Chapter 22 - On Conditioning: Chapter 21

On Conditioning
by Volpone

Chapter 21

It was only a matter of moments before Oboro had announced the next match between Quinn and Maia. The Arena manager probably hoped to ride on the mood created by the last match so that members might be prompted to wager more, but it was quickly obvious that the betting was entirely one-sided. If the unbeaten Harukinu could defeat an Arena fighter who was armed with both weapon and magic, what hope did a conditioned female have, in spite of her Taimanin ninja training?

Rumors of what had happened with Kiryuu had been circulating, and there were witnesses who had spotted both Maia and Black's hellknight assistant, Caballera, whoring themselves out at the orders of the witch doctor, though circumstances were unclear. Some speculated it was all part of Black's plan to root out troublemakers. It was possible since the Taimanin was now here in the arena and no one had seen or heard of Kiryuu for the last several days. A number of Black's enemies had also disappeared around the same time, so speculation of Black performing a purge was swirling everywhere, and those who were unsure of Black's good will were looking decidedly nervous.

Oboro only let the betting go on for ten minutes before calling an end to wagers, not really expecting the brief rest to hurt Harukinu's chances but not truly caring. She had no real hope of Maia beating the smug interloper when her own fighter had failed so miserably. Certainly not with the wretched woman in the condition Kiryuu had left her in.

The thing that made Oboro angriest was that she couldn't even punish the damned incompetent Lynette Silky who had lost without even giving the crowd a proper show! Her magic didn't do her a bit of good, though clearly the crowd was in a favorable mood from the resolution Harukinu had orchestrated afterwards. And the strutting peacock of a foreigner had the gall to claim Silky when he'd ignored all the fighters Oboro had prepared in hopes of his being tempted into taking them onto his team!

Well, it was all irrelevant anyway. She was already preparing his downfall. This was simply the first step. The next several days should prove more than the cocky man could possibly handle. She knew his overestimating his own capability would make him play right into her hands.

As Quinn turned Lynette (they'd need to give her a new name if she proved to not be a spy for the opposition) over to the other team members for them to keep an eye on her, he held a brief conference with Doc to find out if the sorcerer had any tricks up his sleeve to discover if their newest member was a sleeper for the other team, at least until Quinn could get her back to the residence and dedicate enough time to do a thorough reconnaissance of her mind looking for signs of treachery. The way she managed the process so easily certainly said it was possible. When a fighter orchestrates a way to make her defection in front of thousands of witnesses invisible... well, Quinn wasn't about to assume she was legit simply because she'd not tried to take his head off. On the other hand, it showed a kind of audacity that Quinn had to respect. She gambled that he wouldn't just use her and toss her back to Oboro to sell to the crowd as a loser in the arena. Most people could trust a friend, but that showed she was willing to trust an opponent, at least when the opponent was Quinn.

Soon enough he was needing to concentrate on his present circumstances since Maia was his real concern. She was one of the best trained of all the anti-demon ninjas, and her conditioning might blunt that training but wouldn't stamp it out entirely. Lynette had been armed and that told him Maia would be as well, and unlike their defector, Maia would have no reason to trust Quinn when she'd been exposed to nothing but a streak of nasty characters since her captivity. Given the chance, she'd do unto Quinn before he had any opportunity to prove himself a good guy, and considering the situation, even being a good guy wouldn't be too good in her eyes. Making free use of a woman's body in front of a couple thousand jeering demons and villains was not usually seen as “the better alternative” by most females, no matter who the man was.

Still, apologies would have to suffice once they had her safe back at the residence. The most he could do now was make her defeat and subsequent humiliation as minimally traumatic as possible. Since surrender was not an option, giving the lovely ninja lots and lots of good orgasms would be the next best way to insure her looking on them favorably... he hoped. Considering what Kiryuu had probably put her through, anything with a dick might be in the “better off dead” category at the moment for her.

Ah, well...

He watched the TSS (and she definitely qualified) as she moved to the stage. Just as he'd hoped would NOT be the case, she was carrying the two-handed battleaxe she'd had when she had gone after Kiryuu. While he didn't think she could hurt him severely with it, it wouldn't make his getting whacked with it any more fun. And he would prefer to keep his junk attached where it was and unwhacked, thank you very much.

He looked over Maia and was struck once again how gorgeous she was, even more than most of the competitors here, which was saying something. Lovely, long dark blue hair down to her shapely posterior... blunt bangs across her forehead... full, firm bust with the barest touch of sag to show they were natural and not the creation of some talented plastic surgeon... and a beautiful face which he knew would be much prettier if only she'd smile. Once again, he was surprised that a woman with red irises to her eyes could be as attractive as she was, but perhaps he was growing used to exotic coloration with all the time spent and recruiting he was doing in anime universes.

She was in her classic white outfit with gray trim, just as she'd worn when captured. It was actually an effective combination of stark and sexy with its simple color scheme but leaving the entire top half of her impressive chest exposed, making her look more nymph than ninja. She was a cornerstone character for her particular story line from a studio that specialized in putting strong, sexy females in degrading and humiliating situations, and Maia certainly fit the mold. She looked all of eighteen and even though she was trying to put a good face on it, she could tell she was still badly affected by Kiryuu's aphrodisiac. It dulled her ability to defend herself and ramped up her sexual
reflexes to the point where abuse felt pleasurable.

Maia sized up her opponent and her instincts told her what was in store if she lost. He didn't have the kind of condescending sneer that Kiryuu had almost always worn, but that counted for very little. He looked more as if he was trying to make himself appear unthreatening, which only led her to believe it must be an act. She was here to fight for the entertainment of demons. She could imagine what kind of entertainment they'd get if she lost.

She also knew from how her attention kept being distracted by his masculine build and the notable bulge in his tights, feeling herself growing wet at the thought, that the chemicals influencing her were still far from gone. If he beat her, she wouldn't be able to bring herself to tell him “no”. It was much better to win and avoid the temptation rather than be betrayed by her own body.

As this was running through Maia's drug-fogged mind, Quinn was observing her and deciding how best to beat her without beating her up. Her costume had definite possibilities, though the straps might prove tough enough to leave bruises if he jerked them, and it would be a shame to mar her lovely skin. Her axe looked heavy enough to be unwieldy, but he knew she had to be good with it or she'd never carry it as a weapon of choice, and Records showed Maia had picked it for her mission against Kiryuu herself. Still, it wasn't truly well-designed for combat since it had several places where there were openings in the head it would be possible to grasp without getting hold of an edge. She might be good, but swinging an axe while he had a grip on the business end wouldn't be terribly easy for her,
giving him a promising opening.

