Wonder Woman, the Wolf, and Weird Science
By Wittydom
“Can I help you pick up the mats?”
Tina Chang smiled at the boy
who had been watching her martial arts class the entire evening. The last of
her students had left, laughing and talking with the confidence she felt she
instilled in them with each session. She liked to say that no victim ever
walked out of her class.
“Thanks, that’d be great.” The
boy had come in early, asking if he could observe her class. Not watch,
observe. He was unfailingly polite, and never said a word during the class
itself. Tina thought he was trying to decide whether or not to sign up.
Probably a little shy. She had been tempted to give him the tour and the
lecture, but decided to let her class speak for itself.
The boy folded the floor mats
quickly and correctly. Tina made sure the door was locked, to prevent any more
walk-ins from entering. It had been a long session, and she was ready to leave.
“So what did you think of the class?” she asked him.
The boy finished and turned to
her. “They’re very good dancers.”
She laughed, a little startled.
“It’s funny you should say that. A lot of martial arts movements, and even
whole styles, are adapted for dance. Like Capoeira.”
“Actually, in that case, it was
a ritual dance that was adapted into a martial art, not the other way around.
Its roots date back to some time after 1530, when
Angolan slaves were brought to Brazil.”
“Wow. Sounds like you’ve really
studied your martial arts.” Tina said. She looked him over again. Nothing too special. A typical twelve or thirteen year old,
except perhaps for those large brown eyes, like an owl’s. She motioned him to
the door, and he walked over and stood behind her. She turned to unlock the
door to let them out.
“I have. That’s why I know your
students can dance, but can’t fight.”
The insult was unexpected. She
was accustomed to respect from all her students, especially in her own dojo.
“What?” Tina began, but as she
started to turn to face him, she felt a foot kick into the back of her knee.
The joint buckled and she fell to a kneeling position..
Before she could react, he grabbed her in a tackle and took her sideways so she
was below the large window. His fist was against her solar plexus and the force
of it made her lose her breath as she fell against it when landing on the
floor. She tried to grab him, to toss him off of her, but he simply took her
grasping arm by the wrist and pinned it in a hammerlock behind her back.
Tina squirmed, but had no
leverage. “Be still” He said. He spoke as softly as he had when he asked if he
could observe her class, but there was a different tone in his voice, as
obvious to her ears as it was difficult to describe. She tried to answer, but
she was still catching her breath.
She felt him unfasten her black
belt from her gi and tie it around her wrist. Then he
crossed her other hand over the first and began to tie her wrists together.
Then he put one hand around her throat while his other hand grabbed her
ponytail.
“Quiet” he whispered, peeking
over the windowpane. She trembled, trying to regain her senses. How had this
happened? And why her? Why not one of her students…
Suddenly his hands released her
hair and neck and grabbed her ankle. He started dragging her across the floor
with quick, jerking steps. Tina cried out in pain and tried to kick out with
her free leg, but he began to move her around in circles and she couldn’t get
the proper angle to do any damage. When he got to her office door, he opened it
and shoved her through.
Tina heard the door lock behind
her and turned to look up at him. “W-what do you want? I don’t have much money
here. My students almost all pay by check.” The boy ignored her while opening
up her cabinet, the one that held the various colored belts she awarded to her
students to mark their progression. He grabbed the belts, chose a beginner’s
white, and moved toward her.
“No, please dnggggghh!”
she cried, as he tied the white belt into a gag around her mouth. Then he
grabbed her hair and pulled her onto her desk so she was lying on her back. Her
legs were still free, and she comtemplated attempting
another kick until she saw the small knife in his hand.
“Five cuts for one kick” He warned,
seeming to read Tina’s mind. She whimpered and stayed still. He took two more
black belts and tied one around each ankle. A brown belt was wrapped over her
eyes. There was a pause, and she heard him settle into her desk chair.
“That was disappointing.” She
heard the boy say. “I only needed you to pass on a message, but I was hoping to
learn something from you. I hope you won’t mind some constructive criticisms.”
What the hell was this, Tina
thought. Was this boy going to rape her, or give her a lecture? She couldn’t
decide which would be more humiliating. She felt his hand move under her gi, and then heard the tearing of fabric as his knife made
short work of her sports bra.
“I think it’s
false advertising to call your class a self-defense course. If your students
get into a fight outside your dojo, their opponents aren’t going to wait for
them to get back up after they knock them down. If you don’t teach them some
ground fighting techniques, they could end up like you are now.”
Tina felt his hands move around
her breasts in an almost clinical fashion, like a doctor checking for lumps.
Even so, there was something erotic about it, and she felt her body involulntarily responding.
“And that goes both ways. If
they knock their attacker down, they’re not going to wait for them to get back
up and bow at him, are they? But you don’t show them how to take advantage of a
prone opponent. I’d suggest firing that pretty boy assistant of yours. At least
hire someone with a good amateur wrestling background.”
Now his hands left her breasts
and moved in opposite directions. One hand moved to her mouth and tugged the
gag off. Tina tried to say something but his mouth quickly covered hers. She
tried to say something to him, but it was lost when his other hand, the one with
the knife, cut off her panties. She heard the knife tossed away. Now his other
hand was tracing her vaginal lips. She was ashamed at the wetness of her
crotch, and this feeling got even worse when he gathered her moisture on his
fingers and rubbed it all over her body, as if he were a masseur using lotion.
“P-please…” she managed. “I…I
won’t tell anyone…”
“I know” he said between
kisses. “You won’t report this to anyone but the person I tell you to. You’re
welcome to tell the police, of course. But I don’t think reporting a sexual
assault by a child will do wonders for your enrollment.” He kissed her again,
and moved one hand to her breasts, pinching each nipple with great force.
“Oh! Oohhhhhh…”
Tina felt the climax building in her body. It wouldn’t take much for her to
explode now…
“No.” She felt his hands leave
her body. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think you deserve an orgasm.”
“Wh-what?!” Tina cried out in
confusion and anger. “You can’t just leave me like this!”
“Just tell your friend Diana
Prince that the Wolf prowls at Lexcorp. If she gets
the message, and if you improve your techniques, I may come back some time and
finish what I started.”
She heard him opening the door
to leave. “You little shit! You think you’re some kind of martial arts expert,
that you can just walk in here and - and…”
“I think nothing of the kind.”
Tina heard him say. “Any female vigilante, superheroine,
or decently trained policewoman would have beaten me tonight. Which makes your
situation that much more pathetic.”
Later, Tina would kick herself
for not even being able to hold back the tears until he closed the door behind
him.
Wonder Woman’s thoughts were racing as she flew toward Metropolis. Tina’s phone
call to Diana Prince had troubled her. She should have had known that something
like this would happen sooner or later. After being captured by Wolf in their
last encounter, he had interrogated her for hours with the aid of her own magic
lasso. He knew her secret identity, her friends and associates. It was only a
matter of time before he used that knowledge against her.
Wolf. The thought of the boy
made her tremble. She wondered if she would ever be able to resolve the
conflicting emotions she felt for him. Even during Tina’s description of the
attack, her outrage had been tinged with lust. She could imagine the scene…
She shook her head to clear it.
There were too many questions she had to answer. Even if she did stop Wolf,
what could she do with him? Turn him over to the police? At best, he’d be tried
as a minor and held in a juevnile facility. He
wouldn’t hesitate to reveal the identites of herself,
Huntress, and Supergirl during the trial. And he
probably still had those videotapes. Her best chance was to reason with him.
Huntress would call her naïve, but she still believed he could learn to channel
his mind into helping people. That was part of the reason she was going alone:
it was a subject the three close friends, and occasional lovers, could not
agree on.
Wonder Woman landed in
Metropolis. She would just have to defeat whatever trap Wolf had set for her at
Lexcorp. At least it would be more difficult for him.
For the first time that she could remember, she had left her magic lasso
behind. Whether this was a shrewd tactical decision, or a concession of the
lasso’s inherent dangers, she could not say. But if Wolf managed to capture her
again, at least her mind would still be free.
The sun had been down for hours
as Wolf waited in the office. His office, the other Lexcorp
employees called it, but he felt no claim to it. The fact that he spent enough
time in here for it to be considered “his” troubled him. He was losing his
autonomy.
The agreement with Luthor had not gone as he had hoped. He had become less of a
free lancer and more of a clock puncher. Wolf was supposed to work only on
special projects, and have some degree of autonomy. But too often, the
equipment that he needed was at Lexcorp, and despte several meetings with Luthor
and others, he was still denied clearance for any use of Lexcorp
resources “offsite”.
Meanwhile, more and more of his
time was being taken up reviewing what could only be described as the “weird
scientist” inventions of the R&D branch. Wolf would never be their equal at
original design, but he could refine an idea, improve on it, and used a
ruthless logic to point out flaws in their more grandiose schemes. Wolf was
sick of this. He would try to capture Wonder Woman, and then he was out of
here. At least Lexcorp paid well. He had several well
stocked safehouses now, and he was ready to use them.
