(JR) Slavegirl of Tamaran, The Sequel (Superwomen beast)

[polosatai]

Slavegirl of Tamaran, The Sequel
by JR


DISCLAIMER: This story is an adult-themed parody. Starfire, Superboy, Teen Titans, Lobo, Krypto, Omega Men and all related characters are property, copyright and trademark of DC Comics, an AOL Time Warner company. Go buy their comics. No copyright infringement is intended. The author received no payment for this story, and no money is to be earned by its distribution.

WARNING: This story contains adult themes and explicit descriptions of extreme sexual events. MINORS MUST NOT READ THIS. Many so-called adults shouldn't, either. If you are below your country's age of legal majority, kindly bugger off.


PART ONE: MY TUTOR

"Follow me! And concentrate!" Starfire said tersely, flying up and away, a glowing trail of residual energies left in the wake of the Tamaranian warrior Princess.

"Yes, ma'm," Conner muttered, trying to keep up with the accelerating warrior princess. He enjoyed flight foremost among his superhuman powers, and considered himself pretty good at it, but duplicating the wild twists and dives that Starfire executed at top speed almost made him dizzy. Or perhaps it was the sight of those legs and butt always just a bit out of reach.

If Conner kept just behind her, her extravagantly long hair and the energy trail it left blocked from view her shapely limbs and round buttocks, so he tried to remain slightly to a side at all times, which made it harder to tag along, but improved the panorama enormously.

"FASTER!" she called out.

Connor rushed and went past her as she turned at an abrupt right angle. He arched back, only to see her speed by below him. He turned again but could not see her anymore.

"HA!" a small green bird said in a shrill voice, a short distance away. "Lost anything?"

Connor ignored the taunts of the shape-shifted Beast Boy, and looked from side to side, baffled. The sky appeared empty all around him. Far below him, on the roof slab of the new Titans Tower, he could make out the presence of the other Titans. Including Cassie. He could not let Cassie see him screw up again.

Some of Superman's vision powers would be useful now, he thought, standing motionless in midair, just before being suddenly grabbed from behind.

Strong legs wrapped tight around his waist and one forearm slammed before his throat, while another arm, locked in the grip of the first, leveraged itself against the back of his neck, forcing his head forward and ramming his windpipe against the choking forearm.

"You must not remain a stationary target," Starfire said in his ear, while tightening the choke. "I could have killed you already in a dozen ways."

Connor blinked repeatedly in confusion. He wondered for an instant how she had gotten behind him, before noticing with unease how her body was pressed against his, the large mounds of her metal-cupped breasts present against his back undeniably.

"Break free," she ordered. "The Warlords of Okaara would have expelled you into the void by now."

His eyes bulged as the pressure on his windpipe rose. Grabbing the arm at his neck, he pulled on it, but could not break the lock to his surprise. He had no idea Starfire had enhanced strength besides the obvious energy-manipulation powers. But surely she was not as strong as him. With a hand on the arm, and the other at her shoulder above it, he pulled hard, to throw her over his shoulder, but the leg chinch at his waist kept her in place and they just tumbled through the air, the hold unbroken.

After a brief hesitation, he tugged at the long, muscular legs binding him, but her ankles were locked one with the other, and he had no proper leverage. The skin of her thick thighs had been smoother than silk under his touch.

"Twist you head to face sideways to ease the choke," Starfire advised while pressing tighter.

Connor did so, finding he could breathe again as his trachea lined with the crook of her elbow.

"The choke is now slower," she said. "But lack of blood flow to your brain will still render you unconscious soon. You must break free. Do it."

Easier said than done, Conner thought, squirming about, finding it hard to think clearly. Finally, he simply grunted and flew downwards at top speed.

Barely a second before reaching the surface, Starfire disengaged, leaving Connor to strike the ground alone.

"Good that the target was hard to miss!" Garfield Logan laughed, shape-shifting from bird form back to human next to the stunned youngster.

"Got free, didn't I?" Conner said, brushing dirt off his face and short-cropped hair, sitting back on the middle of the small crater in the ground. His black T-shirt, and the red Superman insignia it bore, had been torn to shreds by the impact. He decided to ignore the ominous symbolism.

"Better than nothing," Starfire said, standing a few paces away, with hands on hips and legs spread apart, an unmistakable look of deep disapproval on her angelic face. "We must work on your close quarters skills."

Conner fought back a cough.

The tall, statuesque heroine looked like the idealized object of an adolescent male fantasy. The mesmerizing all-green eyes in her doll-like features hinted at her off-Earth origins, but the body framed by the curly cascade of her oversized mane of hair, was almost impossibly womanly, with its long, athletic limbs and voluptuous curves barely contained by the scant metallic swimsuit-like attire, the bared skin a glowing gold that no Earthly tan could duplicate.

The planet Tamaran really had a way with shaping its warrior princesses, Conner thought. Joining the Titans had never seemed a better idea, and he certainly could have worse as an instructor. Feeling those big jugs pressed against him had made being choked worthwhile.

"Kid's lagging behind," Garfield said. "Maybe you should ride him harder, Kory."

"Maybe I should, yes," she said,

Conner coughed again, grudgingly looking away from her impressive cleavage, to see Cassie standing right by him, all angry eyes and thin lips pursed tightly.

Connor gulped. Was it obvious that he had been staring at Starfire's rack again? What could he say?

Thankfully, a blur of white and red fell over him, breaking the tension, as Krypto put him flat on his back and began to lick at his dirty face cheerfully.

"Easy boy," Connor muttered, knowing how ridiculous he must look being licked by a cape-wearing dog.

"I think it may be easier to train the Superdog than the Superboy," Garfield said.

***********************************************

The Earth rotated sedately in space, a blue jewel of unique life against the cold backdrop of the universe.

"Watta dump."

"That's the third galactic arm for ya," another voice said in Western Rim Galactic dialect. "Talk about backwater."

"Some modern monitoring stuff on their moon. Stay clear of that."

"Can't we scare some peasants first? Draw Durlan genitals on some crop fields or anything?"

"We're on a timetable, ya bum. We need to find the Tamaranian fast."

"Come on! It's not like there's any GreenDildos around anymore or nothing."

"Ok, but just once."

***********************************************

He did not know what had been worse, the speech from Robin on all the ways to shake off a rear choke, or how Cassie had refused to acknowledge his existence all afternoon.

"What kinda name's 'rear choke', anyway?" Conner muttered to himself, taking off his dirty jeans and throwing them onto the floor. It sounded like some porn thing, he thought, as he stepped into the shower and let the hot water run freely over his tall, muscular frame.

What did Cassie expect of him? Any guy would stare at Starfire. She made most centerfold models look plain. Sure, any chick this side of Wonder Woman would feel jealous next to that, but was that his fault? You could not just ignore a bod like that. So he had been staring. He was only being human. Did Cassie want him to be a hypocrite?

Yet he wanted to please Cassie, to have her think well of him. Her point of ignoring him hurt in strange ways.

Cassie was really nothing like Starfire, of course. While StarJugs was tall, buff, and just bursting all over, Cassie was small and slender, with cute blonde hair kept in a no-nonsense ponytail. Instead of tight spandex or metal bikinis showing tons of flesh, Cassie wore simple red jeans and a black top with the Wonder Woman symbol on it. Much like his own look, he realized. Cassie was ironically, no Amazon. There was no point in comparing them.

Actually, looks aside, he really did not like Starfire that much. She was bossy and short-tempered, and often treated them like idiot children, despite not being that much older. He liked Cassie a whole lot more. But she did not seem to understand that there was nothing wrong with a guy just looking at someone with a great body, or thinking about fucking that body. Just visualizing sex and nothing more. Just long, hot sex with that hot, stacked babe.

Conner stopped and took his hand away from his wet, hardening penis. It was way too creepy to jerk off while thinking about all this.

Why did spending time with a girl he really liked and a drop-dead gorgeous exotic chick turn out so complicated?

The whole concept of being in the Titans, hanging out with the others each weekend, had seemed great at first, particularly compared to staying in a crummy Kansas town with the Kents, but spending most of his free time in superhero camp was losing appeal fast. No matter how you called it, school was school, and he had enough of that at Smallville, he decided, stepping out of the bathroom.

Growling softly, Krypto was gnawing at the tattered remains of the discarded jeans.

Connor sighed. He had forgotten about the part of taking care of a damn super-powered mutt.



PART TWO: ALIEN ABDUCTIONS TO THE LEFT

"I don't think it'd be a good idea, Garfield," Koriand'r said, standing with her back against the door to her private quarters.

"For ol' times sake?" Garfield asked, staring up at her lovely green eyes, doing a great job of ignoring the swell of her breasts, inches before his face, their exuberance barely covered by the white T-shirt which would have been oversized on most anyone else. She was more than a head taller than him. "Come on, Kory. We do have fun together, don't we?"

"Of course. You make me laugh, and I enjoy watching Earth movies with you," Kory replied. "But I don't think we should sleep together again."

"Sleep? Wasn't thinking of that! Did we ever sleep at all, back then?"

"Not much, no," she answered with a smile. "Those were busy times."

"Oh, yeah! But there's still a bunch of forms we never tried. Been researching a lot lately, you see-"

"I do care for you, Garfield," Kory said softy, reaching for his face with one hand. "You were there for me when I needed it. I enjoyed our being lovers. But that time's past, and a lot has happened since. We must move on."

Garfield reached up and took her hand in his, and without further action, just held it, staring at her for a while before finally speaking.

"It's still Dick, isn't it? It'll always be Dick."

"It's a new time," she said, looking down. "New life. New Titans. We must not dwell in the past."

Garfield nodded, letting go of her hand. She had not met his eyes after the question. He knew of course. Always knew. But he had to try.

"Had our good times, didn't we?"

"Oh, yes," she said with a smile. "Very instructive, too."

"Ok, I'll stop bugging you, now," he said, shifting to the form of a green-furred wolf. "I'll go howl at the moon, instead."

"Oh, don't tempt me like that!" she said with mock anger.

"Worth a try. Good night, Goldie."

"Good night, Garfield," she said, leaning forward to kiss the top of his green furry head.

***********************************************

In his private quarters, Victor Stone shook his head and sighed, while letting his monitoring of all the security surveillance systems, including the video feeds in the hallways, fall to his second-level awareness.

Gar needed to stop barking at her door, he thought before his upper consciousness drifted off into sleep, while the automated systems began maintenance processes for his cybernetic parts.

***********************************************

He had to stop begging, Gar knew. It had been truly fantastic, those years back, but it had only been a distraction for her. He had been the rebound guy. For Kory, it would always be Dick, and Dick alone. It was time to stop being a pathetic puppy trailing after her. Vic said so, everyone said so. He said so himself.

He had to have some self respect.

Finding the remote, Garfield shifted back to human form. Stay too long in canine shape and he could end up licking his own balls again, and he did not want to give the new kids the wrong ideas. Settling back on the couch, he began to channel surf, alone in the dark living room.

Kory was from a tropical climate. Would she want to see an ice show?, he wondered.

***********************************************

She had been tempted. Very tempted.

After tossing all clothes away, Kory fell face up on the bed, sighing.

She could certainly have used the sex. She had taken no lovers at all since her return to Earth, months past, and it had been many years since she had been so long without any kind of sex besides masturbation.

But she was serious about starting anew. Sex was a healthy release, but it could also be a crutch, a smokescreen to escape from the truths she had to face.

It was all gone. The Tamaran of her childhood and the old Titans; the short-lived political marriages; the Citadel War, her relationship with Dick. All was now in the past. Even Donna was gone.

It would be easy to get together with Garfield again, far too easy. Sex with Garfield had been her anchor during the rough times while breaking up with Dick, as well as being some of her best sex ever, since his shape-shifting power had allowed her to experiment with new and challenging couplings, to risk pleasures daring even for her.

But she could not do that again to him. She knew he still loved her, and she cared too much for him as an old friend to hurt him again, no matter how much she had really desired the sex. Sadly Earthlings could not separate sex from other, deeper feelings as easily as Tamaranians did. Neither could they handle more than one relationship at once, as she had learned to her bafflement long ago.

She sighed and closed her eyes tightly. She had been quite willing to share.

Everything was so complicated for Earthlings.

**************************************

"Careful, careful..."

"Cloaking field's still on, right?"

"Don't be overconfident. Tech here's more advanced than normal Earth standards."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Prepare to activate the data bomb."

**************************************

Victor woke up immediately, activating the reassembly of his cyborg body, and accessing the security system to identify the breach in the outer perimeter.

Tons of data suddenly swam before his eyes and other linked senses, complex three-dimensional images and graphic constructs as well as loud proclamations in various alien languages, all in rapid succession, completely overwhelming his capacity to process. He struggled to banish or block them, but each deletion only triggered further streams of monothematic data, drowning him in its virtual deluge.

Though his inner systems were shielded, his interface with the Titans Tower systems remained locked onto the unstoppable flood of images and holo recordings, all backed by countless membership offers that popped up faster than he could dismiss them.

The part of him that was still human could only curse out loud, horrified at the nonstop ads for Gordannian felching and Khundian octogenarian midget sodomy. It could not be, he thought, appalled. Surely there was no such thing as an Oan transsexual gimp.

**************************************

Cassie slid on her jeans, the loud alarm echoing in her room. It could be just another drill from the sadistic mind of Princess MelonBoobs, and she would rather be dead than step out in panties where that jerk Conner could see her.

Opening the door, she jumped forward and rolled on the floor, as Artemis had taught her, ready for action. If it was a test, Wonder Girl would make Diana and Artemis proud.

The gas made her unconscious before she could stand up.

**************************************

"Is that her?"

"Are you blind? This one's an earthling!"

"Earthlings, Tamaranians, all look alike to me."

"Wrong hair color and insignificant mammary glands, too! Didn't you ever see the holo?"

"Gak, I'm so not into that trans-species thing."

"Your loss, dude. Now move on, the last scan placed her somewhere in this level."

**************************************

The strangely shaped intruder began to hiss in an unknown language at the device on his wrist, his weapon pointed at the green-hued humanoid fallen at his feet, just before someone dropped on his head.

The anatomical peculiarities delayed Robin just a few extra seconds. That particular alien species had not been in the Batcave files, but the general techniques for use on most humanoids remained effective. The additional testicles had resulted in major liabilities for their owner.

Robin tied up the intruder and checked again the fit of his compact mask, wondering how long it could keep filtering whatever chemicals the alien gas was using. Long enough to reach the infirmary and the emergency equipment there, he hoped, picking up the unconscious Beast Boy in a fireman carry.

**************************************

Starfire had slipped from sleep into unconsciousness shortly after the gas had permeated most of Titans Tower through its ventilation systems. Okaaran warrior training would have awakened her instantly from the deepest sleep as soon as the first intruder entered her room, but the knockout substance had been designed to fully incapacitate all humanoid Vegan species.

"She's even bigger than what I thought," one of the intruders muttered. "Look at all that hair! And those huge mammary glands!"

"Yeah, how disgusting."

"You won't say the same about the money. Now help me get her into the null-g harness."