Her pupils were having trouble deciding what they wanted to do, adjusting and readjusting, and Quinn realized that must be the result of the drugs used on her... the bright lights of the arena made her eyes want to cut down the light they were being bombarded with but the aphrodisiac made her sexually receptive and that made her pupils enlarged, hence the problems with her eyes. As he observed, he noticed her blinking more frequently, confirming the troubles with her vision. The only problem was that all the lighting was overhead, and so it wasn't possible for him to put himself where the arena's lights would be at his back.

Unless I'm on top of her, and by then her eyesight shouldn't be an issue.

“Begin!”

Oboro's amplified command prevented him more time to consider Maia's vulnerabilities, so he gave his lovely opponent a smile and a polite bow that he did his best to make sincere. Naturally, members of the crowd chose to interpret this as mocking and began jeering the beautiful Taimanin, warning her that she was in trouble if he was being gracious. Quinn silently wished for them to come down with a case of spontaneous laryngitis because he really didn't need their help making her anxious. It didn't help that the audience had been cheated of witnessing the battle last round due to Lynette's darkness magic. They wanted to see pain and hopefully blood before the sex they knew would follow, neither of which Quinn wanted to give them.

Ignore them. She's what's important, he reminded himself, then recalled Miranda's advice and reversed his own instructions. Dammit, you can't ignore them because you have to keep them entertained, even if they're idiots. They're idiots spending money, and Black can pull the plug if the crowd doesn't like what they see.

“Haaaaaiii-YAA!” Maia shouted as she took the attack to Quinn. She raised her axe, and he noted the angle of her swing and where she started it.

As he dodged out of reach, he noted to himself, She's not a chopper, bringing it from overhead and depending on gravity to help her blow when a miss might sink her edge into the stage. She's not a swinger either, using a slower but harder to dodge horizontal strike. She was between the two, about forty-five degrees to give her some of the advantages of both.

She also swung far enough so that if he could get behind her as she wound up...

Then he was having to concentrate on staying out of her range because she was swinging again, this time on a back-hand edge which was still nasty enough to disembowel an opponent who wasn't on their toes.

As she went back to a kind of neutral position, her shapely chest rose and fell more rapidly than before, her exertion reflected in her breathing.

It also brought his attention to the one target that was a “gimme”.

He faked right, and as she shifted and brought her axe around to that side, Quinn pivoted and was heading back to her opposite side faster than she expected a man of his size to manage, and as she swung her weapon around to keep it between them, his hand darted in as he dove past. 

Maia felt the heavy jerk on the fabric of her costume as he passed by her right side, and she was spun around by her bodice as she felt seams pop, the sudden loss of support for her chest telling her what had happened.

The audience roared approval as this made Maia instinctively clutch her arms tight to her body in an attempt to protect her exposed breasts. Before her involuntary stay with Kiryuu she'd have ignored the embarrassment and concentrated on using her opponent's nearness to try to score with hit, but the chemicals fogging her senses and firing her libido made her react like any new abductee off the street. As a result, she ignored her weapon and retreated from Quinn defensively, arms trying to offer some shred of modesty.

Her reaction might have also been an unsuccessful attempt to hide how her nipples had sprung to attention at the stinging sensation caused by the fabric.

Rather than following up his advantage, Quinn came back to his feet to face his lovely opponent, but melodramatically clutched his chest and staggered backwards as if the sight of her incredible breasts had given him a heart attack, making much of the crowd react with a chuckle, a few shouting such things as, “Like he's never seen a tit before!” and “He just figured out she's a woman!”

Quinn smiled inwardly.

Play it like they're all fourteen-year-olds with too much testosterone and too few brains.

By this time, Maia had recovered somewhat emotionally, but she realized her costume was a loss. There was no way to get it tucked away safely without setting aside her weapon and using both hands to do so, and even in her drug-befuddled state she knew that wasn't something she could attempt without leaving herself wide open to attack.

As he watched, he saw her steel herself and relax her arms, bringing her axe unto position and again exposing her lovely chest to the admiring gaze of several thousand pairs of eyes, Quinn's among them.

The fool facing her responded to this by doing a loud seal impression, clapping his arms fully extended and barking as if he'd been reduced to an animal state by the disarray of her clothes.

He also detected a slight tightening around her eyes in annoyance.

Good. Annoyance is much better than fear or hate.

Then again, she might get annoyed enough to part his hair with her axe, so it wasn't all good.

Maia moved forward slowly, and Quinn responded by shifting his weight back and forth, putting his hands out slightly as if getting ready to grapple, but his ass kept doing a comic little dance of its own like a puppy that was about to wet the carpet.

I wonder what Edwin Black is thinking about the comedy schtick? Does it bother him to have his opposite playing like one of the Marx Brothers? Does he even care so long as the crowd spends money?

Maia was just about to move close enough to bring Quinn into range when he caught the slight change in her expression that telegraphed something was coming.

Sure enough, she rushed the last two steps to close the distance quicker than he might have anticipated. It was a rookie attempt, but it showed she was at least trying. Her blade swung around and right through the space he'd been in a second before.

Her swing had been from the right, so Quinn skittered by her on the left, making her axe basically chase him through its swing, and he tucked his ass forward as if she was trying to spank him with it as he ran.

“Baka!” she snarled, and she came stalking after him.

If Quinn had been playing it straight, by now the crowd would have been jeering and booing over the lack of action, but as it was they were mostly chuckling at the man intentionally making such a fool of himself while still not letting his opponent score a hit on him.

Then he reversed directions and he was the one closing the gap between them much faster than she anticipated, and the next thing she knew, he had caught her before she could swing her axe into motion, now both of them holding it by its long haft.

Rather than struggling over possession as might be typical, Quinn simply lifted it higher since he had over six inches in height on the lovely ninja, his reach increasing this even more. She felt her toes leave the ground as she tried to keep possession of the weapon that was her only advantage. As he lifted, he went into a kind of ballroom dance, looking a bit like a bored dance instructor going through the motions of the foxtrot with his unwilling partner dangling from the axe she refused to relinquish.

Then there was a flash of instinct from her ninja training that managed to come through as her feet left the floor. If she couldn't reach the floor, then her legs were free for other things and her left leg hooked around behind Quinn as she brought her right up between his thighs and into his crotch.

His PA web kicked on before the strike could do any damage, protecting his family jewels from the impact, but Quinn grimaced broadly and hunched as if his balls had been mashed, then began staggering around, still holding the topless ninja partially-dangling from the weapon they shared, bringing a combination of laughs and sympathetic groans from the audience.

