Mors Funebris Ch. 1 P. 6

Mors Funebris Chapter 1 Part 6
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“Arawn!” Tia yelled finally, slowly getting to her tarsi. Somehow, she managed to stumble her way over to him. But she didn’t know what to do to assist him. She saw then, that he was foaming at his mouth with his eyes rolled up.
‘It’s like he’s been injected with Spider-Wasp venom!’ she thought to herself.
“Tia! Stay here and attend to him!” Andra ordered, as she got to her feet. MEDIC!” Andra shouted loudly, trying to get the attention of one.
“What can I do?” Tia yelled out as she crouched herself as close to Arawn as she dared. “I don’t know what to do!” she cried helplessly. Below her, Arawn continued to convulse mindlessly, rapidly approaching the point of no return.
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“Aaaahh!” Arawn inhaled violently, just before he began panting to regain the air that he so desperately needed. Unable to think coherently in that moment, instead he found himself flailing about physically in response to a barrage of psychic inputs.
Lacking his usual control, Arawn felt himself drowning mentally as images, impressions, and memories, started to flash rapidly across his mind. In amongst the cerebral din, his mind began to register the sound of shouting voices nearby.
“Hold Him Down!” said one voice commandingly, as he was overwhelmed with
Next…Arawn saw his hands darting hesitantly across the control panel of a teleportation platform…but not his hands…he couldn’t recall having black and white fur on them…
“I’m trying!” said another voice desperately. “He’s stronger than he looks!” said another, familiar voice…
...more images flash…now it’s a naked petite Mamono with green hair and cat-like ears…covered in tentacle things…. envelope her…penetrating her…fighting a losing battle ...sense that she is in danger…exhaustion…limits reached…help…
‘Help!’ he yells silently, convulsing. But no one hears him.
“Wait!” shouted the first voice. “Why is his fist glowing?!”
...dozens of city cats…all twirling about on the floor of a dank dark cavern…some lash out at the others….some mewl silently for release…all prisoners… seeking release…
 “Look out!” came the second familiar voice. “He’s about to cast a spell!”
‘Release!’ he demands as fights against an unseen foe that holds him down..
…overwhelming Arawn is a sense of menace…an imminent threat approaches…implacable…terrifying…
“That’s impossible Tia!” dismissed a third voice.
…utter helplessness flares… memories from another time rise to the surface….. endless torment… infinite pain…a laughing Demon approaches…Orcus…
“Your ward is no condition to…”
‘Orcus!’ Arawn shouts mentally.
The third voice stops abruptly when Arawn releases his Blast-Punch spell from his right hand, carrying with it an ear splitting explosive flash that momentarily blinds everyone present.
Luckily, Corporal Tia was the one who had ahold of Arawn’s right arm. Instinctively she lifted it upwards prior to his release. This action causes his innate Blast-Punch spell to dissipate upwards into the rafters of the Teleporter Pavilion.
“What in the Maou’s Name WAS THAT?!” Said Luge fearfully. The Porter Medic found himself deeply shocked by Arawn’s spontaneous magical ability.
“Good catch Tia! Now keep your ward from doing that again!” Sergeant Andra ordered, not quite as shocked as Luge. But still quite surprised. Both of them sat staring without seeing, trying to blink the spell’s flash out of their eyes.
“His hand’s stopped glowing so we should be alright. I’ll keep an eye out in case he does it again.” Tia spoke, as she carefully laid his arm back down to the ground. Everyone else followed her lead and reluctantly let go of him.
“Good.” Tia continued nervously. “He’s stopped convulsing. What did you do Luge?” Tia demanded, turning her attention to the Pavilion Medic.
“I did nothing!” Luge barked back, still surprised and rubbing his eyes as he leaned over Arawn cautiously for a closer inspection. He drew back when Arawn suddenly sat up, bending at his waist.
“Yokai Arawn.” Luge began, startled. “Are you all right? How do you feel?” He inquired.
Arawn looked around himself in an impersonal manner, and spoke loudly enough for all those around him to hear. What he said then, made no sense to anyone.
“Quintus! Status report!” Arawn demanded. Tia noticed that as soon as he finished speaking, he cocked his head to one side as if he expected a reply. He did, but not the one he expected.
“Arawn? Who is Quintus?” Tia asked concernedly. Arawn’s passed over her as he continued to look about himself. His head moving in spurts and jumps in an almost mechanical manner.
‘He looked through me, like I’m not here.’ Tia felt herself chilled by the cold expression that was on his face.
Arawn then looked dispassionately over at Luge, blinked once at him and then began to recite.
“Luge, Chief Medic, Lieutenant, Incubus.” Arawn spoke emotionlessly as he locked his gaze with Luge’s. Who was perplexed at Arawn’s near miraculous improvement in such a short time.
Arawn moved his head and took note of Sergeant Andra, blinked once more, and spoke again.
“Andra, Master Porter, Dark Sergeant Second Class, Salamander.” Arawn categorized woodenly. Andra was taken aback by Arawn’s curt tone, but held her tongue when she realized that there was something amiss with him.
Arawn then turned his head and looked over at Tia. He blinked once at her as well.
“Tia, Journeyman Porter, Corporal, Arachne.” Tia felt herself becoming irritated at his dispassionate description of her. She was about to say something more, but Arawn spoke again.
“Quintus! Answer!” Arawn spoke to seemingly no one, again. He paused for a second and started up once more.
“Secundus! Tertius! Quartus! Anyone! Answer!” Finally, Tia noticed that Arawn finally began to show something akin to an emotion. He swallowed as he began to shiver, with a look of consternation twisting up his face.
‘He seems painfully lost.’ She thought automatically, judging. Arawn then had himself a whole body shudder, as he started twitching violently as it progressed in spurts. Yet, it also marked an improvement in his mental status.
