Introduction

This story is set one night after my previous Skullgirls fanfic, "Remembering to Feel." Here's a link to that story for your convenience: s/12815799/1/Remembering-to-Feel

Ms. Nadia Fortune has come up short on her search for the Skull Heart, as it has already been destroyed by Painwheel. Upon returning to Little Innsmouth, Nadia discovers that Minette and the River King's daughters have been kidnapped by the Medici Mafia (as in the end of Ms. Fortune's Story Mode). After working together with the private detective Irvin, Nadia has followed the trail to a Medici safe-house where the girls are being held.

It's up to Nadia's stealth, quick wits and fighting skills to free the girl she cares for most from the clutches of the ruthless Medici Mafia.

A Stroke of Fortune

Ms. Nadia Fortune crept silently through the Medici warehouse. She'd slipped past almost a dozen guards with tommy-guns so far, and while getting shot didn't scare her much anymore, the thought of what could happen to Minette if she botched this job was terrifying. She'd slipped plenty of valuables out of plenty of dangerous situations, but this was the first time she'd tried to steal away a person. And such an important person…

Nadia slipped through a set of double doors into what appeared to be an empty storage-room. There was one other door at the back, and in front of it stood a young woman with green hair and an enormous orange hat. On either side of the hat was a huge, powerful arm, and while Ms. Fortune was tempted to say it looked pretty goofy, something about that hat set her on edge. She'd heard stories of Living Weapons possessing immense power, and for once, she wasn't sure that even the power of the Life Gem would protect her.

She didn't let her anxiety show, however. She crossed her arms and looked sideways at the girl, smirking. "Not to bad-mouse you, but that gettup's pretty cheesy. Why don't you beat it back to the big-top?"

The girl scowled. "Wait… I know you! You're the feral who stole the Medici's life-gem! Ms. Fortune!"

Nadia's smirk faded. "Meow that I think about it, I know you too. You're Cerebella aren't you? The circus performer? And the Medici sent you to guard the girls they kidnapped? What a yarn."

Cerebella shifted, uneasy, her expression confused as if she was suddenly unsure of what she was doing. "I… hand over the Life Gem you took from Vitale!"

"I couldn't return it if I wanted to," said Nadia. "It's part of me now." She glared and spread her arms, taking a fighting stance. "Nothing purrsonal, kid, but you're standing between me and the person I love most. Move, or I'm gonna have to wreck your shit."

Cerebella glared, leaned forwards, and pounded the ground with Vice-Versa's fist. "I'll make you sorry you ever messed with the Medicis!"

Cerebella and Ms. Fortune charged towards each other. Cerebella drew back a massive fist and threw a punch, but Nadia leapt over the blow and kicked Cerebella in the face, stunning her. The nimble Feral kept up the attack with a flurry of claw-swipes and kicks, but Cerebella tumbled back, rolling with the blows, and caught Nadia with an elbow to the face.

Nadia's ears rang, and she saw stars. Vice-Versa's massive hand closed around her body, and Cerebella spun around her before planting her feet and spiking Fortune into the floor like a football. Fortune gasped in pain as she tumbled away. Cerebella charged her, head down, but Nadia sprung to her feet, side-stepped the charge, then tore off her own head and threw it at Cerebella like a bowling ball. Cerebella's eyes widened in surprise as she tripped over Nadia's head and fell flat on her face. Just as she got to her feet, she felt a stinging pain in her calf muscle as Nadia's head chomped down on her leg and gnawed on her.

"Gah!" Cerebella shrieked. "Get the hell off me!"

Just as Cerebella shook off the vicious, biting head, Nadia's headless body soared through the air towards her, blood spewing from her scars and propelling her forwards like a rocket. Fortune tore into Cerebella's arms with a twin claw-strike, then floored her with a sweep-kick. While Cerebella was downed, Nadia's head scampered towards her body, using her ears as legs, and promptly re-attached itself to Fortune's neck.

Cerebella stood, grinding her teeth in fury, and threw a punch at Nadia. Fortune raised her arms to block the blow, but the sheer force of the strike staggered her. Cerebella kicked her in the ankle, landed a back-hand that knocked Fortune into the air like a rag-doll, then seized her around the ribs in mid-air, and began to squeeze.

Nadia grimaced in pain as her ribs threatened to crack. Suddenly, she sunk her teeth into her own fore-arm, just over the pale scar that still showed against her tanned skin. Fortune quickly bit through her own muscle fibers, severing her own hand. Her severed hand scrambled down Vice-Versa's arm like a spider and leapt onto Cerebella's face, blinding her and clawing at her skin.

