Previous Chapter
Loki's hands just held the throbbing, pulsing thing that was currently attached to Drake, an enormous monster of a dick. The biggest she'd ever seen in all her time on Orario. The biggest dick, possibly ever. Well, horses had bigger dicks, but the biggest human cock she'd ever seen in her life. She wasn't into bestiality. She actually knelt in front of it, just wanting to appreciate it, sniffing at it. The scent was stronger than usual, somehow, like there was more cocksweat than normal, even though it had been stuffed in Darkness's mouth and tits not that long ago, which should have rubbed off the smell.

"Man... it's so big," she gushed. It was amazing. Just a huge, huge dick. She hadn't even thought of Rei using her powers for big dicks - only for big tits. The little gremlin was also the sort who would absolutely be way easier to manipulate into making Drake's dick huge, than to manipulate into making Loki's chest huge.

"I thought you were more into chests."

"I appreciate beautiful bodies! My tastes are varied!" She said, licking her lips as she contemplated the megadick in front of her face.

"Do you think I was okay with Darkness?"

"Wha- she came her brains out! You didn't even use your trick and she came like ten times from having her tits and mouth fucked, you've had enough sex to know that ain't normal!" Well, maybe Noriko, Ganko, Naomi, and Setsuko's hypersensitivity had messed up his sense of such things. "Look, Drake, if she ever lied and said it was good when it wasn't, or said it was bad when it was, I woulda said something, sheesh!" Drake was such a damn softie. Like crazy soft. She felt bad for him, but, he did now have so many wives she'd have to count them out to make sure she gave the right number.

"You actually forgot to give her a falna, too."

"'Forgot.' Oh no, I'll have to have her shirtless and gropeable again," Loki said, rolling her eyes.

"Alright. Do you just want to rub your hands on it and sniff it?" He asked it like he actually wondered, not like if he was annoyed at her for it.

She licked her lips, contemplating the gigacock in front of her face. It was a real bitchbreaker. A monster cock. A womb buster. It also came like a firehose, gauging by how much had sprayed into (and out of) Darkness's eager sucking mouth. Pro~obably she couldn't handle this thing in her mouth.

No way to know without trying, though! She leaned forward, sucking on the tip of the dick, just slurping on the cockhead. Her mouth had to really, really stretch as she tried to get the head in there, and it was honestly uncomfortable as she slid down the length.

Taste was nice, though. When it hit her gag reflex, she peeled off. "Yeah, I'm not gonna be able to handle a monster like this in my mouth."

"I can swap out bodies," Drake offered, immediately glancing at the door.

"Oh for fuck's sakes! You're in full on consent boy mode after Darkness, you traumatized baby!" He stared at her for a second, not understanding what she was getting at, so she decided to let it slide. "I want it stuffed in my pussy, obviously!"

She hopped to her feet, hurriedly stripping. Playing with Darkness's tits had been pretty good foreplay, so her panties were pretty sticky from her juices, which kept them clinging to her pussy. She had to tug at them, the feeling of elastic peeling back an unusually pleasant sort of foreplay - and then she plopped on her back on the bed. "Alright, now fuck me with that giga-dick," she declared, a vivacious grin on her lips as he clambered up atop her.

"Alright," he told her, leaning in to kiss her on the lips, pointing his cock at her slick sex as he started to kiss her. His cock was simply enormous. Absurd. Obscene. The very tip felt like it was slowly, slowly spearing her open, her lower lips stretching wide to accommodate him, her legs spreading on automatic purely to make it easier for him. She let out a hot breath into his mouth as his fat head finally reached inside her, the crown of his dick getting pleasantly suckled on by her lower lips.

He was big. Huge. Ginormous. Her favorite things were the biggest ones, and this was definitely the biggest cock. Drake started pushing his way inside her, a long, slow, grinding movement that took her breath away, making her gasp into his mouth as he slid inch by inch all the way inside her. She jerked pleasantly on his cock, her pussy idly stroking him off, as he wormed his way ever deeper. She wondered how deep it would actually get - it was a foot long, there was no way it'd all fit on the first go.

