied haughtily. There was still the sense she expected a blow to answer her defiance.

. . . "You are with us, you don't have to convince us you are valuable," he told her.

. . . "Please don't call me 3PO, or Minnie or Cheepers," she replied quietly.

. . . "WarMech Titmouse is a bit long," he said as he accepted the 'dex back from her.

. . . "My mother called me Angie," she replied. Everything in her stance said she was trying to be challenging.

. . . Time to up the ante, he thought as he stared at her.

. . . "So?"

. . . She gulped, then steeled herself. "Please, Master, call me Angie," she said respectfully, "I would appreciate it if you called me Angie."

. . . "Angie, please talk with Blossom and Rainbow. Kitten has filled them in on some details, but if you speak Swahili, then you can clarify things in their language."

. . . Angie looked at the two tall, reptilian Pokègirls and gulped. "Next time I keep my mouth shut," she muttered. "Yes, Master," she said aloud, "Master, why are the Nurse Joy and the Officer Jenny naked?"

. . . "It was that, or kill them."

. . . Angie nodded and headed towards the two Tyrannodames.

. . . "Why did she call you 'Master'?" Roxanne asked.

. . . "Because I beat her in a fight. Isn't it aggravating? You barely know them ten minutes and they hang a 'cute' nickname on you. It's frustrating . . . " his voice trailed off as he looked at the readouts from the 'dex. "What did he do? Raid Washu's bargain basement?"

. . . Warden looked over his shoulder, then shrugged and turned away. Aurora took her place, not incidently pressing her large breasts against his back and arm.

. . . "That's ridiculous, why didn't he use that one? Or that one. That - that's just wrong!"

. . . "What?" Kay asked as she returned, leading the zoned out GunValkyrie.

. . . "Nurse, your sister was insisting I should have arrested him. Looking at what he's got, I think I should have buried him out here." He showed her the readout.

. . . "Who'd char a Denmother? A Fiendish Cherry, that's one way to prevent evolution. A Turtwat/Pidgey G-splice? A Khang-Ass Cunt/Milktit/Chickenlittle G-splice? I would strongly recommend you turn those last two over to the League. The Chikotit is the only normal girl in there. How did an idiot Tamer like him get a hold of seven girls like those?"

. . . "Two answers, money and lots of it, or, he is a thief from some high-tech breeder who stashed all their questionable girls where he could get at them." He looked up to see Maus, with her exhausted opponent draped across her shoulders.

. . . "Ddokn," Maus growled.

. . . "DildoQueen or DildoQueen/DragKing mix is a good question. I thought they were supposed to be really feminine and curvy," he said, then glared at the HeavenKat, "You won at the first orgasm."

. . . "Swt," Maus said and hugged the unconscious she-male, "Btr ole mnn." She stuck out her tongue at her Master.

. . . "Well, you got some on your chin," he replied.

. . . "Yrr leg," Maus replied as she carried her prize off.

. . . "I'm going to change into clean slacks, and then we're going to head back. I've have had my recommended daily allowance of weirdness today."

---

. . . The entire force moved a head slowly. Their Master had sensed something, but couldn't determine exactly what. Warden and Maus flew above them, trying to see, and perhaps to defend them against aerial attack.

. . . "Anything?" her Master asked Underworld.

. . . "Nothing. If it's mystic, I can't sense anything," she admitted.

. . . They stayed on both edges of the road, looking for any disturbed ground. Kitten was with the rearguard of Roxanne and the two Tyrannodames.

. . . "I wish I knew," he said as he looked around, at the ground, in the sky.

. . . "We could teleport back?" she said.

. . . "How many trips? And are you sure they don't know Hild's teleport trap?" he replied, "On foot is our surest way."

. . . I should have never mentioned that trick, or I should have lied about it, she thought.

. . . He called a halt. The road took a sharp bend up ahead, and the ground climbed sharply on one side, and fell away on the other. "That bend would block a large portion of the road," he said and looked around as if scenting something he didn't understand.

. . . Angie glanced back, and shook her head. The Warmech Titmouse didn't hear anything.

. . . All that means is that there's nothing to hear, Underworld thought. She extended her senses again, to search for the elusive enemy her Master was certain was out there. Nothing, nothing, nothing, noth -!

. . . "There's nothing out there!" she warned, "There's supposed to be something!"

. . . "Up the ridge now!" her Master shouted and clambered up the bank they'd been walking beside. Aurora jumped to the top and began helping the others up. Those on the far side of the road crossed at a run, the sound of his BAR firing galvanized them. The downslope area of the curve began exploding. Shrapnel whizzed and sang through the air, to weak too harm the Pokègirls. Kitten took a hit in the knee, throwing her to the ground. Blossom had already changed to her battle form. She scooped up her partner and jumped to the ridge top in a bound. Rainbow joined her and saw the force arrayed against them.

. . . Underworld loosed a fireball at the troops as they redeployed from their ambush spots. Dozens were thrown around like rag dolls. One with tattoos from her temples to her finger tips sprayed gray from her head and collapsed. Master, lying prone behind a pile of stones, was changing clips on the BAR, and went back to shooting the most vulnerable. Rainbow and Blossom stood their ground against six of their fellows, Tyrannodames. Warden raced in and grabbed the tail of one. She swung the creature like a club, battering away the Pterodames pursuing her, then toppling the Tyrannodames like ninepins. Blossom and Rainbow leapt on the fallen, their huge hind claws and teeth ripping open exposed bellies of the fallen. Shrieks from the ambushers could be heard. Master located the shriekers and put them out of their misery.

. . . A jet black Pokègirl advanced on Angie, who armored up, raised a hand and fired. The seeming armor rippled like water as the Parasyte tried to retreat off its host to avoid the terrible sound. The little Pokègirl pressed the attack, forcing the host back as well.

. . . Underworld jumped over the narrow stream bed to close with her Master. Both Roxanne and Aurora had turned their fury on the ambush forces. A Dameosaur leapt at the white-clad girl. She caught one leg, and threw the beast to the ground, then ripped the leg loose. Another tattooed woman raised her hands, and Aurora concentrated. The woman clutched at her face and fell back, blood running from one eye socket.

. . . "Dammit!" her Master shouted, he clutched his arm. His rifle was no where to be seen. "Get everyone under cover, that's an Oerlikon 20!"

. . . I don't know, I don't care, I trust him, she thought as she grabbed his collar to drag him into the stream bed, a ready-made trench. An impact knocked him free of her grasp. She scrambled to him and dragged him into the stream bed. Kay was there and put a tourniquet below the knee. Blossom started screamed and moaning. Bloody wounds appeared on the massive creature as she gently lowered a body into the stream bed, then fell into the trench, transforming as she did.

. . . Underworld's heart stopped seemed to stop. Isaik shook her head, and registered that Kitten's head above the jaw was gone. The whimpering Tyrannodame bled from a dozen wounds, but Kitten's condition hurt her far worse.

. . . Even Underworld doesn't know, Isaik thought, But I wanted her as my mom, to be Master's wife. She forced herself to put it aside.

. . . "Smoke, afraid of me," her Master gasped, then put his head down, so she might not see him crying. Isaik nodded.

. . . Okay, now you pay! she promised.

---

. . . Ambush forces heard the scream of raw rage, male rage. They smiled at each other as the male charged out of the smoke. They fired. Somehow he dodged all their ranged attacks. And certainly became fear, as they remembered the stories of what the authors would do for them, and perhaps could now do to them.

. . . A high-level Slicer charged him, her blade high. He ducked under her slash and did a scorpion kick that crushed her skull. Then he gestured at one of the mages cowering behind cover with her bodyguards, the fireball enveloped them and he ran forward.

. . . The mad eyes and the scream of rage told them of their death.

---

. . . "Left, left," Angie told Isaik, "Now right, Warden got her, one of the leaders is falling back. Your fireball got her, but she can still fight. Warden's closing in. The sword on your left, pick it up and throw it. Yes, Warden stabbed her through the guts. Now the Dameosaurs, good, they passed through, nice trick with the rune. Now they think he can phase. Mimic teke, yes, good. Warden got one, broke two, that's the third. I don't see any more. Warden's heading back."

. . . Isaik dropped the illusion, but kept the Bust Angel invisible. "It worked," she told her Master, "They actually believed you could do all that."

. . . "Teleport?" he asked weakly.

. . . "There's no here here, no one can teleport. I hope the others can get that gun."

. . . "You need to let him rest," Kay scolded Isaik, "At least let him stop moving."

. . . Isaik watched her Master shake his head, then reach into the pack beside him, and pull out Kay's shirt and Eko's. "Here. As for moving, I think my back is broken, that last round."

. . . The Nurse Joy took the clothing and began tearing it into strips. "I need bandages more than modesty. I'm no military genius, but this trench is open at both ends, we should fix that."

. . . "I'm on it," Roxanne said and crawled towards the end of the trench near the two Tyrannodames.

. . . "We need more help," Angie said, "Maybe Seadamar is no help, but Cayman should be." She extended her hand. "The Charred Denmother."

. . . Isaik handed her the ball, and Angie crawled for the gap where the stream emptied onto the road.

. . . Kay hissed as she pulled up Master's shirt. "I'll need a surgical suite to fix that. Spinal dislocations are delicate. Magic can regenerate the damage, but the bones must be set right."

. . . "Same with my arm," Master said, "They blew the rifle right away."

. . . "That arm is the least of your worries," Kay replied, "Until they get that cannon. How soon?"

. . . "Soon."

---

. . . Maus slipped through the trees, flying above the underbrush, but keeping a few trees between her and where the cannon might be. I hope Eko can use that thing, because I have a feeling we just got through round one, the HeavenKat thought as she spotted the machinegun nest, and the tall, pedestal-mounted weapon. Big rifle, she thought, I could take a hit, but the others? She briefly remembered seeing the distraught Blossom and the dead human. Rage boiled within her. No, I loose control, and they win.

. . . She silently landed behind the nest, and waited for Roxanne and Eko to approach. The gunner dies first, especially if he sees them, Maus thought, and took the chance to glance around. Oh no, she thought as she spotted not one, but two forces approaching. She could see the tattoos on the ones who made gestures of command. Ambush in an ambush, she realized, Sorry, you both die now. She tore the gunner's head from her body, and the loader turned to run. Roxanne's punch went through the woman's chest and out the other side.

. . . "Gn," Maus said, and pointed at the approaching forces.

. . . "Let me at it," Eko put the rests on her shoulders and swung the gun. She fired at the former ambushers.

. . . "Thrrr," Maus told her and pointed at the other forces.

. . . "I have to sight it in first, or I can't hit foe and not friends," Eko growled back, she swung the gun around. "Never gesture in combat." She fired, moved to the side, and fired again. "Two hits, two kills. Find some more clips, that drum on top. We only have a few more rounds."

---

. . . Bolts of fire and lightning rained down from above. The Oerlikon, and the other girls couldn't penetrate the Dark Lady's defenses.

. . . "She's playing with us," Isaik shouted as she dove to cover her Master with her own body, taking a terrible wound to keep him safe.

. . . There was a time, Angie thought as she beat out the fire in her fur, Dave was kind. He seemed to care about - me - not as a weapon. She remembered the only bright spot in her life following her amalgamation. My new Master promised I could go. Could I stay long enough to find Dave again? she wondered as she felt the memories of her first lover, unlocking things with in her. He said he would, I believe he would, she thought as she raised her arms, tracking the Dark Lady as she made another pass, If I tell him, I can't imagine he wouldn't. He's cruel, but not to his people. He wouldn't keep me from Dave, not if I love him.

. . . The Dark Lady floated overhead, immune to the scattering of bolt and blades, and even thrown rocks from the defenders.

. . . She makes it too easy, Angie said as she compensated for the wind, and the smoke, Too easy.

. . . "MEGASMASHER!"

. . . The Dark Lady rained down on them as steaming bits of meat.

. . . Angie felt a brief stab of pain along her entire arms, then merciful numbness. But it was still enough to make her totter and fall. She looked up at the huge Clydesdame on the rim of the stream, looking down at her. Then a Hun leaned over to look at her. The huge Hun's double bitted battle axe dripped red blood.

. . . I have done my duty, Angie thought, I'm sorry Dave.

. . . "A fighting Titmouse," the Hun said, "I guess we have to save them, or I'll never figure it out."

. . . Angie let her pain and exhaustion take her.

---

. . . Isaik felt the blade enter her flesh. Better me than Master, she thought, No magic left, but Hild made me tough. The little Pokèkit grinned at the much larger Gladiatrix.

. . . "I killed your two partners," she asked, barely able to stand, "Are you sure four of you is enough?"

. . . The leader raised her sword, when the Panthress landed on her. The menace reached out with a back leg and raked another Gladiatrix open from throat to crotch, while she smashed the leader's head against a stone. Stone and skull gave up the ghost with the third stroke and the Gladiatrix went limp. The Panthress swung the corpse at the other two like a weird two-headed flail.

. . . Another alien voice called out, "Volley by ranks! Front rank fire!" the synchronized sounds of fire, lightning and ice bolts, "Mid rank fire! Rear rank fire! Advance!" The attacker fell like scythed grain.

. . . Isaik staggered over to the Nurse Joy, wiping the bloody hair out of the way.

. . . She's still alive, Isaik thought as she fell, So is Master. Maybe me -

---

. . . Eko walked back down the trail. Maus carried the empty cannon, intending it as a gift.

. . . I don't care if all I'm wearing is my panties and boots. The blood and smoke of the battlefield makes such things irrelevant, she thought as she passed Pokègirls who were going through their death throes, and felt - nothing. What's happened to me? she wondered, This - atrocity, and I could care less.

. . . She vaguely recognized the black Stetsons and Hardy hats some of those still standing wore. "Lackramacultrix," she said idly, feeling just numbness.

. . . "Do you need to see the boss?" a Seraph wearing one of the hats asked.

. . . Eko shook her head. "The wounded?"

. . . The Seraph frowned. "We're moving them out. Some, we can't save."

. . . "The Nurse Joy?" Eko asked about the only one in the group she cared about.

. . . "Hurt, but she should recover. You don't look too good yourself," the Seraph told her.

. . . "I'm fine," she said firmly, before the ground jumped up and hit her in the face.

---

. . . Spring Dragon sat astride Thundering Wind, looking down with curiosity at the tentacle demon. As the first into the fight, he and his force of thirty had claimed the right as honor guard for the wounded. The 335 Huns and their mounts were willing to acquiesces. His people carried the stretchers, with the Huns as a cordon around them. The two groups were polite, but there was an underlying tension, and a hope someone would come at them.

. . . "Something troubles you," Spring Dragon said of the male.

. . . "Yes. What just happened? Who in their right mind sends a force like that to ambush a couple of Tamers. And how could they lose? And what were the Megami so interested in that they'd send me 200 miles out of my way to help?"

. . . "The Megami play games," Thundering Wind said, "Look no further than ennui and hubris for their motives. Another brought together all the survivors of our march on Reykjavik. That cannot be an accident. Since you are in the mood to speak, send your confusion out where I shall run it down, and kill it."

. . . "Look, I'm just a platoon sergeant. I lead my troops well, but I go where I'm told, mostly. This high-level military stuff is beyond me."

. . . "Then attend," Thundering Wind said, "Three forces, with no overall commander. The first which possessed the highest density of fire, that is, the most powerful individuals were concentrated there. Yet, they had the poorest average mobility and the smallest numbers. They were best suited to letting the fly wander into their web, and keeping them there. Once our band of heros deviated, this armored fist had to do what they were worst at, redeploy. So they came at them in packets."

. . . "Seems simple enough," Lack said.

. . . "Even I got that," Spring Dragon said, "I just enjoyed finally being able to just ride around killing anything in front of me." She brandished her axe.

. . . "Which is why I do the steering," Thundering Wind told the nervous tentacle demon, "The other two forces, both were well suited to mobile warfare, but again, no coordination. One was set for harrying a foe, running them down and nipping at their heels to run them to exhaustion. The other for rapid flank movements and delivering a single devastating attack, then helpless for a time. So they would be best at containing a mobile foe. A coordinated force would make good use of these. Only they were positioned so badly they could not have coordinated, even if that had been their aim. And none were well set to do what they were forced to do, fight a well-entrenched, powerful, fixed foe. Whoever gunned down the two humans essentially locked the Pokègirls of our heros into the one strategy that the S-Goth's disparate forces were ill-equipped to perform, siege."

. . . "One was to make them run, one was to make them stop, nobody was and nobody could use all three as a single unit," Spiring Dragon offered as translation, "Except her." She patted her mount's neck.

. . . "You are forgiven," Thundering Dragon said, "So, at the battle's end, one of the Council Member herself, a Master Sorcerer, three Master Wizards, three of their executioner squad, six regular S-Goths, and nine high-ranking wannabes. Twenty-three of their current and future political leaders, that's a heavy price to pay for only two confirmed kills and eight probables. There are stories around the Philippines of a battle like that once, before the Revenge War. It makes no sense, unless one of them is a Titan Legendary Reborn."

. . . "The way some of the captives are talking, he is, but he was wounded severely before the battle reached that point," Lack said as he glanced at the stretcher-borne man, "Can't you knock him out? He's got to be in pain."

. . . " 'Hollywood magic'," Spring Dragon explained, "Illusion and deception, they saw what they knew they would see, and were terrified."

. . . "The arm and the losses are all that trouble him," Thundering Wind replied, "His spine is broken, he can no more feel that mass of hamburger below the knee than I can fly."

. . . "The Nurse Joy I don't get," Spring Dragon said, "She tore her and the Officer Jenny's clothes to bandages, yet when I offered them replacements, she just glared at the Jenny until she accepted just panties and a shirt. She even left her hat with the dead human. I've seen battle my whole life, and what burns in that Joy's eyes frightens even me."

. . . "It's Maus I worry for. Of all the combatants, she escaped with just scratches," Lack said, "I think she feels guilty."

