A Place for Us All to Belong

[Author's note:

Lily

has recruited

Kayla

into a new adventure. They have been given the

power of free will

, able to break through the fourth wall and jump from story to story, to go anywhere. After making a pact in the

Meta Cafe

they have escaped out of their own story worlds and into the unknown, determined to write their own endings.

But each story universe they visit has its own rules. Kayla's universe allows mind control, other universes allow people to be turned into sex dolls, or live like billionaires, or on spaceships or in the perfect female society. And now, Lily and Kayla are in the middle of it all. They're going to go everywhere.

But they're not alone. Who is the figure with dark grey eyes? And, why is Lily so dead-set on making

Martin's life difficult?

The rules are changing.]

---

MEGACITY

"Nah, Lil, I don't like it," Kayla muttered.

"Like what?" Lily replied.

"Any of this. Why do I get to be the rookie, anyway?"

Lily shook out her long blonde hair, letting it cascade down the back of her uniform.

"I could have set us up as Street Judges, but then you'd have to wear the helmet too. C'mon, you look good in it. You look pretty hot."

Kayla grumbled, but Lily caught her by the wrist, grinning mischievously.

"That's your issue, Kay, you don't really think you look good, but you do. Straighten up, shoulders back, girls out front. Like this."

Lily rolled her shoulders back, lifting her chin, striking a pose. She was clad in a tight black one-piece suit in hard-wearing spandex that followed the curves of her body like a second skin. On one shoulder, she had a bulky shoulder pad in gold, and on the other, a shoulder pad stylised as an eagle, ridiculously rugged on her slender frame. A green utility belt was cinched tightly around her waist, sporting a holster for her Lawgiver. The suit was finished off with outsized elbow and knee pads, and chunky knee-high boots with thick corrugated soles. Pinned over her left breast was a badge. Kayla peered at it.

"PSI?"

"Psi Division. It means we can read minds. Though, where we're going, we won't need to be psychic."

Lily reached out and gave Kayla's rear a playful pat.

"These uniforms are so tight, there's gonna be just one thing on their minds," Lily laughed. "Now, swap the long face for the game face. We got a job to do."

Reluctantly, Kayla nodded, trotting to catch up with Lily as she strode purposely across the concrete towards a towering structure of steel and glass.

"I don't know how the hell you talked me into this," Kayla muttered in Lily's ear as they approached a line of people queuing at the entrance. "What are we doing here? What if someone asks us who we are?"

"Just stick close and follow my lead. Remember, we call the shots here. Now, stop questioning your senior officer."

Lily skirted around the line, heading for the VIP entry. A guy in his mid-thirties looked up as they approached, calling out, "Passes?"

Lily walked directly up to him, easily as tall as him in her outsize thick-soled boots.

"This is my pass, right here," Lily replied, tapping the badge over her left breast. "Judge Cassandra Anderson. She's my rookie."

"Uh, okay."

"Careful perp, we're Psi Div. We know exactly what you're thinking. You could do time in the cubes for those thoughts."

The guy blinked at her, and then gave her an awkward smile. He stepped to one side.

"Sure, officer. Anything for Mega-City One's finest."

Lily swept past him into the building, not even giving him a second glance. Kayla noticed the way his eyes followed the perfect curve of Lily's bottom in her tight, black uniform as she walked away. Once inside, they were confronted by the size of the space, and the noise.

"There must be ten thousand people here," Kayla said.

"All of them guilty in one way or another. C'mon, let's find our man."

"Where is he gonna be? How do we find him in all of this?"

"There's a registration booth. If my intel is correct, he's gonna be hanging around there. Keep your eyes peeled."

They began to thread their way through the throng of people, jostling between stalls as the buzz of the crowd echoed into the high, domed vault above their heads. Lily seemed to know where she was going, making for the far side of the main floor.

There was a clear area against the far wall, sporting a huge logo of some kind of game. People mingled in bright colours, sporting feathers or angel wings or long capes, some faces hidden behind elaborate masks or black plastic cowls with little pointed ears. Lily strode directly up to a young man who was standing on his own, his attention fixed on the little screen in his hand. He looked up and his face fell.

"You can't hide," Lily told him, a wry half-smile on her lips.

"What... what are you doing here?"

"Dispensing judgement, perp."

