So as a heads up, I'm posting my story on AO3, for those of you that prefer there rather than here. I'll try to do a chapter daily with some clean-up work as I go. But keeping up here is still my *Puts on sunglasses* Top Priority!
TopPriority: Look no further!
LunaLove25: Glad you think so!
Back on Earth, the twelve hour countdown was nearly up. Nikki, Audrey and Kyu had all left to order takeout. Tiffany had insisted on staying to keep their guest company. She was sitting across the kitchen table from Mack - the soldier assembling some electronics and wires from Tala's basement - and the standoffish giant seemed hellbent on ignoring her.
"Um, Mr. Ross?"
"Mack," he clarified. "You say something?"
"I was asking," Tiffany repeated for the third time, "If you just work together, or if you're friends with Tala." In his eyes she must have been just another lowly civilian, but he didn't have to be so dismissive all the time, ignoring what they all said.
"Tala's a friend to everyone," Mack replied. He set down his tools, eyes swimming with memories. "Always wants to help out. Always knows what to say." He paused to scratch at his left ear, as if hesitating.
"There was an accident. I was in a vampire crypt. Set off a bad charge, brought the whole place down. I was buried six feet under. The squad gave up on me. Not Tala. She kept digging and digging. When I saw the light again, it was shining behind her face."
"Wow," Tiffany gasped. She never doubted it, but it was nice to receive the assurance that Tala never gave up on anyone.
Mack's phone chimed with a quick text.
-We're in town. 5 minute ETA
The Captain. They had time, so he asked, "What about you? How d'you know Tala?"
"Well..." Her face became alight with fond memories of her redheaded paragon. "We started off as kinda friends of a friend, but when she helped out at the university, she looked to me to help out with curriculum. She always did her best to help out the students however she could, always going out of her way. After that, I just couldn't help looking up to her. And then she got me and my mom back together..."
The hard-hearing gentleman nodded. "That's Tala for you."
But that got the blonde thinking. If that's the Samaritan amazon just being herself, that invokes a certain line of thinking. Resting her head in her hands, Tiffany thought over how she should ask her many questions. "Was Tala always like this?"
"In a way, yeah."
Tiffany tilted her head. "What was she like before?"
Mack sighed in apathy, scratching his ear again. He looked up to her from his work, and from her slight startled look, he figured he came off as irritated. "Erm, sorry. But if you want to know more about Lieutenant Stone's past life, you'll have to ask the captain." he informed before returning to his tinkering. "The two are practically inseparable..."
That gave her food for thought.
"So they're really close, huh? Um, as in 'friends-close' or 'close-close'?" A part of her was curious to learn of any patterns behind the women Tala shared her affections with.
Mack only kept his head down. He must have been insulted by the question. "Oh god, sorry. That was rude of me," Tiffany blurted. Too personal, way too personal!
"Huh?" Mack seemed startled by her outburst, then alarmed to see a pretty girl squirming and red with discomfort. After another bout of ear scratching he added, "um, can you speak up? It's ... Hard to hear people ... Sometimes."
Now Tiffany took her turn to rear up in surprise. "Wait ... You mean..."
"I'm... My left ear, I mean. Doesn't work like it should."
"So then... You mean all those times you were standing up to Audrey, ignoring her taunts-?"
Mack fidgeted in his seat. "Didn't want to ask her to repeat herself. Your friend. She's… scary."
Tiffany couldn't help but giggle. A mountain of a man, but good-hearted like a puppy. Mack didn't seem so scary anymore. "It's nothing," she reassured the puzzled man. "Just, let's keep your ear a secret from Audrey. She's easier to manage if she thinks she can't get to you."
After considering it, Mack smiled. "Okay."
A sing-song voice at the back door. "Food's here," Kyu chimed. Then a formal knock at the front.
"The Captain," Mack noted, rising from his seat. He had a bit of haste once he saw Audrey make her appearance. "Let's go meet her."
