Chapter 23 - On Conditioning: Chapter 22

On Conditioning
by Volpone

Chapter 22

          As tempting as it sounded, Quinn didn't take either Tina or Verita into private for a serious spanking (and all the things that would undoubtedly lead to) even though he knew they would have made it well worth his time. He had other things to see to before he could relax into his evening activities. (By way of apology, Quinn admitted to them, “Sometimes being an adult sucks.”)
          The first thing he needed to address was how his knowledge of the Records of the continuum had ironically led Quinn to be caught so unprepared. He knew how things would have played out if Phoenix hadn't interrupted events, and so he'd been focused on the players who were involved in the story line before, namely Black and Oboro. Gram hadn't even been mentioned in this story line, so for him to show up and attempt to take out Quinn and his people had been... well... it was about like the Sheriff of Nottingham or Voldemort showing up to try to capture Frodo and the One Ring. The two just didn't go together story-wise.
          But Quinn realized that it was his own fault since he'd altered the arc of the story by taking part, so the moment Ciega and her people had shown up as competitors in the Chaos Arena, he should have anticipated villains from other tales cropping up as well.
          An emergency council was summoned and Quinn performed his mea culpa, then began discussing how they could prevent similar problems from occurring, or at least how they could be better prepared for such eventualities.
          He'd expected such a discussion to open a real can of worms, but with just a few suggestions from the others (including Columbina), Quinn felt they were again as prepared for the unexpected as they might be, all the factors leading to the evening's fracas being addressed. (The one item which Quinn couldn't plan for would be the appearance of the Scene Changers, a rival time-jumping group with no morals and technology far in advance of what Black had at his disposal, but they were unlikely to concern themselves with this particular continuum... he hoped. Phoenix Group had yet to have a pitched battle with them, but Time Corps had several run-ins with the “black hats” of the multiverse, some of which had nearly cost them some of his family members. Quinn only hoped their current luck would hold for the rest of this mission.)
          They understood there was nothing they could do to keep other characters out of the story, (if they wanted access to the good guys, they had to accept the possible presence of their associated bad guys as a result), but they could rethink their security measures and organize all their members into squads in case of emergencies cropping up again.
          First, they would be adjusting their anti-surveillance measures. They had been effective, but unfortunately they had been so effective they had also prevented Columbina from performing her primary job, namely acting as safety net for everyone on the ground. They would retool the electronic jamming to let Columbina control it from the outside as well, and the magical countermeasures would be set so that any Phoenix adept in the residence could drop the wards almost instantly, though replacing them would take an investment of more time. This would allow Collie to beam members from any location to where they were needed in minimal time as well as giving her the use of other weaponry and tech at her disposal.
          The residential compound couldn't be altered in any significant manner that would truly make a difference to them defensively. Several walls at key locations were to be reinforced with armor as these were bottlenecks in the defensive layout of the complex and needed to be able to withstand more violent action than the rest of the living quarters. They couldn't rebuild everything without it requiring too much time, too much effort, and too much money, but they could manage to seriously reinforce key defensive locations without anyone outside being the wiser.
          Elbe suggested the possibility of installing a couple of Niven translocator booths for rapid movement around the complex but was reminded that they couldn't install anything like that they didn't want to fall into Black's hands should they decide they had to bug-out on a moment's notice. Oh, they could always do something like place explosive charges to destroy the equipment if necessary, but then Nova pointed out that explosives might be efficient but they were indiscriminate, and they might end up injuring or killing members of Black's crew that they didn't have any desire to hurt such as some of the demonettes they had faced occasionally in the arena. Most of them seemed to be following orders and didn't appear to be villains in the true sense of the word but instead were simply more victims who were just being taken advantage of. They just worked for a person with less concern for their welfare.
          Enough agreed with this assessment that the idea of installing equipment that required explosive solutions were vetoed unless some new circumstance should prove they needed such technological assistance in deal with the changing situation.
          From there, it was only a matter of reorganizing and thinking more generally rather than specifically to make everyone understand their role, giving all members including new recruits duties in case of emergency.
          The Arena crew would still be made up of Quinn, Miranda and Yum-Yum (both genetically-selected operatives of excellent training from Heinlein novels and protected by the same kind of p.a. web that made Quinn so tough), Ravi and Mellontikos (of The Last Airbender series), Spice and Drusilla (teammates from the DC multiverse), Solstice and Ninja (both mutants with psychic abilities and serious powers from the Marvel reality), Hippolyta and Troisieme (the first a champion from the Ikkitousen continuum while Trois was a former Bleach resident from Hueco Mundo), plus Doc and Bushido as their “bodyguards”. Quinn only hoped that they'd never be pressed into a true life-or-death battle here because he doubted any structure made by mortals would survive if even half the team went full power against their opponents, not counting the havoc Columbina might cause from orbit if she thought they were in danger.
          They would also have a squad made up of magical adepts to keep matters of a metaphysical nature under control, the squad being under the leadership of Doc. This group didn't necessarily operate as a single unit from the same location as it not only included Doc and Ravi with the Arena crew, but also Phoenix veterans NgaNga (their resident “witch smeller” of African ancestry), Ovo (the short Chinese Taoist wizard), Ansaldo and Elbe (both wizard detectives, one literary and the other from a television series), Freedom (a dark-skinned beauty who was a retired shinigami captain from the Bleach reality and had been working with Quinn extensively to improve his abilities), Rikka (the buxom redhead teen from the same anime universe with her own unique set of magical abilities), Andromeda (the purple-tressed protector from the Fate series), plus their new recruits Bonita, Varuni, and Kikimora. They had others who used specialized magic such as Red and Capella, but they decided they were more suited to being anti-demon combat troops rather than magical support.
          Most of the group that had played cavalry earlier that evening would become a kind of rapid response crew, getting to wherever they were most needed depending on the situation. This made the six ladies who had been their original arena fighters happy as they were all included, almost guaranteeing them being in on the action wherever it happened, but it also required some alteration as they had lost Varuni and Kiki to Doc's squad. Red, Alkaid, Steel and Capella would stay part of their  crew, and they'd be joined by Shaula with her new blaster (it was the closest weapon to her old flame grenade unit Phoenix had until they could make her something more suited) and Briton (a lovely hentai version of the blonde sword-mistress from the Fate universe). That would bring them back up to strength without cutting into other squads dramatically.
          All the remaining recruits were placed under veteran Phoenix members for when and if an emergency arose, giving them four squads of roughly equal strength and experience to defend the residential compound or act as backup at need. It also reassured the new recruits that they were now full members of Phoenix and being treated as such. Once back in Liberia, they would be able to train at the Academy under the best specialists Phoenix had in their areas of expertise, giving them the finest training they would likely be able to get anywhere in the multiverse. It also affirmed Quinn's promise to them: that they were now part of something special with both the benefits and responsibilities that came with it.
          With his concerns addressed, Quinn took the four newest recruits up to Columbina to get their conditioning drugs purged. Since she had so many previous cases she had handled already, the genius woman in the shape of a ship knew how to perform the process quickly and efficiently, no longer needing to keep recovering members aboard overnight to complete, spotting the foreign chemicals during their transporter process and simply letting the bio-filter address the problem. This just left behind the natural hormones and neurotransmitters that the chemicals had triggered, resulting in horny but otherwise healthy women who would return to their natural physiological state soon enough.
          Naturally, during all this, Quinn gave them the well-worn intro to Phoenix Group, et cetera, including the idea of taking new names. This being a point they needed to address, Lynette Silky (who had been approved both by Doc and Quinn as a genuine defector and not a spy) ended up taking the name 'Twilight', which she thought was positively perfect.
          Now that important business was out of the way, Quinn began considering whether any of the new recruits were especially tempting to him. He always enjoyed welcoming their new members personally (especially when matters turned more intimate), but before he could do anything along those lines, Zosma beat him to the punch by stammering, “Quinn... do you think...” She stopped, looked embarrassed, and he thought he knew what was coming.
          “...do you think you could...” then in a rush, she blurted out, “introduce me to Bushido?”
          “Me, too,” piped up Procyon.
          Twilight added, “I wouldn't turn down an introduction.”
          I did not see that coming, he thought. Still, it made sense. The Japanese samurai had been the hero of the day when they had clashed with Gram's soldiers, and all four of the new members had been present for his display of prowess. While Quinn tended to give most bad guys a chance to live if he could, Bushy had no trouble permanently retiring demons or monsters, and he'd done just that with impressive skill earlier. That he was also one of the kindest, most honorable men Quinn knew explained the sudden interest in the usually stoic samurai, so Quinn escorted them to be formally introduced to the hero of the hour.
          Being the modest gentleman he was, Bushy naturally was flattered at the sudden attention, but being so modest, he began to make excuses to slip out of the (for him) uncomfortable situation. 
