The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Fate gestured idly with her left hand, and the waters of the well of Undrbrunnr shimmered and cleared. “And so, as you can see,” the deity spoke in her young child voice, “events continue as the situation deteriorates. The time has come for a decision to be made concerning the future of your world.”

“But, wait,” Lacie protested. “There’s still time. And there’s still a chance that Jimmy or Sioban can find a way to stop Katie. If the outcome is still not set in stone, then you have to give us a chance to intervene and help them!”

Fate merely shook her head. “No. That, I’m afraid, is impossible. All of you here in this place, you are here to play out your own assigned roles. The only ones who can intervene are the designated children of Destiny.” She turned then to stare at Angela. “There is, however, one more such Destined One among you who has yet to play her part—You, Angela Prentiss.”

Angela blinked, blushing heatedly as everyone turned to stare at her. “W... wait. What?” she asked, utterly confused. “Me? How the hel... er, heck, am I relevant to what’s going on right now? I’m not a Norn. I’m not even a Tearbearer anymore. I have no super powers. What can I possibly do to stop Armageddon from happening!?!”

Fate smiled. “Remember what I said earlier. You, Lacie, and young Tawnya. I chose the three of you to play an important role in this. Lacie’s role was set earlier by the actions she took to save her husband’s life. Tawnya now fulfills her role in bringing back the third Sister to Yggdrasil, to help safeguard the Great Weave during this trial—” She gestured to the side just as Tawnya, Nadira, and Devon appeared in the center of the clearing. “—which she has done splendidly. And that, my dear Miss Prentiss, brings us to your role. Perhaps the most important role. You, little one... have been chosen to be the Arbiter of Fate.”

A loud collective gasp sprang up from the assembled Nornir, including Lacie. “What? What does that mean?” Angela asked, a feeling of dread settling over her.

“It means,” Lacie said, going extremely pale, “that you will effectively be acting as judge, jury, and executioner for all of humanity in this affair.”

“Close,” Fate replied sardonically, walking closer to the pair. “She will be the judge and jury. I shall be playing the part of executioner.”

“Basically, Fate cannot, or rather, will not, act without the judgment of an impartial representative of the current affair being judged,” Vurda explained wearily, stepping forward as well. “As Arbiter, your role will be to decide whether or not Mistress Destiny should personally intervene in the current conflict to resolve the matter and avoid what could potentially be a catastrophic occurrence.”

Angela frowned slightly. “Really? That’s it? You just need me to officially say, ‘Yes, please, go stop the end of the world from happening’? It can’t be that simple. So... what’s the catch?”

“The ‘catch’ as you put it,” Fate remarked, “is that I will act in the way that best resolves the situation. In short, if you decide my intervention is needed, then I will remove the problem completely. I will erase Katherine Anne Frasier, and her brother, James, from existence, and alter the timeline so that neither of them ever existed in ANY reality—”

“What? NO! You can’t!” Lacie yelled, frantic. “My children! Both? And why Jimmy? He’s trying to stop this from happening!”

“The two are connected,” Fate explained with another human sounding sigh. “They are, for lack of a better analogy, two parts of the same whole. One cannot exist without the other. Besides, in another reality, this same conflict is occurring with James as the antagonist, with his sister Katherine, trying to stop him. The only sure and absolute way to ensure than this does not happen in ANY reality is to remove them both from existence.”

“No! You can’t be serious!” Devon protested, having overheard the conversation as well. “Jimmy’s trying to HELP! All he ever does is try to help people! You can’t punish him along with his sister!”

“Yeah!” Tawnya chimed in. “And besides... Katie’s doesn’t deserve to be erased, either! Everything that’s happened, everything she’s doing—this isn’t her! I’m telling you... I know the girl. And the Katie that I know, that I became friends with, would have rather died than put helpless innocents at risk!”

“You are quite correct,” Fate replied with a nod, causing everyone to glance her way once again. “Young Katherine is, in truth, as much a victim in this affair as the ones she has enslaved. Another consciousness now controls her actions. The entity calling itself ‘Supernova’ is in fact a conglomeration, a melding of the bits and pieces of the psychic traumas she’s endured over the past several weeks, starting from the incident that occurred when her cousin, the young LaSilvas girl came to visit.”