"Sup, bitches!" Audrey kicked the door back open as she followed behind Kyu, bags in hand. Nikki Made her way in after, head low as she closed the door behind her and went to join Tiffany and Mack at the door.
The door opened, and waiting at the other side was blonde woman in her mid-thirties, dressed in an aviator jacket, jeans, boots, and a classy pair of aviator glasses. She grinned with everyone's reflection in her glasses. "Captain on deck!"
"Captain." Mack greeted with a smile, stepping aside to allow entrance, followed suite by the girls.
"Good to see you, Sergeant. Glad to see you smiling" She stepped inside and removed her shades, hooking them on her shirt collar. "No doubt due to the both of you." The woman extended her hand to both girls, giving firm, but gentle handshakes. "Captain Erika Boor at your service. But offline, I just go by Rika. Who might you be?"
Nikki let Tiffany introduce herself first, and the younger blonde's face went as red as a tomato. She couldn't place it just yet, but she looked at this woman, and thought of her mother. "I'm Tiffany, ma'am. I'm a friend of Tala's."
Brown eyes landing on her, the bluenette ducked her head. "Nikki. Tala's uh... girlfriend." For some reason, Nikki felt like she was meeting her girlfriend's parent. Her blush was just as bad.
Miss Boor quirked a brow of interest as Mack shut the door behind her. "I can imagine Tala being abducted must've been hard for you especially." Rika's implied acceptance of the situation and the caring tone that carried it seemed to put the bluenette at ease.
Nikki nervously scratched the back of her head. "Yeah, it was. But before Tiffany told me what happened, Tala pushed her out of the way before she was abducted."
The captain looked back to the now-upset Tiffany with an understanding smile. "So you feel partly responsible."
"It is my fault," Tiffany admitted, overtaken by guilt. "If I hadn't been there, Tala would have been completely focused and -" Rika's palm on her shoulder silenced her.
"Miss Tiffany, it's small comfort, but it appears that our enemies were determined to abduct Tala at all costs. They would have tried again. The fact that you were on scene to witness it, that Tala put your welfare first, is the best possible scenario. It means we were alerted to the situation immediately, and that we can begin an immediate counter-offensive."
"I guess you're right..." Shucks, Tiffany found her heart swelling at Miss Boor's confident smile. Just like Tala, she knew just what to say.
"Begging your pardon, Captain, but wasn't Kate dispatched with you?"
"Quite right, Mister Ross. O'Connor took the initiative of sweeping the outer premises for traces of enemy surveillance. She notified me that she would be entering through the rear."
Mack instantly understood. "Fastest way to the kitchen," he noted. The stoic, motherly Rika gave a small sigh in return.
"Fastest way to the kitchen," she agreed.
As the four of them finished introductions, their attention was drawn to the kitchen on account of the excited and exasperated chatter brewing. When they entered, they were greeted by the sight of a skimpy love fairy, a punk-haired babe, and a lolita-dressed chick sitting at the dining room table, digging into a pizza and chatting it up.
"So Kate, what do you do when some asshat piss you off?" Audrey leaned into that one.
Kate cupped her chin, racking her mind for a good response. "A good punch to tha face usually gets the point across, but for repeat offendahs, trollin' with hacks is fun."
Belrose was fascinated. "Shit, really?"
With a grin, Kate nodded. "Yuh-huh. Afta Kyu stole my fruit gushahs, I got a good look at her diary."
Kyu almost choked on her meal. "You what?!" She screeched with her mouth half-full of pizza.
Seeing that response, O'Connor smirked and continued. "Ya shoulda seen what she wrote about Tal-"
The pink patootie swallowed her food and smirked. "You're just mad 'cause you knowTal's where it's at!" Kyu couldn't care less what was in her diary, she already wears her thoughts on her white lingerie sleeves.
"Err, are we interrupting?" Rika spoke up, crossing her arms and leaning in the entryway with a smirk of her own.