          This was not the first time Quinn had seen Bushido's gentlemanly nature threaten to spoil a willing lady's fun (the samurai still flatly refused to be seduced by any female who was married regardless of how open her marriage might be), and in this case Quinn wasn't going to let it happen.  Bushy was a healthy heterosexual man who simply had to be cornered by the lady of interest in a way that satisfied his sense of honor, so what Quinn did was basically use Bushido's nobility against him.
          “I would be more than happy to welcome these ladies to our membership myself, but they were honest enough to ask me to introduce them... to you.” He then leaned close and whispered in the other man's ear, “Please, Bushy... don't embarrass them. You may not need to do this, but they do.” 
          Not giving him any chance to respond, Quinn said in a normal voice, “If I see any of you before tomorrow morning, I'll report the offenders in need of an extensive medical exam to determine what-the-hell's wrong with them.”
          And with that, he left them to their own devices.
          I can't do any more than that without shoving them into a bedroom naked and locking the door behind them.
          Turning around, he found himself facing the last of the new recruits.
          Maia smiled at him and asked, “Are you as good at being put on the spot as he was?”
          “We'll just have to find out... won't we?” he told her.

          It was mildly ironic that Quinn didn't quite end up having the evening he planned, but not in a bad way. When he and Maia reached his quarters, they ran into another female who was waiting for Quinn, namely Rigel. It seemed that the lovely lady had gotten tired of waiting for him and had decided to arrange an assignation in person where he was less likely to be hijacked by another willing partner.
          Seeing him in Maia's company, she said, “I should have expected as much. I was hoping one of these days I'd get the conclusion of what we began in the arena, but it seems my timing is off again.” 
          Quinn was fully aware that he'd never gotten some time alone with Rigel away from the spotlights of the arena, and he'd intended to correct that oversight on several occasions but someone else always managed to end up at the front of the cue first.
          Fortunately, it turned out that Maia was not the jealous type, or perhaps she was just horny enough to share.

          He woke the next morning when he felt Rigel give a contented purr and roll over, pressing her smooth back against him as she hugged his arm to her. This seemed to trigger Maia rolling towards him and snuggling tight from her side as well.
          That was certainly enjoyable, he recalled. The two young shinobis had been as amorous and fun as he could have wished, working surprisingly well together in spite of not knowing each other in more than a passing “Hiya... good morning” sense.
          They had started out concentrating solely on Quinn himself, but with just a bit of subtle encouragement, over the next couple of hours both learned that having an intimate friend of their own gender was a very good thing in the right circumstances.
          Last night had been some very correct circumstances. Oh, he didn't think that either would swear off men in favor of going gay, but now they were at least comfortable enough to enjoy having another cuddly and fun female as backup in the bedroom, and around Phoenix that would increase their chances of having an entertaining evening significantly.
          Rigel's arm shifted as she lay back against his side, and her hand moved back enough to encounter his normal morning erection.
          “Mmm!” she purred sleepily, fingers wrapping around him as she clearly indicated how she wanted to start the day.
          Who was he to refuse?

          That evening, Oboro's plan began to unfold. There were single matches involving two more Taimanin, these two being Adhara, another of the young trainees who had been captured along with Gemma and Chara, and the other a more experienced but still little known representative of the team, Mirzam, a platinum blonde, green-eyed ninja that could have been a model in a different reality. Yum-Yum defeated the Arena representative and then gathered Adhara into the Phoenix fold, and following that Miranda showed the arena crowd why Quinn's favorite nickname for her was “Randy” by doing the same for Mirzam.
          “But the night's not over yet!” announced Oboro. “It seems that Harukinu-sama must defend his undefeated status against not one but two opponents tonight...
          “Astaroth!”
          Spotlights picked out the curvy redhead in the arena showcase to their right as she posed fetchingly, a very naughty expression on her face, and Quinn was again surprised at just how human the female looked. Other than her amber eyes with their vertical pupils, she showed no outward indications of being demonic at all. With her figure, coloring, and outwardly naughty appearance, if he hadn't known it was the wrong universe, he'd have taken her for Jessica Rabbit's sister. Perhaps part of that was due to the fitted red dress she wore which reinforced the resemblance.
          As if she knew he was watching her, the arena gladiatrix coyly extended the tip of her tongue and ran it around her lips, giving Quinn's excellent vision a glimpse of a golden tongue stud that pierced it.
          Glancing down, she seemed to notice something that needed cleaning at the edge of her costume where it met her very full bosom. The studded tongue again slipped out, and without lowering her head much or pushing her breasts any higher, to Quinn's surprise it continued to extend down until she reached the offending spot and cleaned it with her tongue... showing was clearly at least a foot longer than normal.
          The demonstration got a rousing ovation from the crowd, and he understood just why Astaroth was a favorite.
          Okay... maybe a bit more demonic looking after all.
          Yet her actions also drew his attention to a peculiarity he'd noticed when he'd chosen his opponents but hadn't considered in detail until now, namely a tattoo on the upper slope of her left breast. It was simple black without shading, looking almost stenciled on. It was an odd design considering her infernal connections, with a cross in the center surrounded by a heart, the heart in turn surrounded by a set of five outward-facing points, the top of the heart open in a way that was highly suggestive of the heart being a womb. The design was completed by a kind of double diamond rising from above the opening of the heart. Quinn wasn't an expert, but it felt significant.
          Raising his voice to be heard above the crowd, he said, “Doc... I need a consultation.”
          The sorcerer came down and asked warily, “What's wrong?”
          Quinn knew that his magically-adept friend had far more knowledge of things of a metaphysical nature plus the ability to tap into senses beyond anything Quinn could claim.
          “I find myself very interested in the lady's tattoo. Do you recognize the design?”
          Doc looked at the posing demoness and stretched out his sensitivity to the arcane in her direction. To his mind's eye, the tattoo stopped being flat black and rippled with other-worldly flame.
          “Fire magic of some kind,” he said, “but what kind, I can't be certain.”
          “Thank you, my friend,” Quinn responded, his suspicions confirmed.
          As the crowd's reaction to the sexy competitor ran down, Oboro's amplified voice went on, “...and Kuris!”
          Lights flared to point out the arena showcase opposite Astaroth's. In it stood (or rather lounged) the other female Quinn had picked out the night of the issued challenges. She was far more clearly of infernal origins as she had garnet red eyes, pointed ears, bat-like wings with sharp golden talons at the forward-facing joint of each wing to make them notable weapons, and a spade-tipped tail. Her hair was light blue and long, her body not as lush as Astaroth's but still very female and desirable. Combined with the way she was stretching languidly and the lustful looks she bestowed on her cheering fans, there was no doubt she was a succubus.
          Hey, we have a couple of her group on staff already, he thought. Nothing wrong with that.
          Kuris was running a finger down over her covered left breast and nipple, then proceeding down across her stomach until she could finger over the scant bikini-style bottoms that hid her mons from the eyes of everyone present. She gave a pleased, sexual “ooh” with her lips, then laughed at the way the audience cheered and whistled, having gotten the reaction she'd wanted.
          “Two of the arena's favorite ladies against the leader of Team Harukinu! Who will be victorious?”
          Oboro's build-up was simply in order to get the audience pumped up. She truly didn't believe these two would be any more successful than anyone else, but as long as they did as they were instructed and worked to wear him down, she wouldn't be upset. They were just another stone on the one side of the scale. The recent arena matches... then this exhibition... all to sap his reserves and make him vulnerable.
          She thought to herself, Just a couple more days, now, then I can drop the final stone and bury
the bastard.
          A couple of minutes later, the competitors stood on the stage facing each other. Quinn was interested to see that the two females he was facing didn't stand together and confer. They stood over ten feet from each other, and if they were exchanging more than a dismissive glance for their teammate, you couldn't prove it by what Quinn could see. Maybe they had devised some kind of strategy before hand and they felt this prevented him from any chance of figuring what it was.
          For Quinn, his personal strategy was already set. If Astaroth used fire magic against him, she'd be disappointed since his p.a. web made him completely fireproof to any temperatures she could generate without putting onlookers at risk. And Collie had minimized the problem of his hair getting cooked by making his mask, gloves, and the scarf that covered his hair fire resistant as well.
          For dealing with Kuris, he was counting on a combination of the amulet Doc had been sure Quinn had tucked tightly against his ankle inside his low boot added to the security of his web just as he did when in contact with Swallow, figuring that should keep her succubus magic from doing whatever it was intended to do in this universe. Most of the time, a succubus needed sexual contact with her victim, and in that kind of circumstance, he felt he was as likely to overcome her as the reverse. He'd had plenty of experience with the succubi they'd tempted to the Phoenix cause, and they all seemed to feel Quinn had some natural resistance to their magic, although they all enjoyed fucking him when they could because they all said he gave off the most lovely energy during orgasm.
