A story by Ceramic: ceramic@sbcglobal.net

In our previous episode: "The Lure of Defeat"

The Doc is in. A meeting over coffee. An unexpected visitor. An unexpected night. A memory of things to come.

Mischief of the Night

His name was Joseph Santiago the Third, named after his father and grandfather, but his friends called him Lightbeam. His powers were concentrated blasts of sunlight, or lasers as the unimpressed called them, which he could shoot from his eyes, his palms, his feet… his dick. He smiled at that last boast. It had saved his life once. Oh sure, he had other powers too, like he could teleport, and fly, but those were rather mundane in comparison.

"So…" cooed the blonde bombshell that lay at his side beneath the thin covers of her bed, "What did you do?" A mischievous gleam touched her eye as she gazed up at Lightbeam.

Lightbeam turned and smiled towards Syrenade before reaching beneath the covers to run a hand along the curve of her hip. Syrenade was a tall, beautiful woman, willowy and statuesque. An ungenerous soul might have called her skinny, but in Lightbeam’s opinion she had curves in all the right places. His fingers brushed along her silky undergarments and his smile broadened. He longed to pull them down and off to find the wonderful present beneath. Or even better, to leave them dangling from her foot while he fucked her in a blazing frenzy.

"Well?" Syrenade prompted again, showing her beautiful, dimpled smile.

Lightbeam grinned back. Up until a couple of days ago, Syrenade was the newest member of the team. He always liked to break the new girls in. But, where was he? Lightbeam cleared his throat, "Well… there I was, knocked halfway though the wall and clutching a broken arm. The pain was bad… really bad. The rest of the team was laid out, unconscious and beaten down by the Vampire Princess, and the blood sucker herself was advancing on me to finish me off."

Syrenade’s large, sultry eyes looked upon Lightbeam with fascination and wonder, and she exhaled lightly through her moist lips. Lightbeam couldn’t help but stare at those lips, another memory coming to mind. They were red and supple, and he could remember them clearly fastened around his meaty girth. With great discipline, he looked away and continued on with his story, "The Vampire Princess fell upon me like a starving wolf, ripping my protective cup off and flinging it away. And there, pointing straight into the sky was my wood soldier."

The Superheroine at his side gasped, but only for effect. She knew that things had to have turned out alright. Reaching for him beneath the sheets, Syrenade gave Lightbeam’s ‘wood soldier’ a reassuring squeeze. From the spasmed response, she knew all was still well.

Lightbeam grunted with pleasure and reached down to catch her hand. But, he wasn’t finished with his story, "Well, she looked down at my cock and smiled. I couldn’t do much, for I was still stunned, but I couldn’t help but notice that as she opened her mouth, she had fangs that had to be two inches long." Gazing towards Syrenade, he said seriously, "She would have skewered my dick like a hotdog."

Syrenade made a sympathetic sound and moved closer towards Lightbeam, rubbing her long body up against his in a supine, undulating motion. Lightbeam couldn’t help it. He really needed to fuck this girl good. But, damn it, he didn’t finish his story! "And so, she had a fangs out and she bent down to… to… ah!"

The girl had disappeared beneath the covers and crawled down between his legs as he continued talking. Reaching into his boxers, she had pulled his cock free and regarded it lovingly. "Lightbeam," Syrenade murmured, "Did she do something like this?" And without another word, she stretched her mouth open and wrapped it around the head of his cock.

Lightbeam groaned and leaned back against the pillow. God this girl had a fantastic mouth. He could feel her tongue massaging around the ridge of his swollen head, sending shivers through his body. "No…" he moaned, "She never got that far… oh good heavens girl, someone trained you well!" Before he closed his eyes, he paused to watch the sheet bob up and down in rhythm with her motions.

As she slurped and sucked, Lightbeam moaned and sighed. But, somewhere in the back of his mind, his thoughts had turned towards that new girl, Allure. She was so fine. Small and tiny, but with a great set of tits, he could just imagine fucking her brains out in every position imaginable. And her big, luminous eyes, marveling at the size of his cock. Not to mention, her heavenly voice crying out incoherently as he dazzled her with his skill and speed. While he had to admit Syrenade was hot, Allure was a pad of melting butter. Plain delicious. In his mind’s eye, he could almost feel that it was the petite girl’s pert mouth taking him in and stuffing him back, rather than Syrenade’s vigorous expertise.