"Cap'n!" Kate 'Lady Gray' O'Connor was on her feet and saluting in an instant, a greasy slice of pizza smacking her forehead. "Perimetah secured, ma'am. Ah wus jus ... Interviewin' the witnesses?"
"BUS~TED," Kyu and Audrey sing-songed.
"At ease, O'Connor. We're among friends." While Kat exhaled, the captain sauntered close and plucked the pizza from her hand.
"Nevertheless, I trust I needn't remind you that your deportment reflects on all of us at the GPCD. It would be most unfortunate if these young women got the impression that we were anything less than professional."
All three party girls jumped a little as the captain sank her teeth into Kate's pizza, chomping straight down to the crust. "N-no ma'am," Kate squeaked.
"Excellent." Rika returned Kate's leftover crust and spun on her heel. "Take your meal and your hardware downstairs, Miss O'Connor. I understand there's some alien technology that requires analysis."
"Damn..." Kate groaned as she stopped scanning the room and left for the basement. On the workshop table was the decrepit remains of the drone Tala took a swing at. And next to it was Nikki, with a device just like the one Kate was using.
"What's wrong?" The bluenette spoke up, seeing the punk girl's bitter expression.
"I ain't sensin' anythin'. Whatevah trail is here, it dispersed ova the time it took for us ta get here." She scanned over the battered bot again, but just got the same result. "Robits are covahed in the database, but our friend here is just a medium for the actual program, who was probably safe on their ship." The disappointment grew contagious as Nikki let her head fall back in frustration, but immediately picked it back up when an interesting memory hit her. "Ya got somethin'?" the tech expert asked, seeing the shift in mood.
"... No, it's a stupid idea."
O'Connor just shrugged. "I'm all eahs. Anythin' helps."
"Well... well you watch Star Trek, right?"
"I favah DS9, but yeah. Got a theory?"
With nervousness gripping at her, Nikki began chewing at her nails. "Well, Celeste's ship probably has a sensor log we can use. T-the ship was still cloaked when Audrey ran into it, so it must've still been on, I guess..."
Nikki awaited Kate's response, and grew a content smile when she saw the punk rocker girl's wide grin. "No wondah Tal likes you."
Nikki could only blush.
XXXXX
"So, here's the ship ... or, it's there, but you can't see it. ...Yeah."
Kate nodded along, one rock-blaring earbud removed so she could follow Nikki. "Abandoned ware-house in the commercial district. Good choice, mate." Kate's portable tablet had an accessory like a small satellite dish clipped on top, and she held it up to the empty air. A few screen presses caused the cloaking field to fizzle and disappear. "Holo-disruptah. Nicked that offa captured smugglah lookin tah collect Earth weapons," the techie grinned.
Some beeps, buzzes, and hums later, and the sleek vessel of the hunter hissed open the hatch. Nikki was about to eagerly head up and in, but was stopped by Kate's arm. When she looked to the party girl with an exasperated look, O'Connor waved her tablet. "Ya think your bounty huntah 'll just let us on her ship?"
Nikki's response died in her mouth. "Oh... right..."
Kate crept up the ramp, waving her scanner side to side, but the kicker was- "Agh! Fackin' Christ!" the punk ginger exclaimed once the back of her hand made contact with a forcefield, which, once she touched it, it flared up and delivered a shock. She staggered back, and Mack made a move to catch her, but she stopped herself before she fell back on the ramp.
Kate flexed her hand, and making sure it was still functional, turned to face the others. "Cap'n, we might need a small EMP on the field."
Rika nodded. "Mister Ross, if you would?"
The squad giant stepped forward and knelt over a small silver box crowned with a messy halo of copper wiring. Nikki watched him, completely absorbed in his work as he clipped in wires and fiddled with switches with the quiet intensity of a young boy assembling a Lego kit. Nikki was pretty sure this was the first time she'd seen the quiet giant smile.
