They ran through the woods, shrieking. Fast and eager and bursting with clean, pure joy.
Up the hill, her hand grasped in his as he helped her up. Down the slope- nearly tripping over themselves- and around the pond, where ducks eyed them warily. Then through the low, tangling path, branches brushing their head, and then-
The creek.
They both stopped to stare at it. Their parents had warned them; made it clear that they weren't old enough to go down to the creek. It was too fast, too strong, too wide, too dangerous. So she'd kept away, as much over fear of parental disapproval than any fear of drowning. But then...
He'd decided they were going.
He'd told her she shouldn't be afraid. That they'd go down to the creek early in the morning, with their parents none the wiser. Their little secret.
So she left early to met up with him, rode their bikes down to the edge of the woods, and ran through the trees together...
And now, here they were.
He smiled at her. He was still holding her hand, she noticed, and the knowledge made her heart quicken.
Then his eyes lit up and he pointed. "Look! A rope!"
Well, there was nothing else for it. He climbed up the side of the tree. Grabbed the rope, took a deep breath, and leap.
His body made an arc in the air and then he let go, tumbling away and then-
A huge splash. He surfaced, laughing so hard he was half-drowning. "Come on in!" He gestured as he paddled in the water. "Come on!"
She eyed the water nervously. She wasn't a good swimmer.
"Come on!" He laughed. "Trust me!"
She reached for the rope.
***
Max Drandson lay bound up by chains. His legs and arms were pinned by a hundred metal links that slithered and crawled across his flesh.
And that was perfectly fine.
Mostly because his friend-slash-partner in crime-slash-drinking buddy-slash-just now upgraded to fuckbuddy, Sinnis Dattu a.k.a. Chain Devil was currently giving him other things to concentrate on.
The dark-skinned beauty ground and bounced atop his dick, shuddering with pleasure. Her red eyes were half-lidded and her full breasts heaved as she rode him. Her stomach tensed and her cunt squeezed and rippled against his rock-hard cock as both villains savoured the pleasure their bodies brought. Sweat trickled down her body and pooled between and below them, staining their bedsheets.
Red light flared from her eyes and her gasps became ragged as the two partners reached the limits of their pleasure, rising, rising and then-
She collapsed against him, breasts pressing against his chest as they sucked in heaving gasps of air. The afterglow swept over them, leaving them lazy and helpless and content.
That, of course, was when the door exploded.
The Exiled Prince- cold blue light pulsing around him like a halo- stepped inside. "Neon Hound. You're under-" The blue-eyed Archon took in the scene and blinked. "Uh-"
A dozen blazing chains appeared out of thin air, slithering towards Exiled with the speed of thought. He conjured a shield of light, the chains dancing away while the two villains scrambled off the bed. Max drew bright lights in the air around him, lines of power appearing over his flesh-
And then the room darkened. His powers sputtered, the lights wavering.
He had time to say, "Shit!" before Grey Sentinel appeared like a vengeful phantom, shadows boiling around him. Tendrils of shadow engulfed Neon Hound, snuffing out his bright gleam. Burning chains shot at Grey Sentinel, driving straight through him; but the cloaked figure merely faded into tattered shadows. A moment later the Exiled Price darted across the room, his chin jutting out as he conjured a massive shining warhammer into his hands. Chain Devil shrieked and ducked as it slammed into the wall next to her.
The two eyed each other, their eyes blazing with light. Exile said, "Surrender, Fellian! I promise we'll treat you justly!"
"Fuck your justice!" Chain Devil snarled, chains wrapping themselves around her naked body. "Leave my buddy alone, you smug Archon
shit
!"
Max yelled, his voice muffled by the dark tendrils that bound him. "Sinnis! Run! Get out while you can!" A moment later Grey Sentinel appeared next to him, gesturing with one hand, and the shadows devoured him.
The Exiled Prince tensed as the room was filled with dozens of chains, filling the room with lashing death. A heartbeat later the chains were gone, the villainess along with them.
***
It was later and Endless sat across from the Grey Sentinel.
"So," said Endless, "that seemed to go well enough."
Archon sighed and pinched his nose. "It was about the only thing that went well the entire night."
"What happened to Chain Devil?"
"Exiled Prince insisted on chasing after her. I tried to talk to him but..."
"Archons and Fellians, Nathan." Endless smiled. "They've been fighting each other throughout the universe longer than even I have existed. Besides, that second-rate mercenary's hardly going to stop him. Relax."
"I suppose." Grey Sentinel sighed.
"What about the prisoner? Neon Hound?"
"Wants his jacket back."
That earned another smile. "Any idea how he did it?"
"No. None." Grey's frown deepened. "We've tried any number of means of interrogation. He claims he had no idea why either of them did what they did. Same with his partner. She just...suddenly decided to jump his bones."