But soon, enough was enough and Lightbeam needed to perform his own vigorous expertise upon Syrenade. Throwing back the covers, Lightbeam reached down and pulled Syrenade up and atop him. Expertly, she slid his boxers down off of his hips and tossed them aside. There was a glittering glow in her eyes as their gazes met.

"Is it time?" she asked in anticipation.

"Yes… now take off that pretty little g-string, girl…" he said.

"No… you know what I need first," Syrenade said quietly, still straddling his hips. She smiled again, "And this time, bring out the sashes as well."

Lightbeam growled. He was ready right now! But, he supposed she needed it. "Where are they?"

"In the drawer on the nightstand," Syrenade replied.

Reaching over, Lightbeam tugged open the nightstand’s drawer. And there it was. The silk scarves she wanted, but more importantly, the rubber ball gag that she kept just for such occasions. Pulling them from the drawer, he gingerly handed the items over to Syrenade. The first thing she put on was the ball gag, and then she rotated around and presented her hands behind her back.

Tying her hands in place was no difficulty and soon Syrenade was bound and gagged, with only her legs left unfettered. Smiling now, Lightbeam took hold of the Superheroine’s slim body and turned her over to lay her on the bed. The vast majority of Superheroines he knew loved being tied up and violated by him, while they struggled and pled for mercy. Granted, with Syrenade’s power, she could never do that, but the pretty girl did love a bit of a struggle.

From the moment he rose up before her, Syrenade’s wide eyes gazed down upon his extended, swollen cock. She watched as he reached forward and unbuttoned the flap at the front of her g-string lingerie and pulled the tiny thing away from her body. It tickled as it slipped from the crack of her ass, causing her to sway most seductively.

Moaning softly, Syrenade breathed heavily through her nose in excitement as Lightbeam slowly lowered himself towards her waiting twat. He could smell the liquid desire that seeped from her snatch and teasingly rubbed the head of his large cock along her love opening. Her juices, thick and pungent, coated his head as she moaned into her gag helplessly.

Part of Lightbeam wanted to remove the ball gag for he desperately wanted to her the beautiful girl scream as he pounded her brains out, but he knew better. Syrenade’s voice could create destructive sonic waves, not to mention she could charm the pants off of nearly anyone she wanted if she could get them to listen to her lullaby. Without the ball gag, Lightbeam allowed himself the conceit that his cock would cause Syrenade to destroy the whole room.

Lightbeam’s mind wandered back to his torturous actions. By now, his large cock was marbled with Syrenade’s cum, and the bound heroine was begging through her gag for him to ram himself into her. The hero smiled and reached down to lift up the girl’s hips. "You want this? You want me to ram it so deep you can feel it in your throat?" he asked with a wicked smile.

"Mmmm…" murmured Syrenade, nodding her head, her large eyes pleading.

Lightbeam thought about it for a few moments, causing Syrenade to sob with desire. Finally he grinned and replied, "Okay!" And with a swift motion, the hero thrust his entire length into Syrenade’s desperate cunt.

Arching her back, the Superheroine screamed as she felt Lightbeam’s cock fill her up. He was big, long, and curved, and as he began to pound into her she could feel him rubbing in so many places that drove her body crazy. Rolling her eyes back to the slapping sound of merciless sex, Syrenade screamed again. He was so deep…

"Yeah! Oh yeah, Syrenade… oh yeah… Do you feel my cock? Do you?" asked Lightbeam as he rode her. Reaching beneath her legs, the hero bent her knees back up towards her body so he could lean into his thrusts a bit more. "Oh yeah… what a great cunt!"

Syrenade closed her eyes and screamed again into her ball gag. As his forcefulness seemed to increase, she turned her head to the side and moaned. From the violence, she could hear her headboard bang noisily on the wall behind it and hoped that Wind Raven was appreciating the show beyond. Her mind, however began to quickly turn inward as Lightbeam’s rhythm began to get to her. Fuck… fuck… fuck… fuck… fuck…!

Fifteen minutes later, Lightbeam’s gasped and withdrew his huge cock from her aching cunt. Syrenade had came hard, halfway through Lightbeam’s ministrations, but the hero had not filled her with his cum yet. She smiled through her gag as he rose up onto his knees, his cock dripping with her juices.

"God, bitch… turn over!" he commanded, a bit breathlessly.