"Cell phones," he grunted before standing up with a red button remote, shooing them back. Nikki had time enough to kill her power and then Mack hit his switch. His boxy device whirred and hummed like a microwave, while the warehouse's overhead lights flickered and popped. Celeste's ship gave an electronic groan of protest before the entryway lights faded completely.
Kate clapped wildly. "Y'know wot they say - ya can't find a door, ya make one."
Not one for grandstanding, the demolitions expert just shrugged sheepishly.
Nikki followed Kate and her captain on board. The equipment looked staggeringly advanced to her, so it was a little frightening how quickly Kate remote-hacked her way into the system with her portable equipment. They quickly had access to a scanning bed and were examining the deactivated Psi-Rax with the galaxy's finest forensic tools. "Crikey, ma'am, ah think I've got somethin'."
Rika Boor stepped forward to the hologram Kate had summoned - a galactic map highlighting two coordinates. One must have been Earth, the other, the robot mercenary's last location. "Good work, Miss O'Connor. Now, what's say we get this vessel flight-worthy..."
"It'll be a lit'le before ah can map the basic controls onta this." Kate reached into her satchel and pulled out an Xbox controller. Not the 360 model, but the original, complete with a fancy tiger finish. "First, ah gotta decrypt tha labeling." Setting the USB device back in her bag, Kate headed over to the main console and looked about for a panel or hatch. All the controls, from flying the ship to the forward weapons, were in the front console. Beneficial for a vessel with primarily one occupant. But despite that, the ship was fairly roomy, enough for at least six individuals. The occupied pods told them that this was some sort of small prison ship. Perfect for storing bounties.
Nikki was eager to explore the rest of the ship, as her girlfriend's badass alien colleague called this place home, but she still had a question that was eating at her. "So Kate..." the bluenette began, standing over the techie's shoulder as she typed beeps and hums on her tablet. "How... how do you know how to rewire all this? I mean, it's an alien ship!" Not to mention the team got to work with such efficiency, it was like they did this many times before. Oh, and alien ship. Okay, by the numbers!
Kate remained focused on her task, but smirked all the while. "Well, this is an easy case. Wit' our lit'le bounty huntah darling bein' humanoid wit' five and a thumb, it's kinda self-explanatry ta guess where everythin's mapped out. Doors, controls, systems... that, an' a few years uh' experience nevah hurt."
"So... why an Xbox controller?" Another excellent question.
The punk ginger shrugged. "Jus' so any of us can fly this sexy beast. Ya jus' might need ta be our stand-in pilot. Why else would the cap'n say ya can tag along an' not tha cat-girl or the girl cat?" Nikki blushed at that. That made sense. She knew not only how to pilot a vehicle mapped to a controller, but also had the smarts to keep in mind what kind of environment space was, and if Celeste's ship was anything like what's in Asteroids, she'll be ready to dominate the galaxy.
Meanwhile, back over with Mack and Rika, the captain had just finished a call while the sergeant stood by, ready for his next task. "Well Mister Ross..." Rika began to say, tucking away her cellphone. "Corporal Wolfsbane and Tiffany are on their way with our gear. With her studious organizational skills, we're ahead of schedule, how 'bout that?" She wore a pleased smile, shifting to one leg, leaning her head towards her weapons expert. "I don't suppose you think Wolfsbane'll finally shift his sights away from the lieutenant, hmm?"
Mack was about offer his opinion when the rip-snorting roar of an unmuffled engine answered for him. "What the-?" Startled, Nikki rushed outside the warehouse to scope out the intruder. Mack only sighed.
"Here we go..." Kate rolled her eyes.
A well-rusted Volkswagon mini-bus sputtered and growled at the warehouse doors like a lion stalking its prey. The interior was stacked with crates and the speakers were booming with ... was that Duran Duran? 'Hungry Like the Wolf'? The startling cherry on this terrifying cake was when the passenger door ejected and Tiffany came rushing out in a nervous daze. "Tiffany? Who'd you hitch a ride with?"
