The autumn wind was cool and brisk, but not oppressively so, as it streaked\nthrough the city. It was still early enough in the fall that some people were\nable to wear their spring or summer wardrobe instead of the traditional, heavier\nfall garments. I had chosen a contrast of the two, having electing to wear black\njeans, a midnight blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and my long, black\ntrench coat of supple leather. I suppose the pair of Beretta 96G Elite IA with\ntwenty-five round extended magazine in twin shoulder holsters an the Beretta\n9000S Type F I kept in a small of the back holster could also be thought of as\naccessories, but I was never one to keep up on fashion trends. I’d always had\nthat problem, ever since I was a kid. Once I had found a look I liked, the\ncurrent one coincidently, I stuck with it and fuck whoever had a problem with\nit. I’d said as much to people who had razed me on my clothing before and that\nusually ended up with a few broken bones, a lot of blood, and the need to have a\ncigarette. Do I need to actually say I didn’t have any of the aforementioned\nbones broken? No, I didn’t think so.
\nOf course, even if I did break a bone, and believe me I have broken many of them\nin my time, it would be healed in about an hour and back to full strength.\n“How?” You may ask. It’s simple really: I’m immortal. No I’m not one of those\ngoddamn Highlander wannabes that run around swinging at each other with swords\nand trying to lop each other’s head off. In fact, I’m the only one of my kind on\nthe whole planet, and believe me I’ve looked for others. There is no mysterious\n“Game”, no “Holy Ground”, no “There can be only one” bullshit, just me, living\nmy “life”, and never dying. Of course, I’ve never head my head chopped off my\nneck or been burned to ashes, so I’m not sure if that would kill me, but I’m not\nabout to test the theory. I just sort of take it as gospel that if I lost my\nhead or there was nothing left of me but ashes I would be as dead as any mortal.
\nYeah, there have been a million books and movies and the like about people who\nare immortal, and almost every one of them moans and whines about how lonely it\ncan be and how they see loved ones grow old and die while they live on. Folks,\nit’s a crock of shit. By this rationale, every person on the planet should be\nfeeling that way since everyone has loved ones that grow old and die before\ntheir eyes. It’s a natural part of the natural order of things. I just managed\nto give it the finger, that’s all. Yes, I’ve seen loved ones grow old and die\nwhile I remained eternally twenty-five years old, and yes I was sad when they\nwere gone, but I moved the fuck on. All feeling sorry for yourself does is waste\ntime, even though I had all the time I wanted. Oh, and no, I’m not going to tell\nyou just how old I am. Suffice to say I know for a fact that dragons did exist\nback in the medieval age and they are some seriously tough bastards to kill,\nthough there are a few of them that are some good guys and gals.
\nOh, does that shock you? Yes, strange and magical shit does exist in this world\nand it is around you all the time without even realizing it. That bum you see\nbegging for money could very well be a mage down on his luck. The hottie\nstrutting her stuff for the whole world in the dance clubs, good chance she’s a\nvampire. Just about everything you’ve read in books exists in some form or\nanother. This includes those ever popular, sometimes nauseatingly so,\nsuperheroes and heroines. And just like people, they can either be your friend\nor a real motherfucker.
\nI suppose this brings us full circle back to me and why I was standing on the\ntop of the Sears Tower in the heart of downtown Chicago. Chicago has been my\nstomping grounds for the last fifty years, but I’ve been all over. A long while\nback, when I saw a rogue group of supernaturals wipe out an entire village of\npeople just because it was amusing, I decided I didn’t really like those kinds\nof folks and took it upon myself to take care of them. I probably would have had\na problem if Arthur hadn’t been nice enough to lend me Excalibur for the job,\nbut it kick started me in my current career. I suppose most people would call me\na superhero or vigilante, but I just think of myself as a guy just trying to\nmake the world a decent place for people to live. Speaking of which, mental\nnote: hop the next flight to Iraq and take care of tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum\n(A.K.A Saddam and Osama).
\nBut enough of the colorful background of my life and the world we live in. Let\nme get back to telling you about a brief flash in my life where I encountered\nsomeone I truly loved. I had come down from the Sears Tower via a grapple line\nshot into one of the smaller buildings nearby using one of Batman’s little toys\nI had picked up in my last encounter with him. The word on the street was a\nsmall vampire gang operating out of the Back of the Yards Saloon on McDowell and\nworking with some woman that was affectionately known as the Palos Park Madame.\nApparently, according to my sources inside Chicago PD and my street snitches,\nthese people were having girls do “modeling shows” in the bar which covered for\na drug and prostitution ring. This in and of itself wasn’t so unusual with\nChicago, vampire influence excluded of course, but the real problem lay in the\nfact that these assholes sometimes brought in unsuspecting girls who were just\ntrying to get into the genuine modeling business. Imagine their surprise when\nthey find out what was really happening. Normally, this wasn’t my kind of deal\nand for the most part I would leave it to the cops to handle, but I had a real\nproblem with people taking advantage of innocent girls like this. The vampire\nfactor sort of gave me the excuse I was looking for to step in and do something\nabout it.
