Short Story - Part 2

Here's part 2! Remember, go back and read part 1 if you haven't yet. 

For the moment, however, people were starting to separate into contestants and audience, so we made our way to the center of the field. A referee went over the rules, explaining what we all knew. No real fighting, use powers to get the balls in their goals, don’t hurt each other, all of that.

Then it was time, and some supers were flying, others moving with insane speeds, everyone taking up positions. A whistle blew and the balls flew into the air, and we were in action.

It was mostly a blur, with everyone doing their best to show off their skills. Today wasn’t really about winning, and there were no teams, so it was rather ruthless. More than once I spotted a super tripping another or using a shield power, causing another to slam into the shield and fall to the ground in confusion.

Only once did I manage to get the ball, and though my extra limbs allowed me to maneuver through the bars and over obstacles in one part of the course, a flying super managed to surprise me and take the ball. I teetered, fell, and managed to brace myself only a couple feet from slamming into the ground.

The game continued like this. Brick proved valuable in standing his ground and more than once managed to get the ball, but he never scored. One time I saw Shinela burst into blinding light, then grab the ball and score while others were stumbling around, hoping their sight would come back. Good for her! I grinned, proud of her victory, then turned to look for the nearest ball.

Instead, what I saw were three supers staring above in confusion. I joined them to see a dark cloud blocking out the sun. Lightning flashed, and all of us turned to the sky.

It had been blue a second ago, sunlight shining down on us. Another bolt of lightning flashed, bringing with it a being that shone as if made from pure electricity, flashing around, then down to the ground amidst us. People screamed and shouted, and the clouds swirled as they came down upon us to obscure our vision of all but that being of lightning.

Then other forms lit up--flames of red, others of blue. Supers glowing with their powers as they went to meet this force that was attacking us. I ran, bringing out my extra legs that allowed me to move twice as fast, replacing one set of legs with the other as I moved so they were a blur of vanishing and reappearing limbs. Reaching the edge of one of the stands that led to the bleachers above, I found a point where I could ensure my back wasn't exposed to get a view of what was happening.

In addition to the beings of lightning, now cloud beings were forming. They moved in bursts, forming and vanishing, then forming again. Champione was there, flying through the cloud, landing with a strike on one of those cloud beings. He turned to see me and scoffed, then a strike of lightning sent him spiraling out of sight. The lightning being noticed me and seemed about to attack, when Brick slammed into it, then kept charging in his attack. They vanished into the dark clouds.

From my position, I saw something even more interesting than the fighting. The guards were standing there, observing. One looked on edge but didn't respond.

Holy shit, this was part of the game! A man stood nearby in all black, his head shaved, skin a slight gold. Could this be one of the men from the Citadel?

It all made sense, then--this was the test. Unlike the game trials, this had my interest--meaning that standing here wasn't an option. I had to join the fight. This became especially true when a man went screaming past me, clawing at the dirt with his super talons while a cloud creature dragged him out of sight.

Without hesitation, I charged in after him. Plowing into the cloud creature, I freed the man but found myself in a tangle of force that seemed to engulf me. While I was nothing compared to my brother in the powers department, I had inherited a few my father's powers in addition to my mom's.

His main skill had always been to absorb whatever came his way, then send it back at the attacker. I couldn't exactly do that, but I had a similar skill I liked to call "Infusion," which allowed me to infuse powers used against me into nearby objects. At this moment, I managed to make an extra torso--very exhausting--and arm, which bent down to touch the ground. Instantly, the power being used to hold me in place was infused into the ground, and I was free.

The strange part was that no being of any sort existed where the cloud being had been. It took me a second to process this, then hit me that there was no cloud being to begin with. It was all made from someone's power. Seeing the lightning being coming my way, I had to wonder if it was made from powers as well, or was a super.

Only one way to find out. I shouted at it and stepped back, hands out and ready. It surged at me, and the moment it came close to the ground, I activated the infused power. The being was instantly held in place, flailing, confused as to how I'd manage to trap it.

I grinned, stepping back. It wouldn't likely hold long, but at least I had an answer.

The cloud things weren't real, but this guy was. They were likely creations of his, crafted from his superpowers. I had an idea.

"Brick!" I shouted, running in a circle. "Brick! Shinela!"

The former appeared, nearly running past me. He came to a stumbling halt. "What?"

"Forget the cloud beings--get everyone to attack the lightning one."

"You're certain?"

"Definitely. It's"--I turned to indicate the lightning being, but it was gone--"around here somewhere. Spread the word."

"On it." He gave me a nod, then charged past me to do so.

Hoping to find Shinela, I moved out too, watching as the supers wasted their time fighting the cloud creatures, finding it almost humorous. Once more I had to infuse one of them--this time to one of the stands--and I saw the lightning being again. Champione was putting up a good fight against it, and even managed to land a shot of light-blast from his hands. The guy was a real ass, but in battle he certainly had his uses.