          Quinn was wondering just why Oboro hadn't started the match until he realized that while there might not be any “official” betting going on for the round, that didn't mean plenty of bets weren't being made and she was giving the gamblers an opportunity to make the wagers they wished to place... if they could find someone willing to take the other side of the bet.
          There was a brief dimming of the arena lights, letting everyone know they were about to start, so get in your seat and stay there.
          The crowd settled in but grew more vocal, the sound swelling telling of their anticipation. In spite of the background noise, more than a few individuals jumped when Oboro's amplified voice cried, “BEGIN!”
          If the two females had a strategy, it wasn't anything instantly obvious because Astaroth simply moved a couple of leisurely steps forward before taking her stance (Quinn judged this the outer range for whatever form her fire attack took), while Kuris actually left the ground, her wings propelling her upwards but clearly not doing all the work since they beat much more slowly than could possibly support her weight if she were any heavier than a helium balloon.
          She'd probably stay up there without the wings, just like our succubi do. The wings are just for maneuvering. Her magic is what renders her weightless.
          But the succubus didn't move closer, telling Quinn what was likely to happen next.
          The redhead vixen off to his right pronounced, “Purominensu!” and held out one hand, palm facing Quinn as she did.
          A flare of fire quite similar to a WWII flame thrower rushed towards him, but Quinn didn't stand still and demonstrate how flame resistant he was. He was moving to his left, making the flame demoness chase him with her blast, and just like with a flame thrower, her fire bent as she did, arriving almost a second behind where her hand pointed at this distance. It lasted a few moments, then ceased abruptly. He also noted that the faster she shifted her aim, the shorter the range of her attack.
          Not quite three seconds duration with a range of under twenty feet at the greatest, he noted. Not as bad as it might have been. That gave him a working range for Astaroth, dictating his zone of safety if he wanted to keep his immunities secret.
          He dived into a forward roll and then came out early so his feet met the floor in front of him, his rotation incomplete before he was extending out of the tuck and launching himself at about a forty-five degree angle from his flat course...
          Right at the hovering Kuris.
          His shoulder met her just above the knees and he wrapped both arms around her, both of them now plummeting to the stage to hit, almost like an American football defender taking down a receiver who had gone up after a high pass. It seemed that while her magic could support herself quite well, it did nothing to support another eighty-plus kilos of male when hanging from her legs like that.
          Astaroth immediately pulled back her hand, not about to barbecue her teammate in order to hurt their opponent.
          Run him, echoed Oboro's instructions in her mind. Keep him working. Don't let him rest.
          Both bodies hit the floor, Kuris giving a surprised exclamation on impact. The entire sequence had caught her unprepared so she didn't even have a chance to brace herself, but then she'd only been about six feet off the floor, making them hit with less force than would have been the case from a greater height.
          Still, it was clear the seductress was unused to this kind of rough and tumble contact, her arena style a light form of kickboxing heavily laced with seduction, and she didn't realize what Quinn was up to until he was rolling to the side and bringing her with him.
          Then they were both standing, or rather he was standing while she was dangling from his embrace as he held her to him, one hand inside her top and the other down her bottoms. Her wings were largely useless now as they wouldn't support both of them even with his cooperation, the heavy talon at the joint unable to do more than scratch him from this position because her wings didn't fold backwards. Her arms and legs were somewhat free, but unless she wanted to try to rake his eyes, his position minimized the use of most of her favorite moves.
          Quinn faced the fire wielder with his prisoner between them as he looked over her shoulder and spoke to the one who was still a threat.
          “A pyromancer, hmm? And I forgot to bring my marshmallows.”
          He then began to get familiar with the succubus he'd captured, checking out what she had inside the top of her outfit. She might not be as abundant as Astaroth, but she still made a delightful hand-full of femininity.
          Some wit from the audience shouted out, “That's not where she keeps her marshmallows either!” getting a round of laughter from those seated near enough to hear his words over the crowd sounds.
          Astaroth realized that both her fire attacks had just been neutralized. Kuris was demonic just as she was, but she could still be hurt by her teammate's spells. She couldn't even force him to keep moving with her flames so long as he held Kuris, and they hadn't been provided with any weapons as their powers were assumed to give them the advantage.
          Sensing he didn't need to worry about the flame-wielding demoness for the moment, Quinn concentrated on the arena woman he's captured.
          “Well, aren't you the delightful little arm-full?” he said in Kuris's pointed ear, holding her as a human shield as his fingers got to know her much more intimately.
          But this was the kind of contact Kuris wanted to encourage, playing to her strengths rather than to her non-existent skills as a martial artist. She simply turned to her natural magic and reached up to draw her fingers down Quinn's neck.
          “Ooh! It's nice to know you can recognize a willing woman when you find one.”
          Her backside started to gyrate against his crotch, and Quinn felt something other than her feminine ass push against his will, but from the sensation, he could tell her magic wasn't as effective against him for some reason, possibly because of the anti-magic amulet in his boot. Still, if he felt his resolve wavering, he'd just see what happened when he turned his web to its second setting and see if technology could protect him.
          The crowd watched Kuris begin her seduction and many of those who had seen her before groaned in sympathy, knowing how males never held out long against her sexual wiles, and once they were entwined, no man had ever walked away the victor.
          “'A willing woman', eh?” he asked, “I'm not one to take that as an insult.” And his hands started to take possession of her, one hand groping her breast as the other pulled up against her labia. Her fluids were already making his hand slick, so he knew her willingness wasn't faked. It was just her natural state and he was happy to take advantage of that.
          Occasionally glancing towards Astaroth to make certain she didn't try anything, he started to masturbate the smaller woman in his grasp and was pleased to hear Kuris gasp in pleasure as her head came back against his shoulder and a small tremor ran through her.
          Still, she tried to control the action some, saying, “Oh! Wouldn't you rather...?”
          But her question was interrupted as he pulled up harder, his fingers driving inside her deeper, making her gasp loudly, her concentration broken by the pang of sexual pain/pleasure he drew from her.
          Some of the crowd began to realize that he seemed to have turned the tables on her and there was a smattering of applause while occasional cat-calls started to question who would end up fucking who(m).
          Quinn discovered that while Kuris might be used to seducing, she was far from immune to a bit of stimulation in this manner. Each time he felt her powers begin to try to infiltrate his resolve, he'd give her a bit of rough treatment such as a firm nipple tweak or mashing her clit against the pubis bone behind it. That was enough to prevent her from gaining much ground against his will with the added benefit of keeping the crowd entertained. He used his Talent to keep an eye on her pleasure center, holding her close enough so that if she seemed to be rallying some kind of defense, he could simply trigger a climax and see how that did to keep her neutralized.
          He'd been working on the winged lovely for less than a minute when she cried, “No... no... no... nooooo faaaaaaaair!”
          And she bucked heavily as she came, and the audience roared in reply.
          The redheaded demoness kept wondering why her teammate didn't use her other power to escape until she realized that he was keeping her too distracted to think of it.
          “Kuris! Your other magic!” she shouted to her arena partner.
          That seemed to be what was needed because he felt an answering surge of energy from the woman he held hostage from a segment of the brain that had nothing to do with sex or pleasure, and just as Quinn was about to give her another solid jolt to the pleasure nexus, he felt his neural connection break off and his hands suddenly held nothing, his grip passing through the space she occupied.
          There was Kuris floating just a foot off the floor, but the lights of the arena were now shining right through her.
          She can go incorporeal, he realized.
          It wasn't a talent he'd expected as there wasn't a lot a fighter without a body could do to win a bout. Still, as long as she wasn't able to make physical contact, he didn't think she was a threat.
          But Astaroth knew that so long as her teammate was out of phase with the physical world around her, she was also safe from fire.
          “Purominensu!” she cried once again, and the flames washed right through her teammate, driving Quinn back from the incorporeal Kuris.
          He had already determined that her flame magic was slower than he was by maybe half-a-dozen feet per second, so he could avoid her so long as he didn't take a rest while inside her range, but on the other side of the ledger, if he stayed out of range, he had no way of beating her as he had nothing with any distance. The only thing he had which wasn't attached was his outfit.
          Wait a second. That's not quite accurate.
          He stayed in motion towards what he'd determined was Astaroth's outer range, not close enough to seem a threat, but not so far away to let her relax too much.
          Checking her partner, he could tell from how the light no longer passed through her that Kuris was no longer insubstantial, but she appeared wary enough not to allow herself to be caught again, seeming to have learned her lesson. Quinn was somehow resistant to her seduction magic, and since her physical combat skills were only mediochre, she knew that her only hope was staying either out of his grasp or going out of phase if he did manage to grab her. Either way, she felt she was safe.
          But Astaroth wasn't any more a contact fighter than her associate, and as was the case with many of her fellow adepts, she had a finite amount of magic to draw on before she needed to stop and rest to recharge her metaphysical capacity. If she ran out of energy before they had managed to beat their opponent, she had no question that he'd be able to best her hand-to-hand, so her options were limited.