With a scream of pain, Cerebella let go of Nadia and swatted furiously at her own face. Nadia kicked Cerebella in the stomach, reattached her hand, then tore into Cerebella's face and torso with a lightning fast flurry of claw-strikes. Cerebella staggered back, blood running into her eyes, blinding her. Nadia bent low and rammed her head into Cerebella's gut, knocking the wind out of her. Cerebella fell to the floor, clutching her stomach, grimacing and panting, unable to rise.

Nadia stepped forwards and knocked off Cerebella's hat with a single deft kick. Nadia held her claws aloft, staring down at Cerebella's throat… and hesitated. Something in the way this girl had balked at the mention of the kidnappings tugged at Nadia's conscience. As satisfying as the thought of vengeance against the Medicis was, this girl didn't strike Nadia as a hardened Mafia member. She was merely a naïve pawn, drawn into the schemes of people she didn't known well enough to mistrust.

Nadia clenched her fist. "You're in with the wrong crowd, girly. Find some new friends, because the next time I see you, I might not be this feeling this nice."

With that, she laid into Cerebella's jaw with a haymaker, knocking the girl out cold.

With Cerebella out of the way, Nadia raced towards the back door and threw it open. It was dark inside, the room lit only by light through the doorway Nadia had opened, but her keen eyes could make out a large steel cage, the type circuses used to contain lions. Inside were Minette and the other captives.

Minette blinked her eyes adjusting to the sudden glare. "Nadia? Is that you?"

Nadia beamed. "Of course. You didn't think I'd let these mafia goons keep their dirty paws on your for long, did you? Just gimme a sec to bust you out of there."

There was a lock on the cage, but it looked old and cheap. Ms. Fortune pulled her tail loose from her body, and it hardened in her hands. She swung it down like a sword, shattering the lock in one blow.

Nadia had barely opened the cage door before Minette tackled her in a hug.

"Nadia! I was afraid I'd never get to see you again."

Nadia grinned and gently stroked the fins on Minette's head. "I'm glad to see you too, Minette, but right now, I've got to get you and the River King's daughters out of here. I made too much noise beating down that circus freak, and the guards are going to be here soon. Follow me, and run like hell!"

Two hours had passed since Ms. Fortune had rescued Minette and the others. The River King, upon reuniting with his daughters, had sworn to keep a team of guards protecting them twenty-four hours a day. Yu-Wan, however, did not have the wealth or man-power to take such measures protecting Minette, and this posed a problem.

It wouldn't be safe back in Little Innsmouth, but the city's police were on the Medicis bankroll, so taking Minette into protective custody wasn't an option. Irvin had advised that they spend the night in a hotel outside the city limits to buy themselves the time to plan their next move. Yu-Wan had agreed, but Minette had insisted that she wouldn't be comfortable unless Ms. Fortune stayed in the same room with her. Since Nadia had been the one to rescue her, there seemed nobody better to protect her. Irvin and Yu-Wan would stand watch outside that night, just in case the Medicis came to reclaim their hostage.

Nadia sat on the edge of a twin bed across from Minette, frowning. "I'm really sorry you had to go through this, Minette. They didn't hurt you, did they?"

Minette smiled. "No, I'm fine. I'm more concerned about you. I heard you fighting that girl with the weird hat out there, and it sounded pretty rough."

Nadia cracked a grin and stretched. "Pfft. It's not like I haven't been through worse! I've even got the scars to prove it. See?"

Nadia spread her legs and gestured to the pale scars running in circles around her thighs. Minette looked at the scars… at first, then pretended intently that she was still looking at them.

Nadia's… pants? No, they couldn't be called pants, not any more, now that they'd been cut into five pieces. The cuffs were still down there, as were sections of the leggings, but nearly four inches of bare, muscular thigh lay between the top of the leggings and the skimpy patch of black fabric that hugged tight to Nadia's crotch. A lewd smile flickered on Minette's lips, and she made herself look up, a little embarrassed by this lapse in courtesy.

"I really can't thank you enough, Nadia," Minette said. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Don't worry about it! I don't plan on going anywhere. You and Yu-Wan are the most important people in the world to me."

Minette paused. "Oh… I never asked. Did you ever find the Skull Heart? Did you wish for your friends in the Fishbone Gang to come back?"

Nadia looked away and frowned. "Nope. Somebody beat me to it. I managed to track the heart to the Trinity Cathedral downtown, but the place was trashed, and the Skull Heart was nowhere to be found. Either somebody else wished on it and we're going to be looking at another Skullgirl, or somebody broke in, beat the Skullgirl and smashed the heart."

Minette cocked her head. "You really think someone would go to all that trouble to get to the heart just to break it?"

Nadia shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe they changed their mind at the last second. Maybe they were just trying to stop someone else from using it."

"You think someone would really do that?"