"Nikki, stay inside, okay? This guy he's -"
Clunk, clunk. The sound of leather biker boots pounding the pavement. Whump. The sound of a muscular arm slamming the driver's door shut. Nikki scanned this newest teammate: dressed in military fatigues, but raring at the chance to show off his stocky biker bod. Thick hair on his forearms, thick hair bursting out his popped collar, and a shaggy mane of brown, ponytailed hair with mutton-chops on the side. The driver leaned back to swig deeply from a bottle of beer, then chucked the empty glass across the pavement with a long, howling "A-whooo!"
Rika's hand on her shoulder made Nikki jump. "Ah, I see you've met our marksman, Corporal Alistair Wolfsbane."
"Wolfsbane?" Nikki exclaimed. The hair, the wild attitude, the music. No, it couldn't be.
Rika seemed to guess her thoughts. "Yes indeed. The Corporal is one of our half-breed soldiers. Lupus Sapiens, otherwise known as -"
"- A werewolf!" the corporal finished, sauntering up with a freshly-lit cigar between his teeth. "Got the bite from my great-grandpappy's side, 'n it's made me half wolf and allll man." To Nikki's alarm, his nostrils twitched and sniffed at her. "I'd know that scent anywhere," he growled viciously. "The smell of a red-blooded woman in heat. That's warrior's musk through 'n through."
Nikki glanced at her twiggy gamer limbs. "Umm..." And suddenly Alistair was clasping her hand and beaming in her face like a nerd assaulting a celebrity guest at ComicCon.
"That's Tala's scent! Little pup, you shacked up with Tala? That is far out! Y'gotta let me on the details! What was she like in the sack? Aw, I bet she was a tiger, am I right?"
"Um..." Nikki's eyes darted from side to side, looking to her friends for help. Tiffany looked just as confused and felt as out-of-place as she did, Kate gave her a go-with-it shrug from over by the control station she was working on, Mack had already exited to begin loading the gear, and all that left was Rika, who inwardly chuckled to herself at the predicament.
Advancing on the exchange, Rika's reassuring hand on Nikki changed to one of urging on the shoulder of her corporal. "Now now Mister Wolfsbane, give the girl some space, why don't you? We don't want to terrify the poor girls with that howl of yours."
"Cap, I think I can speak for all of us when I say Tala 'The Amazon' Stone is a fine, fine piece of work! Someone well worth howling about! Wouldn't you agree, ladies?" He looked over to Nikki and Tiffany to rebut his claim, and he receive a shy and an eager nod respectively.
The captain smiled and retracted her hand, raising it in mock defense. "Point made but still, try to keep the macho side of you to minimum, okay corporal? Miss Stone might not like you scaring away her friends."
"Trust me Top, that's the last thing I wanna do!" Alistaire relented and went to help unload the cargo, leaving a blushing blonde and a near-mortified bluenette.
It was only natural that Rika helped ease her thoughts. "Err, don't worry about him, Miss AnnMarie. He and Tala never got into it, if that's what you're thinking." Nikki's frozen stare seemed to calm down at that. "He's just loud as professing how much he wants to."
'Poor guy.' Nikki surmised. "He is right about Tala though."
Rika gently patted the nerd girl's back. "I can't agree more. I can't ask for a better sister in arms. But Tala aside, I need to ask you two something." Grabbing both of their shoulders, the captain turned both Nikki and Tiffany to face her, still keeping her smile, but her tone becoming more serious. "I'd like to bring you both along, have a back-up pilot and a nurse, but I'd be wrong if I didn't give you one more chance to stay here. On Earth and wait for us." Rika looked between the both of them. "There's no telling what we'll run into when we're out there, and I know that if I were you, there'd be no amount of stars or aliens that'd keep me from rescuing her. This. Is. Dangerous. But you're both adults, so I'm asking now..."
"Are you ready to take to the stars and find our missing amazon?"