. . . "The ancient, WesterZen philosopher John Wayne once said, 'You go into battle with one of these, and by the Grace of God, come out in one piece, you carry a strange sense of guilt all the days of your life.' Your Harem was roughly handled, they have earned their victory. We have scratches and naught else. We understand that we've learned not to be there when the blade hits. Let her nurse the wounded, help them heal. Her guilt will fade."

. . . "Thanks, you killed most of my confusion."

. . . "It was an enjoyable hunt," Thundering Wind said, "I feel that there will be many more questions and few answers in the days ahead."

. . . "Story of my life," Lack said as he returned to his girls. Getting them ready as the mansion and grounds of the Carmen Estates came into view.

---

. . . Miguelito apparently enjoyed the fumes from the brandy, but inwardly he seethed with a rage he hadn't known he possessed. I don't like losing, I don't like losing friends, I don't like losing allies, I don't like losing noble antagonists, and I don't like people stomping around my home as if they know better than I!

. . . Antoinette sat behind him, hugging him, but keeping quiet. Voltaire was attending to the wounded.

. . . "I must look a mess, and smell of blood and chemicals," he said softly.

. . . "Perhaps when they are awake, we can play for them," she said, "A moment of cultured softness and ease, to soothe them."

. . . "A very good idea," he replied. "I still want to take pliers and a blowtorch and - but that wouldn't be civilized."

. . . The Hun wiped her feet before entering. "Blessings be upon this house," she said, temporarily exempting all within from the fierce battle code of the Huns.

. . . "Welcome, Spring Dragon," Miguelito said in fluent Chinese, then frowned at the rock-like trophy that hung from her belt. "I know she led the Ice Empress to try to enslave the Huns, but do you have to wear her head as a trophy?"

. . . "It's not a trophy. It is a weapon. Dip a head in lime, until it is a hard ball, and hurl it in battle against the family or works of the foe, and they will die or crumble to dust. Keeping the hair so you can get the extra range is the hard part."

. . . "Fascinating," Miguelito said to cover his nausea.

. . . "We thank you for the hospitality, and we are prepared to offer any recompense to your clan for any indiscretions."

. . . "I think we can call that incident with Voltaire even. Call it training."

. . . The Hun looked at him curiously.

. . . "That cooks in their kitchens are the most dangerous foe of all."

. . . The Hun nodded and smiled, a rare enough thing. "I'll search Thundering Wind's baggage for any books she might have stolen. You house was not to be plundered, and that woman's idea of valuable booty confuses me."

. . . " 'A man's got to know his limitations,'" Miguelito quoted some Hun philosophy.

. . . "True," the Hun nodded and left.

. . . Once she was gone, he frowned. "The maddening thing about them is, I can't figure out if they're barbarians, or smarter than we are," Miguelito said.

---

. . . Wakefulness, pain, then anger. He threw aside the covers and swung out of bed. He tried to catch himself, only to realize one of his arms was gone. Doctor Marilyn's mental powers kept him from crashing to the floor. "You've been in surgery and you've lost a leg and an arm. Give it a rest hero, you've earned it."

. . . "There is unfinished business," he told her and tried to lever himself up. He couldn't get enough force to pull free of the Alaka-Wham's grip.

. . . "I said go to bed. You've got enough chickens running around without their heads, you don't need to add to the mix," the doctor told him, "I don't think the good doctor likes hosting a conference about 'What do we do about the invasion.' You were their target incidently."

. . . "I need to speak to someone in authority right now," he said, "I'll crawl there if that's the only way."

. . . She sighed disgustedly. "Very well. Why were you the first to wake up? They killed Kitten by the way, if that - "

. . . "It matters," he yelled. "But some things matter more," he replied. He heard her leave as he floated back into the bed.

. . . He tried to calm his rage. I'll have to be clear, before I interact with someone who might not understand.

. . . The Pokè who walked in was sex personified, save for the uniform of a Navy Commander, and the unit flash indicating she was ONI, as well as an Oni. "Those in authority are in conference. I can relay your messages."

. . . "Maybe you can do the job yourself. Do you have the Milhouse Hotel in North Windy Shores under surveillance?"

. . . He waited, hoping her mix of shock and stoicism would change. "I'll take that as a 'yes'," he finally said, "The bell captain is the leader of the spy ring. I need a secure, untraceable line to call from. I also need to know when the L5 station is in position to observe the Dark Continent. Then I need to convince the doctor to help me with something that will probably ruin the legal case against Galla."

. . . "All that?" the Commander asked, "Why not a Taming too?"

. . . "I return, I'll give you Sanctuary."

. . . The commander shivered at his tone.

---

. . . The holding cell was shielded again teleportation, mind reading, and scrying. But only from the outside in. Once inside, other restraints kept the S-Goth from escaping or convincing another to assist her escape.

. . . He hobbled in and set the crutch aside. Doctor Marilyn set down the large brief case at the interrogator's table and put on a pair of headphones. A moment later she seemed lost in the music she was listening to.

. . . "She can't do that! I have rights! I've demanded a lawyer."

. . . "I've arranged to have you freed," he told the S-Goth, who was instantly suspicious, "With Law dead, I don't think you're worth our time."

. . . "A crippled half-man, what do I have to fear from you?"

. . . "I've decided to explain to Sanctuary, what it means to piss off a Great Old One. Lovecraft, bless his tender heart, either never understood the full extent of what he was writing about, or tried to hide the real truth from the human race. Either way, congratulations are in order, for you and your breed. Now I intend to let you reap the whirlwind. That little place you and Law dreamed of, with the great view. Poof, gone. Dust and ashes. They may even see the blast from the seashore. When the Tunguska blast happened, they heard it in Moscow, some say they heard it in London. Maybe. But 800 square miles of forest flattened. Imagine what a blast 52 kilometers in diameter would do. We'd get the great city itself, and maybe some of the colonies."

. . . "You bastard," Galla said quietly.

. . . "I never moved against you. You attacked me. A smart opponent would have kidnaped me, maybe shown me the worst of what Pokègirls suffer, and sent me home. A dozen or so of the old timers and enthusiastic newcomers, and maybe opinions would have changed. But all you wanted was power. Someone else's power. Now I'll show you what I can do. A woman who only wanted someone to love her, lies dead. A poor Denmother who was already a victim of so much, you gutted like a fish. The rest would have gone the same way, if you'd won. The Huns have Councillor Skara's head as a trophy. The Sorceress of the East is on an autopsy table. The other wizards and three of the execution squadees are being identified. Kind of hard considering how little is left of them. You and lover were a pair of tripwires who were supposed to be pummeled and would beg to lead us into an ambush. But they never told you it was an ambush."

. . . The Goth had gone paler than he'd thought possible. "Your dear friends didn't care about the place you'd picked out to raise your kids. The school you wanted to send them too. They didn't care about how you would live your life after they won. They cared about catching me, and that's all. You were expendable."

. . . The S-Goth was shaking in fear and rage. "The human bonded to your Tyrannodame, did you know that. I bet you couldn't manage it, no they had to be trained and punished to give you that. The camp must have been a real fun place to visit. Loyal soldiers of Sanctuary having the last bit of free will beaten out of them before their Masters released them on the world to murder, rape and pillage. Did they send you off with a brass band at the airport? Or send you by coach to take a slow boat? Or did you teleport the whole way?"

. . . "I won't tell you anything," Galla said in a small voice.

. . . "Then all you have to do is listen," he told her.

---

. . . The image from the computer model didn't exactly match any of the satellite photos. "Sanctuary has done an excellent job of camouflaging itself," the ONI Oni told him, "We have dozens of hundreds of potential targets, and some of those move around. Their illusions make it seem that the topography is alive."

. . . "It's either 384 or 395, I can't get closer than that," Doctor Marilyn said. She stared worriedly at him. "I never considered using this equipment for that. Reading her surface thought to assemble a set of vectors to landmarks."

. . . "It's completely illegal," the officer replied, "No conviction using this evidence would even be remotely possible."

. . . "This is a war, Commander," he said coldly. "I tried to hide what I am, and a sweet woman died of it, her lover is on the verge of dying, and the rest got chopped up because I wanted to be 'nice.'" He looked at the two Pokègirls. "I'm through being nice. I'm through being reasonable or kind to my enemies. The one at the workbench or in her bed is as legitimate a target as the soldier in the field, and if poor Granny Schkilegrubber down the street gets the chop, it's her tough luck."

. . . "Remind me never to piss you off."

. . . "I'll make a note. The comm line and the L5 station?" he asked.

. . . "We missed the pass, it'll be fourteen hours before they're in position again," the Commander said.

. . . "Then I'm putting my foot down," the doctor said, "You can walk through the ward on the way to your bed, but that is all!"

. . . "I'll settle for a wheelchair, my leg is killing me."

. . . "Left one?"

. . . He nodded. "Phantom limb syndrome," he said.

. . . "We'll have it regenerated, when I think you'll actually rest," the doctor told him.

. . . He nodded and a rating arrived with a wheelchair.

---

. . . The doctor kept her mental defenses on high, both to keep out the cacophony of emotional reactions of the Pokègirls in the ward, and to keep from reading any part of his mind. The oblivion would be better than the callous cunning I watched in that lecture he gave Galla, she thought as she walked behind the chair. She busied herself with checking the charts. She already knew that most would recover far sooner than he would. He picked out all the soft spots in her mental armor, and the images of places, locations, and landmarks all flashed into her mind. With Miguelito's techniques and machine, assembling a map was child's play. The 'healthy' Maus was the only one who didn't try to leap out of bed to hug him. He practically had to grapple the cat-type. Once he has her in his arms, she breaks down, she thought as she looked at the rueful grins on all the faces, while the mournful caterwauling prevailed.

. . . Maus licked his face, and let him order her to bed, before he moved on.

. . . Once out of the ward, he sagged. "I'll take you prescription, doctor. I think I've got 12 hours left," he said wearily.

. . . "Should I send ahead for a rubber sheet," she teased, "I think you changed phase."

. . . "You're a gas, doc," he managed. The three of them managed to get him into the bed and wrapped. They exited through a side door.

. . . "Will this work?" she asked the ONI Oni.

. . . "Theoretically? If the S-Goths are as frightened of him, and the others, as our captives seem to indicate," the Commander said, "They'll believe he can do it."

. . . "What if he can?" she asked.

. . . "Then he would have 'ported to the Dark Continent, and taken out every target on our list. Gods don't play half-measures. Especially the angry ones."

. . . "Point taken," she replied.

. . . "I'm almost afraid they're right," the doctor said, "That he will be able to do what he said."

. . . "No chance," the Commander replied, "We've seen the future, and while they shake things up, they don't snuff out the sun, or flip the continents over. But what they manage, is something we can't see. Too many possibilities."

---

. . . Aurora heaved herself up and out of bed. I'm a hero, I should start acting like one, she scolded herself, It isn't my departed powers that they need. It's me.

. . . She selected the one she knew needed her most. Not Maus, but Warden. She was the most subdued with her Master, she thought, As though she failed. She sat on the bed and stared at the girl.

. . . "You didn't fail," she told her firmly and hugged her, "You did all you could."

. . . "She's dead. She was kind, Master loved her, and she's dead," Warden whispered.

. . . "And it's not your fault." She stroked the girl's back and held her with her other arm. "He doesn't blame you . . . he blames himself, and we'll need your help to protect him, from himself."

. . . The winged girl sniffled. "He's my Master," she said. Aurora stifled her reaction to that, and focused on the girl's needs.

. . . "And it's part of your job to be loyal to him," she said soothingly, though her stomach churned at the thought of a Master, "To make sure he doesn't follow her. He'll try, I've seen it before. He has to remember, we love him too."

. . . "I'll try to remember," Warden said, "I do love him. I do, I do!"

. . . "Yes."

. . . I'm going to have a long talk with him about this 'Master' stuff, Aurora thought, Alone.

---

. . . I'm dreaming, he realized as he sat up and looked around, I hope this isn't my mind. It needs a decorator with some wit and taste.

. . . "Did you think you would simply kill so many of us, and get away?" came a voice as the lights revealed the chair he was strapped to. "There is no where you can go, no where you can be, that we cannot find you." The cloaked figures stepped out of the darkness, into the twilight.

. . . "I'd suggest you let me go. I am not in the mood for your games."

. . . "We aren't after information any more. You have disrupted our plans, given hope to your fellows when we nearly destroyed them, and derailed out plans." She paused to listen to the sound like wood scraping on bone.

. . . "You mentioned your plans twice, couldn't think of anything else?" he asked, "That sound like whittling, with a bone knife."

. . . She returned her attention to him. "Your tricks might have an effect on others, but you have not the training."

. . . "Can you mangle the language more? I discovered something. I don't need the training. I just need to let things happen. Like dropping a hammer. I don't need to hear the hammer fall, to know it has done so." The sound grew louder. Other cloaked women stepped out of the darkness, but they all nervously glanced around. "I give you the offer I have given in the past. Retreat now, and I will be merciful. Surrender, openly and honestly, and I will help Sanctuary actually become what it now only claims to be."

. . . "You must think us children."

. . . "Suicidal fools, actually. I've trained as well, but not in the conventional methods."

. . . "I am not here to prattle with you. I am here to kill you." The woman pulled back her hood revealing the motif of stake-pierced hearts, skulls and coiled barbed wire in her tattoos. "If you beg, I may make it quick. Or. I may not."

. . . "I have no intention of showing mercy. The plot bunnies are hungry, and because of you, I haven't written in months. When they go feral." He laughed, a high-pitched mad sound.

. . . Many turned away, and the S-Goths became more frightened of the red eyes behind them. The smiling faces and seductive bodies walked out of the darkness behind the S-Goths. New pencils scraped against long, razor-keen incisors, were added to the collections of sharpened wood that each clutched in her hand. As dozens became hundreds, and hundreds, thousands, the souls of pencils being sharpened absorbed distractions, and all screams.

---

. . . "When are those idiots going to learn?" he asked sleepily. He looked up to see the doctor and the Commander entering.

. . . "I've got to get that floorboard fixed," the Alaka-Wham said, "It makes it impossible to sneak up on my patients."

. . . "Funny. How soon?" he asked.

. . . "Fourteen minutes ago. We have the landline connected to a transmitter." She nodded to the com rating who set the phone on the side table, and was glared at by the Commander. "All they'll get is the local exchange in Windy Shores," she added as the rating moved the phone to the side where his arm wasn't cut off below the elbow. She waited for the sailor to leave before continuing. "We had fun picking up all their operatives, except the bell captain. We picked up her manager instead. The SLIS is prepared to put the bell captain and senior staff in protective custody. When we let her go, it ought to be very interesting."

. . . "Glad I could help. Any way to storm the port," he said as he lifted the handset. The Commander listened in on an ear piece.

. . . "Milhouse Hotel, the manager is unavailable, how may I help you?" The voice sounded both young and nervous.

. . . "Bell captain, please."

. . . "Speaking, how may I help you?"

. . . "Your bosses might like to know that at coordinates, south 3 degrees, 18 minutes, 6 second, and east 29 degrees, 32 minutes, 53 seconds, time 0326 Zulu, the question of what happened at Tunguska will be answered, or disproven. Nothing like a snowball fight between gods. Unless I can come up with a greener solution."

. . . "Three, eighteen, six south, twenty-nine, thirty-two, fifty-three east, 0326 Zulu," she said quietly, "Who the Hell is this?"

. . . "Galla Juda, you posers can't stop me. You sent me in and got Law killed by that filth. Then you couldn't even get the job done yourselves. No more."

. . . He hung up the phone. "You might want to toss your lawyered-up S-Goth out of the complex, after you've told her that she gave up Sanctuary's location."

. . . "We don't know for sure," Doctor Marilyn said.

. . . "But we will," he reminded them, "Whichever target becomes a beehive of activity, that's the real target."

. . . "Unless they lied about where Sanctuary is, even to the Goths."

. . . "A two-thousand square kilometer blast will get a number of those targets," she said.

. . . "She'll demand protection," the Commander said, "She is a criminal."

. . . "After we damp-mopped her brain," he said and dismissed her concerns, "There's no judge in the League who won't toss that case right out of court. Evidence gathered telepathically without the defendant's own telepath present, is grounds for immediate dismissal of charges. But this isn't crime and punishment, Commander, this is war."

. . . "And the treatment of ununiformed combatants, saboteurs and spies is under different rules," the Commander said and smiled, "Too bad the ones who attacked you did uniform themselves."

. . . "You can't have everything. You do have them as prisoners of war, and if they ditch their identity tags or uniforms, then they are playing by different rules," he said.

. . . "So how do we 'convince you' not to nuke them, so they know we convinced you?" the doctor asked, "I think we let the least useful see what happens to Galla, and we let them know who saved their asses. They may generally be ungrateful, but letting them know they have an out is just good politics."

. . . "Who's downstairs at the conference?" he asked, "And doctor, sitting in a chair listening to someone talk - is relaxing."

. . . "I think we have just the right person in mind," the doctor began to grin, then the Commander did. He just rolled his eyes.

---

. . . Angie let Roxanne push her wheelchair through the garden and to the greenhouse. The building had been a makeshift morgue for the enemy dead, as experts tried to tell their identities, while in the drawing room, politicians and generals argued over the effect this would have on the one enemy that all agreed on.

. . . It was not within, but behind that was their destination. The two massive beasts seemed out of place in the shady grove. The delicacy with which they'd positioned themselves among the grave markers told of the lasting effect the woman, whose grave they attended, had on them.

. . . Blossom stared at the small brass plaque.

. . . Unable to read it, and I guess unable to comprehend it, Angie thought as Roxanne stopped so the Titmouse could rest her head on the battle-form's flank. If my arms worked, maybe I could hug her, but I'll do my best. Roxanne wheeled her up the Blossom's head, and let her climb out under her own power. Then Roxanne led Rainbow away. The Tyrannodame changed from a huge monster, to a girl, who despite her size, looked small and frail, and helpless, as she gazed back at her friend who remained in battle form.

. . . "There was nothing you could have done," Angie told the girl in her native language.

. . . "Why did they do it?" the beast rumbled back, not moving, just staring at the plaque, "She was good, and kind, she was perfect. She could so easily have been one of them. Why did they do it?"