“Where am I? What is this place?” he asked suddenly, his voice flooded with emotion. Tia noticed that his eyes were closed, before he covered his face with his hands.
Luge moved over and tentatively placed his hands on Arawn’s shoulders. Arawn’s spasmodic twitching began to slow when he did.
“You are in the Teleportation Platform, at Fort Eequor, Arawn. Does this help?”  Luge spoke softly to Arawn. Apparently it did, as Arawn stopped shuddering, and then grasped one of Luge’s hands with his own.
“Wait!” Arawn said suddenly, raising his head.
“What has happened? Where is Corporal Tia?”” he asked opening his eyes and looking about himself worriedly. A look of relief washed over his face when he caught sight of her.
 “Are you all right Corporal?” he asked her tensely. Tia hesitated for a second, checking herself quickly before nodding. Arawn saw it and visibly relaxed, his relief palpable. He allowed his head to drop as he attempted to calm his breathing.
Luge chose to remain silent, to allow Arawn the chance to collect his thoughts.
Luge then noticed Sergeant Andra opening her mouth to say something, but he caught her eye and shook his head curtly. She chose to obey, turning her head to keep Arawn within her sights. Luge followed her gaze.
“Do you remember what you were doing before-hand, Arawn? Luge questioned.
“Mental Bridge,” Arawn began, raising his head. “Tia and I were engaged in a Psychic-Mental Bridge. We did this in an effort to have her teach me the basics of Teleportation as quickly as possible.” He stated as if he were attempting to recall a fact.
“We were interrupted.” He stated flatly, as turned to look at Sergeant Andra with a cloud passing over his face.
“Any kind of interruption during a Psychic Link carries an inherent risk, potentially a fatal one.” He squinted dangerously at Sergeant Andra then. She in turn felt her outrage flare at his impertinent tone, as her tail fire flared to match her mood.
“It seemed to me, that you two were engaging in active dereliction of duty!” she shot back, setting her feet indignantly as she hunkered down into a threatening posture. Arawn matched her indignation, shooting to his feet in a smooth motion.
The effect of which was spoiled by his staggering at the apex. Luckily, Luge was already there and steadied him. Undaunted by his weakness, Arawn spoke.
“I am not in the habit of engaging in sexual intercourse during desperate situations, SERGEANT!” Arawn shouted.
“This hardly qualifies as a desperate situation, YOKAI!” Andra shouted back, sticking the end of her nose centimeters away from his.
“Just because you’re inconvenienced by the orders that Colonel Alenoth gave you! DOES NOT make this a desperate situation!” she continued, flaring her eyes widely at him, as she raised an arm to strike.
Arawn’s own eyes flared in response as he raised his arms to block her. Both Tia and Luge interposed themselves between Andra and Arawn to prevent the incipient fight.
“I am not referring to myself!” Arawn screamed back at her over Luge’s shoulder.
“I am referring to the one who is trapped!” he lowered his voice in an attempt to get his point across. Andra opened her mouth to scream back at him in that moment, then stopped when his words penetrated her outrage. She blinked.
“What are you babbling about?!” She demanded around Corporal Tia, in something less than a shout.
“There is one amongst your number who is unaccounted for, yes?” Arawn clamored.
“Maybe.” Andra replied neutrally, as she narrowed her eyes at Arawn. “What do you know of this?”
“She is a Mamono that I have not encountered yet. She is petite in form, approximately a meter in height. With Jinko-like ears, green hair,…”
“YES!” Andra shouted, surprised. “That sounds like Winnie the Gremlin! She’s gone AWOL! How do you know of this?”
“Winnie.” Arawn spoke, almost quietly as if he were attempting to recall a memory.
 “Yes, Winnie. Gremlin. Yes, I believe so.” He lifted his eyes back to Andra’s impatient eyes. “She is trapped.” He stated quietly.
“Trapped?! Where?! Explain!” she demanded as she pushed her way around Tia.
“After you interrupted Tia and I’s mental bridge.” Arawn grimaced at Andra momentarily.
“I was able to pick up on Winnie’s plight during my convulsions. I, that is to say we, need to attend to her!”
“You didn’t answer my question, Yokai Arawn. Where is she?” Andra spoke as evenly as she could. Arawn rolled his eyes at her in response.
“She is HERE!” he shouted in exasperation as he gestured vaguely at the porter platforms.
“I will need to access one of the platform’s control consoles to,..” he began, but was interrupted by Andra’s outrage.
“You will do nothing of the sort!” Sergeant Andra angrily shouted at him then.
“You’ve done quite enough damage as it is, you Saboteur!” she said as she drew her ever-present Demon-Silver sword from its sheath. She then crouched herself into a dueling stance in preparation to defend her Platforms. Everyone else there, noticed that her body scales began to glow red with her fury.
“Do not approach that console!” She ordered him resolutely.
“Sergeant No!” Luge shouted, alarmed. A number of Tia’s fellow Porter techs turned to see what this new ruckus was about. But none of them sought to intervene.
Frowning, Arawn lowered his head and concentrated momentarily. Unseen by all, his right hand began to glow with its own magical light.
“I will not allow your prejudice to get in the way of a rescue!” Arawn shot back, as he stepped towards the nearest control console, while raising an arm to touch it. He knew that he was provoking Sergeant Andra, but he felt that Winnie’s rescue was more important.
Nor did he flinch, as his time-sense slowed down when he observed Sergeant Andra’s reaction. She stepped forward as she began an arc of her sword, directing it towards her intended target destination: that filthy bachelor hand of his that dared to sully one of her precious consoles.
Noticing it, Arawn instinctively released the power that had collected in his fist. But, instead of another Blast-Punch, this time he modified the energy into a Wakazashi-like Energy-Blade.
