Not the One – From Strength to Strength – Chapter 09-12

Written by Dru1076 :: [Sunday, 27 April 2014 13:50] Last updated by :: [Thursday, 08 May 2014 23:44]

Not the One – From Strength to Strength 

By Dru

Chapter 9

The Council of the Twelve sat in their circle as they had done for eons. The discussion this morning had been quite heated , but their spying devices had just given them pictures of Tyrin, the one who would save them, handing his ring over to Susan.

“How can things have become this bad?” one of the older men asked in a silence that followed. “We are wiser than this.”

“I fear our universe is doomed.”

“We cannot think that way.” The freshest member interjected. “There is always another course.”

“This is mistake of ours has lost two rings now, Councillor! Our chances of recovering one were slim …”

“We have gone about this the wrong way. If she will not give up the ring, we must contact this Earthling and instruct her in its purpose.”

Everyone looked at the young fellow who spoke, violently dubious about that idea.

“We have to work with her now, don’t you see that? She is not the One, but she has twice the power.”

Susan hovered above the meeting, carefully inspecting each one of them. The skylight made a good window. There were guards far below guarding the entrance, and Susan assumed more were up here. She was a little concerned with the weapons they were carrying … the guns strapped to their backs were very large … but all her fear was washed away as she realised that the group gathered in the room below were more terrified of her. These fellas were just about ready to barf they were that scared.

Listening to the conversation Susan was heartened to hear one of them suggest a peaceful meeting with her. The hostile reaction from the others to that idea got her mad again though. Those fools weren’t prepared to listen to the wise suggestion of their colleague, and it was a mistake they would pay dearly for.

Now that Susan had felt the freedom offered by the rings, there was absolutely no way she was going to part with either one of them. Looking through the atmosphere of this over-developed planet and focusing on Earth so very far away, she smiled. No way was she giving back the ring.

All twelve councillors looked up as the dome above them cracked, and pieces of stone fell with resounding force into the floor. The crack widened, two rough halves of the roof sliding apart. Through that gap their eyes made out a figure in the dust, and they realised that their time was up.

“The Council of the Twelve, huh?” Susan asked, her hands on either side of the opening.

They sat in mute horror while she descended smoothly to the floor, intentionally cracking the tiles with her toes and shaking the tower with her feet.

“We need to talk, people.”

They looked at her, then looked at each at each other, then the Council of the Twelve looked back to her. None of them spoke.

“Well? Haven’t you got something to say to me?”

“You’re naked …”

“So what? Is that a problem for you, asshole? Does my appearance offend your grace-ship?”

“Young lady. You are not the One.”

Showing them her flawless pearly-whites, Susan held up her hands and revealed the two rings.

“I came here to tell you that you’ll never get your ring back. And this other one’s mine too.”

The tower guards picked that moment to come charging through the door. Twelve big men armed with ceremonial staffs came running into the room to surround her.

“Restrain her,” the leader commanded, his rank shown by a yellow strip on his shirt.

Susan spoke over their heads at the decision makers, allowing the foolish guard to place strange cuffs on her wrists. “Check this out.”

Looking into the eyes of the alien in front of her, Susan separated her arms with deliberately slow motion. The metal made a bizarre sound as it stretched to breaking point. Before the broken link clanged to the floor, the other eleven warriors moved forward. Outnumbered in an alien world by creatures much larger than any Earth man, Susan found the fight a total white-wash. She had no training … none of the experience that these battle-hardened troops had gained through their lifetime of interstellar training. Allowing them to massage her tightly packed body with their useless weapons, Susan was impressed by the speed of their assault. They were getting frustrated, but the impossibility of what was going on didn’t plague their thoughts for very long.

Catching one of them by the wrist, she snapped her arm back to send him spinning into the tower wall at terminal velocity. Her other fist obliterated her second victim before the first was dead, the guard’s explosive demise knocking the rest off their feet. Grabbing the ankle of the closest one, she put a foot on his hip and ripped the leg away. Bashing him on the head with it, she proceeded to kill a few more until on the third swing the armour plating he had been wearing was shattered.

They had guns after all, and began shooting bolts of colourful light at her.

Her bare body took these energy bolts differently than bullets. Instead of bouncing away, these intense energy beams burnt out violently on her skin.

Testing an idea she had, Susan pointed at the one who was shooting at her head and released a little energy blast of her own. The narrow bolt that projected from her fingertip flashed brightly, disintegrating the poor fool and the wall behind him.

“Brilliant!” Susan declared, shooting the rest with laser blasts from her hands. “And you think I’ll give this up? Not a chance.”

Even though she had used much less power on the remaining guards, the series of explosions had ruined most of the chamber. The councillors had gathered at the far wall, unsure what to do.

“I’m not stupid, you know.”

“You’re not the One.”

“Can you give that line a rest? No-one’s picking it up. That Tyrin fella was a bad idea, wasn’t he? You do realise that if he hadn’t come I wouldn’t know where to find you people. That’s so stupid.”

“You can use those rings to do wonderful things, Susan.” It was the one who had suggested working with her earlier. “The bearer of the ring is supposed to guard and protect our universe. You are not ready to do that.”

“I’m ready for anything,” Susan insisted. “Didn’t I just show you that?”

“You’re a danger to the universe!” another interjected, japing his finger at her. “You abuse the powers!”