. . . The revelation that S-Goths could turn people into S-Goths still turned the Titmouse's stomach. They have her convinced they're benevolent gods. I'm not here to tell her the truth of that, Angie reminded herself as she knelt beside the girl's head and rested against her. Despite the carnivore's size and power, Angie found her cuddly.

. . . "She would not want you to follow her, before you'd lived a long and healthy life. Starving yourself won't bring her back."

. . . "They offered, but she is in a better place. To return her to the testing place, that would be cruelty," the Tyrannodame said quietly, "They understood. Maybe 'He Who Is Feared' would decide otherwise, but she would not want that, and I would not want that. Please tell him."

. . . "I will. If you rest, and get something to eat. You've been here almost since we arrived. You barely let the doctors treat you."

. . . "I failed the one I cared about more than my life. What right do I have to live?"

. . . "Is that what she would want? If you honor her, honor her by living, not by dying hopelessly. Our Master, I fear, may be taking that path as well."

. . . "If he goes to be with her . . . I will not gainsay his decision," Blossom said despondently, "Why did they do it? She could have been one of them. She could have been the best of them. They never offered, they never offered."

. . . Angie rested against the battle-form. Why can't I just wick away your pain. Pour it into a bottle and throw it into the sea?

---

. . . "Number 387, that's where all the evacuation was. And look at all those poor, loyal servants they left behind to fry," the Commander said as she 'rewound' the file, "Benefactors of all Pokègirls my tapped ass. We would have never suspected that one." She looked at the other monitor. The S-Goth, a senior servant by her tattoos, was still cringing as the room's other two occupants argued back and forth. The man's rage kept in check by the frailness of his healing body. The patient, gentle Neo-Iczel continued arguing for clemency.

. . . "Why do I get the feeling she's actually having an impromptu therapy session in there?" Doctor Marilyn asked.

. . . "It probably is. The man has a lot of anger, repressed or otherwise. From everything we've gathered about the others brought here, I wouldn't want to meet any of them in a dark alley. Unless I was a Neo-Iczel. What?" the Commander asked when the doctor's jaw dropped.

. . . She turned to watch as the man broke down in tears, holding Lian Alice with one arm and crying his heart out. From the S-Goth's expression she knew exactly who and how Sanctuary had been saved. The debt was owed, and that would grate on the S-Goths.

. . . The Commander smiled. This is going better than planned, she realized.

---

. . . Blossom woke first as the women brought Kitten's friend back through the infirmary. She felt Angie shift as she too came awake. The doctor gave orders, and gestured.

. . . "She wants all the bedding on the floor, they're going to make a - nest?" Angie explained.

. . . Blossom looked at Rainbow and both ducked low as they transformed. It was a memory from childhood, all the girls sleeping together, huddled for warmth and protection. The two Tyrannodames merely needed everyone to get out of their way, and they'd have one that would fit everyone, except them. The bedframes were stacked along the walls as the mattresses and blankets were arranged the way their mothers and guides had when they were little, and the pair had done when looking after little ones. Rainbow placed the man in the middle of the formation, and then began fitting all the girls together around him. The nest filled, they began draping the blanket and comforters around and over the people. Neither paid any attention to the doctor's laughter at their work.

. . . The pair of them laid down around the nest, encircling it nose to tail, as an additional barrier, and to let them know if someone was trying to sneak out. Blossom settle down, and enjoyed the sound of scuffling as the hierarchy of who got to be close to whom worked itself out. She breathed in deeply, and smiled for the first time in days.

. . . I can still smell her, on them, when they're like this. Maybe that's what I was reacting to, not smelling her, not smelling them, as a single group. She reached over the pulled a blanket over the little one cuddled against the man's back. She sniffed again, and noted that Rainbow was doing the same.

. . . We tracked him across the miles, hearing story after story, she thought, But when we met them, we found out the stories underplayed him, but the stories never touched on them, how they smelled all together. How they smelled before they thought they were in danger, and how they smelled after. They all began to smell like her, or she and they came together in the scent I fell in love with. She was at the center of the change, but she wasn't the only reason for it, Blossom thought as she listened to the breathing slow, and heartbeats start to synchronize, as did the smells. They are what she loved, not him, or each one separately, but she loved them, all together. She is gone, and her loss has harmed us all, but she would want someone to keep them together, to keep them safe. She silently considered her future. I suppose I can live with that. To honor her, to honor her life.

. . . Blossom laid down and half-slept, as they taught the guides to do when guarding the little ones.

---

. . . "You're just letting me go?!" the S-Goth shouted at them. She was still hand-cuffed, and power locked, but she was approaching the gate where she'd be freed.

. . . "The incident where you were forcibly interrogated. You have the Sanctuary League's promise that the perpetrators will face a severe penalty," the Commander said as she and a rifle platoon of Marines escorted the S-Goth to the gate.

. . . "But they'll think I told them!" Galla shouted as a burly Amachamp dragged her along, "Especially if you just let me go!"

. . . "We can't hold you for anything. You have to be freed."

. . . "I demand to be arrested!" Galla shouted, trying to dig in her heels.

. . . "Nothing you've done before now is chargeable," the Commander said plainly, "It's a new life and a new world. Maybe you could go somewhere and settle down. Grow herbs or whatever it is you do when you aren't planning the overthrow of civilization. You could also explain that you fell victim to 'He Who Is Feared'. After all, you can't be faulted for falling to him, can you?"

. . . They were still inside the gate, but she was outside. The cuffs and power-neutralizing lock were removed. The Navy troops moved back out of range and closed the gates. "You're free to go."

. . . "Go where?! Do what?! I won't last five - !"

. . . Galla Juda's head popped off and landed on the ornamental ironwork of the gate. The body slumped to the ground spraying blood on the wall as it lay there. The heart not getting the memo.

. . . "Commander, did you see a white blur?" the platoon sergeant asked.

. . . "Wait for it," the Commander answered as she held her watch were she could watch Galla's mouth moving, "I've always wondered how long a person lives after they're decapitated." She shrugged and looked around. "Is seems she was right about one thing, she didn't last five minutes."

---

. . . Kay looked at the box her not-Master had dropped off. She knew it was a uniform, from the manufacturer's label on the box. Eko had gotten a similar one, and had immediately torn it open and put it on. That girl will never learn, she thought sadly of her sister.

. . . The whoop from across the room told Kay that a proper hat had been included.

. . . You idiot, he's dismissing us! she wanted to shout, He's making sure we're properly clothed so we can go back to Nuevo Tenochtitlàn and report. And he'll be gone, who knows where, by the time we get back. She ran her fingers across the blouse and skirt she wore. I earned these, so did Eko. The new fancy clothes are a going away present. A 'go away' present.

. . . She looked over at her sister, and the excited chattering among the girls. I can't be part of that. I want him to Tame me, I want him to claim me as his own, she thought, It can't be so easy that he can toss us away, but cherish the other girls around him.

. . . "Come on slowpoke! Don't you have a knife, I'll open it for you." Eko pulled a pocket knife.

. . . "Leave it alone! They're mine!" she shouted back, "Don't you know anything?"

. . . "Sorry," the stunned Officer Jenny offered as she backed away.

. . . "No you're not, you aren't sorry at all. You're reacting exactly as you should. Bought off by a few trinkets. We earned our place here, at his side. We were ordered to set the situation right. Is it right? Is it?"

. . . "It's only a uniform," Eko said. The other girls were moving away from the two sisters.

. . . "It's a 'don't let the door hit you on the butt' gift. It isn't 'see you later', it's 'Goodbye and Good Riddance!'" she shouted, "Maybe this family isn't the only thing I should be leaving. Maybe I should look for a different partner."

. . . Eko paled and stared. "You're reading too much into this."

. . . "And you aren't reading enough," Kay replied, "We haven't gotten a new assignment. The only thing that's happening is the teams are headed back to Nuevo Ten. So he gives us crisp new uniforms and you want to run out of here as fast as you can? If you want to leave, then leave. I won't stop you. But I have friends here. I have a patient here. And maybe I have a family here. I - am staying. You do whatever you want." She stormed out of the ward with visions of shoving the box down one of two throats.

. . . "Where is he?" she asked the Commander as she marched past.

. . . "I was just coming to ask you the same question. I don't think he walked, so I assumed one of you took him. He was with a bunch of VIPs, talking about Doctor Carmen's new amusement park, when he vanished."

---

. . . Fabric covered sand, except with more give, he thought as he sat up and looked around, A Zen master's retreat. The 10-foot diameter, red and pink fabric circle didn't cover all the white sand. A rock that might suffice as a chair and table sat a few feet away.

. . . "And beyond the ring of sand, only darkness," he said, "I think I've seen this movie. And I want my money back."

. . . Figures they couldn't wait until my arm and leg had been regenerated and I learned how to use them again, he thought as he crawled to the edge of the light. He looked out, and then looked closely at the details. No gentle transition, just light to dark. He tossed a handful of sand. It stopped when it hit the darkness, and slid down.

. . . "Transparent barrier," he said and reached ahead slowly, using the stump of his arm. He encountered resistance at first, then solidity. He punched the barrier, and found the initial resistance increased. "Velocity or momentum shield, then a barrier shield," he said as he shook out his hand, "Equal and opposite reaction, then a wall." He crawled over to the stone, toppling over from its surprisingly slippery surface.

. . . He screamed as something stabbed deep into the stump of his arm. "Genius, only you could manage to stab yourself with sand." The weapon dug into his flesh was a dagger of cruciform design. He gingerly put his hand on the multicolored wooden handle above the bronze pommel. He carefully pulled the weapon out, revealing the double-edged, heavily-enruned blade. "Wait a second, I felt the four edges," he hissed and raised the stump, "Okay, that's officially extremely weird." He set the dagger aside and searched for the wound. "This is nuts. Not even any blood. It still itches like fury, but . . . put it aside, it makes as much sense as anything so far." He dug around where the dagger had been, but couldn't find a scabbard. Then he concentrated on finding the edge of the stone as it approached the barrier.

. . . With my luck, I'll find a metal plate that says 'Front Towards Enemy', he thought as he encountered the stone, some eight inches beneath the sand. Some more work found the stone sloped down slightly, until it touched the barrier. No loose rock, just sand and a large chunk of rock, he thought, This has all the ear-marks of a set up. This is a cage, but am I being kept in, or is something else being kept out? That also brings up the question of if this is physical, psychic, or mystic. They can't read my mind, but they could create a powerful illusion that keeps me in a fugue state until I escape. He crawled around the stone, and now that he wasn't working, the itch in his arm was bothering him. I wonder if the dagger can penetrate the field.

. . . Then he saw the covered tray that had been placed at the center of the cloth, sometime when he was concentrating on the rock.

. . . Later, one mystery at a time. He selected a point near the rock and began digging. While the rock went more or less straight down, the sand would only support a 30-40 degree angle before collapsing back in the hole.

. . . "So I'm not going to go very deep without a caisson of some kind." He threw a handful of sand at the ceiling. I came back down after hitting something. "More than an hemisphere. More like a Quonset hut shape."

. . . Having satisfied my curiosity about a simple escape, he thought as he crawled onto the cloth, and to the tray.

. . . He raised the cover and sniffed at the contents. He frowned. Thai food, heavily seasoned, he examined the seasoning oils and mustards that had come with, If there was a physical barrier, I could use this to burn through it. He examined the chopsticks that had come with. No water, just food too spicy to eat, and ways of making it spicier.

. . . "Argh!" he shouted and scratched at the itch in his arm. "Maybe that stupid blade was poisoned with itching powder. If it was, that's a weak dose." He sat back and wondered if the food was a trap beyond the obvious. "Two or three stage poison to test my constitution? Intelligence test? I don't know what's being tested, besides my patience, but I'm not committing suicide." He recovered the tray, picked it up and carried it to the rock, setting it down and returning to the fabric circle. He kept the chopsticks.

. . . When he arrived back on the circle, he lay on the edge and doodled in the sand with one of the chopsticks. Concentric circles, overlapping letters, all manner of simple shapes. Sand seems to hold the markings better than digging, strange, he thought and yawned widely and looked at his watch. The digital read out of the seconds counted down rapidly from 99 to 00, then reversed itself, heading back to 99. When it reached 99, the minute segment began counting down from 99, moving more slowly than the seconds' readout had, but considerably faster than one minute per change. The minute segment reached 00, and the seconds digits counted down, then counted back up. Once they finished, the minute segment counted back up to 99. When it reached it, the seconds' digits did their 99-00-99 business, and the hour segment dropped from 99 to 98. He watched for the count to move to 97.

. . . No, while it would be a way to kill some time, I've rested long enough. I can look back later, he told himself as he crawled out to methodically test the barrier for obvious weak and strong points.

. . . Okay, the barrier is pretty uniform. I could use a pretty uniform, these shorts and t-shirt are kind of bland, he thought, Actually I meant something pretty in a uniform, numbnuts. Of course since you are numbnuts, what would you do with something pretty in a uniform? Actually, unless it was Sabrina, I'd talk, then I'd run away. I could tolerate Eko's disdain right now. I could always use her as a battering ram later. Wouldn't a Billy be the better choice? No, Billies can't cook. Angie could probably batter a ram, and cook it too.

. . . He shook out his numb stump. "As least the barrier is a good analgesic. It leaves open the question of food and sanitary facilities. Somehow using the place as a litter box doesn't seem like a good idea. Why so serious? I'm RinTinTin reborn. If a dog-star can't be Sirius, nothing can." He waited for a Jokette to attack him, or loudly deflagrate. "Well doc, this would be the perfect place to rest. Nothing is going to happen." Then he looked at his watch. It read 99:99.99, and the seconds segment started its familiar behavior, then the minutes. He didn't wait for the hour. "Oh great. It resets as soon as I quit watching? What is this Quantum Mechanics for Dummies? So if I get really bored I can calculate the time it will take to completely cycle, and if I'm so bored I want to die, I can watch the whole thing cycle down to zero?" he shouted at the barrier, "What a useful way to waste my time! At least you could have stuck a PsiDyke in here, we could have at least traded rodent recipes! 'Yes, mouse tartar is the staple diet, but you should occasionally cleanse the palate with a weasel souffle, or perhaps a snake surprise. What's snake surprise? How much it tickles the inside once it realizes where it is. That's got to be a surprise.'"

. . . He sighed and headed back to the tray. "Maybe if it counts all the way down, then it explodes," he grumbled, "I'll get out of here, in bitty, charred pieces." He lifted the lid. The food still smelled unappetizing. "Wait a second." He touched the bowl. "That's still hot. Either somebody repealed thermodynamics, or something is providing power. Maybe the bowl's just slightly radioactive and covered with a thick layer of lead. That would make perfect sense. Three ways to die all rolled up in one package." He put the cover back on and started to set the tray behind the rock, when he took the cover off and used one of the chopsticks to extract some of the sauce. He crawled up to the barrier and tried to push the sauce-laden chopstick through. The repulsion field sent droplets crawling up the chopstick or flying off it, like glue in a high wind.

. . . "Good way to spray, not a good way to mark." He poured some of the oil and mustard into a dish, ran his hand through it, cupped his hand and pushed it through. "With nowhere to run off, and the field pushing it to the center," he said as he looked at the smear on the barrier, "I have achieved MODERN ART! Bwahaha!"

. . . It also shows that there is a small gap between the barriers. Good to know, but useful? Not yet, he kept to himself, It's also a mark they can't eliminate without me noticing. So maybe the clean up crew will show up. At the very least, I could put in a better dinner order.

. . . He scrubbed his hand with sand. He began making a whole series of markings all around the inside perimeter of the shield. That should increase the effort something sneaking up on me will need, he thought, And catch any leprechauns so they have to give me a ride home before I give back their gold. Terrific, now I'm getting loopy with fatigue.

. . . The effort took the last of his strength, so he returned to fabric circle. Yawning almost continuously as he crawled. He saw soon asleep again.

---

. . . "What do you mean you can't find him!?" the Commander asked as she loomed over Isaik, "Some of the VIPs want to know if they're next!"

. . . "Unless they are like him," Isaik replied calmly, "I doubt it."

. . . "How is it possible someone got through the defenses?" Miguelito asked, "I admit, my knowledge of magic isn't equal to the rest, but the defenses should have kept infiltration impossible."

. . . "Look, in the Sunshine League, he could be hiding under Granny's bed, and even she couldn't find him unless she turned and looked."

. . . "So what have you been doing?" the Commander demanded.

. . . "Searching the rest of the planet," Isaik said and yawned, "And he's not there. So he's either fairly close, or a long way away. Like the Mars colony." She yawned again. "I'll need rest, if I'm going to look for him on that planet."

. . . "So he could still be in the compound?' Miguelito asked, and when Isaik nodded, he nodded to Voltaire. The big Francinestein moved off.

. . . "He could still be in the building, or just across the street. Or in Caesar's Prank, or the Magma Isles. I don't know."

. . . "He isn't on the grounds," Angie told them as she and the two battle-form Tyrannodames arrived in the little conference in the woods, "And he didn't leave the bed. He was there, then he wasn't. And there's no trace they can find of an intruder. All the smells are accounted for. You, your tech, and Doctor Marilyn, nobody else has been in that room."

. . . "Terrific," the Commander said, and massaged her temples, "At least I can tell them he wasn't taken to another League. That should buy us some breathing room."

. . . Warden and Maus arrived, looking equally despondent about their fruitless searching.

. . . "Too bad nobody can call your creator," Miguelito teased Isaik.

---

. . . He woke to find the tray of food on the rock gone. Instead, sitting beside the bed was a different colored tray with an opaque plastic cover. "Nothing ventured." He said and carefully lifted the lid to vent any explosions or dehydrated ninjas away from him. When nothing happened, he looked at what was on the tray. "Somebody's a comedian," he said of the dozen sandwiches and the bowl of apple slices. White bread, mayonnaise and one slice of American cheese each. "Either I'm still asleep, or somebody around here is a crank."