Wolf looked at the monitors
which gave him a full view of the Lexcorp building.
He hoped she would come tonight. If he had to look at the
schematics of one more perpetual motion machine…
The light for camera eight
started blinking. Wolf made some adjustments, and spotted Wonder Woman entering
the building through the rear delivery entrance. She had added stealth to her
repertoire, he thought. Good. She still wanted this confrontation to have a low
profile. He began to hyperventilate, but not out of fear. He would need every
bit of oxygen he could get for this trap to work.
The security guard had been almost too helpful, Wonder Woman thought as she
made her way to the 33rd floor. But then, she knew this was a trap. And Wolf
knew that she knew. So why try to disguise it with token resistance? She knew
he liked to keep things simple.
Wonder Woman left the stairwell
and crept down the hallway. A left turn led her to a hallway with clear glass
doors at the end. Wolf was sitting at a desk, and looked up at her in apparent
surprise. She took a step toward him, then stopped.
The sliding doors were probably airtight. That meant gas, something that had
overcome her too many times before. She took a huge breath before moving
forward. Her lung capacity was much greater than a normal person’s, and she
would not need to breathe for more than several minutes. That should be plenty
of time, she thought, as she started running to the doors.
The first thing Wolf noticed
when Wonder Woman appeared in the hallway was that she wasn’t carrying her
magic lasso. Very good, he thought, as he pressed a button beneath the desk.
The room began to flood with a knockout gas that Lexcorp
had developed. One breath and she would be out.
The second thing Wolf noticed
was Wonder Woman taking a large breath before entering. That was not good. What
had tipped her off? No time for that. He had to make a quick exit.
Wolf stood from the desk as
Wonder Woman started running towards him. His secret exit was in the rear wall,
but she was moving faster than he had ever seen her. She easily pried the doors
open, which snapped shut behind her. Wolf tried to duck around the side of the
desk, but she reached out and grabbed him easily with one arm, pulling him
close to her.
Wolf didn’t bother struggling.
Any attempts would be futile. He had one chance to stop this. It would depend
on how deeply she had been affected by her last encounter. He made eye contact
with her and said “Come!”
There was a time when that one
word from Wolf would have caused Wonder Woman to explode in an orgasm. He had
trained her to come on command. But the many months spent with Supergirl and Huntress had loosened the grip of Wolf’s
memory on her psyche. Wolf’s latest command did not send her into ecstatic
pleasure.
But it did make her gasp.
That was enough. She sucked in
the sightless, odorless, knockout gas that filled the room. Her grip on Wolf
loosened as she fell to the floor. Her last conscious sight was of Wolf collapsing
on her. He must have taken in some gas himself when he spoke, she thought,
before falling unconscious.
Lexcorp used the most stringent psychological
testing when screening potential employees. This procedure was so refined that
its originators claimed that it was 99.9998% effective in keeping out any and
all potential employees with undesirable mental traits, as defined by Lexcorp.
Clyde Spaulding and Douglas
Barry were truly two in a million.
Clyde handed Doug another joint
to celebrate another night of almost successful experimentation with their
latest design. If they were ever discovered smoking weed on the job, Luthor would have them fired - or worse. But the security
guards didn’t enter the lab anymore, after that unfortunate incident with the
genetically enhanced cows.
“Dude, what’s with the security
system?” Clyde asked after a deep inhalation.
Doug’s bleary eyes checked the
computer. “Whoa! Someone activated the gas trap!”
“Cool. Punch it up and let’s
see who it is.” Doug executed the search program and called up the images to
the monitor. “Dude! It’s that Wolf dweeb!”
“No way!” Clyde exclaimed.
“Way! And he’s got Wonder Woman
in there with him. They’re out cold!”
“Man, that kid gets all the
luck. I am so sick of him badmouthing our designs!”
“Totally. Like, we create this totally cool
dimensional transmogrifier, and all he does is nitpick.”
“Yeah.” Clyde imitated Wolf’s flat voice. “Does
the transmogrifier create a new dimension, or find
one whose characteristics match the input? Are the dimensions stable enough to
travel? Why doesn’t it have an off switch?”
“Exactly!” said Doug. “Okay,
granted, the off switch was a good idea. But he walks around like he owns the
place. Someone should teach the little shit a lesson.”
“Dude. Are you contemplating what I’m
contemplating?”
“We write ‘dork’ on his
forehead in permanent magic marker before he wakes up?”
“No, better. We teach him a lesson AND settle our
wager.”
Doug scratched his head until
he remembered. “Awesome! But Wonder Woman will kick her ass, dude!”
“No way!”
“Way!”
“Well, what are we waiting for?
Let’s find out!”
The dimensional transmogrifier, as Clyde and Doug had named it, was a
remarkable piece of advanced technology. It worked on the theory that there
were an infinite number of parallel universes. The dimensional transmogrifier found a universe with the characteristics
you asked for, depending on what parameters you set.
Setting the parameters was the
difficult part, as there were an infinite number of variations and
permutations. Their breakthrough came when Clyde discovered a way for the transmogrifier to “scan” the characteristics of a sample
universe. In theory, it could scan a VCR tape or DVD disk, and use those as its
base parameters for the universe.
Clyde and Doug dragged the
bodies of Wonder Woman and Wolf to the experimental lab. Doug set up the transmogrifier while Clyde had some fun with their
subjects.
“Dude, I want some time with
Wonder Woman before we send them off.” Said Clyde.
“No way, man. Your ex told me how long it takes for you
to get it up when you’re stoned. She’ll wake up by then.”
“That was cold, dude!” He
turned his attention to Wolf. “Heh heh. Dweeb prepared for launch, captain.”
Doug laughed. “Awesome! Let’s
do it!”
They went into the obversation room and activated the transmogrifier.
First, there was only a strange humming sound. Suddenly, a wormhole-like
aperture appeared above the unconscious bodies of Wolf and Wonder Woman. A
strange force sucked them up into the hole, which remained for about a minute
before closing.
“Cool.” Said
Clyde.
“Transmogrifiers rock!” Doug agreed..
When the wormhole opened on the
other side, the bodies of Wolf and Wonder Woman were spat out onto the top of a
steep, grassy hill. They landed on opposite sides of the slope and began
rolling down to the bottom.
Some time later, Wonder Woman regained
consciousness. She brought herself quickly to her feet and looked around. Wolf
was nowhere in sight. Had he taken her here? And where was here? She began to
have the strongest feeling of déjà vu she had ever experienced. This place was
alien to her, yet she knew it well.
She climbed the steep hill
nearest to her. Perhaps with a better view, she could get her bearings. The
feelings of having been here before grew stronger as she ascended. When she was
almost at the top she heard a large group shouting in the distance, followed by
the distant pounding of hoofbeats.
When she reached the top, she
saw a large army on horseback riding hard towards a small village. Marauders!
The village looked to be nearly defenseless. Wonder Woman practically launched
herself from the hill towards the village. She was suddenly sure of where she
was.
Wolf awoke to the aches and
pains of his body. He got to his feet, but staggered in the process. Something
didn’t feel quite right. Were there some side effects to the knockout gas?
Then he noticed his
surroundings and did a double take. The gas had many qualities, but as far as
Wolf knew, hallucinogens were not among them. And where was Wonder Woman? He
looked at the nearby hill. If he fell from the top, it explained the bruises on
his body.
Wolf began the long, slow climb
to the top when he heard the sounds of a battle. He quickened his pace, but the
effort was costing him. Where was he? It was galling to be unable to answer
such a simple question.
He finally made it to the top
of the hill. In the distance, Wolf saw a large army attacking a small village.
He did a quick full turn to examine his surroundings. The flora suggested
Australia or New Zealand. Wolf turned back to the battle. The banner held by
one soldier was written in Acient Greek. But the
faint shouts seemed to be in English, and many of the
armor and weapons would be anachronistic for that time period.
A figure plowed into the
attacking army, tossing soldiers in all directions. So Wonder Woman was here,
he thought. Had she brought him here? Or was someone else behind taking them
to…wherever it was they were.
The sudden sound of one woman’s
cry silenced the battlefield.
“Ki-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi!”
And though it seemed
impossible, Wolf knew where he was.
Wonder Woman was singlehandedly
keeping the attacking army at bay. She was helped by their poor tactics. It
seemed as if they waited to attack her one or two at a time when they
surrounded her, instead of charging en masse. Still, she couldn’t be
everywhere, and was concerned that the villagers would soon suffer heavy
casualties.
Wonder Woman knocked another
soldier out of her path and tried to make her way towards their leader, a thin
blonde woman on horseback. Maybe she could break the army’s morale by taking
her out of the fight. Then she was stopped in her tracks with a blood-curdling
war cry:
“Ki-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi!”
She turned to see two beautiful
women appear on each of her flanks. The first was a tall, dark haired woman
with fire in her eyes, wearing hardened leather armor. She tossed a chakram that took out several soldiers at once before
miraculously returning to her hand. Then she did an incredible acrobatic flip
into the middle of the fray, cutting through the soldiers like they were chaffs
of wheat.
