“Handle what?” Gloria asked, mockingly, until a flash of green shot out, narrowly missing Ria as she dived aside so that it took one of the guards square in the chest. He fell back, a hole forming, dead before he hit the ground. The gladiator woman’s eyes went wide as she said, “Fuck,” and then turned to charge Skinner.

  Apparently, it was on and Gloria was leading the fight.

  While she didn’t have super powers, she was nimble as hell and knew her way around projectiles. Dodging, rolling, coming up with leg sweeps and punches, she was giving this Skinner lady a run for her money. When Skinner thrust out with a green metal blade that appeared in a flash of magic, Death Girl took over from the other side, her own blades emerging like sharp batons. She was a flurry of black metal and glowing gold, and then we started to get a sense of how badass Skinner was. The fight grew in intensity, with Skinner apparently feeding off of the energy so that soon she was moving even faster, so fast, in fact, that Gloria even fell back, looking like she’d just realized the mistake in her attack.

  I was guessing at this point she had come to the understanding that Skinner wasn’t from around here.

  With an opening, Meher tried for an ice blast but nearly caught Death Girl. Bubblegum stepped up too, but Ria pulled her hands down, shaking her head. “Not when you don’t have a clear shot.”

  I stepped in to try my thing, but after two good hits from Skinner I thought I’d die. A slice of her blade hit but didn’t penetrate, pain racking my body but also filling my counter strike to nearly full.

  Meher sent out another blast and I was worried I’d get hit, but the strike missed us all. No, I saw, her aim hadn’t been for us, but the ground behind Skinner. Brilliant. Death Girl landed two good strikes, and then I shouted in a roar that showed all the pain I was feeling, enough to get Skinner's attention and cause her to land two more strikes on me. Perfect.

  I was feeling so much pain that I thought I was either going to vomit or pass out, but my gauge was full at last so I came at her. Death Girl saw it coming and went in with a strike first, fast and pulling to the side at the last minute as a fake, so that mine could land! I nearly laughed at the excitement I felt at teamwork coming into play, but was focused on that punch landing.

  My fist hit with an explosive energy that caused Skinner’s face to go pale, her chest where I’d made impact going concave, and then she was teetering. Gloria backed away, eyeing me with confusion, while Bubblegum hit Skinner with a blast and then Ria tackled her, delivering several well-placed attacks with her claws before pushing herself up, one foot on her throat.

  “Where are the others?” Ria asked.

  “Tracking him down,” she coughed. “And when they’ve found you’ve killed him, they’ll come for you.”

  “I don’t doubt it.” Ria lifted her foot. “Now I’m going to give you one last chance. Join us. I’ve seen more than you can understand. This invasion needs to stop, and you can help.”

  “Never.”

  Skinner thrust up a hand with green metal flashing, but before it could hit, Ria’s foot had landed again, crunching down on the wind pipe with more force than seemed possible from a petite little thing like her. Gasping for breath, Skinner’s green metal pulled back into her.

  As Ria turned to go, the woman on the ground found a second energy and, as she choked to death, turned to strike. Gloria was there, though, snapping the arm, stomping on Skinner’s head, and only pulling back when it was clearly done.

  I stared at her, then at the dead alien supervillain, and let out a long breath.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “What the hell was that thing?” Gloria asked, eyeing our surroundings, motioning for us to follow.

  “What we were trying to tell you about. Supervillains from another dimension. Aliens too, or something like that. And there’re more, many more. It’s an invasion. Coming tonight, we think.”

  “Hell…” Gloria led us around the trailers to the edge of the set, then indicated the crafts services table. “And somehow you want me to help?”

  “Help, yes,” Ria said. “But more than that. We want you to be part of the team. We want to give you powers so you can help fight them off.”

  Gloria gave the dead form of Skinner another long stare, then nodded. “You’ll need your energy then, so eat up.”

  She started walking toward the set.

  “After what you’ve just seen, you’re going back?” I asked.

  Gloria turned to me with a knowing smile. “They’d get suspicious if I didn’t. Plus, it’s fun. The show must go on, but when I’m done, we’ll go together and I’ll listen to what you all have to say.”