“Sylvia?” Lacie replied, frowning slightly. “But how would that account for...” Suddenly, she gasped, slapping her forehead light as the missing pieces slid into place. “Ink! Quillspawn. Goddess Bless... psychic trauma... as in an ‘empathic shadow. Before her Light manifested, Sarah always used to talk about that, how Mystic would have to go over her head with a fine tooth comb, otherwise she’d get hit with lingering memories, visions, and echoing voices in her head. I remember now... and the week that Eva was scheduled to work with Katie, there was that whole incident with Sweet Tooth.”

“True,” Fate remarked somberly. “So, now you know. Young Katherine is not fully in control of her actions. And yet, in the end result it matters not. She must be stopped or she WILL bring about the end of everything you know and love.” She turned to face Angela once more. “And that, Miss Prentiss, is why you have been chosen. You are close to the ones involved. While you have emotional ties to everyone involved, they are not your family. There is no blood tie, so you have a degree of separation, to be objective in your decision. You wore the mantle of the hero for a time, so you understand exactly what is at stake. And finally, you are first and foremost a scientist, a logical and rational mind. When all is said and done, you are able to put aside all considerations and do what is best for everyone.”

Angela stood silently, taking a moment to process the entity’s words. It made a lot of good points. She sure as hell didn’t want to die, or for the world to be destroyed. And yet... could she really condemn such a fate to Jimmy and Katie, two youngsters that she personally loved, for something that was completely out of their control? And... I know how Sioban feels about Katie. She loves that girl so deeply... could I really take her away from her before they even have a chance to express their love for each other?

She sighed heavily, shaking her head. Great. Just great. Classic head-versus-heart here. What do I do? I was chosen because I have the ability to weigh the choices objectively... but is that even the right thing to do? How can you be objective about weighing the value of human life? And... it would be one thing if Katie had simply gone mad and was doing this for vengeance against the world for what happened to Jessica... but now we learn that its not some kind of psychotic break, that she herself is just a brainwashed puppet controlled by some kind of empathic shadow, or whatever... that she’s not even in control of what she’s doing! How do I make a decision based on this? How can I even decide at all?

“Angie, please!” Lacie pleaded, snapping her out of her introspection, “you can’t do this! You can’t let her kill Katie and Jimmy this way. There has to be some other way... some other choice!”

“There is not,” Vurda replied grimly. “Fate spoke truly. There are only three possible outcomes here, child. One, that we do nothing, let the events play out as they shall, and trust that somehow, against the odds, young James and your friend Sioban manage to stop Katherine. Two, that we do nothing, let the events play out, and suffer the consequences when young James and Sioban fail, causing the barriers between reality to come crashing down. And Three... you choose to act, let Fate intervene, and save the entire world at the expense of two lives.”

“But it’s not that simple,” Tawnya interjected angrily. “Not to belittle the values of other people’s lives or anything, but you’re talking about killing two heroes, two people that have given their lives to try and make the world a better place! We should be trying to HELP them! Fuck the rules, how about this group of Goddesses get off their collective ASSES and try SAVING a life for a change instead of casually discarding them—”

“That is not fair, Miss Parkinson,” Isabella protested. “Do you think any of us WANT this to happen? Young Katherine and James are Sister Lacie’s children! They are related to all of us by blood! They’re our kin! None of us want anything to happen to them!”

“Nevertheless,” Fate intoned, causing everyone to go silent, “things are as they are. A choice must be made, and only the Arbiter can make that decision.”

Angela sighed heavily, shaking her head, considering. “And... when must I decide?” she asked after a moment. At the entity’s blank look, she clarified. “Things are still happening at this very moment, right? I want to at least give Jimmy and Sioban the chance to bring things to a satisfactory conclusion if I can. If... if you are forced to step in and intervene, I don’t want that to happen until the last possible moment. So... how long until I absolutely, positively, have to decide?”