The other woman was shorter and
a bit younger. She had short blonde hair and wore no armor, favoring instead a
skirt and top that left her midriff bare. She wielded a quarterstaff with skill
and precision, using the weapon’s length to keep the attacking soldiers at bay,
and delivering solid blows to any who ventured too close.
Invigorated by the appearance
of allies, Wonder Woman renewed her attack. The appearance of the two women
seemed to demoralize the soldiers. Despite the attempts of their leader to
rally them, they broke ranks. Their leader let out a scream of frustration and
glared in hatred at the taller woman before joining the remnants of her
retreating army.
For the first time, the three
defenders of the village stood face to face.
Those pothead screw-ups had put
him in a Xena episode.
Wolf couldn’t believe that even
they would put his life at risk by subjecting him to such a dangerous prototype
invention. Of all the programs they could have chosen…
He had Dom to thank for knowing
what “show” this was. His former employer, who had died during his capture of
Wonder Woman and her friends, had forced him to sit through an episode once. Xena and Gabrielle were adventuring companions (“Dykes, but
they never show you that part”, Dom had complained) who travelled Greece and
fought evil. Xena was a former evil warrior turned
good, and Gabrielle was her sidekick and moral conscience. Their archenemy - Callisto, that
was it - was the woman leading that attacking army.
His first priority should be to
figure out a way to get back to his own world. This one was full of sword
wielding warlords, and Wolf only weapon was the small knife he carried
concealed in his shirt sleeve. His odds of surviving were not good.
But he knew what his first
priority would really be. Ever since he first captured The Huntress, Wolf had
found his true calling. Even though he was in an alien world, and still feeling
what he thought were the effects of the knockout gas, he would not leave until
he had captured them all: Wonder Woman, Xena,
Gabrielle, and Callisto. Any one of them alone
possessed incredible beauty. Together, the effect of their beauty seemed to
multiply, not just add to each other. The idea of enslaving them all…
Well, he had wanted a
challenge. Wolf allowed himself a small smile. This was more like it!
The tall woman smiled and
extended a hand to Wonder Woman. “Thanks for your help. We were delayed by one
of Callisto’s scouting parties.”
Wonder Woman took her hand as
the shorter blonde beamed at her. “You saved the villagers. Who are you? And
where did you come from?”
Wonder Woman was suddenly aware
of how strange her costume must look to them. “Oh, my name is…Diana. I was born
and raised here, but I’ve been…away…for a long time.”
Wonder Woman was indeed
wondering about the inconsistencies. These women were speaking English to her.
Yet this was Ancient Greece. Her bond to this place and time was deep in her
soul. Perhaps later she would know why. For now, it was enough to be home.
“I’m Xena,
and this is Gabrielle.” Gabrielle stepped forward to grasp her hand.
“You said you’re from Greece?
What part?”
“I was raised by the Amazons.”
Xena smiled. “Then the two of you have a
common link.”
“Oh?” Wonder Woman turned to
Gabrielle. “Were you as well?”
“No, not
exactly.” Gabrielle
started to blush. “Well, I’m, technically, um, it’s a long story, but…”
“What she’s trying to say is
that she’s the Queen of the Amazons.” Said Xena.
Something deep inside Wonder
Woman stirred. The same part of her that knew this was Greece also knew for
certain that this woman spoke the truth, though she had never met nor heard of
an Amazon Queen with that name before. She immediately kneeled before
Gabrielle.
“How may I serve my Queen?”
Wolf had followed the trail of
the marauders to their camp. Callisto was still a
target, but he would have to make an alliance with her first for his plan to
have any chance of success. He had hoped the long walk would help shake the
strange feeling he felt in his body, but if anything it was slowly growing
stronger.
“Halt!” The two sentries drew
their swords and pointed them at Wolf. Barely adequate, he thought. They should
have spotted him several minutes ago.
“Take me to Callisto.”
Wolf said.
The first sentry laughed. “What
would Callisto possibly want with you, boy?”
“I have information. She wanted
to know some new ways to torture guards who refused to allow messengers access
to her camp.”
The sentries’ faces were a
mixture of anger and fear. “All right, boy. We’ll take you to her. But for your
sake, I hope you’re not the bearer of bad tidings.” The other sentry laughed.
“Clever,” replied Wolf in a
bored voice. “May I go now?”
The sentry grunted sullenly and
grabbed Wolf by the arm. He surveyed the camp as they walked. It was built for
a much larger army than he could see. The attack must have cost them more
dearly than he had thought.
Wolf was brought to a large
cave lit by torches. Most of the men were here, their faces wearing the defeat
they had suffered. Callisto was sitting on a
makeshift throne that was probably some ornate chair pillaged from a wealthy
household. She looked bored, or perhaps just lost in thought; Wolf couldn’t
read her well enough yet. She glanced at him, then
turned away in an act of dismissal.
“Why have you brought this
whelp here?” Callisto asked the sentry.
“Forgive me, Callisto. He said he had information for you.”
“Oh, really.” She snapped out of the chair much faster
than Wolf expected before landing on her feet in front of him. She smiled at
him, but it had no warmth, only the predatory grin of a hyena. Still, she was
beautiful. Wolf would love to see a gag in that cruel mouth, but that would
have to wait. “And what would that be?”
“I can help you capture that
village.”
Callisto laughed, and was joined by her men. “Oh,
I’m sure with you leading the attack, Xena, that
annoying blonde, and the woman with a bird on her chest will surrender on the
spot.”
“That wasn’t the role I had
envisioned for myself. Though I’m sure I couldn’t do any worse than the men in
that brilliant frontal assault.”
The men got to their feet and
angrily drew their weapons. One of them, a hulking behomoth
with a sword as big as Wolf, stepped toward him. “Big talk
from someone whose balls haven’t dropped yet.”
Wolf turned to Callisto. “This is your second-in-command? That explains
why you’re not celebrating in the village.”
Before the behemoth could
respond, Wolf turned back to him. “And I’ll bet my life I have bigger balls
than you do.”
The big man grinned. “Nikolas
accepts your wager” he said, thumping his chest. The rest of the men formed a
circle around them. Wolf saw Callisto walk back to her
throne, apparently content to give her men some entertainment.
Nikolas unbuckled his weapons
belt and let his pants drop to the floor. He proudly brandished his private
parts, getting a rousing cheer from the men. Wolf admitted to himself that it
looked like a package better suited for a Clydesdale.
“Nikolas win!”
cried Nikolas. Wolf hated people who referred to themselves in the third
person. “I, Nikolas!”
“No, Nikolas forfeits.” said
Wolf, distracting Nikolas with words to cover the movements of his arm. A flex
of his wrist brought the hidden knife into his palm. With a smooth, fluid
motion he brought the knife down and across Nikolas’ groin. The razor sharp
blade sliced deep through his cock and balls before exiting the other side. The
appendage seemed to fall in slow motion as blood spurted from the open wound.
The men watched in stunned silence as Wolf picked up Nikolas’ organ.
“Nikolas lose.
You, Nik.” Wolf tossed it to
Callisto, who laughed as she caught it. Whether she
was the only one who got the pun, or the only one who found Nikolas’
predicament amusing, Wolf couldn’t say. The important thing was that he would
be heard.
“All right,
little boy. If this
plan is half as entertaining as that little stunt, you have an audience.”
Gabrielle stood awkwardly in
front of Wonder Woman.
“Um, Diana? It’s okay. I mean, please rise.”
“Yes, my Queen.” Diana got to
her feet.
“And please call me Gabrielle.”
“I’m sorry, my - I mean,
Gabrielle. Have I offended you?” Diana asked, concerned.
“Oh, no! It’s just, well…”
“We don’t stand on ceremony
here, Diana.” Xena said. She looked back att he villagers, who had gathered at the outskirts of the
village to cheer their saviors. “We’d better get back to them. Callisto isn’t through with us yet.”
They began to walk back to the
village. “Gabrielle, get the villagers together. We need to evacuate them back
to the woods where it’s safer.” Xena said.
“Right.” Gabrielle turned to Diana. “Will you be
able to stay and help us?”
“Of course, but…” Diana
hesitated.
“What’s wrong?”
“Xena…Xena gives you orders?”
Xena and Gabrielle both laughed, and Diana
immediately felt at ease in their presence. “Xena’s
not an Amazon. And even if she was, there’s some
things that are better left in her hands.” Gabrielle leaned toward Diana and
stage whispered into her ear. “Besides, if I ordered her to cook for me I’d
never get a decent breakfast.”
“I’m a good cook!” protested Xena.
“Yeah,
right!” Diana laughed
as she watched their playful banter. Such warmth and beauty.
She wished her own world had heroines like these two.
Wolf began his long, indirect
walk that would take him to the woods just outside the village. From there he
planned to conduct surveillance. He would have to try to run into Gabrielle
when she was alone. If Wonder Woman spotted him the plan was shot.