\nI moved along the streets just like every other person and didn’t attract very\nmuch attention as I maneuvered through the city to my set destination. I could\nhave driven, but downtown traffic is a royal pain in the ass and I was\nanticipating quite a bit of collateral damage and didn’t want to have to put my\nwheels in the shop, again. Repairing a 2002 Trans Am with every option in the\nbook and a few that aren’t can get real expensive real fast. Besides, it gave me\na good opportunity to scout out the target before I moved in.
\nThe Back of the Yards Saloon was a pretty non-descript hole in the wall on\nMcDowell, I suppose that was why it did so well with it’s particular business,\nno one would think twice about looking at it and no respectable person would\ncater to it. The first problem I ran into was how to get in when I knew they\nwould want to check me for weapons. The small skylight I saw on the roof solved\nthe issue and I hopped roofs from the building next door. Crouching down at the\nskylight, I looked down into the bar. It’s interior matched the exterior, pretty\nlow class atmosphere including the clientele. The one saving grace was the\nvarious women that circulated throughout the club. Every single one of them was\na knockout and every single one was wearing lingerie of some form or another.\nModeling my ass. A few sat on the odd lap and giggled with the owner of said lap\nfor a while before either moving on or taking the man into the back room. It\ndidn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what was happening back there. The\nperfect collection of low-class sewer scum waiting for the storm to wash it all\nclean.
\nAll but one. She was young, probably barely out of her teens and that was being\ngenerous. Brunette hair hung just passed her shoulders and framed an innocent\nface with the biggest green eyes I’d seen in a while. Apparently the Madame had\ndecided virginal white would suit her best since she was decked out in a lacy\nbra and panty set with white stockings and garters, all of which were covered,\nand I use that term very loosely, by a skimpy little negligee. She was looking\naround nervously as she tried to mince sexily through the bar on her four inch\nwhite heels and obviously quite unsure about her presence there. As I watched,\none man took hold of her wrist and pulled her into his lap before saying\nsomething he obviously found funny but damn near terrified the girl. In a\nheartbeat I knew it was one of the vampires I was hunting. No, I don’t have some\nmystical ability to know when someone is a vampire, but after dealing with them\nfor several hundred years you sort of get a knack for sensing these things.
\nWhen he stood up to take her into the back room and she fought to free herself\nfrom his grip, I knew it was time to make my move. Standing, I drew the\nBeretta’s from their holsters and punched my foot through the glass of the\nskylight and turned it into shards. Even before the people in the bar began to\nlook up, I was dropping through the opening and opening fire, sending streams of\nbullets into several of the men as the laser sights in the grips of the pistols\nwhipped around the smoky atmosphere like swirling red sabers. Oh yeah, did I\nmention my 96G Elite IA’s had been modified for burst-fire? The men flew back as\nthe .40 Black Talon slugs ripped into them and tore apart their flesh. By the\ntime I hit the ground in a crouch, five men lay on their backs with blood and\ngore pouring from their chests. Almost immediately, the men leapt to their feet,\ntheir wounds already beginning to stitch closed. Vampires can be such a pain in\nthe ass with that healing of theirs. For a moment, there was absolute silence in\nthe bar before one of the women screamed. After that, there was nothing but\nchaos. People were running everywhere to try and escape, creating a mass panic.\nThe only ones that didn’t lose their cool were me and the five vampires. They\nall bared their fangs as their eyes bled to solid red spheres before the attack\ncame. But I had been ready for that and rolled out of the way before they ever\nreached me. Coming up on one knee, I sent a double burst into one of them that\nripped through the back of his throat. With nothing to support his head, it\nlolled and fell to the ground as the last scraps of flesh gave way with a wet\ntear. He didn’t get back up. Vampires may claim to be immortal, but do enough\ndamage to them and they bleed out and die. I elected to take the faster route\nwith this one and just take his head off. Even the immortal can’t live without a\nhead attached to their neck.
\nThe other four spun and raced at me from all sides even as the fifth one fell\nlifeless to the ground. Only countless hours of training and real life\nexperience saved me from some serious pain as two sets of sharpened claws that\nused to be fingernails came at me from two different sides. With the speed at\nwhich these vamps move, any normal human, even the most elite of soldiers, would\nbe dead in a heartbeat. Falling back, I whipped out my guns to the sides and\nemptied them right into the two bloodsucker’s faces. It might not be enough to\nkill them but they would need a few moments to recover. I solved the problem of\nthe other two by snapping out my feet and crushing their balls with my boot\nheels. Immortal, yes…immune to a swift kick in the balls, fuck no. the two\ndropped like rocks as they clutched at their healing groins, I leapt to my feet\nand dropped the clips from the empty pistols. Tucking one under my arm, I\nslapped in a fresh clip before repeating the process with the other. By that\ntime, the four suckers had recovered and were preparing to make their next\nattack. As I snapped the slides forward on the Elites, I started to spin towards\none that I planned to give a little facial surgery, street style.
