The ship lurched again, only this time darkness enveloped us and we were pressed back as if moving at incredible speed. In the flashes of light that followed, I saw worlds flying past at first, then moving as streaks of light and color, and Navani’s face turned my way with a mixture of excitement and terror—a good representation of the queasiness in my stomach at that moment. We were at the point where we knew we might be about to save the universe… or die trying.

  33

  Light surged around us and then we were spinning out of control, flashes of bright red and purple being interrupted by lulls of darkness. When our ship stopped we saw stars and one large planet nearby, and we knew we were through. The planet was dark except for the purple lights spattering the city and lines of red gas in the sky.

  “What’d you just do?” Threed asked, staring around with confusion.

  “Tracked where they took this leader,” Navani replied.

  “Holy shit, that was amazing,” Nyoka said, glancing around at us all. “Did you all… I mean, did you see… I mean—it was amazing! If you could have powers amplified like that at all times, that would be insane.”

  “Unfortunately, the stored powers would quickly be used up,” Navani explained.

  “Still, give me a whiff of that right before pointing me at Ranger and let’s see if he’s alive after one punch,” Threed said, cracking her knuckles. “I’d love to see his face when it caves in on itself.”

  Ships appeared in the distance but continued on their course, paying us no mind. Apparently, seeing one of their own returning early wasn’t a reason for concern. It made sense, seeing as this was probably the first backward travel that had happened—or, at least among the Nihilist’s enemies. This leader we were chasing was a super who’d been taken here, according to the hunting powers among us.

  Nyoka was already scanning the planet, and finally indicated a location on the screen’s map. She and Navani worked to get the ship moving in that direction, while I went with Threed to check the ship.

  It was clearly one of those that had gone missing, as it very much resembled the Lamb—as we’d taken to calling our ship after Lamb’s transition to pure A.I.

  “Hadn’t you said something about coming through nude last time?” Threed asking glancing over with a frown. “Gotta say, I’m a bit disappointed.”

  I laughed, looking down at my clothed body. “Maybe because we were in one of their ships, it affected us differently? Wish I knew.”

  With a slight bounce to her step, she said, “Maybe that’s something we can remedy.”

  “You want to arrive on planet nude? Charge into the fight totally exposed?”

  “No, silly.” She pulled me aside, throwing open a door that apparently led to the engine room, judging by the loud whirring coming from that direction. “I meant… temporarily.”

  “Threed…” I wasn’t sure if I should argue or just go with it. As crazy as she was, she had proven herself to be a valuable team member, fighter, and a great lay. The fact that she not only could make replicas of herself during intercourse but got turned on by it was a huge plus.

  When I felt hands undressing me from behind, one of them slipping in and starting to caress my cock, I lost all sense of arguing.

  “I’ll make the point that it’s our duty and all that some other time,” the real Threed said, backing up to a ledge and pulling me with her. “Right now I’ll be honest—all that fighting back there got me horny as fuck.”

  She pulled off her clothes too, watching with fascination as her copies sandwiched me and got me prepped. Her chest was rising and falling with heavy breaths as she watched, and she started touching herself, getting just as turned on by this as if she was part of it. Meanwhile, there I was with two pairs of her breasts moving along me, mouths kissing mine and then other parts of me including my back and hips, everywhere except the one part of me that was completely craving it.

  One of them moved over, lips caressing my thigh, tongue moving along my hip bone, and she brushed across my erection so that it rocked back and forth, and that’s when Threed couldn’t take it anymore.

  She pulled me over and lifted one leg, her replica helping to hold it as I went with the action and slid right in. Standing like that I had to bend my knees slightly to get momentum, but soon we were thrusting away like rabbits. One of the replicas slipped her hand around back between my legs, cradling my balls as I fucked, and the other moved up to the real Threed, rubbing her hands along her breasts and down to slide between us and massage her clit while I fucked her. This lady was determined to get hers, and when her hands were on my ass squeezing and her teeth were in my shoulder, she lasted one last thrust and then pushed me off.