Sighing softly herself, Fate stepped back towards the well, and waved her hand, causing the waters to swirl once more. “I will let you know when that times comes. In the meantime, I believe we should continue to watch events unfold.” She managed something akin to a smile. “Perhaps my intervention will not be required after all.”

Venus Satore let out a small sigh as the elevator doors opened, and she stepped out onto the landing at the roof of Grimalde Towers. In truth, despite her loyal servant’s assurance that the way above was clear, she’d still expected some kind of trap. After all the elaborate setups and trickery used to get her here, having the final leg of the journey be completely peril free seemed almost anticlimactic. Still, far be it for me to look a gift horse in the mouth, Venus thought to herself as she stepped forward. The sooner I deal with this Frasier brat once and for all, the sooner I can turn my attention back to dealing with Albinn and spreading my influence throughout this city—

“SATORE!” a familiar male voice yelled out, causing her to whirl around. “Venus Satore! I’ve finally found you!”

Eyes wide in surprise, the reincarnated Goddess glanced about in alarm, convinced that her adversary was nearby, perhaps cloaked and invisible, hidden from her sight. In fact, it took several seconds for her to notice the flicker of motion on her right side, a streak of bright red zipping back and forth across the roof of a nearby building. Her eyes narrowed as the red streak suddenly shot forth, resolving itself into the form of a man in a bright red costume, moving at superhuman speeds, literally running across the air to bridge the gap between building, before skidding to a stop just a few feet in front of her.

“Parker Albinn,” she spat bitterly, assuming a defensive battle stance. “You always were one for making a flashy entrance.” She nodded briefly to his costume. “Back in the old costume again, I see. As I seem to recall, your super hero persona was a bit less colorful these days. But the helmet... that looks new.”

“It is,” Parker’s digitized voice spoke from behind the visor covering his face. “A little something left over from the now defunct Frasier Industries R&D department. As for the tights... it just seemed appropriate. You were the last super villain I faced as Super Sonic. Hell, that encounter pretty much retired him.” He held up a fist which began to vibrate violently with sonic energy. “And now that you’re back, I thought I’d return the favor and retire YOU instead.”

Far from being afraid, Satore merely smirked. “My my... someone’s gone bloodthirsty in a big way. You, with your sonic power and super speed, against me, a delicate little flower with no way to defend myself whatsoever—”

“Hah! Pull the other one,” Parker chuckled dryly. “You’re about a defenseless as a rattlesnake high on PCP. But you do have a point. You can forget the long looks you’re sending my way. This helmet is packed with a few special features... such as the distorted image filters, that give me only a graphical representation of you instead of showing me your actual face. No hypnotic gaze for you, ‘goddess’.” At Venus’s scowl, he added, “You can also forget trying to seduce me with your scent, those exotic pheromones you give off. The helmet filters them out as well. Oh, and last but not least, it’s bulletproof!”

“Well well... aren’t you clever,” Venus groused. “Fine. I can’t enthrall you. So... what now? You’re going to thrust a vibrating hand into the middle of my chest and crush my heart in your bare hands? That should really improve your reputation as a hero.”

“Huh, that’s funny, coming from you! A would-be murderer! You SHOT me. In the HEAD!” he growled. “Which always struck me as vindictive, plain and simple! Why would a ‘so-called’ goddess with the ability to entrance a person with a glance need a fucking gun anyway?”

“I can give credit where it’s due as well,” Venus replied with a shrug. ”You took out the most powerful Supers under my control singlehandedly, without any backup. I wasn’t about to take any chances.” She sighed. “But that’s all ancient history. We both lived. We moved on. And yet, here we are again, about to fight tooth and nail, to the death...”

“You threatened my goddamn family!” Parker yelled back, stomping his way towards her, anger rolling off him in waves. “You broke the bond between me and my wife... and you threatened my daughter. MY SEVEN YEAR OLD DAUGHTER!” The red clad hero was so full of barely contained fury his vibrations were beginning to crack the concrete at his feet. “You put their lives in danger, Satore,” he growled, “so yeah, I have no problem with ridding the world of your foul diseased presence once and for all. Hmph. Don’t care if they arrest me for it. Hell, they can give me the electric chair—it would be worth it!”