**************************************

Robin was getting worried.

First Garfield, then Bart, and now Cassie. Whatever could affect both Bart's accelerated metabolism and Cassie's mystically enhanced physiology had to be quite a virulent compound. Cyborg was not answering and none of the communication systems worked. He had to consider a worst case scenario and assume that he could be the only member of the Titans up and able. But before he could contemplate engaging the other intruders he had to get Cassie out of harm's way.

With a bit of self-consciousness, Robin gingerly picked the young girl up, and turned back towards the infirmary.

**************************************

Connor staggered into the corridor, barely resisting the urge to regurgitate his midnight snack.

Besides him, Krypto whined, loudly sniffing the air with clear distaste. Something besides the loud alarm was bothering the mutt. It was not the mayo being bad what was getting to him, then.

Krypto suddenly stiffened and began growling.

**************************************

"What happened? Did your idiot cousin walk into a wall?"

"Look, it's not a genetic relation, my ex-wive's-"

"Oh, shit. Scanners show three different entities moving. Two are coming in fast!" He activated the general recall order. "Get the extra harness on this loser and let's get out. We have what we came for."

**************************************

"Wait, damn it!" Connor yelled.

Robin could barely blink as a blur of white and red rushed past him.

"Hey, what happened? Is that Cassie?" Connor asked, stopping by Robin.

"She's just unconscious," Robin said, his voice muffled by his mask. "There's a gas, the Kryptonian part of your physiology must make you resistant-"

"Not as much as I'd want-"

"I'll get Cassie to safety. But there are armed alien intruders in-"

The loud energy blasts made the Tower shake.

"I guess Krypto found them."

**************************************

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?"

"WHO CARES! SHOOT IT! SHOOT IT!"

**************************************

Connor turned the corner and an energy blast slammed him against the wall.

"Oh, fuck, is that a spaceship?" he gasped, stumbling up.

Krypto barked angrily amidst a barrage of blasts that would have reduced a normal dog to ashes, while some strangely shaped figures in combat armor exited the Tower through the broken window, towards the dark grey spacecraft floating in the air besides the building.

"Oh, shit," Connor muttered. They were taking Starfire.

**************************************

"WE'RE IN! TAKE OFF NOW!"

"IS IT CHEWING THE HULL?"

"WHO HAS THE DAXAMITE BLASTER?"

"TAKE OFF! NOW!"



PART THREE: FINE MESS YOU'VE GOTTEN US INTO

She knew she had been abducted. The small hints of sound and smell told her long before her sight confirmed it.

Koriand'r closed her eyes again, focusing on bringing her breathing into control. She had to fight back the terror and rage, fight back the urge to tear off the thick metal manacles from her wrists at whatever cost. She must not panic, she told herself, forcing back the hideous memories of years under the Citadel yoke.

The Citadel was gone, and she would never be a slave again. She could be captured and chained, but she would escape.

She opened her eyes and studied her surroundings.

It was a dump. The lowest Gordannian slave hold would have been cleaner than the cramped cabin. Dirty metal walls were scratched with obscenities in various Vegan languages, while trash and dirty clothing littered the filthy floor. The ceiling was so low she could not stand up straight.

Yet the manacles restraining her were state-of-the-art devices, expensive Psion energy-dampening technology. She would recognize Psion tech anywhere.

She was in a spaceship, a Vegan spaceship, she deduced. Maybe being taken to Vega. But why? The old reward for her capture had gone with the fall of the Citadel. There was still slavery in Vega, but why would a slaver travel all the way to Earth unless it was targeting her in particular?

Also, not only was she basically unharmed, apparently she had not been used sexually. No Vegan slaver would ever pass the chance to have a Tamaranian, and what former enemy, Vegan or Earthling, would have captured her and failed to take any advantage of it?

Things made no sense.

Then, a chilling though filled her. Perhaps she was not the only one? Maybe some of the other Titans were taken as well.

The locks clanged and the door began to open.

**************************************

"Feed her? Why would we need to feed her? Are we a fucking spaceline or what?"

"You said she was helpless!"

"The Psion stuff was supposed to-!"

"SHUT UP!" Starfire yelled, tightening her hold on the fat yellow-skinned reptilian humanoid, the thick cord connecting her manacles biting deeply into the folds of his thick neck, while his arms and vestigial tail flailed uselessly. "Who else did you get?"

"Stun her!"

"The stunner could short out the dampeners!"

"What?"

"Who are you? Who sent you?"

"Look, it's not personal," the tall, red-skinned one said, one hand making placating gestures while he held a concussion blaster in the other. "We're just honest mercenaries trying to make a living here."

"WHO ELSE DID YOU CAPTURE?"

"GAK- Tell-her!," the choking one gasped.

"She'll get mad," muttered the one with the single eye on an elongated stalk, the heavy boson blaster incongruously large in his spindly limbs.

"She looks mad enough already."

"WHO ELSE?"

"T-T-Te-eh-ell-h-e-er!"

"We only wanted you, really."

"Yeah, the other two just followed on their own, and we tried to kick them out in time but-"

"WHAT OTHER TWO?"

"You aren't handling this well."

"Oh, will you shut-!"

"WHAT OTHER TWO?"

"The dumb one and the white one with the tail."

"White one with-?"

"We thought it was the Superman, the Last Kryptonian that everyone hears about!"

"I said he was too small-!"

"But he had the red cape with the symbol and all-"

"So we panicked and used this old Daxamite blaster-"

"WHAT?"

"It just put them to sleep, we swear."

"Yes, but we can -um- use it again," the single-eyed one said with a flash of insight. "We need you alive, but them we can kill. If you don't do exactly as I say."

A sudden tremor shook the ship violently, and both mercenaries fell down, scrambling nervously for their weapons.

"What the hell?"

"You try anything, this one dies," Starfire menaced, having braced herself against the bulkhead behind her and tightened her hold on her captive.

"It wasn�t us!" the red one said, flipping open a comm device. "What the hell's that? Did the Superman wake up?"

"I told you that wasn�t THE Superman-"

"Uh, something seems to be banging on the airlock," a voice said through the communicator.

"We're in deep space. What could be banging on the airlock?"

"GalWay perhaps? The networking guys-? Or X'Hal's Witnesses?"

"Oh, forget it. I'll go check myself." Almost as an afterthought, he turned around to address Starfire. "Um, please excuse me for a minute."

"'Excuse you for a minute'?" she asked incredulously.

"He's had a tough day," the remaining one said apologetically.

**************************************

"Connor, wake up."

"Just five more minutes, Mrs. Kent, please," Connor mumbled. A dog barked cheerfully close by, and Connor cursed Krypto between his teeth. He needed to find something for that dog to do.

"See? They're here. Now you believe me?" a thin, nasal voice said somewhere nearby, though Connor could not understand the language. "You'd better behave."

"You'd better pray they are unharmed," a soft, sexy voice replied equally incomprehensibly. Whoever had that voice had to be a real babe, Connor thought. Like Starfire.

Connor rose up fast, hitting his head hard on the low metal ceiling, and was surprised by how much it hurt. Embarrassed, he stepped out into a larger room, where Starfire was chocking a fat, scaly alien, and another strange creature waved a weapon-like thing at both. The small chamber he had just exited seemed to be an ages-forgotten hamper. He realized that his hands were also bound by metal manacles and that he felt weaker than a kitten.

"Just what are you doing here?" Starfire asked him sternly in English.

"I wanted to rescue you," Connor replied, looking around with unabashed bafflement. Krypto sat with a puzzled look by one corner. "We are in the spaceship?"

"You wanted to rescue me?" Starfire asked, appearing little moved by his heroism. "And you brought your pet along?"

"I didn't mean to," Connor began, embarrassed. Even Krypto seemed to look at him disapprovingly, as if the damn mutt had not jumped in first himself. He sighed. "Sorry. Didn't do a very good job, did I?"

"No, but the intention was good. Thanks," she said, stunning Connor with the warmth of her reply. "Now, I have to get us all out of here," she added with a tired sigh. That seemed more like her.

"Going nowhere!" the one-eyed alien protested with the weirdest English accent ever. "You be our prisoner!"

"Actually, not anymore, and she's going with me," a voice said behind them.



PART FOUR: INTO THE FRYING PAN

"Shit, shit, shit-" the one-eyed alien cursed. "It not fair!"

"Tough break," said the individual entering by means of the far doorway, while spitting out a well-chewed cigar stub and nonchalantly tossing to a side the body of the red-skinned alien, who would be lucky at being only unconscious.

Even taller than Starfire, the new arrival dressed in thick rust-stained chains and dirty dark leather that exposed his chalk-white, thickly muscled torso and arms. Pitch-black scraggly hair fell to his broad shoulders, framing a sneering face bearing black designs around the deep-sunken eyes. Tattoos in his arms proclaimed "Bite Me" in Khundish, Gordannian and Apokolipsian, and one hand held a length of chain that ended in an ominously stained gutting hook.

Connor frowned, wondering who would dress like a biker Marilyn Manson, before his still scrambled memory finally cleared and his stomach sank. "Oh, fuck, that's-"

"Lobo," Starfire stated. "What do you want?"

"What everyone else does, Princess," Lobo replied with a wide, yellowish grin. "Your sweet, highly profitable ass."

"We found her first!" the one-eyed alien squealed, his weapon shaking in his grasp. "You-you can't!"

"Shut up."

The one-eyed alien complied immediately, letting his weapon fall.

"Hey, she's even hotter in person, eh?" Lobo said. "The holo does her no justice."

"I'll-" Starfire began.

"Kill Chubby there?" Lobo cut in. "Be my guest. Save me trouble."

"This guy can stand up to Superman," Connor warned with a whisper. Krypto was growling, crouched at his side.

"I know about Lobo," Starfire said, releasing the fat mercenary, who fell to his knees, wheezing loudly. "Who are you working for, Lobo?" she asked.

"Oa-damned fuck! You're sure a mammalian, babe!" Lobo said, whistling as he stared at her now fully exposed nude figure. "Haven't seen knockers like those since that Won-"

"Cut it out. You're working for someone. Who?"

"You'll find out soon enough, Toots. Let's just find us some private space first and we can discuss-"

"Screw you."

"-you don't fancy privacy, that's fine, too, JollyJugs."

"You think you can take me alive?" Starfire asked, deep green fire burning in her eyes. Krypto began to growl louder and moved in front of her.

"What the fucking shit? Who put that fucking cape on that fucking dog?" Lobo cursed, moving forward with clear belligerence. "Whose idea of a fucking joke is-?"

"She must be unharmed!" the one-eyed alien blurted out. "Anything happens, no pay!"

"Oh, really?" Starfire asked.

"Fuck, yeah."

"Nothing must harm me, right?" Starfire inquired, walking past Krypto towards Lobo with a smile on her face.

"Yeah, so?" Lobo mumbled, eyes fixed on the gently swaying globes of her pendulous bosom.

"Good to know," she replied, still smiling while her right foot shot forward and up. It felt like kicking rock, but still Lobo grunted and fell to his knees, hands on his groin.

"DAMN BITCH!" Lobo roared, and still kneeling, lashed out with the length of chain.

"NO-!" the one-eyed alien yelled.

Starfire dodged back and lifted the manacles before her face. The metal hook struck the devices hard, and sparks showered the whole room.

"-don't hurt her!" the alien whimpered. "That'll be harder now," Starfire said, fierce plasma growing to envelope her hands while the remains of the dampening manacles fell to the ground noisily. Krypto moved again to her side, growling deeply. "I will not fall without a fight."

"Fine by me, bitch," Lobo grunted. "Money ain't everything."

"Wait! WAIT!" the one-eyed alien yelled.

"WHAT?" Starfire and Lobo asked in unison.

"She can be made to go peacefully!"

"What-?" Starfire asked.

"How the fuck?" Lobo barked.

"Fifty percent?" the alien asked timidly.

"Ten percent," Lobo countered.

"Are you kidding-?" Starfire said.

"Twenty-five?"

"Thirty, and that's it."

"Uh? Eh... fine, fine!"

"You're crazy if you think-" Starfire began.

"He's with her!" the alien stated, pointing at Conner.

"Uh?" Conner asked with a frown, reluctantly looking away from Starfire. His eyes had almost jumped off his face upon noticing her nudity. No matter how much skin her usual skimpy outfit bared normally, the spectacle of her nude body was just stunning.

"You kill him if she doesn't obey."

"What?"

**************************************

It could have been done. She could have taken off Connor's manacles with a narrowly focused starbolt. With their full powers and the dog, they could have faced Lobo. And most likely died, of course.

Even if they had defeated the deadly bounty hunter, the chances of the battle leaving the ship still operational for returning to Earth were rather slim. Even worse, life-support could easily fail, and only Lobo and the dog could survive open space.

Alone, Starfire would have taken the risk, but when she had agreed to train the new generation of Titans, she had assumed a responsibility that she could not ignore. She could not let her pride endanger Connor.

A few hours of subjective travel time after, the spaceship entered the Vegan System.



PART FIVE: YES, I'M GONNA BE A STAR

After maneuvering through the heavy aerial traffic, the spaceship landed in the private pad of a large building complex. Huge entropic displays labeled the place as UNITED XENO PRODUCTIONS.

Starfire frowned. She had never heard of it.

**************************************

They were escorted to a large, luxurious waiting room. Large window ports displayed upscale areas of the city, and several tasteful lounge sets were grouped into platforms recessed into the floor, surrounded by lush areas of foliage, some which Koriand'r was surprised to recognize as Tamaranian. Small robotic drones politely offered choice refreshments or played muted music.

It all made less sense than ever. Who would receive captives in such a place?

The doors a hundred paces away irised open and she received her answer.

"There you are! My, you're even lovelier in person!" one of the two green-skinned reptilian humanoids proclaimed loudly.

Psions, Starfire thought, pursing her lips with a grimace of revulsion. It had to be Psions. She knew well their heartless cruelty in the pursuit of obscure science, having gained her powers during a painful Psion experiment gone awry.

"What do you want-?" she began.

"My goodness! What is that?" the shorter of the two Psions gasped with a look of horror, staring at the rough robe she had improvised from the least filthy fabric available in the mercenary ship. "Is that what they now wear on Earth? How barbaric!"

Starfire frowned. She had never before known a Psion who failed to speak in a mechanical monotone, much less one who wore fuchsia and gold robes.

"Get her suitable attire, now! Spare no expense!" the taller Psion ordered a nearby drone. "Should we get her hairdresser, too?"

"Oh, no. There's something so sensual, so 'savage chic', about the disheveled look," the short one replied. "Is this your servant? Cute matching accessories," he added, looking at Conner and his manacles with some distaste.

"We can find her better," the other said.

"Now, that's hip," the short one said, pointing at the puzzled Krypto, who was busy sniffing a nearby potted tree. "Simple and stylish. I do approve. Your entourage is an important part of your image.

"Who are you?" Starfire asked. It had to be a ploy to disorient her. If so, it was succeeding. "What do you want?"

"What matters now is what you want, dear! A bath and massage first, perhaps?"