  For a moment she stood there, sweat glistening on her chest, and then she looked at me and grinned.

  “Did you cum?” she asked.

  I laughed. “You were so caught up in yourself, you don’t even know?”

  “Just… shut up and get back in there.” This time she turned around and bent over, her replicas backing up and smiling at the sight of my massive cock moving back in for docking. At this angle, her pretty ass staring up at me, the sexy curve of her muscular back arched in anticipation, I found myself getting even more into it. My tip slid right in, then the rest of me, and I was slapping the hell out of her ass, going to town and she was loving it, and then a spasm threw me forward, and I clutched her breasts as I came.

  My lips found her back and I kissed, feeling like I could stay here forever. Her pussy clenched around me a couple times and she moaned, and then I realized one of her replicas was touching her again, and I moved in and out a few times, slowly, adding to her pleasure as best I could for her second orgasm.

  Finally, she stood, hand there to keep leftovers from falling on the floor, as she waved away her replicas. They gave me a last, satisfied grin and then vanished.

  “I’m going to find the restroom to wash up,” Threed said, then breathed heavy, staring at me like I was a god. “This is the best vacation of my life, no contest.”

  “It’s not exactly a vacation,” I called after her as she scooped up her clothes and walked off.

  “Talk to the hand,” she replied, holding up a hand covered in my cum, and then laughed before disappearing out the opposite door we’d come through.

  I lingered there for a moment, debating what to do, when the door opened behind me and I spun to see Nyoka and Andromida. They stared at me, eyes moving to my exposed cock and then to each other. While Nyoka laughed, Andromida simply shook her head as if this was a disappointment.

  “We’re closing in on the planet,” Andromida said. “Just wanted to let everyone know. It’s quite the sight.”

  “Not compared to this,” Nyoka said with a contained laugh.

  “Just… doing my duty,” I said, trying to not sound embarrassed as I bent down for my clothes, finally remembering to cover myself.

  “Pardon me if I’m not quite used to the idea that you’re going to be fucking the others every five minutes or as much as your dick allows,” Andromida said, frowning. “We have a mission here too, you know, and you all promised to help me with mine first.”

  “They don’t have to be exclusive. In fact, if you want to squeeze in—”

  “Don’t ever proposition me like that again,” she said, blue eyes boring into me. “You do, and I’m gone.”

  “I—I’m sorry,” I stood, turning from them to dress.

  “That how you got the others?”

  “They got me, remember?” I glanced over at Nyoka to see her staring, while at least Andromida had averted her eyes. I cleared my throat and she shrugged.

  “Hey, I’m not even into guys,” the snake shifter said. “Remember?”

  “Then why’re you staring?” I asked.

  “Curious, is all. What, you’ve never sneaked a peek in a men’s locker room or something? Maybe at the pissers?”

  “No,” I insisted. “Guys don’t do that.”

  “Well, you’ve got your own to stare at all day I suppose. I may not be into them but that doesn’t mean I don’t find them fascinating in a work-of-art sort of way.”

  “Nyoka, please,” Andromida said, shaking her head.

  “What? I wouldn’t stick one in me or even give it a stroke, but put one on a mantle and I say that’s a fine display.”

  My mouth was hanging open and I realized I’d forgotten to finish dressing, so went about it. “Remind me that you’re kinda weird, if I ever forget.”

  She laughed. “Will do, will do.”

  Andromida shook her head again, first at me and then Nyoka, then walked off. Nyoka hesitated another moment staring at me wide-eyed, and then laughed before turning to follow her new pal. Totally weird.

  I was dressed then so made my way to find a restroom. As much as I loved fucking and fighting, the combination of sweat and sex was bound to make me smell and, if I wasn’t careful, give me a rash. Luckily there was a washroom three doors down on the left, so I leaned over in the sink to wash my junk, then air dried for a moment before heading back out to get a view of this planet. My energy levels were going through the roof from having fucked Threed and I felt like the king of the universe, ready to take on anything and anyone.