"Sure. Having a Skullgirl around can be a cat-astophe. And even if they wanted to wish on the heart, there's always the chance they'd become a Skullgirl themselves. Anyways…" Nadia's voice became serious. "There's not much point in dwelling on it now. The heart's gone. I'm always gonna miss the Fishbone Gang, but I've got new friends to look after now. Seems like I haven't been doing a very good job of that."

"Nadia!" Minette moved over to Nadia's bed and took her hand. "Don't say that! If it wasn't for you, I'd still be the Medici's hostage. I don't want you beating yourself up over what happened, alright? You're an amazing friend, an amazing person. I think the thing that impresses me most about you is that despite all the terrible things that have happened to you, you never seem to let it get you down."

Nadia smiled. "Yeah, I guess I am kinda clawesome, huh? You're pretty cool yourself."

Minette looked away, blushing. "Oh, cut that out. I'm just some girl who waits tables. That's nothing special. Not like you…"

"Don't sell yourself short! I could never do what you do, putting up with creeps and impatient jerks while keeping up a smile. I could never keep myself from stealing food out of the kitchen, either."

Minette giggled and covered her mouth. "You're just trying to make me feel better."

"It's true! Why do you think I've been a thief all my life? Stealing stuff and kicking tail are the only things I'm good at. Speaking of which—" she stood up and stretched. "Tussling with that Medici circus freak got me a little sweaty. I'm gonna go take a shower. No getting kidnapped while I'm in there, alright?"

Minette watched Nadia's tight, swaying hips as she walked towards the shower, smiling. Her skimpy clothing did little to hide her tan, curvy bottom. Abruptly, Nadia's head spun backwards, facing Minette with a devious smirk.

"You were checkin' out my booty just now, weren't you?"

Minette reeled back, as if her embarrassment had struck her like a physical blow. "W-what!? Of course not, Nadia. You're my best friend. I wouldn't want to make things weird between us."

Nadia wagged her eyebrows. "What do you mean, weird?"

"Weird, like—"

"Like naughty stuff weird?"

Minette stammered incoherently, her hands trembling as she strove to form words, and a blush crossed her face.

Nadia giggled. "Wow, I didn't know Dagonians could blush. You're turning purple."

Minette's blush intensified. "I wasn't looking at you like that!" she insisted.

"Really?" Nadia's head spun back. "Well, that's disappointing. For a second I hoped I'd be getting some tail tonight."

Minette was speechless.

As Nadia slipped through the bathroom door, she paused and poked her head out, smiling again. "Guess I don't have to worry about you peeking on me in the shower then," she whispered, her voice low and husky, "do I?"

With that, she shut the door. Through the door, Minette could hear Nadia humming loudly as she stripped and started the shower. Minette twiddled her fingers and gently bit her lip.

She liked Nadia, a lot, but she hadn't entertained the thought that they'd be more than friends until recently, when she found out that Nadia was planning to search for the Skull Heart. She knew Nadia was tough, probably tougher than anyone Minette would ever meet, but the thought of her being in danger woke something in Minette. A quiet, uneasy longing, a feeling that rose, in the quiet happy moments they spent together, that in her courtesy and self-doubt, Minette was holding something back.

She listened to Nadia singing in the shower, carefree and happy, and her doubts faded. She found herself wondering why she had spent so long in denial. There was no one else she cared for like Nadia. After all Minette owed her and all the time they'd spent together, it was time for Minette to show Nadia what she really meant to her.

A few minutes later, Nadia stepped out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her body, fluffing her hair with a smaller towel.

"Gee Minette, I can't believe you didn't even take one—"

Nadia stopped and stared. Minette lay on the bed in a white lace bra and underwear, her legs spread wide, one hand behind her head and another resting on her thigh. She was smiling, clearly trying to look confident and seductive, but the sweat on her brow and tension in her eyes made it clear she was nervous.

After a moment, Nadia smiled and batted her eyelashes. "I can see your panties."

"Yeah… I know."

Nadia crossed the room to Minette, leaned over and put a hand on her leg. "You've wanted this a long time, haven't you?"

Minette nodded. "There's nobody who means more to me than you, Nadia. I want you to be my first."

Nadia leaned closer. "I'm glad." Her smile widened, and she licked her lips. "God, you look so good right now. I'm going to make sure you enjoy this, Minette."

She crawled over Minette, her warm, steaming body barely contained by the towel wrapped around her. Nadia let her weight rest on top of Minette as she kissed her, gently at first, then harder, her tongue hot and wet inside Minette's mouth. They broke off for a moment, and Nadia leaned back and cast off her towel, baring her perky breasts. Smiling, Nadia moved back in and deftly unhooked Minette's bra in a single, confident motion. Minette lay panting, her heart pounding as Nadia pulled her bra away and snuck a hand down to her groin. Nadia slowly ran her finger-tips across the surface of Minette's damp panties. Minette moaned at each pass, the moisture of her virgin labia soaking the lace and gathering on her Nadia's fingers. Nadia moved in for another long kiss as she continued to tease Minette's vagina.