  “You’re joining us after?” Ria asked.

  Gloria nodded, said, “Clean up the bodies,” then was off.

  “Well, great,” Meher said, then shrugged. “That turned out well.”

  “Sure,” I said, chuckling. “Aside from me thinking I was going to die, no biggie.”

  “Tacos!” Bubblegum said, giving me a wink and then skipping over to the table of food. “What? We might as well make the most of it.”

  She had a good point, so after moving the bodies out of the way and behind one of the trailers, I joined her to eat up. We brought our food over to the side of the set, and then spent the next couple of hours relaxing, having a great time while we watched Gloria and the other gladiators compete to see who was the most badass.

  The events ranged from leaping across hovering drones and swinging from mech gun turrets, to mud races and a contest of punches and kicks. The last involved each contestant charging through a field of what appeared to be mobile punching bags, having to take each out of commission before reaching the other side and slamming a wall into position that would result in a massive explosion before their opponents were able to do it first.

  As much as I enjoyed a good afternoon napping what with doing night shifts, so drowsiness was threatening to rear its ugly head, this was damn fun. I almost wanted to be down there with the contestants, but was plenty happy to be in the stands, watching. My eyes were focused one-hundred percent on Gloria every time she was in play, and I couldn’t help but watch the way her ninja spandex clung to her ass, showing off her muscular but very feminine frame. Too bad Death Girl and Ria had to miss out, not wanting to deal with the illusion for such an extended period of time. With Death Girl’s speed and Ria’s strength, I imagined both would do quite well in the obstacles.

  I was hesitant to accept that she was fully on the team, in terms of the bedroom action and everything that being on the team meant, considering she hadn’t been briefed. My cock was hopeful, as evidenced by the shifting in my pants, the warm tingling up my spine.

  As Gloria leaped across to grab a robe and swing onto a rotating ledge, Meher leaped to her feet and cheered. The bouncing drew my eyes, the smile kept my attention. She was so gorgeous, with the slight dimples and the way her full lips curled up slightly more than most the sides. Her dark eyes met mine and seemed to flash an invitation to break loose, and then she had me by the hand, pulling me up and close.

  She leaned in, shouting over the crowd. “We want her on the team. Don’t fuck it up.”

  Not what I’d been expecting to hear, but I laughed. “Hey, it’s a team effort, right?”

  Her response was to wrap her arms around me, head on my shoulder as we watched Gloria jump to a ledge above where simulated swords were slicing her way. I hoped they were simulated, anyway.

  “What if it all ends and that’s it?” Meher said.

  “As in, we lose?”

  “We die, yeah.” She pulled back to look up at me, then to Bubblegum who was leaning forward, watching Gloria with anticipation. Maybe more?

  “If this is it,” I started, not sure where to go with it, “well, I’ll be happy to have fought at your side.”

  “Oh, shut up.”

  “What?”

  “That’s so corny.” Meher beeped my nose. “If this is it, I’ll be happy to have finally had my shot at you, finally had the chance to make you moan, feeling my wet pussy around your throbbing cock.”

  “Ahem,” the old man next to us said, then actually cleared his throat. When we looked over, I thought he was going to be annoyed, but instead he gave me a thumbs up.

  I chuckled, nodding to him, and then kissed Meher on the top of the head. “Spoken like a true romantic.”

  “Did I ever claim to be that?” She grinned, licked her lips, and then whispered in my ear, now that the crowd was hushed, “Honestly, all that and the fight at your side stuff. But really, just being at your side, finally starting to understand who you are and what makes you tick. For so long I wanted that, but…”

  “You didn’t know how to say it?”

  She shrugged. “Yeah, I suppose. Maybe it’s my culture, my upbringing? I’ve always been the type that prefers when a guy asks.”

  “Right.” I wanted to kick myself a thousand times over for not asking her out all those days and nights I had thought about it. Instead, I took her hand, running my fingers along hers, and said, “We’re making up for lost time, now. Let’s make the best of it.”