\nWell that never happened as I saw a red and blue shape flash down through the\nskylight and barrel right into my target, driving him through the wall. For a\nmoment, the four of us were dumbfounded, but that lasted only a split second for\nme. Like I said, I’d seen a lot of really weird shit and to let it affect me to\nthe point of motionlessness could prove deadly. So while the three vamps were\nlooking at the hole in the wall that used to be their friend I spin and snapped\na hook kick across the face of one before emptying half of the clips into the\nfaces of the other two. The three bodies hit the ground at the same time but\nonly one got back up. Considering the other two had nothing but red pulp left\nfor heads I didn’t blame them for wanting to get a little permanent shuteye. I\nwas getting ready to turn and finish the last vamp off when I heard a voice from\nbehind me.
\n“Surrender yourselves now!”
\nWith the vamp now gawking at whoever was behind me, I shifted to the side so I\ncould see who this new player was while keeping the vamp in my field of vision.\nI’ll tell you, what I saw, nearly stopped me dead in my tracks.
\nThe only word that seemed to fit for her was Goddess. At five foot-six, she was\nonly three inches shorter than me, but her presence seemed to make her ten feet\ntall. Hair of spun gold tumbled halfway down her back and framed the most\ninnocent face you had ever seen with blue eyes that were so expressive they were\nlike reading a book of the person’s soul and lips that just begged to be kissed.\nSomehow, and I decided at that moment I would find out how, she had managed to\npour a body consisting of nothing but some of the sexiest damn curves I had ever\nknown into the tightest of tunics and miniskirt. Of course, the moment I noticed\nthat, I also noted the fact that the calf-high heeled boots were red, her long,\nshapely legs led up to the skirt and matching cape of red, the tunic was blue,\nand a big-assed S in red and yellow was pushed out and slightly distorted on her\nchest by her ample breasts.
\nSupergirl. I had heard of her but never had the pleasure of making her\nacquaintance. By every account I had heard, she was Superman’s cousin and\npossessed every power he did at damn near his level. I had never really dealt\nwith him either. I tended to try and stay away from the superheroes that could\nturn a mountain into a bunch of rubble since I really only had the strength and\nspeed of just a bit more than a regular human. Which, of course, begged the\nquestion: what the fuck was she doing in Chicago dealing with low-level trash\nlike this? I didn’t have long to ponder this query as she looked right at me in\nthat ever-famous “power stance” with her hands on her hips and ordered, “Put\ndown your weapons, now!”
\nI couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah, that’ll happen.” I saw her eyes glow red for a\nsecond before I detected the pistols warming up in my hands, with a muttered\ncurse, I pivoted so that stream of heat took me in the shoulder instead of the\nguns. Yeah, I could take out the vamp without the guns, but dammitt I liked my\nElite’s! I saw Supergirl’s eyes widen and her heat vision cut off as I hissed at\nthe two small charred holes in my shoulder.
\n“Are you insane!” she cried, “I could have burned you alive!”
\nI shrugged with a slight wince before one of the guns snapped up. A little red\ndot formed on the tip of her cute little button nose before the Elite barked. I\nknew the rounds wouldn’t even scratch her, but I was counting on her reaction as\nshe stumbled back and rubbed at her eyes, temporarily blinded by the friction\nand burst of light the gunpowder and impact created. Without missing a beat, I\nspun and shoved the barrels of both guns under the vampire’s chin and pulled the\ntriggers, giving the ceiling a new paint job of red and gray. As the body\nslumped to the floor, I turned back to Supergirl and began to reload when I saw\nher fist rushing in to meet my face. The impact of the punch threw me into the\nwall, making me lose my grip on the guns as I slumped to the ground. Somewhere\nin the back of my head I was glad she hadn’t used her full strength because that\nmay very well have taken my head off. Even still, it was more than enough to\nhave me shaking my head to clear my vision and ward off the concussion that was\ntelling me it was time for bed.
\nWhen I could finally see straight, Supergirl was a few steps away from me and\nback in that “power stance”, glaring down at me. As I slowly struggled to my\nfeet, trying to get my muscles to remember how to work, she stated simply, “You\nare under arrest.” This blonde bimbo had busted in on my party, nearly melted my\nguns, almost cut off my arm with that heat vision, knocked me damn near into\nnext week, and now she was going to try and put me in jail. Enough was enough.
\n“Fuck you bitch!” I snarled as I drove a fist right up under her chin. Well\ndamned if I wasn’t surprised if she went flying and crashed through one of the\ntables that was still in one piece. Rolling to her hands and knees, she shook\nher head to clear it like I had done moments before as I looked at my fist like\nan idiot. Then, it hit me. In my research, I had discovered that Superman and\nSupergirl were both vulnerable to magick. It affected them as if they had no\npowers at all. Judging by the effect my punch had on her, I had to assume that\nbecause of what I was, I was almost literally a being of magick. Translation, I\ntouch her in any way and she would react as any normal human would. This had\npotential.
