For A Brighter Future
Chapter 3: Prismatic Nebula
“Told you we’d find her. Who knows how long they would have left her out here before snatching her up. I admit, it’s weird they just left her here, but . . .” Sylvia’s voice is the first thing to cut through the white. The world starts to become splotches of bright color instead of just bright, but I feel too heavy to move. “Kelly, do you think maybe you could make her a harness with your rainbows? We need to get her home, and all we really have are a pair of motorcycles.”
At least they seem to be getting along.
SittI am starting to see what Rebeca saw in having a good car for the job. I’d love to pass out in a back seat.
“Not with her all metal. She’s way too heavy. I’m surprised trying to move her as much as we have isn’t waking her up. Or she is awake. When she’s solid metal it’s hard to tell. She looks peaceful, though.” Kelly never did get to see me metal very much, but I know Sylvia says I sleep with my eyes open sometimes when they’re metal.
“I’m awake. Just a little blind. I could ride holding onto somebody. Is Mourning Frost okay? Did you see where Hope went?” My body aches. It doesn’t hurt from the fall, though I’m sure my clothes are torn something awful. Hope really did a lot of work on those gloves of hers. She was always working on some new gadget, so it makes sense she’d beef those up too. It also occurs to me that she’s on the same team as Proximiti. That does not bode particularly well.
I would not exactly mind if things were a little less frightening.
I pull my metal back, and instead of bright nondescript reality my vision is just obscured with color. I close my eyes. Those colors, such vivid purples and silvers, look a little too familiar even if they’re only afterimages. “We only got here a few minutes ago. Hope was already gone. I’m just glad you’re okay.” Sylvia lifts me into her arms and squeezes me tight. The curves of her body make me melt. I didn’t even realize how tight my body felt until she started holding me. She’s not even using any of her power.
What the hell were we thinking acting like a married couple? This is so much harder than it would have been before. I can’t kiss her. What if someone saw us? What if someone is watching us? What if someone is just stashing the pictures away waiting to blackmail her, or us?
Life was a lot simpler without her, but it was a lot less meaningful, too.
“You didn’t tell me if Mourning Frost was okay.” I flutter open my eyes. The colors are finally gone. With a sigh I rise up to feet and brush myself off. “She was sort of our only lead that was something better than, or even a way to, bust right in the front door. Did Hope . . .?”
“She’s alive.” Kelly looks so vibrant in the sunlight. Her hair shimmers, flowing lightly in the wind. It looks so ethereal, taking the light and making it glisten every color of the rainbow. Her eyes shimmer like well . . . prisms. “But, she was out cold. We called an ambulance, waited for them to show, and then drove out after you. Your sister is a much better driver than you are, by the way. She understands the intent of speed limits.”
“That doesn’t mean she’s a better driver than I am.” Aureus is laying on her side a few feet away. I doubt either of them could lift her up without a lot of effort. I’ve never considered myself to have super strength, but I am one tough cookie. Her weight is a healthy reminder that I’m not that easy to knock down, and sitting on her again feels like a very nice reminder that I’m pretty good at getting back up.
Monique is alive. Good. She only tipped her hand to save me, and she didn’t even get any useful information out of it. I wish I knew any way of getting a hold of the nonexistent government agency she works for.
If she really is a government agent, they’ll know where she is, and the reports of an icy super winding up in a hospital should reach them quickly enough. Maybe that’ll help keep her safe. I don’t have the luxury of playing bodyguard.
“Then we should get back home. We’re right back where we started. No, scratch that, we’re worse off than when we started. When we started, we had some clue what the fuck to do next.” I wrap my fingers around Aureus’s handlebars and rev her engine. “Actually . . . Do you two mind if I make a little personal stop? Nothing dangerous, I just need to do something, alone if I could.”
Still sitting on the ground, Sylvia won’t meet my eyes. She mumbles something incoherently, and looks away. Kelly shrugs. “Sure. I’ll catch a lift back into town with Sylvs. Be careful, okay?”