  It only then hit me that I was the first human ever to see this place, and one of the first supers. Thinking of myself as a super gave me a new level of chills, and I had to pause to let that sensation pass.

  Once a Marine, always a Marine. Sure. But now I was something more, something that almost eclipsed everything that had come before. In the days of Ancient Greece, I would’ve been considered a god—a thought that got me wondering if there had been supers around back then. While I’d never believed in gods of that sort, I had first-hand proof that supers existed. It was entirely possible, though it didn’t quite fit with the idea that humanity had sent colonies out to find new worlds and that’s how modern supers came to exist. Maybe those of old were actually ones from now who had discovered time travel? The implications of that made my brain hurt.

  All of those thoughts faded when I turned the next corner to find the view of the planet, now large and coming in close. My entire viewing area through this long window was taken up by the planet’s surface. It was dark with lines of glowing red like lava, interrupted by areas of glowing lavender that I assumed were lights from the living structures of the Nihilists or whatever group lived here.

  “Beautiful, isn’t it?” Sakurai said, and I turned to see her strolling up from my right. Even after my recent romp with Threed, the sight of this woman got my hormones acting up again. She had her hair in pigtails and had her blouse open one more button than usual, and I wondered if she was going to seduce me right there. “The planet, I mean,” she added when I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.

  “Oh?” I turned back to the view, wondering if beautiful was the right word.

  “In its way, but then again, I’ve always enjoyed the darker sides of life,” Sakurai said. “All of this, chasing after the Blue Lady’s—I mean Andromida’s—prey so that she might help us out or join us or whatever… Doesn’t it seem a bit silly?”

  “I assumed this was bigger anyway,” I said. “First of all, have you seen what she can do? Having her in the fight against Ranger would be one thing, but she just helped us take over a Nihilist ship, right? That’s unheard of.”

  “Sure, I guess.” She frowned.

  “Is this a jealousy thing?”

  “Fuck you.”

  I waited, folding my arms.

  “Fine,” she admitted. “Listen, you’re hot. I see that, we all do. You’re also the type to watch out for us. Loyal. So far that’s a win. But here’s the part that throws me for a loop—you’re constantly surrounded by pussy. I mean, so are the guys at the places I used to work, but then they still had that desperateness. They often picked one or two girls when they came in, and stuck with them. You have some of the most amazing women in the world. What the fuck, am I right?”

  “When you put it that way,” I said, laughing, “it all sounds rather amazing.”

  “I’ll bet it does. To you. For someone like me who prides herself on being that special occurrence, it’s a bit hard to swallow.”

  Turning back to her, I tried to understand what she meant, but it wasn’t quite computing. “Listen, I don’t care how much this stuff happens or how many sisters there are… it’s always going to be special. But when we’re together, it’s not about any of this other stuff or my role in this crazy mission to save the universe. Honestly… I have no idea if that whole story is real, or if I believe the idea that a kid of mine could be the ultimate savior. Can we live that long? What if we’re defeated in the meantime, and that kid’s out there by himself being raised by a bunch of muggles?”

  “A bunch of what?”

  “Nothing, sorry—a term my brother always used from some books he used to read or something. Point is, back on Earth I was done with my time. It was like I didn’t have much of a purpose anymore. Here, whether it’s helping with the prophecy or fighting the enemy head-on, I’m doing something, I’m part of a plan, part of a movement much larger than myself. And it’s damn fun. So let’s not overthink it. Let’s do our best to fight the enemy, and do our best to fuck like we’ve never fucked before.”

  “That’s your long-winded approach to trying to get my panties off?” She laughed, but the look in her eyes said it was working. “You’re not so bad.”

  “Thank you,” I replied, then noticed her sister approaching.