"Maybe some new talent showing itself?"
"No. We'd have detected it." Grey shook his head. "It's almost as though..."
"As though?"
Grey's frown turned into a grimace as he struggled to spit out the words. "As though he wasn't responsible."
"Ah." Endless took a sip of coffee.
"Any ideas?" He sighed as she shook her head. "I would have thought you'd know something. You've been around since the beginning, Umma. Literally."
Endless smiled again, but this one was a brittle thing. "It could be any number of things. If I had to guess..."
"Go on."
"Maybe some sort of curse."
"Neon's powers aren't based on-"
"I didn't say Neon was the one inflicting the curse."
Grey scowled as hard as he could. "Hmph. So what now?"
"We observe. I've been counselling May." Umma sighed. "I have some ideas to help her get over this."
"Get over what?"
There was movement across from them.
Beacon and Bright Blade sat down next to the two heroes. Grey did his best to scowl them away but the husband and wife just smiled a little harder. "Is May okay?" asked Beacon, flicking her pale blonde hair away from her face.
Endless spoke first. "Windshear's fine. She had a bad fight- that's all."
Bright Blade rested his namesake weapon against the table. The dark-skinned techno-knight leant forward, hand unconsciously clasped around his wife's. "We talked to Electro Singer- she apparently went to see her?"
Grey raised an eyebrow at Endless. She shrugged. "I thought it might do her some good to see a friend."
"We should restrict contact until we understood what's happened to her."
Endless sighed. "She needs her friends, Nathan."
Bright Blade cut in. "What precisely is wrong with her?"
Beacon cut in, squeezing Bright Blade's hand. "Lover," she murmured, "I'm sure she's fine. Right, Endless?"
Endless said, "She's doing fine, Beacon. We're trying to find out precisely what happened." She rose. "In fact, I'm going right now to talk to her about my therapy idea."
"Humph." Grey rose as well. "I'm going to check in with Exiled Prince. With any luck, he's caught Chain Devil."
***
Exiled Prince landed, blue light flaring around him. A pair of security guards ran up to him.
He smiled and letting the blue light fade. He had been living in his adopted home for nearly ten years but had never forgotten the lessons that he'd learned from his homeland, concerning graciousness and politeness to the common folk. He nodded to the nearest guard- a squat, plump woman with a buzz-cut- who said, "She showed up about ten minutes ago."
"Has she hurt anyone?"
"Nah. Just smashing up cameras." The woman grimaced. "I think she knows you're coming."
"She was naked!" The younger male security guard said, just a little too loudly.
Exiled Prince exchanged a sympathetic look with the older guard. "Naked or not, the Fellian is dangerous. Thank you citizens, for raising the alarm."
The female guard said, "Is she really all that dangerous?"
Exiled Prince frowned. How to explain? About the planets that the Fellians had subverted or burned outright, the civilisations they had toppled. Chain Devil was a mercenary, true. An exile like him, if only from the common ranks of the fiendish invader species. But there really was no such thing as an innocent Fellian. Buying into that lie had spelled doom for countless worlds.
"She is," he said, "extremely dangerous. I'm going to have to ask you to stay out of the fight." When dealing with Fellians, he preferred to work alone.
He knew the best way to deal with them, after all.
Exiled Prince walked into the factory, a blade of blue light in hand. His muscular frame stalked through the echoing space, past the massive, silent machines. His eyes, burning blue, shifted left and right.
He stood in the centre of the factory space and spoke. "Chain Devil. I know you're here."
A voice echoed out from the darkness around him. "Turn back now, Archon poser. I've got no fight with you."
"No?" He smiled grimly and spread his hands out wide. "It's a strange thing, where an Archon and a Fellion aren't at each other's throats." Silence. "Maybe you can come out and we can talk, face to face?"
The rattle of chains around him. "Maybe after you release my friend."
"Your friend's in a great deal of trouble, Sinnis."
"Because he fucked your pretty little brown-haired heroine? From everything he told me she was very happy with the result." His unseen foe gave a throaty laugh. "Are you jealous, Exile? Did you have a thing for her?"
Exiled Prince grit his teeth as he touched the memory crystal around his throat. "You shouldn't disrupt the lives of the humans, Sinnis. It goes against the-"
"Oh please
spare
me. I'm not the Pit Mistress or Hellfire King. I couldn't care less about your stupid crusade. I'm here to kick ass and have fun. Maybe if you indulged once and a while..." Another laugh.
Exiled Prince shook his head. "We all have a part to play, Sinnis. Now come out."
"Or?"
"I come out and get you."
Silence.
Then chains burst from every surface around him at once, coiling around to strike at him.
He was already moving, his empowered muscles leaping him up and away from the murderous chains at in a blue of motion. He landed atop a gantry and ran, his eyes searching the shadows. The chains coiled after him like a hideous flock.