“Yeah . . . I’ll try. Take care of Sylvia.” She starts to say something, and I rev Aureus again to block the sound. I speed away fast as I can, heading back towards Midas. I know Sylvia isn’t the one I’m angry with, but I know that I am angry. I’m powerless.
I can take a bullet to the chest, but I can’t save my mother – either of them – wherever they are.
Maybe I’ve been avoiding the only people that can help. I just hope I’m not too late to protect them, too. I don’t seem to be very good at that.
“Protect yourself!” I scream loud as I can, but I’m drowned out by the engine of her motorcycle. She speeds off without a look back and I scream louder. My nebula swirls around me, flowing of its own volition. She’s always so eager to run away. I know her a little too well to think she’s running away from Hope, or not knowing where to go next.
Aurora is stronger than she thinks, but she’s also a lot more emotional.
I wish I knew what she wanted to do alone. She’s never been very big on solitude. At least I still have Kelly to commiserate with.
“She’s going to get herself killed one of these days, driving like that.” Kelly leans against Sylvia (the bike, not me) as she talks. I’m going to need to rename the bike if I keep using it after this.
There’s something I really like about her that I can’t quite pinpoint. Maybe it’s the way she seems so bright and vibrant in the smallest amount of light, with a little extra glisten to her skin. Maybe it’s the way she can say something like that while seeming so very peppy. “Don’t worry. I know you can take care of yourself. You were plenty capable of taking control of Quillspawn, and me.”
“Really am sorry about that. I wasn’t really in control, but I was, so, sorry?” I am pretty sure that Aurora is much better at being a super heroine. She’s good at the detective stuff, has experience working with a group, was sort of their leader . . . and I stop thugs and wanna be super villains on my off hours.
Kelly shrugs and smiles a little brighter. Her lips even glisten like a rainbow. “Hey hey hey! You didn’t really get much of a say in it either. I’m a super heroine – I’ve been mind controlled before. It happens. Just don’t make it a habit.”
“I’ll try not to.” It’s really hard not to be smiling like an idiot. It’s not like I’m not used to being surrounded by nice, pretty women or anything. I’m a celebrity. I’m just not used to them being there for me right after my sister makes me feel like discarded trash. “How long have you been doing well . . . what we do? Maybe I could drive nice and slow, and you could tell me?”
“Huh. Riding Sylvia while telling Sylvia everything about me. Something about that sounds dangerous!” She winks and climbs on behind me. “I’ve been doing it since I was sixteen. My school got attacked by a supervillain wanting to take revenge on an old teacher. Really lame stuff. I just meant to splash him with some water to help her get away, but then the water started shining, and I smashed him in the face with a rainbow so hard he slammed into the wall and ended up in intensive care. Eventually I started making some of my own water – don’t know exactly how – and started doing it as more than just an emergency hobby. Then I got kidnapped, thrown into some reprogramming facility, broken out, mind controlled by a drop of ink, and here I am.”
Kelly laughs, and presses a little closer to me as we start to move. I can feel her warm breasts against my back, and her arms are pressed so tight around me. She wasn’t riding like this on the ride here. She feels so, so warm, like a glistening sun wrapped in a fun shape.
I start to drive a little faster, and grin when she presses a little tighter. It would not surprise me if Aurora was a worse driver with her on board.
“That’s definitely a fun origin story. Aurora’s probably told you about our parents, and you’ve probably heard all about me and Phoenix Records . . .” It’s not exactly the most fun thing in the world for everyone to know one of the worst things that ever happened to you. It’s nice that you don’t have to recap as much.
“Yeah, I heard about that. I was pretty impressed actually. Maybe you didn’t save the day, but you took a lot from it. You kept the band together. You got famous. You made it look glamorous to be a heroine.” She makes me so glad I’m the one driving. It takes a lot of effort not to squirm. If I was clinging to her from behind she’d be feeling a whole lot more. “Plus, I love your hair. Some strands are more purple, some more silver. Made me enjoy mine a little more.”
It’s impossible not to remember what Miss Strand told me back at phoenix records..