This was more than Maia was willing to put up with. She knew how solidly she'd connected, but her knee had also told her he was wearing a cup or something similar since testicles were not that hard. Whatever the reason, he hadn't been hurt as she'd hoped in spite of his acting. So she threw her weight backwards, placing as much leverage on the haft above their heads as she could, figuring he'd let go rather than be pulled over this way.

Normally Quinn could have countered this by stepping forward enough to prevent the shift in their center of gravity from tipping them over, but as he was dancing around with his knees tight together to indicate how he'd been (supposedly) hurt, and since he wasn't going to give her possession of the axe, he wasn't in a spot to do anything but follow her falling body through its trajectory to the floor and attempt not to mash her flat when they hit.

He managed to take most of his own weight on knees and elbows, but Maia was too well-endowed to avoid all the momentum this brought down on her, and her breasts mashed between them. If Quinn had been a true bastard, he'd have let himself land fully on her and likely done some damage as she was in no position to spread out the impact as any martial artist learned to do before anything else.

She gave a cry that was more instinctual than from injury since her breasts were far from insensitive, nearly having an orgasm from being squished under his firm body. It made her freeze up, the conditioning of her former captor robbing her of her will to move while her body was being stimulated, pain being as effective as pleasure where her confused libido was concerned.

Seeing the look on her face from up close, Quinn knew that had they both been naked below the waist, he could have taken her right then and she'd have been unable to resist, but as it was, he'd need to go through much more play acting before he could get there.

Fortunately, the impact also made Maia loosen her grip and Quinn was able to pull the axe from her fingers before he rolled off her, taking the axe with him.

He rolled up to one knee and kept moving until he was strolling away, whistling away as he twirled the axe they'd been fighting over with a teasing “Lookee what I got!” motion, obviously incredibly pleased with himself. He moved to the edge of the stage and dropped it off the canvas to get it out of play, but when the weapon clanged on the cement floor, he leapt as if frightened by the loud noise, then got back his composure and brushed himself off as if saying, “I meant to do that.”

By this time, Maia had recovered enough to roll over, getting to all fours before slowly rising, but as she got her knees beneath her, he dashed over and caught her before she regained her footing, not by grabbing her bodily but by seizing the hanging fabric from her bodice where it hung between her thighs. He lifted strongly as he gave the cloth a twist to prevent it from spreading out, making a kind of thick rope where it went between her legs and using it to apply plenty of pressure to her crotch. The straps that held her outfit at her hips stopped the fabric from tearing further, giving him a wonderful handle to control her movements as the sudden tension on her labia made her breath catch as she tipped forward, a look of shock on her face as he lifted her knees completely off the floor by her ruined garb. Holding much of her weight this way, he tugged the fabric a number of times, each time jerking her with the tension across her sensitive vagina, only a thin layer of her bikini-style bottoms between her skin and the makeshift rope he was using to stimulate her.

It wasn't a comfortable way to have her joy button abused, but from her expression, it was still effective since she stopped trying to rise, the side of her dazed face against the canvas as her full chest rubbed against the rough surface with each tug of his improvised leash.

Maia tried to ask him to stop, but her mouth wasn't able to form the words as his abusing her sex this way robbed her of the ability to speak. All that came out was a series of squeaks that told him she was trying to resist but was already coming from being stimulated this way. Her hands clawed at the canvas as she made a weak attempt to crawl away, and her eyes lost focus as she trembled and then jerked in climax.

Quinn knew once she was in this condition, Maia would be unable to resist, her sexual conditioning fully in control and making her pliable to his will. Now, he just needed to make her want what was coming rather than tolerate it.

Still, it meant more of a show for the crowd so long as he didn't go too easy on her. If he didn't dominate her, they'd feel cheated, regardless of his comic antics getting there.

Leaning way forward, he looked at her vacant expression and asked loudly, “How are we doing there?” Then gave her a few more firm tugs to observe her reaction.

Her fingernails tried to find purchase on the hard surface, but her eyes were glazed and a stream of saliva was running from the corner of her mouth as her body refused to obey her, welcoming the way it was being used in spite of her ninja training.

Rather than jerk on her leash as he had been, he pulled upwards firmly then reached in with his free hand and began spanking right over her sex, not brutally but firmly enough to make her orgasm peak higher.

The crowd thought this was highly entertaining because it only took a few moments before Maia gave a wordless, half-strangled cry and soaked the crotch of her panties.

“What a maso!”

“She's getting off on the abuse!”

“What a slut! Typical ADN bitch. They play so high and mighty but really want to be fucked brainless!”

The audience voiced their degradations as Quinn continued to make use of the woman he intended to rescue.

She was having trouble not collapsing entirely onto the stage, so Quinn decided to get up close and personal in the action while giving her muscles a break.

Sitting on the stage behind Maia, he he slid his legs beneath her so they were roughly in the same position, the front of their thighs crossing with her face down and him sitting between her smooth, bare thighs. This raised her ass enough to show what was going on to the cameras while giving him enough room to perform his next trick, and hooking a finger into the fabric covering her crotch, he gave a strong pull until the cloth gave way, leaving her exposed and at his mercy.

Rubbing his hands like a melodrama villain about to twirl his mustache, he reached down and slid the middle and ring fingers of his right hand inside her wet pussy and started masturbating her, making her jerk and exclaim each time his fingers ran across a particularly sensitive spot inside her.

Now that the audience saw what he was up to and was applauding his act, he used the opportunity to use his neural talent to check up on how Maia was doing. He took a peek into her mind and wasn't surprised at what he discovered. Her pleasure center was pulsing strongly, another climax swelling quickly, yet there was still a resentment festering deep under the layer of sexual desire that was flooding her brain. It was like a small, intensely hot coal buried under a thick layer of ash, hiding it but not letting it go out either.

The trouble Quinn discovered was that the drugs she'd been given were making her a slave to her sexual drive and making her orgasm reflex overwhelm her, every kind of stimulation making her come regardless of if being pain, pleasure, and everything in between. It also was numbing her emotional circuits, making it impossible for him to get to that ember of hate burning under everything where he might be able to calm her into not fighting any more, truly letting her enjoy the play they were having to perform.

Instead, he had try tinkering with her hormonal secretions, reducing her perception of pain with endorphins... calming her adrenal glands to prevent them pumping up her fight-or-flight response... releasing a flood of dopamine to make her relax and enjoy the experience. It was all an indirect way of doing what he wanted, but it was truly just masking the symptoms and not curing the problem. But then he gave her a nice jolt to her pleasure nexus, making the climax that had been building swell abruptly and release, hoping it would be enough.