Susan was about to tell him where to go when she decided to show him. He was gripped by a phantom force and lifted into the air. “Having your head up your arse is an abuse of power, Shorty.” The room filled with the councillors’ screams, his back bending backwards far beyond its natural ability until the top of his head touched his rump. Everyone looked away as Susan finished him off with a sickening crunch and dropped him to the floor.

“I’m afraid you’re not listening,” she told her shaking audience. “I AM the One.”

“What have you done?” The biggest of the twelve came forward and covered his friend with his cloak. “You’re nothing but a thief! Those rings are …”

Silencing him with a motion of her hand, she beckoned to him and floated over to hover in front of her.

“Finish that sentence very carefully,” she warned.

He looked at her, his arms and legs waving about as he tried to distance himself from this extremely dangerous Earthling. He could reach anything, and just flailed about.

“The ring is meant for greater things …” he bellowed.

“Now I’m meant for greater things. If you can’t live with that, well,” Susan clicked her fingers and ignited the air around him into a brief white flash.

Containing the explosion to protect the other councillors, she decided to do away with the lot of them. The pain she had experienced because of these official fuck-ups had been more than any other creature had experienced before. Now she was going have a nice and tidy revenge on them.

“And once I’m through with you, I’m going to destroy your planet. I’m not sure if I can do that, but I can’t imagine it would be too difficult.”

“Listen to yourself! You’ve become corrupted by the power! That is why we must choose carefully who wears the ring …”

Her eyes looked at this bold speaker and a moment later he disappeared in a cloud of blood, body parts flying in all directions.

Spreading her arms out, she pushed with her mind at the walls around them and the chamber was destroyed in heatless explosion. Looking around at the night sky of this strange world, Susan ignored the noisy impact of the tower’s debris with the ground far below. A fireball rolled up beneath her, but burnt itself out long before reaching the heights of open platform she had made.

“I just though you’d like one last look at your world before you die,” she told them, lifting her feet up and hovering a few feet above their heads. “But first …”

Focusing on the first guy, Susan dived through his brain and sifted it for knowledge. He had a lot more information than any of her previous victims, and when Susan was through with him she was aware of many aspects of her abilities. With great anticipation, she turned to the next one. From this ancient sage she took two hundred years of learning in two minutes, and stepped back from the experience with her eyes wide open.

Susan couldn’t believe she’d been planning on living on the coast near Sydney.

The universe was full of thousands of civilisations, few of them as advanced as Earth in terms of technology. Most of them were human, but there were many other intelligent forms of life that the curious councillor had been aware of.

One of these star systems would make a perfect home for Susan now that she had a better idea of what she was really capable of.

“You should think about what you’re doing,” the next one her eyes fell on told her. Sweat was dripping off him, she could hear his heart and smell the fear.

“I’ve seen the inside of two of you, and I know you’ll never stop hounding me for the ring back. There’s really no other choice for me. I owe all you pricks a regular limb-tearing for calling that other ring-bearer in. Now then, bucko, can you feel this?”

Susan reached out with her enlightened mind and activated every one of the men’s pain receptors. Boosting the signal with a little of her own juice, Susan invaded her victims head with more precision than she had ever used before.

This guy knew a few things that the first two hadn’t, and Susan found that each of them had their own extra piece of information for her. By the time she turned to the sixth man she had progressed to the level where she could rummage through a mind without damaging the cellular structure. The rest of her “teachers” survived with their sanity intact, all their knowledge unwillingly shared.

“That was the smartest I thing I’ve done,” she told her captive audience. “Can you believe I was going to spend my life on Earth? If Tyrin hadn’t come along I’d never have known how to fly. And if I hadn’t found out where to find you from him, I’d never have known I was so powerful.”

The sound of strange vehicles turned her head, and Susan focused on three formations of bizarre flying machines streaking toward the tower.

“Now watch as your destroyer goes to work.”

Chapter 10

Commander Walsh went in with his unit of UG-class hover-tanks in full battle readiness. There had been no warning, no ships entering or leaving. Motion sensors thousands of light years away were sensitive to any incoming hostiles, but somehow the many security screens had failed them.

“Still nothing on my scope,” someone observed, his voice conveying disappointment.

“I’ve got a visual on the tower,” Walsh informed his flight group. “Go to attack formation.”

One of them swore into the mike as the tanks drew closer to the once beautiful tower. The council chamber had been opened fully to the air, and on it they could see movement.

“Arm artillery and anti-infantry systems. Go wide all sides.”

At his command, the experienced tank-pilots manoeuvred their floating weapons platforms to surround the tower. They all got in position and approached the danger zone determined that the people who had destroyed the tower would not get away.

The remaining members of the council cowered on the floor of their opened chamber. None of them tried to run, and Susan knew that was because they were aware how pointless it would be. If they teleported across the galaxy it wouldn’t save them. The moment they saw her eyes they knew that they were doomed. The only question was how long she would play with them.

“Don’t go anywhere!” she ordered, waving her hand and turning the stone floor into ankle deep water. Turning the water back to stone to trap them, she flew straight up a few hundred feet, and looked down at the tanks coming in.

Stretching her arms out she arched her back and smacked face-first into the first armoured vehicle. The unusual metal exploded as she streaked through it at Mach 12. Stopping in front of a fast moving tank Susan allowed them to try the same trick on her. But the impact couldn’t move her now that she knew how root herself to the spot.