Syrenade’s eyes became wide with mock fear. She even added a small, fearful shake of her head to tantalize his hormones even further. With a smile and a low growl, Lightbeam grabbed hold of Syrenade and flipped her over on her belly. Then, with a strong heave, he lifted her ass in the air and forced her face into the sheets of her bed. Her nectar dripped down her thighs from her pussy and stained the bed below. "Getting saucy on me, are you now, girl?" he asked in a mock sneer. "Now you’ll pay." Syrenade could only gasp behind the gag and smile into her sheets in response. Rubbing his dripping cock all about her asshole to lubricate it, Lightbeam took hold of the Superheroine’s hips and thrust himself deep in to her rear.

Syrenade gasped and arched her back helplessly as she felt her anus stretch around his large meat. And as the hero began pumping, she began to sob in ecstasy. WHUD… WHUD… WHUD!! Lightbeam buried his cock deep into the girl’s ass, the way Syrenade cried out and wiggled her shapely bum driving him wild with desire.

But Syrenade’s previous exercises and Lightbeam’s own enthusiasm had already taken its toll. After ten minutes of steady pounding, the hero’s thrusts began to become panicked. As the reaming of her asshole increased, all Syrenade could do was sob and scream as another orgasm shook through the core of her body. She knew that he was almost through and her body ached to take as much of him as she could. As his frenzy increased, she desperately backed up into the straining meat, matching the rhythm of his thrusts.

Finally, unable to contain himself any longer, he withdrew his massive cock and gave a stifled shout, "Eeehhh! Eeehhh! Aaaaaaah!" Placing his hugely swollen cock on her ass, Lightbeam shot load after load of cum all over her lower back.

Syrenade could feel each spurt striking the top of her ass, some of it rolling down her back towards her shoulder blades, but the rest dripping down the crack of her ass and coating her cunt with his love cream. Groaning softly, Lightbeam leaned forward and pulled Syrenade onto her side to curl his arm about her midsection.

It took a few moments for Lightbeam to recover, and when he finally did, he reached up to remove Syrenade’s ball gag. Rolling around, and ignoring the globs of cum that dripped to her bed, Syrenade smiled sweetly towards Lightbeam, "So… how was that, lover?"

"Great…"

"Really?" she mused softly, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. Rolling over even further, Syrenade slid to her knees and regarded Lightbeam as he lay on his back, "You know… that reminds me of something…"

Lightbeam, a bit overcome by his experience answered in a dazed voice, "What?"

"I know what you’ve been doing most nights with Bubble Girl…"

Wincing, Lightbeam replied, "You do…?"

"Yep. Now, if you really wanted a piece of that Asian ass, why didn’t you invite her?"

The hero’s eyes opened wide as he considers this idea. The best of both worlds… at once! "God… there’s an idea. How do you know she’ll go for it?"

Syrenade smiles sweetly and winks towards Lightbeam, "I have my reasons, dear. Now, run along. Put on a robe and see if she’ll join us."

Suddenly, in the distance, as if calling to them through the fog, Lightbeam heard the familiar, repetitive sound of the emergency alarm beeping and blaring. A low groan rumbled through his chest as recognized the sound. Syrenade sat up as well, her big eyes scanning her room. "The emergency beacon!" she cried.

"Damn…" muttered Lightbeam, sitting up quickly and almost causing the bound Syrenade to topple from the bed. Reaching out, he caught her upper arm in time. "Damn!" he repeated, and he scooted towards the edge of the bed. Over on her chest of drawers, Syrenade’s oval emergency beacon, a cross between a cell phone and a handheld holo-projector glowed with intense, blue light.

* * *



The thrumming noise entered into Allure’s dreams. It was a deep, throbbing sound; A broad, vibrating baritone that was familiar, yet a new experience at the same time. Much like Josh’s cock, her mind thought dreamily. She frowned in her sleep. But something was not right!

Sleepily, Allure’s eyes open and carefully scan her room. Josh was still there, and she smiled as she could feel him pressed up against her back and buttocks. One of his heavy arms draped comfortable across her hips and she could hear his slow, steady breathing. Ever so carefully, she slipped from under her sleeping boyfriend’s arm and slid towards the edge of the bed, before frowning at her condition. She was terribly sticky between her legs. But, again, the young woman smiled, for she knew the satisfying cause of that.