. . . His concerns didn't keep him from eating all the sandwiches, and the apple slices. Then he examined the entire prison again and found only one change, the blob of sauce on the wall had vanished.

. . . The lights came on outside, revealing a ruined cityscape. It had been the typical 'crystalline towers' architecture. Now many of the spires were broken and blackened. The sky, if it was the sky, was yellow.

. . . "Oh, I'm back in Los Angeles, before they cleaned up the smog."

. . . The woman in the white monastic robes cinched up around her waist approached with a determined step, but at a speed indicating her dignity was more important than haste. He watched his watch go through it's countdown while he waited. The hour had reached 97 by the time she arrived.

. . . "Welcome. I am the caretaker of this place."

. . . "You're a figment of my imagination, milady," he replied, "I'm still asleep. But whatever infodump you are contractually obligated to, please pray continue."

. . . She pulled down the robe's cowl. She wasn't pretty, or even handsome, and age had ravaged even that. "I am Linda MacKenzie. Last survivor of the doomed paradise that you see about you."

. . . "First, her name was McKenzie, not Mac-Kenzie, second if you can't defend your paradise, you deserve to lose it, and a pack of passivist/pacifists sitting around trying to love their enemy into civilized behavior deserve to be annihilated."

. . . "You are cruel, I am wasting my time." She turned and retreated with more haste than she'd used approaching.

. . . "Not just yours," he yelled after her, and the lights went out. When he didn't hear her trip and fall on the broken terrain, he returned to the fabric circle. "Okay, I need to find some food and fresh water. Or these hallucinations are just going to get worse."

. . . "You said it buster!" the one-inch tall, black duck told him.

. . . "Unless you know the way out of here, you aren't helping."

. . . "Patience, my little cherub." The duck vanished.

. . . "I'm going back to sleep," he griped as he lay down on the circle.

---

. . . Few would venture into the lair of a Legendary. Most could never find one, and only the insane would attempt it if they knew.

. . . It amused Bastit that Hild would violate the unspoken truce between the planet's mightiest mages. She had long prepared her mystical and metaphysical defenses for this day.

. . . The punch from her fellow Legendary sent her sprawling. The impossibility of it stunned her more than trivial pain.

. . . "Get up!" Hild shouted at the cat woman.

. . . Bastit did as ordered, and waved Sexmet back from her planned attack.

. . . "You actually plan to pummel me?" Bastit asked, unable to hide her amusement and easily parried the blow from the enraged Legendary.

. . . "Where is he?" Hild shouted, "You claimed you wanted nothing to do with my plan, and had your own. I will not allow your revenge on those fools to leave me wide open to their machinations. If you want revenge, you can piss on their charred corpses."

. . . "I think she's in love," Sexmet teased, inflaming Hild's nearly incandescent rage.

. . . "You don't get it. If they live, I live forever! I can no longer be killed! Nor can you!" she shouted, "And if you're threatening that, I'll kill you both, and all your pets!" she spat at them.

. . . "It was not I," Bastit told her calmly.

. . . "That leaves Whore-Oh, because the Evangelion claims she had nothing to do with it. Yet the Celestial taint covers the disappearance like a stench."

. . . "The council," Bastit averred as she healed the bruise from Hild's blow.

. . . "Is a pack of puling morons who know what would befall them if they crossed me."

. . . "Not the Megami. The others," Sexmet said as she placed herself between her sister and Hild. "The other Celestials."

. . . "That's a myth, I should know, I helped Macavity create and disseminate it." Hild stepped back from the warrior Legendary. "And don't tell me it was the Dark Megami. They aren't Celestials, and could find their ass with both hands and a road map only by leaving their stench all over everything. There is such a thing as unnecessary drama."

. . . "Who told you?" Sexmet asked and smiled, baring sharp teeth.

. . . Hild grimaced. "Your own champions might be in danger. The Goths are distracted and shattered for the first time in more than a century, but without a carrot and a stick, they will reform along undesired lines, and the factions you cats have been sowing in their ranks will have been purged. If they suspect, or even convince themselves, that one of their number finally succeeded, it will not be you they will bend their united will against. It will be me. They will spare you two." Then an evil smile graced her lips. "They will enjoy making you watch them twist your children to their purpose," Hild told them.

. . . Both cat Legendaries bristled at this possibility.

. . . "It seems my worries are not so trivial as you thought," Hild told them, "If it is not you, and it is not the Evangelion, then who? Some Celestial Titan we know nothing about?"

. . . "Blessed Atmuff, milady," a small Sphinx kit who'd wandered in offered.

. . . Hild noted the sudden tension in the two cats. She frowned. "Macavity, cease. You were supposed to be on my side."

. . . "Mew?" the Sphinx kit asked.

. . . Sexmet tried to grab the invader, only to have her hands pass through.

. . . "I made a deal, I wouldn't come to your precious nursery uninvited, but when Hildy blew her stack, I just had to participate, and watch."

. . . "Where is he?" Hild asked angrily, then smiled, "You mean someone pulled a prank on so many Legendaries, and you had nothing to do with it." Hild's laughter hid the prankster's angry growl. "Who's losing her touch?"

. . . "There are other forces, deals made by those morons in hopes of dealing with us. One of those deals is coming due," Macavity offered, "I . . . just don't know which. Someone needed a demon slayer."

. . . "He couldn't win a fist fight with a Bunnygirl without a handful of tinfoil to distract her," Hild pointed out, "And the magic lessons barely allow him to create a smokescreen. If you are suggesting a demon lord could fall to him through just prayer and gun fire, you're insane. And I will not be drawn into such a battle. I dislike the year of healing and decade of weakness those victories require."

. . . "The Psychic Corp was annihilated to the last," Macavity reminded them, "And 50 of their finest, traceless assassins were found with bites taken out of their flesh." Then she added darkly, "There is one place even Typhonna would fear to face even the weakest of them, and he is far from the weakest."

. . . "They couldn't have been so stupid," Hild said derisively, then reconsidered, "What am I saying? Of course they could! Why would he help them?"

. . . The Sphinx kit shrugged, then vanished.

. . . Then it hit her. "Whore-Oh," Hild said angrily, "Some fussy girl 'never touched by man', or some ridiculous chastity equals purity vow, so she can be a perfect sacrifice."

. . . "Sounds like Whore-Oh," Bastit said mildly, "And Macavity must have found someone just perfect."

. . . "An S-Goth?" Hild said disbelievingly, "How is that going to work? I know how Whore-Oh will assume it will go, but that's hardly worth guessing."

. . . "Murder is a very intimate and passionate act," Sexmet crooned seductively, "And without guns, how would he accomplish it?" Sexmet gave a smokey smile, yet still remained between Hild and her sister "With no reason to end it quickly, against a pretty girl with little skill in hand-to-hand combat? And how could she fight back? Think like Whore-Oh, not Hild, and you'll understand."

. . . Hild bristled at the cats' laughter. "You forget, whatever they made a deal with, is going to come here, and when its pay is gone, it will collect something else."

. . . "Oh, before you go," Sexmet said dangerously, "You shouldn't drop your arm before you connect. Someone could take advantage of that weakness." She smiled at Hild as the Legendary vanished.

. . . "She should just fuck all the champions, and get it out of her system," Bastit said.

. . . Sexmet nodded.

---

. . . He woke again, saw the blob of sauce on the shield. The things we hang our sanity on, he thought as he crawled over and checked on the tray. It was still there, and still warm, and still inedible. My mouth blisters just thinking about eating that, he thought, then looked at the stump of his arm. That was just below the elbow before, now it's halfway down the forearm, he thought.

. . . "And it itches like all Hell!" he screamed as the pain came alive. He shoved the stump in the repulsion barrier, which soon took the edge off.

. . . I'm a moron, he thought as he recovered the dagger, This is going to hurt no matter what. He stabbed the blade deep in the stump of his leg, and spent an eternity thrashing around in the sand screaming in pain.

. . . He carefully pulled the blade out. That thing hurts more than getting really stabbed, he thought as he lay there. Of course now that leg is going to itch as bad as the arm. He lay there, and let himself drift off to sleep again.

. . . In his dream he was whole again. Hild screamed at him in a language he didn't recognize, beat him to within an inch of his life, healed him and then fucked him raw. He woke, and looked around. That wasn't even a wet dream, he thought, Although with only one set of clothes, I guess I should be thankful. I still think she'd look better if she interlaced her hair, rattlesnakes are kind of pretty, if you can forget how dangerous they are. Or you're smart enough to not bother them.

. . . Then he noticed something he'd missed before. "The sand's flat. Except where I just tore it up. All the markings are gone. Okay, I am losing it, if I just noticed something erased my early warning system. Unless the sand is like my watch, and it returns to normal when you quit watching it."

. . . I refuse to say it, I refuse to even think it! he told himself.

. . . He heard the gut-wrenching scream.

. . . And it got worse, anyway. That wasn't too far off, he thought and pressed on the barrier, And what are you going to do, fly? How fast can you crawl? And then what, you got a knife that probably isn't that efficient a weapon, and a bowl of highly season Thai food. Continental Siege Weapons they aren't.

. . . "You could always ask for help," a voice behind him teased.

. . . He turned to face a large, busty, white catgirl.

. . . "The ducks I could handle, who are you supposed to be?" he asked.

. . . The cat's ears perked up and she smirked. "Folks, I don't think he's a smart as he thinks he is," she said, and chuckled.

. . . "I haven't eaten in - I guess a couple of days, I'm still recovering from a few wounds, as well as a good case of PTSD that I got on arrival to this place, and I haven't had a let up yet. One adventure after another. So forgive me if I'm not at my best."

. . . "A little kitty lovin' would help a lot," she purred and crawled towards him, her tail languorously moving and her breast hanging down, "Just let Snowflake give you what you need."

. . . He glanced up. "Why do you do this to me?"

. . . "Ah, they're over there," she said and pointed.

. . . "I don't believe in pantheons," he replied.

. . . Her ears folded back. "I was talking to the audience, who were you talking to?" Her ears swivelled forward. "And what's with the ears!? They never did that before!"

. . . "If you're trying to prove you're crazier than I am, you've got a LONG way to go."

. . . "He thinks he's crazier," she said and giggled, "Is he crazier? Show of hands!" She counted, then muttered, "Bastards."

. . . "Look, my psychotic episodes usually come to the point quicker that this."

. . . "I came here to help you," she told him, she clasped her hands under her chin, and flattened her ears against her skull, "WOULD YOU JUST FRICKEN' LEAVE THE EARS ALONE!" She glared, then turned away, the whipped back to glare again. "Yeah you!"

. . . "Brevity might help, as well as controlling your emotions," he told her.

. . . Before she spoke, she covered both ears with her hands, then threw her shoulders back for good measure. "Someone forgot to include an instruction manual for the Shiv. They were - very unhappy about that, so I got sent to fix that. Is that Thai food I smell?"

. . . "Over there in the tray. It's yours."

. . . She bounded over and downed it in one gulp. He retrieved the dagger, and tried not to think what was happening to her stomach.

. . . "Napkin?" she asked.

. . . "Use the sand," he told her.

. . . "You touch my ears you are a dead writer man!" she shouted, then stared at him in horror, "I'm a cat-type, and you're telling me to wipe my hands, in a sandbox. Does anyone want to explain to him why this is a bad idea?!"

. . . "I haven't used it for that, and I suspect you don't use a sandbox either," he replied dryly, "I figured out that this heals, but you have to stab the wound. The regeneration also itches like crazy."

. . . "It has a whole series of settings. The safest is the preset." She touched a couple of the runes near the tip. "You need to dial it up to eleven." She touched the rune nearest the bronze handguard, then the handguard itself. "There are side effects."

. . . "It hurts like really getting stabbed," he said, "Let me guess, set on eleven, it hurts even worse?"

. . . She turned and smiled. "I think he's getting it."

. . . He looked up. "You are having entirely too much fun at my expense."

. . . She covered her ears and glared. "Who are you talking to?" she asked.

. . . "Who are you talking to?"

. . . "The audience." She chuckled. "I bet you don't think there's an audience out there!"

. . . "I'm a writer. I know there's an audience," he replied, "I was talking to God."

. . . "Well, the audience answers me."

. . . "God answers me, some times he send messages."

. . . She let her ears flatten against he head as she moved away. "Don't upset the crazy person. You feeling all right without your rattlesnakes and strychnine?"

. . . He looked at where she kept looking and asked, "When did I say he talked to me?" He turned to the cat-type. "You wake up feeling bad, and happen to catch a glorious sunrise. Or you suddenly remember when you got pulled over for speeding, and slow just before you spot the cop, and vice versa. Or some little voice in the back of your head tells you that the white, heavily-muscled catgirl is more playful than dangerous. Then there's all the times I get some glorious chance, and know I'm going to have to wade through a flaming shitstorm to get the brass ring. People talk about 'receiving a call' or 'feeling God's hand on their shoulder', that's nice, I get sent or grabbed by the scruff of the neck and dropped in the middle of the mess."

. . . "I still think he's nuts," she whispered, "oh shit."

. . . He turned to see what she was looking at, and regretted it. That thing looks like one of Tolkien's dwarves with a shave. But it's got to be 9-feet tall! The tall, hugely muscled creature lit the area around it with a faint gray radiance. The pair cringed as it walked towards them.

. . . "I'm too cute, fluffy and stacked to die!" the girl wailed as she wrapped herself around him.

. . . "Would you mind getting your hands out of my shorts?" he asked as the light faded and the creature continued walking.

. . . "You noticed that, huh?" she said, then grinned, "Guess what! That's the Dragon for the Big Bad that's all part of your Call to Adventure! And since you're stuck here, The Call Knows Where you Live!"

. . . He glowered at her. "I practically expected to see little tm's floating around from that speech, until I remember that TVTropes doesn't trademark their catch phrases. Okay, this Knight In Sour Armor is going to Refuse the Call, because if what I sensed in that Eldritch Abomination is right, it is 'It Got Worse past the Godzilla Threshold and straight into Sweeps' personified. Even healed I'd be the Iron Woobie. And frankly, I am the Only Sane Man. What I need is to Dare To Be Badass and at least manage to be The Chew Toy, while The Chosen One, PuritySue, Friend To All Living Things proves that Everything's Better With Sparkles and The Power Of Love to make that thing do a Heel Face Turn or suffer a Karmic Death."

. . . He frowned at her. "Now that I've proven I can speak in subtitles too, can we get to the point?"

. . . "He learns fast doesn't he, and gets testy?" she asked, then smiled at him, "This can heal you, and if you really want to defeat the S-Goths and their plans, saving the girl will do it. And she's perfectly rescueable, not as sexy as me, of course, but still worth the time and effort. They since they made the deal for a - "

. . . "Deus Sex Machina?" he asked sardonically.

. . . "Not - quite, although I wouldn't mind a little pussy action."

. . . "On point please."

. . . "It will - you know I'm lying don't you?" she asked.

. . . "You just started."

. . . The white cat-type sighed, then sighed again. "What no notice of my epic boobs bouncing? Okay, I apologize, just don't swivel my ears any more, it's . . . weird." She grinned at the stoic man, then frowned. "She's the daughter of a prominent S-Goth."

. . . "Screw This, I'm Outta Here."

. . . "That would be a neat trick!" she reminded him, "Look let's just do the healing, then some sexual healing and we wait for events to unfold."

. . . "That's not -!"

. . . "Great!" she shouted and pounced on his back, driving the dagger deep into his leg. She rode his writhing, screaming form until she could stab his arm. "Two fer!"

---

. . . "You're the best toy I ever had, you know that?" she asked and she cuddled tightly against him, "See, two arms, two legs, and lots of movement to get them ready for use."

. . . He whimpered in return.

. . . "Oh, you're exaggerating! You don't hurt any more. And didn't I tell you all the tricks you need? After all, if you're ignoring the rules, and substituting your own, who's a better teacher?"

. . . "Hild's Eidolon," he replied, "Yes, you're right. I do feel better. Uh, you can get off me now."

. . . "Doesn't all my help deserve a reward?"

. . . "Aren't you loyal to your Master, or Mistress?" he asked.

. . . "My Master knows that a kitty's gotta do what a kitty's got to do," she purred and hugged him.

. . . "Well, I do need to practice," he said, "And to make sure you weren't lying."

. . . "Practice? Practice?!" she growled and ran her claws over his neck without breaking the skin, "I don't like being treated as a toy, by - any -one."

. . . "Tough."

---

. . . He pulled his underwear and shorts back on, and scrubbed his hands off in the sand. The White Panthress lay spread-eagle on the sand, a grin on her face that would frighten Jokettes. "I think I can almost see the swirlies in your eyes."

. . . The White Panthress sat up, and winced. "You, you, you!" she growled, "You cheaterer!"

. . . "What?" he asked innocently.

. . . "You didn't give me any kitty love!" she shouted, tears streaming down her cheeks, "You only implied it!" She tried to sit up, only to wince again. "And I've never pulled a muscle when getting or giving loving!"

. . . He just grinned at her. "I prefer to let my audience infer certain things. They have a better idea of what would satisfy them. Aren't you happy you're a good teacher?"

. . . "I want some real lovin'!" she demanded.

. . . "You sure? I can - "

. . . "On screen!"

. . . "No," he said, "We have other things to deal with."

. . . "Waaah! Aren't I nice!?"

. . . "Knock it off!"

. . . "You aren't buying it, eh?" she said in disappointment, "You're no fun."

. . . "That thing, it's a real demon, right, not a Youma or any of the Infernal breeds?"

. . . "Yep, real entity from the lower planes," she told him, "Can you quit smiling like that?" She shied away from him and noted, "I think he's working up to Noble Demon/Magnificent Bastard. Be afraid, be very afraid."

. . . "Can you tell one of them to call my folks and tell them I'm okay?"

. . . "You don't trust the busty, happy sex kitty, and you want to put your address or phone number on the Internet?" she asked sardonically.

. . . "Brain fart, you're right," he said.

. . . "I always am," she purred as she approached, "Doesn't that deserve a reward?"

. . . "It certainly does."