          But she had one more trick up her sleeve. Her other attack wasn't truly an attack but was rather a form of restraint, and at least it would pin him in one location to give them both a chance to work their wiles on him, and Oboro did say that the crowd would expect “quite a show” no matter who won.
          The man facing them was certainly one of the sexier foes she'd ever faced, and she had to admit it would be very rewarding to have him in her control. She could think of any number of things she'd love to have him do to her.
          Kuris was recovered enough to be having similar ideas, though honestly she'd barely paused having such thoughts since she'd been trapped against his body before. He was a fine specimen of male and clearly had a sexual appetite that would feed her quite well, given the chance. Anyone who could give her a climax without considerable sex was something she'd never encountered before.
          About this time, the man facing them began to slow his constant movement, looking as if he was finally needing to take a brief pause to regain his wind, and Astaroth realized this was likely the best chance she would have.
          They hadn't done a great deal of strategizing before the match, but Astaroth had told Kuris that they could team up in case they couldn't find any other tactic that worked.
          “Kuris! I could use some help!” she called, and her partner recalled what they had talked about before the fight.
          Easy enough for you to say, she thought in response. You're not the one who gets to play
sacrificial goat.
          But she knew it was their best chance of winning, and it was also their most powerful ploy if they could get it to work.
          So she drifted herself closer to their opponent to give him and said, “You know, just because we're on opposite sides doesn't mean we can't enjoy ourselves.” She cranked up her sexual magic, making herself even more desirable to any in the area.
          It was clearly working as one of the demonic spectators in the front row stood and began to climb over the wall, giving every sign of being on his way to the stage to take what she was so clearly offering Harukinu. Fortunately, several of the others seated nearby realized what was happening and grabbed him, drawing him back into his seat and laughing about his wanting to join Team Harukinu so he could help out.
          By this time, Kuris was close enough to Quinn for him to know if he moved quickly, he'd be able to capture her again.
          Why would she allow herself to be caught again? This must be the help Astaroth requested.
          Yet as he looked at the fire witch, she seemed willing to let her friend do their job for now, showing no signs of preparing to attack.
          Only one way to find out what kind of trap this is, he thought, and stepped close enough to grab the floating succubus.
          Instead of trying to get away, Kuris responded by wrapping both arms and legs around him, her full weight resting on him. It wasn't more than fifty kilos, but she had him in a way he wasn't too mobile either.
          This seemed to be the reason for the charade of letting herself be caught, because as Kuris hobbled their opponent, Astaroth drew on her powers once again.
          “Gokuen No Barentain!” she cried, gesturing with both hands.
          As Quinn's foot came down, a framework of flames sprung into being around both himself and Kuris, seeming to grow from both above his head and the stage surface, forming a cage with bars of fire, its overall size about as wide as he was tall, the bars curving inward as they went higher to meet some several feet above his head.
          Giving him a teasing smile, Kuris suddenly lost all weight as she went incorporeal and drifted out through the fiery bars holding him, unharmed by the intense heat they generated.
          Quinn grew immediately still, examining what appeared to be a giant burning cage that now held him. 
          Well, there's something you don't see every day, he thought ironically. And not a bad trap, either.
          “That's much better,” his captor pronounced loudly so the audience could hear, her voice clearly telling them all that Harukinu was well and thoroughly caught. Unless he wanted to basically set himself on fire, he was going to have to stay put, and the longer he stayed put, the longer the heat from the flames had to work on him.
          The heat was intense enough to be felt quite a ways away, but it had an additional effect. Anyone trapped inside her “Valentine flame prison” would rapidly be overwhelmed by their desires, and if she didn't drop the prison bars before they lost control, they would usually try to jump out through the bars, sex the only thing that mattered to them now. It had only happened a couple of times, but only once since the battle arena had begun. The results had been... distressing to Astaroth. She didn't want to kill. She just enjoyed sex and her magic helped with that. Now she was much better at dismissing her spell before they could hurt themselves. She would hold them right up until they couldn't control themselves, and by the time they were ready to throw themselves through the burning bars, she could dismiss the danger and enjoy the enthusiastic behavior of her former captor who had become just one step from a slave at that point.
          The two females moved closer to observe the man who didn't know he was already defeated.
          They were completely safe as any attempt to reach them by their opponent would force him to reach between the bars, and no one could do that without being badly burned. Anyone who tried only tried once. As such, they knew they were in no danger to approach him and turn up the metaphorical heat as well.
          As they walked/floated closer, Quinn took the break in the action to adjust his belt, then went to one knee to adjust the top of his boot, then did the other so he could rise into a standing position when they reached him and face them eye-to-eye.
          The arena fighters had to admit, he looked calm and collected for basically being beaten for the first time. Even the flames didn't seem to be bothering him badly, but he'd only been inside for seconds. When he'd been in there for a minute or two, that would change rapidly.
          “I like this Harukinu much better than the other one,” Astaroth continued from her earlier comment. Turning her head to her teammate while keeping her eyes on the man in the flames, she asked, “How do you like your men? Rare, medium or well-done?”
          “I don't know about by men, but I like to be well done,” the succubus replied with a smile that said just what kind of “well done” she was referring to. 
          The redhead responded, “I have to admit, it's been a long time since I've been well done by a man. This Harukinu seems to have a bit of a reputation along those lines.” Moving even closer, she ran a finger down her chest, absently tracing the tattoo on her breast, making herself look as blatantly seductive as possible.
          Kuris wasn't about to let Astaroth have all the fun once this male couldn't resist any more, so she matched the distance by her colleague, vamping the man in the cage as much as she could without touching him. The heat from the bars was growing uncomfortable but she could manage long enough to get to the good part of the match.
          But Harukinu stood there looking cool and collected, looking neither overheated nor about to lose control. He looked amused, patiently waiting for them to make a move.
          It was a brave front, but Astaroth knew it had to be mostly show. He had to be getting uncomfortable both from the heat radiating off his prison and from the lust-generating magic it gave off. But his unconcerned look was deceiving only himself, and she knew he had to be weakening already.
          To her surprise, he moved several inches closer to his dancing prison bars, his eyes on hers, his smile gaining ground on his expression.
          What is it he thinks he can do? Does he think he can somehow make me drop the spell? My Valentine Prison takes no effort to maintain.
          The thought amused her, and she gave her companion fighter another glance. Kuris shared her amusement, perfectly willing to wait for the will of their captive to crack.
          The audience was growing restless, wanting to see more action.
          She decided a bit more taunting was in order. Leaning closer, she asked, “Is anything wrong? Is there something you... want?” Her lean exposed even more of her impressive cleavage.
          Quinn moved so fast neither of them saw it coming until his hands had seized each of the arena women by the upper arm, his grip uncomfortably tight, pulling them closer to the flaming bars. His arms went between the bars but he must have been in severe pain as the smell of burning hair was thick as the hairs on his forearms crisped away.
          “I'd like you to join me in here” he answered, sounding more seductive than threatening.
          Both females were shocked. Astaroth struggled ineffectually and Kuris tried to go incorporeal...
          ...And nothing happened. Her magic failed and his grip was just as tight, drawing her slowly towards the burning prison.
          The crowd reacted immediately, seeing something that had never happened before in the arena.
          Both women felt his grip almost burning hot, but Astaroth knew that she had just a couple of seconds before she would be the one being scorched by her spell.
          And somehow he kept it up, not releasing either as he pulled them nearer. The heat had to be unbearable, yet he persisted.  Naturally, she knew nothing about his p.a.web or how it conducted heat and electricity quite efficiently.
          Astaroth knew she was no more immune to her magic than any other, and her choice was to hold out and be injured... possibly killed by her own spell... or she could dismiss her spell and leave herself in his grip.
          It only took her a moment before she uttered the dismissal.
          The moment the flames dissipated, he drew them close until he could force them against himself with his arm around the outside, pinning them to him. He made certain to not loosen his grip on Kuris where he pressed the sapphire anti-magic talisman against her arm, keeping her from using her magic to escape.
          Having both of the women trapped against himself, he said to the, “There... that's much more cozy, don't you think?”
          But it seemed that the arena women had fight left in them as both began to do what they could to writhe their way out of his grip.
          Had it only been one or the other he was attempting to control, he could have managed easily, but if he concentrated on Kuris to keep the anti-magic talisman against her fair skin, then Astaroth had a chance of escaping and using her fiery prison spell against him since that had worked before but now she knew to keep beyond reach. That would push Quinn to either show just how magic resistant he was by stepping through the bars or sitting there and potentially letting Astaroth play it safe and go for a draw. And if he concentrated on keeping Astaroth neutralized, that would give Kuris an opportunity to slip his contact and go incorporeal, potentially forcing that draw again.