Testing more knowledge she had gained, Susan closed her eyes and explored the hostile tanks more thoroughly than the inspectors had done at the factory.

Experimenting, she opened her eyes and looked at one. A moment after later it exploded as she detonated the blast generator. Flying from the path of incoming artillery shells, Susan approached the nearest tank and grabbed a handful of its tough armour. Stopping in mid air, she allowed the pilot to blow his engines trying to get away.

“Looks like your anti-gravity booster just spat the dummy. How well do these things glide?” Letting go of the tank, she watched it fall fifty thousand feet to the ground. The tanks got a few hits on her as she admired the little explosion far below, making Susan laugh. Cocking her thumb at a tight formation coming around to line her up, Susan released a bolt of energy from her fingertip that grew into giant ball of raging electrified acid as it crossed the distance to disintegrate the incoming attackers. Reaching out with her hands, she started controlling the explosive shells that were meant to kill her. Allowing three of four to hit her now and then, she turned their weapons against them. But like her flesh, the metal of the tanks was able to withstand the blasts without a scratch. She turned her influence to the tanks themselves, crushing the first like an alfoil can, just to see how hard it would be. The crew of her next target watched in amazement as the inside of their tank grew larger. Susan continued to stretch the tank out at every angle until it exploded and dropped its crew to the distant ground.

“Well isn’t this fun!” she observed, transmitting her thought to the remnants of the council below. “And you thought I’d just give the ring back? Some bunch of wise men you lot make.” Clicking her fingers, she made the last tanks tear themselves apart. Zooming down to the tower, she came to rest before the quivering council. “I was going to kill all of you,” she coolly informed them.

“But perhaps I will let you live. To think I was worried about what you fools might do to me!”

She made a sweeping gesture with her hand, and the councillors feet were released from the stone floor.

“Sorry about your tower. I could fix it just as easily, but I’m not going to.

You fools don’t deserve such a beautiful home.”

“What will you do with the power?” one of them asked, swallowing their fear.

“I don’t know. But I’ve got all the time in the universe to decide, don’t I? And anyway, it’s really none of your business now. The ring is not your concern anymore. And if you try to make it your concern again, I’ll destroy you and your planet. And I won’t even have to come here to do it.” Just to show them that she could, Susan looked up at a lonely star in the sky.

Checking that there were no planets around it, she held up her hand and sent a tiny ball of light streaking toward her target. When the energy collided with the distant star, the explosion that followed lit up the eyes of all observers. “So don’t do anything you’ll regret.”

Leaving the fools to suffer in their hopelessness, Susan burst from their atmosphere and arced toward the starry universe. Everything was different now.

Now she understood much more about the ring, and how truly limitless her potential had become. Looking back at the shrinking solar system she marvelled at how much detail her eyes picked up. Even this far away she could see the tower and the councillors sitting on it in confusion. Panning around the immediate area, Susan spotted hundreds of settlements reaching out in a huge sphere around the home world of the council. Their civilisation had spread to a huge area of the Milky Way. Passing the last outpost her eyes zoomed in on the colony. There were whole families down there, going about their business.

It reminded Susan of a documentary she had seen about the early days of the American continent. Except for the space ships, the luxury homes, and the hovercars.

Turning her attention back to the brilliant display of the universe, she probed it for signs of life. Apparently the Council of the Twelve were the most advanced of the civilisations. While Susan found several other space faring people, none of them had reached as far into their explorations as those she had just left.

It dawned on Susan how pathetic they all were. None of them would ever be able reach the speeds that she achieved. In the last few minutes she had gone further than any light-speed vessel could ever go. Passing a solar system, Susan noticed that one of the planets had buildings on it. Huge buildings.

Closer inspection revealed a lot of people moving about.

“This could be interesting,” she mused, slowing down and aiming at the thriving planet.

Trogath of the Black had ruled the world of Irynon since his fourteenth birthday. Those who heard his words obeyed without question, and if anyone displeased their King then death would come as a relief … but come later.

Today he stood on his high platform, and before him loomed his next great monument. A million workers laboured under the whip, their cries of pain only earning them more. Only work kept the tassel at bay. Only Work would please their King.

The time for battles had long passed … Trogath’s father had been a thorough murderer of his enemies, and the Legion kept the lords from raising armies.

Trogath was a king who built things. Big things in the way of his ancestors.

“The west supports are completed Your Majesty,” a quick-tongued aide reported.

“They are not done until I have seen them,” Trogath reminded his loyal servant. “Now is a good time.”

Susan recognised the planet from a survey the council had done. But that had been done centuries ago and a lot had changed here. There were vast regions inhabited by simple tribesmen, but they were of little interest compared to the enterprising builders covering the largest continent. Flying into the atmosphere at a gentle mach four, Susan flew through the clouds and went low over a mountain range. Knocking the cap of , the hard stone not slowing her, she scanned the villages dotting the landscape beyond the mountains for information. Learning their language was the hardest part, but after that the rest of their knowledge flowed easily. Susan decided to find the leader of this planet, locating him in an instant. She wanted to let him know that he was doing a good job with buildings.