. . . "Oh NO you DON'T!"

---

. . . "So, Daria, you have again come at my summons," the Beast told her.

. . . "I am no one's play toy!" she shouted and drew her cloak more tightly around herself, "I have studied, and practiced. I shall defeat you." The fireball stuck a barrier a hand's breadth short of the creature.

. . . "Should I be frightened of a girl-child who will be mine in a few weeks anyway?" it laughed at her, "You will be prepared not as a sacrifice, but as a gateway. Our kind will pour through the doorways and we shall show you how beneficent our rulership shall be. The humans will no longer trouble you."

. . . While that relieved her, the cost of it appalled her. "We will not submit to your kind either," she said.

. . . "Have you researched what I told you?" he asked innocently, "About the Dildoran-line, and - men?"

. . . She cringed at that. I can't believe they kept that from me. What happens to some girls who aren't . . . big enough. Some poor Titapod ripped open by that thing! she shuddered as she remembered, I keep thinking about that weird letter opener aunty uses. The thin rod on handle like a number 9, and some guy shoving his thing in me, and ripping me open to my sternum, his semen gushing up my throat and pouring out of my mouth mixed with my blood. She shivered violently at the images she'd thought up, and some of the PsiDyke guards had confirmed.

. . . "Aren't there things worth giving up to avoid that?" it asked sympathetically, "A few souls a year. Certainly there will be those who resist, and those who want power for power's sake. Criminals, the violently insane, surely your paradise can do without such people."

. . . "But there must also be the suffering of the innocent!" she rallied and shouted back.

. . . "Do you object to that, or that you will be that innocent?" he chuckled, "You were conceived for that purpose. Is paradise for all not worth - "

. . . "Liar!" The energy bolt slammed into the Beast. "You will consume everything without regard for the wishes of others!"

. . . Why can't Ronette look like she does in real life, Daria wondered as she moved away, She's so beautiful, but here she looks like a machine.

. . . Daria hurled spell shot after spell shot, while Ronette ripped up chunks of stone to hurl at the creature. All of them deflected or shattered before they could strike.

---

. . . He looked around his prison and grinned. "There are two ways of getting rid of someone. Force them away, or force them to accept all they wanted and more." He carefully set the knife on the stone against the barrier. "At least not I've got a clue when it goes down, other than checking it constantly." He carefully flexed his regenerated hand. "Weird not having the calluses or scars any more."

. . . The lights above came on, dimly, revealing a huge factory floor. "Nice architecture, late 20th Century heavy manufacturing."

. . . She looks for all the world like an android from a dystopian future. Where everything is vaguely worn out and haphazardly put together after repairs, patching or something is left partially broken, he thought as he looked, Most of the parts of her imply a beautiful woman, others show only machinery. She walked into view, alternating between grace and a shambling tread, and back.

. . . "Can I help you? If you're looking for something? You might want to stop, or turn it off before - " he shouted as she walked straight into the barrier.

. . . She fell back in surprise and looked around for what had tripped her.

. . . "Can you see the lighted area? Can you hear me?" he shouted.

. . . Okay, I can hear her clearly, so unless the barrier is one way . . . he thought as he watched her feel her way around it, So it doesn't have the repulsion field on the outside. And she either can't hear me, or she doesn't care. I guess I'm going to have to get myself out of here.

. . . There was another cry of terror in the distance, which the android clearly heard. This one abruptly cut off as the android stepped through the barrier and the knife fell.

. . . "So sorry gotta go!" he yelled as he grabbed the dagger and sprinted across the factory floor. He paused for a moment as the android stopped and began moving sideways, as if she'd encountered an invisible wall. "Does this place have changing walls and barriers?" he yelled to her, getting no response as she moved along the invisible barrier as if she could see it. "Run back and get her, or march to the - now silent - sound of the guns. Guns it is." He ran towards where he thought the screams had come from.

---

. . . Daria woke, and screamed again as the rune was clawed in her flesh. She fired a spell bolt straight into the creature's face.

. . . It backhanded her across the face hard enough to throw her to the ground. Her expression hardened and she leapt off the broken rock and at the demonic thing that had assaulted her.

. . . She gasped as it caught her outstretched wrist, then the other. "No!" she cried out as the glow from her hands faded. The demonic creature kneed her in the stomach and released her. The girl dropped to her knees gasping for breath.

. . . "Did you believe you could escape me forever?" it asked as it tore one sleeve clear off, exposing her unmarked flesh. She desperately rolled out of the way, trying to stagger to her feet and run. It grabbed her by her long cloak and dragged her back. It tore her other sleeve loose. "The payment comes soon, and you have given no reason we should delay, or demur."

. . . "I won't help you!"

. . . "Defiance." It ripped the back off her blouse and threw her onto a stone altar. Shackles of stone formed from the living rock. "You are already ours. I need only complete the inscriptions."

. . . As it carved runes in her back and arms with a claw, she screamed until she lost consciousness.

---

. . . Why doesn't she just roll off that desk? he wondered as he slipped across the factory floor. Pillars, filing cabinets, forklifts and heavy machinery gave him plenty of cover as he approached. I don't think that's how S-Goths get their tattoos. Snowflake was right. I hate the S-Goths for what they've done, but I'll be damned if I stand idly by and let that happen to anyone.

. . . Then what are you going to do hero? Even if it was a human that big, you'd have no chance, he thought, then smiled, If it is a demon, then it's going to be in deeper trouble than if it was a Pokègirl.

. . . His plan was interrupted by the android running over the beams between the heavy girders that supported the ceiling. The creature moved away from the girl as the android hurled tool boxes, pieces of girder, anything she could pick up and throw.

. . . He dashed in, picked the girl off the desk and ran away. It's gonna shoot me, it's gonna shoot me, it's gonna shoot me.

. . . The cry of rage from the monster told him to run faster. I'm not gonna ask, I'm not gonna ask, I'm not gonna ask! he thought as he ran, and wasn't incinerated, crushed, eviscerated or even given a paper cut as he ran off with the Macguffin.

---

. . . Ronette watched Daria vanish, and the Beast screamed, shattering the stone all around him in his rage. She turned and fled. I don't know what saved her, but I couldn't see it, interesting that the Beast couldn't either, she thought as she raced through the canyons of twisted stone, searching for her charge, and a place to hide.

---

. . . He'd risked a glance back, and realized the monster wasn't following him. He's acting like that android did, as if there are barriers that he sees and affect him, while all I see is mostly open factory floor. Weird. Why two separate overlaid realities . . . yeah, the food, the sand, that crazy cat lady all make absolutely perfect sense. This place is a nightmare, and follows a nightmare's rules, he realized, So was that bubble I was held in, something to keep me in, or something to keep me out?

. . . He headed directly back for the circle of sand. I do have to wonder if the shield makes things invisible that are within it, he thought, The android couldn't see it, and the monster didn't bump into it, and didn't react to us, but he could have had other things on his mind. Like the girl I just stole.

. . . Leave that thought behind, he told himself, You've got other things to do. Like prepare a defense and a counterattack when it does find you. Either this girl is real heavy, or I am more out of shape than I thought! He headed for a shop floor office, a collection of filing cabinets, tables and lights arranged to block off some of the empty space.

---

. . . Daria awoke in a cavern. The wounds carven in her arms and back ached. But I'm alive, she thought happily, then froze as she saw the other figure. She hooded her eyes, to watch him from beneath her cowl, while he moved through the cave scrabbling at the walls, as if searching for something.

. . . "You'd think in blueprint cabinets, there'd be blueprints," he said.

. . . Daria's heart nearly stopped. Now him?! Not him, and the Beast too! No, no, no! She nearly strangled herself not screaming in terror as he actually touched her. She was too paralyzed with fear to flinch as he bared her legs from her cloak. He's going to do it, he's going to do it to ME! she thought in terror, Ronette where ARE you!? she tried to scream, but no sound came out. I have to kill him, I have to - how hero? If the stories are correct, he's one of the creators. He could swat the Beast away with a sneeze! But if I use his own knife! she thought joyfully as she saw the handle sticking out of his pocket. She waited, patiently, silently loathing his touch as he pulled away her cloak to peer at her body. Never seen a Goth from "You-know-where" without tattoos? Shame me more why don't you?! she wanted to scream as he examined her normally unmarked flesh, Why the grimace, didn't the Beast cut me up right?

. . . He covered her back up with her cloak, and turned to peer at something outside the cave. She yanked the knife from his pocket and stabbed exactly where her teachers had taught. Through the heart.

. . . Her manic grin vanished as he reached around and pulled the blade free with scarcely a grunt. "Typical hello from a GrimGoth," he said as he turned, then knocked her on her stomach and lay on top of her. "You make a noise, you'll regret it," he hissed.

. . . She froze from his tone, and he had his . . . thing . . . pressed up against her, tight against her bare skin. He could just unzip his shorts and - no, he'd have to turn me over first - unless, the PsiDyke said sometimes guys stuck it up the anus, to burst a Pokègirl's insides, so they'd die in agony! Is that what he's going to do?! He's wriggling! Maybe's working up to it, her thoughts raced, trying to remember all she'd been taught about men and all the rumors she'd heard about this one in particular. That poor Psilady, who they brought to our house to die, after what he did to her. Even the Tyrannodames were frightened by what she saw in his mind. 'He Who Must Be Feared' was their name, and they couldn't know the half of it. I stabbed him right were Shana and Ronette taught, with his own dagger, and he didn't even cry out! Oh gods! Is it getting bigger?! What if it gets so big it won't fit?! Will he rip and tear me, when he shoves it in? Please oh Goddess of the Dark, I have been loyal and chaste, why would you make me face such a monster alone?!

. . . "We're alone," he told her.

. . . Then I am dead, she thought as he hauled her to her feet. She grabbed him by the throat, and pressed in with all her strength. She felt the blade pierce straight through the worst of the carvings. She hurt so badly, darkness claimed her.

---

. . . "This kid needs to learn when to pick her fights," he said as he stripped the last of her shirt off, and used it to bind her wrists and ankles together.

. . . He examined the first of several wounds he'd seen he needed to treat. This thing works on them, the same way it works on me: it hurts like Hell, then you're better, he thought, I'd like to at least have a chance to explain, before I use settling 11. Poor kid is terrified, I wonder what's eating her. He slung her over his shoulder and started walking.

. . . That thing looked right at us while I had her pinned, he considered the monster's close encounter, It either didn't see us, or it's playing a game. I wish I knew which.

. . . SHIT! There it is, he thought as he spotted it across the factory floor, What is it doing? Trying not to get its feet dirty? He watched it inch and squirm across the floor, occasionally it would bellow as if frustrated, then continue forward again. I think these people are loons, unless I'm the only one who can't see the Red Queen and the magic castle.

. . . He continued towards the only sanctuary he knew. Back into prison again. I just hope she knows how to operate the barrier. I hope somebody knows how to get us out of here!

---

. . . "You have fought well," the Beast told the immobile Pokègirl, "But it is time to join the winning side." It stood out of reach, it's arms crossed over its massive chest.

. . . "I'll never serve you!" Ronette told it

. . . "Your mind's structure says otherwise. I need not engage your 'higher consciousness', just the housekeeping elements. Control of such is trivially easy."

. . . "I won't harm her!" Ronette shouted.

. . . "Stand."

. . . Ronette watched in horror as her body did as commanded.

. . . "Hunt," the Beast told her.

. . . Ronette struggled with anything that prevented her body from taking one step after another. If I can lift an arm, grab hold of something! she thought as she concentrated, but only managed to set her hand trembling, I can't hurt her, I gave my word! I cannot let myself harm her!

. . . She struggled to slow her movements, to grab hold of the rock walls, to prevent her from hunting down the girl she loved.

---

. . . Daria could hardly believe what she'd seen. He walks through walls, and he finds my most secret place without any effort, she thought in terror, I managed to loosen the bindings on my wrists, but not my legs, so I can't get away. Until I've killed him.

. . . She managed to get the cloth over his head, but he ducked and caught it on his chin before she could get it around his throat. He sighed, grabbed the back of her neck, and flipped her into a barrier surrounding her sanctuary. She scrambled to her feet, and braced for his next attack.

. . . "Foul man! You won't rape me! Won't split me open or fill me with your foul secretion! I am a free Pokègirl and you cannot ever conquer me!"

. . . "If you're going to insult me," he said in bored tones, "You might try it in a language I understand."

. . . "I will not submit!" she shouted and threw herself at his throat.

. . . "Amateur night?" he responded as his elbow caught her under the chin. She fell, tried to roll to kick his legs out from under him. The knife stabbed into the rune cut in her shoulder. She screamed and tried to pull the shoulder out of reach. Then launched herself at him. He let himself be overborne and caught her wrists with his hands and trapped her legs with hers, then rolled them over so he was on top.

. . . No! I'm naked and his thing is - I fell into his trap! she realized and cringed.

. . . "I am not going to rape you!" he insisted.

. . . No! He's just going to kill me. I will die as an unsullied Sanctuary Goth! she spat in his face.

---

. . . He looked at the blob on his glasses. Okay, Mr. Reasonable has left the building, he thought as he caught both wrists with one hand, and punched her in the guts as hard as he could. He rolled out of the way before she could retch.

. . . She'd curled into a gasping ball, but hadn't vomited. He recovered the clothes and bound her wrists and ankles behind her back, then removed her cloak.

. . . Weird, she only really reacts when I try and remove her cowl, he thought, Fine, you keep that. He looked at the young, naked girl, and considered the wounds.

. . . "Do you really prefer that monster's company to mine?' he asked as he cleaned his glasses and waited out the stream of what he presumed was profanity and curses.

. . . "I'm deeply hurt you keep such things to yourself. Insults are a sign of such intimacy, you really should share." He let her gasp in shock and stammer denials before he continued, "If you tell me your sexual habits, maybe I can find a vet and have them serviced."

. . . "I would rather die than be touched by you!" she shouted.

. . . "You do know that everyone of your outbursts brings that monster closer to finding our position? Don't you?" he asked and enjoyed her shocked expression.

. . . Kerrik is right, these people may be bright, but they are stupid! he thought as he let the realization grip her.

. . . "Now, do you want to trust me, and the unknown I represent?" he asked, "Or the certainty of what that monster will do to you."

. . . "You're a monster," she told him firmly, "Why didn't you slay us? Did you think we would submit and join your Harem?"

. . . He signed. "No. Because a wise woman reminded me that for every one of you selfish morons, there were a thousand innocents who actually buy your line of patter."

. . . "Sanctuary will free Pokègirls from the slavery of Humans!" she hissed.

. . . "Why is it, that only in the Sunshine League has anyone ever asked the Pokègirls what they want. Oh, I know, because that's the League I created, and I actually believe that people should seek their own destiny. To rise as high as talent and desire will take them, or to fall to their nadir. Sanctuary believes in all Pokègirls being equal, just the GrimGoths are equaller."

. . . "You are human."

. . . "That's not an answer."

. . . "You made this world what it is! You didn't make it paradise!" she said.

. . . "And the deal they made is going to fix that? I was briefed on your conception, and what purpose you will be put to. Is that really better? Some pack of aristocrats deciding the fate of the whole world on a chancy scheme?"

. . . "At least we were doing something!"

. . . "Ah," he said, "The politicians' fallacy, 'I'm doing something therefore I'm addressing the problem.' Did it ever occur to you that you rapidly became part of the problem once you hid the advanced technology you found, once you started helping the Limbec Pirates suppress anti-Feral and anti-Threshold research? You want to know the secret? Threshold can't be reversed. Because it wasn't just women affected by the plagues, men had their DNA rewritten too. So why prevent people from looking into the possibility? As soon as you did that, they only looked harder. It's the Anti-Feral research sabotage that really confuses me."

. . . "We would never allowed you to destroy Pokègirls with your foul research."

. . . "Ah, so the price in lives is what you object to? Or that if the humans get it first, that we can bind the Pokègirls to our will?" he asked.

. . . "Why don't you untie me?" she snarled and struggled with the bonds.

. . . "Because you'll try to attack me again and then I'll really have to hurt you."

. . . "You haven't hurt me already?" she asked, "It hurt so much I thought I was dying!"

. . . "Funny you should mention that," he said, and grinned at her shocked expression.

---

. . . "Senior Investigator Erika Wanabe reporting to Acting Senior Supervisor Angie Douglas," Erika said as she entered the room, and saluted.

. . . "Officer Eriko Wanabe, reporting as ordered," Eriko said as she saluted.

. . . "Be seated," the SLIS agent said and motioned towards the two chairs. She continued to read over the briefing papers. "Officer, what happened to your hair?" she asked without looking up.

. . . Eriko glanced at Erika.

. . . "It was the price demanded of remaining with him," the Officer Jenny replied, and ran her hand over the short stubble.

. . . "As well as your style of dress?" the senior officer asked as she looked from the last of the papers to the two police officers, "I am not going to harp on the treatment you gave for what was essentially a misdemeanor." The two Pokègirls relaxed slightly. "Granny has reserved that privilege for herself." Any ease went right out the window. "The investigation into his disappearance?"

. . . "We've found no physical, psychic, chemical or mystic residues," Erika said, "If the S-Goths took him, they didn't leave their usual calling card."

. . . "What about a Legendary?" Angie asked, "At least one has taken an interest in him. We have additional reports across the planet of 'interest' taken by Legendaries in these people."

. . . "If a Legendary did it, she erased all traces of her involvement," Erika said. She glanced at Eriko, who was maintaining a stoic silence. The Nurse Joy suppressed an urge to shake her.

. . . "There has been a decision to open diplomatic relations with one of the factions at Sanctuary. Most of the higher ups think it's a trap or an opportunity to place Manchurian Candidates in high office in the League. However, with the instability of events, some volunteers might be needed."

. . . "What of our assignment to 'restore the situation'?" Erika asked, when Eriko said nothing.

. . . "The intent of the invitation was no doubt to invite him. Since he is no longer available, the discussions now are who would go in his stead."

. . . "He would not have gone in any case," Erika said, "The treatment he received at their hands . . . and at ours, translates into an intense distrust. He would not accept their assurances, and he would not accept ours."