          Neither draw scenario would make the crowd happy, and Black wouldn't be too thrilled either as this was supposed to be such an exciting match and thus far, it had lacked in action.
          What he needed was to make one or the other stop struggling long enough for him to...
          At that point, Quinn's thinking was interrupted as he was whacked in the side of the head by the talon on the joint of Kuris's outside wing. He'd allowed himself to be distracted long enough for her to get her wing free from between them and bring her extra appendage into play.
          The audience reacted vocally, part of them thinking Harukinu had been hurt by the attack while the other part seemed to think this was just going to make him lose his patience with the succubus.
          But the attack (if it actually was intended as an attack and wasn't just her struggles to free herself) reminded him that while Kuris's wings might give her an advantage in number of limbs and maneuverability, they also provided some additional vulnerability.
          Catching her wing beneath his arm to prevent her continuing to buffet him in the head, he slid the hand holding the sapphire plaque down her arm until he was able to slide his grip from arm to wing. This was a much smaller grip than her shoulder and he knew he could hold her completely off the ground by her wing without losing his grip. He also knew that since she used her wings only when her magic rendered her weightless, they were likely not terribly strong compared to her arms and legs.
          Getting his fingers set at the joint of her wing, he held on tight firmly enough to make the succubus cry out in discomfort.
          Now, if he could get some kind of submission hold on the lush flame demoness against his left side, things might go more smoothly.
          If Quinn had been willing to actually beat the women up, it would have been over rather quickly, but he still intended to make the match slide smoothly into some erotic activity if he had anything to say about it.
          Bindings. I need bindings, he reminded himself.
          The problem that was immediately evident was bindings require two hands to tie, and he was a bit short at the moment, leaving him with no option except to put Astaroth out of commission temporarily.
          Falling back on a move he used his first night in the arena against Antares, Quinn used his greater height to get his arm high enough to put his elbow at the redhead demoness' neck, then let go of her upper arm with his hand, bringing his hand higher so he could get her in a partial sleeper hold. It didn't need to be tight, just snug enough to make it appear to be working.
          Just as he'd hoped, Astaroth immediately grabbed at his arm with both hands in a panicked attempt to ease the tension on her neck, but she couldn't tell that the arm squeezing her throat had little to do with her growing lack of muscular control. Quinn was using the move to cover his using his Talent to drop her blood pressure to the point where she would be unable to resist, interrupting her fast-twitch muscle impulses to make her go limp without making her breathing and heart react the same way. It was the safest way he knew to imitate a genuine choke hold without risking permanent damage, especially when dealing with physiology that wasn't (strictly speaking) human.
          He waited until her struggles had virtually ceased before he lowered her to the canvas. Kuris was still alert but his grip on the joint of her wing combined with the hard sapphire talisman pressed against the vulnerable cartilage put her in the equivalent of a wrist lock, forcing her to follow his movements or suffer greater pain by resisting, so she too eased herself down to the stage. If only her wings weren't attached behind her as they were, she'd have had the chance of grasping his forearm to try to struggle free, but because he had her where he did, her arm simply didn't bend enough to allow her to fight his grip.
          Knowing he had limited time to work, he let go of Astaroth and moved to kneel across Kuris's thighs, pinning her to the floor without letting go of the pressure on her wing keeping her compliant. 
          From this position he could see the easiest way to keep her bound and he undid her top, then skinned down her bottom (which was a bit of a reach while holding her wing joint) and instructed her, “Arms back, wrists together.” He gave a bit of a squeeze to her wing to enforce his order, and she meekly did as he told her.
          From this position, he had her wrists tied at the small of her back, a bit below where her wings attached. He then twisted her top into a kind of rope and passing it beneath her breasts, he stretched it tight around both her arms and her folded wings, keeping them all secured at once. This had the added benefit of pressing her wings very tight to her back which gave him a secure location where he could place the sapphire plaque against her skin, holding it there with her own wing. She might be able to feel it, but without being able to unfurl her wings, it wasn't going to move anywhere.
          Giving her a firm smack on one ass cheek, he told her, “Don't go away,” and he moved to Astaroth.
          The redhead had regained part of her voluntary motion and was just rising from her knees, looking wobbly but appearing determined to keep resisting. Knowing he was certainly the better martial artist, she knew her best chance was to use her magic to force him to back away from her teammate. Once she had enough space, she might be able to release Kuris from the bindings holding her, getting them both back into action.
          Holding her hand up, the unsteady demoness began, “Puromi...”
          But Quinn was too close to give her time to finish her spell before he'd covered the few feet between them, and grasping her by the wrist, he lifted her arm to spoil her aim even if she did complete the spell.
          She tried to step back from him so he couldn't keep her arm elevated this way, but the demoness hadn't counted on his continuing his momentum, and as she stepped, his chest met hers and he forced them both into a fall with Astaroth on the bottom.
          Quinn put his free arm down to take part of his weight on impact, but with his left arm holding her wrist, he came down rather firmly on her full chest. The combination of hitting the floor with her back and Quinn landing on her front made her cry out from both surprise and pain. She'd likely be feeling that in her breasts for several days, but for now she was doing what she could to muster any kind of defense. She wasn't a wrestler, and her spells were useless when her target was literally against her.
          That left her with the basic defenses any female had when fighting off a male attacker... clawing his face, kneeing his groin, or possibly giving him a head butt to the nose.
          Then she felt him shift so he was laying on top of her, their faces roughly level, and he said to her, “Can we have some fun now?”
          She was feeling less than sexy after his take-down had mashed her pronounced chest the way it had, and then as she glanced at him, their eyes met for just a second before she felt this surge of lust combined with pleasure. It wasn't enough for a climax, but it shook her resolve seriously. Astaroth wanted to stop fighting, so very tempted to surrender and give this man who clearly deserved the reputation he had developed whatever he wanted of her.
          Run him. Keep him working. Don't let him rest. In her mind, Oboro's red eyes were again staring at her, the fanatic glare making her shudder in recollection.
          Oboro was not someone you wanted displeased with you. Given a choice, she'd rather be dragged through the bars of her Valentine Prison than face Black's lieutenant after disappointing her.
          Quinn felt the surge of strength from the woman beneath him, reminding him that while she was delightfully female, she was not human. The ability to lift eighty-plus kilos from a prone position was possible for a human, but usually required the life-and-death kind of adrenaline used in lifting cars and carrying loved ones from burning buildings. Astaroth had done it fighting both Quinn's physical resistance and the affects of his Talent.
          Rolling with her, Quinn kept them in contact as he held onto her wrist, then kept up their momentum to end up back on top of his struggling opponent.
          “That was fun,” he told her in a manner that said he was happy to keep it up as long as she was. “Care for another?”
          She tried several ways of getting him off her, but he kept with her and she realized that he was using her gyrations to work her costume so it was no longer providing the coverage it was intended to give. Her top had been minimal to begin with, little more than two strips of fabric that ran from shoulder to waist and hid her nipples on the trip. Below her chest, the coverage was much more complete by a form-fitted dress that reached the floor. Now, her chest was exposed as the straps had both been pushed to the outside where they did nothing, and her dress was riding up almost to her ass on one side.
          Realizing how close he was to having her in a spot to force himself on her, Astaroth pushed him as hard as she could to the side as she rolled the opposite direction.
          The sound of ripping fabric and the sudden increase in cool air around her body below the navel told her she had made a tactical error, her foe pinning her dress firmly with one knee as she had rolled away from him, letting her strip herself from the lower half of her outfit.
          Quinn grabbed the fabric and gave a final tug, finishing the job by snapping the last clinging portion of cloth so he now held a long rectangle of red fabric that had once been the dress portion of her outfit.
          He came up to one knee and snapped the cloth as if he held a bullfighter's cape, exclaiming, “Toro!”
          But before she could set herself for another try with her magic, he was rolling forward in a somersault and she knew he'd be on her before she could complete the spell, so she rose and tried to get herself the time she needed.
          She felt her ankle caught and she again went down, this time taking much of the impact on hands and knees rather than her breasts (though they, too, hit the canvas again and made her exclaim in discomfort).
          “I like a girl who plays hard-to-get,” he told her and his weight bore her down once again. This time, she was face-down and he settled in just above her hips, putting himself in a spot where she couldn't do much more than irritate him. She could try to claw at him, but she knew that if he could put up with the kind of pain reaching between the bars of her Valentine Flame Prison would have caused, he'd be able to ignore most any damage she might inflict with her nails.
          As she didn't struggle, he told her, “So, let's see just how hard-to-get you really are, hmm?”
          She felt his weight rock back, and then his hand was sliding down the crease of her ass and then further to insinuate its way between her thighs. His fingers wiggled against her and she knew he could feel the wetness there.
          But she was surprised when he didn't taunt her with his discovery. She expected him to push his rude fingers inside her so he could withdraw them and show her how wet and sticky she was, but he didn't even try to humiliate her that way.