Andra was caught off guard, when her Demon-Silver sword’s progress was arrested by the flat of that light-like blade that appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
Instead of allowing herself to react like a swords-novice to this unexpected development. Instead, she shifted her weight once more and allowed the inertia of her turn to twirl herself around. This allowed her sword to lag behind momentarily, as she fashioned herself into the fulcrum of a slashing pirouette attack.
Arawn was surprised by this sudden change in her tactics, and felt his mouth open in surprise, when it registered in his mind that her blade had missed his face by scant millimeters.
Barely had he noticed that, when he felt his Energy-Blade be ripped from his grasp as she continued in her spin.  When she did this, his blade flared momentarily after he lost contact with it, and then vanished as if it had never existed.
‘Blade lost, energy dissipated.’ He realized in that instant, undaunted.
Arawn noted that Andra continued to prepare for another attack, reversing her sword up and over.
 In response, he chose to crouch himself down in preparation for her assault, lowering both his arms to his sides as he extended his senses to everything around him. He rapidly became aware of several things.
First, he noted that Andra had chosen to thrust her sword’s tip down at him.
Then he became aware that Luge was still shocked into immobility by Andra’s violent actions.
Off to the far side, Arawn noted that Tia had crouched down, preparing to jump. But at whom, he had no idea.
Shifting his awareness back to Andra, he noticed that her blade’s point was halfway in its forward journey to his chest. He then lifted both of his arms in a pose of what could be considered one of nonchalance.
But it wasn’t.
As Andra’s sword tip rapidly/slowly approached, Arawn flexed his right hand’s wrist outwards in a preparation for a slap.
When the right moment presented itself, he then slapped the point of Andra’s blade to the left with his right hand, while he simultaneously turned his hips in the same direction, he then shifted his weight and leaned back. Which allowed the rest of Andra’s blade to miss the skin of his chest as it passed him by.
When Andra had nearly completed her thrust, he then forced his left hand down onto Andra’s left wrist and took ahold of it firmly. Andra snarled silently when she felt his grasp. She then tensed herself in preparation to fight him for control of her sword.
What he did next, both surprised and unsettled her. Instead of attempting to grapple with her, he instilled some of his own turning momentum into her forward momentum.
Pulling his left arm out with all his might. Andra squawked in surprise as she felt herself falling forward off-balance. As had been Arawn’s intention.
He then shifted his own weight onto the balls of his feet, and used his own torso as a fulcrum against her body. Pivoting, he moved in a spiraling motion that forced her forward and upwards, he then twisted her arm back against herself as she continued to fall forwards to the floor.
Andra’s fury was momentarily abated, when she felt her face roughly impact itself into the Pavilion’s stone flooring. Arawn continued moving forward as she hit the floor, not letting up on his advantage for even an instant.
Andra’s outrage and anger returned in full force, when she came to a halting stop. She soon found herself on the floor face down, with her thrusting-arm firmly chicken-winged behind her back. She let out a growl of outrage, when she noticed that Arawn had deftly removed her sword from her paw.
Her growl at her sudden predicament was cut short, as she felt the tip of her own blade being pointed underneath her jaw. Looking up, she saw that her blade was now firmly in Arawn’s grasp, as she felt her sword arm immobilized with his other hand.
Instinctively, she tried to slap him with her tail but stopped, when Arawn pressed her blade tip still further into the skin beneath her chin. She winced when she felt the tip penetrate.
“YIELD!” Arawn whispered acidly.
Andra’s first instinct was to deny him.
“Sergeant Andra! One of your own is entrapped beyond the confines of the Porter system.” He stated flatly. “I need your help in freeing her!” He then did something that to her was completely unexpected.
He let go of her.
In mounting surprise, she watched as he dropped her sword to her side and walked backwards slowly. He then let go of her arm that had been pinned to her back, while carefully avoiding her flaming tail tip.
Warily, she pushed herself upright, all the while never letting him out of her sight. Pushing a lock of stray hair from her eyes, she then picked up her sword and gave it a cursory inspection.
She caught his gaze and stared back at him for a short while, and considered his words silently. After giving him one final glare, she spoke.
“Why?” she demanded, with a goodly portion of her anger now spent.
“I cannot retrieve Winnie without your help. Will you aid me?” he asked, bowing. Her eyes widened in surprise at his gesture, feeling taken aback. Finally, after several seconds of carefully considering his words, she replied.
“What do you need me to do?” she huffed, nodding with just a hint of respect in her voice, as she resheathed her sword.
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Five minutes later, she was shouting angrily at him again.
“What do you mean, you think that there’s nothing wrong with the Porters!?” she demanded in a shrill voice as she waved her scaly arms all about her, gesturing vaguely at all of the purple whirlwinds and chocolate dildos.
Tia, standing next to Sergeant Andra, nodded her head in agreement with her Sergeant.
Luge remained neutral as he stood off to one side, carefully keeping an eye on Arawn, half expecting him to go into shock.
Along and behind him, were a number of other Porter Techs of various Mamono species. They were all curious as to what the newcomer had to say, frustrated as they were with their own repair efforts.
“Are you blind to what is going on around here!?” Andra demanded of Arawn, who closed his eyes and sighed as patiently as he could.
“Technically no. There is nothing wrong with the system!” he stated again, staring back at her equally coldly, while quelling his anger.
“And a further No! I am not blind.”
“Then what,…?” she started to demand, but was interrupted.
“I BELIEVE!” Arawn hissed furiously for a second, his eyes blazing in preparation for a nasty retort. He caught himself quickly and began breathing in a calming pattern, his fists held stiffly at his sides. Sergeant Andra patiently decided to wait him out. It didn’t take long.
Arawn calmly focused his eyes on Andra as he began once more.
“I believe,” he continued, “that everything we see around us, is indicative of a message being sent from Winnie.”