. . . "Wouldn't he automatically know we can be trusted?" Angie asked with a grin.

. . . "He would automatically know we cannot," Erika replied, glanced at her silent sister and stifled the urge to slap her to get her talking.

. . . Angie laughed at that. "Very well. Your reports have been very thorough, you are to be congratulated. Since you aren't interested in charging into the heart of the beast, you will remain with his Harem. Has he Tamed either of you yet?"

. . . "No," Eriko said quietly.

. . . "Ah, that's why the silence from the noisier of the pair," Angie said, "Then let me explain something about men, rather than boys. They take the protection of those in their care very seriously. Most are not too lenient with people who try to kill a child. You're both damn lucky you failed, and even luckier you're still alive," she said harshly, "And you're mooning that he hasn't taken you into his bed. He probably never will. He sees you both as spies, if not assassins, he's forced to deal with. If you have any romantic feelings, get rid of them. He won't acknowledge or reciprocate them."

. . . The pair looked at each other and nodded.

. . . "Fine, now get back and do your job. It's what you're there for."

. . . The two stood, saluted and left.

. . . From another door, Angie the Titmouse entered. "I feel sorry for them."

. . . "No one else has failed to alienate these 'Authors' as soon as they arrived. It's almost as if someone were conspiring against us. Those two should have done a lot of hand-holding and counseling, and slowly put the leash on him. They not only failed, but made certain no one else can catch him either."

. . . "Hild?" the Titmouse asked.

. . . "Maybe, but she's none too subtle. Does he suspect you?"

. . . "No," the Titmouse answered, "I'm a purloined letter, too obvious to be a trick. And I'm loyal."

. . . "Good, he needs at least one loyal friend," the SLIS officer sighed as she stood and paced, "This is the best bait we've had in ages. They have to bite, they have to bite hard, and then we'll have them." The fury on the woman's face was matched by that on the Titmouse's.

. . . "It's time they learned," the Titmouse said, "Time indeed."

---

. . . "So you can't open the barrier?" the S-Goth laughed at him.

. . . "Considering you're leaning against it, and it's supposed to be your place, I wouldn't laugh so hard," he replied.

. . . "We will destroy you," she said, "For what you would do to Pokègirls."

. . . "I thought we already had this discussion," he said, "So let's skip to the end where you shut up. Who sold you to that thing? Ah, blessed silence."

. . . The S-Goth squirmed and tugged at her bindings.

. . . She's proven quite an escape artist, he thought as he set the dagger on eleven, But she keeps breaking open the scabs on those wounds.

. . . "You're getting blood all over your cloak," he told her, "And if you keep squirming, you may just show me your goodies."

. . . That got her, he thought as the froze and stared at him.

. . . "So what are your plans when that thing comes back? I assume that as a GrimGoth, you have a brilliant plan, and the means to implement it."

. . . She threw herself at him again, despite the bindings.

. . . "The definition -" A punch in the gut stopped her charge cold. " - of insanity." He added a punch in the crotch to make her fold up and quit trying to bite him. "Is repeating the same action." He set her whimpering form back against the barrier. "And expecting a different result." He plunged the blade in where he'd twice punched her.

. . . Her mouth flew open as if to scream, instead she fell back on the sand.

. . . "So that's the key," he said as he dragged her back inside his once prison, taking the dagger with him. "She's conscious, the barrier's up, she's unconscious it's down." He paused and considered.

. . . Do I have the time to teach her the meditation techniques to let her achieve a semi-conscious state, and what would that do to the barrier? he wondered, Problems, problems, problems. I'm not going to leave her where anyone can find her.

. . . The food tray had been replaced and refilled. More Thai food, I bet it's her favorite. Another reason to hate her, bwahaha. He recovered the tray cover and began digging, then stopped. Idiot, tie her up securely, and roll her in that rug, then dig the hole to hide her in! He shook his head. I'm such a moron sometimes. He removed her cloak, leaving the cowl, and tied her wrists behind, tightly enough she couldn't get any play. I should have picked up some of the other strips, oh well. He tied her knees instead of her ankles. If she wakes up, she's less likely to get out. Let her precious 'no nookie' vow be protected, or so she thinks.

. . . He rolled her into a cigar shape within the fabric circle.

. . . Kid must be exhausted, I woke up quicker than that, he thought as he dug then carefully buried her, leaving an airway.

. . . "Now I think I find that android, and get some answers. I think they've got this kid so brainwashed she doesn't know the answers I need. Sweet people. Frankly, now would be the time I'd need that Panthress. Actually what I need is a Bolo, but I don't expect to get one of those in a hurry either. How about a dying alien with a green ring? How about just a pet Alien? How about you two knock it off an let me work?"

---

. . . "You are doing well," the voice in Ronette's head told her, "I would move faster, but I could hardly expect better of you."

. . . Her tears were exhausted, she had given up her struggle to stop her advance, but instead husbanded her strength. If I can warn Daria at the right moment, she thought desperately.

. . . "I can be patient, the events will unfold as I will," the Beast's voice taunted.

. . . There has to be a way, to take control. This is as bad a being a Doll again, aware, but helpless, she thought as she tried to seem to offer no resistance, There has to be something I can do. Something that I could manage.

. . . "What I'd like to know is what the Hell are you doing?" came an unfamiliar voice.

. . . "Who are you?" she asked, "Wait I can talk?"

. . . "Apparently, so what are you doing?" came the voice again, "I can appreciate dances as well as the next - but this is just weird."

. . . "Please! You have to help me! He's sent me to kill the girl. To kill - "

. . . "Daria?" he asked.

. . . "How -? She told you?"

. . . "No, you have a glowing, red, triangular button with Daria printed on it," he told her, "Why it's placed where your pubic hair should be -? It indicates your feeling. I'm guessing the last part."

. . . She blushed furiously at the implication. Then wondered aloud, "What are you seeing? I'm crawling through a narrow pass between two hills."

. . . "A wide open factory floor. They must assemble something pretty big, considering the overhead cranes range between 5 and 60 tons."

. . . "How do you know that?"

. . . "It's printed on the lower pulley assemblies on all of them," he told her, "So he took over your housekeeping mind? I was right about calling you an Android."

. . . "Yes, how would a man know that?"

. . . "Can't your lover override . . . you never consummated your feelings for her. I guess stupidity really is universal."

. . . "I'm a bodyguard. To even suggest one like me - for one like her - it's gauche."

. . . "Ah, the ultimate GrimGoth insult, not evil or horrible, gauche. Are you really confused that people have a problem with you folks?"

. . . "What are you, some ghost sage?"

. . . "No, just somebody who's learned that most people don't learn something until they solve it for themselves."

. . . "That's a useless piece of information," she replied.

. . . "Okay, Le Chatelier's principle - "

. . . "I know it, but how does it help?" Ronette asked, "I'll be outside this crack, and then I know where I'll be heading. I can keep this body from running, but I can't make it leap over a cliff."

. . . "You won't have to do that, if you can assure me that that thing is a real, honest to Lucifer demon, not some elemental or modified Pokègirl."

. . . "I can assure you it is," she said, "Why does that matter?"

. . . "I'd have more trouble with a Pokègirl. Everybody forgets about real demons, and that's the real weakness."

. . . "I hope you realize I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about," Ronette said, "And it's too late, I'm out."

. . . "Not a problem," said the man wearing Daria's cloak, "I think -"

. . . She watched herself leaping to tear out his throat. He threw the cloak in her face. When she pulled it off, he was gone.

. . . "I should have expected that," he said as she cast around, searching for the source of the voice, "Was that you, or it, or should I even care?" he asked angrily.

. . . "You're that thing that tried to destroy Sanctuary," she shouted, and heard her body shouting it as well.

. . . "If I'd tried, I would have succeeded," he replied, "And if you people had just left me alone, I wouldn't have done anything."

. . . Something grabbed her arm and slammed her face first into the rock wall that bordered the path. She tried to break the hold, only to find it wasn't there.

. . . "When I find you -!" she screamed.

. . . "At least you aren't going after Daria," he said, "That part of the plan is working. Oh, I'm to your right about 15 feet out, no, you're metric pukes, that 4.57 meters."

. . . "Oh, you can fly!?" she tore lose a rock and hurled it off the path, to where he'd claimed to be.

. . . "I can also walk through solid stone, flying, that's simple. I just never studied gravity."

. . . "You make jokes?"

. . . "Every joke gives you time for your precious Daria to live longer, you bet I make jokes. Say, what's the difference between an aristocrat and a vampire."

. . . "I don't know."

. . . "Neither does anyone else," he chuckled, "Sheesh, tough crowd."

. . . "Oh, you better tell him you saw Daria."

. . . "What? Who?"

. . . "What are you doing, slave?" the Beast asked as it moved through the cleft and out onto the path.

. . . "I saw Daria," she felt herself saying.

. . . "She is not here, you have been fooled," it rumbled with amusement, "Perhaps she decided to trick you."

. . . How can he not see you? Ronette asked.

. . . "Beats me, but I'm going to use it. Do you want my help, or would you rather trust Daria to his tender mercies, and yours?"

. . . You are a greater enemy that even he is. You would destroy us all.

. . . "Funny, you get a mouthful of sandstone, and I'm the great enemy. He's going to turn you all over to demons for their pleasure, and he's Mr. Cuddly. You people really are tied up in your ideology."

. . . "Why are you standing there? GO!" the Beast thundered.

. . . Crap, I had control, but I couldn't hold it, Ronette said as she tried to beat her mind against the iron-control the Beast had over her body and lower mind.

. . . "Don't worry about it," he told her dismissively.

. . . Don't worry! I lo - I am responsible for her!

. . . "You LOVE her. Speak the truth. If you can't be honest with the destroyer of all you hold dear, who can you be honest with?"

. . . I'll kill you! she tried to shriek, her body was eerily silent.

. . . "So I guess asking for a one-way ticket home is out of the question? A banishment of the greatest devil of the Age? No, please," he pled, "Damn. You do know where you're headed, don't you?"

. . . I suspect I'll keep searching until I find where she is, she replied, feeling some hope, That may take some time.

. . . "Not as much as you might think," he said as she took a turn.

. . . What makes you say that? she asked, NO! I'm homing in on her! You have to stop me!

. . . "In my time. You know there's only one way to save her, and you. It's time you gave some thought to that."

. . . "What are you talking about?!"

. . . He sighed. "You'd think they'd give an Android her own instruction manual. Okay, let me explain about how your mind works."

. . . The secret of Dolls and SmartDolls is one of Sanctuary's most closely guarded secrets, how does he know?

. . . " 'scuse me! 'He Who Must Be Feared': omniscient, omnipotent and now lemon-scented for your protection."

. . . And insane, she thought.

. . . "Just sick of this place," he replied.

---

. . . Daria woke and nearly screamed. I'm naked, tied up and underground! Other facts queued up and she took them in. I can still breathe, I haven't been violated, and I think all the runes the Beast carved in me are gone. What's going on here?

. . . She lay there a while, trying to figure things out. Is he saving me for later? Or is he waiting for me to move or feel hope, then he can attack me when it would be fun? Then I'll show him! I can just stay here, that'll show him! I know how to meditate, and can just stay here as long as I want.

. . . She allows herself to drift into a trance. I just wish I understood why I smell spicy food.

---

. . . The two Angies glanced at the report that they'd been reading. One was the SLIS agent assigned to the case, and the other the only one in the Harem literate to the college level.

. . . "How did we miss this so completely?" the SLIS agent asked.

. . . Dr. Marilyn shrugged. "I can only guess they assumed the symptoms were the effects of recovering from the Red Plague and the extensive regeneration treatments," she offered, "Most Tamers don't get PTSD. Whatever would normally give it to them, kills them in the process."

. . . "So my Master has a serious mental problem. The fact he's still being hunted by his enemies cannot be helpful," the Warmech Titmouse said, "Odd that he could be so gentle."

. . . "There's still a Bombshell ready to blow down there," the SLIS agent said, "The cruelty he's shown points to that pretty clearly. He's managed to control it, but if he is as powerful as the S-Goths think."

. . . "He'll snuff out the sun or make it go nova, which is a lot easier," the SLIS agent said, "Having a working knowledge of astrophysics is not a good thing for someone with the potential to do that kind of damage."

. . . "As the only fully trained psychiatrist in the room," Dr. Marilyn pointed out, "You might point out that he has this, and that he requires treatment. I can put forward the proper regimen, perhaps even one he's familiar with." She glanced around. "Sorry, I have visions of this 'we must destroy him to save ourselves' igniting exactly what you're trying to avoid. We can brief his girls on what behaviors are expected, and what's to be avoided. Frankly, some rest, and a little safe intimacy will be the best, we can involve some family therapy and hopefully desensitize him to the trauma."

. . . "Somehow I get the feeling the trauma you're talking about is interaction with Pokègirls," the Titmouse said warily.

. . . "I am. He was essentially tortured and punished, for dreaming. By the very things he's dreamed about. The first one that didn't make unreasonable demands of him was Isaik. He can rationalize 'Underworld's' demands because he attacked and broke her, intentionally. He is offering recompense, and she is a dangerous, albeit willing slave. But both officers started putting demands on him that he wasn't prepared to deal with. If they'd treated him as if he'd been assaulted by Ferals, they might have gotten along better. His reduction of them, while outwardly spiteful, was the best compromise he felt safe making. Unlike Underworld, who he broke then seduced, he depersonalized the officers, while hoping that they'd flee at the soonest opportunity."

. . . "Doctor," the Titmouse asked, "What about the rest of us?"

. . . "He had the opportunity to rescue all of you, and because of his unease with his interactions with Pokègirls, he failed to pick up all the cues the GunValkyrie gave. Now he feels responsible."

. . . "She'll be fine, probably tomorrow," the SLIS agent said.

. . . "Until he sees that and can prove it to himself, he'll still carry the guilt," the Doctor said, "As I said. Treating him as if he'd been attacked by a pack of Ferals is probably the best paradigm. He wants to be protected, but the people best able to protect him were the ones that attacked without mercy, and wouldn't accept that he was helpless and unable to help them. Like Ferals, the S-Goths and their minions refused to accept even an unconditional surrender. Anyone who asks for that, or to 'just trust me' is going to trigger the conditioning he's received. From the S-Goths, then from your two officers."

. . . "Why were the two G-Splices able to elicit such a positive reaction?" the SLIS agent asked.

. . . "I suspect that he has a ingrained believe that the Seraph breed cannot, not will not, can not harm him. Anything derived from a Seraph would likewise have the same limitation."

. . . "So should I forward the girls he feels he's hurt, or the ones who'd prefer a cuddle rather than a Taming, or - what?"

. . . "You're assuming he's coming back. I didn't want to hit this too hard before, but he may have simply run away. None of us, including him, have a working knowledge of his powers. If he did help create this world, and especially this League, I suspect he can do a good deal more than he knows he can."

. . . "When he comes back, doctor, which of the girls should I send? I'd like your medical advice, and we'll leave metaphysics and existentialism for after-dinner conversations," the Titmouse gently insisted.

. . . "Whichever your instincts tell you, but one of the original three should be with him at all times, perhaps just one. Observe which girls seem to threaten him the least, and those should be the ones you chose. Be aware of sudden mood shifts. He may be able to tolerate a circumstance, but something my trigger a memory or feeling, and it will push him past his comfort threshold. Say he's fixing something electrical and a spark pops, trivial to you and me, but he'll remember the electrical torture and he will have to get away from that."

. . . "I think Rainbow and Blossom might be good choices. They were hurt too, and I think they can smell his mood swings," the Titmouse said, "And for all their ferocious appearance, they're young kids, barely legal and emotionally not much older than Isaik."

. . . "I'd like to get him into therapy as soon as possible," the doctor said, "As I said, if he's capable of half of what the S-Goths think he is, there could be trouble."

. . . "What about the others?" the SLIS agent asked, "I've read a few reports, and the authorities aren't treating some of the others any better than he was."

. . . "Unless you've got a therapist who can travel to them, and arrange to get them to sit down and talk about their experiences, they are going to continue to be unstable. I've read some of the same reports, and my diagnosis for most of them is the same."

. . . She signed. "All right, lets get some coffee and stretch our legs, I'm afraid the briefing on culture shock is going to be even more depressing, and the synergy between the two conditions will not be pretty."

---

. . . He slipped on the visibility cloak as they approached his one-time prison. Good, she stayed buried.

. . . "You should not have brought me HERE!" came the screaming charge as the Android spotted him.

. . . He used the cloak as a matador's cape and stepped aside to let her crash through the barrier. The girl rolled to a stop in a fetal position. Nothing ventured, he thought as he dove through. What was the problem? he wondered as he stood up from the sand, none the worse for wear.

. . . "Lazarus, come forth!" he shouted as he dragged the 'cigar' out of the ground. Then rolled the girl out onto the sand. While she glared hatefully at him as he cut her bonds. "Your friend there is under the Beast's curse. Stupid monster prevents her from saying it, but a True Lover's kiss will free her." He stepped back out of reach before he continued. "Problem is, the Beast is using her as a puppet, so while she's trying to kill you, you have to 'kiss' her. It may have a different meaning, demonic euphemism and all." He shrugged.

. . . "I'm supposed to - with you watching?" she shouted.

. . . "Unless you can subdue her first, I going to have to more than watch. Like beat her up and then tie her up. But since she's going to kill you, it's your decision. Or you can just kill her, your auras should batter her pretty thoroughly before you bash her head on a rock. Or drown her in a bowl of Thai food. Frankly, I think it's a cruel prank, you S-Goths can only love each other, not lesser beings."

. . . "What are you saying?!"

. . . "Under the cover over there, there's a bowl of Thai food. Noodles, fish, spices, more spices, more spices. Oh, she seems to be recovering. You might want to recover yourself, with your cloak, before she fully awakens."

. . . "That's not - " The Android's yowl and charge interrupted Daria. The S-Goth scrambled away from the clumsy attack.