When his latest project came into view, she realised the horrible way in which the mammoth structures were built. A cold anger rose in her as the suffering of thousands went on before her. Hovering over the seething pile of stone, Susan looked at Trogath walking around to the west supports. His guards around him, Trogath looked very imperial as he strode among his ragged slaves. The building seemed much less impressive when Susan understood the man who had made them. Susan didn’t want to congratulate him anymore. Weaving clothes from the air around her, forming them right there on her tight body, Susan went down to talk with Trogath.

“Trogath of the Black!”

Trogath turned, the woman’s voice impossibly loud. Searching the immediate area he failed to find the noisy person who spoke his name so disrespectfully.

“Up here, scumbag.”

Looking up he had to block out the sun to see who was talking. His mouth opened and he stepped back when he saw Susan hovering twenty feet in the air overhead. His guards swarmed around him and drew weapons, but no one except Susan was feeling sure of themselves.

“What is this?” Trogath demanded. “Who are you?”

“Who are you? What gives you the right to enslave these people?”

“Archers! Attack this demon!” Trogath ran, his entourage all around him as men with bows started a hail of arrows.

Completely ignoring the arrows, Susan eased her way along keeping Trogath in sight. He went into his tent. Landing in front of the entrance, she smiled at the tall muscular swordsmen who barred away. A flurry of whooshing steel amused her a moment, Susan relaxed herself to appreciate the massage. The swords were so strong that the forearms or hands of those holding the weapons broke first. “Thanks fellas.” Walking past them, she stepped into three mechanical axes. Their slightly blunted blades curled on her curvaceous body.

Using the knowledge she had taken from the councillors, Susan melted the axes from the inside out with a moments concentration. They fell to the floor in red blobs, splashing around to settle cooling on the stone floor. The tent was covering a stone opening. The entrance was closed by a massive block, which Susan’s penetrating eyes found connected to a sophisticated opening system.

But without the key she couldn’t activate it.

Stepping to the centre of the block, Susan crossed her arms. The block beneath her feet cracked thunderously under her heels, and she descended through it quite easily to find herself in a tunnel. Flying along she caught up with Trogath in the blinking of an eye.

Susan landed and allowed the gravity of the planet to take a little of her weight just as the kings rear guard turned. More arrows shattered on her, the small group able to fire with well honed speed and accuracy. Susan stood a while, accepting their assault with amusement until their quivers were empty.

“Do you have any idea how many arrows you guys just shot?” she asked. “Check it out.”

The pieces of wood and bent steel tips lifted from the floor around Susan’s feet, and reformed as arrows in the air before her.

“My turn.”

The running men couldn’t dodge the guided missiles that hunted them down, and Susan caught up with the escaping ruler before the last arrow slammed home.

The rest of guard besides two turned, steel and fists finding flesh. Only the fists were doing any damage though. Popping the guard’s like oversized water-balloons, Susan sped up and got the attention of the past two while the panting king staggered onward.

“You boys just have no idea,” she told the pathetic royal warriors. She waved her hand and the pair fell to their knees. A second gesture drove the long blades through opposite hearts and no one was left to fight for the king.

“You’ve been a naughty boy, Trogath.”

“Who are you,” he demanded, backing away from the beautiful woman who killed his men so easily.

“If you really want to know.” Rather than tell him the long story with words, Susan transmitted her memories … editing certain bits … directly into his head.

“How can it be …?”

“It struck me as strange too, but I think I’ll get used to it. Now then, what am I going to do with you?” Not wanting to touch the vile man with her thoughts again, Susan closed the distance between them and hoisted the royal slave-driver by the shoulder, ignoring his cries of pain and feeble kicks.

Flying back up the tunnel she dragged him callously along behind her until they hovered above the seething construction site.

“Hey down there!” Susan called, transmitting on all frequencies. “You are free! Go home, there will be no more monuments!”

The tired workers were disbelieving, but when Susan disintegrated everyone with a whip or weapon they saw that they were free. Susan sensed a great deal of confusion … fear of the unknown. But in her heart she smiled and knew the slaves of Trogath would survive to become greater than their masters.

“Now than, your majesty, you like tall buildings do you? I’ll make you one.” Looking down at the desert far below, Susan’s eyes pierced the dunes and found the hard bedrock beneath. There was a rumbling, and the sands shifted to make way for a column of stone that was rocketing steadily upward. The column continued to rise out of the desert until the warm stone rested beneath Trogath’s feet. “There you go.”

The once proud ruler felt her hand release his broken and twisted shoulder, but for a long time it felt as though it was still there. Trogath kept perfectly still. The pinnacle of stone was not large enough to crouch on, but at least it didn’t sway.

“If you release me, all my people will worship you, great goddess …”

“I’m not a goddess, fool. I don’t want your worship. Your people are not going to have to put up with you anymore.” She floated up close to him, invading his broad personal space. “Enjoy the view, Trogath. Maybe in a few years I’ll come back and see how the hell you’re going.”

Darting out of the atmosphere, Susan smiled and gave herself a pat on the back for a job well done. She started to see a new role for herself in the universe.

Chapter 11

Having done a good deed, Susan felt very good about herself. Her smile glowed as she launched into space. Deciding that she needed to reward herself, Susan perused the depths of the universe at a glance. Finding too much to choose from, the intensely powerful young woman laughed in the void and tensed herself beyond light speed. Picking a world of ten foot tall humanoids, she ran a hand over her bursting form and slowed over the most densely populated part of the planet. Studying the surface with all her senses, everything met her approval. Especially the occupants of the beautiful world.