"About the bounty...," Lobo began, obviously ill at ease in the incongruous surroundings.

"Oh, your talent scout fee? Vex me not with such matters, please. Not in front of HER!"

"What the fuck?" Lobo asked irritably.

"Um, we do have other appointments," the one-eyed mercenary cut in fast, while the heavily-bandaged red-skinned one nodded in agreement. "We'd be thankful if-"

"Follow that drone by the door, please. Accounting is in the sixth floor. They'll take care of everything for you, ah, gentlemen."

"You may need this," the mercenary said, offering the Psion the electronic key to the manacles.

"What?" the Psion asked, looking first at the device and then at the manacles worn by Starfire and Conner. His expression changed dramatically. "You didn't-?"

"Maybe I should stay. She's a feisty one," Lobo offered. "I'd give you a good flat rate."

"Who put those on her?" the Psion asked icily.

"They did," Lobo said, pointing to the mercenaries.

**************************************

"We are so, so, so sorry," the thin Psion told the baffled Starfire while a veritable army of security drones forcibly removed the protesting mercenaries. "Good help is just so hard to find."

"You bet," Lobo said, smiling broadly.

"You must believe we had no idea," the short Psion whined as he removed the manacles. "We'd never-" His words were cut short as Starfire grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up like a rag doll, while a burst of high-energy plasma threw Lobo to slam hard against the farthest wall.

"Tell me why I shouldn't just blast your head off."

"Please! There's no need for violence!" the other Psion exclaimed, waving his hands wildly. "This was all a mistake!"

"You bet having me abducted was a mistake. A big one."

"We didn't want that! We just needed to find you! We never thought that-!"

"Fucking Durlan Turds!" Lobo spat while brushing debris off his jacket. "That'd better be your idea of foreplay, Jugs, or-"

"Come close and I kill them both," Starfire warned.

"You need to learn some manners, you-"

"NO! NO! DO AS SHE SAYS! STAY AWAY!" the Psion said.

"What?"

"THERE WILL BE A BIG BONUS!"

"How big?"

"HUGE! GIGANTIC!"

"Oh, well. Fine, then," Lobo said, shrugging.

"This-ra-ther-hurts," the Psion in Starfire's hold said timidly. "C-could-you-p-please-?"

"Just who the hell are you two?" Starfire demanded.

"I'm D'irf'gis, he's Yor," the tall one began. "We are visionary businessmen-"

"Art-ists!" the other added, choking.

"And you are our Star! The greatest star in Vega!"

"WHAT?"

"What was that all about?" Connor asked, baffled. "Can't anyone speak English?"

**************************************

"You want me to act? Do a holo for you?" Starfire asked with an expression of disbelief, while the Psion named Yor rubbed his neck gingerly. A special drone by her side was scanning her figure to tailor her new clothing. "Why?"

"Why? You're just the most famous, most beautiful, most in-demand holo star in all of Vega!"

"In the entire Galaxy!"

"Me?"

"And who else but D'irf'gis and Yor could produce your newest, greatest hit?"

"Didn't know you were a celebrity here," Connor said, rubbing around the translator pod newly attached behind his left ear.

"Me neither," Koriand'r said. "There must be some mistake. I'm not an actress."

"Oh, we can get you the best dramatic coaches if you want! But darling, with your natural gifts who needs that? You're so enthusiastic and vital and powerful at what you do-"

"At what I do? You mean-?"

"Oh, no," Yor protested. "You're a natural! Any training would only diminish your spontaneity, your freshness!"

"The Warlords of Okaara did train me-"

"They did that in Okaara? Really?"

"-in the arts of war, but-"

"Oh, well, that could be part of the scenarios, giving background characterization to allow a better -"

"I think we should avoid excessive preliminaries and focus on the action as soon as possible," D'irf'gis stated.

"No, no, no! Too obvious, and anecdotic at best! Of course we must provide a narrative framework"

"But action is what the public expects! Better to focus immediately on that. It's direct, visceral!"

"It's crass! We must provide a context to better escalate the expectation! The public must be teased, tantalized, made to desire her even more!"

"Even more? She's the greatest star alive! We don't need foreplay. Her image is the foreplay!"

"Foreplay?" Koriand'r asked, puzzled.

"Don't be prosaic! We can't just have her simply having sex from the very start!"

"Why not? We-"

"WHAT?"

"-Just need her to show up, and-

"Sex? SEX?"

"Oh, my, you are an impatient one, aren't you?"

"She's so eager! So anxious! Goodness, this shall be the greatest erotic holo ever! Bigger that Beyond The Green Lantern, or Deep Triple Sphincter. A veritable masterpiece!"

"Erotic?"

"Erotic?" echoed Connor, baffled.

"Oh, we have such a high standard to beat from your previous one!"

"PREVIOUS ONE?"

"Of course, the whole reality holo thing cannot be topped, so we must go into the other direction-"

"No, no. We must not break a winning formula!"

"REALITY HOLO? PREVIOUS ONE? EROTIC? WHAT'RE YOU-?"

"Sure, it was an amateur production, but so powerful! So genuine! And the whole 'leaked' thing just gave it this added edge of voyeurism, of the forbidden being revealed, all that. Fantastic! The Advertisement Department just ate it up!"

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? I'VE NEVER DONE ANY HOLOS!" Starfire protested.

"Uh?"

"Excuse me?"

"I SAID I'VE NEVER DONE ANY HOLOS! ARE YOU INSANE? I'VE NEVER DONE ANY PORN!"

"Oh, please, 'porn' is such a semantically negative word."

"You must be proud of your work, dear, not-"

"I'VE NEVER DONE ANY HOLOS!"

The two Psions stared blankly at her.

"Look," Starfire began, trying to control her outrage. "You must have confused me with someone else."

Yor exchanged glances with D'irf'gis, shrugged, and pressed a few keys in a wrist-worn device.

The images appeared before them, three-dimensional and life-sized, with just the merest occasional shimmer to distinguish it from concrete reality.

---"Oh-OH! X'HAL! OH! X'HAL!"---

The girl being rhythmically entered from behind by a muscular humanoid with a long, tapering tail and green, scaly skin, was evidently several years younger than the actual Starfire. Her curly hair appeared to be several hand spans shorter, her body was thinner and less muscular, while her oscillating bosom appeared at least a cup size smaller, yet otherwise the full resemblance was unmistakable.

"X'Hal," Starfire muttered, echoing the voice of her holographic image.

"Damn good scene," Lobo muttered, fondling his groin. "That's some great fucking there."

Conner just stared, open-mouthed.

The images changed in rapid succession, displaying various scenes of similar content. Several featured green reptilian Gordannians again, while some others involved towering, tusk-mouthed, grayish Branxians, their massive frames making the nubile Tamaranian Princess appear even younger and more delicate.

"That does look like you, doesn't it?"

"It wasn't a clone, right?" D'irf'gis asked, worried. "The public hates clones. Everyone does."

"Where did you get this?" Starfire asked, her voice barely above a whisper, her eyes fixed on the now muted images. "How-? Who gave it to you?"

"We acquired it quite legitimately, I assure you," Yor began nervously. "We do have all the respective documentation your representative originally-"

"My 'representative'?"

"There was never any-"

"WHO?"

"She seemed to be the-"

"She?"

"Being a close relation and-"

"Komand'r," Starfire sighed. "I should have known."

"Hey, don't mind if I spank the beast a while," Lobo said, pulling down his zipper. "That triple fucking's really inspired."



PART SIX: REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST

"Conner?" The subspace ansible connection was quite clear and lag-free. It was as if Garfield was right next to Conner. "Is that you?"

"Yeah," Conner replied, wondering where to start. "Look, we're ok and-"

"You're ok? Where the hell are you? Victor almost had a meltdown, everyone's been going nuts looking for you, Green Lantern alone's been searching every-"

"Hey, cool. Thanks for worrying."

"Cool? Goddamn it! You were kidnapped by aliens! You should have a probe up your butt by now! How do I know that you aren't-?"

"Ah, it was kinda a misunderstanding. We're in Vega and we aren't in any danger or anything, really."

"Vega? Kory's Vega? What misunderstanding?"

"It's kinda hard to explain. But they say they'll compensate the damages to the Tower and everything."

"Let me speak to Kory."

"She's dealing with... ah, some personal stuff that needed her attention. I guess you'll have to wait till she sorts it out. Don't know how long it'll take."

"Damn. You coming back, then? Need someone to-?"

"Uh, I'd rather -uh, see how it um, goes, for now."

"Oh, great. We've been worried crazy here and meanwhile you're thinking of taking a vacation?"

**************************************

Koriand'r had asked to be alone. The control device now in her hand gave her the power to review the holographic recording at her discretion.

The scenes recorded were instantly recognizable, as were her partners. How could she ever forget?

Fast-forwarding through the entire holo confirmed what she had suspected. All scenes corresponded to that brief interval during her time as a Citadel slave, when she had been under the special hospitality of her own sister, Komand'r.

After the Citadel had nearly destroyed Tamaran, the young Koriand'r had spent years as a political hostage while Komand'r, betrayer of their people, rose higher and higher in The Citadel's political hierarchy. But all the hardships she had endured became negligible when Komand'r took personal custody of her.

Grown into early womanhood, Koriand'r had been chosen to join Lord Amin's harem in the Citadel Homeworld as his newest concubine, and Komand'r was to personally deliver her. Yet her dear sister had decided to help prepare her for her future duties. She had ordered the Gordannian guards and her own Branx bodyguards to use Koriand'r sexually, under Komand'r gleeful eye. Only the surprise attack by enemy Psions had cut such ordeal short, their capture for Psion experimentation ultimately allowing her final escape to Earth.

Starfire sighed, watching her younger self squirming under the scaly body of a muscular Gordannian, his hefty member entering her with fierce passion. She could recall the feeling of the long-past coupling with remarkable clarity, even if his name eluded her.

It had not been the first time Koriand'r had known intercourse with her Citadel captors. Several of her regular Gordannian guards had already known her intimately by then, and had even become relatively gentle and affectionate towards her. But that time Komand'r had demanded the use of deliberate violence, on threat of punishment, adding her Branx bodyguards, whose endowments had made even the gifted Gordannians seem puny, and even bringing in a monstrous beast she kept as a pet.

Yet most of the couplings had resulted physically pleasurable, even that with the Garr'noan beast, to her surprise, as she had initially feared her not surviving such mating, her first sex ever with a fully nonhumanoid being.

Using the control, she located that particular scene, which Komand'r had saved for last. She watched all of it, reliving the gradual progression from the fearsome initial pain of being mounted by the huge reptilian beast, to the intense pleasure that she had ultimately experienced, despite her horror and shame, culminating in her fainting during the final climax.

She remembered briefly wondering if Komand'r would be pleased or angered by her acceptance of the pleasures received even under those circumstances. The lashing she had received afterwards was a prompt answer.

Koriand'r breathed deeply, closing her eyes to the now frozen images, but never to the past. The pleasures had been incidental, and meaningless. But the role her own sister had played had made the humiliation and abuse endured even more painful, in all ways possible.

She could never forget it.

That Komand'r had recorded it all was not surprising. She could imagine Komand'r planning to gloat over her ordeal again and again. Such had been her hate, her resentment over having been passed over as future heir to the Tamaranian throne. The arranging of the public release of the recordings, as yet another way to strike at her, to further hurt and humiliate her, seemed almost trivial. It had actually been fortuitous that it took so long for them to surface.

Yet Koriand'r had noticed that whoever had edited the raw holo recordings into the present compiled format had apparently removed most of the least pleasant acts she remembered.

She could understand Komand'r removing herself, as she appeared only partially displayed, or not at all, even in instances where Koriand'r recalled her as an active participant. But the commercialized holo had also deleted most of the taunting, humiliation and physical abuse. There were of course many scenes of bondage during the preliminaries and the sex, and even a couple of scenes where the use of neuro-whips was very clearly implied, thought not explicitly portrayed. The holo was named 'Slavegirl of Tamaran', after all. Yet the editing focused mostly on the sexual acts where she appeared to be experiencing pleasure, often downplaying the violence and forced aspects. It still showed her as a girl made to couple with humanoids of different species and with one sub-sentient animal in rough, often savage sex, but by emphasizing her own enjoyment and gradual participation, it made the acts seem much less like degrading subjugation and more like a daring acceptance of overwhelming force and exciting dangers.

It was curious. That made her seem less of victim but more of a slut. She wondered if she had to thank D'irf'gis and Yor for that.



PART SEVEN: THERE AIN'T NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS

"Who has seen it?" Koriand'r asked, already suspecting the answer.

"Ah, well..." Yor began.

"Sincerely, please."

"It was the most successful erotic production in all the history of Vega. The Ethernet crashed when the downloadable version was first offered. Only time in two centuries! And, ah, it became the most lucrative export to the rest of the galaxy during the entire fiscal period. It-"

"I get the idea," she sighed. "So basically every humanoid sentient interested in pornography has seen me in it."

"Actually the sales to nonhumanoid communities were also unprecedented. It was quite a phenomenon, both economically and culturally. The offers to merchandise your likeness have reached-"

"Was it sold to the Tamaranian settlements?"

"Um, not directly, you know, what with your people relocating again after that lamentable SunEater thing, and the last conflict with the Gordannians..."

"We kinda restricted the release there. But-"

"You sold it to the Gordannians."

"Well, you must understand-"

"You have an incredible following among them. There are at least a thousand fan clubs of young Gordannians devoted to you-"

"So some must have been leaked to my people," she concluded.

"Well, you're both sharing the same planet."

Starfire nodded. This explained why the Elders had not opposed her return to Earth, those months ago. They must have been aware of the scandal already, and were happy to be rid of her.

Tamaranian culture was highly unrestricted sexually, so her appearing in a public sex recording would not be seen as a sin, though the violent nature of most of the acts would be somewhat controversial for a member of the old royal family. But that sex with members of their traditional racial enemies in such a submissive role would not be taken so lightly. Despite the actual circumstances, her enjoyment, reluctant or not, was evident, and she understood how the racial prejudices would judge her.

Ironically, that the holo was not as blatantly offensive to her pride as it could have been, actually further damaged her image among her people.

"Maybe I should demand that you withdraw the holos," she said softly. "But I suppose it's too late now. The harm has been done, I might as well just accept it."

The expression of relief in the faces of both Psions was almost comical.

"Oh, you're so understanding!"

"May we offer you something else to drink? Some sweets?"

"I think you'd better arrange our return to Earth."

"Oh, sure, but-"

"Well, we should discuss first, ah, your..."

"My what?" she asked frowning.

"Ah, your new contract, of course."

"We want everything to be perfect this time!"

"New contract?" she asked incredulously. "You think that-?"

"We're willing to offer you a very generous-"

"We'll offer you millions!"

"You've already damaged irreparably my reputation among my people! And you still think I'll... whore myself for you? How can you-?"

"Well," D'irf'gis said meekly. "There being a precedent-"

"Everything about that holo was against my will! I was young and helpless! I'd never allow such things to happen like that! X'Hal! I may have often screwed the wrong beings at the wrong times, but I'd never willingly prostitute myself!"