Three cloud creatures surged down around me, along with a guy coming at them with ice blasts. One of the creatures went right through the ice, absorbing and bringing it around as a snow flurry to pummel him in response.

I shoved the guy out of the way with an extra arm, taking the blow from the cloud creature and infusing it into the grass at my feet. It cracked apart in its icy state.

"Sacrifice," one of the men in black said, eyeing me. "Respectable."

The cloud beings spread out to attack others, but I wasn't in the clear. A bolt of lightning struck nearby me, then another came; I ducked, infusing it into the pebble. I stood and heaved the pebble back at the being. It missed, but I let the infusion go nearby. The lightning cracked next to it, distracting whoever that was long enough for Champione to land a hit that knocked it from the sky.

The lightning being came tumbling down, then out of nowhere, Brick came out, pummeling him into one of the metal stands. Brick shouted a war cry, then turned and lifted the lightning man before slamming him into the ground. Explosions of lightning shot out, knocking us all back with a soft jolt; the clouds and cloud beings vanished.

In the process of stumbling and losing my balance, I flailed my arms, then caught myself at the expense of a hit to the nose of someone behind me. Turning to thank them and apologize, I came face to face with the prick who I'd taken to calling Phoenix.

"Sor—a--" I started, but didn't get the rest out.

"Piece of shit," the fat Phoenix punk said, and charged me with flames bursting out from his entire body. An automatic dismissal from Rocadium according to the official rules, but the school often looked the other way. They were in favor of putting badasses into the world, not wusses.

So fuck it. I braced myself, ready for this piece of shit. I was far from immune to fire, but my Infusion power could come in handy here.

First things first, I created extra arms and started moving them around as I'd been taught in our martial arts class, then ran to meet him. My advance was like that of a lion; moving left, then right, using extra legs when that helped. Phoenix roared in frustration as he charged past and I used one of my extra legs to thrust out and trick him, while absorbing the attack and bending over to infuse it into the ground. The energy wasn't going to burn him, so I used it to form a fissure that he stumbled into.

He landed face down, ass up, and was stuck. A flaming ass for the crowd to see.

"That's all you've got, blue balls?" Champione landed at my side and caught me with a punch to the gut that sent me reeling back, then to one knee. Shit, that hurt. I'd thought that nickname was long gone but forgot that the girl who'd been involved with me earning it had hooked up with him next. Of course, she'd told him everything. He was probably the reason for the nickname in the first place.

"ENOUGH!" a shout came from above; powers froze us in place, then pushed us away from each other. Three Guards landed in the field, with two referees strolling out as well. We pulled back, able to move again, and even the worst of us knew it was over.

Some of the others had looks of worry, but not I. What the fuck did I care if I was scolded? They wouldn't let me play--fine. The only reason I cared anyway was for the bonus points being on a team seemed to play in terms of earning affection from the ladies.

A glance around showed no sign of Brick, nor Shinela. The crowds stood, having risen in excitement, but were now finding their seats again. It was clearly over. The question was, what came next? Would we simply go back to the contest, or was the day over? Judging by past events, a simple scuffle only added to the excitement. By the day's end, who knows how many more there would be.

"Come with me, Fourd," a man said. I looked up to see a super I’d noticed more than once but didn't know by name.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault," I protested, then noticed they weren't going after the fighters--the guards were, and there was the headmaster, not two paces away, arms folded and giving me a concerned eye. I shifted my weight to my other foot, not used to getting this sort of attention from him. "What is this?"

"You're to join the others," the headmaster said. "Do as Mr. Alderan tells you--he's come straight from the Citadel."

"Lamb and Hadrian will be there to see you off," Alderan assured me, as if that would change anything.

"Wait, the others--as in my mom and dad, Uncle Breaker, the rest of them?"

"That's right."

I couldn't believe this. While living in my father's shadow wasn't something I looked forward to, I couldn't leave this school fast enough. That is, except for Shinera.

I had to at least say goodbye to her, ensure she would wait for me, or maybe… Oh hell, I didn't know--give her a kiss to remember me by, if nothing else.

"I'll be right back," I said, but when I tried to move away, a force stopped me. I eyed Alderan, frowning. "I have to see someone."

"We can't have them knowing where you're going, not yet," Alderan said. "There are too many here who could easily be spies for our enemies, too many supervillains who, as insane as it sounds, might sell us out to those on the other side. Based on today's tests, some of you will be going over; others will join whatever team these tryouts were for. You got the better deal--if you want to be a superhero, that is."

I didn’t, but my desire to be gone from Rocadium outweighed my hesitation. Agreeing, I followed them to a ship around the corner of the school and out of sight. My heart sunk at the sight of Champione, standing there and eyeing me with a big grin. Five others were boarding the ship already; apparently, I was going to be unlucky number seven.

"One more," a voice said, and I turned to see the girl from the hall, the one who had been talking about cuddling with my "cute cock," as she had put it. She grinned my way, then waved at Champione, jogging over to him. Odd, then, that he now was glaring--at her. Whatever, they were too weird to understand.