“You must go. Go now, Hogu, the decision is made. Your guilt in this matter has been determined by the gathering.”

Hogu spat in disgust. “Then damn you all to the Plains!” he declared. “If you banish your strongest warrior you are fools unworthy of protection.”

A man among the gathering stood and spat back with words of temperate rage. “A man who rapes our women is not the protection we will pay for!” The rest of gathering agreed with him in their murmurs. “Take the money.

Count it, it’s all there. Find a new town Hogu. We have more than enough good warriors without your kind.”

Hogu snatched the gold from the table. A cautious guard stepped forward and handed him a small bundle.

“What is this! Where are my weapons!”

“They wait for you outside the wall.”

Enough had been said, so Hogu took himself from the village. His sword, dagger and bow were all waiting on a stone not far from the gate. There were no arrows in his quiver, though. Hogu shouted a curse at them for that.

He walked for half a day before the scenery of the forest changed. He was about to step over a stream when stopped in his tracks.

“Hello Hogu. How’s it going?”

Hogu’s mouth dropped open in amazement. Not only was there a scantily clad woman sitting on a sizeable stone on the other side of the stream, the glorious vision knew his name. But Hogu couldn’t remember ever seeing this invigorating beauty before. “How do you know my name?”

“It’s a long story,” Susan explained, leaning back on a tree. “All you need to know is … I’m easy.” Popping a breast out and massaging it, she nibbled on her other finger and waited for him to respond. Increasing the intensity of her already potent pheromones, she didn’t have long to wait.

“Not here, big-boy,” Susan told him abruptly as he moved eagerly closer. Susan held out her hand. “Hold on tight.”

He took her hand in confusion, and soon found himself holding onto it as hard he could, fearing for his life as Susan flew along dragging him behind her.

Sweeping down into a lush valley far from any settlements, Susan dropped her quarry and landed next to him.

His fear had killed his desire, but the sight of her as the clothes vaporised from her glowing skin got him going again. Rather than reducing her power too much to enjoy his efforts, Susan employed her management of near-limitless power to make this rugged warrior strong enough and tough enough to give her pleasure. She felt his head spin, his body filling with the strength to crush whole armies, and touched his most interesting asset to get his undivided attention.

“Hello there, Hugo. How about putting all that muscle to good use?” She embraced him, and found his lips. For a moment his strength surprised her. She had given him more than she thought. But she was still able to wrestle his tongue about at will. Allowing him to follow his instincts, Susan assisted his doomed attempt to lift her with her flight powers, and allowed the sensation of penetration to overwhelm her. Gasping, she closed her eyes and let him move to the ground. He attacked her with ferocity … her shape demanding his most violent thrusting. Hugo had seen many pretty girls, but he never dreamed that a woman could be so overwhelming to the senses.

Hogu could feel his powerful thrusts shaking the earth under their two bodies, and expected her to start screaming. But the woman only cried out in pleasure, encouraging him with steaming looks. She orgasmed, closing her legs around him and driving all the air from his lungs. Hogu cried out in pain, feeling his ribs crack and insides cramp before she relaxed her torturous hold and moved beneath him.

“Not bad, barbarian. But let me show what I can do.” Susan hoisted him up like a toy, and dropped him rudely beside her. Before he could rise, she rolled on top of him and pinned his hands next to ears. “Enjoy the ride.” Carefully, the horny ring-bearer crouched over him, and positioned Hogu’s yearning love-tackle to take him back into her. Susan moaned, leaning back to massage her hair. “Don’t you dare cum, asshole.” Shutting her eyes, she enjoyed every sensation while Hogu explored her moving body with his hands. “That feels nice, warrior.”

While the woman terrified him, Hogu was so enthralled by the slow sensual motion that nothing mattered. His mind saw only the beauty of her face, and the flawless form of her body rising and dropping. The hands that she had held down so easily were free now, but he couldn’t comprehend leaving her. His rugged palms stroked the smooth unyielding softness of her flesh, his fingers delved through her cleavage and circled the nipples on the way down to incredibly shapely thighs. He wanted to feel every part of her, but each time he rose her small hand slammed him back to the ground. She never did break her rhythm.

When Susan had made love to Mark, her body had always let her know when to stop on the rare occasion he outlasted her. But even when Hogu erupted inside her she had to keep going.

“What … are you?” Hogu asked panting.

“Still horny.”

“The sun’s going down,” the spent warrior told her, “We have to make camp.”

Susan was disappointed. Even with all the strength she had poured into him, the huge man had nothing left. He could hardly move, and Susan had done all the work. “Please me Hogu,” she demanded, flying up and bringing him along with the invisible tendrils of her thoughts. Hovering above the majestic mountains didn’t appeal to Hogu as much as it did Susan. She went down over a lake and stretched. Floating two feet over the mirror-smooth lake Hogu calmed down and felt safer. His fearful eyes darted to Susan, who gracefully smiled at him.

“Just because you can’t get it up, doesn’t mean you can’t get me off.”

The mysterious force that carried him turned him upside down, and Hogu watched as Susan gently positioned herself.

“What the hell are doing …”

“Get to work, fool. You have no choice.” Proving it, she brought his face up and rubbed it around generously. “Have a look around Hogu.”