\nWalking across the nearly destroyed bar, I placed my foot on her back between\nher shoulder blades and pressed her down on her belly before crouching down\nbeside her head. She moaned , squirming a bit under my foot as she looked up at\nme with those big blue eyes. “Look kid,” I said to her as though we were having\na normal conversation, “I know you’re just trying to protect the world and\neverything, but I really hate it when someone butts in on my territory.\nEspecially when I’m trying to do a job here. So what you’re going to do is go\nback Metropolis or Gotham or L.A or wherever it is your stomping grounds are\nthese days and let me take care of my city. Okay?”
\nShe flipped her hair from her eyes with a toss of her head and glared up at me.\n“No, you are a murderer. You killed those men right in front of me!”
\nI sighed, finally seeing what her issue was. How could she have all these super\npowers and still be so naïve? Standing up, I helped her to her feet before going\nand collecting my guns and holstering them. “Murder? How can you murder someone\nwho is already dead?” She took a step towards me like she was going to start up\nher attack again when I stabbed a finger towards her. “No! Don’t even think\nabout trying that bullshit again when you have no fucking clue what you just\nstepped in.”
\n“What are you talking about?” She looked at me, completely dumbfounded.
\nReaching down, I grabbed the one decapitated head that was still fully intact by\nthe hair and held it up in front of her eyes. I swear, she turned about three\nshades of green and thought she would yak everywhere when those dead eyes looked\ninto hers. “Look at the teeth.” I said simply.
\nI guess her curiosity got the better of her gag reflex and she looked closely at\nthe two fanged canines of the head before blinking at me in surprise. “Is this-“
\n“Vampire,” I finished for her, “They were running a prostitution and drug ring\nout of this place with a woman that lives in Palos Park. Unfortunately, she got\naway since you decided to stick your nose in here before I could get to her. Now\nI’m going to have to spend another five months tracking down her next operation,\nthanks a lot.”
\nSupergirl stepped back, looking appropriately embarrassed. “I…I had no idea,”\nshe stammered.
\nWith a sigh, I took a cigarette from the pack in the breast pocket of my shirt\nand lit up. “I know you didn’t kid, but you do know that not every good guy\nwears a funny costume, right?” She nodded meekly and looked away, and I swear I\nthought she was about to start crying like a little kid. Taking a drag from the\ncigarette, I blew out a cloud of smoke before walking over to her and putting a\nhand on her shoulder. “Listen, you’ve got good intentions, but let me handle my\ntown. I appreciate some help now and then but not at the expense of washing the\njob in the process.”
\n“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
\n“It’s all right, no real big harm done. But I need to get going.” I heard the\nsounds of police sirens approaching quickly and didn’t really want to stick\naround and answer a whole bunch of questions that would probably end up with me\nin a 5x8 cell.
\nApparently Supergirl had heard them too, probably long before I had. “But,\naren’t you going to wait for the authorities?”
\nI smirked and headed for the back door. “I like my guns darlin, and cops tend to\nfrown upon citizens who carry around automatic weapons. See you around.” And\nbefore she could say another word, I ducked out the back and took off down the\nalley. Yeah, there was a chance Supergirl might come after me, but I doubted it.\nDo-gooders like her usually stuck around for the police and I was going to bet\nafter being whipped like a red-headed stepchild she wouldn’t mention me being\nthere and doing most of the damage. Even if she did, it would be a pretty easy\nthing to just switch to a new identity for a while, I had about twenty of them\nstacked up and hidden away. Still, even as I let the night suck me up in its\nembrace, I couldn’t help but hope a little that she would come after me. Not to\nfight, I just didn’t like beating up on the good guys. For some reason, when I\nthought of that girl, I pictured candlelight, wine, and her in a low-cut evening\ngown.
\nGod I must be getting soft in my old age.
\nThe nice thing about Chicago is how most of it has been ripped up and rebuilt\nover the last one hundred years. People often forget about whole sections that\nhave just been built over. Case in point with my current home. A long while back\njust after Prohibition, I had found that a couple of bootleggers had created a\nwhole living area complete with distillery in the sewers beneath Holy Name\nCathedral. Apparently these boozehounds had to abandon it when Federal officers\nstarted to crack down and just forgot about it. After dumping the distillery, I\nfound that the space they had was pretty much equal to the size of a warehouse\napartment. It suited my needs perfectly and after living there for about fifty\nyears I had the place outfitted perfectly. Phone lines had been routed down into\nit as well as cable tv and a DSL line for my top of the line Alienware Area 51\nExtreme desktop and laptop computers. Along with every other modern convenience,\nI was pretty well set. So, there I sat on my comfortable sofa, a beer in one\nhand, and a pair of furry heads in my lap as we watched CSI on my plasma tv. Oh\nyeah, I forgot to mention the two timber wolves that lived with me. I’d found\nthem on a brief excursion I had in Alaska when their mother had been killed as\npups and decided to take them in. contrary to popular belief, wolves are not\nhuman hunters and have damn near the same disposition as your typical house dog.\nThe only difference is you can never get them to lose the wild instincts, which\nis why they don’t make good house pets. The only reason these two, whom I called\nFire and Ice, were calm enough to live with me is because I had nursed them\nnearly from birth and they had bonded with me as a parental figure. Any\nscientist will tell you that when a wolf establishes a pack mentality with a\nhuman they will fiercely protect that human. Same concept here.