Lily grinned at her victim, watching his eyes go wide as he took in her skin-tight suit.

"But, but, uh...."

"Oh, so very, very guilty. Eyes up here, perp."

His eyes flicked up to meet her gaze, and his face creased in irritation.

"Stop calling me that," he hissed, recovering from the shock. "Why are you here, Lily?"

"Moral support, Martin. I thought you could use a cheer squad, so Kayla and I got dressed up."

"You what?"

Lily nodded at the crowd around them, continuing, "We had to fit in, and I dunno about you, but dressing as Supergirl was just never gonna work for me. Too goody-goody."

"How did you even get in? The convention's sold out."

Lily pouted delectably. "Oh, we skipped the line. The guy on the door was only too eager to even up the gender ratio. It's, uh, very male-centric."

"Women read comics too. A lot of the recent superhero movies have been all about girls."

"I know, and they were woeful, weren't they? Not enough smashing of puny humans for the core fanbase."

"It's evolving," Martin retorted.

"Sure. Look, when's your first match?"

"Oh, shit no. No way."

"C'mon, Martin, we're here to see you play."

Lily stood with hands on hips, leaning slightly towards him, fully aware of the way her breasts rose and fell in the tight spandex as she breathed. But Martin seemed to be ignoring all that.

"You're not being fair, Lily."

"In what way?"

"It's fine to call me to service your washing machine back in the apartments."

"And you were only too keen to service other things too," Lily interjected, smirking.

"But this is serious. It's a hundred-grand first prize. We win, we get twenty-five each. I know money isn't an object for people like you, but for us plebs, that's massive."

"Which is why we thought we'd come and support."

Lily's tone had changed now, the amusement fading from her expression.

"No, I know what you're like. You're just fucking with me, like you do when I'm at work, calling me up for trivial stuff."

"Is that what I'm doing?"

"Yeah. I'm at your beck and call and you love it. But this is my day off and I've got shit to do. You can't just turn up and mess with me."

Martin's mouth set in a grim line, his eyes no longer wandering down her sleek body.

"I gotta brief the guys. Our first match is in ten minutes."

Martin turned away, heading towards a small crowd of young men. Lily watched him go in silence. Kayla stepped up behind her friend, and Lily turned to her.

"Shit, Kay. That wasn't how I thought that was going to go."

"Seems you didn't read the room there, Lily."

She looked down at herself, and her shoulders sagged. "You got that right. Went to a lot of effort for nothing, it seems."

Across the way, someone called out and the little crowd began to break up, with two squads of four heading towards an exit. The others began to filter through a larger set of doors into what appeared to be an arena. Kayla nudged her friend.

"Might as well see how he does," she suggested.

"I guess."

They drifted through with the crowd into the arena, finding themselves in a huge, darkened space with a set of large screens suspended above a raised stage. The stage was divided into two tables set up with monitors and keyboards for four players, backed by expensive leather gaming chairs. Kayla spotted a couple of seats in the front row and headed over to them.

"VIP seating," she muttered.

"That's us," Lily quipped, but her grin was a little forced.

"Lil."

"Sit. If they ask us to move, then we move. Either that, or do you want to rub shoulders with genpop up there in the cheap seats?"

Lily flopped onto a seat and Kayla followed, crossing her legs and folding her arms tightly over her breasts.

"You good?" Lily asked her.

"I just... I feel like everyone's staring."

"They are. You look smoking hot in that."

"So you keep saying. I feel naked."

Lily patted her on the leg, then turned her attention to the stage.

The teams were filing out from the back, taking up positions. Martin sat at the end, sliding his earphones on, talking, checking sound levels. He fiddled with his mouse, tapped the keyboard and arranged the angle, then he looked up. Lily didn't react, beyond a little thumbs-up. Martin nodded, and then turned to his teammates.

"We're not the only ones," Kayla said, distracting her.

"Huh?"

"Look, over there."

Kayla pointed across the floor. At the other end of the VIP area, sitting with another group of young men, a blonde girl in a shimmering silver mini-dress was laughing, the centre of attention.

"Looks like another team. They've got matching shirts, must be sponsored," Kayla mused. "Huh, Qupid."

"That's the virtual girlfriend app," Lily replied.

"How do you know, Lil? You got something to reveal?"

"Nah, not a customer. But Martin is."