Outside, Maia gave a cry and shook all over as she came, the forgotten crowd's responses to this being drowned out by the pleasure she was now experiencing. Now the cock-hungry trollop was in control, and she raised her pelvis to give him better access, making the crowd hoot in reply. 

Taking advantage of her being so cooperative, he went back to stroking his fingers inside her, rubbing at the roof of her canal to maximize her pleasure, his hand bumping at her erect clit with each thrust.

It didn't take but about fifteen seconds before she started to whine loudly as her next climax neared, and he kept it up right through where she should have triggered, pushing her higher when he found he could, seeing how crazy he could get his lovely playmate like this.

Her whine grew louder, and he moved more roughly, his fingers pushing firmly as he tried to make her lose control completely.

Her cry peaked as she bucked, and the crotch of Quinn's tights became soaked as Maia squirted, bringing a wave of laughter and applause from the audience.

Having pushed her this far with just his fingers, he considered keeping it up and adding a bit of anal play as well, her ass being so inviting and available in this position, but when she'd already squirted, there wasn't much more to be gained by continuing. The crowd was seldom content with just more of the same unless it was highly painful and degrading.

Shifting their positions, he moved around to crouch in front of the gorgeous Taimanin, and as her breathing started to slow, he reached under her with both hands from the sides, sliding them in between her chest and the stage, getting a nice grip on her fabulous breasts and lifting, saying to her, “Okay... up, up, up... come on...” He didn't grasp her by her nipples, but the pressure on her chest kept her pleasure circuits lit up, and she did her best to cooperate, getting her arms down and trying to support part of her own weight, getting back to her hands and knees as she had originally intended before he'd taken the fight out of her by his most un-gentlemanly attack on her sexual reflex. She was shaky, but she was in good physical condition and calming down in spite of her libido
being firmly in charge.

Now I get to find out if I did my job well enough, he thought.

Kneeling in front of her, he reached down and released the closure on his damp tights, his rigid cock bobbing free, pointing very obviously in the direction of her flushed face.

He was about to say something humorous to indicate she had a choice of what to do, but as he was about to open his mouth, she did the same and leaned forward with a hungry expression and wrapped her lips around his throbbing member.

The crowd's response was only to be expected. The milder of them suggested this had been her hope all along while the coarser among the onlookers speculated about how the rumors of her taking all comers on the street for a very cheap fee recently must have been correct.

From her performance, Quinn didn't doubt her having more than just a little practice at fellatio. Her technique was rather experienced considering she had technically been a virgin before Kiryuu had captured her. She was clearly an excellent on-the-job learner as he didn't need to do anything to encourage her.

She leaned in and brought one hand into use to stroke the bottom half of his cock as she tried to swallow the top five inches, sometimes shifting her grip to cradle his testicles as she took him deeper. But the crowd was notably fickle and wanted her humiliated, not pleasured, their cries expressing their growing impatience.

Quinn obliged by warning her, “Ready now?” Putting his hands around behind her head, he took a heavy handful of her lovely, long blue hair and he began fucking her mouth.

Her hands came up immediately to his hips, not to stop him but to help her keep her balance in this position. She started moaning loudly when her voice wasn't being stopped by Quinn's cock filling the back of her mouth.

With his free hand, he removed one of her hands from his hip, pushing it downwards as he continued to slide his tool into her willing mouth, shifting his grip to her forearm and then above her elbow, guiding her until she realized where he intended her to put her hand...

To pleasure herself.

He wanted her to masturbate in front of an arena full of leering demons while he fed her his cock like this?

And then she discovered it was incredibly exciting, her fingers rubbing rapidly over her clit and wet labia.

It only took her a matter of ten seconds like this before she was squealing and shaking as she came strongly. It wasn't as hard as he'd coaxed from her before, but still, she was dripping rather notably onto the stage, her fingers soaked as she rubbed herself off and did her best to get the man dominating her so wonderfully to come in her mouth.

But Quinn had much more planned for his lovely companion. He wanted her to think back on this and get hot, not be embarrassed. He intended her to have the best sex of her life in spite of the stage lights and cat-calls.

Unfortunately, he didn't have the luxury of taking a couple of hours to make her feel cherished, so the next best thing was to make her crazy.

Still driving his cock into her mouth, he wet his fingers very deliberately by catching some of the thick ropes of saliva escaping her lovely lips from her gag reflex being violated. Then, leaning over without easing up on his irrumating her, he stretched his arm out and began massaging her anus.

Her fingers froze a moment, afraid of what he intended, and he reminded her she was falling down on the job he'd given her.

“Ah ah ah!” he chided her, and her fingers started moving again.

He responded, “Good girl.”

And since he had her distracted once again, he used it as a way to sneak past her defenses by sliding his fingers into her tight rear entrance.

Maia gave a muffled squeal, then bucked as the sensation of her anus being unexpectedly violated pushed her over the edge.

Quinn responded by thrusting forward, cutting off her cry as his cock went down her throat.

The combination did the trick, and the blue-haired shinobi shook and squirted, her silent orgasm all the greater for her inability to give it voice.

As he looked down, he felt her throat contract around him as she tried to swallow his prick. It was very tempting to give her what she wanted by way of a nice throat-full of his semen, but instead he kept the damper on his own orgasm. Keeping one hand wrapped in her lovely hair and the other hand with fingers deep in her backside, he used both grips to pull her down snug to the base of his cock and hold her there.

She bucked yet again, her climax rolling on as her body continued to discharge the sexual tension that had built up, driving her fingers deeply into herself as she froze and trembled, all the while her lungs crying out for air. She'd gotten to this kind of continual orgasm before while captive of Kiryuu and his minions under the barrage of constant sex and aphrodisiac, but never at the hands of just one individual.

He moved the fingers invading her ass faster as he pulled his tool back enough to let her catch a breath, and she gave a loud cry of surprise and pain and coming so hard the only words she might have possibly managed were, “OH, FUCK!” Her entire body was shaking uncontrollably now, jerking spasmodically as her system reacted to the overload she was experiencing.

He waited a moment until her cry ran out of steam. Now the only sound she made was a kind of pitiful whimper with each labored breath, and he felt her weight increase on his hand-holds as she lost the ability to hold herself up any more.

Pulling himself out of her mouth, he allowed her to slump down to the floor once again as she struggled for control.

Taking her by the hips, he lifted her up until her knees were under her, then he again took her by her long hair and one wrist and pulled her back hard as he penetrated her deeply all at once. 