. . . He knelt and let the SmartDoll fall over him. He quickly rolled away from the answering kick. "I guess you don't want my help. Before you run out, you'd better know there's a barrier. I'm betting you can't - " Daria dove out of the way as the Android slammed into the barrier, proving its existence and solidness.

. . . "Yeah, that barrier."

. . . "So we're trapped with you?" Daria asked.

. . . "With - yes, but I'm not trying to kill you." He tripped the Android again. "Unlike someone else I could mention."

. . . "You'll just beat us down and rape us!" she shouted back as she fired a web at the Android.

. . . I am not going to S-Goth = Drow stereotype, I'm not going there, he thought, Ah Hell, just a little.

. . . "I hate to break it to you sweet cheeks, but neither of you is very attractive. I'd use my hand before I'd Tame either of you." He looked around. "Well, that's one way to break up a fight." Then he turned to see what they were staring at. "Okay, I can't top that."

. . . The Android's eyes were glowing, and tears streamed down her cheeks as she tore through the webbing and advanced on the S-Goth.

. . . Crap, he thought.

. . . "Her sex-partner has full access to her Housekeeping consciousness. That's where his control of her is," he told the S-Goth.

. . . "So I'm supposed to just rape her and then things will be all better?!" Daria screamed at him as she raised a barrier of sand, only to have the Android tear through it.

. . . Tell her it's all right! the Android's higher consciousness told him, Tell her I understand, and it will be better.

. . . That sounds just like all the justification for all the Taming crap, he thought, I never really believed it.

. . . What are you waiting for!? She hasn't been holding back, she is that weak a mage! She can't stop me! Tell her it's all right, damn you! I'd rather be her servant, than her murderer! I'd rather be able to think and feel, than just kill! Is that so hard to figure out?

. . . No, it's just so obvious, he thought, I couldn't believe it.

. . . Her name's Daria, but we called her 'Little StormCloud', my name is Ronette, the Android's voice came to him, I've been her bodyguard for eight years.

. . . "Ronette says it's all right, Little StormCloud, that her eight years of service culminate in this moment. She only wants to serve you, you wouldn't be taking anything important from her, and giving her back her self."

. . . The S-Goth froze and stared. He ran forward and tackled the Android before she could close.

. . . "She's no stronger than a regular human," he said.

. . . My doing, I can't stop her, but I can slow her down. Also, she can't see you, the Ronette's mind told him.

. . . "I can hold her. What are you waiting for?" he shouted as he wrestled with the strong, but clumsy Android.

. . . "Can you just use that knife, to heal her?" Daria whined as she tried to get away from the struggling pair.

. . . "Everything she needs to heal her, to restore her humanity is right between your legs! You wanted to know why Tamers are the way they are? Guess what, now your either a Tamer, or a corpse! Chose!"

. . . How many Pokègirls in my stories were probably screaming that at my main characters? How many of my current Harem are probably screaming that at me!? he thought, You have to be really intellectual, to be that stupid.

. . . "Here!" he tossed her the knife, then rolled the Android over, "Not the blade, the handle you ninny! And if you stab me, I'll let her kill you and Tame her myself!"

. . . "What do I do?" Daria whimpered as she knelt between the Android's legs.

. . . "You've never done it yourself?" he asked.

. . . "No!" she insisted, "That's just for my lover."

. . . Tell her to do what Lady Valiant punished her for, Ronette told him.

. . . "Lindi Valiant?!"

. . . "What about my aunt?" Daria asked.

. . . I'm not in the shitter, I'm in the blender, and somebody just hit 'puree', he thought.

. . . "What she punished you for doing, do that!" he shouted as he struggled to restrain the Android, "Or tear her dress into strips and I'll do it."

. . . "NO!" she shouted, "No, I'll do it."

. . . What did you do on your vacation, oh I directed pornos for S-Goths, he thought, Cue laughter.

. . . "Snowflake? You around?" Silence. "There's never a superstrong nymphomaniac around when you want one."

. . . "You know Ancelot's familiar? How?"

. . . "Don't ask."

. . . "Oh," Daria said.

. . . Oh! Right there, press right there!

. . . "Press right there," he shouted.

. . . Harder!

. . . "Harder," he told her.

. . . Seems someone else is enjoying the ride, Ronette thought.

. . . "Don't distract me, Ronette," he said, "Daria keep doing what you're doing. It seems to be working."

. . . "Do you have to watch me?" Daria asked.

. . . The Android shuddered hard enough to throw him off. "No, he doesn't," Ronette said aloud. She crawled over to kiss him, "Thanks, for a god of absolute destruction, you're very thoughtful."

. . . "Thanks, I think." He told her as he cradled his arm.

. . . "Aw, I dislocated it," she cooed, "Let me help."

. . . "Not necessary, I can relocate - that didn't hurt at all." He massaged his shoulder as she pulled her hands away.

. . . "We aren't all monsters who want to destroy the world. Some of us are trying to save it."

. . . "You might want to start by saving it from the rest of you," he told her, "The rock over there should provide a firmer surface, and more privacy."

. . . "And sand?" Ronette asked as she stood and approached Daria.

. . . "Let me take care of that, Daria don't stop, you aren't done yet." He shook out the large cloth and draped it over the rock. "Ready."

. . . Ronette carried the shivering Daria behind the rock. The loud moans from the S-Goth told the world that the virgin sacrifice now failed to meet the prime criteria, and that Ronette knew when to make quintuply sure of something.

. . . The Android walked over the rock, and held up her hands. "She's covered up, and I don't want to fight. Although that's a healing device, and thank you for healing her, I know it also can be a fierce weapon, if the person has been hurt before. And I have been seriously hurt."

. . . "It's got lower settings that are merely, uncomfortable," he offered.

. . . "What are we going to do? Daria has no plan, I don't, you seem to."

. . . "The Beast will probably realize that he doesn't command you, and will come looking. Just be thankful he has no minions to use. I'm invisible to him."

. . . "And to me, I looked for the footprints in the sand. I really can't see you."

. . . "Daria can, so, my plan is to get her to ask for my help. Then I will take care of the Beast," he said.

. . . " 'Take care of it', the most powerful banishments known can't touch it. It drew her dreamself here through layers of defenses that would be physically palpable. And you're just going to 'deal with it'. You think that the S-Goths are the only ones drunk on their own hubris?"

. . . "It isn't hubris, it's humility. In martial arts, you can oppose force with force, or redirect it to use its power against itself. Powerful as the Beast is, it can't fundamentally change what it is, a true demon."

. . . "Let me restate, how is it being a powerful demon, supposed to give you supremacy, when you can barely handle a human strength Pokègirl?"

. . . "Better you don't know," he told her, "Because here he comes."

. . . Ronette turned to look at the Beast approaching. "No. The barrier, it will hold him?"

. . . "For a while," he told her as he shook the S-Goth awake, "I know Princesses are supposed to wake with a kiss, but I don't want you barfing on me."

. . . "Huh, wha? Ronette."

. . . "And me, and your other playmate. One big, happy apocalypse," he told her and draped the cloak over her before pulling her upright. The sight of the Beast banished all sleepiness.

. . . "The barrier will hold?"

. . . "Your barrier, your answer," he told her as Ronette joined them behind the rock, "Getting kinda crowded."

. . . Daria realized who she was grabbing and cowering against, and let him step aside, so she could hold Ronette. "What do we do?"

. . . "Let's look at options. You can't outrun him. You can't destroy him. If you damage him, the essence of what he is remains . . . he will regenerate, and keep coming. Eventually, you will weaken. Your reserves will be gone. They are relentless."

. . . Great, I'm channeling John DeLancie, he thought as he looked at their horrified expressions.

. . . "All you have to do is honestly ask for my protection, not as a god, not as an elemental force, not even as a friend, just someone in dire straights who needs a hand."

. . . The two exchanged looks. Their uncertainty gave him his answer.

. . . "How?" Daria asked.

. . . "You'll have to trust me," he told them.

. . . A glow enveloped the barrier.

. . . "It's not getting hotter or colder," Ronette said, "And the light's too dim to hurt us."

. . . "He's draining the shield," Daria said, "I can feel it." She scowled at him. "So we either fight a hopeless battle, or leave our futures entirely in your hands?"

. . . "I did not sell you to him. I accepted a plea for mercy on your behalf from someone who had every reason to hate you. I am no angel, but I am not the villain here," he replied.

. . . The barrier and the light draining it faded. "End this!"

. . . "In time," the Beast told them.

. . . "He can't see me," he told them.

. . . "What, do you want us to beg, to get on our knees and ask you to save us?" Daria shouted at him as he walked out to flank the Beast.

. . . "Your histrionics and roleplaying insanity will not save you. Mad or not, you will serve," the Beast told them.

. . . Ronette shook Daria. "He's only asking that we , that you ask him. We have nothing to lose, and our whole lives to gain."

. . . The S-Goth grimaced, then looked at the Beast who still strode towards that at a leisurely pace. "Please, we need you, your help. Please help us," she managed.

. . . He nodded, and smiled. The smile vanished as with a grim voice he began,"I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible."

. . . "What is this!?" the Beast shouted and stumbled back from the figure who he now saw clearly.

. . . "And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made," he said, advancing steadily.

. . . "You cannot stop me! They are mine, by contract and by right!" the Beast shouted as he retreated step by step, from the lone man who forced hm back, step by step.

. . . "Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end."

. . . "Bah! You cannot protect them forever!" the Beast shouted, "You name is marked and you - "

. . . He raised his voice, "And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets."

. . . The Beast vanished

. . . "And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen."

. . . "Ha, as if he could trick me into not finishing. I swear, too many people believe in the 'Jesus sneaks through Humboldt Park' version, religions are about blood and fire, and always will be," he exulted, "I'm not afraid of the power I have." Then looked at the two terrified Pokègirls.

. . . I won't shout 'boo' no matter how much fun I'd have, he told himself, If I'm going to be an figure of terror, I should give them something constructive. Back to John DeLancie I guess, he thought, Always steel from the best.

. . . "If you can't take a little scare, a bloody nose, maybe you'd better crawl back under your bed and pull the covers tight," he told them sharply, "It's not safe out here in the world! It's wondrous! There are treasures and pitfalls abounding, delights to satiate desires both subtle and gross. And terrors to freeze your soul. But it's not for the timid."

. . . The two figures clung to each other and faded. He blinked and looked around the forest he'd appeared in. He touched his pocket. "I've still got the knife, so it really happened. I've also got a little insight, so the pain and the wisdom both came, and I keep."

. . . He turned towards the sound of something massive crashing through the woods.

. . . If it's wounded, I have a chance. If it's not, maybe I can cut my way out from the inside, he thought and braced for the attack.

. . . The GunValkyrie broke through the brush first.

. . . I remember her, he thought, then realized she wasn't going to stop. She didn't slam into him, stopping as she grabbed him and bore him to the ground.

. . . "I've got him!" she shouted as she held him tight, "And you aren't going to leave us again, Master!"

. . . "Seadamar?" he asked of the armored girl who'd wrapped him in a bearhug an Ursine might envy.

. . . The arrival of a pair of Tyrannodames, should have worried him. But their riders slid down the battle-forms' necks, as the two massive creatures nudged him and breathed deep.

. . . "Hello Isaik, and Dr. Carmen," he offered as the Eidolon tried to find any real estate on her Master the GunValkyrie left open, before hugging that.

. . . "You gave us quite a scare, sir," the small man scolded.

. . . "Not half as bad as when I tell you all what I've been doing," he replied, "Are you two going to let me up?"

. . . "NO!" the two shouted.

. . . "Ah, man and his absolute mastery over Pokègirls, hogwash!" he said, tried to get some leverage, but the GunValkyrie had him completely pinned.

. . . "Hi everybody!" he told the crowd of happy Pokègirls as they arrived, "Ah, Agent Douglas, and her Harem. I think things just got worse, for both of us."

. . . "How do you know her on sight?" Kay asked as she arrived with another contingent.

. . . "Guess."

. . . The SLIS agent squirmed as everyone looked at her with renewed interest.

. . . "You really like to hurt your heros," Kay scolded, "Don't you."

. . . He would have shrugged, if he could have moved.

. . . "All right make way," Doctor Marilyn said, then walked up to him. "I'd tell you to let him breathe, but that appears to be all you will let him do." She looked at him closely. "Okay, carry him to the infirmary. And no more private room. You're going to have someone with you, even when you go to the bathroom. We've had quite enough of your foolishness." She nodded and Aurora and Roxanne loaded him aboard Rainbow, others climbed aboard to steady him and the doctor, while most of the others rode Blossom.

. . . "Thank you doctor, I think I get the message. I also think I need to talk to you about shell shock, and some treatment."

. . . "That was easy," she said as she checked his regenerated arm and leg, "I was expecting a fight about that."

. . . "No. We've got other things to worry about," he admitted, "And I haven't exactly been doing my job. That's going to have to end."

. . . A cheer went up from the group. "That certainly explains what you all think is going to happen, that isn't. I'm still not a teenager, there are some things I still can't do."

. . . "I'll put together a schedule," Angie the Warmech Titmouse said, "Based on Libido, Tamer availability, as well as breaks, Tamer's choice days, etc."

. . . "I was thinking at least for the moment, of selecting an Alpha, but I think Angie just volunteered."

. . . "Why can't I be Alpha?" Isaik complained.

. . . "The Alpha has to do paperwork," he replied.

. . . "Angie for Alpha HOORAY!"

. . . "The next step is language and literacy programs," he said.

. . . "What about TAMING?!"

. . . "Very funny, Miguelito," he replied, "That I'm going to deal with, but not today. I am going to sleep, anyone who want to snuggle, fine, but sleep means sleep. I'll think about Taming, and saving the world, tomorrow."

. . . The girls muttered among themselves, but the trip to the infirmary went quickly. He was taken to the bath house with Seadamar, Isaik and Doctor Marilyn. The battle-forms transformed and seemed to be discussing things with the others.

. . . "Let's get you cleaned off, and all shiny for your girls," the doctor teased, "You don't have to rush, they'll take a few minutes."

. . . "Building a nest?" he asked, "What happened to those G-Splices we got from Seadamar's tamer, and the distorted balls Underground dug out of Law?"

. . . "Those G-Splices are under observation. They aren't pretty, we're not even sure they're viable, but Miguelito's hope strings eternal," the doctor told him as Isaik and Seadamar carefully stripped him. "You seem a good deal more - accepting."

. . . "I had reality shoved in my face a bit harder than usual. I guess I finally figured things out. Letting Pokègirls decide their own fate doesn't mean, decide from the choices that make me comfortable. If devotion that not just borders, but eagerly crosses over into slavish, mind and selfless worship, is her choice, then I'm going to have to live with it. You two are awfully quiet."

. . . "The wisdom of our Master spills down and sprinkles like rain on his Pokègirls," Isaik said.

. . . "Doc, I've got a clear bill of physical health?"

. . . "Yes."

. . . He shoved Isaik underwater and began mercilessly tickling her. Underground dragged him under the water and the two wrestled.

. . . The Doctor looked at the nervous GunValkyrie, who held a bar of soap and a washcloth, while one or the other surfaced long enough to gasp some air, before returning to the battle. "This might be your best chance to get a quick Taming, make him your Master in deed."

. . . "Uh, doctor, I can't swim."

---

. . . "Okay, according to the doc, the local Sadie Pokens is in five days. On that morning, I'll scatter you around the town. You'll have some currency, and a map to where I'll be at the end of the day. You're job is to have fun, look around, maybe meet some other people."

. . . Why do I have visions of each of them showing up with an entire army in tow?

. . . "You have those five days to get the literacy and English processing. If you can't read a map, have one of the girls teach you. If you want to travel with a group, work out a rendezvous with them. If any of you wish to leave, that too is your right, and I don't want anyone pressuring you to stay. That's why you're being scattered. They can try to make you promise, but once you're blocks away from them, you can tell me and then run in any direction you want. If they find you and drag you back. I'll release you, and I'll Level Five them."

. . . He ignored their collective gasp. "I'm not fooling around. I will not have members of my Harem playing the S-Goth game. I'll put a stop to it, permanently. Now, I want to get some sleep. Frankly, I need it. We all have a busy few days ahead of us, so I'd advise you all to get some sleep too."

. . . There were worried murmurs as girls talked with those around him. There were shuffles as some girls moved about, finding sleeping partners, or Taming each other as quietly as they could. At the perimeter were the bulk of Blossom and Rainbow, surrounding the entire nest like a mountain of muscles and teeth.

. . . Well, I'm in it now, and I don't see a way out, he thought, If I did see one, would I take it, or stay here?

---

. . . "Oh bosh, you aren't taking advantage of my hospitality, or my generosity," Miguelito told him as they sat in his study, "That pack of politicians certainly did," he added darkly, then smiled and began to laugh, "Until you disappeared, and they acted like a pack of Bimbos who'd seen a Widow. Running around giving useless orders, practically weeping. That memory would be worth your weight in gold." He sobered and looked at his friend. "You still don't want to be a 'burden', you should apply your new found wisdom to your fellow humans. My life was extremely dull and predictable. My fellow humans hardly worth the time of day. My projects were an escape, nothing more, a moment where I could focus my mind on the insoluble. A few days diversion, then back to the tedious paperwork required to turn genius into something that the common man could appreciate and use."

. . . Miguelito smiled and gestured. "But you, sir, manage to confound me even when I knew what you are planning. A handful of pocket change for each of your girls is a trivial expense. If you want justification, I have a standing reward out for new data about my life's work." He smiled, then frowned. "Considering you practically gave me blueprints down to the sewer level, I think the expenditures you've incurred are well within that bounty."

. . . "So as long as I'm patient, the goose will lay one golden egg a day," he said, "That I can live with."

. . . "What are you going to do on this most wondrous holiday?" Miguelito asked sardonically.

. . . "People watch. There's a tavern that overlooks the central square. I've reserved a booth in the common room, and one of the private dining rooms for after. I intend to sit, have drinks and snack brought to me, and just watch my fellow creatures scurry after their dreams. Knowing I don't have any part of it, or any need to intervene."