“What kind of message?” Andra asked patiently, looking at him levelly.
“A message of distress.” Arawn replied, raising a hand to forestall Andra’s next question.
“What led me to this conclusion is thus: During my recovery from that interruption that you caused, in which you destroyed the mental bridge that Tia and I were sharing.” He began.
“What the hell was that anyways?” Andra injected then with her arms crossed. Arawn suppressed the next set of words that would have come out of his mouth. If he hadn’t, he would have been court-martialed on the spot for Extreme-Insubordination.
With an Adamantium-like control, Arawn managed to calm himself once more. He then began to patiently explain to all present, what he and Tia had been up to for the last half an hour, less the recovery time.
“You make it sound like you two were involved in something intimate.” Andra half-smiled at Tia and Arawn.
‘It was rather intimate.’ Tia thought, as she felt herself blushing blue with embarrassment. Arawn, cast a droll look towards the Sergeant.
“Physically? No. Now, may I continue?” Arawn replied coldly. Andra nodded with a smirk.
“During my recovery phase, my mind picked up on Winnie’s plight. That is to say, I touched her mind momentarily. As near as I can tell from the impressions I received then, she is imprisoned against her will.”
“Is she in pain?!” Andra demanded suddenly. Arawn shook his head, stopped and thought about it, and then nodded.
“What?! Make up your mind!”
“Yes. And no!” Arawn explained. “That is the best I can tell you. She is experiencing intense pleasure, yes. However, it has been going on for so long that it has become exceedingly painful.” Andra frowned at his response, thought about it for a moment, and then a light went on behind her eyes.
“Wait!” She exclaimed, “you said she was imprisoned. Who took her?” she demanded crossly.
“I have no idea.” He replied, then he saw Andra begin to speak.
“At this time!” he finished hastily.
“We will not know who did, until we have had time to debrief her AFTER we her retrieval.” He emphasized.
“If you don’t know who captured her, then how can you think she can be retrieved?” Asked one of Tia’s fellow Porter Techs. Arawn turned to her.
“As I said earlier, I was able to touch her mind briefly and I experienced her memories. I believe that I can replicate the conditions in which she was taken, and replicate them.”
“But!” he started. “I have a plan that will involve something out of the ordinary to make it work.” He spoke authoritatively.
“Now before I get into details, I need to know, are there any other Gremlins stationed at the Fort?” Andra nodded once.
“Good! Send for that one.” Arawn stated, then he began to detail his plan.
When he finished, Sergeant Andra didn’t know if she wanted to laugh at him, or slap him. Instead, she chose to calm herself and ordered that the other Gremlin be sent for, all the while shaking her head in disbelief at his outlandish request.
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“You want me to,” Corporal Jinx the purple-haired Gremlin asked, “say that again!” she frowned at Arawn as if she couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. Arawn opened his mouth to explain again, but was interrupted.
“You have GOT to be kidding me!” Jinx exclaimed outraged. Arawn sighed.
“No, I am not ‘kidding’, as you put it.” He replied quietly.
“I am quite serious when I state that I need you to masturbate with one of these Chocolate Dildos.” He continued, holding one of the ‘Ported’ Dildos up in a hand so that she could see it. This time it was made of white chocolate.
“Preferably, in between a pair of the Teleportation Platforms.” He explained patiently, as Jinx focused on it momentarily, then shifted her attention back to him with a skeptical look.
“In plain sight, for everyone to watch?” she demanded. Arawn nodded, and continued.
“I am attempting to replicate the conditions in which Winnie disappeared. From what I have gathered, she was in the midst of a bout of self-pleasuring when she was taken.” He stated as impassively as he could. Jinx continued to stare at him coolly, while chewing on a lip, until nearly a minute had passed. Arawn began to fidget under her prolonged stare.
 Looking back over his shoulder, he noted that everyone else present, was desperately trying to keep themselves from laughing.
He noticed with a jaundiced eye, that a couple of Tia’s fellow Porter techs, were beginning to fail in their laughter suppression. Jinx noticed his gaze and followed it, then froze when she saw her fellow techs snickering.
“You’ll hurt yourselves if you’re not more careful!” She loudly shot back at them. Which made them laugh all the harder.
“All too often, we are all called upon to make sacrifices to help our comr…?”” Arawn began in attempt to motivate her, then stopped when JInx raised a hand to forestall him. She then applied that hand to her face and rubbed it for a second. After she was done, she cast him a dirty glare before she continued speaking.
“FINE! WHATEVER!” she growled. “I’ll do whatever it is you want me to.” She breathed, in half anger/half humiliation.
“Let’s go ahead and get this over with.” She stated coldly, as she snatched the chocolate dildo from his hand. Then stomped herself over and sat down at the spot that Arawn had indicated earlier. She moved to start disrobing and then stopped, fixing Arawn with a glare.
“Hey!” she shouted at him then. Arawn nodded his head at her questioningly.
“Two conditions!” she stated.
“Yes?”
“First condition!” she stated, holding up one finger. “I’m not doing this in front of everyone!” she turned and glared at the assembled crowd of Mamono Porter Techs.
 “Get rid of everyone who isn’t ‘necessary’!” she finished, baring her teeth at him.
“All right.” Arawn replied. “That is reasonable.” He then looked over at Sergeant Andra momentarily. Andra caught his eye and nodded her head in acknowledgment.
She then ordered everyone else there away. Most of them departed with a sour look on their faces, as they were all curious to witness such an unorthodox method of Magi-Tech repair. Once all non-essential personnel had departed. Arawn returned his attention to Jinx.
“You mentioned two conditions? What is the second?” he inquired. Jinx smiled for the first time since she arrived, and raised up her hand with two fingers pointing up.
“At the very least, you owe me a set of drinks, and dinner.” She stated, toothily grinning from ear to ear, while looking at him smolderingly. Arawn sighed heavily as he covered his face with a hand.