You don’t need it, but you know how many famous musicians there are with powers?
You’ll help teach a generation of young women that they can do more than save the world, funny as that sounds . . .
Instead I’m teaching a generation of young women that saving the world is something even celebrities do. Damn, my ego is going to have trouble fitting inside a car. My namesake is a really sweet ride, though . It would only be a fair trade for what Yana did to me.
I go even faster, and Kelly screams as she grinds so close. “I take it back! You’re crazy as your sister! You’re going to crash into something!”
“Aurora? Crazy? She’s the goody-goody!” My acceleration doesn’t stop until it hurts my arms to drive straight. “I’m the crazy one, Kelly. I ran away to New York to become a singer. And my band? We’re not just a band.”
Kelly shudders against me. Most of her mewl is erased by the wind. “You’re dangerous, but a fun dangerous. You’re an exciting dangerous. I saw you on TV a few times, talking to that news lady, Pamela whatever, about this or that, even caught the footage that time you stopped those thieves in their get away car and filled it with your Nebula. You seemed almost subdued!”
I laugh, and pull over to the side of the road. “Well yeah. In public I try to be a role model. I don’t want to encourage a whole bunch of antiheroes. All we need are a bunch of women in black covering everything besides a circle around their mouth and a shape cut out over their cleavage. So I wear panties when I get out of limos, and I smile for the cameras. Behind closed doors, and when no ones watching? You’ve tasted my dark side. Aurora doesn’t even have one. She has an emotional side, but there’s a difference.”
“P-point . . .” Her voice trembles. She trembles with it. “You’re both very unique women. I see how the two of you could be so . . . close. It would take someone pretty special to match either of you.”
I lean back, and press my hand to her cheek. She starts to speak, but I move her lips against mine. A sizzling nebula meets her yielding flesh, sizzling pleasure through her lips and trapping her in the kiss. She moans, her body tensing, her arms around me hugging me so tight.
Slowly I breathe in through my nose, and breathe past her lips. She moans, inhaling a sharp moan before I break the kiss. I feel so inspired. It’s a wet feeling in more ways than one.
“You’re special enough for both of us. None of us have any clue what to do next. Why don’t I take you back to your hotel room and show you how crazy I can be? Besides, I don’t think I’ve really made up for what I did swimming in ink. A couple ideas come to mind.” I wiggle my eyebrows, and Kelly mewls. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
We reach her door before I finally start to lose my restraint. I narrowly miss shoving Kelly back against her doorknob as I shove her shoulders back and assault her lips with mine. I press my tongue against her lips and they part, surrendering to my tongue. Her body shudders as I lead a dance with our tongues, rubbing my hips against her body. She tastes so sweet, and her body is soft and firm like a power ballad.
I break the kiss and grab her wrists, pinning them to the door above her head. “Mmm, you have a fun mouth. Wanna tour with me? I think we could use a girl like you back stage.”
“M-maybe . . . You’re a lot stronger than you look. Never noticed just how much taller you are than your sister . . .” Kelly’s eyes are glassy with arousal. They make me hungry. “We should go inside my room. Someone might see us- and I coulda sworn I heard somewhere you were dating your guitarist.”
“I am. We have an understanding.” Usually that understanding extends primarily to the band and gorgeous fangirls. Kelly counts as a fangirl. Mental note: I need to call Nikki after I’m done fucking Kelly senseless. “Do you mind?”
She shakes her head. The rest of her is shaking too, but it’s a noticeably different shake. There’s a lot more force of will in the movement of her head back and forth. Everything else is a force of desire. I reach down into her pockets and wiggle my fingers against the denim. With a grin I pull out the key and press my body against hers as I unlock the door.
“Good. I want you. I get the feeling it’s mutual.” I grasp the knob as I catch her lips again. There’s something so special about kissing her. Kissing is usually such a hot, warm thing. Her mouth has a somehow quenching feeling, cool without being cold or any less passionate. Whatever water she drips out to use those rainbows of hers tastes amazing.