I weighed my chances of getting out of this, and being away from them, against staying at Rocadium, and decided Shinela might just be worth it.

"I'm not going," I said.

Alderan eyed me, scoffed, and then said, "You're Drew's kid? Drew and Threed, I presume?"

"That's right. But--"

"Sorry, kid. Your brother's already on his way, and I have orders to ensure you get there, too. Once you're there, you can hash it out with the others, but I have my orders."

My jaw clenched, hatred for this man boiling up. They were going to seriously make me leave this star system, this galaxy even, against my will?

"You can't do this!" I protested, trying to ignore the way Champione was eyeing me with curiosity.

"As I said, bring it up with Hadrian." Alderan sighed. "Listen, kid. Do you want to board on your own, or am I going to have to force you?"

I eyed the man up and down, wondering if I could take him. His eyes narrowed and he turned to the ship, walking. To my surprise, as he moved, I moved along with him, sliding across the grass as if I'd been put on ice.

Finally, I took a step, then another, and caught up with him. "If I have to go, I'll at least do so with some dignity."

Fuck it, right? I wanted to go anyway. Just… not without her.

I sighed, boarded the ship behind Champione, and found my seat. To my relief, Brick was there. He was chatting up a petite girl next to him, so I figured we'd celebrate later.

It was a small transport, but big enough to have three times as many seats as we needed. I was just settling in when Champione nudged me softly.

"Quit it," I said, not wanting to get into another fight on the Citadel ship.

"Come with me, I've got something for you," he said, grinning as if we were old friends and he was going to show me some nude pic of a lady he'd had fun with over the weekend. We most certainly were not, and I didn't want to see any from him.

"Leave me alone." I started to turn my back to him when he leaned in entirely too close and said, "Please."

It was the strangest thing, and his voice sounded so needy, much more high-pitched than normal. Something was definitely up here. I nodded almost nonchalantly, waited for him to get up and go, then followed a second later.

We ended up at an on-ship restroom, and he entered first, then waited for me to follow.

"I will fucking end you," I said, "if you're hoping to get me in there to jump you."

"Nothing like that, I promise," he replied. "Hurry, we don't have much time."

I frowned, then stepped in, ready for anything. Closing the door behind me, I never took my eyes off him. He had my curiosity piqued.

"Well?"

"It's just that… going off like this, it's kind of… hot, wouldn't you say?" Champione took a step toward me in that already small area. "I mean it. The two of us, heroes off to join the war on the other side. Doesn't that turn you on?"

"What?"

"It makes me so… hot." He ran his hand down between his legs, tongue along his lips, eyes on me. Then, before I knew it, he was closing the narrow distance between us, reaching up to undo his outfit.

"Wh-what're you doing?" I asked, backing away.

Champione grinned, continuing to pull at the outfit until his shoulders were bare.

"Dude, no offense." I held up my hands, as if to show I wasn't armed, as silly as that gesture was in this situation. "Don't you think... " My mind raced, trying to come up with something to say. "I mean, we're not really even friends, let alone..."

Before I could finish, Champione pulled the outfit down from his chest. A pair of small breasts emerged, and I stared, confused. Pink little nipples.

Wait, I knew those breasts. My eyes moved back up, and staring at me wasn't the face of Champione, but Shinela. Her blue hair and Oreo eyes were unmistakable. She was holding back a laugh, clearly, but then kept going as if none of this had happened. Pulling off the rest of her suit, it was clear this was her. No doubt. And she was helping me with mine, then followed by kneeling again to nuzzle my cock before finally laughing.

"I totally had you," she said, hands running up my thighs, cheek moving along my dick.

"You really did," I replied. "But… are you sure we can get away with this?"

"That's what you want to worry about right now?" she asked, hand gripping my cock, tongue on my balls.

She was right. I most certainly did not. It was quick with the tingles of light she sent through my cock as her head bobbed up and down, hand caressing my balls, the other on my ass. Before I knew it, I was climaxing, biting my lip to stop from moaning too loud; then she was licking it up and swallowing.

Hot damn, was I glad that she had stayed as herself throughout. I finally came to my senses. "Wait, you're coming? In his place?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "We're going to have so much fun."

"Or maybe get killed."

"Maybe that. Either way, fun."

I chuckled, tucked myself away, and helped her quickly get back into her outfit before putting my hand on the door. "You're sure about this?"

"You want me to come, don't you?" She winked. "I mean, go with you?"

"More than anything."

"Then it's settled. Let's go exploring."

Before the door opened she was Champione again, and I felt extremely awkward. Even more so when I turned to see that other girl from before standing there, looking at us with a scrunched-up face of confusion.

We walked right past her, strapped into our seats, and prepared for takeoff.

Whatever came next was going to be a hell of a lot of fun; I had escaped Rocadium and everything I had grown to loathe. But was I stepping out of the frying pan and into something far worse than fire?

Only time would tell.