“Fine, fine!” he replied, nodding. Hearing something, he then quickly glanced over at the small remaining group of Porter personnel: Andra, Tia, and Luge.
“All right, which one of you laughed?” he demanded acerbically. All three of them looked back at him, shaking their heads with innocent expressions on their faces. Arawn turned away with a sigh.
 ‘Fine, whatever!’ he growled silently to himself. ‘I wish that at least one, of my not-brothers were awake now.’
‘I am!’ Secundus said then, with a mental yawn. ‘What is going on? (2)’ he stated blearily. Arawn filled Secundus in with what had been going on, along with his proposed plan. Secundus was silent for several seconds. Then he spoke.
‘Are you serious!? (2)’ he demanded, laughing. Then he laughed all the harder, when Arawn affirmed it mentally.
‘Let me get this straight.’ Secundus asked, barely suppressing his mental laughter. ‘You think that you can replicate the conditions that Winnie was caught up in, by having another Gremlin masturbate herself?! (2)’
“Excuse me?” The purple haired Gremlin asked suddenly, breaking Arawn from his mental conversation.
“When do you want me to start? I don’t have all night, and it’s cold here!” she complained.
“You may proceed now, if you please.” He waved a hand at Jinx. Who then obeyed as she started to strip while keeping an eye on Arawn, trying to smile alluringly at him the whole while.
Arawn forced himself to keep his demeanor neutral, and to not grit his teeth back at her. Despite the fact that Secundus had continued to chortle away.
‘Yes, Secundus,’ he began patiently, while keeping one eye on Jinx, ‘I believe that the circumstances can be replicated sufficiently. I will need your assistance in this matter, and Will You PLEASE STOP LAUGHING!?  (1)’ Arawn demanded angrily. After a few seconds, Secundus managed to get his mirth under control.
‘*Snort!*, Sure thing Primus! What do you need me to do? *cough cough* (2)’
‘Monitor the local background space/time matrix. Check for any flux in the fabric between worlds. (1)’
‘Will do!’ Secundus acknowledged ‘Mind I record the Gremlin in these circumstances? I have not yet had the opportunity to view a female perform sexually. (2)’
‘Whatever you desire. Though I do not know why you wish to bother, as she can barely be considered a female in form. (1)’
‘What makes you say that? (2)’ Secundus asked petulantly.
‘Consider her body, she is nearly completely lacking anything by way of feminine curves. Now, are there any signs that any of our other brothers have regained consciousness yet? (1)’ Arawn remained silent when Secundus answered to the negative.
Arawn continued in his silence while standing vigil, keeping one eye on Jinx as she finished disrobing. He continued to remain impassive as she kneeled herself down onto one of the paths that lay in between two platforms.
Arawn continued to monitor Jinx indifferently; while he simultaneously observed the platforms operating as they’d done before: A purple whirlwind that spiraled into existence for several seconds, then vanished as another chocolate dildo appeared of seemingly nowhere.
Since the entire group of Porter technicians had been ordered to vacate the Pavilion floor area, Arawn noted that there was an ever growing number of dildos piling up on every platform.
“Hey!” JInx shouted suddenly. “This floor is cold! I won’t do this on a cold floor!” she demanded.
“I believe I can retrieve a cloak for you to lie upon.” He replied, looking about, but was stopped by her next statement.
“NO! Not good enough! I don’t want an impersonal piece of cloth between me and the floor!” Jinx whined then.
“Then what do you want?” Arawn demanded, exasperated.
“I want you to hold me in your arms!” Jinx demanded of him with a leer, patting the ground alongside her with one hand.
“What?!” Arawn yelled, surprised. “Absolutely NOT! I will do no such,…!” he continued, but was interrupted by a paw on his arm. Stopping his tirade, he noted that the paw that was holding him was covered in red scales.
Silently, he turned his head and saw who he expected to be attached to that hand: Sergeant Andra.
“What?” he asked her tightly. What she said then, made his blood run cold.
“All too often, we are all called upon to make sacrifices to help our comrades. Wouldn’t you agree, Majin Arawn?” Andra said sweetly at him then, throwing his words back at him.
Watching, Andra saw a panoply of emotions cross his face. Outrage, anger, humiliation, and then finally, resignation. He jerked his arm away from her and not quite stomped his way towards JInx. Seeing him approach her, she bestowed upon him a triumphant smile.
Arawn sat down cross-legged next to the elf-sized Gremlin, all the while frowning furiously. He also continued to refuse to make eye contact with either Sergeant Andra or Corporal Tia.
JInx then hopped into his lap with a chirp, and settled herself down. She then made sure to rub her buttocks as much as she could into his groin.
“Is that really necessary?” Arawn hissed at her, feeling some base urges rise up within him. Her only reply, was to leer up at him once more.
“Put your hands on my shoulders!” She ordered. Arawn was slow to comply, but eventually he did.
“See, that’s much better! Now I feel much more comfortable about this, and I think I’ll be able to get into the ‘right mood’ fairly quickly!” she continued talking as she allowed her body to conform itself to Arawn’s. She then raised her newly acquired Chocolate Dildo to his head.
Arawn looked at it with stupefaction for several seconds as Jinx waved it in front of his face.
“I need some spittle on it, for some lube!” she demanded then. With a deep sigh, Arawn spit on it a number of times. Satisfied with his response, Jinx then lowered it down to her genitals.  For a moment, all seemed well.
“HEY!” She yelped with a smile, sniffing. Arawn, concerned, turned his head to check on her.
“What is wrong?” he asked, concerned. She smiled back up at him, still sniffing.
“You’re single!” she giggled. “So am I! Why don’t we discuss it later?” she asked hopefully.