"But it's just a performance! Not a rendered service!"

"It's art!" Yor added.

"It's immoral!" Starfire exclaimed. "Sex, of any kind, is a personal act, from a personal choice. It should never be a thing for sale. Only degenerate cultures would do that!"

"But you would not be selling sex! You can have sex with someone of your own 'personal choice' and we'd just sell the images resulting from it!"

"What's the difference?"

"If you are performer, you're selling only the option to appreciate the external semblance of your actions. The internal aspects and all actions themselves are yours to decide and determine."

"Oh, please! I'd never-"

"Your people are having a very difficult time settling on Gordannia. We can offer you enough money to assure that their settlements are provided with all the resources they may need."

Starfire stared, shocked for an instant. "That is impossible."

"We have a five-year plan already drafted."

"It would mean-"

"We have projected twelve million Coluan credits."

"A holo surely could never make that-"

"Oh, it's within our reasonably conservative profit estimates."

"How can pornography yield so much?"

"My dear, sex makes the galaxy spin," D'irf'gis said. "Our last period income exceeded the gross planetary product of Talok and Rann"

"Combined."

She shook her head. She knew well the shortages her people must surely be facing. Medicines, foodstuffs, clothing, engineering resources, all would be more

than welcome.

"It's tempting, but-"

"Surely you're not ashamed of having sex?"

"Of course not. I'm not a prudish Earthling, but-"

"Is sex something to be kept hidden?"

"To be kept private," she corrected. "Look, I've had sex in public, sure, but in essence, sex must be for the benefit of the participants, not for that of others."

"Why not for both? Is sex not beautiful and joyous? Why not share it for the enlightenment of others?"

"Because it's an expression of intimacy."

"And don't all artists bare their inner self in their work? Isn't their expression of beauty a form of exposure of their souls and experiences?"

She blinked surprised. She had never expected to hear a Psion speak of souls and beauty.

"Should beauty be hoarded?" D'irf'gis asked. "Denied to those who need it most?"

"You're the most desired panspecies sex symbol of the last dozen generations. Can you deny them your beauty?"

"Everyone must find their own beauty," she countered.

"Yet you're also a symbol!" Yor exclaimed.

"A symbol?"

"A beacon for all those who are not blinded by the prejudices of species distinctions!"

"In the current cultural climate of our galaxy, is the ideal of different species joined by mutual desires, by the appreciation of the joy of sex without racial discrimination, not a worthy one?" D'irf'gis added.

"I suppose so, but-"

"Sexual frustration and fear is at the root of most racial hatred. If we can produce an ideal, a symbol, of a new aesthetic, a new philosophy of integration, aren't we helping our fellow sentients?"

"I guess so, yet-"

"And for all those who can never hope to reach the loftier ideals of aesthetic perfection, those doomed to solitude by genetic misfortune, those restricted in the power of choice you defend by lack of means or opportunity, can we not offer a reprieve through art? Don't they also deserve to transcend mediocrity, to grasp at the extraordinary, at exceptional beauty like yours? Can you deny them that?"

"I- I never saw it like that," Starfire whispered.

"It's almost your duty!" D'irf'gis proclaimed.

"But no."

"What?"

"PLEASE! You'd have complete freedom to chose your fellow performers, the director, the catering, everything!"

"I just cannot agree to have sex for money," she stated.

"We'll set up an anonymous foundation to benefit all Tamaranians anywhere. You'd never need to be involved directly in any monetary-"

"No matter how you may try to justify it."

"But-!" both Psions began to protest.

"But I'd be thankful for your helping for my people," she added with a smile. "And I can have sex for a completely different reason."

**************************************

"They're sure taking their time in there, eh, kid?"

"Uh, yes," Conner replied uncomfortably. Thankfully he was not wearing his S-symbol T-shirt, or Lobo would hardly be so casually friendly to him. His animosity against Superman was well known. What was he still doing here, anyway?

"Hope they get on with it fast," Lobo added. "I'd sure dig another holo of Princess Boobs out there, now that she's filled out even more where it counts. But real hardcore this time!"

"Um-" Conner mumbled.

"Maybe I should offer my services. That fine cunt deserves way better than puny Gordannian or Branx sausage. She may need a sample of the Main Cock itself."

"Ah-"

"You may even get hired yourself, kid. They may need fluffers. To keep things up. Not that I need any, though," Lobo continued. "You may even get lucky and score a taste of her, if you'd like my sloppy sixths! HA!"

"I don't-"

"Cause damn, that bitch can fuck! Remember that one where she's with a Gordannian cock in each hand, one in her sweet ass, and fat spiky tail up her twat? That's real fucking talent, kid."

"Uh, actually I-I haven't-"

"You haven't what?"

"Uh, well-"

"Fuckingdammit, you're cherry, kid?"

"Cherry?"

"Never had any, eh? Dammit, kid, I'll help you out. I know this toothless Khund whore who-"

"Uh, no, really, that's not necessary. I'm not-"

"Fuck, you ain't a fag, are you?"

"Uh?"

"Nothing wrong with that, as long as you stay the fuck away from me, fag. Hell, some of my best friends used to be fags, before I killed them."

"No, I'm not-"

"Fucking fags everywhere, make me sick. Know of that fella in Earth, the Kryptonian?"

"Superman?"

"Yeah, damn biggest pussy around. Fuck, worse than a fag, fucking queen wearing his panties on the outside."

"Look, wait a minute-"

"There's this damn hot chick hanging around the pussy, real tasty piece of tail, Princess and whatnot, too, face like a doll, awesome teats like ripe melons, buns hard as rock, legs like-"

"Wonder Woman?"

"Yeah, that hot cunt. So she's hungry for him, clear to see. Does the pussy bang her sweet hot twat like she needs? Not a fucking chance. Pussy can't find his own pigmy cock up his own crack. I really should-"

"That's enough," Conner said, standing up.

"What the fuck?"

"You shouldn't talk like that," he added, cursing himself. This was hardly the best survival move. "Even if he was, that he isn't, he-"

"Damn fuck! You sweet on the Kryptonian pussy, eh? Knew you were too much of a pretty boy. Fuck! No wonder you weren't trying to climb on the Tamaranian slut yourself." "You'd better-"

"You know, I like you, kid, fag or not. Just stay the fuck away or I'll frag you. So what the fuck, I'll help you out. I know just what can make a real man out of your fag ass."

"I don't-!"

"Rustbucket! HEY! YOU!" Lobo called out to the nearest drone. "Get the kid here copies of your top product."

"I don't-!"

"Fuck, just get him the one with the Tamaranian. Put it on our host's tab."

"YES-SIR," the drone replied before buzzing away.

"Now, if that can't get you straight nothing will, kid, but just stay the fuck away from me anyway."

Conner sighed.

**************************************

"So we should get someone who can beat you?"

"Best me in fair combat, yes," Starfire said.

"And you would have sex then?"

"Yes," she explained. "One who can prove his worth by besting me in a friendly match, can freely have me. It's an old Tamaranian custom." She smiled.

"So you can't have sex for money but you'll put out for someone who fights you?"

"And bests me."

"Does that make sense?" Yor asked quietly.

"Makes perfect sense to me!" D'irf'gis replied.

**************************************

"So, Mr. Lobo-"

"Just Lobo."

"Ah, yes, we need you to find these individuals and-"

"Frag them?"

"Frag? Um, no, please just find them and deliver the invitation messages-"

"Invitations? What for? I'll just drag their sorry asses back-"

"No, no. There's no need to, ah, escort them back. The chip offers coverage of all expenses. So just deliver the messages. Politely, please."

"Let's see... Tygorr? Broot? Those were of those Amiga fellas, right?"

"Ah, Omega Men, I believe."

"What you want those pussies for?"

"Um, your job is just-"

"Fuck, anything they can do I can do better."

The Psion stared for an instant, and only his cultural heritage allowed him to retain his lack of expression. "Please just do the requested job."

"Sure I can't fuck them up a bit first?"

**************************************

Conner looked out the window at the starry sky. It was quite something. Very different from the night view on Earth.

He wished Cassie could see it as well.

He should go out and get to know the place a bit, he thought, breathing deeply. You did not visit an alien city everyday. Krypto was getting restless in the adjoining room anyway.

Anything to get away from that holo chip he had found by the bed.

It would be so easy, but it felt like a betrayal, an invasion of privacy. You did not do that to a teammate.

He wondered how long he could resist the temptation.



PART EIGHT: WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS

"Hey, you!"

Tygorr, former warrior of the anti-Citadel guerrillas known as Omega Men, turned around with feline speed, his clawed hand shooting out just in time to catch the small chit thrown at him.

"Special delivery," Lobo said.

"What's this?" Tygorr asked, puzzled, as he examined the warped holochip in his palm.

"A message," Lobo replied.

"It's damaged. Won't play."

"Things get a bit banged up in the mail all the time, you know."

"Who sent it?"

"Some Psion guys. Wanted to do business with you."

"Psions?" Tygorr asked, baring his fangs in a grimace of disgust. "I want no business with any damn Psions."

"Fine by me," Lobo said, shrugging, and walked away.

Tygorr grunted, seeming to recall that foul smelling one from somewhere. But then, the Spiral Arm was full of similar smelly thugs, and Tygorr was busy, helping the reborn Prince Gavyn rebuild his planet after the fall of the repressive Rikane dictatorship. He did not have time for distractions.

Surely it had been nothing important.

**************************************

"Are you kidding?" Starfire protested. "No real self-respecting warrior would wear anything like that for a match!"

"Actually we hoped you wouldn't wear it for long."

"Even so! I'd rather be nude from the start."

"That's a good idea!" D'irf'gis stated.

"No, no!" Yor exclaimed. "We need build up! Teasing!"

"But she hates it!"

"Think of all the disrobement fetish groups!"

"Ah, good point. How do they place in the ratings?"

"At least take off all those feathers and the tons of jewelry," Starfire said. "It looks ridiculous."

"But we want to emphasize the Princess angle, and you would look so fabulous in-"

"Why can't I wear something like my usual combat garb? It doesn't really cover that much."

"But that dull metallic color!"

"Please, could you agree on something?" D'irf'gis begged, rubbing the scales on his head. "We need to do the promo shoots tomorrow at the latest!"

"Look, how about more of that silvery chain mail for this?" Starfire proposed. "And just a few of those gauze strips here?"

"Oh, that may work. Minimalist but-"

"But no feathers. Really."

Yor sighed. Some people had no sense of the daring.

**************************************

Conner walked down the strange streets, taking in all the weird sights and sounds and smells. And that was just the people.

Krypto bounded at his side, just as interested as him in the surrounding diversity.

"Is that the Last Kryptonian? The Superman of Earth?" he heard a voice ask to his far right.

Conner smiled. His hearing, like most of his senses, had recently been rising to superhuman levels, adding to his old, more limited, telekinetic-based powers, and making him closer to the true Man of Steel, from whose genetic material he had been cloned. He was again wearing his S-symbol T-shirt, so the assumption was understandable.

The tailor drones were really good, he thought. Even the jeans seemed fully legitimate Levi's.

"I don't know," another voice replied. "I thought he'd be taller, bigger."

Conner frowned and stood up straighter. He was almost as tall as Clark. What did these people expect?

"Thought he was an humanoid biped, too," a third voice chimed in. "Not a quadruped."

"Maybe he also has shape-shifting powers!"

"Those are Durlans."

"Martians had lots of powers and shape-shifting, too."

"But those also became extinct, right?"

"Look, has the red cape and all. Must be THE Superman."

Conner sighed while Krypto barked noisily.

**************************************

"Fabulous!"

"They'll all love it!"

Koriand'r turned one way and the other, fully at ease while posing for the holo cameras, liking the way the gleaming chain mail and gauze strips flattered her curves, teasing with the barely covered abundance beneath, while still allowing her an appearance of martial aggressiveness.

She had spent years on Earth working as a model, and while it felt strange to be posing again, yet now in Vega, it was still somehow reassuring, as if she was integrating the different aspects on her persona into a final coherent whole.

"Maybe some with the top off?" she asked.

"Sure! Sure!"

She smiled, taking off the skimpy piece that hardly covered her bosom, and letting part of her long curly hair fall down her front. Donna had always insisted on no full nudity, despite the continuous offers from that PlayingChild magazine, but she had liked partial teasing shots like this, Kory thought wistfully, remembering the fun they usually shared after the photo shoots. She always found the prejudice against nudity foolish, but she somehow felt like Donna would still want it that way.

"What if I cover myself only with my hands?" she asked.

"We're going to get disgustingly wealthy," D'irf'gis muttered.

**************************************

"-And that one said he had no business with any of you."

"It's impossible!" Yor exclaimed.

"You sure that you found the right people?" D'irf'gis asked. "And that they got the messages?"

"The Main Man always finds his targets," Lobo said with an edge of menace in his voice. "Said I'd find them, and I did it. Said I'd deliver the fucking messages, and I did it. I always keep my word."

"Oh, ah, sure. Um, thanks."

"But how could anyone refuse?" Yor cried out.

"Hell, who knows?" Lobo replied with a smile.

"What will we do now? We're all out of options!"

"What if no one she listed as acceptable appears? We've already transferred half the funds to the Tamaranian Relocation Foundation! It's a disaster!"

"Heh, anything I may help you with?" Lobo asked candidly, with a big yellowish toothy grin.

Both Psions stared at him in silence for a handful of very long seconds.

"I'm quite sure we can work something out on our own, thanks."

**************************************

Conner stared hard at the strange leg-like shapes in the street-bought delicacy, and finally gave it to Krypto, who swallowed it greedily in one gulp. He tried not to think too much about what he had been eating the past couple of days, but there were limits.

Suddenly he stopped before a large storefront, and after a long instant of amazed attention, he looked away uncomfortably from the holographic display that featured Starfire, before finally glancing back with a sigh. Those things were everywhere, he may as well hide in a hole or just look and be done. He blinked. How could her usual attire seem prudish in contrast was almost inconceivable.

"And what the hell is PayPerFeel?" he asked out loud.

Krypto barked cheerfully.

**************************************

"We should also be discussing the match rules," she said, while reviewing a sheaf of hardcopy. "When is Tygorr slated to arrive?"

"Eh, not yet."

"And Broot? Or-?"

"Ah, there may be some small inconveniences."

"What inconveniences?" Starfire asked, frowning.

"Ah, just technicalities. Surely they'll arrive soon. But shouldn't you, ah, consider a few other options? Just in case, I mean."

"Some stand-ins, perhaps? We have a list here of-"

"I'm only doing this with people I trust and respect."

"Perhaps some Tamaranians-?"

"None of my people must be involved. Nor anyone from Earth," Starfire said adamantly. Her relationships there were strained enough already. "And didn't you want to emphasize the trans-species angle? I thought my choices were reasonably diverse, no?"

"Oh, yes, yes, sure."

"No problem."