“Oh, now, Parker,” Venus replied, shaking a finger at him. “No need to be so dramatic. Your loved ones were never in any REAL danger.” At his skeptical look, she shrugged. “Fine. Think about me whatever you want, Albinn. Everything I did was to rattle you, to scare you, to make you suffer. But I would never harm an innocent young child. On my honor as a divine, I would have laid down my own life rather than harm a single hair on your dear Lucy’s head.” Sighing, she shook her head. “As for your wife... again, I have no actual quarrel with her. My problem rests solely with you. You benefited from the use of my power in healing your beloved Veronica. I merely removed that benefit by taking back what was mine!”

Parker stopped, hesitating. Strange as it might be, he believed her. “Fine. So you’re a terrible, horrible waste of a human being with a slight drop of decency in you. It still doesn’t excuse all the shit you’ve pulled over the past years! And I’m not going to let you get out of this unscathed.” He took a step forward again. “I’m going to end the threat you represent to this city, to the world, with my own bare hands.”

Suddenly Venus’ smile returned. “Really? With your ‘bare hands’? That sounds like an interesting challenge. But... are you man enough to actually follow through with it?”

“What?” Parker asked, confused.

“Fight me with your bare hands,” Venus replied. “No powers. No gimmicks. No special gadgets. If you are so hell bent on taking your revenge, then take it the old fashioned way—with your fists.” She assumed a martial arts stance. “Unless of course, you’re afraid to face me on equal terms.”

Parker stared at her for a moment before breaking out into laughter. “Really? REALLY? You want to fight me straight up, with no tricks?” he asked dubiously. “Meh. Fine with me.” He assumed an offensive forward stance, bringing his hands up. “Personally, I think it would have been more merciful for me to end this quickly, and cleanly... but if this is how you want it—”

And then expelled loudly as his opponent suddenly pivoted on the balls of her left foot, bringing the right one up to a sharp standing side kick to the middle of his gut. Satore hopped back lightly, smirking, foot still raised, making a show of her perfect balance before bringing it back down and resuming her earlier stance. Parker, gasping, staggered back, rocked by the suddenness and force of the blow, gaped at her. “Wh... how... where did y...” he tried to ask.

“Learn to fight?” she answered smugly. “Albinn, I’ll have you know MY people had perfected the art of combat, and were fighting wars and battles when your little wife’s people were still struggling with the concept! Besides which, in my various lifetimes, I’ve forgotten more about fighting than you could ever hope to learn.” She grinned, chuckling inwardly. It also didn’t hurt that her goddess powers granted her human form the peak level strength, speed, and stamina of an Olympic level athlete. Certainly not superhuman levels, not nearly a match for a true Super, but combined with her fighting prowess, it would be enough to hold her own with her opponent.

Scowling back at her, Parker was sorely tempted to knock that smirk off her face with a point blank sonic blast. But no... I’m not going to give her the satisfaction. She wants to fight me on equal terms? Fine with me. I’ve wanted to get my hands on her like this for years. And though I’d usually hold back from hitting a lady, I figured out long ago that this bitch is NO lady!

Taking a moment to center himself, he shifted to a slightly different stance, twisting lightly to the side. “Okay. I’ll give you that one. Round one to you.” He cracked his knuckles loudly. “But this fight is just getting started. As my nephew likes to say in times like this, let’s see what you’re made of. C’mon, bitch... Bring it!”

“You look just like her.”

Devon turned to find Lacie Frasier staring at her sidelong. She blushed slightly, finding herself on the receiving end of the mother of her boyfriend’s gaze. “Um, sorry, what did you say?”

“I said you look just like her,” Lacie said quietly, stepping towards her. “It’s uncanny, really.”

“You mean Skuld?”