It hit something back there, her body twitching in response to the forceful penetration. He broke off the kiss, groaning in pleasure into her ear, and she twisted her head around to see how deep in he was - there were still a couple inches out, yep. "Oh, that's all you can get in?" She asked, grinning as she spoke.

In response, he thumped against her, and she squeaked at the sensation, that quick jerk of his hips slamming against the impenetrable depths of her body. "You're too tiny," he grunted in her ear.

"Maybe you're too big. Maybe we've learned big, fat, megacocks can't actually fit," she told him, teasing him - and his finger slid in between her breasts. She shivered in anticipation, knowing well what that meant, as he leaned up over her, looming above her. He was really tall. And sexy.

"Maybe," he told her, starting to gingerly saw back and forth, just teasing her as his cock spread her pussy wide. She spared another glance down - holy crap! It was like two thirds of the way in! There were four inches of cock out of her! His hand reached for her clit, rubbing it between his thumb and forefinger - and, naturally, she came shortly, spasming quietly on his dick, her back arching as much as it could, with that giant, stiff cock inside her. He groaned in pleasure at the sensations as her already-tight pussy got even tighter on his cock, just holding himself still. "Oh, that's, so fucking, good," he breathed out.

"Muh, more," she panted, as she came down, and he started to push himself deep inside her again. Maybe it was just her brain playing tricks on her, but it felt like it was going deeper this time, her whole body quivering on his cock as he ground against her innermost parts. He reached for her hands, lacing his fingers together with hers, as he pushed around inside her. "Oh, ooh, ohhh," she got out, squirming on his dick as he held himself inside her, pushing at her innermost limits, straining to make her get all the wider. He pumped his hips an inch or so back and forth, sending electricity racing up to her brain to inform her that, yes, that felt really fucking good.

Then Celestial Bliss Trick hit, and she screamed in ecstasy as her whole body started to spasm on his massive cock. She could feel every single inch of it inside her, and even the touch of his fingers, laced together with hers, was ecstatic. Hot breaths escaped her lips as her eyes rolled around, her mouth opening and closing in insensate pleasure. A bit of drool slipped past her open lips, running down one cheek, while her eyes struggled to refocus themselves on Drake, from the sheer intensity of the bliss.

"You look cute like that," Drake teased her, as he ground himself ever further inside her. "No guy has ever made you feel this good, right?" Was he feeling insecure? Maybe because of the Darkness thing? All anxious and expressing it the wrong way?

Whatever the case, it was cute. And she had a duty, a solemn duty, as a woman, being asked if her partner was anything less than the best she'd ever had, to answer properly: "Nuh, noh," she got out, shaking her head rapidly. He just kept thumping at her deepest spots, not fucking her so much as grinding and prodding his way ever deeper into her cunt. He started to use his grip on her hands to help pull her down, and she just squeaked and bucked in place, her spine full of pleasure as she got fucked like that. "You're, dah, best," she slurred out.

He groaned at that, leaning down over her, forcing his tongue into her mouth, and with Celestial Bliss Trick, the inside of her mouth felt like a clit, his tongue brushing here and there inside of her mouth, making her quietly jerk and spasm in sweet, sweet pleasure, her eyelashes fluttering rapidly as she got absolutely wrecked on his cock.

She lost all track of time like that, Drake occasionally breaking off the kiss to suck in a couple quick breaths before pushing his tongue back into her mouth, trying to find her tonsils. Orgasm after orgasm hit her like a jackhammer, and she found herself constantly wondering: was he all the way in yet? Was he all the way in yet? That thought was the only coherent thing in her head after a while of the sheer, obscene pleasures that Drake was inflicting on her, a mantra as his hips pumped against hers.