\nSo, there I was, enjoying a quiet evening with my pups and the tube when the\nshow flashed off and an emergency news report came onto the screen. “Dammitt!” I\nsnapped, “Just when it’s going good some asshole decides to get crazy with a\nhunting rifle.” I sighed and got myself set to change the channel to cut off the\ndesk reporter who was talking about some attack downtown when the images changed\nto show a very familiar person in a fight for her life. I felt my eyes widen as\nI watched Supergirl desperately trying to stave off attacks from three\nindividuals in black robes with very familiar symbols stitched into them in red.\nMages, and members of the Diatote clan if I didn’t miss my guess. These guys got\npower from pleasure and ecstasy through their magic, which made them a pain in\nthe ass when they hit raves. Sitting forward, I watched as one threw out some\nkind of glowing streamer that whipped around Supergirl and pinned her arms to\nher sides just before she was slammed into the roof she was flying over by the\nmage tugging on the streamer like it was a lasso. Though there was no sound, the\nzoomed-in filming showed her mouth open in a moan as the three magi converged on\nher and used more of those streamers to bind her ankles and gag her into\nsilence. Though I couldn’t see her moan anymore, her eyes were so wide that I\nknew she was screaming in terror under that gag. Even as I was getting to my\nfeet, the three magi lifted their arms and disappeared in a flash of light,\nleaving nothing but a few wisps of smoke in their wake.
\nThe reporter kept babbling on about the story even as I pulled on my coat and\nyanked open my weapons vault, grabbing my Elite’s and 9000S.
\nIt took a couple of inquiries and more than one gruesome threat of torture, but\nI was able to locate where the Diatote clan was operating out of in Chicago. I\nhave to say, it was a pretty ingenious place that they had picked. Good or bad,\nmagick still operated primarily on natural principles, utilizing the earth\nitself as a power source. If you were going to operate in Chicago, the Botanical\nGardens in Navy Pier were as good a place as any. That was where I had tracked\nthe Diatote kids to and that was where I crouched, on the top of the giant\nbio-dome sphere that dominated the primary building at Navy Pier. Below, in the\ndarkened garden lit only by a central fire and a few torches here and there, I\nwatched as the three magi I had seen on the television carried Supergirl in on a\npole. Her back was pressed tightly against it and she couldn’t pull from it.\nThat was largely because her wrists were crossed and tightly bound behind the\npole, her booted ankles were lashed together against it, and her thighs, waist,\nbelly, and chest were also firmly tied to the wood as well, all by those\nmagickal streamers. Do I need to remind everyone that Supergirl is powerless\nagainst Magick? No, didn’t think so. Chances are, her screaming would have\nshattered all that lovely glass I was crouched on, but her gag was still firmly\nin place from her earlier battle. Even still, her wide eyes spoke volumes for\nhow terrified she was as she struggled and squirmed desperately on the pole as\nshe was carted in like a pit on a spit.
\nWhen she reached the central fire, a change in the shadows revealed the stone\naltar beside it that was complete with four sets of chains in gunmetal black.\nThose by themselves wouldn’t seem special if they didn’t pulse with red,\nmagickal energy. A quick look with my tiny monocular allowed me to read the\nshapes and symbols carved into the altar. It was an ancient language known only\nto magi, but it was a language I knew. Based on the archaic text in the stone,\nthe Diatote’s looked like they were going to try to somehow transfer Supergirl’s\npowers into themselves, thereby leaving her a normal human and turning\nthemselves into a group of super-magi. Not only would this make them damn near\nunstoppable by magickal and mutagentic heroes alike, but it would mean they\ncould do it to others and expand upon their collection of powers. It was a power\nplay that could very well overturn the balance between light and dark. This was\nnot a good thing.
\nSliding down the side of the dome, I quickly picked the lock on the outer door\nand slipped inside, keeping in the shadows and hiding in the dense foliage of\nthe gardens so I could observe and bide my time before acting. With fifteen magi\naround, a frontal assault would have been useless. They would be able to pop off\nseveral spells before I had finished dropping two of them. So I had to look for\nmy opening and just be patient. The nice thing about being immortal was I had a\nlot of patience.