He had needed only a few items
from Callisto: a change of clothes to blend with the
natives, some rope and manacles, and an oversized bow that looked too big for
him to use effectively. More important, she had given him critical information
about Xena and Gabrielle’s past. Who better to learn
about a show than from one of the cast members?
His “out of sorts” feeling
continued. Wolf tried deep breathing, to remove any residual gas molecules from
his lungs, but it wasn’t working. He was concerned, but in a world where
leeches were still the apex of medical progress, there wasn’t much he could do
about it. He had to deal with it, and move on.
It happened much sooner than he
expected. He saw Gabrielle leading some women and small children deep into the
woods. This would be perfect, if none of them went back with her to the
village. He crouched behind a tree and waited.
She returned several minutes
later, alone. Wolf stepped from behind the tree and walked to her at a deliberate
pace, making no effort to be silent. Gabrielle turned, her staff at the ready, then relaxed when she saw it was only a boy.
“Are you from the village?
What’s your name?” she asked.
“No. I’m Nikolas.” Wolf
replied.
“Well, you shouldn’t be here. There’s marauders very close to us. We need to get you to
safety. What were you doing here by yourself?”
Wolf made it a policy to tell
the truth whenever possible. “I’m here to capture Xena.”
While Gabrielle took the women
and children to safety, Diana and Xena walked through
the village, discussing strategies to defend against the next attack. Diana was
impressed with the sharpness of Xena’s mind. She was
every bit as good a tactician as she was a fighter.
“We’re very grateful you were
here to stem the tide today. You saved a lot of people today.” Xena said.
Diana smiled. “I’m just glad I
could help.”
“I’m surprised I’ve never heard
of you before. Someone with your fighting ability, and the strength of
Hercules…”
Diana stopped, tensing.
“Please, don’t compare me to that monster.”
“What?” Xena
asked, surprised? “Hercules a monster? He’s the
kindest man I’ve ever met.”
“But he…at least in my...”
Diana stopped to take a breath. “Xena, I need to tell
you something. I’m from Greece, but not your Greece.
I…I came here, somehow, from another world. I know it must sound impossible,
but…”
“Not at all” replied Xena. She raised an eyebrow and smiled. “It would explain
your outfit, at least.”
Diana felt her face flush as Xena continued. “I’ve heard stories from Hercules about
other worlds. Like ours, but with some differences. What did he do in your
world?”
Diana told Xena
of Hercules tricking the tribe of Amazon Women into being captured by his
soldiers, and how they wore the bracelets to remind them of his deception.
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Xena said. “He’s a very different man here. In our world,
you share his strength…and his heart.”
She place
her hand on Diana’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. Her hand lingered a
bit longer than it needed to, and their eyes held each other for several
seconds.
“Why would you want to do
that?” asked Gabrielle.
“I was just an infant when Xena’s army raided Sysillon.” The
boy said. “She killed my father. I promised his memory that I would bring her
to justice. Once she’s had a fair trial, I’ll be at peace, whatever the
verdict. If she won’t come peacefully, she’ll have to kill me. Because that’s
the only way I’ll stop coming for her.”
The boy’s voice seemed almost
unnaturally calm to Gabrielle. It must be his way of coping with the tragedy,
she decided. She was torn by his story. She admired his stoic demeanor, and his
attempt to place a man’s burden on his young shoulders. This wasn’t some
hotheaded boy thirsting for revenge, or another Callisto
in waiting. But she knew the person that Xena was now
was completely different from the Xena that had
devastated this child’s life. She couldn’t bear the thought of Xena having to spend her life in prison, or worse.
“Nikolas”, Gabrielle began, sitting
beside him, “I can only imagine the pain of losing your father at such a young
age. But Xena has dedicated her life to atoning for
what she’s done in the past. She’s done so much good for so many…”
“Does that excuse what she did
to my father?” The words hit Gabrielle hard, and she didn’t say anything for a
minute.
“No. No, it doesn’t. But you
don’t know her like I do. Maybe if you did…if I took you to her, and you got to
know her, you might decide that locking her up isn’t the answer.”
The boy bit his lip in thought.
“And what if I still think it is? Will she surrender to me?”
“I can’t speak for Xena”, Gabrielle replied, “but will you at least give her a
chance?”
The boy hesitated, then nodded. He stumbled a bit as he stood. “Are you all
right?” Gabrielle asked.
“I…I think so. It’s been a long
journey.”
“Here, take my staff. You can
lean on it.” She handed him her quarterstaff. “I’ll lead the way.”
“Thank you. You’re very kind.”
Gabrielle began to make her way
back to the village. “I think when you meet her, you’ll see…”
She felt a hard blow on the
back of her head.
Wolf’s attack should have
knocked her out, but the strange feelings in his body were starting to become
more uncomfortable. Or perhaps Gabrielle had been able to roll with the blow at
the last second. Whatever the reason, the strike meant to take her out had only
knocked her off her feet.
Wolf rushed to finish her off,
but Gabrielle lashed out instinctively with a foot that caught Wolf in the
knee. Wolf swiped down with the staff, but missed. Gabrielle grabbed the other
end of the weapon and swung. Wolf let go of the staff too late and felt himself
flung over Gabrielle, landing hard on his back.
They both stumbled to their
feet and eyed each other warily. Wolf had to do something fast. If he didn’t
turn this around soon, he was going to get his ass kicked by a fictional
character.
Gabrielle had the staff now and
started swinging, using the weapon’s reach advantage to keep him at bay. Wolf
backpedalled until he reached a nearby tree. He ducked her next swing, and the
staff jarred against the thick trunk. The kinetic energy shot through the staff
and stung Gabrielle’s hands. Wolf launched himself into her midsection and felt
the air whoosh from her diaphragm as he tackled her to the ground. Her head hit
a small stone as she fell, and she lost consciousness.
Wolf wasted no time tying her
with his rope. There was no time for artistry, so he settled for a simple
hogtie and gagging her mouth. Gabrielle’s blows were adding to his pain, and he
would have preferred to sleep for a week. But there was no time for that,
either.
“Ares!” Wolf shouted. “I know you’re never far
from Xena. I humbly request an audience with the
great God of War!”
There was a flash, and Ares
appeared before Wolf. Dom had told him that the Olympian gods often made guest
appearances, and that there was a love/hate relationship between Ares and Xena. Ares looked like the basic tall, dark and handsome
stereotype that many women went for, with an extra touch of danger in his eyes
and demeanor.
“She’s not the only one I keep
my eye on, kid.” Ares began. “You have some potential yourself. Nice touch at Callisto’s camp. I’m sure the Jews are grateful you don’t
perform the briss.”
“Forgive me, Ares, but I’m in
no condition to trade repartee’. I want to make an exchange with you.”
“And what does a little runt
like you have that could possibly interest me?”
“I can capture Xena for you.”
Ares laughed. “You arrogant punk. You think I’d need a little boy if it
were just a matter of capturing Xena?”
“First of all, I’m far more
than a little boy, and if you have just a fraction of the omniscience you gods
claim to have, you know that I’m not from around here.”
Ares glowered but said nothing,
crossing his arms in front of his chest.
“Second, if I give her to you,
she’ll come with a bonus: her undying loyalty.”
Ares smiled at the thought of it,
then shook his head.
“I’ll do that soon enough. It’s
only a matter of time before Xena submits to her dark
side, and then she’s mine.”
“Is it me you’re trying to
convince, Ares?” Wolf asked. Ares raised a hand as if to strike him. Wolf
didn’t flinch., and gradually Ares lowered his hand.
“Just what are you proposing,
boy?”
“I need just one thing from
you. I’m guessing the ropes and manacles I have aren’t strong enough to hold Xena. I need something that can. Give me the chains of Hephastus.”
Ares glanced at the hogtied
figure of Gabrielle and smirked. “You’re right; that would never hold Xena. The chains of Hephastus?
Nothing else?”
“Not to capture Xena, no. But I have three conditions to doing this for
you. One: you don’t get Xena until I’ve captured Callisto and Wonder Woman as well.”
“Who?”
“The one who
aided them, also from my world. She may be going by the name Diana. Two: Use your godly powers to
get me back to my own world. Three: I’ll take Gabrielle, Callisto,
and Diana with me. You get Xena.”
Ares glared at Wolf, then laughed abruptly. “I was about to admonish you for
thinking you had the balls to dictate terms to the God of War, but you seem to
have a way of winning those contests. All right. But
if you screw this up, the pain you’re trying oh-so-hard to hide with that stoic
face is going to get so bad it’ll make Tartarus seem
like the Elysian Fields. Got that?”
Wolf nodded. Ares looked at
Gabrielle again, who was just beginning to stir. “Well, I guess I’ll leave you
two lovebirds alone. Happy hunting.” With that, Ares
vanished.
Wolf moved quickly to Gabrielle
to untie the gag. Many people who are knocked unconscious due to head trauma
will vomit upon awakening, and Gabrielle was no exception. He held her while
she threw up, cleaning her face with a rag. He should’ve remembered that before
he put the gag on in the first place. It was dangerous enough for his body to
be out of sync. Was his concentration slipping, too?