“Just get on with it!” Arawn ordered, coldly. JInx stuck her tongue out at him in response, but she started to lightly run the fingers of one hand all over her torso.
Outwardly, Arawn maintained his silence as best he could. He tried everything he could to remain dispassionate. But, it was difficult as the purple haired Gremlin was determined to unsettle him.
It was a good thing that she was unaware of his inner turmoil.
‘OH YEAH!’ Secundus crowed excitedly. ‘Now THIS is what I am talking about! (2)’ Arawn/Primus found himself mentally fidgeting something fierce, in response to his not-brothers newly awakened sexual enthusiasm.
‘Secundus, please. Do not make this any more difficult than it already is. (1)’ Primus pleaded, grimacing while Jinx sounded off with an exceptionally loud moan.
‘Is it really necessary for her to moan so loudly?’ he sighed to himself.
‘You do not see me complaining! (2)’ Secundus commented, obviously eavesdropping. Arawn was about to make a reply, but he was distracted when Jinx said something then.
“Hey!” she huffed at him. “Are you paying attention? Or do you have something more important on your mind?” she demanded, with a slightly hurt tone in her voice.
“I apologize.” Arawn stated. “What was it that you asked?” She huffed once more, then continued.
“I SAID, that I want you to put your arms around me. Let me feel your hands on my tummy!”
“But!” Arawn replied, attempting to forestall her.
“Just DO IT!” she ordered, “Or else you can find another Gremlin to Jill off for you!” she hissed.
‘She means it Primus! (2)’ Secundus warned.
Arawn sighed again, then moved to comply with her order. Reluctantly, he moved his hands down from where they were on her shoulders. Gritting his teeth, he slowly moved his hands underneath her arms and inched them forwards around her waist, until they finally met and interlocked upon her deliciously soft belly.
“There, that’s not so bad, now is it?” Wilkie breathed into his ear, as she began to stroke herself in earnest.
Shortly thereafter, Arawn began to notice a musky scent that filled the air all around him. For some reason it reminded him of motor oil.
‘Oh Great Maker! I do believe that she is,…(2)’ Secundus began.
‘I am quite well aware of what is occurring! Thank You! (1)’ Arawn tersely interrupted his not-brother. To Arawn’s relief, Secundus chose to remain quiet for several long seconds. At least until Arawn let his scientific nature kick in.
‘Odd.’ Arawn thought raising an eyebrow, ‘her love juices have an oily sheen to them. (1)’ Arawn inadvertently noticed, when he espied that dildo in her hand pulled out at its full extent.
She continued to pinch herself in spots softly here and there. All the while sliding that dildo in and out of her with a set of obnoxiously noticeable squelching noises occurring intermittently at first, but with an ever-increasing frequency. As she did, her other hand lazily traced circles around one of her nascent nipples.
To Arawn’s increasing chagrin, he felt one of Jinx’s arms deliberately start bumping against his, every time she plunged that alabaster dildo deep within herself.
‘Well, such liquid is meant for lubrication. Is it not? It stands to reason it would be oily! Oh Great Maker! How does she manage to engulf so much of that dildo’s length within such a small frame!? (2)’ Secundus wryly queried then.
Arawn tried his best to ignore him and failed. Instead, he began to feel his skin flushing with,…embarrassment.
 ‘Oh of course it is nothing but embarrassment! (2)’ Secundus quipped, as Jinx breathed an exceptionally long drawn out moan with her solo-pleasuring.
“Feel free to jump in at any time!” JInx whispered huskily up at Arawn then. A suggestion he pointedly ignored.
Arawn couldn’t help but overhear Tia, Luge, and Andra’s conversation then.
“Well!” Tia began, “She certainly does seem to be enjoying herself, doesn’t she?”
“Unfortunately, she seems to be the only one who is!” Luge pointed out, hiding a smile behind his hand.
“A real male would’ve noticed such an obvious invitation.” Andra observed. “What is he made out of? Ice?” she complained sourly.
And in such vein, did the trio’s conversation continued for several more minutes until finally, Arawn heard something interesting.
“Wait!” Andra spoke then, surprised.
“I think I see something forming in the air above Arawn and Jinx!” she shouted excitedly. Arawn turned his attention upwards and narrowed his eyes. He thought he saw a certain blurriness.
‘Secundus! (1)’ Arawn shouted mentally.
‘Eh, what? (2)’ Secundus replied.
‘Are you picking up anything? (1)’
‘Wait, what? Say that again! I can just barely hear you! Speak up! (2)’
‘I said, are you picking up any,…!(1)’ Arawn replied, lifting his mental voice up.
‘I am sorry Primus, I cannot hear you over the sound of Jinx’s moans and whimperings! (2)’ Secundus cheekily replied.
It took all of the Arawn’s self-control to not lash out at his not-brother. Despite his valiant effort, Arawn let loose a small growl.
Jinx smiled when she heard him growling, mistaking it for interest on his part. In response, she languidly looked up at him as she continued to play with herself.
She moved her head around to catch his eyes and licked her lips lasciviously at him in a vain attempt to coax him into a greater amount of participation. After a few seconds of not getting reaction from him, she pouted, but she continued in her self-pleasuring despite.
Before Arawn could return his attention to admonish his not-brother, Secundus continued.
‘Primus! I am now picking up a distortion in the Space-Time Continuum overhead. In fact, I am also picking up a spike in the ambient teleportation energies as well! I would recommend a cautious approach in the next few minutes. (2)’ Secundus warned. Barely had he finished, before Arawn noted the nascent beginnings of a Portal forming in the air above him.
Seizing the initiative, Arawn took a firm hold of Jinx’s shoulders and picked her up, then set her gently aside himself. As he stood up for a clearer view of the Opening, he had to ignore the Gremlin’s plaintive whining that his callous indifference had elicited from her.