          Then she heard the audience react as his weight changed, and she felt him laying on her full length... a very strange thing to do as it gave her a much better chance of rolling him off of her. His hand was on her shoulder and pressing down as he leaned close and murmured softly in her ear, “Don't hurt yourself. I promise to make it enjoyable for you.”
          And she felt his hand pat her gently on the ass in reassurance.
          Astaroth was already confused, her head and body at odds, and only her fear of Oboro keeping her struggling. With this opponent who kept making her more attracted to him, it was only knowledge of what kind of terrifying punishment the female in charge would visit on her that made her certain the pleasure of giving in would not be worth the price to follow.
          She tried to make herself as compact as possible, her arms protecting her breasts from the outside while she hooked her ankles to prevent him from pressing her legs apart. She knew that the pain he might inflict on her in trying to take her would be preferable to being judged not to have tried hard enough.
          The next thing she felt reminded her that she wasn't safe in this position either as she felt a firm male cock being pressed between the cheeks of her ass. It wasn't done at an angle that showed he intended to penetrate her this way but rather he was using the action to break down her resistance , his hard member running across her sensitive anus while creating friction that was a constant reminder of what they could be doing if she would only give in.
          Since this action was being hidden between their bodies, the cameras were only able to show what appeared to be happening, and from the audience's point of view, it seemed the leader of Team Harukinu had simply taken advantage of her position and had gone straight to fucking the redhead demoness in the ass.
          Again, she felt his face near her shoulder and his voice was just loud enough to register for her ears over the reaction of the crowd.
          “If you struggle a bit more, they'll think you're not enjoying this,” he pointed out.
          She couldn't tell if his words were intended to humiliate her or if somehow his intention was genuine and he was acting for the crowd. Whichever it was, she knew he was right and that Oboro would see her lack of resistance as surrender.
          It was ironic that surrender was just what she wanted to do. The sensation of the stiff tool massaging her rear cheeks and sphincter were making her wish he was actually doing what he seemed to just be pretending.
          She moved her head enough so she could see if Kuris was taking advantage of the time Astaroth was giving her, but when she looked over at her teammate, she could see the succubus still bound and laying on the canvas, breathing hard as if she'd been struggling unsuccessfully to break free.
          Regardless of the reason, it was clear she wasn't going to be getting any help from her partner, so it was up to Astaroth to try something that might somehow give them the victory.
          Or at least convince Oboro we tried to win.
          She felt him shifting his position, and as his weight came off her, she pushed and rolled to try to get out from under him.
          It almost worked as she managed to roll to her side, but she hadn't even completely turned over before she felt his legs tighten around her midsection, squeezing her with a pressure that made her recall how strong her opponent was. His legs around her were unbelievably firm, locked so she couldn't have continued to roll even if her life depended on it. She tried to take a breath, but she only managed a partial one before the scissors lock of his legs around her torso made her exclaim in discomfort. It wasn't horribly painful, but it played on the primal fear every air-breathing creature has when suddenly unable to get enough air into their lungs. She realized she would run out of air in no time if she continued to struggle, so all she could do was relax back and hope she could hold on and not pass out. And then she felt his fingers begin to play between her thighs and she knew it was over. He had her in a spot where she had no chance of resisting, and he clearly wasn't squeezing her as firmly as he might, but the instant she stopped resisting, she felt the pressure ease but his fingers grew bolder and began to run along the sides of her labia.
          Then she felt the muscles in his thighs flex but not in a way to make it harder for her to breathe. She was having enough trouble as it was in that regard. No, this was rhythmic... intentional. Three distinct flexes and a pause before he repeated.
          He was signaling her.
          What did he want her to do? Why didn't the bastard just make her submit? A bit more pressure and she'd have no choice since to fight meant he'd just step up the pressure and make her pass out.
          But he was trying to tell her something... something he didn't want the audience to realize.
          Then she realized what he was after.
          Play along.
          He wanted her to cooperate without it being obvious.  He was giving her a way to submit without calling down Oboro's wrath.
          Now, how was she supposed to go about this without getting the man controlling her upset?
          Glancing at him, he was actually facing her feet, his muscular back towards her as his hands made themselves familiar with her private parts.
          Let's hope he doesn't take this personally.
          She made a fist and swung to strike him on the back, but she used not her fist but her entire forearm, hitting him but without really doing any damage.
          He didn't do anything in retaliation until her fourth swing, then his legs gave her a slightly stronger squeeze. Falling into her role, she reacted as if he had threatened to crush her ribs, slapping hard at the canvas to the point her hand complained.
          The pressure eased off, and she knew they had reached an agreement.
          He won't kick my ass as long as I make it look like he is kicking it.
          But now his hands were doing things that made it much harder for her to look distressed because he was running two digits inside her and making her twitch in pleasure each time the tips of his fingers ran across a more sensitive spot.
          Astaroth put her head back and started twisting her shoulders as if in pain and distress, and Quinn kept working her with his fingers until she was having trouble keeping up the charade because he had her on the border of a lovely orgasm, and Astaroth had never been able to hide a climax. Her fingernails tried to gouge the hard stage beneath them as it struck, and the audience caught on almost immediately, laughter growing from many locations around the arena.
          Well, that put an end to their play acting. Too bad.
          But just because she was no longer pretending to fight didn't mean he was going to simply release her. His fingers kept working at her, and her hips were twitching harder as he built the tension inside her, then she gave a loud cry as he got her right up to the edge of her next orgasm before his thumb mashed her clit against her pubis bone, making her flop like a caught fish as she yelled in surprise and pleasure.
          This brought even more applause and laughter from the stands.
          He teased and coaxed another three vocal climaxes from her before she was panting hard, clearly unable to resist him any further.
          But rather than let her up, Quinn waited until she was somewhat limp in her post-orgasmic state and shifted his position, using her lack of resistance to raise her arms over her head and kneel over them, pinning them with his shins as he faced her feet. This also put him where he just had to release the closure on his tights and lean forward to put his hard cock so it was right at the level of her face.
          Still not wanting to look to eager, the redhead forced herself to close her lips tight and tilt her face to one side as if refusing.
          Pain from both nipples genuinely shocked her into gasping as he caught her unprepared with his rough treatment of her puffy points, and as her mouth and eyes opened, he thrust his hips forward and she suddenly had a mouthful of hard Harukinu cock.
          While this was just what Astaroth had been imagining just moments before, having it forced on her made her react, both hands clutching at nothing as she instinctively reacted as if trying to push him away, but he just ignored her reaction as he started man-handling her chest as he rocked his hips, fucking her mouth.
          Astaroth wasn't big on actually having a cock inside her mouth. With her amazing tongue, she had no need since she could usually wrap around a man's equipment several times before running out of length to work with. This also eliminated the trouble of keeping her sharp teeth out of the way. As a result, she had to shift from horrified victim to eager participant in short order.
          She stopped any signs of struggling and started reaching her tongue out further and further as she coiled it around the tool fucking her mouth. He was a bit large to get around him too many times, but she was able to rub her tongue stud along the silky skin covering him all the way down until she could circle his testicles with the tip of her tongue.
          The jeering from the crowd grew much louder while many started to applaud, taking this as a clear sign of Harukinu's victory.
          Now that they couldn't maintain the illusion of her being forced, Quinn backed off enough to give the cameras (and thereby the crowd) a better look at what was happening as his hands mauled the flesh of her full, pale breasts while her talented tongue performed its swirling dance over the surface of his cock.
          While this was much nicer from Quinn's viewpoint, the audience grew restless very quickly over her cooperation, wanting to see more force and less willing participation.
          His hands left off abusing her tits and she heard the sound of fabric tearing... then again. The next thing she knew, he was binding her wrists behind her back with part of the fabric which had once been her dress. Once he had her secured, he pulled her to a semi-kneeling posture, then he dragged her roughly over to drop her back to the floor next to the still-restrained Kuris. 
          He did a moment's adjusting of their position and got them back-to-back on their sides, then tied them there at waist and knees, lashing them to each other so they were bound top leg-to-top leg and bottom leg-to-bottom leg.
          (As he was doing this, Quinn double-checked to make certain the sapphire talisman was still securely in place so Kuris wouldn't be able to interrupt what he had planned next.)
Once he had them trussed up to his satisfaction, Quinn settled himself so he was seated on top of them (or actually more on Astaroth as her hips were wider than her partner's and that made her more seat than Kuris). This let him get a good look at each female as he leaned first to one side, then the other, examining each as if comparing them.
          Then he reached out and took a handful of each woman's breast, and as his hands made themselves at home, his expression clearly told the crowd that he was checking them out, first one and then the other. He seemed to check volume, texture, and other points of comparison, finally examining sensitivity as he lifted each by the nipple until the attached female reacted vocally to the tension he put on them.