She realized that he was in only when his pelvis suddenly pressed into her clit and pubic mound, as he loomed over her. Her legs automatically dragged together, thighs snapping around his hips, and he broke off the kiss as her eyes rolled around. She wanted to see it. She wanted to see~ee it. As she twisted around her body, she saw it, the way her stomach seemed to bulge at the right angles, from just how big his dick was - and then another, incredibly powerful orgasm, hit her, making her spasm and pass out from how good it felt.

When she woke up, Drake had pulled out (boo!) and started cuddling with her (woo!), and she had to goad Drake into going for a round two.

* * *

Julia had, after some time, decided that the best place to have Darkness sleep was in one of our larger bedrooms - in the closet. So, I'd be sleeping with Cass, Julia, Noriko, and Erza, and in the closet, there'd be Darkness, on a futon. She'd helped Darkness get settled in, and once my newest wife was settled in, I had the chance to actually talk to Julia.

"Is she okay?"

"She's great," Julia reassured me. "She's super happy with being your secret sex slave, goshujinsama."

"I feel mean," I said, honestly. "She's a sweet girl. I don't mind bullying her, if she likes it, but-" I didn't know quite how to put it.

"Ah! Sorry, goshujinsama, you need aftercare, right?" She just leaned into me, giving me a big hug, her arms wrapping around me. "You did good. You're a good boy, goshujinsama."

"You know I'm like a decade your senior, right, Bitch?"

"Ehh? So you're that immature?" Julia asked, continuing to hug me as she tilted her head up, chin pressing into my chest. "It's okay, goshujinsama. Darkness is really happy. Ah... oh! You can use your disguise trick!" She said. I blinked; did she-? "The one you use to pretend to be an Ishtar familia member! Can you pretend to be a sex slave with it?"

"I mean, yes," I said, glancing around. "You have to look away." She pulled back for a moment, and playfully brought both hands up to her face, covering her eyes that way, and I let a new disguise surround me, hiding me as a sex slave. A female sex slave, I decided. I didn't want to risk Darkness doing something weird. "It's done."

"Oh! You make such a pretty girl, goshujinsama," Julia said, as she lowered her hands. "Let's go meet Darkness," Julia said, taking my wrist and dragging me into the bedroom.

Darkness had stripped out of her clothes, apparently, which were now in a neat pile. I didn't think she slept in the nude in Konosuba, and I definitely didn't think she slept in the nude but on top of the blankets while staring at the door. "Ah-? Elder sister?" Darkness asked nervously, glancing at me. "Did the Master already get a new sex slave?" There was a slobbering arousal to her words.

"Eh... goshujinsama sometimes goes through girls like this," Julia said, smiling warmly. "She wants to ask you about what happened. Don't lie even a little, okay?! If you do, me and goshujinsama will both be really upset!"

Improbably, Darkness's eyes widened, and she nodded hurriedly along, as I just sat down cross-legged next to where she laid. God, she was really fucking hot. Huge tits, lovely smooth skin, long blonde hair, full round ass, vivid blue eyes... but I focused on her face. "Hi." I wiggled my fingers at her. "I'm Dolly. How are you doing?"

"Ah... I..." Darkness glanced at Julia. "It was incredible," she gushed. "The Master's cock is so huge - have you ever seen it? It's bigger than my forearm!" She added, excitedly raising one arm in the air in demonstration. "I couldn't take it in my throat, though, so he had to use my tits like his personal onahole." She squirmed in place. "I hope that he's not too busy with his wives. I guess a man like that is debauched."

"He has multiple bodies," I explained to her, and she nodded rapidly.

"Elder sister said that!" Darkness agreed rapidly, glancing over at Julia. "Each body has its own sex drive... no wonder he has to resort to kidnapping women from other universes to satiate himself! A brute like that, he could never be satisfied with just a few loving wives! He needs a sex slave to sate himself on!"

"Does it bother you, how he treated you? It sounded like he was really rough, listening to Bitch talk about it."

