The Birthday Present
Chapter 25
Two Lassoes? No, No, No. There are Three Lassoes, Silly. Oh, And A Vice Like Grip.
Three Days Before The Party
"Oh, wow! It's gold like your sisters' but it glows blue! How does it work?" Wally asked excitedly.
Wally and Donna were on the balcony of her room at the embassy. It was away from prying eyes and still offered a lovely view of a richly forested area to the west and a nice view of the ocean to the east. The two had spent most of the morning walking, talking and shopping in civilian attire. They had enjoyed each other's company immensely. The last couple of hours had been spent on Donna's balcony. They had passed the time sharing with each other about their childhood, how they had received their powers and abilities as well as sharing some of their likes and dislikes. At the moment the two were standing near the stone railing. Donna was holding up her lasso for Wally to inspect.
"This is my second lasso. My first one looked a lot like Diana's but it was just a plain lasso. This one is a lot more like hers'. I call it my lasso of persuasion. It's pretty much unbreakable like Diana's lasso but instead of forcing one to tell the truth like hers does, it makes people susceptible to me. I can persuade pretty much anyone to do whatever I want. So I can make people tell the truth if I want or make them quack like a duck or make them be quiet, or make them laugh or even make them come to visit me every week." Donna said the last with a twinkle in her eyes.
Wally was very impressed. "Wow! But you didn't tell me why it glows blue."
"Oh, that. I guess it has to do with emotions and life. It's as if the lasso has a life of its own. It glows blue when it is in contact with my body. It senses what I want. It glows even stronger when I speak what I want and when it is in physical contact with someone else at the same time. I used it yesterday to stop an argument between two sisters. I bound the two of them in it and then told them that they needed to work out their problem in a mature manner. They are sisters after all and we tend to be the target of a lot of nastiness, especially from some of the gods. Want to see how it works?"
Wally almost choked. "You mean…Do I want to…You're gonna tie me up?" He was starting to vibrate with excitement.
Donna giggled. "I'm not going to tie you up. Just grab onto this end of the lasso here like this." Donna placed one end of the lasso in Wally's outstretched hand then looped it around his wrist a couple of times.
"What was all that, 'I'm not going to lasso you' nonsense you just gave me?" Wally grinned.
Donna grinned back. "Sorry. Some habits are hard to break. But to be fair, I didn't lasso you. I looped you. Big difference there, hot stuff. Now, let's see if I can persuade you to do something I want you to do. It's not really mind control. It's more like some kind of old, magical power. Okay, I want you to make yourself vibrate so fast that your body comes off the ground. Let me say it more persuasively. 'Wally. I want you to vibrate into the air for me.'"
Wally grinned back and immediately he was floating several feet about the balcony. He did not look like he was vibrating to normal eyes, but Donna could see the slight oddity of different angles his legs seemed to be taking.
"Okay, you can come down now," she said triumphantly.
Wally came down and looked at her mischievously. "You know, I would have done that for you without you having to use the LOP."
Donna looked a little confused. "The LOP?" she asked.
"Yep. The LOP: Lasso of Persuasion. But even though I woulda done it anyways, I still felt an irresistible and compelling desire to do it when you said it. And look at how blue it's glowing right now!"
Donna grinned at him. "That's because it's still looped around your wrist and I'm already thinking about what I'm going to persuade you to do next."
Wally grinned back. "Okay, cool. Persuade away, Pretty Princess."
Donna's face beamed, "Well, Wally, I want you to come visit me at least once a week from now on if you can, and getting together to take down villains doesn't count. Course I only want you to come visit me if you want to as well. If you don't then I free you from the power of my lasso."
Wally couldn't believe his ears. He actually pinched himself, cleared his throat twice, and then finally rasped out, "Could you repeat that first part of your spell again? Pretty please?"
Donna was a little bit taken aback by his request, but she complied. She had not used her new lasso much, but then she had not had it for long. So she wasn't sure if she was using it correctly. She repeated her request, but this time she made it even more heartfelt. "Wally, if you enjoyed our morning together as much as I have then I want you to come visit me at least once a week from now on, please." She added the please on the end this time.
Wally's characteristic grin disappeared. "I'll come visit as often as you want me to. You'll never have to use your lasso to make me want to see you. I've wanted this for a very long time, but I was too chicken to ask you," he said sincerely.
Donna and Wally did not know how they ended up standing so close.
"You can be very sweet, Wally," Donna whispered her head tilted back slowly.
