Rating Mature
The campaign where Gynock appeared was called “Pandora’s Box”. An anthropologist had found the box and released the spirits within, which were what humans came to know as Gods – Greek, Norse, Roman, ect. They inhabit a body until they use it up and then go onto the next body. A group of heroes locked these spirits into the Box; they used magical rings to go toe-to-toe with the Gods, and used the rings to power the protections on the Box. When the spirits escapes, the rings found their way into the hands of the special-ops-spy-team sent to investigate the disturbance.
Gynock received one of the rings. Once on, the rings cannot be removed any more that the spirits can leave a body once possessed. Gynock’s ring gave him obfuscation and shadow powers under the Vampire the Masquerade rules – under superhero rules, think Cloak of Cloak and Dagger. He has become very sensitive to light, and the powers he holds are quite new.
Part 2 continues with the hospital stay. The obsession Moonblossom has placed on him remains strong, overcoming his natural affection and love for his wife. The nature of the spell playing tiddly-winks with him mind demands all love be directed to Moonblossom only, including self-love. The only he is under the spell, the worse it will get.
“What is best for me is knowing she is nearby.” It nearly made him sick to say it, but if they were HQ then they were pumping him for a past he rather not reveal, if they were the gods then again he didn’t want to answer and a normal hospital wasn’t cleared for anything he had to say. The harbor existed as long as he remained focused on getting in touch with the black widow he married when he was nineteen.
“We will see if she is available.” And with that the two suits stepped out of the hospital room. The nurse offered more water and showed him how to operate the motorized bed even with the restraints on. Gynock was amused at the security (the nurse could act as a bouncer and was nearly as big as Malcolm) and wondered what he had done this time to warrant these precautions. His last memory was strangely incomplete, a sensation he remembered from other times he had been knocked out. His team must have had attacked him for protecting the goddess. He must remember to be less obvious about it the next time.
The snake he married slithered into the room, carrying a set of his sunglasses in her poisonous hands. After saying something about being glad he was okay, she kissed him on the lips. It was all he could do not to pull away as she closed on him. She looked at him quizzically before putting the glasses on him. Blessed relief from the unending glare. It almost made him like her for an instant, in spite of now understanding the emotional manipulation she had done to him growing up.
Destinee continued speaking. “And Melodie cannot wait to see you. She got a new doll while you were away.”
“The Aladdin Barbie?” he asked.
“No, GI Joe silly. Of course the Barbie.” and she lightly punched his arm then laid her hand gently on the bicep she had just abused and gave it two invisible taps. The key phrases had been exchanged, verifying that this was his wife not an imposter. The taps indicated that they were under observation, the location where she rested her hand indicated that she thought they were safe, but to be cautious.
“I can’t wait to see it.” he said.
She gave one squeeze indicating what she said next would be true. “We are just glad you are home safe. Unit Two say they want to observe you a couple more hours, afterwards I think Unit One will grab you for debriefing.” She gave another squeeze to indicate the closing of the truth.
“So what happened?” he asked in an easy manner.
“I don’t know <squeeze>, they won’t tell me <squeeze>.” So she does know, but she isn’t suppose to. Having the viper as his wife did have some advantages. It almost made her skinny ass attractive. But the truth was she fell into the same category as his most dangerous blades, he respected them but didn’t want them making contact with his flesh.
For a little while, their eyes met. She seemed to be trying to measure something he couldn’t see. The two suits closed on the bed. He must still be partially out of it; he hadn’t heard them enter. Ethan Alexander was behind them.
“I need to get back to work,” she said after another moment. “<squeeze> I love you. <squeeze>.” With that she leaned over to kiss him goodbye; he moved so she only got his cheek. Long ago they had agreed to always kiss at meetings and partings. Their daughter got to see them spar, and he had suggested this as a means of showing affection to reassure her that they weren’t fighting for real. Had it really been him that came up with this idea, or had she manipulated him into it? He couldn’t believe how she had taken him in.
For the last few years they had settled into being an old married couple. But since coming to Newark, Destinee had been blooming – more welcoming of his advances and even initializing contact herself. The new excitement in their lives seems to have reawakened her, making her more alive every day and he had been reveling in it until now. He didn’t know how he was going to deal with it; the thought of having sex with that bitch, betraying his goddess, made him nauseous.
***
When he walked back to their quarters much later, he still hadn’t come up with a solution. He knew he was sunk when he saw she had worn a white chemise to bed. A black T-shirt was the default sleepwear, the better to blend in the darkness, the easier to move in. A white nightgown was guaranteed to be removed at some point in the night, if only to get rid of the glare. The lights in the bedroom were set to the normal dimness for their housing. She instantly awoke when he opened the door.
As she slinked towards him, he panicked. There was no way Gynock wanted that foulness to touch him. From every shadow in the dimly lit room raced a tentacle of blackness to restrain her. Shocked, Gynock felt the feedback of her initial quick struggle and knew these things were under his personal control. Somehow he had raised them to meet his need. A new power, barely under control, he thought. He could kill her here and now and no one would be the wiser. He had already killed over a dozen people today trying to defend the goddess; a minor sacrifice to her protection. Adding another would speed him on his way to rescue her. He made the tentacles tighten, squeezing her like she had done him earlier that day.
Until from her lips passed one of the two safe words they had for sparing. The first one was the equivalent of “I Surrender”, something they rarely said. The second one indicated “that hurts too much, back off a little and let’s continue.” The second word was what she uttered and long habit made him reduce the pressure. Realizing what he had done, he tried to increase it again, but he couldn’t get the tentacles to obey. Instead they started to caress her fondly though a little awkwardly as though they didn’t have precise motor control. Okay, he thought, that is another option. He ordered them to continue along that path.
During the next few minutes the tentacles frenzied, rending the nightgown from her person. After she had been thoroughly used, and the sadist seemed to have actually enjoyed it, the tentacles rushed back into the shadows, unceremoniously discarding her. She dropped in a limp pile onto the institutional carpet. Going over, he nudged it with a booted foot, a low moan came from the naked scarred body.
Satisfied it wasn’t going to move for a while, Gynock started to prep. He cleaned his blades and armed himself. Over the chainmail laced leather slicker he wore as armor he looped both scabbards for his large swords. Everything could use a little repair after the last combat which he couldn’t remember, but the fixes would have to wait. The earth-walking goddess needed rescue.
“Where are you going?” groaned the pile on the floor.
“To rescue Moonblossom,” he answered, doing a final check on the guns. He didn’t like them, but sometimes they were necessary. Best to bring them.
“Why?”
“Because I love her.” came the automatic reply. Final check done. Then he realized what he had just said and half twisted to look at the heap. All he saw were black eyes flaring.
Shit. He remembered seeing her eyes like that only twice before. Once when Master Damien had been killed in battle and once when he had been stupid.
(Words 1,303; first published 6/14/2020)