She froze as if struck by lightning, her eyes wide in shock, but then suddenly seemed to transform from defeated rival to ecstatic, cock-hungry strumpet.

He'd intended to let her take a moment to adjust to the idea of getting fucked in front of their audience, but she took him by surprise when she started moving, flexing back to push herself towards him, as if this might somehow drive him deeper inside her when he was already pressed against her cervix.

Knowing that her looking anxious to be fucked was not going to make their onlookers happy, he needed to come up with something that would make them think the delightful ninja trollop he impaled on his cock wasn't cooperating, and fortunately her wide eyes and the tears running from the corners of them helped reinforced the illusion he was hoping to create. It was a good thing it wasn't easy to tell the difference between pain and pleasure from hearing it during sex, and Quinn used that now.

Releasing her wrist but pulling firmly on her hair as if reining in a horse, bending her back into a curve, his free hand pushed her down into the canvas, forcing her full breasts to be squished beneath them. Then he started to pound into her, driving her chest firmly into the canvas, squeezing the breath from her with the pressure of his hips. Each thrust forced air from her like she was an accordion or bagpipes being played with more enthusiasm than skill.

Only Quinn and Maia knew that the cries he drove from her were because she was racing towards an orgasm she wanted more than anything at the moment. Her hands clawed at the mat as he shook her with the impact of his hips.

He knew she'd start to slide away from him by the impact of his hips if he eased off the pressure holding her tight to the canvas, but not having a third hand to use, Quinn let go of his grip on her hair long enough to get his hand around and find the erect nub of her clit so he could mash it firmly against the bone of her pubis.

The lovely ninja bucked and screamed as she thrashed in climax, sexual juices squirting and soaking the floor beneath them. She felt the uncontrolled convulsion roll through her, and somehow managed to again find her words...

“I'M GONNA DIE!”

Quinn knew it was exaggeration, but he stopped moving a moment so the orgasm shaking her world would give her a moment to breathe. Besides, he had one more act to make the audience happy before he claimed this incredible bundle of sexuality for their team.

He pulled back until his cock pulled free of her grasping cunt, and Maia gave another cry and a shudder as it did, any control of her body fled as she lay there.

“You're not gonna die,” he chided her loudly. “Here... let me prove it.”

The audience watched him position her so she was sitting, then he began doing something with her ripped outfit and her arms, the process mostly blocked from the cameras by his body.

When he stood, they could see her arms were now bound around herself, crossed beneath her magnificent breasts and pushing them even higher, her wrists tied with her ruined garments as if she were in a straight jacket, leaving her at his mercy.

“Now, let's try this.”

He levered her up onto her knees as he knelt behind her, basically supporting her against his own body so she couldn't fall so long as he didn't move. She felt his hard cock between the cheeks of her ass, but she couldn't do anything as his hands came around and grasped her by her breasts.

Giving her a possessive squeeze, Quinn began to treat Maia's chest like his personal plaything, grasping each breast and milking them towards her tight nipples as her head fell back on his shoulder, her eyes wide as she made pathetic attempts to tell him, “No... no... I'll go insane!”

“See? I told you you wouldn't die,” he teased. Then he looked at her face so close to his own and told her, “Let's see how lively we can make you.”

And his hips pushed forward, the head of his slick cock pressing harder and harder against the tight ring of her puckered anus as she made feeble pleas in an attempt to convince herself she didn't want him to fuck her in the ass like this.

“No, please! I'm going to melt!”

Then he was in and she was cumming.

“No, not my ass! I'll go crazy!”

But in her mind, she was thinking how much she had missed being pounded by such a strong, stiff cock, especially in her sensitive ass which made her come so amazingly.

Knowing this was what he needed for the big finish, Quinn relocated her pleasure center, and as he removed the block on his own orgasm, he gave her a push of a good solid eight on a scale of ten.

The combination of his firm hands mauling her chest and the hard erection stretching her asshole almost made his mental push unnecessary, but in concert with the sensation of his semen flooding her ass (and the jolt to her sexual gratification circuit which she didn't know was happening), Maia lost all control and began shouting, “Itai! Itai! Itai-Itai-Itai-Itai-ITAI!” as her world exploded.

Her ejaculate squirted so hard it actually made it off the edge of the stage, and milk sprayed from both nipples as she hung in Quinn's grip and redefined her understanding of what an orgasm was.

Her entire world lit up with a pleasure she'd never felt...

And then it went dark.

He felt her relax in his grip as her consciousness slipped away, but since he was in her mind when it happened, he was able to tell it was simply her system overloading and nothing more serious. 

The roar from the audience was deafening as he scooped up his prize and draped her over his shoulder. The noise was so bad, his announcement was barely audible beyond the front row as he declared, “I claim this ass... I mean, the Taimanin ninja Maia as a part of Team Harukinu by right of conquest,” and strode to the edge of the stage, then up to the team box where he set the still-limp form of their newest rescue in the seat Miranda vacated.

As he set the unconscious ninja down, Miranda's noted, “Ahem!” and her pointed look at his crotch made him realize he had neglected to tuck himself away.

Correcting his oversight, he let the other ladies see to their new member, unbinding her from her ruined outfit and throwing a robe Yum-Yum had the foresight to bring along around her. He again wondered how much resentment she might bear him for his treatment of her, but as he looked again when she started to stir, he relaxed at the blissful smile that tugged at her lovely lips.

********

The tunnels from the arena that let Quinn and the team travel to and from their residential complex without needing either cars or exposing them to prying eyes of outsiders led through the bowels of Black's complex, then through some underground city maintenance halls before arriving at the hidden entrance to the Harukinu residence... a trip of less than a kilometer from arena box to their home away from home. After the first time they'd traveled the route, Harlequin knew it well enough to be able to find his way in complete darkness, but with all the veteran ladies of the team staying back at the complex, only the members of the team with better-than-normal memories spotted the opening in the wall of the maintenance tunnel which had not been there on their trip to the arena earlier that evening. The rough outline showed how it hadn't been done by a city crew as the entire area would have been cordoned off and knee-deep in caution signs had it been an official project.

Bushido was taking point on their return and spotted the alteration right away, signaling silently to the group that something was amiss. All the Phoenix regulars were immediately on alert, taking up positions at the front and back of the team, placing the newer recruits on the inside where they were protected. The newer members didn't react as quickly, but it was gratifying how rapidly they caught on and fell silent, immediately on guard.

Quinn made his way to the front of the group along with Doc to see what was going on.