Creeping quietly about the room, quite conscious of her naked, buxom body, Allure hunted for the source of the sound that invaded her sleep. Finally, she spied her purse half hidden beneath a pile of Josh’s clothes. Her purse! Tossing the clothes aside, Allure dug out the source of the offending hum. As she drew out the oval emergency beacon, the thing shook and blinked an angry blue.

"What the hell is that?" Josh asked muzzily from the bed.

Her eyes luminous, Allure carefully picked up the small oval object. They showed her what it did once. It looked pretty easy. Squeezing the sides, the oval slipped apart and extended to show the glowing blue number pad beneath and the small holographic projector.

"They’re… they’re calling for me," she breathed. How did they get the projector to work? But, that was the least of her worries, "Josh! They’re calling for me!"

"What? What?! Who is?" her boyfriend asked, pushing himself up on his elbows.

"Th-they are!" Allure explained with growing concern. "I’m not ready…!" Without further word, she dashed into the bathroom.

Climbing to his feet, Josh followed her with half the blanket wrapped around his midsection. "They call and expect you to just drop everything and run to them?"

"Yes!" cried Allure frantically as she toweled the stickiness off with a damp washcloth.

"What a horrible job," frowned Josh as he watched her rub away his handiwork off of her magnificent body. Her full breasts, having already been wiped, glittered with a thin sheen of water. "What was it that you said you did again?"

Glaring at him with irritation, Allure shook her head, "I didn’t say… now go and help me out here Josh! Find me some underwear, you know where they are, and bring over my clothes!"

Smirking with amusement, Josh disappeared briefly and returned with her requested items. "Here. Panties, bra, t-shirt, and jeans… socks and shoes." Then squinting at the buzzing emergency beacon on the bathroom counter, he asked, "Is there any way you can turn that thing off?" The small object had stopped for a brief moment, however had started up once again.

Taking the clothes thankfully, Samantha pulled them on at breakneck speed. Granted, the t-shirt really wasn’t all that professional… but, glancing into the mirror, she didn’t look all that bad. There was a post-fuck flush to her cheeks, though, that she hoped that the others wouldn’t notice, and her long blond hair had that mussed, just out of bed look. Where was her brush?

As she reached across the bathroom counter, Allure felt Josh pull up behind her and wrap his arms about her in a possessive hug. "Baby… relax. It’s a new job. It’s the middle of the night. They won’t fire you. They’ll probably be thrilled that you’re up at all!"

Wrenching around, Allure frowned towards Josh, her clear blue eyes gazing angrily up at him, "Josh… this is an important job! Important! I can’t be late…"

A sharp knock from the front door interrupted their discussion. Allure gave a startled, frightened glance in the direction of the front of the apartment. But, it was Josh that voiced her own thoughts, "Who goes knocking on doors at this hour?"

Grabbing for the throbbing beacon, Allure slipped through Josh’s arms and made for the front door. As she passed the bed, she picked up her purse.

"Wait… Samantha…!" Josh pleaded as he stumbled after his girlfriend. But, the Superheroine strode purposefully towards the knocking entrance.

"Who is it?" she called impatiently. If Josh was going to be a fool and not get dressed, it wasn’t going to slow her down.

The knocking stopped and a bewildered pause followed. Finally, a muffled voice seemed to seep through the door. "It’s Praet," came the low words, "Hurry up, open the door!"

Allure gasped and turned towards Josh. Her boyfriend made a face and tilted his head. Meeting her eyes, he mouthed the words ‘Praet’? Frantically, she shooed him back towards the bedroom and then returned back to the front door. Once Josh had disappeared into the next room, she undid the deadbolt and dropped the chain. Taking a huge, deep breath, she carefully opened the door.

The man that stood somewhat awkwardly before the door was not Praetorian. Or, at least not the Praetorian that she was used to. Instead of his black combat suit, studded with steel and adorned with leather ties that kept down his flexible body armor, the tall man before her wore jeans, a black t-shirt, and a slick looking leather jacket. Although she didn’t spend too much time looking at his feet, she wouldn’t have been surprised if he wore fancy cowboy boots or something. But, his mode of dress was just a passing thought, for instead her eyes were drawn immediately to his face.

There she saw the same square jaw and strong chin she was used to, but this time unshaven and stubbled. And his eyes were the same intense brown that peeped from behind his mask. But it was his hair that she had idly wondered about in the past, for whenever she saw him it was always covered like a ski mask. His hair, it seemed, was cut short and neatly. It was an unassuming cut, nothing truly special, but it seemed to fit his features fine. She could see, even in the dim lighting, that it was dark, brown, and very fine with the beginnings of a slight wave. It was definitely Praet.