Lacie blinked, then chuckled softly. “Well, yes, of course, That goes without saying. You are her, reincarnated, after all, it’s only natural. But, no, I meant someone else... a Sister I had not seen in a very long time.” She sighed softly. “Her name was Gertruda. She was quite a bit younger than you are now... but you look just like her.” She smiled. “She was very dear to me. If not for her, I might have never left Yggdrasil that first time, and never had Katie and Jimmy. She promised that we’d see each other again someday soon, but after I went back to River City, she...” Another soft sigh. “We Nornir are virtually immortal. Unless something happens to cause enough damage to kill us outright, we will live an eternity. Of course, immortality isn’t all its cracked up to be. A person can only endure existence for so long before it wears on your very soul. Shortly after I left Home for the first time, Gertruda cast away her immortality and merged with the World Tree.”

“Wait. What?” Devon asked, frowning. “She... merged with the tree?” Her frown deepened. As weird as it sounded, something about that seemed strangely familiar. Was that from... another dream I had? Well, duh, I guess now that they weren’t really dreams after all, they were visions... but still. Gertruda. Fanis. Bellissa. Renata. And other names... They were me. Or rather, I was them...

“Here,” a soft voice spoke, bringing her out of her inner monologue. Devon glanced down to find little Nadira holding a gleaming silver chalice. “This is water from Undrbrunnr. Drinking it will purify your mind, body, and soul, and allow you to reclaim the part of you that you lost.” Devon, reaching for the cup, paused at that, hand drawing back a bit. “Do not be afraid,” Nadira said serenely. This will change you, yes... but learning who you used to be will not change who you are. You will lose nothing of the person you are now. You will simply be... more.”

“I’ll be ‘more’?” Devon replied with a sigh, shaking her head. “What does that even mean?” She stared at the cup dubiously, all the stories from the media about cults and indoctrinations swirling around in her head. She nearly squeaked when Lacie’s hand gently gripped her shoulder.

“It’s okay, Devon,” she said gently. “Believe me, I’ve been where you are now. I know exactly how you’re feeling. But you can trust us. You’re our Sister, our kin. We only want to help you. Even more... I want to help you. I need your help. If this whole mess is going to end well, we’re going to need everyone working together. Besides,” she said with a smirk, “I’d like the chance to get to know the girl that captured my son’s heart.”

Blushing furiously at that, Devon took a deep sigh. Well... she has a point. And... maybe if I do this then maybe I can find a way to help Jimmy somehow. Nodding to herself, she took the goblet from the young girl and, after a brief hesitation, drank from it deeply...

Parker took a moment to wipe the blood from his bottom lip. He was fairly sure that he’d cracked a rib, and his dentist was going to have a field day about his teeth. Worse yet, the few hits he’d managed to land on Satore had been glancing blows at best. And I’ve yet to wipe that dammed smirk off her face, he lamented silently. As much as it hurts me to admit it, she’s actually pretty good. If I used my speed, it would be no contest... but goddammit I promised a fair fight. He spit a gob of blood out onto the roof, and wiped his mouth again, pushing the helmet’s visor back down. I know I could take her... but I can’t get a handle on her damned fighting style. It’s like she keeps changing it up with every attack. Just when I think I know what she’s doing, she does something completely unexpected!

“What’s wrong, Albinn?” she replied, taunting him. “Why so quiet? As I recall, you usually like to banter with your opponents, like to drive them crazy with your so-called ‘rapier wit’.” She shifted slightly, closing the distance between them. “Not quite so talkative now, though, are you?”

Parker forced a grin onto his face, raising his fists. “What can I say? I’m not in a humorous mood. Unlike you, I’m actually taking things seriously. Anyway, I’ll give credit where credit’s due. You’re not a bad fighter. A bit rough around the edges, but not bad.” His grin turned wicked. “But I think we both know that if we were using our powers, this battle would have been over if a few seconds.”

Venus chuckled, taking a half step back before lashing out with a sudden roundhouse kick, narrowly missing Parker’s head. “True enough. Just not in the way you think. A word or two from me and you’d have been kneeling at my feet, begging to serve me.”

“Yeah, uhhnn... keep telling your, aahhh,” he yelped, stumbling back, dodging a strike after his own punch missed, “yourself that!” Dammit! May have bitten off more than I could chew here. I need to come up with some kind of strategy here, a way to knock her off her game plan... as well as her high horse.