\nThere was nothing I could do as Supergirl was carried over to the altar and the\npole was slid from behind her, leaving her standing bound and struggling. Two of\nthe magi held her by her shoulders to keep her from falling as a third opened\nand prepared the shackles on the altar. I had to give these Diatote boys credit,\nwhen they unbound Supergirl, they kept one loop of the streamer tied around each\nwrist and ankle as well as kept a good hold on the streamer itself. This ensured\nthe terrified girl would remain powerless and under their physical control as\nshe was thrown kicking and (gagged) screaming onto the altar. It took three of\nthem to hold her legs down as her boots were removed since even a woman of\nnormal strength can still fight like a wildcat. A few moments of fighting\nagainst her flailing limbs and her wrists and ankles were firmly shackled and\nthe streamers removed. That left the super heroine firmly held down on the\ngranite with her wrists shackled over her head. I heard the sound of groaning\nmetal as a crank at the side of the altar was turned and the chains attached to\nthe shackles retracted, tightening her bondage so she was stretched to the\nlimit, the muscles in her arms quivering with the strain and her toes pointing\ndown. I watched her try to struggle but all she could do was make tiny little\nmovements against the chains. She threw her head back and forth, screaming\nfrantically for help through her gag, but all I heard were terrified whimpers\ncome from her. Those startling blue eyes screamed louder than her voice anyway\nas she sought out some kind of help from anywhere and anyone. The Diatote\nignored her struggles as they all circled around her, one central mage stepping\ncloser than the others with a wicked looking Kris knife in his hands, the blade\nwave looking like a snake on the hunt. One look at the knife and I could tell\nthis wasn’t some store bought pig-sticker. The red glow coming from it meant\nthat it had been crafted from a very rare magickal metal and had been imbued\nwith the magickal energies of every member of this clan. Shit! When the spell\nwas completed, they wouldn’t just leave her mortal, they would leave her very\nmortally dead!
\nAll at once, the entire clan began a low chant in a language that maybe five\npeople in the world knew, including me. It was a plea to one of the greater\ndemons of legend to grant them their wish and give them the strength of their\nenemy, a.k.a Supergirl. The spell wasn’t very long and within a minute I saw the\nknife begin to raise in preparation to pierce into Supergirl’s heart. She looked\nat the knife and screamed in horror. My time was out and I had to act.
\nJust as the knife had reached its height of its journey over the mage’s head, my\nElite’s came out of their holsters and twin beams of crimson lanced through the\nsmoke-filled air, one painting the mage’s hand where he held the knife and the\nother vanishing into the shadows of his hood. There was a split second where a\nfew of the magi noticed something amiss before I pulled the triggers. The\nburst-fire gunshots roared out in the still air like the very demon they were\ncalling upon. A split-second later, a pair of hands and a head vanished into a\nspray of blood and brain matter and the knife clattered harmless onto the alter\nbeside Supergirl’s outwardly thrust and straining breast. In the next half a\nsecond, a cry of alarm went up as all the magi spun towards me. When the body\nactually hit the ground, I was already on the move, strafing along the outskirts\nof the small encampment and dumping off rounds as fast as I could as various\nspells were hurled at me. I was just barely able to dodge a fireball here, an\nenergy blast there, and the tentacles of a rather large vine tree that had\nsuddenly come alive. Unfortunately, because of this, most of my shots went wide\nand just impacted into the gardens beyond, but a few struck home and either\ndropped or wounded a few of the magi.
\nWhen the slides on the guns locked back and clicked empty, I thumbed the slides\nforward and holstered them. There was no way I was going to get the chance to\nreload either of them and still remain standing, much less breathing. Even if\nthe attack didn’t wipe me off the face of the planet, I would still need at\nleast an hour to recover from any injury that would “kill” me, and I didn’t have\nthe luxury of waiting that long. I only had one option left.
\nDropping my coat at my feet, I slapped my hands against the intricately drawn\ntattoos of swords on my upper arms. A heartbeat later, the tattoos vanished and\ntwo beams of crimson energy leapt from my hands. To the observer, it looked like\nI held a pair of lightsabers from Star Wars, only without that metal handle the\nblades came out of. In reality, the “swords” were solid beams of magickal\nenergy. A long while back, when magick was at its peak strength, I saved a magi\nfrom being slain by a pretty nasty demon. As a gesture of his thanks, he gave to\nme these weapons that would reside as the tattoos on my upper arms until I\nactivated them. The swords would slice through anything, and I mean anything,\nbut they only lasted for about an hour before they had to revert to tattoo form\nand replenish their magickal energies for a couple of hours. I tried not to use\nthem as much as possible so I wouldn’t rely upon them all the time, but I didn’t\nhave a choice at this point.