Kelly groans in the kiss as the door opens. I keep her body flush with the door, and my body flush with hers before I yank out the key, and yank her into the room. She moans in surprise as I push the door shut with my back, and reach up to lock the door with my fingertip. The grin on my lips feels crooked and devious. The way her body shakes with her harsh breathing sends shudders down my spine and along my thighs.
She starts to speak and stumble to the couch, and I grasp her wrists out in front of her body. Her lips hang open, and I pull her down onto the plush carpet. Her scream shudders like a dying flashlight. I can smell her without trying.
Again I pin her wrists over her head, straddling her waist with my legs forcing hers together. She takes a breath like she’s about to speak, and I breathe my nebula into her mouth. She moans, opening her mouth wider as she tries to arch up against me. Her body feels so warm, like she’s been out in the sun a little too long.
“My rainbow goddess . . . slick with sweat and lust . . . let me drown in you.” My words come out with more melody than I intended. She’s just so inspiring. I suckle and nip down her neck, and press the growing need between my legs into her warmth. “So warm, so wet, I need to be submerged in you.”
“Fuuck . . . You sing during sex!” Kelly’s fingers claw along my scalp, sending shudders along my spine. “And your voice is . . . it trembles in just the right way, or it makes me tremble, don’t know how it’s legal to play ‘Sweat’ on the radio.”
My clit throbs. I groan into her neck. “I want to sink, don’t want to swim. I need your taste, I need your sin.” The words come from some place deep inside of me. Normally I have to make an effort, but they’re just there right under the surface. I can’t hold them back. I don’t want to. “So Kelly, why don’t you give in?”
I nip and kiss at the base of her neck as my fingers tug and pull her top up past her breasts. The sight makes me mewl. Her breasts are held out like offerings, cradled in rainbow cups. They feel so soft and warm under my fingertips.
“I’ll give in to anything you want . . . Take me, Sylvia . . .”
“Oh I thought you’d never ask. Don’t worry, I’ll give you back when I’m done.” Again I force my lips against hers, but this time I don’t hold my power back. I let it flow from my body, enveloping her as I grind my need into her warmth and melt my lips into her. I can taste her arousal, and the haze wrapping around her the longer we hold the kiss. Just before all of her mind fuzzes away I stop the flow of power, and slowly slide my tongue up the curve of her neck. “Aurora told me you can make some fun things with this light. Get rid of the bra, and trap your wrists to the floor.”
The rainbow wrapping up her tits melts from light to liquid, and I suckle and lick up every drop. She screams, and I flick my tongue at her nipples one at a time as that same solid light wraps around one wrist, and then the other. Her arms struggle, but she doesn’t move. The effort makes her tits bounce. Mmm. I latch onto a nipple, suckling and tugging with my teeth and lips.
“I could make you do these things without a choice. I could take away all of your thoughts. Just like that. You’ve felt it before, but not like I can do it. It’s different than what my sister can do, or what they did to you in that place. It’s so much more intense. Passionate. Soulful.” I reach down and pull my own top up past my breasts before rubbing them down against her wet chest. “Mmm. Would you like a little mindless pleasure?”
“Fuck! Whatever you want! Just fuck me! Please!” She screams so loud her voice cracks. I grasp her nipples and twist them both out at once, and she screams again. “Mindless pleasure, with you, sounds hot!”
I close my eyes and nibble my way down her chest. I open her pants and tug them off before nibbling up along her inner thighs. From the faint power I can’t stop emanating I can taste how faint her thinking is. I can taste how strong her need is. It’s all need for me. “Oh, it is. Time to taste the rainbow.”
Her panties, simple and white, are easy to tug to the side. I lick along her slit slowly before teasing my tongue along her clit with just an edge of my power. She starts to moan, and then starts to desperately cry out as I wrap as much of my power around her clit as I can. Moment by moment she pants harder and harder, pussy so damp, so wet, hips bucking, thighs shaking so hard, as her thoughts go away.
The last of them flow away as her rainbow dam bursts sweet lust. I drown in her euphoria, sucking and licking until all I am is a mouth worshiping her body.