Satore chuckled again before dropping her stance. “Poor poor Parker! Outmatched and overwhelmed. It must be so hard for you without your powers to lean on as a crutch. Well fine. I’m in a sporting mood.” She closed her eyes and stretched out her hands. “Here you go. One free shot. Blast me with one of your sonic attacks. Zip by at mach 2 and deliver a haymaker. Go ahead. I won’t stop you. You said you could end this in a second or two? Go ahead. Try it and see!”

Parker scowled. What the hell is she playing at now? “Don’t tempt me,” he growled, fists clenched. “As pissed off as I am right now, I wouldn’t be pulling any punches!”

“Oh, I’m quite aware,” she remarked imperiously. “Go ahead. I’m not afraid. Do your worst!”

“Fine! You asked for this!” Parker roared, thrusting his hands forth, channeling all his sonic energy—

Or rather, attempted to do so. Stunned, he again aimed a hand towards the vulnerable, unshielded Venus, only to have nothing happen. His body positively thrummed with sonic energy—his powers just refused to release. His eyes narrowed. “What did you do, Satore?”

“Why, I did exactly what I stated in the beginning,” she said smugly, assuming her earlier fighting stance once more. “I made it so that you would have to play fair in this little show down. Remember my words? ‘Fight me with your bare hands. No powers. No gimmicks. No special gadgets.’” She laughed aloud. “I used my command voice to make that more than just a simple suggestion. You might be resistant to my charms, and protected against my gaze, but my Voice still packs quite a punch.”

“No! That’s impossible!” Parker protested. “This helmet! It has audio filtering—”

“You bombastic simpleton!” Satore taunted, eyes narrowed. “Don’t you realize by now that I know you better than you know yourself? Your powers, idiot... you’re a sound siphon and amplifier. You power up by feeding off on ambient sounds in the area, your body soaking them up like a damned sponge, to store and channel it as you see fit. In other words, your body absorbed my words! Audio filter or not, you didn’t HAVE to hear my words clearly to be affected by my Voice.”

Fuck! She’s right! Parker realized grimly. I protected my ears, my eyes, and my other senses, but I didn’t even consider that aspect. She fucking used my own power against me! Fuck! I’m in trouble here now... she could literally end this anytime she wanted with just a few words!

“You’re probably wondering why I’m even bothering to fight you this way,” Venus replied casually, rushing forward, leaping up to unleash a snap kick to Parker’s face, only to back flip as he dodged, landing in a handstand, and performing a series of kicks, catching him off guard once again. Flipping back up onto her feet, she laughed. “Truth be told, I’ve been wanting this for ages! All that time I was punishing your poor dear beloved Patty, beating and whipping her relentlessly, the one I truly wanted to beat on was YOU! I wanted nothing more than to slowly, leisurely, pound you into the fucking ground...” She punched, missed, swung, swung again, then dropped down, delivering a foot sweep before rolling back up onto her feet again as Parker fell onto his back.

“I wanted to see the look of panic, of pain, and despair on your face as I slowly crushed your spirit and body with my bare hands!” she crowed in triumph. “And only once I’d crushed you utterly and completely, THEN would I crush your mind as well! So relax and enjoy this Parker. You’ve got a long long night ahead of you!”

Rolling back onto his feet, Parker was pissed. Okay then. Fine. I was willing to fight fair, even with the deck stacked against me. But if that’s how this is going to go down, then I have no qualms about playing MY trump card!

Making a show of removing the helmet, Parker tossed it aside, cracking the vertebrae in his neck. “You know, Venus, you seem to have a whole lot of pent up aggression against me. You’d think, given the circumstances, that I would be the one with an axe to grind. I mean, you used me like your fucking puppet to enslave half the city’s Supers... and yeah, they were all so totally ecstatic about that once it was over! You fucking shot me in the side of the head and left me for dead. You screwed with my family. You tortured the girl I was in love with. You practically ruined my life!” Shaking his head, he forced a grin. “And what happened to you? You got to sit in a comfy pink Pretty Pretty Princess room and watch cartoons all day long!”