Stepping forward Praetorian smiled suddenly, all trace of awkwardness gone, and held up his own beacon. His, however, was quiet and subdued in comparison to her blinking, noisy one. "Troll and I were in the area and tracked you here. Are you ready to go? We don’t have much time," the Strange Defender’s leader said seriously.

"I… I couldn’t get it to stop," stammered Allure as she moved forward to meet him, holding up her own beacon.

"We’ll show you how to use it. Now, we have to get going… there’s an emergency going on in Bridgefield," continued Praetorian smoothly. Reaching forward, he placed his large hand at her elbow to gently guide her towards the door.

Suddenly, there was movement behind them at the doorway to the bedroom. Josh stood there, clothed but still disheveled from dressing so quickly. "Stop right there! I don’t know who you are, but you can’t just take her in the middle of the night like this!" Allure’s boyfriend shouted. Moving forward quickly, he took hold of Allure’s other arm. "What are you… some sort of gestapo spy or something? What do you think you’re doing?"

Allure gazed at Josh in horror, before glancing fearfully back towards Praetorian. The man had a reputation as a nasty, brutal fighter among other things, and she would hate to see her boyfriend broken to bits. But, to her relief, Praetorian looked more startled and puzzled himself. Josh tugged a bit roughly at her arm, enough at least to make her cry out, "Ow!"

To Praetorian’s silence, Josh glared at Allure, "Who is this guy?!"

Seeing clearly that Praetorian was not going to answer Josh, Allure tugged her arm away and replied, "This is… Jason. He’s my boss."

"Your boss?" muttered Josh suspiciously, his initial angry outburst subsiding slightly.

Emboldened somewhat by Josh’s relaxing tone, Allure continued, "Yes, Josh. My boss. And I have to go now." Seeing Josh’s returning angry expression, however, forced her to add, "You can stay here if you want. I will be back… won’t I?" Her large eyes turned back towards Praetorian.

"Um…" blinked Praetorian. With a quick shake of his head, as if to clear it, the tall Superhero grunted, "Yeah… she’ll be back. You needn’t worry… Josh."

"Seeing that you’re stealing my girlfriend off in the middle of the night like a kidnapper, I don’t see any other way to be… Jason," came Josh’s seething retort.

"Boys!" cried Allure, losing her temper, "Boys! Shut up! Josh… we have to go!" Grabbing Praetorian by his upper arm, she steered the tall man around and began to push him through the door. "You… go. Quit mucking up my personal life," she ordered before pointing a delicate finger towards Josh, "You… stay. Quit butting in to my job. I’ll be back." Then, with a forceful step, she shoved the larger Superhero out the door and slammed it closed behind her.

Looking thoughtfully at the closed door, Praetorian asked, "Your boyfriend there… is he really as much of an ass as he seems to be?"

Praetorian’s question earned a dark glare from Allure, "Oh, shut up, Praet… just get me out of here."

"Yes ma’am," chuckled Praetorian quietly and he led Allure away from her apartment.

Allure and Praetorian moved quickly down the walkway towards the curb. There, she saw Praetorian’s black pickup truck parked with its passenger side window rolled all the way down. Still a little bit angry, Allure couldn’t bring herself to offer any compliments to her team leader. She liked trucks and couldn’t help but wish that Josh had something like that instead of his corvette. The bed of the truck would most definitely be more comfortable than contorting in the leather seats of a sports car. Her musings, however, were interrupted by a call from the vehicle’s passenger.

Hanging half way out of the window, the smallest member of the Strange Defenders waved a frantic hand in greeting towards Allure, "Heya Sam!"

Troll’s cheerful exuberance brought an unwilling smile to her face as she waved in return, "Good evening, Bentley." Allure had learned the day before that the little, ugly man’s actual name was Bentley Towser. And he was born that way. His parents, Mister and Misses Towser were normal folks. They were both actually on the tall side and had respectable, white-collar jobs. His father was an accountant for a plastics factory on the east side of the city. His mother was the factory bosses’ secretary. Nothing about them led anyone to believe that Troll actually came from a union between them. But, nevertheless they were a family, and all three of them continued to claim relations despite what anybody else said.