The warrior, grimacing, took his tongue and lashed her with it. He was startled by the taste, and licked again. He began, gaining enthusiasm over the next few minutes. For the next hour, his body floating with her, Hogu enjoyed his labour. But after the first hour he tried to pull away. Her hands stopped massaging her breasts and pushed him back.

“More …” she moaned, and slipped back into her pleasures.

Night fell over the lake, but Susan hadn’t had enough. Day dawned, and four hours later Hogu died of exhaustion. There was a splash as he dropped into the lake … the next sound Susan heard was rushing wind followed by a sonic boom.

Arcing into the silence of space she clothed herself in thin bands of silver, stretching and flexing her unstoppable body she sought out another world to interest her.

“But master, should we not seek the Council of Twelve?” Cherone asked, still recovering from the traumatic passage through the black hole. If only her master would let her have as power enough to not feel the pain …

“Those fools are pathetic. Once I have a second ring, I will slowly crush this universe and everything in it until every creature knows my name.”

Cherone knew he would. The universe they had just travelled from had been left in the hands of their son, who was as cruel and powerful as his father. It was a war torn and desolate place. Cherone knew he make this one the same, though she didn’t understand what he meant when he kept talking about the ring.

Chapter 12

Susan darted through a nebula, her eyes drinking in the colourful clouds.

There seemed to be no reason for the bizarre formation of gases, no rhyme in the swirling mists of greens and reds. Chaotic in its beauty, it amused her a while before she burst from the huge cloud and arced her eyes across a gigantic area of space. Her eyes pierced through the cloud of stars that formed the young galaxy she was exploring and examined the billions of other galaxies beyond. The Milky Way was there, zooming toward her as she magnified it. It kept growing until she could pick out stars, asteroids and other deep space phenomena never documented by astronomers on Earth. Coming to rest a hundred thousand miles over the nebula, she tested her memory of the Milky Way. Finding the sun after a few anxious second, the system it powered filled her vision across billions of light years. Zooming in on the Earth she found a little pride well in her as she realised it really was the best planet in the universe.

Blinking back to her present location, Susan stretched and accelerated out of the developing galaxy toward an older, far larger mass of stars. There was a lot more than just good scenery to be found here, she had found an evil empire to destroy. But fate had other plans for her this day.

“Cherone, wait here.”

Cherone never questioned her master. She not as immune to the cold as he was, but the vacuum didn’t bother too much. Shivering helped a lot. From the shadow of the desert world she watched the heartless man who believed himself to be an all-powerful god (true as far Cherone knew) got ready to pounce. They had followed the streak of the one he sought into this massive cloud of stars and waited ahead in ambush. Consciously, Cherone wanted her master to defeat his target, but a deeper part of her wanted him to die.

Susan slowed down and narrowly avoided a dark asteroid. Her mind was elsewhere, gathering information about the race of domineering space farers she was about to fight. The way they thought was as ugly as the language that formed their disgusting ideas. These violent creatures had become a virus, masquerading under a company logo, throughout a large part of their galaxy.

Their ships were so vast in numbers that in places they formed mists.

Searching for a battle, she found and explored the minds of the Company’s opposition. A portion of the Company’s own had seen the error of death-driven policies, and formed a group who thought of themselves as The Independent.

T.I. Had access to all the weapons and technology that the Company had. Vast resources were re-routed to T.I. Controlled factories, and production had exceeded expectations. They were almost ready, but Company battle groups were already onto them. There had been an ambush at training camp, and now the less experienced half of T.I. Pilots were engaged in the struggle to survive. The laser fire tearing through the void made a spectacular show, the beams lancing off weakening shields, occasionally hitting and piercing hull plates. The larger ships moved about to form a blockade. Licking her lips and rubbing her abdomen, Susan accelerated a little. She would … BANG!! An unexpected impact …

Kryall withdrew his wall of will, and zoomed toward the unprepared and undisciplined ring-bearer. It had taken Kryall centuries to fully understand the power of his ring, and he knew from the foolish message he received that this woman had held her power for less time than it took him to destroy a galaxy.

“You are not the one,” he told her, his evil eyes projecting a field of pain.

“Give me your ring.”

She writhed a moment, struggling to raise a hand. From her palm shot a green beam that blocked his. Kryall cursed and used his rage, but the insolent woman didn’t cave in as he expected her to. He could sense that she was inexperienced, her power raw and unfocused. But despite the concentration of all he could muster, she held him off. He realised that she was checking him out, examining her enemy.

“That’s right,” she spoke, her words forming in his mind. “I want to know who’s trying to kill me.”

“You are a fast learner, but you can’t defeat my power, little miss.”

Kryall’s adversary was suddenly enveloped in a starburst of brilliant heat.

And while she adjusted to the temperature Kryall moved in and tried to snatch the ring off her finger.

“Oh no you don’t.” Grabbing his hand, the strength of her grip drawing a surprised look from the eons old Kryall, the smaller ring-bearer blasted from the galaxy at the speed of thought.

Confused, Kryall tried to break free, but something was wrong here.

“Something is wrong, Kryall,” Susan told her captive. “You’re wearing a ring that doesn’t belong to you.”

Stopping in the deep space void, far from any galaxies, Susan released Kryall and confidently allowed him to gather himself together. Smiling, she thought about how to deal with him.