Squinting, Arawn peered into the Portal, but all he could see was darkness, along with some vague shadows moving about within.
‘Secundus! Vision Augment! (1)’ he ordered. Secundus obeyed, and within a few seconds, Arawn was able to see a bit clearer, but he still lacked details.
With nary a second thought, Arawn invoked a spell.
‘Iugis Lux.’ He commanded mentally. In his right hand a brightly glowing sphere appeared, which he then tossed through the portal’s entrance.
When he did, both Arawn, and the trio of Luge, Tia, and Andra, were able to see much more clearly within the Hole. What they saw, shocked them all.
There, through the ever-widening portal, were many things. They all saw a vast cavern lit by Arawn’s light spell that changed from a yellowish hue, into a greenish one as soon as it had passed the portal’s threshold.
Underneath that light were manifold strange looking objects that littered the floor of that cavern. Numerous statue like creations lay there as well, most of whom remained where they had fallen an unknown time previous. In amongst those statues, were hundreds of other smaller objects that were moving about in an ever-seething mass of confusion.
Amidst them all was their target: Winnie.
She was naked and engulfed by an enormous agglomeration of slime-covered multi-colored tentacles that held her in suspension above the cavern floor. Those odd seeming tentacles penetrated and abused her every orifice, endlessly.
Arawn was frozen in place for a moment, paralyzed by the tableau that lay above and before him.
 Winnie’s eyes sprung open when Arawn’s light passed over her head, and within a second, she noticed the opening before her and weakly reached out a beseeching hand, her eyes silently begging for release.
‘SECUNDUS!’ Arawn roared mentally. ‘TELEKINESIS! NOW!! (1)’ Secundus obeyed without his usual sarcasm.
‘Psi-Tendrils away!’ Secundus instinctively reported. ‘Contact made, initiating retrieval!’
Arawn braced himself firmly on his side of the Portal, and clenched his right hand to augment the Telekinetic-grip he had on Winnie. With a visible strain of effort on his face, he began to psychically pull Winnie towards the portal.
‘Careful!’ he admonished himself. ‘Not too much force, too quickly! Winnie is fragile, she would not care to be damaged in transit!’
Unnoticed, Jinx continued in her single-minded pleasuring, using both of her hands on her dildo now, to rapidly achieve her desired orgasm. All the while, she was doing her best to ignore everything else around her.
A look of hope appeared upon Winnie’s face, when she realized that she was being moved away from her tentacle imprisonment. Unfortunately, that look rapidly turned into one of despair, as the mass of tentacles began to resist Arawn’s pull on her.
‘Shall I increase the power? (2)’ Secundus asked in that moment.
‘Negative! Winnie would be torn apart! (1)’
‘What then? (2)’
‘Standby! Maintain what we have. (1)’ Arawn turned his head to the trio behind him.
“I need your help!” he shouted over his shoulder. Automatically, all three stepped forward to assist. Before any of them could ask; ‘What?’, Arawn barked out a series of orders.
“Luge! Attend to Jinx and help her to masturbate! She’s starting to falter!”
“But she’s not my woman!” Luge protested.
“Are you not a Medic?!” Arawn demanded in response to Luge’s dumbfounded look. Luge swallowed, nodded, and then crouched alongside and began assisting Jinx in her efforts.
Arawn then turned his attention to the Salamander. Simultaneously, he rapidly searched through his shared Tia-memories. Quickly, he found the information he desired.
“Andra! I need you to enhance the Pavilion’s stabilization field matrix!”
“Why?!” she demanded.
“Doing that will help keep this portal open temporarily, after Jinx has reached her orgasm!”
Andra hesitated, then nodded as she hurried to obey, while biting down on her tongue to suppress the retort that automatically came to her lips.
“Tia!” Arawn half-shouted. “I need you to enter the Portal.”
“What?! Are you insane?” Tia replied, all of her eyes widening in fear.
“Probably! I need you to attack the tentacles that are holding Winnie in place. You must distract them, so that I can get a chance to pull Winnie back here!” Tia faltered as Arawn’s word penetrated her mind. Then she smiled.
Quietly, she drew her Demon-Silver sword from her Bandolier and brandished it in preparation. Looking over at Arawn, she readied herself to Jump into the Portal, waiting for his signal. Within a few seconds, she saw it, then she did her Jumping Spider species proud.
Almost instantly, she pushed off as strong as she could into the portal and passed through in a graceful arc. As she transited through the membrane that separated the Pavilion from that eerie Cavern, she felt a momentary wave of dizziness that quickly passed.
When she hit the ground in that odd Cavern, she was already skittering. Raising her sword to attack the nearest tentacle, she was momentarily distracted when she noticed what those innumerable moving objects were, that she’d witnessed earlier.
“Cats! They’re all cats!” she cried aloud in astonishment, as she carefully avoided every one of the creatures underneath her tarsi.
‘What are they doing here? Never mind Tia, you have a job to do!’ she admonished herself. Soon, she was near Winnie, and immediately she began a series of slashing attacks on the odd-looking tentacles that held her friend captive.
The tentacles reacted quickly to her onslaught, and began to fight back. At first Tia thought her efforts weren’t having any effect, for every tentacle that she slashed, that fell back drained of energy, another soon replaced it! Unseen behind her, Arawn continued pulling resolutely with his Telekinetic hold on Winnie.
Slowly, within a half-minute, Tia’s effort started to show some progress. Panting with her efforts, she noticed something.
“Wait!” she panted. ‘Yes! Winnie is being drawn out!’ she silently yelled in triumph.
Like a released avalanche, suddenly Winnie was yanked out rapidly through the portal, and back into the waiting arms of Arawn.
Tia had to suppress a giggle, when she saw Arawn get bowled over by the Gremlin when she impacted him.