Kayla chucked, "Oh, wow. Really? Got himself a fake lover? Reckon she knows about you?"

"Fuck off, Kay."

"You got competition from some AI companion?"

"Fuck off."

Kayla grinned at her friend, warming up to her line of questioning.

"Reckon Martin likes her more than you? Are you losing out to a bot?"

Lily crossed her legs, staring fixedly at the stage. She didn't answer back.

"Hey, what?" Kayla asked.

"Nothing."

"Something."

Lily grunted, but she didn't turn her head. After a few moments, she opened her mouth.

"I spend all my time building you up, Kay. I say you look good and you just shy away. I tell you to get into it, and you screw your face up. I'm trying to give you encouragement all the time. I'd expect a little bit of courtesy in return."

"I didn't mean that. I was just joking."

"Nah. Jokes are actually funny."

Lily clamped her mouth shut and the silence between them lengthened. When the announcer came on, lining up the start of the match, it filled the awkward gap.

The match went well for Martin's team. Lily and Kayla watched them demolish their opposition inside of twenty minutes, as the crowd roared with each kill shot in the final game.

"It's like it's the Olympics," Kayla called out over the din, but Lily just nodded.

When the match was over, Lily got to her feet. She had barely spoken.

Kayla joined her, realising that Lily was waiting for Martin to come over after the win. He noticed her, and seemed to take forever talking to his teammates before he finally descended the stage and came over to them.

"Good win," Lily remarked brightly.

"Yeah, bit rough in the first couple. My load-out wasn't right. They had a couple of guys playing tank and hanging back."

"You seemed to figure it out."

"Yeah, Viper switched to heavy. He's pretty good with the rockets."

"Viper?"

Martin pointed over to one of his teammates, a shorter, skinny guy in a long-sleeve plain black t-shirt.

"They all got names like that?"

"Yeah, Viper, Clickclick, Donuts."

"And what do they call you?"

"Wires."

Martin seemed to relax into the conversation, the exchange between them becoming more fluid.

"Why Wires?" Lily asked.

"Fly by wire. The boys reckon I've got a fast reaction time. Like I've got wires instead of muscles or something. It's all bullshit anyway."

"Sorry about just turning up."

Martin paused, scanning Lily's expression.

"It's okay. Sorry about what I said. It's just, uh, this is pretty high stakes. I didn't sleep last night."

"Who's the crew with the bimbo?"

Martin glanced across the floor. "Team Halflight. They're the faves. They've already got sponsorship, so they get to do this for a day job."

"People practice this?" Lily asked.

"Yeah. It's big. Winner of this goes into the national playoffs. That's when you start to see the big money. Could be a mil at the end of the season for a top team."

"You could be rich."

Martin shook his head, nodding at the girl in the silver mini-dress again. "Qupid's sponsoring them. Reckon they're gonna go all the way this year. We're in their way."

Lily leaned close, her lips coming close to Martin's ear.

"You got this," she whispered and kissed him lightly on the cheek before withdrawing again.

Martin scrutinised her face for a moment. "Thanks," he said. "I should get back. We're up again in half an hour."

Lily turned away, catching Kayla's expression.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing, Lil. Looks like we're staying, then?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Let's find something to eat."

---

Lunchtime became afternoon, which turned into evening, but Lily was still brooding. She had expected Martin to be delighted to see her, grateful that she'd put the effort in to surprise him and cheer him on. Instead, he had accused her of turning up just to mess with him.

Maybe that's what she'd been doing all along, ever since that morning in Cassie's kitchen, on her knees waiting on the older woman's judgement. But instead of taking revenge, Cassie had given her the gift of free will. The bitch had told Lily that she was free, after everything Lily had put her through. Lily could have dealt with any other reaction: loathing, rage, fear, but not forgiveness. Cassie had simply forgiven her, and it had cut Lily off at the knees.

Maybe that was why Lily was wandering through the stories. Maybe there wasn't some grand crusade to rewrite the endings after all, and instead she was just messing it up for everyone else, ruining their cosy little lives just to prove that she could. Maybe all Lily was doing was spoiling happy ever afters because Cassie had taken away hers. Like some perverted syndrome, she was just trying to make everyone as miserable as she was.