          It seemed that he was satisfied with the results of whatever it was he'd been checking as he moved off them and raised their upper legs together, then settled down so the bound legs were high and his new position put him where he could fuck either woman he picked at will.
But he didn't just start in. Quinn began to rub himself across the labia of each female, checking what kind of a reaction he got from each of them in turn.
          It wasn't at all surprising to Quinn that Astaroth was clearly the more ready of the two, being far more vocal even though Kuris made lots of encouraging noises when he rubbed the glans of his prick across her pussy. It also wasn't surprising that the redhead was far wetter as well since he'd been spending the last five minutes warming her up as he “broke her resistance” with his fingers.
          This being the case, the next time he rubbed himself across the flame demoness's slippery lower lips, he gave his hips a flex and penetrated her, causing her to exclaim and shake a moment before calming down again. But that calm didn't last for long as the moment Quinn was moving, Astaroth was panting and whining, trying to meet his thrusts eagerly, all attempts at looking coerced gone now.
          Quinn got a bit of a surprise as the lovely demoness was reacting much more as a woman who had been anticipating far longer than the length of their match. It was more as if the reaction was one of a woman who had been fantasizing about sleeping with a partner for ages and was now finally getting a chance to act on it.
          Something Quinn found interesting was how Astaroth wasn't as spacious (vaginally-speaking) as many women he'd known in the biblical sense. He'd had a number of women who were incredibly experienced who still felt deceptively tight even after having a number of children, but Astaroth wasn't able to take him full length by a couple of inches before he was bumping her cervix. That in itself wasn't what was interesting. He'd had plenty of women who couldn't take him full length, but it was her reaction that was unusual. Contact with the cervix was NOT something females as a rule tended to enjoy. Even relatively light contact could be painful to some women, but that wasn't the case here. If anything, the redhead encouraging his carnal advances seemed to catch her breath in excitement when he bumped her.
          Masochism? he wondered.
          He didn't have time to examine her reactions before he withdrew and shifted to his right.
          “How about you, hmm? Are you ready yet?”
          And he flexed his hips to impale the succubus.
          It was immediately clear that the smaller female would have no trouble taking every centimeter of Quinn's shaft, and her loud reaction told everyone in the arena that the fight was over. If anything, it sounded that should Quinn decide to release the blue-haired nymph, she would have stayed right where she was and encouraged him all the more.
          The truth was that Kuris was trying to exert her natural magic over any human she was coupled with, trying to reach out with her power and begin tapping into his spiritual essence. If used to completion, it could drain a man's life force entirely, leaving him a lifeless husk by the time they were done. It usually took several orgasms worth of sex to do this, but just one good climax was usually enough to put them under her control. She extended her sense to tie into his vital essence...
          And she found she couldn't feel anything. It was like trying to get a grip on a surface that was hard and smooth and devoid of any way to get a firm hold. It wasn't even a matter of her making contact and then his resisting her power. It was as if there was nothing there for her power to latch onto.
          That meant her last hope of winning was gone. Now, all that remained was to carry out Oboro's instructions as well as possible.
          Wear him down.
          Now it seemed to just be a race to see who came first.
          But the crowd began to get restless as there wasn't much sport in seeing so much willing participation. He had them at his mercy. Why didn't he do something more humiliating? Or at least do something they could taunt the losers over.
          Well, gotta keep the troops entertained, he thought.
          “Let's try something new,” he drawled easily as he removed himself from Kuris's clutching cunt, and the succubus let out a moan of disappointment. It seemed she'd been getting frustratingly close to climax and felt his timing had been intentionally cruel.
          “How about...?” And as Quinn slid the head of his slick cock back a bit, centering on the opening at the base of Kuris's tail before pushing firmly.
          “GAAAAIIIIII!!!” cried the petite demoness as his tool forced its way inside her puckered anus, and Kuris shook hard as the orgasm she'd been denied a moment before came back bigger than anticipated.
          Quinn wasn't surprised at how she reacted. Having a bit of experience with succubi from a couple of realities, he knew how they were basically designed as living sex toys, happy and eager for most any carnal contact, and quite attuned with their partner's pleasure as most of them received some kind of spiritual sustenance from another's climax. (Back in Liberia, the three succubi on staff all resided in The Flower Garden, the town's renowned bordello where they could benefit from the sexual “radiation” given off by the others around them.) Of course, Quinn knew that she wouldn't be able to feed off his aura with the talisman preventing it. Still, she should be able to enjoy herself and any climaxes either he or Astaroth had... he thought.
          And she could naturally enjoy sex when it was aimed at getting her off, and Quinn knew how to manage that rather well.
          He quickly knew he had Kuris in trouble when he felt her tail wrap itself around his upper thigh a couple of times before running out of reach. Her vocal response to his fucking her ass left no doubt that she had let go any idea of holding out and was actively encouraging him to give her as huge an orgasm as he could build up to, preferably with him filling her greedy backside with his semen in the process. She'd just have to convince him that she was worth trying for a second round if she did finish him off this way.
          Then as she shook and cried out as another poignant climax made her sphincter try to close around him, he waited a moment for her to stop shaking some, then he actually stopped and pulled out.
          Kuris was NOT used to men resisting her, especially when she was encouraging them so blatantly. Honestly, she wasn't needing to act at all in that manner as he was doing a wonderful job of making her want things to go on as long as he could hold out. Enemy or not, this Harukinu deserved his reputation as a cocksman.
          To have him suddenly stop and actually move on to another woman was unheard of!
          But surely enough, that's just what he did, and from Astaroth's abrupt cry, her teammate was getting a bit of the same treatment Kuris had just been enjoying. To have this happening just inches away from Kuris's disappointed ass was absolute torture for the succubus. She'd been so close to another fabulous climax...
          Quinn realized he'd beaten the blue-haired temptress when he felt her thin tail trying ineffectually trying to pull him back to continue what he had been doing before, namely giving Kuris an incredible ass-fucking.
          Still, while Astaroth wasn't quite as eager to accept Quinn's thick member in this way (the flame demon being a bigger fan of traditional sex than the detour route her captor had chosen), but even so, once he fell into rhythm, the redhead demoness realized that this was different from the times during her training. This wasn't punishment... or not really... or only kind of. It hurt, but it was also getting her more excited than anal was usually able to manage. For Astaroth, there was also a special reason vaginal sex was exciting, but she couldn't admit that...
          Or could she?
          Then her distracting thoughts were invaded by the rapidly swelling sexual pressure inside her. The sensation was at a higher level than she usually achieved before climax, and she'd never managed to come during anal before... probably because it was used for punishment during her preparation as an arena competitor, a “this is what you can expect when you lose” object lesson.  The balloon of sexual tension kept swelling within her, and she knew that the discomfort was either going to become utter agony in just a few more moments, or she was going to...
          “ITAI!!!” she found herself shouting as her incredible/merciless captor took what he desired from her. She didn't even register the crowd response aimed at humiliating her further.
          Astaroth found herself unwillingly drawn to this man. It couldn't be love. Love was irrelevant to a demon like her, but if it wasn't for the other side of the spell locking in her flame magic, she would be gladly telling him how to steal her loyalty from Black-sama.
          Quinn was enjoying the sensation of Astaroth's lovely backside, monitoring her pleasure by keeping a mental finger on the pulse of the place in her mind where her orgasms took place, and suddenly he heard an echo of Astaroth's wandering thought. If the thought hadn't been so closely associated with her pleasure, he'd never have picked it up, but it seemed her sexually receptive state was blurring her brain's compartmentalized function.
          The key to stealing her loyalty...
          And the meaning hidden in her tattoo clicked into place for him. Now, the only question was...
          Do we need another reformed demon in our ranks?
          But Quinn had learned long ago that things happened around him for a reason. It was part of the “dumb luck” that made him fall into situations that others might not be able to take advantage of. And his dumb luck was part of why the Circle of Ouroboros had recruited him for his job.
          Quinn had been readying himself to let the lovely demoness with her fabulous ass have his load when the realization struck and he stepped on the climax that had been rising inside him.
          As he was considering his new idea, Kuris became rather distracting, writhing and whimpering to draw Quinn's attention while moving her hips in a way that told everyone she was not pleased with being overlooked as she was. Normally, he'd have been more than happy to see to a female in distress (especially this kind of distress) but as tempting as she might be...
          Sorry, kid... I've got a date elsewhere.
          Without taking an appreciable part of his attention from the lovely Astaroth as he prepped her for his return, he reached over and ran his fingers over Kuris's slippery pussy, and as he found her clitoris, he applied a bit of pressure as he checked out her pleasure center and gave it a solid jolt of about 8 out of a possible 10. The petite succubus obliged nicely by crying out and arching her back as she came, also proving to Quinn that the succubi of this universe could ejaculate.
          With Kuris temporarily distracted, he was able to see if his interpretation of her stray mental comment to unlock the meaning of her tattoo were correct.