When she was finished,
Gabrielle turned her head to look at him. Her eyes began to focus and she
opened her mouth to scream. Wolf quickly covered it with his hand while shaking
his head at her.
“You may speak, but keep your
voice down,” Wolf told her, “I don’t want Xena to
find us. Not yet.”
Wolf used his other hand to
free some of the tangles from Gabrielle’s hair. The soothing effect of his
touch helped her to calm down and relax, despite the awkward position she was
bound in.
“Nikolas, why are you doing
this?”
Wolf decided to continue with
the ruse for as long as he could. “Your comments implied that Xena wouldn’t come willingly with me. I wanted to give her
an extra incentive.” He began to tend to her wounds as best he could, contenting himself with making sure that none of her cuts or
bruises were serious.
“You…you’d kill me if she
doesn’t surrender?”
Wolf cradled her head in his
hands. “No. I never kill what I catch.” He lowered his lips to hers. “But I
don’t throw them back, either.”
Gabrielle felt his lips on
hers, softly at first, then harder with more energy. She tried to turn away,
but his hands had a firm grip on her hair, keeping her head in place. No one
had tried to kiss her like this since her husband dies, she thought. And as his
kisses continued, varying in force, location, and duration, she corrected
herself. No one had kissed her like this, ever.
Then his hand wear tearing her
top off, and she gasped. “Nikolas, no! You’re…you’re
just a boy.”
Wolf stopped briefly and
sighed. “I get that a lot.” He replied, stroking her cheek with a finger.
“Still, better that than ‘You can’t do this to me! I’m a superhero!’”
“What?” Gabrielle asked,
confused.
“Never mind. Where were we…”
Wolf said, as he removed the rest of her top. Her breasts appeared larger when
bare. This was true of all the women Wolf undressed, but it still gave him the
thrill of discovery, like a child playing with a jack-in-the-box or a gardener
watching a flower bloom.
His mouth moved to her breasts,
teasing them with his tongue. He used long, circular strrokes
with his to encircle her breast, slowly moving upwards in a spiral pattern
until he reached the stiffening nipple, which he struck with quick flicks, like
a lizard catching flies, that made Gabrielle moan
softly.
Wolf began to explore her
stomach with his left hand. It was flat with surprising strength in the
abdominals. He traced a fingernail down to her navel and burrowed his finger
into it, like a worm finding its home. He used his nail again to trace the line
across her stomach just abover her skirt. Back and forth, never dipping more than a fraction of an inch below
the fabric. Gabrielle’s breath became ragged, and her body started to
tremble.
When Wolf removed her skirt,
there were no protestions beyond incoherent mumbling
from Gabrielle. He began to take off his own pants, then
paused. She was a fictional character, after all. Could he really get her
pregnant, or catch something from her?
Well, she could sure give him a
real enough beating, so a disease probably wasn’t out of the question. He
sighed and spread her legs as far as the hogtie would
allow. Oh, well, plenty of time for that when he got her back to his world, a
world full of condoms and antibiotics. For now, it was her turn.
His finger traced her vaginal
lips in a slow, clockwise circle until it returned to the top. He moved up a
fraction of an inch and rested it on her clitoris, which made Gabrielle cry
out. Time for the gag again, he thought as he stuffed it into her mouth with
the other hand. His finger moved down again before entering her, burrowing in
the same motion he had used when playing with her navel. This
time her reactions were much more visible - and loud, even with the gag.
His other hand wrapped around her chest and fondled a breast while pulling her
close to him. He whispered softly into her ear “Anytime you want”, and her body
was wracked with spasms, the gag barely muffling her orgasmic cries. He made
comforting noises in her ear that set off the first of several aftershocks.
When she finished, he removed the gag and held her until she fell asleep.
After completing their plans
for the defense of the village, Xena and Diana shared
a light meal of fruit and bread. Diana told Xena all
about the world she was from, and was very open about her past - except for
Wolf. But she found it harder to get Xena to open up
about herself. She was vague, and gave as few details as necessary to answer
her questions.
Diana didn’t think Xena’s reluctance meant that she didn’t want to talk about
her past, only that it was difficult for her. She decided to try another tack.
“Why does Callisto
want to destroy this village?” she asked Xena.
“The village is incidental to Callisto. It’s the bait to try to hook Gabrielle and I.”
“Then why does she want to
destroy you?”
“We have…a history together.” Xena swallowing
a piece of fruit without really tasting it. “Look, Diana. You’ve always
been a hero to your people. Gabrielle’s heart has always held kindness. But I
haven’t always…I once travelled a different path.”
Diana sat next to Xena and put an arm around her shoulder. “I won’t think any
less of you, whatever you tell me.”
Xena’s eyes flashed in anger. “How
can you say that, when you’ve no idea of what I’ve done! I was a killer,
a monster! My own actions made Callisto what she is
today!”
“No, Xena.
Whatever you did to Callisto, she’s chosen her own
path as well.”
“But what of
the others? I made so
many suffer…the dead were the lucky ones. They didn’t have to deal with the
aftermath of my destruction.” A single tear fell down Xena’s
cheek. “That’s why it’s so hard for me to talk to you about it. It was
difficult enough with Gabrielle…and without her, I might have gone back to the
person I was!”
Diana held Xena
close to her, and let the tears fall. “I understand more about how you feel
than you realize.”
“You can’t”,
cried Xena. “You’ve never done the things I did.”
“Not exactly. But I’ve done some things I’m very
ashamed of.” Xena looked up in surprise. Diana
struggled with what to tell her. She felt she could trust Xena
with her life, but not with her secret - not yet. “And the worst of it is that
part of me enjoyed it, and wants to do it again. That’s what burdens you the
most, isn’t it? Not what you might have done without Gabrielle, but what you
might do again in spite of her.”
Xena said nothing, but her expression made it
clear that Diana was right. Diana kissed Xena on the
cheek. Their eyes locked for a brief moment, and then their lips did, too.
The kiss was long and slow, with each woman clinging to the other’s hair as if
clutching a liferaft while drowning at sea. As Diana
moved her mouth lower to kiss the hollow of Xena’s
throat, Xena tilted her head back and opened her
eyes. Everything seemed so right. A faint breeze blew through her hair. The
setting sun was casting a shadow of the two women entwined as one…
The setting
sun.
“Gabrielle!” cried Xena as she bolted uprgiht,
jostling Diana in the process.
“What?” asked Diana. A look of anxiety crossed her face. “By the gods, I’m
so sorry. Are you and the queen - I mean, Gabrielle…?”
“No, it’s not that. I mean it
is, but not exactly what…” Xena shook her head in
frustration. “That’s not what I’m talking about. She should have been back by
now. I have to go find her. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” Said
Diana as they stood. “I’ll help you find her.”
“No. You have to stay here.”
“But she’s my queen!” protested
Diana.
“Someone has to stay to protect
the village.” Xena replied. Diana nodded. “Of course. May Athena guide you to her quickly.”
Gabrielle was still sleeping
when Ares appeared again, this time carrying a long length of chain. Wolf tried
to silence him with a look, but Ares just smiled at him. “I see you kept her
happy without using the old quarterstaff.”
Wolf ignored the jibe. “Is that
the chain?”
“One of Heph’s finest creations. I’ll just drop it here for you…”
Wolf jumped to his feet to grab
the chains before they could clatter to the ground. “She’s still sleeping!” he
hissed.
“You’ve got bigger problems
than the blonde’s beauty rest, kid. I figure Xena
will be in your neck of the woods, oh, any second now. Good luck.” Ares
vanished again.
“Mmmm…what?”
murmured Gabrielle. Wolf ran to her nude, bound figure.
“Hush”, he ordered. Wolf took
the gag and tied it around Gabrielle’s mouth. Her eyes widened in fear. Wolf
kept her hands bound behind her back, but loosened the ropes around her legs. “This way.” He said.
Wolf grabbed her by the hair
and led her to a large boulder that overlooked a footpath leading to the edge
of the woods. He was just able to hide Gabrielle and himself behind the rock
when he heard Xena’s voice calling out.“Gabrielle! Gabrielle, can you hear me?”
Wolf peeked over the boulder
and waited until Xena was in sight before responding.
“That’s far enough, Xena. Any closer and Gabrielle
dies.”
He had hoped the woods would
make it hard for Xena to pinpoint their location, but
she was too alert. It felt like she was looking right at him.
“If you have her, you’ll let me
see her!” Xena shouted.
“You’ll see her when you throw
down your sword, whip, and chakram.”
Xena was sure the voice was coming from behind
the boulder. She did as she was told, tossing the weapons in a pile to her
right. If whoever was doing this thought she was defenseless without them, he
was in for a rude surprise. “Now let me see her!” Xena
said.
A fist pulled Gabrielle’s head
out from beihing the boulder, while another hand held
a knife to her throat. Gabrielle was gagged, but she looked relatively calm. Xena knew that Gabrielle believed that she would find a way
to get her out of this. Her faith warmed her heart, but she had no time to
think about it now.