\nAs a new barrage of assault spells began, I dove in, slicing through the first\npair of magi I came upon. I left them neatly severed in half as I dove out of\nthe way of a blast of magickal energy that ate up the ground I had been at\nmoments before. Pivoting, I threw one of the blades as another mage lifted his\nhands in preparation for something, probably a spell to turn me into a charred\nhusk. The crimson blade whirled through the air and cleaved right through the\nmage’s chest before boomeranging back into my waiting hand. As the mage fell\ninto two pieces, I snapped the blades across in a diagonal cut, striking a bolt\nof energy heading my way and dissipating it before it was able to impact with my\nchest. Unfortunately, I wasn’t fast enough to avoid the hail of thorns that came\nscreaming from the palms of a Diatote mage. My entire left side felt like it was\non fire as I was stitched from calf to chest and thrown to the side with the\nimpact. Damn that hurt! Rolling to my feet, I did a quick body check and saw\nthat there were only three magi left out of the whole clan, and they were at a\ndistance where I wouldn’t be able to get at them with the swords before they all\nhad unleashed something at me. Supergirl was still chained on the altar behind\nthem and she was straining with every bit of strength against the chains while\nscreaming behind the gag. “Shit!” I hissed under my breath.
\nBefore I could come up with some brilliant idea of how to win this fight, all\nthree of them spoke a magickal word and three really big energy spikes shot out\nof their hands, fast. I knew I wouldn’t be able to dodge all of them and I\nwouldn’t be able to get them with my swords, so I did the only thing I could. I\ndropped backwards and slashed out, eliminating two of the spikes just before the\nthird slammed into my chest and drove me hard into the ground, trapping me\nthere. I collapsed one of the swords back into tattoo form as I reached over to\ntry and yank the damn thing out, but my hand went right through it. The magick\nwas attuned to the caster and only he could touch it. Great.
\nThe magi ran over to me as I lay there bleeding rather heavily from my shoulder\nand trying to get my breath back. One stomped a foot down on the wrist attached\nto the hand holding the remaining active sword and I heard some bones snap just\nbefore I growled in pain. The sword vanished back into tattoo form since my hand\ncould no longer hold it, a safety precaution I had asked for when I first got\nthem. The other two stood over me and pointed a finger at my head, their hands\nglowing with energy. This was the part where they fired a couple of blasts of\nenergy into me head and vaporized it, ending this lovely tale of mine.
\nWell, it would have been if I didn’t yank the 9000S from my small of the back\nholster and drill a bullet into each one’s head before shoving the barrel into\nthe mouth of the third one. As the bodies fell to the ground, I looked into the\nterrified eyes of the remaining mage and smiled cruelly. “Kids these days, no\nrespect.”
\nWith the magi dead, the energy spike vanished and I was able to get up and walk\naway from the three bodies, collect my coat, and head over to where Supergirl\nlay, pleased that I only had a slight limp despite the river of blood coming\nfrom my shoulder wound. She watched me approach her with both trepidation and\nrelief in her eyes. I’m sure she was wondering if I would just take over where\nthese bastards left off or help her out of this predicament. Holstering my\n9000S, I activated the energy sword in my working hand and slashed through the\nchains holding her captive just before the blade collapsed back into tattoo\nform. Damn, I hadn’t realized this had been going on for an hour. The shackles\nthemselves were still locked around her wrists and ankles, which rendered her\npowerless, but she was able to move freely, and she wasted no time in tearing\nthe gag from her mouth and gasping for breath. “Th-thank you,” she gasped,\nwalking unsteadily over to where her boots where and pulling them on.
\n“Yeah,” I said breathlessly, “No problem, can you walk?”
\nShe nodded, moving to me and slipping an arm around me to help me walk before we\nstarted off. She didn’t ask where we were going, she just trusted me to get us\nto a safe place. I was glad of that, I didn’t want to waste time and energy in\narguing with her about it because I knew I would bleed to death real soon. With\nmy guidance, we made it to one of the secret openings that led to my sewer lair.\nMe and the Ninja Turtles, good kids if you ask me. When we made it down the\nladder into the sewers….okay so I fell the whole distance and ended up on my\nface in the shallow water, but I was starting to see triple so back off…..we\nstarted down the passageway that led to my home. After a few minutes, I knew I\nwasn’t going to make it so I whispered to Supergirl in a rough voice, “Just go\ndown this path a hundred feet, make a left, and my place is right there.”
\nBefore she could ask me any questions, the darkness swallowed me up and I played\nmy millionth poker game with the Grim Reaper.
\nI woke up to the sounds of snarling and snapping teeth. When I slowly opened my\neyes, I saw Supergirl backed up into a corner of my home with my wolves standing\nin front of her, hackles up and teeth bared to sink into that lovely flesh of\nhers. Her eyes were wide open and her hands were forward as though to ward them\noff, but she and the wolves knew there was noting she could do and she was\nterrified. Standing up, I brushed myself off and called out, “Fire, Ice, leave\nthe poor girl alone.” The wolves both looked back at me before loping over and\ntackling me to the ground, bathing me in puppy kisses. I laughed and shoved them\nboth off me, giving the cursory scratch behind the ears before standing up\nagain. “Now you be nice to her, she’s our guest.”