"Fine, then let's look at the script now. I really like the cage-match scenario, but there must be better intros for each competitor, showcasing their powers and skills. Also, remember that the fights are to be friendly yet genuine, or I won't go through with it. But since I-we do want my opponent to have a large enough chance of winning at some point, no-flight and no-energy-manipulation rules should give them a fair enough advantage and ensure good, exciting matches."

"Oh, good idea."

"And I'm thinking about taking each one individually first, and at the end, all at once."

**************************************

Garfield Logan stared at the night sky, wondering which of the many pinpoints of light was Vega. Astronomy was not one of his strengths.

It had taken a lot to be finally convinced that there was no foul play involved, but if Kory wanted to do on her own whatever she was doing, it was her choice. Hopefully Conner was not being too much of a nuisance.

It should have been me, Garfield thought. I should be the one with her. Even Krypto was there.

He sighed. At least the kid's presence meant that they would need to return, that Kory had a reason for returning. That was some comfort.

There was little use in worrying, he told himself. Kory was certainly capable of taking care of herself. He doubted there was anything she could not handle.

**************************************

"Tygorr! Broot!" Koriand'r exclaimed, cheerfully approaching the new arrivals. "So glad you could come!"

"We sure hope they do," D'irf'gis muttered to himself.

"Glad to be of assistance, Princess Koriand'r," the tawny humanoid with the glossy stripped fur said, his smile showing his fangs, as he extended a clawed hand towards her.

"Oh, please, call me Kory," she told Tygorr, her eyes shinning with excitement, as she took his hand in both of hers. "You look great! Have you been working out?"

"Ah-yes, yes."

"I had not seen you or Broot in so long! Not since that time back in-"

"Surely we could discuss the old days later," Broot said in a deep, resonant voice, his massive rock-like frame towering over everyone. Each of his arms was much thicker than Starfire's torso. "I'd prefer we start with the project as soon as possible."

Koriand'r looked up, surprised at the directness of the normally shy being. The years must have changed him, she thought, much like the Citadel wars had first driven him away from the pacifism of his people. She had actually doubted that his religious beliefs would allow him to participate, though it was worth it to ask, as his strength and size made him quite an exciting challenge in every sense. That he may have become less restrained that what she remembered made the prospect of him as sexual partner even more arousing.

"Well, I've already recorded most of the preliminary scenes, but you surely need some rest before-"

"Why delay doing the main scenes?" Broot asked.

"We were both looking forward to it, Princess," Tygorr added.

"Really?" she asked, already feeling a growing warmth in her loins at their clear interest. "You both may need all your strength. Feeling up to it?"

"The studio is already prepared," D'irf'gis added helpfully. "We can get makeup, wardrobe, technicians, everyone in here immediately."

"Why not?" she said, smiling.

**************************************

"Maybe it isn't a good idea for me to be here," Conner said uncomfortably, trying to keep his eyes on the least compromising places. Not that there were any.

"Nonsense," Starfire said, while multiple assistants fawned around her, touching up her hair and clothing. "You should watch the combat and learn. Tygorr is a fierce warrior, and while Broot may be less mobile, his strength can more than compensate. Any would be a worthy opponent even if I was using my full powers. The fights should still be interesting."

"Ah, well, ok," Conner said.

"Would the consequent sex offend you?" she asked. She knew that some Earthlings were even more prudish than the rest.

"Ah, I don't think so." "If you find it embarrassing to see, you may leave when it starts, but you should not waste the chance to learn from experienced warriors."

"Ah, ok."

"You could even use the sensory resonance equipment and have direct access to what any one participant is experiencing. It's interesting new technology. Of course they'll record it for a different purpose, but you could then see how a real warrior feels and reacts during combat. We should get it for Titan's Tower."

"Uh, I-I think I'll just watch."

**************************************

Lobo stared incredulously. How did those two losers end up coming anyway?

"Those two surely could use some extra help," Lobo offered. "I wouldn't mind-"

"Thanks for the offer," Yor replied politely. "We'll get back to you."

Lobo cursed. Could he find a chance to quietly kill them before it was too late?

**************************************

Tygorr attacked with a growl.

Starfire dodged with ease and slammed her instep into his side. He grunted and fell to his knees.

The technicians, gaffers and assorted personnel in the studio winced collectively. D'irf'gis and Yor exchanged worried glances.

Conner shifted in his seat. The tiger-stripped guy did not seem as tough as Starfire had said.

Starfire stepped cautiously away. Tygorr was surely faking to draw her into clawing range.

Their surroundings were a faithful recreation of the old death-pits where slaves once fought for the amusement of the Citadel Lords. The cage surrounding them was made of metal pitted and bent to suggest lengthy use, and the sand covering the floor was even stained with facsimile blood. D'irf'gis and Yor were certainly devoted to detail.

The fight, however, was rather lacking. Of course it was not a death-match, Starfire knew, but even as a friendly bout it was disappointing. Tygorr seemed to be going through the motions clumsily and with little concentration, a far cry from the savage combatant she recalled mowing down Gordannian slavers.

He rose and charged at her again, roaring loudly, but his rush ended with his being thrown several paces towards the wall, dangerously close to one of the quite realistic metal spikes ringing the lower edge of the cage.

Could he be underestimating her? she pondered with a frown. It was almost insulting.

"You don't need to hold back," she said out loud. "Don't worry about me. I can take it!"

Tygorr got back to his feet, slowly this time.

"You aren't going to get me like this," she said, placing her hands defiantly on her hips, feet spread wide apart. "Come on! Change into your beast shape if you want. Surely you can take me then," she added, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

Tygorr stared at her with a strange expression, before he finally nodded, and began to change. His body stretched and grew, and changed from humanoid into the shape of large feline quadruped, huge gleaming fangs filling his wide jaws, while powerful muscles bulged beneath the fur.

Starfire moved into a defensive crouch. Finally it would get interesting. She had looked forward to coupling with Tygorr in humanoid shape first, with his later shifting to full beast shape in mid-coitus, but she would not mind going straight to the riskier, wilder sex, if it meant a more satisfying fight first.

The transformed Tygorr ran at her and pounced, his powerful muscles propelling him forward in a mighty rush, huge claws extended from the massive paws.

Starfire fell back, her legs moving up, bare feet making contact with his torso, as she pushed and spun, using his own momentum to propel him back and over her. Tygorr landed clumsily on his side.

Starfire frowned again. That had been too easy. It did not make sense.

He rose and rushed her again, this time keeping low, his powerful front legs aiming at her legs.

She jumped up and brought her legs down, knees landing on his shoulders, driving him hard down to the ground. Swiftly, she jumped away, avoiding an angry swipe that tore through one of the gauze strips trailing from her waist.

Something was wrong. Had he been recently injured and hid it through pride? Even with her full strength and speed she should not be able to evade him so easily.

"You won't find the two of us so easy to handle," Broot boasted loudly, entering the combat arena.

That melodramatic statement was so far from what she remembered of the gentle giant that she stood still for an instant, puzzled, allowing the massive being to get close to her.

He swung with his massive fist, and missed.

Starfire rose from her dodging side-step, and her foot struck out sideways, at Broot's leading leg, in a stomping kick that would have crippled a human. The towering being cried out in pain and stumbled back.

This was even worse. Broot should have brushed that off easily, she thought. She had not even needed a follow up strike. Had both Omega Men been depowered somehow by an enemy?

She suddenly jumped to a side as Tygorr attacked her from the back, his claws missing her by a wide margin. He recovered and attacked again, but as she dodged him anew, she knew he was trying to force her to back towards Broot. Perhaps working together they could prove effective.

Starfire could sense Broot looming behind her when Tygorr jumped at her with a triumphant roar. Yet it became a whimper as Tygorr slammed against Broot. His prey had ducked beneath the attack, grabbing his extended forelimbs and had spun, throwing him at his teammate.

"Knew they were pussies," Lobo snorted in a corner.

"What's happening here?" she asked, before Broot suddenly grabbed the dazed Tygorr and swung him like a club, throwing him at the puzzled Tamaranian. She dodged the brunt of the impact, but stumbled to a side, off-balance, and as Broot grabbed at her again, her trailing mane of hair was caught in his grasp.

With a shout he threw her to the ground. His huge hands grabbed her wrists and forced her arms to each side, while his massive body moved between her spread legs and on top of her.

Then he hesitated.

"What now?" he asked.

"What now?" Lobo echoed incredulously.

"Should we have sex now?" Broot asked.

"WHAT ELSE?" Lobo shouted out. "FUCK HER!"

"Mr. Lobo, please!" D'irf'gis protested.

"FUCK THE BOTCH, DAMMIT!" Lobo continued. "RAPE HER TILL SHE BLEEDS!"

"MR. LOBO!"

"Rape her?" Broot asked. "But isn't that-? I mean, what's my motivation?"

"SHE'S A HELPLESS HOT SLUT! WHAT MORE FUCKING MOTIVATION YOU WANT, YOU PUSSY?"

"Actually, we'd have sex only if I conceded defeat, which I haven't" Starfire said calmly. "And I'm not that helpless, either." She brought her legs up and under his wide armpits, and with a grunt, she pushed him forward over her, unbalancing him. As the weight on her wrists decreased, she twisted and shifted a foot to push at his hip towards a side, while tugging with both arms in different directions, pulling one of his arms down and to a side, and the other further away form her.

As Broot stumbled to a side, she rolled with him, to straddle him before punching hard at his face, making his head slam back against the ground. She then stood up and extended one hand, energy erupting from it in a fierce halo.

"Now tell me who the hell you are before I make you eat a starbolt," she said coldly.

"This was not in my contract!" the fallen brute whimpered, and his body began to shift and contract.

"I think I broke something," Tygorr muttered a few paces away, while his body began to change as well.

Both turned into orange-hued, pointy-eared humanoids with paired thin antennas on their foreheads.

"Durlans," Starfire spat with disgust.

"Oh, fuck," Yor whined.

"What's his motivation?" D'irf'gis muttered, shaking his head. "I hate Method actors."

**************************************

"Do you think I'm an idiot? Some bimbo you can fool with a cheap trick? DO YOU?"

"NO! We're sorry!"

"We couldn't get any of them! We couldn't even get them to talk to us!"

"We thought that-"

"YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD BULLSHIT ME INTO FUCKING A PAIR OF FUCKING DURLANS INSTEAD OF-? I CAN HARDLY BELIEVE IT!"

"Well, if you need something genuine," Lobo began. "I can-"

"FUCK YOU ALL! TO HELL WITH YOUR DAMN SICK GAMES!"

"Please!"

"Can't we clone these Omega Men or something?"

"FORGET IT! I'M OUT OF HERE!"

"We'll put up twice the funds! We'll open hospitals and schools for your people! For all Vega!"

"We'll set up a Foundation for Earthling Arts! Open up museums! We'll release films of classic Earth artists!"

"The complete works of Jerry Lewis! Benny Hill!"

"Who?" Conner asked, frowning.

"WE'LL DO ANYTHING! THE PRE-ORDERS ARE UNBELIEVABLE!"

"WE MUST DELIVER IN A WEEK! IF WE CANNOT MEET THE DEADLINE WE'LL BE FINISHED!"

"GOOD!" the furious Starfire replied. "SEE IF I CARE!"

"Look, we have a contract," D'irf'gis began, his voice quavering. "We already set things up for your people. You promised-"

"I promised?" Starfire asked, with fire in her eyes.

"Yes, you promised to do it. Just a small technical problem cannot make you-" D'irf'gis continued shakily.

"A SMALL TECHNICAL PROBLEM?"

"You promised!" Yor wailed.

"I promised, yes," Starfire stated, her anger nearly palpable. "And I'll keep my word."

"You will?"

"I'll do it. Just like I said I would. You want me to fuck someone for you? They must best me first. One on one. But for real. No restrictions on powers. No holding back. No making it easy. Whoever beats me, fucks me. That simple."

"But, who-?"

"That's your problem. You have a week, and then I leave. Whether you like it or not."

"But-"

"Let's go," she told Conner, and walked out.

D'irf'gis and Yor stared at each other.

"What can we do?"

"Damn, I hate it when they become divas," Yor muttered.

"Well, I'd charge only a modicum fee for my services," Lobo said with a leer.

Both Psions stared at him.

"We'll get back to you," they both said at once.



PART NINE: THE SHOW MUST GO ON

The starbolt continued to echo in the enclosed space of the set while the Khund gladiator fell on his face, his cyborg combat systems still emitting weak sparks.

"That's the best you could find?" Starfire sneered, while the medical teams rushed in.

D'irf'gis and Yor sighed.

**************************************

It had been interesting at first. Watching Starfire fight with such fury was certainly impressive, as was her costume, or lack of it. But after the first dozen ones, it rather became monotonous. Clearly none of them ever had a chance, even the few ones with actual powers.

He felt guilty about having wanted to see her bested a couple of times. It would have been exciting in a perverse kind of way to actually see her, that near perfect beauty, having sex with some of the creatures she had faced. But perhaps it was just the boredom. She was his teacher and teammate, so of course he was on her side, no matter how hot she would have looked being boned by the nastier ones.

He shook his head. Starfire was letting loose as she rarely did one Earth. Unless they got someone with Superman-level power, nothing was going to happen. That was what he should want to happen, really.

And he had already seen her doing it with a few ugly aliens in that holo, back that time the first day, and knew well that she looked hot as hell doing it. So that should have been enough, brief as it had been. Too brief.

Krypto whined at his feet. Chasing the alien wildlife in the area surrounding the city must be losing its appeal, or maybe he missed Clark. They were certainly doing nothing but stand around.

Conner could not help but pick up the holochip again.

**************************************

Starfire allowed herself a modicum of surprise as the huge Garr'noan beast was brought into the arena.

The creature was probably pumped with drugs, being already angry and very erect, she noticed. The truly enormous erection dangled rigidly between its powerful hind legs, the bright purple flesh glistening with copious preliminary fluids.

It seemed even bigger, in every sense, than the one Komand'r had forced on her, those years ago. Few of her later sexual liaisons had ever involved anything as monstrous, dangerous or over-endowed. Hard to believe she could have experienced any pleasure with such a hideous beast. A botched cross between a rhino and an iguana, Garfield had called it, after she had described it, one night when she had felt kinkier than usual.

Was this supposed to tempt her? Was she meant to surrender to that over-hung monster, to yield her body to its animal lust, compelled by the memory of the orgasms forced on her years ago by a similar beast and their savage coupling?

D'irf'gis and Yor had some nerve. She had to respect their bravado. And the beast was really well hung.

She fired her starbolts.

**************************************

The Garr'noan beast fell, nearly decapitated, mere seconds after it had entered the arena.

"It isn't working at all," Yor said with a sigh.

"It was worth a shot. The one in the old holo-"

"Forget it. It's useless." "We'd need someone or something from Apokolips or Daxam," D'irf'gis said, shaking his head. Daxamites were reclusive, isolated in their planet, and no one with a right mind would involve any Apokolipsians in anything. You just did not want that kind of attention.

"Or that guy who ran Warworld. What was his name? Mongol?"

"Mongul, and I think he's dead."