Troll got his name because he was truly unfortunate. His face resembled that of a nut cracker, with his puffy cheeks, his bright eyes, and lantern jaw. He was also short and muscular, standing no more than three and a half feet tall. He wasn’t quite dwarf short, just short. His body and limbs were in proportion to the rest of him. A small powerhouse of strength and a bald head.

Grinning toothily, Troll watched as Praetorian rushed around the front end of the truck to get to the driver’s side of the vehicle. "I heard some shouting in there, Praet. For a moment there, I wasn’t sure you had the right house."

Opening the drivers door, Praetorian offered a tight grimace, "Well, as you can see, I got it right. Now open the door for Allure and get in the back. You’ll have to hold on tonight."

Pulling on the latch to the passenger door, Troll offered a friendly leer towards Allure before hopping out and clambering into the bed of the truck. Allure, taken by the cheerful little man, laughed with delight and happily slid into the passenger’s seat. Behind her, the sliding glass that separated the cab from the bed pushed open and Troll stuck his head in.

"Put on your seatbelt," Praetorian suggested to Allure as he leaned forward to start the car, "We’re going to be stepping on it all the way to Bridgefield." The rich neighborhood, full of old, stately commercial buildings and homes at the south end of New Albion had been long ago christened Bridgefield by the residents there. Not many knew why, but most denizens of the city assumed that the residents just wanted to make their area sound stuffy or something.

As Praetorian pulled away from the curb, Allure asked, "But what about Troll? Don’t tell me you’ve got a seatbelt in the bed of the truck too!"

Troll grinned happily towards Allure, "Naw. What’s the worse that could happen to me, Sam? I’m the indestructible Troll! If Praet here crashes, no amount of speed that this truck could generate would hurt me."

Allure looked thoughtfully at Troll as Praetorian turned the corner on to a main street. The night, but for the sound of sirens in the distance, was quiet and empty. In this part of the city, there were very few cars. Finally, Allure said, "But what about whoever you land on, Troll? Who says you won’t hurt them?"

To this, Troll frowned and considered Allure’s words. Praetorian chuckled humorlessly in his low voice, "Then, you had better hang on doubly well, Bentley." As they came upon a straightaway, Praetorian lowered his foot on the accelerator and the truck shot through the night.

"Where are we going in Bridgefield?" Allure asked as the city blurred in their haste, "What’s going on there?"

"The New Albion City Museum…!" Troll shouted through the window.

Turning, Allure gazed back at her smaller companion, "What? The museum?"

"Yes, the museum," Praetorian replied, "All available police officers were summoned there not half an hour ago. It seems that there’s a heist going on, and the local law officials have the museum surrounded."

Allure frowned prettily, "They sound like they’ve got it in hand. Why call us?"

Troll grinned viciously, "Because, Sammy, it’s a Supervillain heist. Have you ever heard of Razorjaw and his band of bruisers?"

The newest member of the Strange Defenders gasped softly. She had heard of him before. He was a brutal villain, responsible for countless casualties and indiscriminant destruction. She had not expected to be battling a Supervillain so soon. She had hoped that she would have had some time to train and learn how to use her powers better. "Yes," she replied, "I have heard of him. He will be there then?"

Troll nodded vigorously, "Yeah… him and his big brother, Garrotewire."

Allure sighed in trepidation. Two Supervillains.

Lowering his foot on the accelerator, Praetorian pulled up onto the Highway and shot through the darkness. "Bentley!" he shouted over his shoulder, "Show Samantha how to use her Emergency Beacon!"

"What? She doesn’t know how to use it?" Troll stuck his head through the open window again to get a good look at Allure’s face.

Allure smiled sheepishly and dug her beacon out of the purse again to show Troll. It was still buzzing and blinking blue.

"Oh!" Troll said brilliantly, giving the woman an odd look. "Okay, well… here, let me show you. See, there are two little buttons on each side of the beacon there. See? Squeeze them… it will get the beacon to open up."

"Yes, yes. I know that…" Allure mumbles as she squeezes the side. "But, how on earth do you get it to stop making all this noise?"

"There… that button, see?" Troll pointed. The vehicle rocked as Praetorian sped around a slower moving vehicle.

Allure pushed the button and sighed as the beacon stopped shaking in the palm of her hand. "And…. What about the holoprojector?"

"There, that one!"

"Yes… oh there. Let’s see…" Allure pushed another button, and from the center of the beacon a small circular image was projected into the air. It was a picture of Praetorian, dressed as was now.