Darkness's thighs actually rubbed together at that, and given she was naked... well, my eyes briefly wandered down there before returning to her face. "No! No, it's all I could ever have wanted! I'm going to be a pack mule, he said that, by the way!" There was an excitement to her voice, a flush to her cheeks. "He summoned me all the way from another world, just to treat me like a gofer! Ahhh, all my noble blood doesn't matter any longer here, my father and family could never intervene to free me~!" She was actually rubbing her thighs together quite a lot now, to the point that it probably verged on masturbation. "I'm basically a servant, oh, even lower than a servant, a slave... hopefully he punishes me lots and lots..."

I just patted her head gently at that point, her blue eyes snapping up to me in confusion. "I'm just happy that you're happy, Darkness," I told her.

"Um... thanks," she said, not realizing that I was the man she was talking about.

"Would you mind using my thighs as a lap pillow, while you tell me what you hope Master does to you next?"

"Ah! We hardly know each other, though..." Darkness said, her cheeks lighting up in embarrassment at the sudden suggestion of intimacy.

"We're all goshujinsama's slaves," Julia offered, which seemed to be enough for Darkness, and soon enough, she was in my lap, nude, excitedly babbling about how she hoped I would rape her asshole, how she wanted my cock in her pussy but she wasn't sure about pregnancy because if she got pregnant, what if I became less interested in her, or what if I had to be less rough for the baby, or...

Well. It's Darkness. Her fetishes were marginally more vanilla than Julia's, but she was far, far less rational about them. I think at some point in there she started fantasizing about being turned into a human cow and used for milk, though maybe that was some other time. I found that pretending to be a co-slave and letting her unload on me was a very nice way to decompress.

* * *

Tione woke up sluggishly, feeling like something was strangely off. She was in her bed, so what was so strange about that? Her brow knit as she contemplated the question.

There were hands around her waist, gently wrapped in place. She hoped they weren't Finn's. Which was different.

Oh. Oh. It was Drake. Her heart fluttered in her chest a little at that, her body gently shifting as she turned, expecting to see his cute sleeping face - but he was awake, apparently, meeting her eyes with his own. "Good morning, Tione," he said. "Well, it isn't morning," he added. "You slept for a couple hours after the sex."

It took her a couple seconds to remember the sex, and her cheeks heated up as she did. "Were you here the whole time?" She asked, and Drake nodded, making her smile a little - then she frowned. "Wait, don't you sleep weird?"

"Yeah," he agreed.

"So you were just lying there being bored?" She felt her heart flutter a bit.

"It's nice to cuddle with someone you like," he told her, leaning in to kiss her on the lips, and she felt her heart race even faster. He was so romantic and sweet!

Still... she would show him that she could be romantic and sweet too! Of course, right now, she didn't know how to do that... what sort of things did he like? She didn't know, other than having dozens of women-

Wait! He'd said she should suggest sucking Finn's dick! That meant he liked that stuff, right?! Yes! She had no idea how to do it, but she'd try her hardest for him! "Thank you for staying with me while I slept," she said, leaning in to kiss at his bare neck, starting to kiss along his chest. "You're so nice..." she said, reaching down for his cock.

It was nice in her hands. Warm. Thick. Real. It throbbed as her fingers slid along it, and her gaze was naturally drawn down to it, as it quickly grew hard. "You're horny, huh?" He asked, teasing her, a gentle smile on his lips.

She pouted at that. "I'm doing something nice," she said, kissing along his stomach. "Not horny." She said, as she arrived at his cockhead.

"Oh, I see." The words were exhaled, like a soft breath, his length twitching beneath her as she arrived at his cock, and she smiled at that response. "Thank you very much, Tione."

"You're welcome, Drake," she said, flicking her tongue against her lips. She then wrapped her lips around the very tip. She'd never done this sort of thing before, obviously, but she was going to do her best. She suckled on the tip, her cheeks hollowing, and she flicked her gaze up to him, staring at him as she kept the tip of his cock in her mouth.

He was softly running his hand through her hair, smiling down at her as she sucked him off. She felt her heart race all the faster at that response, the gentle affection he was showering her with serving to make her cheeks burn. She smiled around his dick, as she started to lick and flick at the very tip, trying her best to really pleasure him that way, and he just sighed, relaxing on the bed, just settling in.