"You're the nicest and most beautiful girl in the universe, Donna," Wally whispered back. His face was slowly drawing closer to hers.
"I had a great time this morning," she continued whispering.
"That's because we went shopping." Wally's voice was so husky it was almost no longer a whisper. It sounded more like very quiet grunting.
"That didn't sound very romantic," Donna informed him softly.
"I know. I'm kicking myself in my mind even as we speak." Wally was back to whispering again.
"Are you going to kiss me? Or are we going to keep whispering for a while longer?" Donna asked sweetly.
"I'm going to kiss you right now," Wally informed her huskily.
Their lips were now millimeters apart. Their eyes were wide open and staring into each other's and shining with the excitement of a new found friendship and attraction. The adventure of falling in love was dangling between them. The lasso was still wrapped around Wally's wrist on one end and around both of Donna's hands at the other end. It was glowing and pulsing. There was an aura of blue light that seemed to engulf them as they drew closer together.
And then Wally's communicator went off.
It was Nightwing.
"Wally? I need you to teleport Roy and me to Titan Tower ASAP."
Two Days Before Clark's Birthday
Lois seemed to be acting a little more like her old self. At least as far as her daily routines went. She was no longer sleeping in until noon. She was up with the sun and had run her three miles, showered and had breakfast all before seven thirty. Clark was glad to see her back to working and fighting for stories. She had not mentioned Max Lord again, but she was still an obviously different person. She behaved very seductively around him and continuously dropped hints and suggestions about him and Diana and even Maxima.
Clark was pretty sure that Lois had never met Maxima, but obviously the reputations of some were well known to the world. When it came to Maxima everyone seemed to know that she had the hots for Superman.
While Clark had quickly picked up on the change in Lois, he had seemed oblivious to the change in Diana. But then whenever he was near her his behavior changed as well. So he didn't notice that she was much less aware of dangers around her. This was not because her senses had in any way been dulled but because when they were in each other's company her whole attention and focus was on him.
Clark did in fact notice that her whole attention was on him, but he didn't mind. His whole attention was on her as well. The closer they were to each other the more focused on her he became. He found himself staring often and hungrily at her. It was obvious that his looks and attentions pleased her as she did nothing to dissuade his extra attentiveness or his little acts of intimate possessiveness.
When they were apart they seemed unaffected. As if they had never acted out of character. But even when they were in each other's presence and behaving oddly, they still managed to handle the emergency at hand, be it a disaster or a villain.
Today the two had stopped two bank robberies. Superman had dissipated a tornado in the Midwest and just minutes before an island village from being destroyed by a giant tsunami in the southeastern pacific. Diana had flown the villagers to an island deemed safe from destruction in her magical, invisible jet, while Superman had done what he could to repair the breach created by the underwater earthquake and its aftershocks.
They were currently standing on the empty beach in a fairly intimate embrace and seemingly indifferent to the rapidly oncoming tidal wave. It did not seem to matter to them that the wave was well over twenty feet high.
Diana had returned as quickly as she could to the island after taking the villagers to safety. She had flown happily to him when she spotted him standing on the beach staring off over the waves.
Clark had turned towards her with a gentle smile on his face for his beloved friend. but the closer Diana had gotten the less gentle and the more possessive the smile and look became.
Diana's joy at finding her friend safe had changed as well. She now had her arms wrapped around his neck and she stared up into his eyes longingly. Clark for his part allowed his hands to roam along her back, her hair and the perfect curve of her hips.
For a brief moment, Diana had a moment of clarity. Or at least as close to clarity as she could come while still in the arms of her best friend and in physical contact with the golden lasso from the underworld. "This isn't real is it, Kal? I wish we could be like this forever. I want you forever. Is this all just an evil spell? Are we going to wake up and be lost to each other?"
Superman looked down at her. His eyes were dark with desire, but there seemed to be something even darker in his voice. "Together is a very long time. I don't think we'll have forever together, but we have now." With that he floated the two of them into the sky and then dove headfirst, with Diana still held tightly to him, into the oncoming tidal wave. He plunged down following the ocean floor as it quickly dropped away from the island. He went deeper and further until he saw that the pressure was becoming somewhat uncomfortable for Diana. He stopped his downward plunge and slowly allowed their bodies to float back towards the surface.