Whomever had Gabrielle was being smart in keeping
himself concealed, so Xena was surprised to see his
face peer out from the side of the boulder. It was a boy! Not much older than
her son was…would have been now. “Why are you holding her? What do you want?”
“I’ll tell you when you take
off your armor, so I know you’re not carrying any concealed weapons.” The boy
looked scared, but he still held the cards as long as that knife was at
Gabrielle’s throat. Xena started to remove her armor.
As she did, she listened to the same story Wolf had told Gabrielle. The words
hit her hard, coming so soon after she had bared her sould to Diana.
“What’s your name?” she asked
him.
“Nikolas.”
“Nikolas, I’m very sorry for
what happened - for what I did - to your father.” Xena
took off her last piece of armor. “What do you want me to do?”
“Put these on.” The boy tossed
a long length of chain over the boulder. The links landed at her feet. “When
you’ve wrapped yourself in them, I’ll take you back for a trial. If you’re the
hero Gabrielle says you are, you should be prepared to face justice!”
“Why should I believe you,
Nikolas? You’re holding a knife to the throat of an innocent, threatening to
kill her! How just is that?”
“I’ll accept the penalties for
my crimes if you do the same, Xena. You took a loved
one from me. I want justice for his death, but I’ll settle for revenge.”
He sounded like he meant it. Xena picked up the chains and examined them. They looked
ordinary enough, which meant she should be able to slip out or break through
them without much trouble. “Okay, Nikolas. You win.”
Wolf watch Xena subtly tense her muscle groups before she began
to wrap the chains. He was impressed. It was an old escape artist trick. You
tensed your muscles when you were bound, so when you relaxed them there would
be some slack to work with.
It was what he would have done
in her position, even though it would do her no good. Or it wouldn’t, if the
chains worked as advertised. The possibility of failure was the reason Wolf had
stuck to his cover story: should Xena escape, he
would surrender and beg forgiveness for a well-meaning but misguided youth. Of
course, that would carry more weight if he hadn’t already molested a still
naked Gabrielle. Idiot! He was definitely slipping since he had come to this
world.
“I’m finished.” Xena said. She had wrapped herself from head to knees in
chains. If they didn’t hold her…
“We’ll be right down.” Wolf
tied a rope loosely around Gabrielle’s neck to use as a crude leash. “Let’s
go.”
When Xena
saw the boy leading Gabrielle down the path, naked, bound and gagged, her blood
boiled. Justice? What a sick joke! It took all her
self-control to keep from slipping out of the chains right then. But if she did
that, the boy might be able to hurt Gabrielle before she got to him. Let him
come to you, she thought.
The boys stopped a few feet
from her, with Gabrielle still in tow. He looked Xena
up and down. “That’ll do. I’ll just need another leash for you.” He sheathed
his knife and pulled out a length of rope.
“Don’t bother,” Xena replied. “You won’t have time.” She relaxed her
muscles - and the chains constricted to her new contours.
Fighting panic, Xena pulled and twisted, using all her strength to try to
break free. It was useless. But how? Only one chain
could prevent her from escaping like this…
“The Chains
of Hephastus! But where did you get…?” Then Xena
felt that familiar tingling sensation inside her, and she knew. “Ares!” she
hissed.
Ares made his usual dramatic
appearance. “Xena! What a
surprise.” He gave her an appreciative look, glanced at Wolf, then turned to Xena again. “Hate
to break this to you, Xena, but even the blonde put
up a better fight against the kid than you did.”
“I’ll admit I was taken by surprise.
I thought even you would never sink low enough to need a child to fight his
battles for him.”
Ares glowered, but quickly
covered it with a smile. He turned to Wolf. “Well, you’ve come through on part
of your bargain, but…?” Ares raised a questioning eyebrow.
“I’ll tell you when I’ve
finished what I’m here for. Until then, she stays with me, as per our
agreement.”
“All right, kid. But I don’t
have to remind you that the sundial is rotating. Don’t take too long. As for
you, Xena, we’ll be seeing each other very soon.”
The now familiar vanishing of
Ares left the others in silence. Wolf sat down in a heap soon after, pain and
fatigue showing on his face.
“All right, Nikolas. What’s
this bargain all about? What are you two planning?” Xena
demanded.
“You can call me Wolf. Ares is
probably planning to enjoy the show. As for me, I’m planning to kill some time
before the signal.” He tied Gabrielle to a nearby tree before walking back to Xena. A quick kick to the back of her knees buckled her to
the ground. Still using his feet, he shoved her onto her back.
“Wolf, whatever Ares is
offering you, it isn’t worth it. You can’t trust him.”
Wolf knelt beside her and took
a long look. Beneath the armor, she wore only a simple brown dress that ended
above the knee. “One nice thing about being here is that it gives me a chance
to brush up on my languages.” He gingerly lifted the hem of her dress above her
waist.
“Stop it! You’ve no right to - mmmph!” Wolf wasted no time in applying a gag to Xena as well. When he finished, his hands moved to her
inner thighs. The magic chains responded, allowing him to part her legs ever so
slightly.
“For instance, the ancient
Greek word for ‘beauty’ would be spelled like this.” Wolf lowered his face into
Xena’s crotch and exhaled through pursed lips. Xena’s back arched as the rest of her body buckled. Wolf
applied his tongue to her pussy, tracing out the correct patterns to spell the
word. Xena’s fists balled helplessly at her sides
while her toes involuntarily curled.
“But the Latin would be spelled
this way.” Wolf went to work again, taking his time with each stroke. Xena moaned into the gag. She tried to gain enough momentum
to turn onto her side, but Wolf straddled her torso to prevent her from moving.
“This must be how that cunning
linguist joke got started.” Wolf mused. “Let’s try a few others, shall we?”
By the Sumerian word for
passion, Xena was moaning louder into the gag. By the
Babylonian word for ecstasy, she could feel a layer of sweat cocoon her body.
By the Hebrew word for amorous, she was having trouble breathing. By the
Chinese symbol for eroticism, she could feel the pressure building between her
legs. By the Celtic word for orgasm, she knew that one more word would make her
do just that, again and again.
Wolf paused to wipe his mouth
clean. “Let’s see…I wonder how the Romans would translate
‘antidisestablishmentarianism’?”
Xena’s gagged pleas went unheeded. In every
language Wolf knew, Xena failed to make it past the
second “i” before she came again. And
again. And again…
When Xena
mercifully lapsed into sleep, Wolf turned to Gabrielle. She had watched the
entire spelling bee with wide eyes that seemed to be in a hypnotic state. Wolf
looked at the sky and judged that it was just before dawn. He made sure Xena was also firmly bound to a tree before preparing to
signal Callisto.
Diana had tried and failed to
get some sleep during the night. Time and time again she ventured toward the
edge of the village closest to the woods, only to pull back. She couldn’t leave
the village defenseless, and Xena and Gabrielle could
certainly take care of themselves. But what could be keeping them? Xena seemed to think another attack was imminent. She
wouldn’t stay away this long unless…
Diana’s eyes caught a strange
light moving through the darkened sky. It landed in a thatched roof of a
villager’s hut. A flaming arrow!
“Fire!” she cried out. The few
remaining villagers ran to the well, but the roof was already ablaze. A decent
wind could end up razing the entire village. Diana had to act fast. She leapt
onto the edge of the roof and used her strength to start wrenching it from the
rest of the house. When it was completely separated, she threw it as far as she
could, and it sailed out of the village and into a nearbly
clearing.
The scout ran into the cave.
“Excuse me, Callisto. There’s been a fire spotted in
the village.”
Callisto smiled. “That’s our cue. We ride on them
now! Archers, take positions with range of your bows. The
rest of you, with me!” The men hurried to their horses.
Xena and Gabrielle saw Wolf return from his
arrow shot. “I can understand being foolish enough to deal with Ares. But you
must be insane to ally yourself with Callisto!”
“I see your gag slipped loose, Xena. I’ll correct that before I leave.”
“Please, Wolf, listen to me! If
Callisto gets her way, those villagers will be
slaughtered. Don’t you care about them?”
Wolf fitted the gag more
securely into Xena’s mouth. “A
little. I don’t care for wholesale slaughter. Don’t worry. When Diana’s
through, there won’t be enough of them left to be a threat to the village. As
for Callisto, she and Diana will be joining you
shortly.”
Wolf tried to run to his rendevous point with Callisto’s
archers, but his body was beginning to fail him. He settled for a fast trot,
and hoped that he would make it in time.
Diana tore through the soldiers
with a fury born from desperation. What had seemed to be another frontal
assault was turning into a one-woman counterattack. Before long, Diana felt as
if she was pressing their lines farther and farther back.
As the battle continued, she
started to believe that their tactics were deliberate. They were throwing
themselves in front of her, sacrificing themselves to
get one or two blows in before she tossed them aside. They were trying to wear
her down and keep her from Callisto at the same time.