. . . "Deus exit melancholia? I suspect that adventure will find you," Miguelito said.

. . . "Then why rush about the streets searching, when you can't outrun it."

. . . The small man laughed.

---

. . . The moon had not risen, and the day was newborn as he released Angie.

. . . "I could just follow you," the Warmech Titmouse said, "So could all of us."

. . . "True, but you have money, you have your freedom. This is a town full of food, and clothes and art work. We shall very soon be traveling again. I suggest, if you intend to rendezvous with me at the end of the day, you get some new traveling clothes, and perhaps some supplies you think I might have forgotten, or something you want to keep to yourself."

. . . The small woman scowled. "I don't understand you."

. . . "I was happy in my previous life. I was dragged here against my will. You're a Pokègirl, you know how it feels to be bought and sold as if you were property, and not a person. Someone tried to make me property, to be beaten, broken and thrown away when they were done. I - can't - assume that - for anyone. I have to let you all go, if even for one day, to prove to myself, than I am not the same as the ones who brought me here. That even if I have to order one or all of you to your deaths, that on one day, I drew a line made you all decide to cross over to my side. If you won't let me do that, then you're no different from the S-Goths, and I don't want you with me."

. . . She nodded. "You are going to get into trouble today, you do know that? And with none of us there, what then?"

. . . "Finish your shopping, and set up a rotation. You're Alpha, you should have thought of that."

. . . He left the sputtering Titmouse and headed off a few blocks to release the most problematic of his girls.

. . . Aurora and Roxanne materialized, still clad in their capes and leotards. "This is where you're free to go. You can travel, and you can look around. I've heard that you aren't happy with the situation. Here is the time and place you can do better. Or stay with each other and you'll do okay."

. . . "We aren't angry with you," Roxanne said.

. . . "Specifically," Aurora added.

. . . "But this world, we haven't figured out if what we've been told is true, or a joke you've been playing on us."

. . . "Even Miguelito would have a hard time assembling an entire town to perpetuate a lie. So now is your chance to find out," he told them, "Good luck to both of you.

. . . They flew into the night sky. He let them go. I have to wonder how deep does their belief go.

. . . The release of the rest of his Harem took until the first glimpse of dawn. Some asked if another had been released, and ran off to meet them. So merely shook their heads and headed out. One or two of them followed at a distance. Blossom and Rainbow were among these, despite their newly acquired skill in both English and the patois that served as the Sunshine League's most common speech.

. . . They're free to do as they wish, he reminded himself, Today of all days. If that means they shadow you, it's their choice. Let them have it.

---

. . . The woman had walked into the tavern early in the morning, soon after he arrived. Her height and the mirror sunglasses intimidated some, but her large, full bust riding high up and broad hips brought interest from those enthralled by her beauty and sexuality. Her broad shoulders, narrow waist, four-pack abs, and toned musculature shown by the tight, short tankini top and v-cut bikini bottom drew others interested in her physical power. But any Tamer who got close enough to note the hair was pink, not strawberry blonde, and her eyes were gold, generally found somewhere else to be, often with undue haste.

. . . The few women and kids who remained in the tavern seemed to take in stride, the odd combination of an older man and a Hyperdoll effortlessly maintaining the peace of the place. A few of the Pokèwomen looked from the old man, to the oddly nervous and quiet Hyperdoll, and couldn't quite work out the connection.

. . . Occasionally, the Hyperdoll would center herself, take on a pleasant and hopeful air, and go out. Then the place would have a few Tamers and younger Pokègirls who came in and didn't beat a hasty retreat. Once the Hyperdoll returned, despondent and hurting, only the mothers with children remained.

. . . The first time, she went through the main square he could watch. Poor kid, he thought as she tried to be friendly and nonthreatening, and was repulsed with varying degrees of fear and politeness. The fourth time she came back, looking like she's spent the entire time getting cunt punted, she walked over towards him. She stopped some 10 feet away and turned her back to him in a reverse 3/4 profile so he could see her firm butt and the fullness of her breasts. She looked over her shoulder with her lower lip out-thrust as if pouting, and she flexed her arms to show her biceps. Then raised the near leg and tightened up butt to show off her muscles.

. . . She seems to be requesting it, he thought and gave her a thorough look. He smiled and nodded.

. . . She smiled, initially brightly, then sadly as she walked away and sat down at the counter to order lunch.

. . . Can't get the Tamers out there to look at you, and you have to put on a show for the old fart to get him to look, he thought sympathetically, I bet it's killing you to dress like that, and all it takes is your hair and eyes to give away the game.

. . . She went out a few more times as the day continued, and came back more and more defeated. Finally, he took pity on her and walked over.

. . . "You finally gonna tell me to get out?" she asked dangerously.

. . . "No, I figure I'll bore you to death," he replied. She snorted but left it at that. He sat down across from her.

. . . "Treat this as a job interview. If you've never had one, I'll explain." He paused to let her react, when she didn't, he continued, "Look at the Harem, find what they need that you can do, and tell them you fill the bill. If they're weak on fliers, you can fly. If their weak on fighters, you can do that. You can do elemental swords and blasts, some of your breed can do any element. So you can cover any weakness. Don't go looking for a permanent position, offer a 6 month contract, cancellable for cause and automatically renewable at the end of the term. The magistrate can help you with that. It's more common with the Frees up north, but the law is the law. That lets them get out of arrangement if they want to, and shows your willingness to as well, be willing to accept an 'at-will employment' clause, even suggest it. It means either of you can leave at any time no questions asked. Breach of those contracts is a serious offence. For a Pokègirl who breaks it, they may Level 5 you, so the Tamer can get away. It gives them an out, if you're behavior is Breed-typical. If you have learned to control yourself, then you may have a chance to earn their trust."

. . . "Thanks old man," she said and smiled.

. . . "Good luck, youngster," he replied and walked away.

. . . Should have told her that earlier, he realized, But I wasn't sure she'd listen.

. . . She came and went a few more times, growing more despondent with each boomerang. She never stormed over to scream at him. Just accepting that she was doomed. She rushed out one last time, just before sundown. Many girls and a few Tamers rushed past her to get in, before the last catch frenzy began. A local custom they'd borrowed from Dogpatch.

. . . The girls he'd been interested in came in during this period. Some even getting hit by capture beams, repulsed by their chips they had, or collars he'd included in all their packages. Other than noting the completeness of the roster, he didn't look closely at them, ironically, for the exact opposite reason most of his characters had. I want to prove to Roxanne and Aurora that Pokègirls would chose to serve humans. Even if that service included surrendering sexually to them, he thought as he tried to appear neutral to the various Pokègirls, and even some Pokèwomen who were milling around and glancing from Tamer to Tamer. Gray hair's armor against interest, even by Pokèwomen my age, he thought, And they think guys are shallow.

. . . The girl who was approaching was beautiful, like a piece of art rather than a living thing. While appearing buxom, it was more due to her small frame than the mass of her breasts. Small, and young. I doubt she's 5' 2" and she looks like she'd break in a contrary wind, he thought, noting her bust and waist, If she were human, she's be a beauty contest contestant, maybe even a winner. But I doubt she's even legal. What caught his attention were her violet eyes, full of fear and resolution. The apparently metal-foil, short-sleeved dress she wore clung to her pale body. Metal rings held the front to the back, the top to the bottom baring most of her upper arms, sides and midriff. Many eyes followed her, but inside, during this part of the festival, the girl had to come to you.

. . . She stood next to the booth, looked at the card that said 'reserved for private party' and looked around sharply, setting her thigh-length black hair lashing. He waited for her to say something. Roxanne entered, and peeled loose a Tamer who'd grappled her and was hitting her with a Master Ball. She found her target and approached slowly, to build up tension.

. . . I wonder where Aurora is, he wondered vaguely, She might be on the roof for all I know.

. . . When it was clear the girl wouldn't gather her courage before the storm, he asked, "Why do you want to join? What do you bring to the Harem?"

. . . She blushed beet red, and made a whispering stammer. Too late, Roxanne arrived. Pushing the girl out of the way, she poked him in the chest with more than her finger. "Yes, Taming means sex. I didn't mention it because I warned you things were weird here and hoped to ease into it. On this day the girls chose the Tamers so ask the girls who came back where they'd rather be. Yes, you and your counterpart are pretty, even beautiful, but you can also break me in half so I thought I'd let you know the ground rules before suggesting any action between or among us. I am a vicious, underhanded bastard but that was true before I came here, and I frankly see the girls as people, although not human. I am staring at your chest because I like your breasts, and staring at your eyes is too scary at this point. No that outfit doesn't make your butt look too big, your butt is big and it looks just fine. There are restraints so I'm not afraid of you crushing me. Yes, you can stay. Yes, you can go. That's rather the point of the festival and our attendance." He paused and looked up from what she'd shoved in his face. All of her expression was of righteous fury and frozen in place, except her eyes which were filled with confusion and still blinking.

. . . "I can almost see the hourglass," he said.

. . . She straightened up and sighed, drawing even more sighs from the crowd. "Give it a break will you!" she shouted at them, clearing half the tavern. She started to sigh again, then stopped and sat next to him. "So we need a Tamer?"

. . . "Taming cycles will work for a while," he said sympathetically, "They'll keep away Ferality, but they can't change your libido."

. . . "I heard about Karen, is that what happened to her? She wanted to - but she couldn't stomach the idea of actually - "

. . . "Getting Tamed? Pretty much."

. . . "Look . . . Master, I've never - I've pretty much - I like men, but I've never - " she stopped and closed her eyes. "I'm making a total mess of this."

. . . "I'm not exactly comfortable with the whole thing myself." She looked at him worriedly. "I like Taming, I never got much of that back home. It's the whole 'you're our Master so you make all the big decisions' business that scares the Hell out of me."

. . . Roxanne let out a strangled laugh. "That's what's got you worried? That somebody won't tell you you've got your head up and locked?" She chuckled and smiled seductively. As she carefully pulled his head between her massive, soft bosoms, she purred, "Then Master, have I got two Pokègirls for you."

. . . He enjoyed the strong arms and the softness of her body.

. . . "Can you make it three?" came the plaintive voice.

. . . "We're having a moment here!" Roxanne angrily told whoever, as he pulled himself clear.

. . . It was the Hyperdoll, kneeling on the table in front of him, tears flowing down her cheeks. "They ran, they ran away!" she wailed. Most of the patrons were desperately trying various invisibility and camouflage techniques, except for the battlegroup forming up to protect their Master.

. . . "You didn't listen to me, did you?" he asked gently.

. . . Her expression changed to hopeless confusion, then realization. "I'm independent, I want to be with you, but I will reserve the right to offer advice - politely. I am strong, can fly and have a plethora of elemental techniques. Unlike most of my breed, I am willing to learn." She looked at the collection of approaching girls who went from mildly curious to 'when can I open fire' in their attitudes. She turned back to him. "I'm not adverse to Taming other girls. In fact, I would be willing to serve as one of the squad leaders of a maximum harem, or the alpha to one of the squad leaders."

. . . "What happened to your Tamer?" he asked, "He isn't dead, or we wouldn't be chatting so reasonably."

. . . She sighed, and Roxanne caught him staring, at Roxanne staring. "I don't say she wasn't pretty or I wasn't upto girls!" Roxanne said a tad defensively.

. . . "Didn't, into," he replied.

. . . "He was hurt, and now he sits. They feed him and clean him up, and he may live another twenty years like that. I was advised that since the rest of the Harem blames me for not stepping in as early as I could have, his condition was my fault. Considering my condition is his fault . . . I decided to find someone else, somewhere else."

. . . "Roxanne, find Angie." He turned to the Hyperdoll. "You convince Angie and Roxanne, then you'll have a place."

. . . "Thank you! Thank you!" Before she could grab and hug him, Roxanne dragged her off the table.

. . . "No grabbing until you pass, and I'm not impressed," Roxanne said as she carried the much taller woman away.

. . . He shook his head. What else can hap - shutting up now, he thought as Violet-Eyes was back, this time with a similarly short, very dark-skinned red head who went beyond buxom into 'how can you stand in a positive gravity environment'. Except the girl's breasts were canted and seemingly straining up, as if they were helium-filled.

. . . "You got something ta say?" the red head shouted as she leaned close, showing the grand canyon of cleavage.

. . . "Two things, isn't skin-tight, red leather rather unpleasant in this delightful climate? And I was thinking that even at 0.08988 grams per liter, it wouldn't work in a standard atmosphere."

. . . She brushed some of her reed-like hair out of the way. "Guy can't think of anything but tits, can you?"

. . . "I was actually thinking of buoyancy in a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere," he replied, "You must be a Tomboy."

. . . The redhead folded her arms beneath her breasts and stared at him. "With this damned rack?"

. . . "You think of everything as sexual," he replied, "Even when it doesn't apply to you."

. . . "You got a dirty mind!" She grabbed her violet-eyed friend's arm. "Let's go."

. . . "We want to join your Harem," Violet-Eyes blurted out.

. . . "I never agreed to that! All you said was you wanted to see him," she shouted, "We saw, and their ain't much to see. Now we -"

. . . "Will service you as you need. Use our bodies and skills as you need us." She clasped her hands in front, as if she was praying to him.

. . . "Red, I think you're right, you might want to drag her away, and let her sleep it off."

. . . The Tomboy picked Violet-Eyes up and carried her away. Giving a tremendous view of her slim waist and fine butt flexing and shifting in the tight pants.

. . . Bad attitude, and wrong physiognomy, he thought, I prefer Nordic or Alpine features.

. . . "A little young weren't they?" Isaik asked as she slid into the opposite side of the booth.

. . . "That's what I was thinking, Grandpa," the woman who'd spoken looked like Violet-Eye's older sister, except her eyes were a blue-green that seemed to change shade as she watched him. Her proportions were the same, although instead of being 5'2", she was closer to 5'10". The little black dress she wore hugged her curves. "Maybe somebody a little closer to your own age."

. . . "Your kit?" he asked, then spotted the redhead who approached the group. "Kits?" Where Reed-Red looked like a skinny gymnast who'd overdosed on Bloom and Buttsprout, the older newcomer had a lush, but more reasonable and rational figure. She also wore a half-smile that said she'd learned to tolerate a lot, and took it all with a sardonic pleasure. The skin-tight gold mask over just her upper face made her eyes look as it the were heavily kohled, and she had no pupils or iris. Topped off with tight but well-worn blue jeans and a painted-on, pink, silk shirt unbuttoned enough to show her bronze brasier.

. . . "The universe is intrinsically screwed up, why be offended by it?" he asked her. Her smile brightened and she shrugged. "Did my offering that girl a chance, open the flood gates or something? And how did I not notice you two at least?"

. . . Violet-Eye's elder smiled. Red bowed her head. "We snuck in through the kitchen. At the same time as the others."

. . . "We are with the girl. But I'm not her mother, or her sister," she blushed, and the cadence of her voice plucked a chord in his memory.

. . . Before he could drag the memory into the light, Violet-Eyes was back, dragging Reed-Red with her, despite the disparity in mass. "We are a peace offering from your enemies, and hostages to their good behavior. We will serve as bedslaves, bodyguard, whatever you require of us, you may slay any or all of us if treachery is suspected." It all came out practically as one word.

. . . He noted that Blossom and Rainbow where being restrained from charging over, by practically his entire Harem. Angie's sharp command brought two human-form Tyrannodames under control. All four of the newcomers winced at whatever Angie had said. And it all came clear to him.

. . . "That tears it!" he insisted as he shoved Violet-Eyes out of the way and clawed for his pistol.

. . . Red's smile never faltered as she dragged his hand and the gun within under her chin. Her voice was calm, reasonable, even amused. "One shot kill. I give my word, we will not harm you, or any within your protection." She backed him against the booth divider and she smiled warmly as she looked into his eyes. "I was at Bugger-rama, while the elites ran like scared children, leaving all who believed and struggled for the dream behind. I prayed to all the old gods, that they taught us were pure. Then I prayed to your God, that he take me and me alone, and save all the others. And the sun rose on the clear skies. He Who Must Be Feared had destroyed, as utterly and irrevocably as if by a thunderbolt, yet the dream and those who truly believed, remained." Her fingers stroked his hands, staying away from the hammer, safety and trigger. She pressed herself against him. "I offer myself as love gift, to the one who gave us a single night of terror, for days of hope and a new chance."

. . . He felt the warmth and softness of her body, the gentleness of her touch as he stoked his hands, while their waists pressed tight together. He swallowed, trying to marshal his thoughts. Killing her outright remains an option, and option she ensured. He was also aware she'd been rubbing herself against him, giving him an erection that was nearly painful. Two options, or the two options she's offering, he thought, instinct, almost habit made him decide to take another option.

. . . "Name," he said.

. . . She seemed amused by this and eased up the physical pressure. "Shana," she said, and smiled, "Do you always look a gift horse in the mouth?"

. . . "Lately they've been smuggling howitzers in them," he replied, "Why should I trust you?"

. . . "You shouldn't," she ignored the gasp from the others and continued, "What you should do, is take me somewhere slightly private, have your Harem hold me down, and show you are my Master, in the traditional way. And it isn't rape, if I'm the one requesting it."

. . . "What makes you think a Delta Bond would prevent me from killing you?"

. . . "The Delta Bond, would be so you'd know if I was betraying you. The sex . . . it's been too long since a man had me, instead of I him. They don't encourage such things in the Dark Continent, and the women . . . " She smirked. "I believe in their dreams of freedom, but they are their own gods. So unfortunately, that's where all their passion seems to go. None left for anything else. You on the other hand, from your reputation, and as angry as you and your Harem are .. . " She smiled again. "A bit of rough handling from you all, would probably be erotic, instead of just painful and boring."

. . . She leaned close again. "Or maybe you could just shoot me, have your way with me as I writhed in agony, cried for mercy and bled, then stab me and bring me back. It might even be as much fun for you."

. . . "Uh, yeah," he said as he stepped away and reholstered his pistol.

. . . "I say we keep her!" Isaik shouted, and all the girls raised their hands.