          Astaroth was over her latest climax, and before he began helping her build to her next, Quinn slowed, and then slowly removed himself from her ass. As his cock pulled loose, the demoness gave a pitiful whine that said it had hurt but she was sorry it stopped, then gave a new kind of whine that was much easier to interpret as pleasure when he moved just a bit to his left and pressed forward to put his idea to the test.
          As the redhead sexpot responded to Quinn's tool filling her again, he kept a close eye on her mental activity, checking her sexual feedback to tell him if he was on the right track. He started his stroke and was again reminded of how unusually tight this sexy demoness was, and in a matter of half a dozen thrusts, he was again almost bumping her cervix.
          As he did, he felt a brief pulse of energy from elsewhere, but it disappeared the instant he was no longer in contact with the sensitive tissues forming the passage from her vagina to her womb. He thrust a bit deeper as he searched for the source of the unusual energy, and again as the head of his prick bumped her cervix, the same flash of hot energy came and went, but as he was watching for it, he could tell it was also crowded together with a jolt of pain and pleasure, very similar to what many women felt during anal penetration. The sexual response wasn't abnormal except in where it was being generated, but that almost strobe-flash white hot energy seemed to be generating outside the brain, coming up through the pleasure nexus before radiating off in many directions from that central point.
          That's not normal, he realized, and mentally preparing himself, he let off the short-circuit of his climax response as he overrode his instinctive avoidance of what he was about to do and thrust harder than normal.
          It was a strange feeling to push past the constriction of her cervix, but as he did, Astaroth's mind lit up like a fireworks display, and as his semen began pumping into her uterus, he could sense the completion of some kind of process, almost like the completion of a circuit that was long unused but now carrying more voltage than the rest of the system combined. He felt her body stiffen, her muscles locking so hard they were all trembling with the effort, some massive involuntary reflex triggering, the explosive release of sexual pressure reflected by her ejaculate against his skin where it ran between them.
          The flame demoness didn't cry out but was overcome by a look of immense shock, whether pain or response to some other catalyst was impossible to say from the outside.
          But Quinn could tell it wasn't just an orgasm. Something significant had happened beyond the normal sexual trigger of an intense climax. It was a catalyst for something more fundamental.
Some motion caught his eye, but Quinn realized immediately it wasn't normal movement. Her tattoo was shifting. It wasn't a big change, but as he watched, the cross in the center of the open heart seemed to flow as if the ink of the tattoo was suddenly fluid once again, creeping along the top layer of her skin as it changed into a simple, stylized skull of a goat.
          As the tattoo coalesced into its new configuration, the moment the ink stopped moving, Astaroth's eyes fluttered closed and she went limp, clearly exhausted by whatever had just transpired. Standing up, Quinn considered what to do next. Clearly something had happened that was not normal, but he couldn't be positive whatever it was had been what was needed to “steal her loyalty”.
          To give himself a moment to consider, he bent down and untied the two females, releasing them from their bound position (and making certain to retrieve the deep blue talisman that had been keeping the succubus's magic under control).
          Kuris was recovering from her massive climax and while she appeared dazed, she stirred rather quickly, seeming to be unsure of what was happening. She'd been caught unprepared by both Quinn's induced orgasm and then the backlash from the climax or whatever it was that Astaroth had gone through. As a result, she was woozy but still had no clear reason why.
          But the response from the audience told Oboro she had no choice but to announce the match finished.
          “We have a winner! Harukinu-sama remains undefeated!”
          Astaroth was moving now, and Quinn was feeling a bit exposed, simply loitering around the two defeated women as he slowly tucked away his junk inside his tights, so he did the only thing he could come up with that would give him a reason to stay on the stage.
          He took a bow.
          Not exactly a bow, but he did stand tall and raised a hand high to accept the cheering from the audience, then turned a quarter-turn to his right and repeated the salute, and the crowd responded with a roar of approval.
          By the time he'd saluted all four sides, Astaroth had come back to her senses enough, and Quinn was  surprised when he felt the hands of the fire demoness as she took hold of his lower leg, looking up at him in supplication.
          “Harukinu-sama,” she said in an unsteady but clear voice, “take me with you.”
          It actually worked, he thought.  Who'd have thought that?
          Then Quinn got an even bigger surprise.
          “I wish to go as well,” said the succubus from a supplicating posture. “Please, sir.”
          Okay. That's just kinda too convenient.
          But he couldn't very well take Astaroth and ignore Kuris, especially if she was honestly wanting to jump ship from Black's crew. She was placing herself in a bad spot if he turned her down and she was attempting to defect. That would be a poor way to repay her trust in him.
          Then again, she could be under orders from Oboro to join Quinn's crew and then report back what she discovers.
          He realized that even if she was a spy, most of what she might discover Black already knew, and if there was any doubt about her sincerity, they'd just need to put her under a stasis field until they could positively determine where her loyalty belonged.
          We have three succubi in Phoenix already. What's one more going to hurt?
          “I claim the fighters Astaroth and Kuris as members of Team Harukinu by right of conquest!”
          No one was more surprised than the others in the Harukinu box.

          “I didn't plan it either,” Quinn was admitting, “but I was eavesdropping on Astaroth's thoughts at one point and caught something about there being a way to steal her loyalty from Black.”
          “Which accomplishes exactly... what?” Tina wanted to know.
          Fortunately, Miranda came to Quinn's defense in this instance.
          “He steals two more of Black's supporters, which makes two less individuals who might be used against us if it comes down to a fight,” she observed.
          “And the fewer troops he has to call on, the less chance Black will want to risk a direct confrontation,” added Trixie.
          “Okay, I get that,” admitted Tina.
          But Nova had to add, “And just who was it who said we could only save so many, and we couldn't rescue everyone?”
          “Guilty as charged,” Quinn agreed, fully aware that the females they were discussing were hanging on every word. “In this case, it was more a matter of being forced to make an on-the-fly decision when I figured out how to break Astaroth's... well... I'd call it a geas. She was compelled to serve.”
          Doc put in, “She still has a geas on her, but now it simply binds her to you, Quentin, rather than Black. The tattoo still holds two powers: to act as a catalyst for her pyromancy; and to bind her loyalty.  I don't know if the two can be separated.”
          Twilight, who had watched Quinn claim Black's minions on their closed-circuit viewing system with the rest back at the residence, had come to offer what opinion she had.
          “I think they're both in the same position I was in. Neither are evil by nature, but were probably pressured by Oboro into fighting. I was new when Astaroth had her first match. Anyone who was here knew the death of her opponent had hurt her deeply. She never meant it to happen, and I don't believe she'd have let you hurt yourself, Quinn. Not if she had any choice.”
          Quinn was willing to accept her appraisal as it matched his own. There was nothing but relief in the fire-wielder's mind when he had read her on arriving back here at local HQ. Kuris, on the other hand... he'd caught her being conflicted, and conflicted was far from converted.
          “And what about Kuris, here? What's your opinion of her?”
          The blue-haired temptress looked at Twilight with naked pleading in her eyes, and the blonde defector answered truthfully, “She never tried to stab me in the back, literally or figuratively. I know that's not much of a recommendation until you consider the one in charge, and then that's rather surprising. There's quite a bit of back-biting among those seeking Oboro's favor, and Kuris wasn't one of them.”
          It's not a question of if I trust them, Quinn reminded himself. Can I put others at risk with my less-than-perfect mental eavesdropping and the lack of blatant villainy the only evidence I have?
          It was lucky that Miranda knew Quinn as well as she did. As one of his most trusted advisers, she knew just what was concerning him. If he refused Kuris sanctuary, he'd beat himself up over concerns of her being legitimate. He'd be terribly shaken if he sent her back to Oboro to have Kuris tortured or worse for her attempted change of sides.
          “I think we can protect them both while eliminating the risk,” she told the group.
          Quinn was always willing to listen to Randy.
          “What's your suggestion?”
          She looked at Quinn as if he was slipping.
          “Why don't we do just as we've done with all our former infernal members? We send them to Liberia and placed in training with Lachesis. That's what we've done with almost every reformed non-mortal.”
          He had to admit, it was an easy solution. Quinn was thinking in terms of having to keep them with the other new recruits and watching over them personally. It was his preferred method of doing things. It was also a reason he was often spread so thin. He might be tough to kill, but he had less genuine power than Lachesis since the lady was, after all, a goddess. She'd been part of his recruiting mission to another anime-hentai continuum, and she'd proven incredibly good with helping formerly “wicked” members become trustworthy zanni. It also put them where they couldn't do much damage if they were still somehow loyal to Black.
          Turning to the two new team members, he said, “I'm afraid that's the best we can do, under the circumstances. You two will have to put up with being relocated to our home in Liberia. It's not fancy, but at least you'll be beyond the reach of anyone here who might wish you ill. How does that sound?”
          From their expressions, fancy was not a big concern for either of them.