The projector warbled: "Attention all Strange Defenders…" The little holographic Praetorian then began to give a dry, if somewhat odd, dissertation on what the upcoming mission was. New Albion Museum. Razorjaw. Garrotwire. Get there as fast as you can, Troll and Praetorian are on their way. Will pick up Allure. Wind Raven is in charge until we get there.

"Please shut that thing off…" growled Praetorian as he passed another vehicle.

"Why, Praet? We’re showing her how to use it," Troll asked innocently. Then, as an aside to Allure, he continued, "He doesn’t like the sound of his own voice, you see. That’s why he never gives interviews."

Allure giggled and then looked at the beacon again, "How do you turn it off?"

"This button here. And that’s pretty much it. There are some other features, but you can figure them out. The cell phone is pretty much as cell phone."

Allure nodded and took one last look at the beacon and then slid it closed. For a time, her eyes watched the highway ahead before she tilted her head towards Praetorian and asked, "So, what were you and Troll doing out in my neck of the woods, Praet?"

"Well," Praetorian answered, "Bentley and I actually had the evening off. We were going to go down to the Underside and get a few beers."

Allure frowned, "Underside?"

Troll grinned and nodded his head, "Yeah. Great part of town. Not a whole lot of people know too much about it. Most only think of it as the slums."

"But, why would you go there?"

"That, Allure," continues Praetorian, "Is where all the best bars and clubs are. Especially if you’re a superhero. They’re used to freaks and different kinds of folk hanging around. The one-eyed mutants and the men with lizard tails don’t receive a second glance when they order a drink."

"Yeah… Praet and I particularly like the Emerald Door," grinned Troll again, but this time towards Praetorian, "You remember that dancing girl with three tits?"

Allure watched with amusement as a flush touched Praetorian’s cheeks. But their leader would not take the bait, "We only went there once, Troll." Glancing towards Allure, he explained, "Most of the time, we spend our off hours at the Starfall Lounge."

Troll shrugged towards Allure, "Well… I liked the Emerald Door."

"Anyways," Praetorian began once more, "Underside likes it when we off duty heroes visit. They say it keeps everyone from trying anything dangerous, and when things do go down bad, which is pretty rare, we’re there to help them out."

"Since lots of superheroes go there," Troll interrupted, "Its also a good place to make contacts and the like." Praetorian nodded in agreement.

Allure nodded quietly to herself. It was all so strange. She has only known her team for less than a week, and she already felt pretty comfortable with them. Or, at least with most of them. Lightbeam still made her knees feel queasy, and Syrenade has so far shown disinterest in spending time together.

Frowning, she glanced towards Praetorian, "How do you know about all this, Praet?"

Troll stuck his head in to the window again, "You see… Praet is what we call… special. He has to learn everything very, very slowly…"

"Troll! Quit that!" Praetorian ordered before glancing towards Allure, "How do I know all about what, Sam?"

"Well… where did you get all this information about the mission? I mean, do you have some wire taps at the Police Department or something?"

"Oh! Well, actually we get calls from the Mayor," replied Praetorian simply.

"From the Mayor? Mayor Westhale herself?"

"Yep. She’s got one of our beacons too. A special one that she uses to communicate to us, but not like ours in that she can’t track our positions. And so, when there’s a problem that her people can’t handle, she gives us a call."

Here, Troll interjects, "That is if we aren’t doing anything ourselves. Sometimes, as is the nature of the business, you just stumble on things that no one else knows about. And when that happens, you have to smash it."

Allure looked at Troll with some concern.

Pointing up ahead, Praetorian drew the attention of his companions to the skyline. Not far away, off of the highway, helicopters circled. High intensity floodlights waved across the front of the regal looking Museum. Bright flashing lights blue and red seemed to fill up the night. "We’re here," he announced.

Troll frowned, "There’s the Hawkbat." The smallest Defender gestured at the large VTOL aircraft that had long ago become the official transport of the Strange Defenders. "Wind Raven and the crew is already here!"

"Yeah," replied Praetorian solemnly, "No doubt Razorjaw knew that we’d be the first people the Mayor would call in. I just hope he did nothing to escalate the standoff and draw her in."

Allure glanced between Troll and Praetorian in confusion but did not ask what they meant. She would find out soon enough.

Praetorian gazed grimly ahead as the speeding truck charged them forward into peril. The night was still young for danger, and he feared that upon this night that more than mischief would find him and his Team.