Settling in in a way that said he didn't expect that to make him come any time soon.

She would have pouted in annoyance if there wasn't a dick in her mouth - as it was, she started to push her mouth down his length, sliding her tongue along the underside of his cock, making him groan in pleasure as she rapidly pushed her way down his dick. She hit her gag reflex in short order, making him jerk in response, her own eyes staring to tear up.

She wasn't going to be stopped here, though. Those other girls of his might have more experience, but she knew that he'd like to get his whole cock in her mouth! She closed her eyes, furrowed her brow, and just pushed, gagging wetly on the tip of his cock, her body twitching, her throat spasming quietly, her hands moving to grip him by the hips to help her get that little bit deeper inside her throat. He got more excited at that, his fingers digging into her scalp, his hips pushing up into her mouth. "Ohhh, that's nice, Tione," he told her, his voice sweet as his thighs wobbled. "But, ahh, you'll do better if you relax," he instructed her.

She felt herself get a little angry - she knew how he knew that - but she did her best to obey, trying to relax and calm down, at least her throat, keeping her eyes shut as she pushed herself down in what should have been a smooth motion.

Her body twitched in response to the forceful pressure, her throat spasming around his cock, but she pressed herself down anyway, growling in her throat - which prompted him to let out a lewd groan of pleasure, casting his head back. She paused in her work to force his cock down her throat - though she kept spasming around it - and opened her eyes up, looking up at him.

By the look on his face... he had definitely enjoyed her growling around his cock. So she tried again, making him groan and pump his hips futilely at her face. She gagged from the forceful thrust, of course, but it just made her more excited to try to make him feel even better. She started licking at his cock again, and tried humming around his length, which also made him groan in pleasure.

Even if she couldn't (yet! She'd do it soon!) take him all the way to the base, she could certainly make noises with her throat, which apparently made things really good for him. She slurped noisily around his cock, humming on his length, making his cock throb in her throat, all sorts of noises of pleasure escaping his throat, his face contorting through various expressions as she continued trying to grind herself down his cock, her gag reflex pissing her off as it continued to prevent her from doing the thing she wanted to do most in the world right now: get his cock down her throat.

She peeled back at that point, popping off, stroking his length, smearing her own spit around as she stared up at him for the moment and caught her breath. "It's fi-" he started, but she interrupted that by just slamming her face down his cock as hard as she could, ramming herself with impassioned force, his cock lodging itself ever deeper down her throat in the process. He grunted, and she choked and gagged, licking and lapping, trying to hum and moan and growl around his dick once more, straining against her gag reflex to get his dick further down. She'd show him! It wasn't 'fine!' Those other girls definitely took him to the base all the time, she wasn't going to lose to them!

Tears were streaming down her cheeks, but her expression was fierce, as she pleasured him, choked on his cock, ground herself down - and then, at last, his cock slipped its way all the way into her throat, her nose mashing into his pelvis. She felt a surge of pride, as she choked herself on his dick. Those other girls probably couldn't manage this on their first try! She was mashed into his pelvis, choking on his cock, humming and growling around his dick, staring up at him through teary eyes, silently proclaiming she'd done great!

"Oh, fuck," he breathed out. "There's something I probably should have done earlier..." Then he started to babble something in some weird language she didn't recognize, and she just listened to it. It was almost hypnotic, as she held herself down there, smacking her lips and tongue around the base of his cock. It didn't matter how long she held herself down there. She had the Diving development ability, after all, and combined with her falna, she could hold her breath for a very long time. Something she was going to use to prove herself.

He finished his little litany, and then spoke up. "You can say whatever you're feeling now, Tione, and I'll be able to understand you."

"That doesn't sound right," she tried to say, though all that came out was "guh gah gkkk" and variations on that.

"Well, it works," Drake replied to her, softly running his fingers through her hair. "Are you enjoying staying so far down my cock? You've been down there a full minute."