  She kissed me as the crowd erupted, Gloria having just knocked another contestant off of the sky-bridge portion of the obstacle. When they settled down, we sat again too to see how she did with the rest of it.

  “Fucking hot, right?” Bubblegum said, winking my way.

  I chuckled, and nodded. “Not bad at all.”

  “I ran a marathon once,” Meher said, as if that was anything close to what we were watching.

  “How’d you do?” I asked, trying not to sound condescending.

  She thought about it for a moment, then laughed. “Oh, damn. I was supposed to run it, but it just hit me I never actually did.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah, me and my girl, Aisha got super drunk the night before and went out to the course, staggering along acting like idiots, and slept in the next morning. It never really hit me until just now that I hadn’t actually completed or even really started the run.”

  Bubblegum laughed, shaking her head. “Me, I’m more of a judo girl.”

  “You do judo?” I asked.

  She grinned. “Come at me and find out.”

  “I will,” I replied. “When this is over and there’s not a huge crowd to watch me being humiliated.”

  “Nothing humiliating about getting thrown on your back. Especially if what follows is what I have in mind.”

  I chuckled nervously, and had to take a deep breath to not get carried away with that thought.

  The final bit was in progress below, Gloria climbing up scaffolding and onto a crane that hung out over water, her competitors and her all trying to reach the flag hanging in the center. Some fell, landing with a splash below, but at the end it was her and a man slightly bigger than her in size. They commenced with what was basically a chicken-fight, hanging and using their legs to try and get the other to fall.

  Gloria released one of her hands and I thought it was over for her, but she swung around and threw herself at the guy, clinging onto him and using him to push off. She swung out, grabbing the hold above, and caught the flag with her feet before pulling herself up while the guy fell.

  Victory!

  The crowd erupted in cheers, us along with them. Gloria went and cleaned up, and met us near her trailer in her sweats, a new ninja suit underneath, it looked like. Apparently, that was all she wore. Eccentric, but I could dig it.

  “That was intense!” Bubblegum said, offering up a high five.

  Gloria eyed her. “I still don’t really know you yet, girl. But… I like your vibe, so okay.” She returned the high five, then pulled her in for a hug. “Can you believe that shit? I kicked all their asses!”

  “You were amazing,” I said, then felt my cheeks flush when all eyes turned on me.

  “Thanks…?”

  “Drake,” I said.

  “Cool. Drake.” She smiled, glanced around, and then motioned for us to follow her. “I’m clear until tomorrow’s filming, so let’s get on with the alien killing or whatever it is exactly we have in mind.”

  “You’re wearing that?” Bubblegum asked, nodding to Gloria’s ninja outfit.

  Gloria laughed. “Of course? What, you expect me to fight weird alien creatures in a skirt?”

  We all glanced over at Ria’s short, floral dress, and moved on from the topic.

  “Don’t suppose you have a ride that would fit us all?” Ria asked.

  Gloria grunted, indicating a huge, yellow Hummer behind her trailer. “Think that’ll do?”

  “Fuck yes.”

  17

  With Bubblegum on one side of me and Meher on my other, we were soon zooming around corners as Gloria drove the vehicle fast, totally ignoring all the stop signs. Ria—sat in the middle of the three rows on her own to allow room for her wings—shouted out the directions to our hotel.

  “You’re not worried about getting pulled over?” Meher asked.

  Gloria scoffed. “Not to sound like an arrogant bitch, but… the cops around here know me. We have an understanding.”

  “Do whatever you want?” Bubblegum asked.

  “Almost. As long as I don’t kill anyone.” Gloria thought for a moment. “Oh, and maiming is frowned upon.”

  I laughed, but stopped when nobody else joined in. Maybe she wasn’t joking.

  “Of course, we’re about to kill a lot of ‘people,’” I pointed out.

  “The cops don’t really have jurisdiction over aliens, though,” Bubblegum pointed out, leaning on my shoulder for a nap as we drove, even though it couldn’t have been more than five minutes away.

  “Wait, why would we go to the hotel?” Gloria suddenly asked, eyes on the hills to our left.