Satore, about to move in for another assault, paused, frowning. “You know nothing about how much I suffered, you fool,” she growled. “Do you have any idea what its like being trapped in the mind of a traumatized six year old? I never want to watch another damned cartoon again as long as I live!”

Parker’s smile turned wicked. “I’d imagine not. But... I bet all those stupid little cartoons got stuck inside your head, though. I should know. I used to sit at home with Lucy when she was younger, and she would insist on watching the same ones, over and over and over again.” He sighed, rolling his eyes. “And with channels like Cartoon Network and Boomerang, even old retro cartoons from my era were in syndication.” His grin widened. “In fact, I think I still remember a few. Ahem...‘We’re Tiny, we’re Tooney, we’re all a little looney—’”

“And in this cartooney, we’re invading your TV!” Venus replied, singing in a little girl voice before clapping a hand over her mouth in horror. “Gaaahh! St... stop that!” she yelled in outrage! “How DARE you—”

“‘Myyyyy little poooonyyyy,’” Parker sang out again, smugly.

“I used to wonder what friendship could be,” Venus sang again, before she could control herself. Parker burst out into laughter so hard he doubled over. “Goddamn you! Stop doing that!” she yelled, incensed.

Parker, with an effort, managed to control his hilarity. “You know, that last one was a calculated risk. While ‘Friendship is Magic’ seems like something little Venus would had watched, I seriously doubt you even comprehend the concept of ‘friendship’.” He assumed a fighting stance again. “But you know, as annoying as that was, it was nothing compared to the Disney cartoons. Now THOSE really get stuck in your head.”

Venus took a step back. “Don’t you dare!” she warned.

Parker charged at her, and Venus brought up her fists, but at the last second, he paused, and sang. “‘There’s a hundred and four days of summer vacation’...”

“And school comes along just to end it,” Venus sang out. “Oooof!” she yelped as Parker struck true, landing a blow to the gut that drove the breath from her lungs. The knee lift follow up knocked her off her feet. Growling, she leapt back to her feet and changed at him again.

“Under de sea! Under de sea!” Parker sang out loudly, dodging and weaving around her attacks.

“Everything’s better, down where it’s wetter, take it from me!” Venus burst out in song, her attack faltering in mid swing. “Aaaahhh!” she cried out, taking a sharp rap to the chin that spun her around, and a kick to the side that brought her to her knees. Panting, wiping the blood from her lips, she glared up at Parker, who merely stared down at her grinning. “Damn... you...” she panted.

“Not so much fun being on the receiving end, is it?” Parker taunted back. “So now what? I can do this all day. You, on the other hand, don’t seem to be holding up so well. No stamina. So... shall we bring this little farce to an end? I was thinking The Lion King would work well for a finale...”

Growling, glaring daggers at the man, Satore shook with rage. She was being taunted, humiliated, having her own weakness thrown back in her face and reminded of the torment she’d had to endure for so many years. It never even occurred to her to simply use her Voice, to command him to stop. No... she was so far beyond angry all she wanted to do was crush him with her bare hands, to wrap them around his throat and squeeze until his eyeballs burst out of his skull! As he opened his mouth once again, she acted, springing up from her crouch, grabbing him about the waist in a running tackle.

Parker, only a few feet from the edge of the roof, yelped in surprise, as they both toppled backwards, just managing to get an arm up and grab the edge of the roof, and Satore by the arm with his free hand. “Aaaahhh! Shit! You dumb bitch!” he growled with the strain on his arm. “Talk about a sore loser. Trying to kill us both?!?”

Venus, gasping, glancing down at the street far below, merely chuckled darkly. “Wasn’t... my intention to go over the edge... with you. But hey... it would be worth it ... to kill you in the process. After all, I’ll come back again in a few years... and you’ll still be dead!” Chuckling again, she nodded to herself, planting her feet against the side of the building, and pushed. “Come on, Albinn,” she growled, as they began to fall, “let’s go together!”