Simultaneously, Jinx, with Luge’s tender ministrations finally reached her much needed screaming orgasm, and the Portal’s edges spasmed once in response. Alarmed, Tia noticed that the edges begun to close as a result.
Luge then left Jinx behind to try and take over Winnie’s care. Who, by then was showing signs of extreme exhaustion.
“TIA!” Arawn shouted then, as he attempted to stagger himself upright, “GET OUT! You have only seconds!” he yelled as he held the weak and exhausted Winnie to him.
Afraid, Tia began running towards the portal’s entrance, deftly avoiding the remaining tentacles that reached out to ensnare her. These were the same tentacles that were attempting to fill the void that Winnie’s departure had created.
Skittering as furiously as she could manage, Tia prepared herself to once again do her Jumping-Spider heritage proud.
She would’ve succeeded too, if it weren’t for one of the dozens of cats that continued to run pell-mell all about the cavern. As she began her preparations for the final push-off a golden tabby did its own species proud, by getting underfoot.
Instead of leaping, Tia found herself tumbling after her right third leg tarsi impacted the cat, causing it to squawl in outrage.
When she finally came to a halt, she found herself dazed and confused, unsure of what to do, or what her situation was. Unnoticed by her, dozens of tentacles continued to seek her out.
“NO!” Sergeant Andra shouted vehemently, as she latched fiercely onto Arawn’s arm. “DO SOMETHING!” she ordered.
‘Secundus! (1)’ Arawn mentally shouted questioningly as he watched the ever-shrinking Portal.
‘Insufficient energy reserves for another Telekinetic Pull! Winnie almost wiped us out! (2)’ Secundus reported sadly.
‘How much is left? (1)’ Arawn demanded. Secundus told him.
‘There is something I can do. (1)’ Arawn stated firmly.
‘What? (2)’ Secundus demanded perplexed. Arawn didn’t immediately reply, instead he reached out with his Psi-tendrils and made contact with Tia’s mind. To his surprise she reacted and held her head up to make eye contact.
‘Arawn! Help! (T)’ she psychically implored him across the short, yet soon to be vast distance that separated them.
‘Standby Mentor! (A)’ he replied, as he readied himself. Sparing a quick glance to the angry and outraged Sergeant Andra, he flashed her a silent apology.
He then drew upon the last of his mana reserves, and spoke a single word as he concentrated on his Mentor, while reaching out a hand as if to grasp her from afar.
“CASTLE!” He invoked loudly. The effects of that last final spell of his, were immediate. Andra was blinded by the nearby flash of teleportation energies that Arawn had invoked.
Blinking rapidly so as to regain her sight, she began to open her mouth to scream out a number of imprecations for his having done so. But then she stopped, when she beheld Tia sitting collapsed next to her on the floor of the Pavilion.
“What?!” she said, then she noticed Tia’s surprised look and followed her gaze to see what she was looking at.
There, deep within the darkening Cavern was Arawn. In the final moments before the Portal finished closing, both of them witnessed Arawn collapsing wearily to the floor of the Cave. He was utterly spent of his mana and unable to defend himself from the tentacles that began to eagerly twist and wind themselves around his unmoving form.
“Arawn!” Tia shouted then, aghast at the realization of what he’d done. Like unto a game of chess, where the King is whisked to safety in the maneuver known as: Castling; so too did Arawn do the same for Tia. He exchanged his place of safety, for Tia’s vulnerable position.
“No.” Tia cried quietly in negation as the portal closed at last, cutting off her view of her ward. She felt herself falling into an almost fugue like state then. As she had seen someone she was responsible for, fall into darkness.
For her.
Unnoticed by her, but not by Sergeant Andra, the entirety of the Teleportation Platforms ceased their creation of purple whirlwinds and chocolate dildos. After a moment’s hesitation, Andra stiffly walked over to the nearest platform console and quickly initiated a system wide diagnostic routine. After a few seconds, the results were clear.
All platforms were clear of the Chocolate Dildo problem.
Looking about, Sergeant Andra noted that Luge was leaving with Winnie, aided with her carry by a rapidly dressed Jinx, and a pair of Porter Techs. The Infirmary his intended destination, undoubtedly.
Calling over a pair of techs, she gave orders that all platforms were to be returned to working order, as quickly as possible. The porter techs moved quickly to obey.
With a heartfelt groan, Andra approached Tia and sat down next to her. Looking over, she scrutinized Tia’s face.
‘I know that look.’ Andra said silently. Laying a comforting hand on Tia’s shoulder she began to speak.
“I’m sorry Tia.” She said quietly. Getting no response, she tried again.
“Corporal!” She shouted. After a moment, Tia turned her gaze from where the Portal had been minutes ago and faced Andra.
“This is what being in charge. No Belay That! This, is what being in ANY kind of command is like Tia.” She began.
“If you would be in charge of someone, anyone. You’ll have to face the very real possibility that when someone goes into harm’s way, they won’t come back.” Tia blinked once in response, as tears started to form in her eyes.
“I’m sorry Tia. I’m sorry that I misjudged your ward. I’m sorry that this had to happen to you so soon. THIS.” Andra spoke firmly, lifting a hand to indicate the now vanished portal.
“Is inevitable in the life of the Maou’s Army. It’s what we do, what we have to do. All to protect the ones we love, and the ones who will come forward in the future.”
“What of Arawn?” Tia asked as levelly as she could. Which wasn’t much. Andra smiled sadly at Tia as she got to her feet.
“I don’t know Tia. I have no idea about what we could do to try and rescue him. But, I am sorry for misjudging him Tia. I was wrong in thinking that he was a waste of breath.” She closed her eyes for several seconds, trying to think of something to appropriate to say. Finally, she opened her eyes when she thought she had it.
“In the end, he proved his worth. He chose to accept the death that was meant for you.”
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