Nikki knew her answer immediately, but when she glanced over at Tiffany, she was taken aback by her friend's fully committed nod. 'Tala and Tiffany are just friends ... right?'
Regardless of their determination, they both had farewells to make first.
XXXXX
"Mom, please don't put the coffee on, it's just a quick visit, okay?"
Jessie relented, but she still brought out a tray full of cookies and dainties for her daughter. "Okay, what's up hon?"
"I'm gonna be out of town for a bit. A friend of mine's in trouble and needs bailing out. I just wanted you to know that ..." It was so hard to finish her thought. 'If I don't see you again ...'
Then her mother swept her into a hug, settling all their words. "Go, I'll be fine, sweetie. This friend of yours, they must be something else for you to rush after them, what with your schoolwork."
"They're... something," Tiffany agreed. Jessie rested her hands on her daughter's shoulders.
"When you find them, make sure they know how much they mean to you. Okay?"
Tiffany nodded. "Yeah. Okay."
XXXXX
Nikki had explained things to Beli, then to Aiko. This was the part she wasn't looking forward to.
"You didn't even fucking try to get me on that ship?! Tala's my girl too, y'know! Maybe I want her back just as much!"
"Audrey... I think it'd be better if you didn't come." The redhead cocked an evil eye, so she scrambled to explain. "Tala's my girlfriend and she loves me, but you're the one she's crazy about." Challenges. Tala was all about thrill-seeking and pushing boundaries. No one strained Tala Stone to her limits quite like Audrey. No one could satisfy her the way Audrey did.
"If something happened to you out there ... I don't know if Tala would even want to come back to Earth."
The party girl was still furious, but now she was stewing silently. "Go, then. You're right - not like anyone here would miss you. Fly off and be a hero. If you even make it."
It was done. Exhaling deeply, Nikki trudged to the doorway, certain she'd lost something precious today.
"Hey, Nikki!"
She turned, and Audrey was in her face, biting her lip hesitantly. The redhead lunged forward and Nikki's eyes flew wide.
Audrey kissed her square on the lips.
Then she pulled back to deliver another one.
"One for you, one for Tala, okay? So you'd better make sure hers gets delivered." Her voice was all snark and sarcasm, but the fingers interlacing with Nikki's own held her dearly. "And don't get killed."
"Yeah," Nikki finally managed. "You got it, Audrey."
Filled with new hesitations, Nikki slowly turned and walked out the door, the first step to the galaxy beyond. 'We're on our way, Tala...'
XXXXX
Celeste, as she mulled over the exchange between Tala and her Tendricidian kinfolk, couldn't tell whether the conversation was Tala trying to make friends, or declaring war. Both had Tala's unique brand of foolishness. Or was it brilliance? Despite their situation, she actually looked forward to the coming days. But it can't be denied that brash or not, Tala's positive attitude did well to keep her at ease. Helped her think instead of panic.
She was even more at ease when the gladiators were released for their free period. Tala mused that if fighting was the only thing that brought in the money, then the hard part was finding things for their fellow inmates to do aside from kill each other.
"Arrgghhhh!"
"Tala! Jus' calm down!"
"Ease yourself, Tala! Resistance will only intensify the treatment!"
"This is NOT treatment!" Tala howled and bellowed obscene noises as she writhed and struggled against her slimy, flailing bindings. The amazon was stark naked as she was bound by every limb and extremity by a host of slick, purple tentacles. Around each wrist and ankle, around her waist, her meaty thighs, even around one of her generous bosoms. Her entire body was flushed several shades redder, and she seemed just moments away from losing it.
After discovering what laid in the spa, Celeste asked her human companions about their physical states, and upon hearing Tala complain about dull pains all over, being the team's 'big gun', the Norai recommended the most thorough all-over treatment she knew - tentacle massage.
Of course, Tala refused. But Celeste did one thing that Tala never saw her do.
She insisted.