“.” Kryall used his mind to wrestle with hers, but found himself pinned with a force he had never thought existed. Susan explored his long memories, sickened by the visions she saw him take so much pride in she concentrated on learning his skills and then released him.

“I don’t know how did you do that, but it won’t be enough.” He lurched forward, hurling a fist as fast as thought. Be was stunned to have his fist clutched in a vice-like gip. The pain that followed drew a scream from his lungs that went unheard despite it’s powerful source. He gripped at her hand trying to free himself, trying to pry her ring from her finger.

“Even if you get that off, I’ll still kill you, Kryall.” She held up her other hand, and showed him the second ring she had acquired. “But before you become a mortal again, tyrant, I could use your help with something.”

Susan looked into his eyes, the fear that flooded his mind when he realised that she had twice his power filled her with warm reassurance. She nodded as his dreams of ruling all of reality were crushed. Susan changed, opening the channels and drawing in tides of pure energy. Finding his mind was now completely pliable, she smiled and accessed him fully. Closing her fingers on his invulnerable hand, she enjoyed his pain.

“That’s right, Kryall. You’re in trouble. You weren’t the first to come, and I hope you’re not the last.” The void protected the galaxies nearby as Susan started to use the incredible power in her body. She looked over her left shoulder, scanning the galaxies for a world with an atmosphere she stole a third of the gases and dragged them into a sphere around the two ring-bearers.

Distance was no obstacle. Tasting the air she had found, she withdrew from Kryall’s disgusting mind and watched him react to a flood of overcharged pheromones. A mixture of pain and stupefying pleasure washed over his features, if not for his ring he would be dead. His eyes focused as best they could on her body, the clothes she had been wearing gone. He flew to her, tearing his own clothes away and ravishing her. Susan enjoyed it immensely. It reminded her of the sex she once had with Mark.

“I didn’t bring the air here to hear you grunting, Kryall,” she told him.

Playing around with the energy she embodied, her skin began to glow softly with a greenish tinge, and Kryall stopped enjoying himself.

Kryall arched back, driving himself deep inside her only as a side effect. She changed the whole nature of the situation. The airborne chemicals were still right, his desire stronger than he had thought possible, but her touch no longer brought him pleasure. Wherever her skin touched his, jagged shards of ice cold yet white hot agony sparked through Kryall’s nerve endings. A thin field of pure pain was covering her flesh. He pushed away, the palms of his hands igniting in an inferno of crackling persecution. Though he had filled himself with all the power he had, Kryall was unable to drive the pain from his mind or escape her. He had made a terrible mistake.

“Scream for me,” she whispered, knowing it to be his favourite catchphrase. He complied enthusiastically, making her smile. She kept him paralysed, every nerve in his body taking up the chorus as the field left her body, moving to cover him. As it smothered him his screams went up half an octave. She used his arched form and tensed penis for a long time. She wasn’t sure how long she kept him there screaming , but it was the best sex she ever had. He was harder than any man she known, yet for some reason he didn’t cum once.

“Alright then,” she pushed him away, removing the misty green pain from his body. “Unless you want to go another round I suggest you take off that ring.”

He recovered quickly from the pain, his constitution still as powerful as the day he read the council’s plea for help. “You can’t kill me while I wear it …”

“No. But I can do this to you …” Susan looked at his big bursting body, and griped it with the tendrils of her thoughts. His facial expression rewarded her as she squeezed a little, getting a good grip. Unable to deny the primal urges holding him so thoroughly gave her, Susan closed her eyes and massaged herself with her hands while she massaged Kryall with her mind. At first the invading ring-bearer enjoyed her novel administrations, but his smile faded when Susan orgasmed. Her intense pleasure rocked through her mental system, crushing him like an egg, only the ring he wore repaired the ruptured organs and broken bones as she came back from her peak. He found her enveloping full body massage helped him recover from the new level of pain he had just experienced. It lasted a few minutes before he heard her breath quickening again, and felt her firm pulsing grasp intensify. Then she climaxed again, watching him shrink and mush inside her mental compactor. Holding him there, she came again, then slowly brought herself down. As Kryall reformed, his screams lashed violently on her ear drums.

“You’ve got such a nice body. I wonder if it will come back different this time?” She stroked her own superfit body, and languished in pleasure as she massaged him more thoroughly than before, his screams letting her know it was worthwhile. When she exploded with an orgasm that surpassed the previous two, he became a bloody blob the size of a guitar.

“NO!” he screamed, trying to move. But Susan ignored him and proceeded to enjoy herself. When she stopped, she could see sanity was no longer a part of his mental outlook.

“Perhaps you want to reconsider? It’s alright if you don’t … this is fun for me.”

As soon as she drew her mind back from his limbs, he shook his left hand over to his ring and pulled it off. The blank look on his face changed as the intense power he had wielded for so many millennia faded from his body and mind. Susan held out her hand.

“Put it on me.”

He sagged in the atmosphere Susan kept pressurised around them, as he slipped the strange metal band onto Susan’s waiting finger. The ring shrank to fit comfortably, and she felt a flood of power wash over her while his body went to shit..

Exploring his mind and gaining thousands of years of his memories, Susan realised she was truly unworthy of the rings she wore. It would be all too easy to take Kryall’s example and become an all-powerful tyrant. Looking at him, she found it hard to believe he had once been a caring individual.