A voice from somewhere within the new gap commented, “I'm glad to see you found your way here. We were growing concerned that you might have gotten yourself lost.”

The owner of the voice stepped from the darkness followed by a crowd of nasty looking characters very much like Black's minions, a mix of orcs and various ugly-ass demons.

Quinn immediately thought this was Black's way of canceling their agreement. It was clear from the way the group moved to block the way that this wasn't a friendly social encounter.

The group's spokesman moved to the front and Quinn recognized him right away. This was Gram, the vampire who had overthrown Ciega from her position. He had also conditioned and sexually abused her, Hunter, Kage and Borders before selling them to Black for his arena games. In spite of being a vampire, he didn't remind Quinn of Edwin Black in the least. For one thing, he had no honor compared to the owner of the Chaos Arena.

“It's nice to know you were so concerned you brought along a search party,” Quinn replied.

Gram didn't even pretend to smile at the comment.

Rather than engage in idle banter, the villain got straight to the point.

“You are in possession of some persons who belonged to me. I want them back.”

Quinn knew where this was heading already. He hoped that they were only facing the group they could see and weren't going to have Oboro's lackeys hit them from behind.

Time to consult the cavalry, he thought, and opened the communication device implanted in his brain that kept him in contact with his smartship partner.

::Collie, dear, we seem to have uninvited guests. How fast can you beam us all out if it comes to a fight?::

::You're already in the border area of our jamming signals to prevent surveillance,:: came the worried reply. ::I'm not sure I can get a solid transporter lock on any one individual, let along all of you at once. But give the word and I'll see if I can't get at least some of you to safety.::

::We're not to that point yet, bella, but keep standing by for possible casualties.::


From the moment Quinn contacted her, Columbina had been running possible ways of aiding them without ruining the mission. She had a variety of other advanced technological devices at her disposal that might be of use, but none would be feasible with the team was on the edge of the anti-eavesdropping measures, both tech and magical, they'd employed to keep the residence secure from surveillance. The only option she truly trusted at this range with her target underground was her temporal shielding, and she was certain Quinn would consider that tipping their hand to the opposition, so she'd only use that by direct order from Quinn himself.

In the mean time, she contacted the residence and informed Adamantina of the development.

“We can be there inside four minutes,” the gen-active super responded.

Collie knew that in four minutes, some of the team could be very, very dead.

********

At that moment, Quinn was trying to stay in character while facing down a local player who might or might not be here at Black or Oboro's bidding. This was the kind of move Verita had warned Quinn about from dealing with the villains of her own universe... the kind where the main criminal you were dealing with could claim to have nothing to do with if it went badly for their henchmen. 

As he was attempting to prevent a confrontation which might ignite a full-on war, the leader of Phoenix Group was doing a quick analysis to determine the odds of coming out on top without exposing their operation if Black was using this as a way of seeing what kind of aces the Harukinu had up their sleeves.

That this all happened as soon as Lynette Silky had defected to their team simply made Quinn more suspicious.

Yet the idea of Black being behind this made no sense unless he felt it would allow him to steal the tech that let them jump between universes. He knew that Quinn's “bosses” would order the entire universe terminated rather than let that information fall into other hands... it was simply too powerful a tool to let out, and they'd sacrifice Quinn and all the team to guarantee it. They might regret the necessity, but of all their concerns, that was the one thing they would never allow. But since Collie was the only one with the technology and no one could get aboard her without her bringing them herself, he knew the continuum was safe from that possibility, at least for now.

So we're likely dealing with a rogue subordinate like Oboro or Gram is acting on his own. That's reassuring... kind of. 

It also meant the enemy couldn't leave witnesses to report to Black who had messed up his deal with the Harukinu team. Gram had great influence with the vampire community, but Black was the top of the criminal food chain here. No one would cross him without careful consideration...

Unless Gram had heard of Kiryuu's attempt to overthrow Black and figured he was still weak from the confrontation. That might make Gram orchestrate a grab like this.

Or it could simply be that Gram thought Quinn was going to use Ciega to try to gain control of the vampire community. Whatever the reasoning, he wouldn't let them walk out of here. And anyone who could do basic math was aware that most of the Harukinu fighting force was back at the complex. 

He counted eighteen bruisers backing up the vampire lord facing them. There were eight demons (a lion-head, a white tiger-head, a boar's-head, three different gargoyle types, some kind of horned bird creature, and something that resembled a hairy three-horned ape with carnivore teeth) and ten orcs, about half of the force armed with swords or clubs.

And we have ten veteran zanni along, plus Doc, Bushido, and myself, he thought, for thirteen, but with four new recruits who are in no shape to fight and will need an able-bodied guard each, it basically takes us down to an effective fighting force of nine.

That was half the number they faced not counting Gram himself. Quinn knew they would probably win in the long run since three of them had p.a. webs that made them almost impossible to kill, but what of the others? How many injuries would they suffer? How many casualties if they couldn't get them to Columbina before their brain suffered permanent damage and death became assured? These jokers wouldn't be worried about cheating since there were no rules in a back-alley brawl like this. It was quite possible they had some magical surprises to make certain the Harukinu were in trouble from the beginning. Quinn had another nineteen solid members back at the residence including their six arena-proven champions, but they had strict orders to protect the new recruits and not let them possibly fall back into enemy hands.

So with beaming them out impossible, their best option was to avoid a fight entirely. Gram obviously had enough time to knock down a wall, so he probably also had time enough to booby trap the tunnel. That meant he might be able to drop several dozen tons of rock and debris on their heads if he wanted to.

All Quinn could do was play the part he'd been showing to the arena denizens which was the crime lord collecting pretty trophies.

“You sold them to Edwin Black, and I payed him a sizable stack of cash for the chance to win them. Are you offering to cover my losses if I turn them over to you?”

Quinn knew his opposite hadn't brought eighteen armed henchmen along to make a business proposal. This was clearly going to be a “give us the women we want or else” kind of offer.

Gram didn't laugh. He honestly looked like the kind who had his sense of humor removed through elective surgery at an early age.

“I think you will find it much more profitable to turn them over,” the extortionist told them in his best Bond-villain delivery. “Not being paid for them would be the least of your troubles if it came to that.”

Quinn was figuring possibilities as fast as he could, but there were simply too many things he either didn't know or couldn't estimate. He'd not considered another crime boss poaching on Black's territory, so he'd been running scenarios that focused on Black and Oboro, not outsiders. It had caught him unprepared and he didn't even have time to give instructions on deployment. His people wouldn't even know if Quinn wanted them alive or not, so they might not fight as hard as they could when for the first time since their arrival there was no reason to hold back.