Then they’d count on their leader to take her down when she was tired and
wounded.
After what seemed like an
eternity, the last footsoldier fell to her punches.
She watched Callisto dismount from her horse with a
smile on her face. “Not bad. Love the outfit.” She drew her sword and advanced
on Diana. “I’ll see that you’re buried in it.”
A limping, wheezing Wolf
arrived at the archer’s positions. “What’s happening?” he asked between ragged
breaths.
“Callisto
and the woman just started to fight.” The archers had their bows ready. Wolf
surveyed the battlefield. He had been right: these six archers were the only
members of Callisto’s army that weren’t casualties.
“Good. Now remember, as soon as
Callisto’s able to grab Diana’s wrists, fire those
poisoned arrows.”
“What, all at once?” asked one
of the archers.
Wolf stared at the man. “Yes,
all at once. What were you planning to do, take turns?”
“But we might hit Callisto! Shouldn’t we wait for a clearer shot?”
“You’ll never get an arrow past
her bracelets. Don’t worry about Callisto. You can
tell her I was at fault if this fails. Meanwhile, shoot them all. And let me
sort them out.”
The archers would not normally
have obeyed Wolf, but the emasculation of Nikolas had won him newfound respect.
Diana was finding Callisto to be every bit her equal. While she couldn’t hope
to match Diana’s strength, her martial arts attacks were as punishing as they
were unorthodox. She was also a bit quicker than Diana, but couldn’t absorb
punishment quite as well as Diana’s Amazonian physique could.
They battled back and forth
across the field for what seemed like hours. Both women were hurting from
painful blows inflicted by the other. But Diana was encouraged by Callisto’s apparent frustration. On more than one occasion
she had put distance between herself and Diana, then
waited, as if expecting something to happen. When nothing did, she would snarl
and leap back into the fray.
Now they were wrestling at
close quarters. Diana grabbed Callisto by both
wrists, but Callisto was able to reverse the maneuver
by leaping above and behind Diana, breaking the grip and taking Diana’s hands
in hers. Callisto delivered a painful knee into
Diana’s spine.
Suddenly Diana heard the
familiar sound of arrows in flight. She moved her wrists forward to block them
but Callisto still had hold of her hands. Two of the
arrows grazed Diana’s arms, and she felt her vision began to blur.
“Leaving so soon?” Callisto taunted as she delivered a roundhouse to Diana’s
face. “That poison is fast-acting. You’ll be out for hours, and I plan to enjoy
every minute of that time.”
Before Diana blacked out, she
heard the sound of another arrow in flight, followed by a cry from Callisto.
Wolf had done it.
He was currently bathing Callisto, who was naked and bound by the Chains of Hephastus to a fallen tree trunk. Wolf was careful to stay
out of range of her mouth, at least until the gag was back in. It surprised him
how fragile and delicate she looked when stripped of her clothing, weapons, -
and authority. At first she had screamed and spat at him when he began her
bath, but soon she had settled into contented murmurings and purrs. Wolf didn’t
buy them for a second.
“Mmmm…right
there, please”, cooed Callisto as Wolf gently
scrubbed between her breasts. “You know, we would make a great team. With my
skills and…ooh!…and your knowledge, we could bring the
world to its knees. Why settle for that blonde strumpet and Eagle Chest? If we
worked together, you would have your pick of women. Vestal Virgins, Helen of Troy…all
bowing at your feet. What do you say?”
Wolf paused to rinse the cloth.
“I say that once I get you to my world, we’ll see what the best in drugs and
modern behavioral modification can do for you. If you’re still psychotic, I’ll
put you to sleep myself.”
He gagged her, cutting off her
furious reply. The archers entered the cave. “You wanted to see us, Wolf?”
“Yes. I know you’ve been eager
for your reward. Here she is.” He gestured to Callisto,
who fired daggers with her stare. The men, eager to get laid and have a little
revenge on their old boss, began to undress.
“Wait!” Wolf ordered. The men
reluctantly stopped and faced him. “I have some ground rules.
“First, bring no weapons near
her when you go to have your fun. Second, two men must keep her covered with
their bows at all times. Third, and most important, the gag stays in. You don’t
talk to her, you don’t let her talk to you, you don’t bring her water, you don’t even clear the vomit away if she throws up. Any questions?”
One archer raised his hand.
“But do we have to leave the gag in ALL of the time?”
Wolf didn’t need this right
now. He was feeling worse than ever. “What?”
“Well, I mean, me and some of
the guys, well, we had plans for that mouth.”
Wolf stared at each and every
man in the room. None could hold his stare for more than a second or two. “One
question, gentlemen. Haven’t you all seen enough severed penises the past two
days?” The men nodded, their eyes still lowered. “The gag stays in. Now enjoy
yourselves.”
He left the cave to look at his
remaining captives. Wonder Woman’s simple pair of manacles were
enough to render her powerless, as he had placed them on her bracelets himself.
Her ankles were also attached to a long chain that ran around a standing tree
trunk.
Wolf was particularly proud of
the bonds for Xena and Gabrielle. They were chained
on opposite ends of a very wide, thick, standing marble column the army had
salvages from somewhere. They faced each other, yet the column prevented them
from seeing each other. Wolf had used ordinary manacles to bind their outstreched arms together. Xena
could easily escape, but only by pulling Gabrielle’s arms out of her sockets.
He had left their gags off, to hear their pleas. But when he refused to divulge
any further information about what would happen to them, they remained mostly
silent. He thought he heard them whisper words of comfort to each other, but he
couldn’t be sure: his physical senses were beginning to betray him as well.
Perhaps Wonder Woman could
cheer him up. He wanted to compare her talent to Supergirl’s.
Wonder Woman’s bonds made the
kneeling position almost mandatory to avoid discomfort. She looked up at Wolf
and was surprised by how poorly he looked. He was pale, haggard, and his
normally smooth movements were betrayed by occasional odd tremors in his limbs.
“Wolf, you really don’t look
well.”
He tried to wave it off. “Just
some side effects of that knockout gas from the building. It’ll be okay once I
get us home.”
“Home? How will you do that?” She asked.
“You’ll know soon enough.” He
grabbed her by the hair and pulled her head back. “Tell me, Wonder Woman. Do
you remember the night I had the three of you together?”
“Y-y-yes. I remember.” How could she forget?
“When you finished getting each
other off, I had Supergirl service me. You remember
how you felt when you saw her crawl to me?”
Her body trembled as she played
back the scene in her mind. “Yesss…”
“Tell me how you felt at the
time.” Wolf said as his fingers rolled around in her hair.
“Relieved…and…and…jealous.”
Wolf dropped his pants. “I
understand. Well, you get your turn now. Don’t waste it.”
“Yes, Sir.”,
she replied. Her task would be more difficult than Supergirl’s,
who had the luxury of having her hands free at the time. Wonder Woman would
only be able to use her mouth to please Wolf.
She started slowly, teasing the
tip of his cock before moving her tongue around his balls. She felt Wolf’s
hands instinctively grab her hair again, as if he were trying to crush the
strands with his fists. This propelled her to pick up the tempo. She began
stroking the underside of his penis while moving his organ in and out of her
mouth. He began to swell to a very respectable length for a boy his age.
Wonder Woman kept the tension
for as long as she could. Then she began sucking in earnest. He would be ready
soon, she could feel it.
“Swallow every drop.” She heard
him command, but could only mutter “Mm-hm” in
response. His cock spasmed, and she felt him come in her mouth. She swallowed and
licked at the residue on his shaft and balls. She tentatively glanced up at
Wolf. For a moment, at least, she had been able to give him pleasure…and some
peace. The thought pleased her more than it should have.
“Has she had enough? Or are you
going to serve seconds?”
Wolf’s brief bliss crashed down
around him. He turned to see a grinning Ares give him a “thumbs up” sign.
“Where’s my portal?” Wolf
asked.
Ares shrugged and motioned his
head over to Xena. “Where’s my loyal slave?”
“All right. Let’s get this over with.” Wolf seemed to
stutter step as he walked to the pile of Xena’s
weapons. He picked up the whip and walked over to the pillar that Xena and Gabrielle were chained to. Wolf stood between the
two women on one side of the pillar.
“Xena,
from now on Ares will be your master. You will obey him with your mind, heart,
and soul at all times.” He recited the words in the bored manner of a child
giving rote answers to an oral test.
Xena’s smile was without humor. “You’ve been
reading too many fetish scrolls.”
“That will be one lash for
speaking without permission, one for not addressing your superior as Sir, and
one for a general lack of respect.” Wolf replied.
Xena spat at his face. Wolf didn’t bother to
wipe it off.
“Let’s double that to six
lashes.”
“You could be Hercules and
still not have the strength in your arm to whip me hard enough to call Ares my
master.” Xena said in a low voice. Ares looked
annoyed. “Is that the best you can do to her, kid?”
“Twelve lashes”, Wolf told Xena. He raised the whip over his head. Xena
tensed her body for the first blow…
CRACK!