In the near total darkness of the depths of the pacific he stared at Diana. For a moment the lasso lost physical contact with their bodies as it floated around them in the watery blackness. Clark saw Diana's face. In that moment he read the desires that mirrored his own, but he also saw fear. He wondered briefly why his Diana would be afraid. What or who could possibly make her afraid. He even briefly wondered what he was doing holding her so possessively, but then they were again within the embrace of the false lasso's coils. Most rational thoughts fled and as the two broke the surface what little distance there was between their lips disappeared as they met in a fierce and passionate kiss. It was the second kiss the two had ever shared, but the first in which both so willingly and hungrily participated.
They explored each other's mouth with probing tongue, each relishing the taste of the other. Superman landed on his back on the sand, still holding Diana tightly to him. When their lips parted, Diana sat up straddling him and panting for breath. Superman smiled possessively at her as the bright yellow sun glowed blindingly overhead.
He caressed her legs, thighs and buttocks eliciting a moan from Diana's lush lips. "You're all wet," he said huskily.
"Yes, I'm…all…wet. It's your…fault for…taking…us for…that swim…" Diana began. She was still panting.
"I like it when you are all wet. I want to see you all wet more often. I have to go home now. I'll see you tomorrow." Superman crushed her to him and rolled her underneath him. He ran his lips along her right shoulder, up her sensitive, strong, slender neck to her ear. He nibbled her ear lobe softly, inhaled sharply as if he needed to imprint her scent deeply into his mind. He ran one hand possessively along her back and down to wonderful curve of her butt. He squeezed her just as possessively again. "This is all mine," he said it as a statement of fact.
"Yes, all yours," Diana replied in complete surrender.
"Good," Superman replied. And then he was gone.
One Day Before Clark's Birthday
Ave Duer: Second Moon Of Thanagar
Shayera and Kator walked towards their Star ship slowly. The last several days had been spent mostly behind the closed doors of a resort. Ave Duer was not a beautiful moon. It was lifeless. Those who came to the Ave Duer resort were not interested in sightseeing, but in complete privacy. Sharyera grinned. They had barely left their bed for food. It had been just right for the sleeping and lovemaking, although they eventually used other parts of the room as well. They had talked and planned on taking a more scenic vacation on this occasion. They had been to this particular resort so many times that they had felt they should do something a little different. In the end they had decided to forget the sightseeing. They had much more enjoyable things to do together than sightsee anyway.
Their time was up. They would have to hurry in order to make it to Superman's birthday party. They had not missed one in the last seven years and they did not intend to now. He was a trusted and cherished friend and ally. He had always been there for them and for their people.
"Not sure we're going to make it on time, Love," Kator complained as they loaded their belongings into the star ship.
Shayera adjusted her harness, "So you wish we had left an hour earlier instead of…"
Kator interrupted her retort by pulling her to him and crushing her lips to his. After he felt her lovely and familiar form mold to his, he broke the kiss and whispered in her ear, "Never. You know that. I just think that next year we should take our time off during a time when we don't have to cut it short."
Shayera smiled up at her normally fierce and serious husband. One hand snaked up to play with his thick curly black hair. "I know and I love your idea. Now let's go. I would hate to miss Kal-El's birthday party as much as you."
They two quickly finished loading the ship, checked all systems and then blasted off into space. When they were sufficiently distant from Ave Duer and Thanagar a tunnel of light formed in front of them. The ship became a blip and then disappeared in a streak of light into the tunnel.
Titan Tower
"So you can't remember who taught you how to resist mind control?" Wally asked incredulously.
Donna, Wally and Nightwing sat at a table in the T Tower discussing the problems of the last couple of days. Roy was sedated, stripped of his weapons and lying in a holding cell.
"Nope. Can't remember. I know he taught Ollie as well, but that's all I can remember," Nightwing explained.
"Oh, well at least you remember that he's a guy. That's good. Okay I'm gonna give you a hint. His name starts with B and ends with atman. Any wild guesses? No? Don't even want to try? Oh man! You're serious! Okay, listen. It's Batman! He's your adopted father, he's the one who trained you to the peak of human perfection without the advantage of the speed force of course. I just thought I'd throw that out there. I mean you're just about as good as he is at being a detective and at fighting and at being tricky and sneaky and scary (and I mean this in a good way of course). You don't remember that I was helping you on your stakeout cuz Batman had to go visit his girlfriend or something? You didn't tell me exactly why but I figured it must be cuz Zee was ovulating." Wally informed him proudly. He had decided not long ago that he would start honing his detective skills as well so that Dick would not have to carry the whole load by himself.
"What?" Donna and Dick both asked simultaneously.
Dick was still confused.
Donna burst out laughing. "Batman is not going to leave a stakeout to go make a baby! You are crazy! I love it!"