"Shit."

"Yes. We're running out of time."

"There must be someone! Those paranormals crop up all the time to menace the universe and everything, but where's a damned one when you need it?"

"There's Lobo."

"Oh, please, be serious."

"Yeah, sorry."

**************************************

Starfire looked so young, so innocent, Conner thought, feeling even guiltier. She was already a knockout physically, but the anger and hardness had not yet solidified in her features. More bad times were still ahead for her, he recalled.

The sex was amazing, despite the disturbing context. He had thought that Tara, his first girlfriend after he left Cadmus, knew her stuff, and later, that no one could match the intensity and sexual fury of Maxima, but Starfire was something else. He was not much into hardcore pornography as he felt that the explicitness often featured a degree of ridicule, of exposing what did not work unless in private. But Starfire had a volcanic presence during the acts, that went beyond her evident physical charms. She was hot in every sense. He even found that the roughness and ugly alienness of her partners somehow just emphasized her beauty.

No wonder this thing had been such a bestseller. With more of this, you would never leave the house.

He had masturbated before while fantasizing about her, but now, seeing the amazing holo recordings, watching her in the life-like recreation doing far more than he had ever dreamed possible, he felt like having reached a new plateau of arousement. He had been jerking off for hours, getting painfully sore, the lotions found in his bathroom already exhausted, yet his latest climax seemed to move farther away the more excited he became. It was like such a spectacle deserved much more than a fast culmination and the typical consequent dissipation of interest.

He wondered if he dared take the holo back home.

As the scene between Starfire and the tusk-mouthed brute continued, a new participant entered the scene. The new arrival seemed an attractive woman, with dark, curly hair as long and thick as Starfire's, but her face was not visible, and her body only partially so, even after he rotated the three-dimensional images, as if somehow she always remained halfway outside the holo record range. Her breasts seemed even larger than Starfire's, though lower hanging, far too much for his taste, and her butt was less rounded and firm. She was nude but wore a vicious-looking artificial phallus strapped to her loins, the absurdly oversized thing appeared covered with nasty-looking metal studs.

Her voice was scrambled, but he heard the woman laugh. It was not a happy laugh.

Conner winced at what followed. That surely must have hurt.

**************************************

"Tomorrow's it," Yor said, rubbing at his scaly head, while the biomech medteams took away the last of the day's aspirants, partly in a stretcher, partly in a refuse cart. "We're finished. There's no-"

"Live," D'irf'gis said. "We must go live tomorrow."

"LIVE?"

"Yes, we broadcast the last match live, full sensory telemetry and all. No editing, no interruptions. We do all advertisement in parallel neuro-feed."

"Are you insane?"

"That's the only way we can make the deadline, and please the crowd with only limited scenes and no time to polish it. The immediacy, the sense of real-time involvement will-"

"That's crazy! What if she kills the opponent while people are real-time linked? The lawsuits will-"

"We make sure she loses. We make sure she really gets fucked."

"How? Who-?" "We get back to HIM."

**************************************

Reaching the end of the recording, the holographic images vanished, leaving only a small scrolling list of technical credits and Ethernet links.

Conner could hardly blink. The last scenes, he had even forgotten to touch himself in any way. There was no need.

He would never look at her the same again.

He would never look at sex the same again.

**************************************

"We go back tonight," Starfire said with calm confidence.

"Uh, sure," Conner said, avoiding her eyes.

"It was a good workout, at least. A pity things never became more challenging."

Conner grunted a vague noise of assent while looking away. He could not help but picture her, shaking and moaning under that thing, or when she had, or they had, or- it was almost too much.

Maybe some things man was not meant to know.

**************************************

"Are you sure about this?" Yor whined. "The very idea is disgusting. It's almost criminal!"

"We have no other choice."

"We may get the lawsuits anyway. The last thing any sensible sentient would want in his erotica is him. The Garr'noan beast, or a whole pack of them, would have been an artistic, poetic choice in comparison."

"We fulfill the obligation. She may even compensate enough for him."

"I doubt it. Appeal-wise he's the anti-her."

"We could have worse."

"Who?"

"Um... Ah, no one. It's just an empty saying."

**************************************

"Hey, kid! Still fagging around?"

Conner blanched. He was wearing his S-shield T-shirt. Krypto with his cape was napping in the corner. A fight with Lobo would now be unavoidable.

"You come to learn from watching a master at work, eh?"

"Uh?" Conner asked, puzzled. They said Lobo was as crafty as he was vicious. He could be pretending to ignore the S-symbols.

"I knew they'd see it straight at the end. Who better to bone that luscious big-boobed babe than the Main Man, eh? She's probably been holding out for me, the horny cunt. Can't blame her."

"You-?"

"Once I'm done with her, everyone else may as well turn fag forever. Where's my smokes?"

**************************************

"It's Lobo!"

"What?"

"They are throwing Lobo at you! We must get the hell out of here!"

Starfire stared at him in silence for an instant before shaking her head. "I gave my word."

"You think you can really beat him?"

"No," she replied calmly. "But I gave my word."

"But-! You can't! How could-? Surely you can't-?" Conner asked incredulously.

"I won't let him have me," she stated. "I'll fight until the end, and keep my word. But he will not have me."

"But that would mean that-?"

"Yes."

"But you can't! He'd not just injure you, he'd-!"

"Yes."

"That's ridiculous. We must get away!"

"No."

"You'll be killed!"

"Maybe. But he won't have me."

"I'll help you. With Krypto we can-"

"No, I agreed to one-on-one."

"THAT'S INSANE!"

"I gave my word."

"Then, then, ah, just let him-"

"No."

"It can't be that bad! After all, you did have that huge lizard-like thing, and-"

"Ah, so you saw it, too."

"Ah, I-uh, I-"

"Maybe some other time I would have. Now, I just won't give them the satisfaction. It's a matter of pride. No matter what, I am still a Princess of Tamaran. They will not break me."

"Pride? THIS IS YOUR LIFE!"

"What's life without pride?"

**************************************

Maybe he should have shaved, or taken a shower, Lobo thought for a moment. Within the last month, at least.

He shrugged and lighted a thick cigar. Better not. He didn't want the chick thinking he had gone all soft and romantic on her.

**************************************

"We had no choice!"

"She said she'll rather die!" Conner protested.

"I wouldn't blame her," Yor sighed.

"That's just bravado," D'irf'gis said. "Surely it can't be that bad-?"

"Are you kidding? It's LOBO! How could you do this?"

"She cornered us! What else could we do? Who else could we use?"

**************************************

The music rose to operatic levels as she entered the arena.

The cameras had followed her every move since she had entered the dungeon-like dressing room. They followed her as she was bathed, dressed and coiffed by the multiple assistants, transmitting without interruptions.

She knew it was live. A good portion of Vega was probably watching her.

She would show them how a Princess of Tamaran faced her fate.

**************************************

"WHAT?"

"We are sorry, but your part must be recast."

"WHY THE FUCK?"

"It's an Union thing, you see. You are not in the Union, so we received a formal protest. We would have lost our distribution licenses."

"YOU'LL LOSE MORE THAN-!"

"We're paying you in full anyway!"

"FUCK THE MONEY!"

"We'll set up a foundation to protect Space Dolphins!"

"Uh?"

"THE LOBO ENDANGERED SPACE DOLPHIN VEGAN FOUNDATION!"

"Um, I dig the fucking fishies, but-"

"THE LOBO ENDANGERED SPACE DOLPHIN ALL-GALAXY FOUNDATION!"

**************************************

The opposite entrance to the arena opened, with a loud Wagnerian-like fanfare.

Starfire stared in surprise.

**************************************

Lobo stormed out of the building, chomping on his cigar. Who the hell could they have gotten to replace him?

**************************************

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Starfire demanded.

"Asking the same thing, myself," Conner muttered. At least he had removed his T-shirt. No sense in dragging the Superman name into this.

"I think we should fight now," he added out loud.



PART TEN: WHAT'S LOVE GOTTA DO WITH IT

Lobo frowned, staring at the empty streets. Even the aerial traffic was almost nonexistent. What could have killed the nightlife like this?

His eyes opened wide. They had to be doing it live. Live. It was the only reason.

He began to run.

Why did no one ever tell him about these things?

**************************************

In theory, he had a chance. She would not let loose against him with the same violence as with the others, being teammates and all. In theory.

She had of course refused angrily at first, but he had charged at her anyway, despite feeling like a heel for it. He trusted her warrior instincts to react.

They did. His ribs testified to it.

The limited space allowed by the enclosing cage should make her superior flight experience less significant, as she could not repeat her disappearing maneuvers of the training back home, but it also meant he had less space to avoid her starbolts.

The plasma conflagration sent him flying against the edge of the arena. At least she seemed to be aiming for tangential damage only.

He just needed a plan. A good one. Where was Robin when you needed him?

He tore off one of the metal spikes and threw it at her, but the object was blasted to shreds in mid-air. He tried to use the diversion to rush low at her, but his flight was cut short by a second blast that slammed him against the sandy ground.

His invulnerability seemed up to withstanding the energy discharges for now, but he yet had to even get close to her. Not that he knew what he would do if he got close. Literally.

**************************************

"Sorry. All out."

"ALL OUT? WHATDAFUCKYAMEAN?" Lobo roared.

"It was sold out in less than an hour," the clerk said. "The Ethernet even went into critical mode. One single more connection could crash the whole thing."

**************************************

Conner fell. Hard. The whole layer of sand on the floor rose up into the air perceptibly from the impact.

Starfire, hovering near the top of the cage, allowed herself a half smile. The kid was brave and he had focused better than ever before, but he had no skill and no strategy. He had no chance. Still she felt proud of his efforts.

Conner remained on his back, not moving.

It had to be a ruse, Starfire thought, frowning. But nobody could expect such an obvious deceit to actually draw her close.

He remained still.

"He's out!" she cried out. "Get the med-units!" she added, looking to a side.

Conner slammed into her.

He had known that he was faster than her if he could just concentrate on it. Not quite full superspeed, but close enough. He had just needed a reprieve from being blasted around.

She twisted in his grasp, easily breaking his hold, but his strength was based on tactile telekinesis, and as long as he still touched her, he had her.

Both hit the ground together, making the last impact seem like a soft tap.

He had far more experience than her with falling hard against the ground. She was dazed longer than him, only a couple of insignificant instants, but enough for him to get on top of her.

He sat astride her and cocked his arm back, fist clenched.

Her wide all-green eyes met his, and he faltered.

He could just not punch her. She was his instructor and teammate. Not to mention a woman. A spectacularly beautiful woman.

Everything exploded in a flash of red before his eyes and he was thrown off. He fell on his back, barely conscious after the close-range starbolt.

"Never start what you can't finish," Starfire said, getting on top of him, reversing their positions. He could feel her thighs pressed against his sides, and her firm buttocks resting on his lower body.

"Let me instruct you," she said. Using one hand, she pulled his own arm across his chest, blocking the range of motion of his other arm and torso, and began to strike at his head with the heel of her hand.

Conner gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, moving his head jerkily from side to side to protect his face. She was not using a fist, but that was her only concession. He could hardly believe the sounds he heard were being made against him.

Starfire continued, brows furrowed, while a part of her mind yelled that she was angry not at him, but at her own self, shocked by the idea that he had virtually won, that only his hesitation had turned the flow of combat. That she had been overconfident and he had surprised her.

Only her warrior instincts made her look up in time to see the red and white blur before it hit her.

**************************************

"You always have the shit, you bastard! You must have something!" Lobo argued.

"Man, it was crazy!" The black marketer exclaimed. "The connection chips flew off the shelves even before I finished pirating them!"

"GIVE ME YOURS THEN OR I'LL FRAG YOU!"

"Ugh, man! Sorry, but I'm not into that trans-species thing," he protested, waving his tentacles. "You humanoids turn me off bad, really!"

**************************************

Starfire blasted the dog off, only to have him back on top of her before she could even stand up. She blasted again and rolled back to her knees fast, but Krypto was already only a couple of hand spans away, growling.

She snorted and unleashed a barrage of full-power starbolts pulses, one after the other, but each burst only moved Krypto back a couple of inches, which he immediately recovered, moving forward as if wading stubbornly against a current of raging fire.

Starfire was amazed by the loyalty and power of the animal. He was clearly stronger and more invulnerable than Conner. His deepening growls meant she had only angered him.

Before she could register what happened, she was back on the ground, face-up, with his canine face over hers, the white fangs bared.

"Krypto! Back, boy!"

The dog jumped off her and was next to Conner in an instant, while she sat up self-consciously.

"Sorry about that," Conner said. "I know it was supposed to be one on one."

"We're even," she said, her face flushed. "You had me at a disadvantage for a moment, but so did I, before the dog interfered."

"But I did it first," Conner replied.

"Yes," she accepted, feeling her face grow warmer. "But you could not finish it. I-I'll give you an advantage, and then we resume."

"An advantage?"

"Take whatever position you want, as close to me as you want."

"Er, you mean like in wrestling?"

"Yes, and we start again from there."

**************************************

Lobo kicked the door in, and tore off the contact pads from the fat Gordannian lying prone and unaware in the couch by the neural-link device, before tossing him aside onto the dirty floor. The guy would likely fall into a deep coma from the abrupt interruption of his neural connection, but Lobo could not care less.

He fumbled with the contact pads, cursing his never having gotten a direct neural plug, through a deep rooted distrust of the things.

>ETHERNET ERROR MESSAGE. CONNECTION TERMINATED. CONTACT YOUR NEAREST COSMOSOFT DISTRIBUTOR.<

Lobo cursed loudly in a dozen tongues, some those of quite recently extinct species.

**************************************

He had no hope if she kept her distance. He knew that, and he knew she knew it. Yet she was letting him get close, and he had to make the most of it. If he was beaten, they would still bring Lobo in, for sure. He could not let that happen to her.

He approached her self-consciously, all too aware of her wildly disheveled mane of hair, her flushed skin with just the barest layer of sweat, the now torn clothing that exposed even more of her flawless golden flesh, and her faster-than-usual breathing and what it did to that exposed flesh.

He stood before her. He was tall, but so was she, and their eyes met levelly.

He placed his hand gently on her shoulder.

"That is enough?" she asked.

He nodded, and she smiled in return.

"Ready?"

"Yes."

"GO!"

She almost made it.

She blasted at him instantly, simultaneously trying to fly away, to gain distance. But he had tactile TK, and despite the close-range blast, he grunted, held on, and did not lose contact.

Holding her back with his power just as she attempted to fly, Conner used her instant of loss of balance to pull her down to the ground. He had her back, and applied the same rear choke she had used on him back on Earth, using his legs to hold on to her waist, just as she had done that time, days ago.

She tried to blast up, but he had focused his TK power to keep both anchored to the ground.

She reached back with her hand and blasted at his face, but the very mass of her thick hair between them helped him resist it, the energy partially refracted by her hair just like it aided to channel her propulsion emissions during her flight. He held tight while she struggled, her elbows striking his sides viciously.