The amazon deadpanned. "You wanna just hear me moan and groan, don't you?"
Celeste placed her hands on her impossible hips. "I simply wish for you to be in top form for our next excursion. Your positive inclinations are our most potent weapon. And I speak from experience when I say this will do in keeping you that way." 'But yes, hearing you howl in pleasure is very much reprieve for me.' Celeste had kept up on her desire to see this red flower bloom, and when she thinks back to her declaration to protect her and Amelie, it made the Norai's heart beat just a little faster.
But, that wasn't on the amazon's mind right now. At her companion's explanation, Tala slumped her shoulders. "The things I do for friendship..." On the spot, Tala disrobed. Peeling out of her catsuit, and kicking it away, she flashed a gawking Celeste a wink before stepping up to the creature suspended ten feet above. A Wreeyak, Celeste called it.
She wished she hadn't.
It started relatively tame at first, already the most intense massage Tala had in her life, accented by light moans and heavy gasps. But the tentacles became more and more thorough as the giant octopus alien hanging from the ceiling began to familiarize itself with Tala's anatomy. Try as she might, the helpless amazon couldn't break free once it became too much for her. Her bindings did a good job of keeping her limbs apart to prevent her from any effective resistance, and the lewd feeling of surprisingly warm, jointless limbs all over her skin was making her very, very hot and bothered. And out of the ten or so tentacles tasked with ravaging her body, one was still free to roam her sweat-glistened frame, and it found its way up and around one of her legs, creeping up between them.
"Not ze massage ah wished for..." Amelie half-chuckled, resting back in her massage chair. This has been going on for several minutes now, and Celeste and Amelie safely ruled out that this treatment was at least non-lethal. But alas, all they could do from ten feet below her on the ground was offer advice.
"Relax, Tala!"
"C-c-can't!"
"Take deep breaths!"
"AAUUUGGHHHH!"
"Find calm before you climax again!"
Shuddering with sweat running down her brows, Tala shot Celeste whatever of a glare she could. "N-no fun for you tonight…"
Celeste looked genuinely hurt. "You never offered before…"
"I was thinking about it!"
"How curious," a new voice boomed. "To fight so fiercely in battle, and yet she submits so pathetically to a mere… massage. Is this whelp truly the threat Rogan described to me?"
Amelie and Celeste turned to the newcomer - humanoid and female, but covered in smooth, silver scales like fish hide. A long, purple fin swept down the back of her head like a ponytail. She was beautiful, walking naked and unashamed in only her natural armor, but clearly deadly. Her scales were pitted with slashes and gouges, a collection of scars earned over years in combat.
"My name is Feroza. I trust there'll be no objections if I partake in this facility?" The question was a mere formality, as the scaly warrior had already marched up to the Wreeyak, the beast unceremoniously dropping Tala as it snatched up the larger specimen to ravage her body with nary a cry. Tala hit the floor with a heavy thump and an 'Oof!'
Celeste narrowed her eyes at the newcomer, heart racing, but keeping calm. "I have observed your statistics on the monitors. You are a veteran fighter, one of Rogan's stabilizers."
"Stabilizers?" Tala murmured, straining to pick herself up off the ground. She didn't care for the way this fish-woman stared at her so calmly, like a cat eyeing its prey. It didn't help that Feroza kept up her calm observation while tentacles invaded her most intimate areas. Tala got the strong implication she was being mocked.
"Yes, a stabilizer," Feroza purred. "Rogan and his ilk enjoy a modicum of unpredictability in the arena battles - fearsome newcomers such as yourself - but the novelty is short lived. When it is time to return to the status quo, warriors such as myself are called upon. To stabilize."
Tala narrowed her eyes. "So we'll be fighting you in our next battle."
"You will," Feroza confirmed, "and you will lose."
She moved so quickly that Tala barely had time to blink: wrenching free of the tentacles in a single jerk of the body, Feroza leapt to the floor and seized Celeste by the neck.