"I have high lung capacity," she replied. "Plus I want to show you what I can do that those other girls can't." She stared up at him, his cock pulsing in her throat in response to her show of competitive desire, and she started humming around his cock again. "You like this? You like when I hum on your cock? What about when I growl around it?" She growled at the end of that last sentence, to emphasize the point, and he spasmed in ecstasy, his balls slapping against her chin as she worked him over like that.

Part of her didn't want to pull back just because she wanted to get him off and to show off - but also, she wasn't sure she could get it all back in her throat. After all, this was her first time, ever, deepthroating a cock, and she was gagging quite hard, tears streaking down her cheeks, her hands occasionally coming up to her face to clear them away. He just sighed, tilting his head back again, clearly relishing the experience. "I'm good, aren't I, Drake? Aren't I good? Aren't I, going to make you, have a happy ending, in my mouth?" She didn't like that nickname, because of where it came from (him having sex with another woman), but it was apparently a pretty good choice, because Drake's cock furiously throbbed. "Go ahead, give me your cum! I want it! Give it to me~e! Have a Happy Ending in my throat!"

At that point, Drake started to come, groaning as he did, hips bucking up against her face, hands both grasping her head, holding her down there as he furiously pumped at her mouth. He was going absolutely wild on her mouth, making drool slobber out of her mouth as she got roughly facefucked like that, and she loved it. She bet he didn't do this to Cass! She bet that Haruhime couldn't handle this! Those other girls were too weak, he was doing this with her because she was strong!

When he finally finished coming, he peeled her up and off his cock, his hands coming up to gently wipe her face clean, and once it was clean, he leaned into her, kissing her forcefully on the lips. As his tongue invaded her mouth, he let out some incoherent noises that she nevertheless understood: "Thank you very much, Tione. You're very sweet and kind. I'm happy you're my woman." Her heart beat extra hard at those words.

* * *

Cass sat perched on the edge of a building, her breath shallow as she stared out over Daedalus Street again. Her leg had healed up nicely, only pinprick scars left by the monster's knife-teeth. She glanced over towards the Twilight Manor once again - she'd heard a wall get shattered, there, but since then, nothing. It would be fine. Drake and the others could handle it without her. She needed to be here, over Daedalus Street. Getting bitten had put her out of commission too long. Too many people down there were not as afraid as they had been.

Then she felt the presence of someone - not with her eyes, or her ears, but in the way her Skill dampened. Her fingers moved that bit more sluggishly. Her head rotated, seeking out the observer in question with no blatant movement, but there was no one.

Very few people could escape her gaze like that.

"...Princess?" She breathed, her voice a whisper of quiet.

"No," came a female voice from behind her, and she started, bringing up her gauntleted hands. She recognized the woman in question immediately: Sandra Wu-San. Her mother. The woman had her katana in its sheath, and her hands were raised in willingness to avoid conflict, making Cass calm down. "It has been a tough time for you, lately."

There was one difference between Sandra now and Sandra before - the glass eye in her left eye socket. It was good. Perfect, even. But Cass could see that there was no ability to see anything behind it, in the subtle movements of Sandra's body. She spoke up. "What... is it?"

"What do you think it is, Cass?" Sandra asked.

"Not... love," Cass said, her eyes squinting behind her mask. "And... I'm... the Bat... now."

"Mm," Sandra agreed, sitting down amicably, gesturing across from her, wanting Cass to sit. "Bat. I've only ever had one child. You. You've done well, without me."

Cass just stared quietly. "You didn't... mean... to kill me."

"If I did, you would be dead, Bat," Sandra said. It was the truth. "You know that, don't you?"

"...why?"

"That's a bit too vague, Bat. You'll have to be more specific."

"Why did... you not..." Cass drew a hand towards her chest. "Why weren't... you there..."