She aimed upwards and blasted at the cage structure above them, but he ignored the metal fragments that fell over them, using all of his concentration to extend his TK protection over her without losing the anchoring.

She finally stopped struggling.

He prepared for whatever new tactic followed.

"Well done," Starfire whispered breathlessly. "You win."

**************************************

D'irf'gis and Yor hugged each other in a burst of joy and relief.

"He won! He won!" they chanted together.

**************************************

He blinked in disbelief for an instant, before the music around them soared, and the lights went into a warmer, more intimate mode.

He slowly relaxed his hold, and Starfire spun around over him, tossing her head fetchingly to move her hair aside, before stretching over him, leaning on her arms set wide apart. Her lower body pressed against him all along its length, and her large round breasts rested on his chest, unbound by the flexible silver chain mail loose over them, so that he could feel the large and very erect nipples poking him. Her face was just above his, and only the only thing that could have drawn his eyes away from the tantalizing expanse of her cleavage, was that sight of the mesmerizing all green eyes and dazzling smile, framed by the luxurious cascade of wild hair,

"You did very, very well," she said, breathing quite heavily. "I didn't think you had it in you."

"Me neither."

"Now I'll have you in me," she added with a low, throaty voice, leaning closer and pressing herself tighter against him. "And I can't wait."

She closed her eyes, and her full lips drew slightly apart before meeting his.

Her taste was intoxicating. Anyone could get lost in a kiss like that. She slowly made it more urgent, more insistent, almost like a furious demand, while she rubbed herself sinuously against him, until he finally thought about the possibility of reaching out to touch her.

His hands ran on her sides, enjoying the softness of her skin and the abundant blanket of soft curls of her hair, moving first to her hips, caressing the muscular upper thighs, before daring to slide to the round, tensed buttocks, the increased eagerness of her continuing kiss telling him it was fine to grab and knead with further strength.

She finally pulled away, her mouth gasping with more than lack of breath, and she moved down along his chest, leaning to kiss the hairless expanse of his wide pectorals, before darting to nibble on one of his nipples.

He swallowed hard, feeling her teeth, tongue and lips work hungrily on him, before letting his hands move to the now more easily accessible mounds of her breasts, grabbing both large teats from the sides. The plentiful flesh was firm but soft, yielding under his grip just the right amount. He could not believe that the magnificent bosom he had stared at so many times was finally in his hands, as he pressed, pulled and squeezed with growing urgency. How could any woman be so perfect?

Kory gasped and whimpered as he groped particularly hard, but before he could apologized she had slid up and pressed her chest against his face. The large, hard right nipple went into his mouth almost of its own accord.

"X'hal," she whispered. "It had been so long!"

He kissed, licked, and bit with a mixture of fury and disbelief, happily focused on the delicious mouthfuls of teat, while his hands continued to massage the large orbs insistently. He had fantasized often about this, but the reality far exceeded any of his wildest expectations.

His mouth was left seeking for a further taste as she moved again, the pendulous breasts jiggling out of reach, while her hands went down and unfastened his tattered jeans with evident urgency. He could barely blink before she had released his aching erection.

"Uh, Starfire-" he began.

"Call me Kory, you idiot," she said before her mouth went down to eagerly engulf him.

**************************************

Lobo kicked at the machines. He had attempted to steal a connection in a dozen different places with the same useless results. The connection always broke down automatically.

He slapped his own forehead. Like Darkseid would say, he just had to get to the source.

**************************************

He stared breathlessly at her as she finally moved up, her tongue licking mischievously her own wet lips, while one of her hands still caressed his saliva-coated member.

"You don't finish too soon, that's good," she said softly before kissing him again, hard and eagerly. He stiffened at the thought of tasting his own member, but her kiss made him forget it instantly. "I like that kind of control," she added, disengaging.

Conner felt like his member was burning. He doubted he would have lasted more than two seconds in her mouth if he had not spent the previous night in a marathonic session of masturbation with the holo. Score one for spanking the monkey, he thought.

"But let's see who lasts longer, now," she continued as she moved to straddle him again. "X'Hal, I feel on fire!" she gasped, closing her eyes as her hand aimed the quivering erection at her sex. "Cassie must be a fool if she's not enjoying this every night."

**************************************

The doors to the studio complex had been closed after he had left, but Lobo hardly noticed in his return. The security drones proved to be barely more than a brief nuisance.

"Yor! D'irf'gis! YOU BASTARDS OWE ME A CHIP!"

**************************************

Conner closed his eyes tightly and cursed under his breath, as his hands held onto the slender waist of the gorgeous Tamaranian Princess about to impale herself on his penis.

"I-I can't," he said.

"What?" Kory asked breathlessly, her eyes closed as she savored the feeling of his engorged glans touching her swollen outer folds.

"I-I can't," he repeated.

"You what?" she asked opening her eyes.

"I'm sorry," he sighed. "I just can't do it."

"You're more than hard enough, silly," she said with a soft laugh, her hand caressing him again, as she rocked slightly, letting his glans glide along her moist folds, about to let it part them for their mutual pleasure, preparing to relish slowly the first penetration.

"It's not that," he said, biting his lip. The soft touch of her moist flesh on his penis was unbelievable. "I just-I just can't do this to Cassie."

"What?"

"I'm sorry," he repeated with a sigh, gently pushing Koriand'r up and away from him. "I really, really am."

"WHAT?" Kory repeated with shocked disbelief as she settled to her knees by his side. "What has Cassie got to do with this?"

"I-", he began, sitting up. "I think I love her," he concluded, swallowing uncomfortably.

**************************************

"What the fuck?" Yor asked.

**************************************

"Of course you do!" Kory replied, with a shrug. "And she loves you, too. So?"

"She does?"

"It's obvious. But what has that got to do with us?"

"Uh?"

"Look, you're a nice guy, and it's sweet about you and Cassie, but X'Hal, you've already really made me hot, and-"

"I did?"

"And you'd better fuck me right now, you idiot."

"Ah-"

"Fuck me now," she rasped, moving slowly back towards him. "Fuck me long and hard, damn it."

Conner opened his mouth but could not speak. The sight of the gorgeous woman moving over him on all fours, her lovely mouth so bluntly voicing her desire, was almost irresistible. Almost.

"Sorry," he said, looking away. "Cassie-she just wouldn't want me to do it. Looking is one thing, but-"

"Cassie is not here! I am! And you can't leave me like this!"

"I'm sorry." "We're not becoming lovers or anything. Just here and now, we have sex, and that's it! Just sex!"

"I can't. It would be a shitty thing to do to her. She'd never forgive me."

"She need not know, really," Kory said softly, her face almost touching his again, her breasts brushing his chest.

"But I'd know."

Their eyes locked for an instant, her desire burning plainly in her green depths. She then closed her eyes and moved forward, kissing him again, slowly and tenderly.

Conner felt his resolve melt at the delicious touch of her lips. He would not be able to deny her again.

"You're really sweet," Kory said, moving back with a sigh. "Cassie is very lucky."

**************************************

"Ah, sorry!" the short and fat creature in the badly fitting security uniform said, waving his pudgy arms apologetically as he ran after Lobo. "You shouldn't-,"

"Fuck off, slug," Lobo spat. Live guards were a redundancy typically demanded by local laws and labor associations, and were usually more entertaining to squash than the usual defense drones, but Lobo had no mind for petty distractions. "I'm part of the team."

"You have an identi-chit?"

"Right here," Lobo said, extending his middle finger, while standing before the transporter shafts. "Now, be useful. Where was the Tamaranian slut getting screwed? Third or fourth basement?"

"Oh, you mean for the broadcast of Slavegirl of Tamaran, the Sequel? Oh, golly. It'll be in the third one, I think, and it must be about to start-"

"It started quite a fucking long while ago, you fat brainless slug."

"Really? I must've gotten the hours mixed up!"

"Third one, eh-? You'd better not be shitting me, or-"

"Thank you so much!" the guard exclaimed, turning around. "I must get back to my office! I've had the neural-link device ready since morning!"

"You what-?"

"Who cares about work! I can't miss it for anything!" he said, running back towards the security station, taking a gleaming chip from his pocket.

"You have a fucking chip?" Lobo asked, running after him.

"Oh, of course! She's just so beautiful, isn't she?"

**************************************

"Do something! Say something!" D'irf'gis said.

"WHAT?" Yor replied frantically.

"ANYTHING! IMPROVISE!"

"Improvise what? I know nothing about acting! I'm a producer!"

**************************************

The voice filled the arena, resonating from the many speakers: "VICTORY WAS DECLARED! THE PRIZE MUST BE CLAIMED! SUCH IS THE LAW OF -Uh- THUNDERDOME!"

"There's that, too," Starfire sighed, kneeling and sitting on her heels, while Conner tried to look away from the effects that her still heavy breathed induced in her chest.

"TWO BEINGS ENTER, ONE MUST -uh- COME!"

"Oh, shit," Conner said with a grimace. "I've really screwed up. Now they'll sic Lobo on you!"

"X'Hal knows, right now, I wouldn't mind doing even him," Starfire muttered, feeling the fire pooled at her loins raging with frustration. "Maybe I shouldn't have killed that poor Garr'noan beast, after all. Maybe they have more?"

"I'm sorry," Conner said, his head filled with many conflicting impulses. "Maybe I-"

"X'HAL!" Koriand'r suddenly gasped.

"Uh?"

Starfire's eyes were fixed somewhere to his right side. "Maybe there's... another option."

Conner looked to his right. Krypto stood there, his canine nose sniffing loudly in Starfire's direction. A thick length of bright red flesh dangled stiffly between his hind legs. Kory's eyes were wide open in evident surprise.

"You wouldn't-" Conner muttered, frowning.

"I do think he would," Kory said, as she sat back self-consciously and the white canine moved forward towards her, his nose aimed at the junction of her legs. To her flustered amazement his erect member apparently had yet to stop growing.

"But-!" Conner protested, grabbing Krypto's collar, to which the dog replied with a growl of protest. "You can't!"

"Well, he actually did best me too, didn't he?" Kory said, slowly biting her lower lip. "Technically, I really must."

"But it's a dog!"

"Well, given a choice between animals, he certainly isn't a worse one than Lobo, really."

**************************************

"Send the techs to switch the neural telemetry pads from the kid to the dog, fast!" D'irf'gis said.

"But it's a subsentient! The sensory input will be degraded, the color-"

"You really think our clients will care?"

**************************************

"But-!"

"It's my choice, Conner. Not yours, and not theirs. I'll keep my word. He bested me fairly, he deserves to have me," Starfire said, her eyes fixed on Krypto, as she stretched on the ground with the sensuous grace of a cat, slowly removing the torn gauze strips and the small chain mail patches from several critical places. "You had your chance, Conner. Now it's his."

"But-!"

"X'Hal! It's still getting bigger!" she whispered.

"But-!"

"Take the luggage back to the rooms, will you? It may be a while."

**************************************

"No, please! You-You can't!"

"Fuck off," Lobo said nonchalantly, as he slapped the portly guard aside, sending him to slump in a heap by a corner.

He inserted the access chip on the device, placed the pads on his temples, ordered the formatted setup to load, and sat back on the nearby chair.

He hoped he had not missed any of the good stuff.

**************************************

Krypto moved forward slowly, though the lure of her delicious smell almost overpowered his caution. Not all human females reacted the same in this situation, even when their bodies proclaimed loudly their need to mate. Some, like the angry one with short light hair, resisted a long time before accepting to mate, so he had learned not to rush.

But the female seemed fully receptive. Her submissive position announced her willingness almost as much as did the heavy musk of her aroma. The only other human female he had known to have so tantalizing a smell, to be so intensely in heat, had been the dark-haired one with metal on her forelimbs, several moon cycles ago. Krypto wondered if this long-haired one would also prove as strong and hardy and compliant as that other.

His member grew larger and harder in readiness as he approached her with greater confidence.

**************************************

Lobo lost all consciousness of his real self, feeling only what the link bearer did. He hated the sense of impotence of the process, but that hot Tamaranian slut was certainly worth the bother.

He wondered why she was not in sight. He briefly saw the fag kid just leaving the arena, and then saw sand and felt it in his hands and knees. He wondered who the fuck he was link-riding, and just what were they looking for on the ground.

His hair really felt strange, he noticed, like a heavy coat over his head. Kalibak? he wondered. Had they gotten Kalibak to bone the slut?

"Come on, dear," he heard himself say with a strange voice. Maybe the audio was messed up, he thought, or he was not yet adjusted to the linked senses. He felt a slight disorientation as his field of sight rotated by almost a hundred and eighty degrees, apparently to look over one shoulder.

He wondered why the hell that damn dog was behind him.

**************************************

Krypto licked with relish. Her taste was even better than her smell had promised. The female squirmed as he lapped more urgently, and he knew she was ready. She had been dripping wet since his first taste.

**************************************

"Oh-OH-OW!" the beautiful Tamaranian princess cried out loudly as the massive canine phallus entered her with a single, mighty thrust. Koriand'r had believed herself ready for being mounted and penetrated by the superpowered dog, but the sudden pain as the long, thick shaft impaled her depths with irresistible might, forcing her tight sex to stretch dramatically around the invading girth, proved nearly unbearable.

It was brutally delicious.

**************************************

Lobo screamed voicelessly in the dark confines of his mind, and kept screaming.

**************************************

The long-haired human female had expressed distress when being mounted, but all human females did the same at first. This one felt more fragile than the black-haired one, but had been easier to enter fully from the start, Krypto noticed, and her soft body proved equally welcoming. It promised a good mating.

Briefly adjusting the hold of his forelegs on the back of the trembling human female on all fours beneath him, Krypto began to pump hard and fast, his almost fully engorged member moving back and forth inside her tight depths with the wild urgency that characterized most canines, and the power that only a Kryptonian creature could deliver.

Krypto could have recognized the tone of her loud expressions changing from protest to excitement and eager encouragement, but would hardly have noticed, oblivious to anything but the pleasure of the union.

It was a very good mating indeed.

**************************************

"X'Hal!" Kory gasped in a mixture of shock, pain and sheer delight, as the wild thrusting of the humping dog filled her body with fast and savage shocks of fantastic pleasure.

It took all her strength just to keep her position under the powerful barrage of mighty thrusts pounding against her loins with a furious rhythm that no normal being, human or canine, could have endured. Her large breasts oscillated violently, her whole body made to shake wildly by the frenzied assault, and her voice seemed to be reduced to a series of high, short gasping cries, as she fought to catch her breath, struggling to assimilate the intense mixture of pain and joy flooding her senses.

Suddenly, barely a few short seconds after being first entered, her whole body was struck by a savage flash of overwhelming sensation. Her voice failed her as she sought to scream out her powerful orgasm.

Krypto did not lessen his pace. If anything, he began to hump harder and faster.

Kory found her voice, yelping loudly as she fought for support, grabbing at the sandy ground, as her torso was driven forward and down by the battering her canine lover gave her sex. Her breasts and over-sensitive nipples rubbed cruelly against the sandy surface while her spread arms trembled, her fingers desperately digging for support.