However, before he had been given the ring by his benefactors Kryall had been a doctor. Corrupted, as Susan now knew she was, by the sudden influx of incomprehensible power, he had given himself completely to his darkest urges.

He dominated his home universe so completely that soon he had no enemies, and became bored. Then he discovered the entertainment of torture, and as he wandered his universe he had plenty of entertainment.

Not wanting to know any more, Susan withdrew from his head and shook her own in disgust.

“You’re really something, Kryall. Have a good think about how stupid you are.

You could have done so many wonderful things with your home, but what did you do?” She paused a moment, but he just gaped at her, drooling. “You turned it shit, Kryall. Took all that potential and twisted up into a bunch of dead-ends. And then you come here wanting more power. Wanting my power. But I’m too much for you, aren’t I? And now look at yourself.” A mirror appeared in front of him as Susan blinked it across a billion or so light years.

Kryall sagged lower. His frame no longer shone with the power he had thrived on. His mortality had returned … he realised with decaying horror that he would one day die. Death had been a pleasant thing to forget about. Memories of the religious leaders telling him of his well earned damnation rung in his ears, those vehement cries having stayed in his mind unheard for countless lifetimes now turned him pale.

“I should take you back to your home, and let them deal with you. They deserve that. But you don’t, Kryall. Nothing they could do to you would repay you for the depravity you dropped every living thing into.”

“I let them live!” he cried.

“And I shall let you live, Kryall. For a long time.”

Cherone waited for her master to teleport her, but he never did. The day dawned and sank back away many times before she found out what had happened.

“You come to kill me?”

The voice in head turned her pale. She couldn’t see anyone.

“I can see you, Cherone. In fact, I can see right through you.”

Cherone gulped as it dawned on her that her master had been defeated. A new fear overcame her: the fear of the unknown.

Teleporting stuff the way Kryall had unwilling taught her made fetching Cherone a breeze. Materialising in place of the mirror, the beautiful concubine of Kryall looked about nervously.

“Master … what has happened to you?”

“Bad things seem to happen when people piss me off,” Susan told her. “Your boss is powerless, so you can drop the ‘master’ bullshit.”

Cherone’s eyes darted up to widen at the sight of Susan hovering there. As she looked in to the powerful woman’s eyes, she became hypnotised by the depths of them.

Before Cherone had blinked, Susan had taken her memories.

“I won’t kill you, Cherone. You’ve got a good heart.” Proving her point, Susan doubled the endowment that Kryall had entrusted with.

“What have you done to me?” she asked, at first fearful as her body tingled.

“Don’t thank me,” Susan began, “because in a way you will be punished with your lover.”

The empty space around the trio blurred and shifted. The sparsely speckled void brightened into a blinding light, settling back to reveal rolling sand dunes. Beneath them the surface of the planet shimmered and rumbled like a storm as the bedrocks rose, the sands swept away though no wind was involved.

Cherone watched Susan’s arms moving as her hands conducted the entire business. The holder of three rings swept her hand across the rising stone, and shaved it smoothly to a surface which was perfectly level. The platform rose and stopped two feet below them. Susan turned and smiled at them.

“Imagine if Kryall had beaten me,” Susan told Cherone. “Things would be much worse for you.” Removing from Cherone’s insanely over-juiced muscles the ability to fly, Susan dropped the pair of black-hole bandits roughly to the ground. She hovered down and landed gently in front of Kryall. “But things went wrong, didn’t they. You planned to have my power added to yours, and I shudder to think what you would have done with it.”

She moved in close and touched his cheek, very carefully, and ran her fingertips up and down his face. He trembled, unsure of how powerful she had become with three rings. He had begun to wonder how many there were, but his thoughts were interrupted.

“You will live a long time, Kryall,” Susan told him softly, energy entering him from her fingertips to change him. “You will heal like a normal man, but no wound will kill you. Cherone will be your company here. I hear there’s a lot of dangerous creatures so you better hope she protects you.”

Demonstrating the gift she had given him, Susan tore his ear off, and tapped him very gently in the temple. Bone fragments exploded through his brain, and Kryall fell unconscious to the ground. His breathing was still strong.

“He is your plaything now. This planet I give you to you both as a gift for all the atrocities you committed at his side.”

“My punishment is this reward?”

“You can’t fly anymore, but you’re still a thousand times stronger than any creature on this planet.” Susan slowing started to rise further “There are big monsters out there, lying under the sand, and they will kill anything they can eat. But don’t worry Cherone, I’ll be back to finish you both off before long.

We’ll see how I feel in ten years maybe.” Turning around and accelerating, she smiled to herself and beamed her last words into their fragile minds. “Maybe ten thousand years, who know?”

In orbit moments later, Susan looked back at the desert planet, her eyes focusing on the huge swarm of spider-like creatures surrounding the small mountain she had made. The camouflaged monsters couldn’t climb the stone, but climbing on each others backs the bizarre life forms made ladders of themselves, and were soon closing in on the two new arrivals to their land.

Unaware that the creatures couldn’t hurt her, Cherone screamed in terror as she saw the mass of large insects coming at her from all sides.

The state of Kryall’s universe on her mind, Susan flashed through deep space to the black hole through which Kryall had ventured from. Knowing she had more than enough power to survive this unknown element, she carefully approached the swirling darkness.