Which never
came. Suddenly Xena heard a scream. Gabrielle was writhing in pain, her
wrists that were manacled to Xena’s moving her arms
up and down.
“You were right”, Wolf said. “But
I never said the lashes were for you.”
CRACK!
Gabrielle screamed again. Xena was stunned into silent horror, and she could not take
her eyes away from Wolf.
CRACK!
“No!” shouted Xena, as Gabrielle began to cry.
Wolf paused to look at Xena. “If that wasn’t the first word of the sentence: ‘No
words can describe how sorry I am to have disrespected you, Sir!’, then I’m
going to double it again to twenty-four lashes.”
CRACK! Now Gabrielle was
sobbing in pain.
“No! No…no words…can describe
how sorry I am…to have disrespected you…Sir!” Xena
choked back tears between every word. When Gabrielle heard Xena
break down in submission, she cried much harder than she had from any of the
strokes Wolf had given her.
Wolf addressed his words to
Ares while he continued the whipping. “You thought you needed to get
Gabrielle’s influence out of Xena.” CRACK! “In fact,
you need to make sure it never leaves her.” CRACK! “As long as Xena knows that Gabrielle bears the punishment for any of Xena’s misdeeds, she’ll serve you willingly.” CRACK! “Isn’t
that right, Xena?” CRACK!
“Yes, by the gods, yes sir!
Just please don’t hurt her anymore…please, Ares…master…”
Ares looked in awe at Xena. He had never seen her so utterly defeated. “Why
didn’t I ever think of this?”
“Probably because you’re
syndicated instead of on a premium cable channel”, muttered Wolf.
“What?”
“Nothing. Would you mind finishing the whipping?
I’d just like to get through my portal, take my women, and go home.”
“Certainly.” Ares pointed at the sky, and a surge of
power flew from his finger and seemed to tear a large hole in space itself. “How many in your party?”
Wolf thought for a minute.
“Three. Somehow I think Callisto would be more
trouble than she’s worth.” The truth was, in his current state Wolf was afraid
that he wouldn’t be able to control her. And unlike Wonder Woman, Callisto would not allow him a second chance.
Xena said “Ares…master…what’s going on?”
Ares smiled. “You are a fast
learner, I’ll give you that. Just a little deal we cooked up. The kid wanted to
take Diana and Gabrielle with him, in exchange for the key to your loyalty.
Don’t worry, I’ll be able to contact him if you ever
disobey me.”
“Wolf, you can’t!” cried Wonder
Woman. “You can’t separate Xena and Gabrielle!
They’re meant to be together! Can’t you see they’re soulmates?”
“Soulmates?” Wolf walked over to Wonder Woman and whispered in her ear.
“They’re not soulmates. They’re the lead characters
in a TV show with a cult following.”
Wonder Woman looked confused.
“You mean there’s a television show based on their lives?”
“No, their lives were created
for the television series! You mean you never heard of Xena,
Warrior Princess before we came here?”
Wonder Woman shook her head.
Wolf rolled his eyes. “There’s more to TV than PBS, you know.”
“But if it’s a TV show, how can
we be here?”
“It’s a long story. This
dimension we’re in IS the TV show. We just travelled…travelled here.” Travel. Why did that word seem so important?
“If I can interrupt your secret
conference, kid, we still have some loose ends to tie up.” Ares said.
“What do you mean?” Wolf felt
like he was dying. He wanted to wrap this up and go home.
“Well, you don’t want Callisto, which is fine. And you do want the mousy blonde,
which is also fine. But I’ve kind of grown attached to Diana as well. I think
I’ll keep her here, in case Xena ever needs a
playmate.”
“No!” cried Wonder Woman. “Keep Gabrielle with Xena! Send me
back with Wolf instead. Their love is pure. At least let them stay on the same
world!”
“Not your call, Di”, chuckled
Ares. Wolf stood up straight to face Ares, and even that was a considerable
strain on his body.
“You’re reneging on our deal”,
he told Ares.
“Reneging’s
such an ugly word. I prefer the term ‘renegotiating’, myself. Besides, you’re
really in no condition to dispute it. And your ‘window of availability’ for
travel isn’t going to last forever” Ares said, pointing at the hole in the sky.
“I can’t argue with that.” He
released Gabrielle, who appeared to have passed out from the whipping.
“Don’t even think about a
rescue, Xena” Ares warned as he refastened the
manacles onto her.
“No, master. Please, I’ll do anything if you let her
stay…”
“You’ll also do anything to
keep her from harm. You offer me nothing I don’t already have.”
Wolf looked at the hole in the
sky while he supported Gabrielle in his arms.
Travel…travel…
Are the dimensions stable
enough for travel?
Then it hit Wolf: he had been
asking Clyde and Doug the wrong question. He should have asked “Are WE stable
enough for dimensional travel?”
That’s what was causing his
weakness, his tremors. This dimension was rejecting him, like a foreign
particle in a bloodstream. If he stayed, he would die.
And if that
was true for him in this dimension…
…then Gabrielle would die with
him.
That must be the answer. But
why hadn’t Wonder Woman been affected? Perhaps it was her unique connection to
Greece in any form. Perhaps her superhuman physique could resist the changes,
or simply took longer to be affected. Gabrielle had no such protection.
He had to make sure she stayed, as Ares looked like he was going to send her
away out of spite, if nothing else.
“Ares, this isn’t fair. If I
only get to take one, it should be Wonder Woman.”
“Forget it, kid! She’s mine
now! Kiss her goodbye.”
Wolf shoved his fists into his
pockets, sulking. Then he scratched his nose. “All right, I will.” He started
walking toward Wonder Woman.
“What in Hades are you doing,
kid?” Ares demanded.
“You said yourself I could kiss
her goodbye.” Wolf mumbled.
“Well, I am a god of my word.
All right, but then you two are out of here. I have a couple of slaves to
train.”
Wolf knelt by Wonder Woman and
gave her a deep, open mouthed kiss.
Wonder Woman felt the piece of
metal pass from Wolf’s mouth to his. It took a gag reflex to keep her from
swallowing it. Her tongue flitted around its edges. It was the key to her
manacles!
She watched Ares watch Wolf
walk back to Gabrielle. Wonder Woman discreetly turned her head back and spat
the the key into her left palm. She looked up, and
saw that Ares was preparing to send Wolf and Gabrielle on their way. With a cry
of anger, she leapt from her crouching position into a perfect shoulder block,
knocking Ares to the ground. Then she ran to Xena and
snapped the manacles holding her as if they were rice paper.
“Wolf’s helping us escape! We
need you to hold off Ares!” Xena needed no further
encouragement, her will to fight returning in an instant. “Ki-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi!”
Xena launched herself into a series of flips
and caught Ares with a spinning heel kick, sending him sprawling to the ground
again. She laughed with the pleasure of being alive and free. “Go! He’s all
mine!”
Wonder Woman looked at Wolf,
who could barely stand. She took him into his arms and shouted, “Hang on!” With
a mighty leap, she carried them both into the sky portal just before it closed
behind them.
They landed in an empty
laboratory in the Lexcorp building, looking none the
worse for wear.
“Are you all right?” Wonder
Woman asked. “How do you feel?”
“Better,” Wolf replied, tentatively
moving each limb. “Much better.”
They stood in silence for a
long time, looking at each other. “So what happens now?” Wolf asked.
Wonder Woman thought for a
while, then smiled ruefully. “I think we call this one
a draw.”
Wolf nodded. “Agreed.”
“What are you going to do now?”
She asked.
“Short term? Sever my ties with Lexcorp.
I need to work solo. None of this in-house temp arrangement
anymore. Long term, I’ll still be trying to enslave you.”
“I know.” They discussed it
casually, as if the topic were bus schedules. “And I’ll still try to stop you.”
“Yes.” Wolf walked to the door
and opened it. “Oh, there is one other thing I need to do.”
Clyde and Doug awoke naked and
shivering on a snowy hilltop.
“Dude! Where are we?” Clyde asked.
“No idea, man. Last I remember,
we had a new roach ready to go, then you farted, and I just passed out!” Doug
replied.
“I didn’t fart! I thought I
heard a gas leak. This is bogus! I’m freezing to death, dude!”
“Me, too. Hypothermia is heinous.”
“We need, like, some shelter or
something.” Clyde said.
Doug looked around the area. “Dude! Up there on that hill! It’s a cabin! And I hear
music. Sounds like a real party!”
Clyde narrowed his eyes at the
cabin. “Now that’s more like it, dude! Party!”
They began to scramble up the
hill. “But Clyde, we’re like, not wearing any clothes!”
“I know, Doug. Are we gonna be a hit with the ladies or what?”
“Hoody-hoo! High-five on that one!”
They pounded on the cabin door.
A strapping, handsome blonde Norwegian answered. He grinned at them.
“You two popsicles look like
you need some licking!”
Wolf allowed himself a smile as
he tossed the empty video box into the trash. The title read:
SKI POLE STUDS 3: THE BACK DOOR
LODGE
The End