He was about to quote Swallow's comment about “thinning the herd” (the one she'd made when they two orcs had been executed in the ring) when the head of the boar's-head demon suddenly exploded into a red mess as the sound of a large caliber gun assaulted their ears from somewhere behind Gram's forces.

Then it was suddenly chaos as bodies began flying around (some by their own ability, others by being thrown by opponents) and weapons whistled through the air.

The suddenness of it all had taken both sides by surprise, so while Quinn had no chance to order any kind of defense, Gram had no opportunity either, and it was quickly obvious from the vampire lord's reactions that his troops had been fallen on from behind by allies of the Harukinu fighters and were now trapped between them.

There was more gunfire and each blast was simultaneous with flying flesh and blood, none of it the healthy red of humans. Arrows suddenly sprouted from throats here and there or occasionally from an eye of one of the orcs or demons, and while they didn't always take their target down, they did prevent them being an immediate concern as the enemy being targeted was now occupied with trying to remove the shaft or simply trying not to die from it, leaving them open to the deadly steel of katanas or other terminal responses from the Harukinu forces.

Even without being ordered, Miranda and Yum-Yum fell back to protect their newest recruits and were joined by Mellontikos, recognizing they were in much better position to defend than attack.

Doc and Spice began throwing around energy attacks, and from somewhere behind came more blasts of arcane energy. Ravi was making good use of the rocks and chunks of concrete from their uninvited guests breaking down the wall of the tunnel, sending them flying into any of Gram's troops that looked to be rallying some kind of successful defense and keeping them off balance with volleyball-sized hunks of debris.

But it was Bushido who was showing why he had survived so long against so many enemies with a display of incredible sword play, enemies losing a limb, head or even being split in two by the samurai's unstoppable blade with every stroke.

Solstice spotted some of the opposition moving back to take up a defensive position in the hole in the wall they had created, but she stopped them from escaping by sealing the opening with a telekinetic barrier, leaving them confused and then panicked why they couldn't retreat the way they had come.

Quinn wasn't inactive either, his Slapstick firing powerful blasts by the pressor beam hidden within the deceptive quarterstaff, his targets feeling like they had been hit with a steel beam rather than invisible energy of the gravito-magnetic spectrum. The few that attempted to close with the leader of the Harukinu discovered the hard way that a virtually-unbreakable quarterstaff wielded by an expert with much more than human strength was no toy, much to their dismay.

Gram had anticipated a fight, but he had expected to have the upper hand with superior numbers rather than finding himself caught between two meat grinders. He had some magic at his disposal, but most of it would take too long with his forces unable to protect him for the needed time.

It was a good thing he'd brought along some more mundane help, so he pulled the pin and tossed it at the feet of the opposition leader, hoping this might turn the tide of the battle before his troops were all gone.

Quinn and Nova's voices both shouted, “Grenade!” at the same moment, and as Quinn tried to drop onto the explosive, he was buffeted out of the way by the faster moving body of their blonde teammate from Krypton.

The explosion was largely muffled by her virtually indestructible body, then Nova was back up and on her feet to face the enemy in a moment.

Drawing that kind of attention to himself was a mistake, and Gram suddenly found himself taken down by three Harukinu fighters who he discovered were far stronger than any humans he'd ever faced. (He didn't know this was because one was Tamaranian, one a Kree-human hybrid, and one a gen-active super who could have thrown him through the wall they'd knocked down without exerting herself).

It was over faster than anyone had anticipated once the reinforcements arrived, the only survivor from the invaders being Gram.

After assuring themselves there were no injuries requiring treatment on their side, Quinn did have a couple of comments for some of his people.

Nova was looking down at herself, the front of yet another green-and-black outfit a scorched and tattered mess, her skin darkened with explosive residue where it had protected them all from the blast.

But Quinn was asking her with a smile he was barely suppressing, “Not that I didn't appreciate the effort, Nova... but why did you bother to push me out of the way when I could have protected everyone the same way and not ruined a suit?”

Unsuccessfully trying to dust herself off from the mess she'd made of her appearance, she responded, “I forgot. It was just a natural reaction.” Looking up at her amused teammate, she asked him, “You try breaking years of habit when it comes to protecting your teammates.”

Swallow offered her normal smart-ass opinion, stating, “Ya didn't think she'd pass up a chance to show off that big ol- chest o' hers, did ya, sugah?”

But rather than respond, Quinn turned to the one who had begun the ruckus.

“And you, Red... why did you have to make such a mess with that first shot? We're all going to be washing demon crap out of our clothes for a week.”

The huge red demon (reformed) with the filed-down horns was reloading his massive revolver and looking not the least bit concerned over his actions.

“Hey, I figured the Samaritan was louder than a bugle, and a smart guy like you'd figure out it meant the cavalry had arrived. And about the mess... go ahead and send the cleaning bill to my boss.” 

The involuntary leader of Phoenix Group opened his mouth but his rebuttal died when he realized that Red's boss was technically Quinn himself.

“Point taken,” he replied, then another thought crossed his mind. He knew that Collie couldn't have beamed them closer since they were in the center of the dead zone and it would have taken them several minutes to deactivate the countermeasures making it secure.

Quinn wanted to know, “Hey, I know how far it is to the compound. How'd you guys get here so fast? I thought I'd ordered you to stay put and protect the new recruits, and only a few of you are capable of covering that distance in the time it took you. You couldn't make it here in thirty seconds like you did. How'd you manage that?” He had his suspicions, but he wanted to hear Red admit it since he was being so smug over helping get Quinn out of a possible jam.

The big red figure snapped closed the cylinder of his massive handgun and stuffed it in his holster, then leaned in very close and said in Quinn's ear, “You tell my wife that Nova had to carry me to a fight and they'll have to clean up what's left of you with a sponge.”

And with that he walked off, stepping over bodies as he went and patting his pockets for a match to light his stubby cigar.

Since he knew Red's threat was not serious, Quinn let him go without rubbing it in any further.

Looking around, he spotted the others who must have been helped with getting to the battle on time. In addition to Nova, Tina, Bolt, Swallow, Juno and Verita, there were also Red, Varuni, Kikimora, Alkaid, Steel and Capella. Whoever had picked the team had done a good job as the “passengers” either had ranged attacks (Red's revolver, Alkaid's bow, Varuni & Kiki's magic) or were tougher in melee like Steel with her instant armor and Capella with her star energy sword and shield.

Quinn sought out every member and thanked them for a job well done before turning his attention to their captive.