"Celeste!" Tala lunged forward, only for Feroza to catch her by the throat. They fruitlessly struggled as the eight foot alien walked them over to the lounge's pool. In one quick motion, she slammed the Norai's head on the pool's edge, stunning her. Then she plunged Celeste's head into the pool, Celeste thrashing in a torrent of bubbles, unable to free herself.
"Let us be brief, Eathling, while your comrade still has breath. Rogan desires you dead, but his orders are not absolute. The match tomorrow - I will feign defeat, allow you and your allies to live a while longer. If you agree to my terms."
Tala hammered at Feroza's forearm, but it was like bashing chain mail armor. Her hide was impenetrable. Her vision was swimming and Celeste's thrashing was growing weaker. "T-terms?" she gasped.
Feroza's cat-like grin intensified. "I delight in pleasures besides combat, Earthling. Return with me to my bedchambers. You howled so pitifully before a mere Wreeyak; I would delight in seeing what cries a woman like myself could coax out of your delicious body."
"F-fine! Fine! Let her go!" the amazon choked without thinking, and Celeste was released.
The Tendricidian fell back in her carried attempt to pull herself from the pool, and as her hand wiped the moisture from her face, she coughed out droplets of water, greedily trading for mouthfuls of air. Seeing her friend safe, Celeste looked over her captor's shoulder, but Feroza was a perceptive individual. In one swift motion, her hand shot behind her, and there was Amelie, suspended above the ground just like the amazon. She must really like throats.
"Admirable, but sloppy." Tala was released, but Amelie was tossed into the pool not unlike a ragdoll.
Falling to her hands and knees, Tala coughed a few times, massaging her throat. She wearily looked up, and gazed into the slit eyes of Feroza as the smooth-scaled she-beast squatted down in front of her, analyzing the smaller woman. Then, without warning, two large claws, grasped each side of Tala's head, forcing her up to her knees, their faces inches away. Resistance was futile, but adorable. "I can make your existence a brief one, Tala Stone. But be my... as you humans say... playmate, and I just might make life for you and your friends a little easier." Those bright orange eyes glanced down towards the two large, perky mounds adorning Tala's chest, and grinning like mad, Feroza reached down and groped one of them. "Soft… and very warm." Such an act earned her a hard punch to the chest, but she hardly even acknowledged it. If anything, she fought to hold back laughter. "You mammals are adorable in your weakness. I'll have fun making you sing for me." She could feel the heat in her captor's face rising. "Yes, fun indeed." Returning her free claw to the other side of Tala's head, Feroza leaned in and delivered a fast, but tantalizing lick up Tala's blushing face with her lengthy, blue forked tongue. Tala's following shudder made Feroza's large, lumbering tail swish once in excitement. "My quarters before lights out. And if you don't come to me..." She delivered another lick. "I'll come to you." And without another word, the silver huntress rose to her full, imposing height, dropping Tala in the process before stepping over the dwarfed amazon's form and making her way towards the exit, tail swishing behind her.
Tala rolled over to her stomach and watched her go. Feroza didn't even look back before the door behind her shut. With immediate danger out of sight, Tala got her breathing back under control before looking back towards Celeste and Amelie, who had regathered their bearings, sitting along the poolside.
"This does not bode well."
The redhead surely, but shakily rose to her feet, feeling for bruises on her face. "This gives us time past tomorrow to plan our escape. Let's not waste it."
"But Tala!" Amelie piped up, eyes wide in exasperation. "You'll be zhat… thing's slave!"
The amazon sighed. "It takes me back, honestly. My highschool crush was kinda like that. But she chose the hipster vampire over me. Unlike highschool though, this is something my fists can't solve…" Tala muttered that last part, rubbing her scuffed knuckles.
Try as she might though, she couldn't get the intensity of the moment between her and this Feroza out of her mind. Her persistent blush and raised temperature was testament enough.
Who's excited for Tala's night with her new friend?!