"How's it feel?" Nadia asked, breaking way.

"Nice," Minette stammered out. "Hey, could you, uh…"

Nadia kept stroking her, smirking. "Oh? You've got a request?"

Minette swallowed, struggling to form word. "I'd like to… um…" her voice dropped to a whisper, "…kiss your butt, a little."

Nadia's smile widened. "Wow. I didn't expect to hear that out of Ms. Shy, Polite Waitress. Well, I did just shower up, so sure. You can rim me."

Nadia swung a leg over Minette's face as she turned, giving Minette her back. Her tail twitched in anticipation as she knelt on the bed, straddling Minette, and slowly lowered her toned ass towards Minette's face. Minette cupped Nadia's ass in her hands, gently spread her cheeks, and let her lips meet Nadia's tender flesh. Nadia sighed and put a little more weight down as Minette kissed and licked her ass. Nadia rocked her hips back and forth, grinding on Minette's face as the warm juices of her pussy began to leak onto Minette's chin and neck. Minette gave a happy moan, her voice slightly muffled by Nadia's ass, her nose flooded with Nadia's sweet musk.

A deep pass of Minette's tongue made Nadia shiver. "Oh god, that's nice. Are you sure this is your first time?"

Minette replied with a muffled, "Mm-hmm."

Nadia leaned forwards, hooked her thumbs around Minette's panties and eased them down to her knees. "Don't see why you should do all the work."

Still seated on Minette's face, Nadia pulled her head off with a quiet pop, then set it between Minette's legs, facing Minette's loins. Minette's pussy was already sopping wet, and Nadia pressed her face into it open-mouthed, lapping and sucking at Minette's moist folds. Minette squealed with pleasure. Nadia ravaged Minette's groin relentlessly with her thick, powerful tongue and bucked against Minette's face with feverish lust. Minette's legs twitched, and with a sharp, sudden gasp, she climaxed, filling Nadia's mouth with her cum. Giddy with the flavor of Minette's virginal orgasm, Nadia giggled.

Minette felt a rush of fatigue and drowsiness climbing over her, but she refused to stop just yet. She thrust her tongue deep into Nadia's ass and made quick, forceful licks.

"Here," said Nadia, drunkenly, picking up her head. "Let me give you a hand."

Nadia pressed her own mouth against her pussy and began to eat herself out while Minette rimmed her. Her blond bush tickled her own nose. The loving attention of two warm, wet tongues soon drove Nadia to her edge, and she came into her own mouth. She raised herself from Minette's sweaty, flushed face. Minette panted with fatigue, her mouth agape.

A mischievous expression flashed on Nadia's face, and she suddenly thrust her head between her legs and kissed Minette on the mouth. Minette squeaked, a little surprised, as Nadia's tongue passed between her lips, drenched in the flavor of their mingling juices. Minette closed her eyes as she accepted the kiss, gently placing her hands on Nadia's chin. Finally, they parted, breathing heavy, staring into each other's eyes.

After a moment, Nadia placed her head back on her shoulders, lay next to Minette and tossed a blanket over them.

"How was it?" Nadia asked.

Minette wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Great," was all she managed to say.

"That was a lot wilder than my first," said Nadia. "You're quite the freak for a first-timer."

Minette blinked as tears began to well in her eyes. After a moment, she started crying, covering her mouth with her hands. Nadia sat up, alarmed.

"I—jeez, Minette, I didn't mean it like that! Freak is a compliment in the bedroom."

Minette shook her head. "It's not that," she said, breathily.

Nadia flattened her ears, confused. "What's wrong?"

"I've just—" Minette stifled her sobs for a moment and wiped her eyes. "I'm just a little overwhelmed, I guess."

Nadia smiled sympathetically. "That's pretty normal for a first time."

Blinking back tears, Minette leaned forward and kissed Nadia again, lightly this time. "I love you a lot, Nadia. I'm really glad I got to do this with you."

Nadia smiled. "I love you too, Minette. I'm really glad you chose me."

They held each other's hands as they lay beneath the blanket, basking in their afterglow as their breathing slowed. Gradually, they drifted into a deep and contented slumber.

Afterword

This is the first lemon I have ever written. I hope you enjoyed this, and more than that, I hope you will leave your thoughts in a review at the bottom of this page. I am currently in the process of writing a sequel/second chapter to "Remembering to Feel," so if you liked that story, stay tuned.

I've also got a plans for a Street Fighter lemon starring Makoto and Sakura if SF is more your thing, and I still plan on doing a Cerbella x Beowulf fic for those of you who like het.

Thanks for reading!