Her orgasm had dissolved in the continued assault, the pleasure reaching a new plateau of delight, as she was irresistibly possessed harder and faster by the wildly enthusiastic animal. Her cries grew louder and more breathless, until after barely a few dozen thrusts more, her breath caught completely in her throat, her hands clenched into fists, and she instantly climaxed again.

Krypto went on faster and harder.

It was almost unbelievable. She had never before reached an orgasm so fast, so early in a coupling, much less have a second climax mere instants after the first one, yet she could not deny the pleasure she had experienced. And even as she whimpered and squealed with the further possession of her body by the eager beast, she could feel a new intense peak approaching.

It reached her, with terrible, delicious power, and as she screamed out loudly her joy, Krypto pounded her with even wilder fury.

Barely a minute later, to her utter amazement, he made her climax again. And again.

She had to recognize that Krypto was indeed a Superdog.

**************************************

>This is an automated service. Please maintain the assigned parking orbit until an official contacts you. Thank you.<

"We've been parked here for hours! Is the whole planet napping or what?"

**************************************

Krypto panted fast and loudly, his head turned up, his long tongue dangling to a side in rapt enjoyment. This human female was more docile than the wild black-haired one had been, but her sex was just as delicious. Her screams contained pain but not the kind that asked for escape, and all her body demanded him to continue.

His member had started spraying initial fluids many thrusts ago, but he finally began to erupt will full power inside her. The large bulge at the base of his shaft started to swell even larger and batter at the female's entrance, seeking access, trying to knot.

**************************************

Kory had soon lost count of all the orgasmic peaks of her pleasure, as well as most real sense of the time involved, getting nearly lost in the experience of being thoroughly possessed by the Kryptonian dog.

She could not even tell whether the powerful jets of red-hot fluids she had felt spraying her depths, had been various separate periods of ejaculation, or a continuous barrage of tireless bursts. Still she had loved feeling him spill his seed in her, wanting to know he was enjoying her as much as she was enjoying being his, while her orgasms seemed to meld into a single extended expanse of bliss, that she actually feared would end or relent soon.

She was wrong.

The large swelling at the base of the canine phallus, which had grown to hammer tirelessly at the tight entrance to her vagina, suddenly was pushed forward with an even more brutal and irresistible thrust that any that had preceded it. The plentiful fluids of her continuous pleasure and the thin jism that the invading phallus had kept producing helped to ease the final stage of her penetration, and the massive knot forced its way into her with one single instant of overwhelming pain.

The resulting orgasm made the many previous ones seem like brief flares compared to the exploding power of a supernova, and her high screams filled the arena for what seemed like an eternity before she finally fainted.

**************************************

It was a dog. A superpowered dog, but still a dog. An animal. It should have been disgusting.

Yet it was surely the most powerfully erotic thing he had ever witnessed, Conner finally managed to think, as he stared open-mouthed. He had soiled his jeans many times without even touching himself. The old holo now seemed barely like a warm up.

And the damn mutt was not even finished.

**************************************

Kory came back to consciousness slowly, with a big smile of pure satisfaction on her lips. An intense but pleasant ache filled her whole body, and a dense dense of fullness pulsed with faint pain in her core. She was exhausted, and sated as she had rarely ever been, but she realized with shock that the sex was not over yet.

Krypto was still lodged deeply inside her, his knot and the rest of his oversized penis still a massive presence inside her clenched sex. Her smallest motion made her wince in pain, yet it still felt delicious. She could feel every throb in its flesh, and basked in its intense warmth.

She had woken laying face down, with her tired legs bent at her knees in a deep crunch, her rump still raised up, joined to her animal lover. Krypto had at some point gotten off her back and turned around, with his big canine phallus still buried snugly in her. She did not know how long they had remained tied or how long he had kept fucking her after her loss of awareness. The crowd of techs and assistants around the arena were still there, keeping an eerie, awed silence. She hoped Krypto had been fully satisfied, as she had.

"You really made me your bitch," she rasped hoarsely. "And I loved every second of it," she added, amused at her actual need to speak the obvious.

She had never believed the dog could be so good. Between her long time without external satisfaction and the frustrated interlude with Conner, she had been more than aroused enough to desire being possessed by the well-endowed animal, but had never anticipated the act to be so savagely enjoyable.

She had always enjoyed sex with other species, perhaps conditioned since puberty by her experiences in the Citadel, including her introduction to bestiality by her cruel sister. During her many adventures in Earth and Vega, she had coupled with beings of various levels of sentience with general success, even with some that could be called monstrous. Yet whether humanoids or not, she considered only true sentients acceptable as lovers. Even for casual, emotionally meaningless sex, subsentients were unusual carnal indulgences, kinky perversions not part of her usual preferences, despite her having practiced such acts extensively in indirect form with Garfield. Since Gar remained a sentient no matter what his shape, she considered those as special circumstances, and without him she may have never indulged so far such curiosities.

Yet the canine form had really been quite recurrent in her sexual adventures, from the foursome involving Trigon's giant pet, to Godiva's robot hounds, and her many nights with Garfield. Though he needed to shift to larger and more powerful forms near the end for her to orgasm, she had always enjoyed his usually starting with canines of increasing sizes. So maybe she did have a thing for dogs, she thought, and it had not been so extraordinary for her to accept and enjoy Krypto so much.

Still the power and prowess Krypto had exhibited had proved truly shocking. Others had also fucked her to the point of actual unconsciousness before. She had enjoyed longer and sweeter sex, more drawn-out and emotionally involved, with Dick or Donna, and equally powerful and brutal orgasms with her first Garr'noan beast, or Trigon and his giant dog, but never before had she been made to climax so fast, with immediate multiple orgasms in such rapid succession. Not with Dick, Gar, Trigon, or anyone else. The breakneck pace of successive climaxes Krypto had given her was truly unique.

Even the dimensions of his delicious cock were amazing for his size, she thought, gasping softly while she gently clenched her sex around his still buried mass. Just excessive enough for her taste, she reflected with a grin of satisfaction. If she had known his powers and more than generous endowment would ensure such fantastic sex she would have sampled it much sooner.

She lifted her torso up slowly, breathing deeply, and moaned softly when she felt Krypto shift as well behind her.

"Gently, lover," she whispered. "I'm too sensitive."

She knew from past experience that she had to wait for his member to swell down before it could be dislodged. She even felt at pang of regret that it had to happen, that the coupling had to end, and was glad for the need to wait.

Remembering the audience, she knew that it was quite an epilogue for the broadcast performance to have her, a royal princess of Tamaran, now tied back to back with this over-endowed dog. She supposed that Yor and D'irf'gis had to be well satisfied with the results. Though not as much as she was, she added to herself, with a naughty smile. That she had been watched by countless numbers while experiencing such a perverse and kinky act only added to the excitement she still felt.

She moved her head gracefully to toss her sweaty hair to a side and look over her shoulder, while better settling her weight on her tired arms. Krypto appeared slightly restless, she noticed, just before the animal began to rock slightly against her.

"X'Hal! You haven't had enough?" she gasped, as each gentle push sent a pulse of mild pain and equally soft pleasure through her whole self. Despite her complete exhaustion and the protest from her knees she could not help but rock back and forth as well, meeting his motion.

"Oh, X-Hal!" she moaned again, feeling the large knot inside her shift as they moved, caressing her most sensitive inner areas. Their now easily-coordinated motions began to make the faint pleasure grow, slowly and gently this time, her loins moving back to meet him with a gentle, almost loving care. It felt delectable and she did not want it to stop.

To her delight, the slow back to back coupling went on in its dreamlike progression for quite a lengthy while, her pleasure growing into joy, until she felt Krypto stiffen and ejaculate again inside her, just as she had a new delicious orgasm.

Kory continued her rocking, and despite feeling his member begin to shrink slightly inside her, the prolonged caress made the pleasure continue to bathe her senses, making her grow more and more excited, until suddenly, he jerked away and pulled his phallus out with a brusque tug, the still massive knot loudly popping out of her sex. The sharp sensation of his rough withdrawal sent her finally over the edge for a last, intense climax that made her collapse again, breathless on the ground, while plentiful streams of canine jism flowed from her well ravished sex.

"You damn animal," she muttered weakly, with a broad smile of utter satedness. "You had to show me you could do me slow as well as fast, didn't you?"

Krypto approached her limp body and dove his muzzle between her spread legs, his long tongue lapping at her drenched sex.

"Oooooh," she moaned, her over-stimulated tissues flaring up at the touch. "You are too much!"

A long lapping and much moaning later, she finally rolled to a side, and gently pulled his face to hers. "Come here, lover," she whispered. "Thank you for all that," she whispered, extending her tongue to meet his, savoring their combined flavors. Their tongues danced playfully before he moved down to lick at the sweat covering her heaving breasts.

"You stupid animal, you want to kill me?" she gasped breathlessly in astonishment. "Why couldn't you be a sentient, damn it? A girl could fall in love so hard for you!"

**************************************

D'irf'gis and Yor sat speechless for a long time after it finally was over.

Eventually one of them spoke.

"I think we can now retire."



EPILOGUE: ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL

Conner hurried behind the two of them as they walked to the spaceship. He carried the huge bundles of luggage of the luxurious wardrobe the Psions had given her as a goodbye gift, among other things.

She looked gorgeous in the flowing sheer robes, but he still felt uneasy seeing Krypto next to her. Every few seconds the mutt rubbed himself against one of her long legs and she caressed its head. For a moment his TK faltered and the bundles almost fell. How could he do anything properly if 'that' was always flooding his mind? He wondered if he should have left the old and new holo chips behind. It would have been a show of character. Or being really stupid.

He sighed. What would be the point? He could never see any of them the same again, now. Not that it was really a bad thing, of course. In truth, both were actually aliens, so it really should not matter.

In a way, Starfire was much more likeable to him now. Not just desirable. Likeable, as a friend. She was more human. Funny he had to see her fuck an animal to discover that.

As they reached the spaceship, Conner saw Lobo standing by the door. Probably the Psions had arranged to have him escort them.

"Um, hi," Conner said nervously, as he walked past the infamous bounty hunter and assassin.

Lobo held a cigar limply in his hand, and wore a vacant look in his eyes. He did not reply.

**************************************

"We must wait a bit for take-off authorization, Miss Princess," the one-eyed being said, wearing a shiny new uniform to match their shiny new ship.

"For how long?" Starfire asked, standing by the door to her luxury cabin.

"Quite a bit, I'm afraid, Miss Princess, it seems there's a huge backlog of delayed traffic since two days ago and they still haven't caught up."

"Ah, fine, thank you."

She walked back into her room and stretched sinuously. She had slept for almost a day and a half and was now again bursting with energy, feeling reinvigorated in more than one way. She realized that the sex with Krypto had done her well both mentally and physically. She had been letting her past restrain her, block her from truly living again. She had needed to remember that a warrior must be able to relax to be effective, that being flexible was as important as being strong.

She had to be flexible again in both combat and in her life, she thought as she walked out and strode along the ship's central corridor, wondering if Krypto was with Conner.

She smiled, feeling excited to be alive, and again, despite it all, also felt quite aroused. She would no longer deny her needs and feelings anymore.

Huddled in one corner was Lobo. To her surprise he smelled and looked clean, as if someone had bathed him again and again, removing the grime of decades. Even his hair looked less tangled. But more drastic was the change to his demeanor. He had no boasts and jeers as he saw her, but rather he remained silent, and his eyes lacked the usual manic glow. He almost seemed introspective.

To her even deeper amazement, she now found him quite attractive sexually. He had always had a powerful, muscular body, and the bulge in his pants was quite promising. Now the smell and the appearance of wild madness was gone somehow, Kory actually wondered how good he would be in bed.

She decided to find out.

**************************************

Lobo looked warily at the Tamaranian as she talked to him with suspicious tones and words. She kept seeking to meet his eyes and get far too close to him, trying to touch his arm or chest, even letting her chest brush against him.

He inched away from all her attempts. Why could she not see that she made him uncomfortable?

It was too much when the dog bounded into view. Lobo felt his whole body clench and his breath leave his lungs. He tried to speak and could not.

He had taken the job of escorting them back precisely to prove that he was still the same as always. That it all had been just a lie, a damn illusion. That nothing had happened to him for real. That he could just look at them and laugh and smoke and spit.

But he just could not stand that damn dog getting near without suddenly getting the urge to take another bath.

**************************************

Koriand'r stared, baffled, as Lobo virtually ran away to lock himself inside a toilet. Surely he could not be so dumb, she thought. She had almost asked him to just chose the positions.

She shrugged. She should have known, what with all his posturing and lewd proposals before. She knew the type. All bluster and no real action.

Krypto jumped happily next to her, and she smiled at his enthusiasm.

"Well, Looks like it's still just you and I," she said softly while reaching down to pet his head.

**************************************

The white and blue globe of the Earth grew larger in the wide field of stars before the spaceship.

With a burst of exhaust, Lobo and his spacecycle moved away from the ship. He felt relieved already. Maybe he should unwind a bit in the crummy planet below. Pick a fight with the Kryptonian or something.

There was an Irish bar in a slum in Gotham City that he had heard bad things about. Callahan's or something. Maybe he should go there, get drunk and bust some heads.

Everything would surely just get better.

**************************************

The spaceship flew off, leaving Starfire, Conner and the now-curiously subdued Krypto, along with multiple bundles of luggage, in the narrow beach of the San Francisco islet. Titans Tower stood a short distance away.

"They'll be here to receive us shortly," Starfire said. "Try to say something nice to Cassie first, ok?"

"Um, yes," Conner said uneasily.

"You realize that in everything else, nothing has really changed, right?"

"Uh, yes?"

"I will still drive you hard and bust your ass if you slack off. It's for your own good."

"Um, sure."

"You were just lucky, remember that."

"Um, sure."

"And about Krypto," she added, making him turn red. "You'd better still keep the stupid dog away from my garden. He makes a mess, it's still your responsibility."

"Ah, eh, sure," Conner replied uncomfortably. Certain images keep coming back to his mind. Maybe they always would.

The lights of the lower level of the Tower turned on. Conner wondered if Cassie was there now, and decided it was his last chance to do the right thing.

"Um, Kory?"

"Yes?"

"I think you should have these," he said, handing her the two holochips.

"Are these-?"

"Yes. The old one and the new one. I also have the player in my bag. I-ah, I think it'd better if you got rid of them yourself."

Kory smiled and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Thank you," she said.

Conner blushed. Hopefully Cassie had not seen that.

Kory glanced at the labels and crushed the first chip, with a strange expression on her face, like of a long burden finally being left behind. The other she slid into the edge of her top. "-Maybe this one later," she said casually.

"Uh?"

"It may be interesting to try it also from the other side, you know."

"Uh?"

"I do wonder how it feels to have me," she said with an open smile that could easily be interpreted as full of innocence. "It may be instructive."

"Uh, sure."

"And you may leave the stupid dog here until the weekend if you want."

"Uh?"

"He does owe me the rematch," she said, her smile even brighter.


THE END

[April]

Thanks for the new addition.