Nightwing was still scratching his head in bewilderment, "So what does he look like?"
Donna was about to answer but Wally was just getting warmed up. "Well, he's pretty tall. He's probably about eight feet. He as a pointy head and chin. He loves to wear poke a dots. He can be very nice but he can also be extremely focused. Sometimes he talks like he's constipated. Sometimes he growls like an angry dog. He can be kinda scary but he has a hot magic girlfriend that makes him smile and makes him come home for baby making sessions. So you know he's ultimately pretty cool."
Nightwing was glaring at Wally. "Yeah, right."
"Well, I may have exaggerated a little. I'm not sure if anyone has ever actually seen him wear poke a dots," Wally admitted with a grin.
Donna couldn't stop laughing. She finally got control and saved Nightwing from yelling in frustration
"Batman is dark haired like you, he's taller, like six-four. He's very serious. Doesn't smile much and when he does it's usually kinda creepy like when Artemis smiles. But when you see him smile at Zatanna, it makes you think he's the most handsome and sweetest man in the world. He's maybe the only person I know that can fight better than you without superpowers. He's super self confident and pushes everyone to be at their best all the time. But when it comes to you he always brags that you are already better than him. But I don't think he would ever say that to you. Any of this ringing a bell? Took you in when your parents were killed, trained you to fight? Wears black and grey? Blue eyes? Super smart? Rich? Mansion? Cave?"
"Bruce!" The memories suddenly hit Nightwing like a flood. Everything was coming back. Finally the reason Bruce had left in the first place and why he had asked Wally to help him out returned as well.
"I haven't talked to Bruce for the last several days! He hasn't tried to contact me at all! Something's wrong and I don't like it. That wasn't mind control. That was something else. I'm guessing he's in serious trouble. We have to go find him." Nightwing was having trouble keeping it together as he worried over his mentor and friend.
"No problem, we'll be there in a short hot moment." Wally promised as he went over to the teleporter and set it for three.
"No. we can't all go. At least one of us has to stay here and watch Roy. Why don't you just send me and you two stay here?" Nightwing requested.
Wally nodded and tried again. Nothing happened.
Nightwing smacked his forehead. "Well, that was stupid. He's got it set up so that no one can teleport into the cave or the house. I'll have to get there the old fashioned way."
"You two go. I'll stay with Roy. Let me know what's going on and come back as soon as you can," Donna volunteered.
"Okay. Deal," Nightwing agreed.
"I don't like that idea at all." Wally complained as he thought of Donna being in the same room alone with Roy.
"Roy isn't going to do anything. It's not like he could beat me up or anything." Donna pointed out.
Wally reluctantly agreed and sped off with Nightwing.
Star City
Evening Before Clark's Birthday
Ollie lay on his back. He was exhausted and happy. Little Ollie had never worked so hard. He had never been worked so hard. Megalina, he called her Meg for short, was finally satisfied. But it had taken him four hours to satisfy her. She was definitely a little too much for him. While she was not physically as powerful as Maxima or Wonder Woman, she was still on a whole other level of power than he was. She had actually had to stop riding him for fear of crushing both his hips and the most precious member of his anatomy.
Ollie had noted the look of frustration in her eyes and realized that she had taken it extremely easy on him the first couple of times they had slept together. Ollie had immediately pleased her with his hands and mouth. This had worked beautifully. She had been satisfied but had nearly broken his neck while in the throes of ecstasy. Finally satisfied she had lain passively while he entered her and reached his climax. Still in her passive state she had very nearly crushed him with a sudden involuntary squeeze at the moment of his release.
He lay on his back now. He was exhausted, happy, scared, grateful to still be alive and determined to ask Meg for help.
It was an hour later before he found the strength to sit up and speak. Meg listened to his theory. She seemed to agree that there was something wrong with the princesss Maxima, she also agreed to help him but she suggested at the same time that they no longer be intimate. He was a bit too fragile for her.
Ollie was both hurt and relieved at her suggestion. She did not kiss him good-bye but promised to help him on the morrow when he showed up at the Watchtower. With one last smile she shimmered and disappeared as she was teleported away.
Ollie got up, dressed gingerly and made his way down to the lobby. His driver picked him up and drove him to the airport where his private jet was waiting. He boarded and sat down.
The captain came back and smiled. "We received your message, sir. We are ready to depart for Gotham whenever you wish."
"Then let's go." Ollie was surprised at how close to a squeak his voice sounded. It would definitely be in his best interest to never again try sex with a woman so much more powerful than himself.