  “Mostly to have a spot to wait, to be on the lookout,” Ria replied. “Why?”

  “I have a better place in mind.”

  She took the next left, heading to the hills and leaving with the mystery of where we were going hanging in the air. As we drove and Ria filled Gloria in on the situation, I couldn’t help but stare out at the surrounding hills and city in the distance, thinking how strange that, probably tonight or, at least, within twenty-four hours, all of this would see a massive invasion. I started wondering what this could mean, thinking that maybe it would all be some big joke, like the enemy would arrive and just be one ship that our military would blast from the sky, ending it in minutes or less. Wouldn’t that be great. Or better yet, the rest of the enemy would be tiny, so small that we could step on them, squish them like bugs. Maybe Ria and the others who’d arrived were flukes… I nodded off, realizing I was starting to dream, lost in that space between reality and dreamland, when I noticed Gloria eyeing me with a humored expression in the rearview mirror.

  “What’d I miss?” I asked.

  “Ria just finished explaining the power transfer and upkeep portion of the skills,” Bubblegum said, all giddy about it.

  “So we can all imagine what’s going through her head right now,” Meher whispered next to me, hand on my leg in a suggestive way.

  “What about Death Girl?” Gloria asked. “She’s up on his D, too?”

  “No,” Death Girl said, flatly.

  “Huh, too bad. I’d have liked to watch how that worked.”

  Death Girl turned to stare at her, interrupted only by Ria clearing her throat.

  “What I don’t get, is why having him involved is necessary,” Gloria stated. “In theory, couldn’t you all just dyke out?”

  “Dyke out?” Ria asked, frowning in confusion.

  “She means carpet munching,” Bubblegum explained. “You know, girl on girl.”

  “Ah.” Ria thought about it, but then said, “Why?”

  Gloria laughed. “I’m not judging one way or the other. Hey, put a healthy cock in front of me, I’ll gobble it up. Just asking questions.”

  “I’m actually a vagi-tarian myself,” Bubblegum said, “but I just assumed this was part of it, so…”

  “Wait, as in you’re lesbian?” Meher asked, suddenly sitting up to lean forward and see her. “Seriously?”

  Bubblegum shrugged. “More like… with so much cock thrown my way working as a stripper, it became less appealing. But I still know how to work it, and have. And will, because… there’s something sexy about the bossman bringing it home.”

  “So you’re not a lesbian at all,” Death Girl said.

  Bubblegum pursed her lips in thought. “I mean—”

  “You’re not,” Gloria said, her tone ending it, almost sounding like she was offended at the idea that Bubblegum would think of herself as such.

  “Fine. What’s it called when you only go for one dick then?” Bubblegum said, reaching over to stroke my inner thigh.

  “Technically, you haven’t—” I started, only to find her cupping my package.

  Meher glanced down, eyes wide, and smiled.

  “All this talk,” Bubblegum said. “Why wait? Let’s get Gloria initiated now. In with the fun of the party.”

  “Suddenly someone’s all give instead of take,” Meher said with a chuckle. “Go on, then.”

  “Do I get a say in all this?” I asked, eyes flitting over to Death Girl, who was now pointedly looking out the window. Or maybe… the side mirror, at me?

  “You probably need a recharge,” Ria said, glancing back.

  “Wait, so… sex actually recharges the powers?” Gloria asked.

  “Intimacy,” I explained, pretty sure I had a handle on it now. “It’s like…” I paused, breathing out as suddenly Bubblegum had unzipped my pants and stuck her fingers in, fishing for my cock. Her fingers were a bit on the chilly side, especially compared to Ria’s and even Meher’s. Well, not to be compared to when Meher had used her ice, but still.

  “Like?” Gloria asked, glancing back and not seeing what was happening, I assumed.

  “Like,” another deep breath, “the blood flowing, endorphins moving and all that, work up the energy and,” my cock was out, mostly erect, Meher staring at it as Bubblegum caressed it, started stroking it, “oh…”

  “She’s doing it right now, isn’t she?” Gloria asked, and then laughed. “Just… focus. I get the picture.”