  Sakurai turned to see her too, then sighed. She leaned against the railing, watching as we drew closer to the surface. When Sacrada was with us, Sakurai turned to her and said, “He’s not so bad you know.”

  Both Sacrada and I stared at her awkwardly.

  “I never said he was,” Sacrada replied. “Saved you, and sacrificed his virginity to do so.”

  “I wasn’t—”

  “No shit,” she interrupted my attempted protestation.

  “What gives?” I asked. “Before, you two came to me and were all flirtatious, making a sort of promise, if I remember correctly. I was a bit worn out.”

  “She did,” Sakurai said, ignoring the look of betrayal from her sister. “She was totally fantasizing about you that night and all, the way she stares up at the ceiling and told me about you, I knew she’d been craving your D for some time.”

  “Sis, that’s enough,” Sacrada interjected.

  Sakurai grinned. “Just keeping you honest.”

  “Yeah, well now I’ve had time to remember what I think of this stupid prophecy. We can show him our thanks by continuing to keep him alive and fight Ranger.” Sacrada motioned out to the planet’s surface. “Who knows what we’ll face down there, right? Best to stay focused on the enemy, not sexual relief.”

  “She admits she’s sexually frustrated then,” Sakurai said with a wink.

  “That’s not… shut up.” Sacrada was actually blushing!

  “And the fact that sex and all that amplifies my powers?” I pointed out. “Makes me stronger and all that?”

  “Call me old-fashioned, but that shouldn’t be reason enough.”

  “Call me new-fashioned,” Sakurai countered, “I say we don’t need reasons.”

  “I think I fall in the middle of that spectrum,” I admitted. “But, yeah. I’m not trying to convince anyone to put out, or I don’t mean to be. That’s Navani’s job.” That last part was meant as a joke, but neither of them laughed.

  Sacrada stepped over to me, past her sister, and stopped so close that our bodies were nearly touching. “I’ve enjoyed kissing you. I’ve been there while you were fucking the others, and I might have snuck a peek, sure. Will this happen between us? I have no idea, but I know for sure it won’t happen just because it’s convenient for the mission. And it certainly won’t happen because some other woman thinks it should.”

  “It was a joke,” I insisted.

  She shrugged and spun on her heels. “Come on, sis. I think it’s time we all found our seats.”

  Sakurai gave me a wistful smile, then followed her sister. Damn, watching those two walk off like that was hot, but they’d got me thinking—was I falling onto one side of the spectrum of meaningless sex? If not yet, was I at risk of it? This whole idea of having the hottest women ever surrounding me, basically worshipping my cock… yeah, it was amazing. It certainly changed the dynamic I was used to.

  But no, I insisted. Each time would be special. It wasn’t like I was going all out trying to bang everything I could. This was a special group, and I would keep it contained. They were my team, my lovers—at least Navani and Threed were, in a sense. Not like the ‘I love them’ type of lovers, but definitely more than fuck buddies.

  I was determined to show that this meant more than Sacrada was giving me credit for, but when the timing was right. For now, she was right that we had a planet to investigate and likely some bad guys to fight.

  Putting my game face on, I made my way back to the bridge to prepare for landing.

  34

  We landed in a world of darkness and at the edge of the landing field. No other movement, no enemies within sight.

  Large rock formations rose in the distance, silhouetted against the night sky. Black metal buildings touched the clouds and blocked out floating strands of red, vibrant gases. Spikes of some sort jutted out of the ground in random places, and I had to assume they were somehow natural to the environment. In the distance was a larger shadow than the rest, angled with towers. I assumed it had to be a fortress of some sort.

  The air was strong, heavy, and at least two moons were in the sky. No ships were coming to check on us, but there still remained the fact that if we went out simply wandering around, we’d find ourselves in a fight. If this was their world or even an in-between world that they owned, they might be able to take us with sheer numbers. Most of all, I didn’t really want to interact with any more of those vampire things.