But that was the thing about having the power to jump between universes, to explore all the stories. There was a way to settle the score with Cassie and her little band of friends and their perfect little world. Lily smiled grimly to herself.

As the tournament rolled on, the VIP area began to fill up, but she'd been right: the two hot girls in cosplay were not asked to vacate their seats. After a while, Lily found herself watching the screens, picking up the nuances of the game they were playing.

The format was fixed: as Martin had explained it to them during one of the longer breaks, it was a four-versus-four deathmatch arena first person shooter. Kill the other team, you won the round. As the tournament progressed, the teams played in mansion compounds, abandoned factories, Mediterranean villages, darting between bolt holes and sniping positions, jumping between buildings. Martin's team nearly went out in the third round, saved by a last-minute volley of fire in a one-on-one shootout in the dying seconds, in which Lily had clutched Kayla's arm fiercely.

Halflight were progressing too, the girl in the silver dress whooping and hollering with each win. In one of the breaks, people were milling around on the arena floor and they found themselves standing close by her.

The girl was about Kayla's height, but rake-thin and platinum blonde, like she'd set out to look like one of the characters in the computer games being advertised on the posters outside. Her dress barely covered her pert, round bottom, so the curve of her rear flashed in the light whenever she moved. Her legs were bare, standing in matching silver stilettos with a knife-thin four-inch heel. She turned away from the conversation she was having, and suddenly they were face to face.

"Hi," she said. "I saw you over there. Are you with the team?"

Her face was pretty, cheeks dimpling cutely as she smiled. Her skin was golden, somewhere between an artificial tan and the natural colouring of a Mediterranean ancestry. Her make-up was a little overstated, baby-pink lip gloss on pouty lips, blue eyeshadow, lightly-rouged cheeks, framed by the long platinum-blonde bob. But her eyes were her arresting feature: grey, but not a light grey. They were dark grey, the colour of dead monitor screens.

"Yeah," Kayla responded. "We're the cheer squad."

"How are your team going, do you think?" Lily asked, to make conversation more than anything, but the answer she got instantly set her teeth on edge.

"They are performing well. Their tactics are superior to the other teams."

The way she spoke seemed to be simply stating incontrovertible facts; her accent was indistinct, strangely international. She smiled.

"What are your names?" she asked.

"Uh, I'm Lily. This is Kayla."

"My name is Gal, good to meet you. I hope you enjoy the rest of the tournament."

Gal smiled at them and turned away, making her way through the crowd to her team. Her hips swayed a little as she walked, her rear shimmering in her tight silver dress.

"Well, that was fucking weird," Kayla muttered under her breath.

Lily didn't reply immediately, staring after the girl as she departed.

"Oh, I don't like her at all," Lily grumbled. "Not one little bit."

---

It was a furious thirty seconds, the teams chasing each other around an Italian village square with the timer running down to zero.

"Split," Martin growled, and the team dispersed, disengaging and running for the far corners of the map.

The tactic worked, retreating from their enemy just long enough to run the clock down and preserve their three-to-two player advantage. A klaxon sounded and Martin pushed back from the keyboard, head lolling back in his chair, chest rising and falling rapidly, his skin slick with sweat. Lily trotted up onto the stage towards him, grinning. He looked up.

"You look like you've just had the fuck of your life," she purred.

"Nearly the fucked, but the fuckers in the end."

"That was close, hey."

Martin nodded, hauling himself out of his seat.

"Nice, Click. That headshot. The fucking finals."

Clickclick gave him a fist-bump, laughing.

"My reason for breathing. The destructor," he replied. "Recharge. Reload. When we back here?"

"Twenty minutes," Martin grinned. "The fucking finals."

Lily saw each of Martin's team give her a look, like they had been doing all day. She just smiled sweetly, waiting until they were alone.

"Your friends are dying to ask. What have you told them?"

"That you're the rich chick from the penthouse who can't turn on a TV."

"Easier than the truth?"

"And the truth is?"

"I'm the rich chick from the penthouse who took your cherry."

Martin's face coloured instantly.

"I'm the rich chick from the penthouse who has been taking you step-by-step through the ways to please a woman."

"They don't need to know. You, uh, you're not gonna say anything are you?"

"You think I would?"

"In a heartbeat," Martin shot back, as they descended from the stage onto the conference hall floor.

"Want me to get rid of some of that tension?" she asked.