"Ah. Why didn't I act as your mother? I was a lot weaker then. A mere Level Two, a neophyte in the Sekhmet familia. David - your father - stole a man I was to kill. Stole as in, killed him himself," she clarified, though Cass could tell that before she did so. "I think... I think he was looking for me, if I'm being entirely honest. Or, if not me, some other youthful assassin in the Sekhmet familia. He was very strong back then; a Five, I now know, though I couldn't tell a Four from a Six at the time. When you're as weak as I was then, it's hard to see the difference. He told me what he wanted from me: a child."

Drake would have said... that sounded like rape. But the way Sandra spoke... she didn't think of it that way. "Why? Why did you... go along with it?"

"Power. Not that I was afraid of his. But that I wanted my own. The Sekhmet familia doesn't operate in Orario. That makes it hard for us to Level. But with a man like David Cain?" She shrugged. "He could track down powerful monsters and drag them to me to fight and kill. If things went wrong - and, at times, they did - he could save me. I was halfway to Level Four before I had you."

"Then..."

"Then it was over. Our relationship had only ever been business. You were that business, on his end; I'd have liked to have kept you in longer, of course, but that was it. I did worry if he understood that infants need breastmilk, but you seem fine."

"Why did you never... try to find me?"

"I had other concerns."

"He... he..." Cass tried to speak.

"Beat you? Stabbed you? Shot you? When you were unconscious, I saw. The scars laced across your body aren't from monsters. I hope I didn't add a fresh one."

"You're not... sorry."

"You're strong, Bat. Very strong. A Level Six, now. I suspect if we fought again, we wouldn't be so mismatched." There was a playful smile on her lips - she'd like that fight. "I don't pretend to understand why you care about these people," she said, with a flourish of the hand out towards Daedalus Street. "But you do." Her gaze went back to Cass. "Would you have been so strong, without David? Could you protect them, without that? Those of us with a falna... we're hardened by violence in a way no mortal ever could be. Bones become iron, skin like steel. In old, old stories, from before the Dungeon and the Orgia, it wasn't that way. But things are different now."

"I'm not... strong because... of him," Cass protested.

Sandra placed one hand behind her back. "How many fingers am I holding up, Bat?" Three: index, middle, pinky, with the thumb holding down the ring. The muscles responsible for the fingers stretch back along the arm, and can be identified from slight movements of the shoulder... at least to Cass's eyes. She didn't speak, but Sandra could tell she knew, even without speaking. "Did you learn that all on your own?"

"He... told you... what he planned..."

Sandra nodded. "Do you want to kill me for that?"

"I don't... want to kill... anyone..."

"You don't get that from us, I can tell you that," Sandra said, with a smile. "Your husband... you love him?"

"Yes."

"Does he treat you well?"

"Very."

There was the thinnest trace of motherly love in Sandra's gaze, at those words, and she rose to her feet, looking at Cass with her good eye. "Live a long, and happy life, Cass. Live one that's better than mine in every way." She was ready to leave.

"I can't... let you go," Cass said.

"You don't mean that you want to give me presents for Mother's Day, either," Sandra said, tilting her head to one side, then the other. Readying herself for a fight. "Good." There was something in her body language - a readiness to die, and not simply that of a warrior. Of a woman who was old, who was tired, who was looking for a final escape.

"Would you... really have... killed them?"

"The people down there?" Sandra asked, as if confused by the question. "Yes." She was telling the truth.

"Okay."

Sandra sliced forward, drawing the katana and making a strike with it in a single smooth movement, stepping towards Cass. Cass slipped under the strike, one hand on her hip, flicking free a smoke pellet as she aimed for a low kick. Sandra leapt over it, timing the movement so perfectly she might as well have been jumping rope. She readied for another slice, and Cass moved to dodge, predicting how it would lash out at her.

At that point, the smoke had expanded enough to fill the air around them, and Cass's speed greatly enhanced. There was no sound of the katana slicing through the space she once had been, and Cass swept around behind her mother, who was already wheeling around, their footsteps all they could identify of one another.