Looking at the disheveled vampire, he asked, “The only thing I want to know is: did you plan this on your own, or did Oboro put you up to it?” Quinn knew he could have used his neural Talent to detect if Gram lied or not, but he thought he could figure that without having to touch the loathsome individual.

Giving a snort of derision, Gram snarled, “Of course she put us up to it. How else did you think we'd know when you'd be here?”

That told him what he wanted to know.

Turning to Doc who was standing nearby and listening, Quinn informed him, “Nah, this was his plan. He just wants us to accuse Black's people of something that isn't true to stir up more shit.”

The dapper sorcerer nodded but asked, “I can see his wanting to create troubles in revenge, but how can you be sure he's lying?” Doc was observant enough to know that Quinn's Talent only operated when he was in direct contact with the person he was reading.

Quinn explained, “It was a case of realizing that whatever he said would almost certainly be false. I don't doubt he's an accomplished liar, but he didn't even think of blaming Oboro until I suggested it. If she was conspiring with him, he'd try to convince us she wasn't involved so he'd have an ally who might be able to organize a rescue. You could read it from his expression. I offered him a plausible distraction and he jumped at it. He didn't even try to hide it he was so pleased at having a chance to create more conflict.”

“So, what do we do with him now?” Doc wanted to know. “Turn him over to Black?”

“I don't think so,” Quinn responded. “He might be able to work out some kind of deal to get off the hook with our host. He certainly has information we don't want him spreading around here.”

The dark-haired sorcerer mused a moment.

“I might be able to open a portal long enough to shove him through to Dormammu.”

Quinn reacted quickly to that suggestion.

“Noooo way! I don't want to take any chance of our bringing ourselves to his attention. We have enough enemies to deal with.”

Doc let Quinn think a moment in silence and wasn't surprised to hear him come to a decision.

“The only people who truly can judge him for what he's done are those he's victimized, so I think we'll turn him over to Ciega and her friends and give them someplace out of the way to deal with him.” Looking over at the individual they were discussing, Quinn felt the justice in this. “I doubt that they'll let him continue to be a problem.”

Arriving at the residence, the team members were mobbed by those who stayed behind the moment they were back. Quinn was quite pleased to see that those remaining at the residence were all armed and set up to defend each potential entry point in case there was more than one group in action against them. As soon as they learned all was well, everyone wanted to know what had happened?... who had attacked them?... did they have to prepare to leave or was the mission able to continue?... all the questions which would be normal under such circumstances.

Rather than tell the same story several dozen times, they all moved to the gym where Quinn filled them in.

“We are fairly certain this was an isolated attempt by one of Black's competitors being greedy and feeling Black would be unlikely to either figure out what happened, or perhaps feeling he wouldn't care since it didn't involve his personal interests. Perhaps they thought they'd be able to capture all our new recruits and sell them back to Black once the main Phoenix protectors were eliminated. Or, considering who it was, perhaps he thought we would use Ciega as a figurehead and move to oust him from the spot at the head of the table he stole from her, and this was his move to prevent it. The reason is moot since it didn't happen and the attackers are either dead or captured. I doubt he has a backup crew we need to worry about or he'd have brought them to the fight to guarantee his victory. This was an all-or-nothing gamble that he expected to pay off, so I doubt we'll have any more attempts from this
source at least.

“In case you didn't hear, our team suffered no injuries worth noting and all our members on both halves of the team came through with distinction. If word of the skirmish gets back to Black, it will only serve to solidify our reputation and further convince him it wouldn't pay to try something similar.”

As he said this, Quinn realized that it would be smart to make certain Black knew of Gram's defeat and Quinn could simply treat it as passing along information so Black would know he wasn't going to be buying any more competitors for the arena from that particular source.

Once things broke up into smaller discussions, Quinn turned Gram over to Ciega and her former team, leaving his fate up to them.

“If you decide to be merciful, we can put him somewhere he won't be in a position to escape, so don't feel pressured into any choice.”

He left the usurper in their custody, hoping they would be happy with whatever decision they made. Quinn did everything in his power to prevent Phoenix having the Circle assign them assassinations, so he never pushed his people into taking a life. Still, in Gram's case, he wouldn't ask them what happened and with any luck, the Circle would never bother to ask him to find out.

He then found Adamantina and Verita, the two he'd left in charge to protect things whenever he was in the arena, and pulled them aside so their conversation wouldn't be overheard. 

“I thought I recalled very distinctly giving orders that you were to keep the new recruits safe. Not only didn't you stay guarding them, you actually brought five of them with you into a battle situation. Why?” His expression told them he wasn't pleased that they'd ignored him, but he also wasn't too upset as he couldn't fault the results.

Tina looked completely sure in her decision.

“You told me you wanted me to take more responsibility, Quinn. This is what that looks like. We left enough to guard those staying behind behind and we were personally seeing to the safety to those we brought along. Where did we leave anyone unprotected? If they could intercept you without triggering any of our security measures, we were no more secure here than out where the skirmish took place.”

“It was allowing them to chose the field of engagement,” he pointed out.

But Tina wasn't buying that.

“His advantage was in isolating you away from backup, not in the location. We took away his advantage by acting as we did, and I'd do the same again because the results speak for themselves. Besides, you weren't the only one at risk. You had four new recruits along who needed protection. They're our responsibility as much as yours.”

Quinn was man enough to admit she had likely prevented someone getting hurt, even if it was counter to his instructions.

Verita didn't let Quinn put all the responsibility on Tina.

“You can't be too hard on her, Quentin. None of us could sit idly by while you're in danger, no matter what orders you've left. If the situation had been reversed, you would have done the same, so don't ask the impossible of people who care for you.”

The gorgeous Amazon then pointed out how they knew from Columbina's communication she was unable to help, “And with her out of range, we had to do something.” Then she played a very unfair trump card by adding, “You wouldn't want us to have to tell Columbina something happened to you because she wasn't able to help, would you?”

That one was entirely too spot on because of all the members of their merry band of misfits, he was probably more protective of Columbina than any of the flesh-and-blood persons in Phoenix, and he'd go a very long way to avoid her being hurt.

“Okay. I can't object too much when you were acting out of concern for my favorite skin... mine. I just...” But he couldn't bring himself to chastise them any further, so he started again. “Thank you. I love you both, as much for looking out for Collie as for myself.”

Then his expression changed, looking much sterner.

“But if you pull a maneuver like this again, I'll turn you both over my knee and turn your backsides bright pink.”

Both women looked at each other, then looked back at Quinn.

“When?” Tina wanted to know, while Verita said at the same moment, “Do we have to wait?”