By experience, she knew that in an open space like this, the smoke would last a very short amount of time. A momentary advantage. Sandra was facing her, and she had the katana in her right hand, likely drawn up in a defensive posture, which would mean it was right... her hand swept through the air, and caught the katana in it. She tried to squeeze, to take advantage of the sheer durability of the gauntlets that Syr had given her, all those months ago.

"Good grab," was Sandra's response, "but you won't break this katana any time soon." She felt the way that Sandra's body language shifted through the katana, as her legs and upper body twisted, as her hips readied for a strike, and she ducked low - only to find that the attack was actually going downward, right towards where her face was now. She managed to lean into the blow, but the sheer force of the strike shattered her wooden mask, sending splinters of wood out and in seemingly every direction. That same force also swept away the smoke enough that she could see her mother.

Her expression was cold, but admiring. "I'm glad that David trained you well," she said, twisting her hips around, both of them refusing to let go of the katana, in the process keeping them in close range to one another. "Is Rei watching?"

"I... don't think... so," Cass replied, and Sandra nodded, then swept out with a kick at her stomach. Cass leapt over it, having to flip up into the air, dragging the katana along with her to ensure her mother lacked the right positioning to make another strike while she lacked the ability to fully control her body - then she hit the ground again, a thumping clomp of a noise seeming to echo in her ears as she stared at her mother. Her mother stared back, expression having a sort of callous disregard to it, as if even this fight didn't matter to her one way or the other. As if her death didn't matter to her. "Why... are you fighting?"

"Why are you?" Sandra asked, hand snapping out towards Cass's throat, forcing her to duck low, and she shoulder checked her a moment later, landing one armored pauldron into her sternum, earning a hiss as breath escaped her, forcing her back. "Good one," she breathed. "You started this fight," she reminded.

"You knew..." Cass said.

"Sekhmet promised to protect me in the hereafter," Sandra said. "After I killed Enyo."

"You want... to die," Cass said.

"I want a warrior's death. If you can't give it to me-" she twisted her wrist, sending Cass to one side, as her own grip on the sword forced her to follow the movement, "-then you can't."

Cass gripped the sword with both hands, straining to drag it away from Sandra, and the woman in question just snorted, letting her body follow the resulting flow of momentum - but the whole movement had been for that purpose, and a moment later, Cass had managed a lightning fast punch on Sandra's throat, making her gasp in pain loudly at the surprise attack, gagging and stumbling as she struggled to breathe. "Okay," Cass said, managing to yank the sword out of Sandra's hands at that point, sending it clattering across the rooftop. A moment later, Cass landed a lightning fast kick at her calf, sending her to one knee, and Sandra stared up at her, disbelieving. "You really... would have... killed..."

"I- kuh kuhf- would have - kuhn kak - made it, run red, with blood." Sandra replied. She wanted to die.

"Close... your eyes," Cass said. Sandra did exactly that.

"Thank you-khhh!" Cass was behind her already, her arm wrapped in a carotid restraint. For a few seconds, realizing that Cass had no intention of killing her, Sandra desperately struggled, but she lacked a good position or good leverage, and ultimately the blood choke took its effect shortly, her body going limp in Cass's arms.

"You need... help..." Cass said, her voice soft.

* * *

As she woke up, Sandra snapped out with one hand, but she felt her arm scream in agony as she strained against an incredibly powerful piece of metal, chains too strong to be broken. She shuddered as she was jerked back against it just by the recoil from her own forceful strike, collapsing back against the wall. She was cuffed to a wall. Adamantine, or better, something she couldn't break, given how that had provoked a response from her. The manacles were smooth, lacking any apparent locking mechanisms, the chains short enough and spread far enough apart that she couldn't touch one with the other hand. She looked up at that point.

She was in a cell.

She was in a prison cell.

She let out a laugh - involuntarily, more than anything else. An absurdity. How many people had she killed? Yet, Cass had her utterly at her mercy, and chose to do this instead.

"She really doesn't take after me," she said to herself, as she awaited whoever Cass had handed her over to.

Next Chapter