\nWalking over to where Supergirl sat huddled in the corner, I offered my hand to\nher. She didn’t move as her eyes flickered between me and the wolves standing\nbehind me, now panting like a couple of happy campers. “Will they…?”
\nI shook my head. “Nah, they just wanted to make sure you didn’t hurt me while I\nrecovered.”
\nVery slowly, she took my hand and let me draw her to her feet before leading her\nover to the couch where she sat down, looking like a frightened school girl. “I\nchecked your pulse before they attacked me, you were dead.” Her voice was a\nlittle breathless, like she had just seen someone come back from….okay, I’m not\nmaking that dumb reference.
\nI nodded, going to the refrigerator and taking out a couple bottles of beer,\npopping the tops and handing her one. “I was, I’m not anymore.” I didn’t see any\nneed to tell her about my immortality and my look kept from asking about it.\nCollapsing lazily into a stuffed chair, I took a swallow of the beer as she\nsipped from hers.
\n“I still don’t have my powers back,” she said quietly.
\n“I know, I need to contact someone to get the shackles off you, I don’t have the\ntools to do it. You’ll have to stay here for a couple of days if there’s no\nobjection.”
\nShe shook her head, that blonde mane swirling about her like a silken cloud.\n“No, no, you saved my life, I trust you.” I nodded and took another swallow of\nbeer before lighting a cigarette. “What is your name?”
\n“Priest, Ashe Priest.” Amusingly enough, it was my actual name, or at least the\nvery first one I ever had that could be pronounced in words instead of grunts\nand gestures.
\n“My name is Kara.”
\n“Nice to meet you Kara.”
\nShe nodded back to me and then gulped down three quarters of her beer. “What\nwere they going to do to me back there?”
\nI shrugged and stood, walking over to my desktop and logging onto my email. I\nneeded to let some of my magi contacts know what the Diatote’s had tried today\nso they could be on the lookout for it elsewhere. “They were going to steal your\npowers and kill you afterwards.”
\nI heard her gasp as I typed out the quick message and sent it through the\nInternet. “You sound as though this is an everyday occurrence.”
\nI logged off and turned around with a shrug, taking another swallow of beer. I\nsaw Kara had already finished hers off. “Darlin, with as much shit as I’ve seen\nit’s almost become that way. Want another beer?”
\nShe nodded. “Yes please.” I went to the fridge and got her another beer as she\nasked. “I suppose I should have listened to you from before.” When I looked over\nmy shoulder with a questioning look she said, “About not getting involved in\nthings I don’t know about. If you hadn’t come along I would have been dead.”
\nI shrugged again and handed her the open beer. “Probably, but I’m sure one of\nyour super-friends was probably already en route over to help you out. You guys\nstick together and I’ll bet Batman’s going over the scene right now for clues as\nto where you are.”
\n“Then they should be here soon. If Batman can’t locate me my cousin will just\nuse his vision to find this place.”
\nI smiled and shook my head, draining the rest of my beer and tossing it in the\nincinerator I had installed. “Unless he can see through lead that is stretched\nout for two miles, I doubt it. And, I didn’t leave any evidence as to where we\nwere headed. They aren’t going to find this place.”
\nKara’s eyes widened. “Then, I’m a prisoner here?” Already she was looking for an\nescape route.
\nI laughed and shook my head. “Nah, but I don’t want a bunch of super-powered\nbusybodies exposing my home to the entire world.”
\nApparently she didn’t believe me because she dropped her beer and sprinted for\nthe door of my home. Unfortunately, she only had the speed of a human girl and I\nwas a lot faster. Grabbing her by the wrist, I spun her around and pressed her\nagainst the wall by her shoulders, pinning her there. “Do you not understand\nperfect English? I said you aren’t a prisoner here and I am not having my home\nexposed to everyone.”
\nShe only shook her head and scratched at me with her fingernails, creating a few\nsmall lines of blood in my cheek before I threw her to the ground on her belly\nand yanked her hands behind her back. “Fine, you want to play this game, we can\nplay it. Ice, tape.”
\nIce trotted over to a toolbox set into the corner of the room and nudged open\nthe lid with his snout before closing his teeth lightly around a large roll of\nduct tape. Turning about, he trotted over to me and deposited the tape in my\nawaiting hand while the other held her delicate wrists imprisoned at the small\nof her back. I’d trained my wolves well. Tearing the corner off the roll with\nteeth, I wrapped up her crossed wrists with ten turns of the industrial strength\ntape, over the magickal bands robbing her of her powers, before switching\ndirections and wrapping several turns up between her bound wrists, thereby\nensuring she couldn’t wiggle them free. Just to be safe, I taped her fingers\ntogether so she couldn’t pick or tear at the tape either. Yes, I’ve tied up more\nthan one person in my day. Letting go of her wrists, I let her struggle against\nthe binding as I turned and pulled off her boots, leaving her feet in just the\nmagickal shackle bands. Crossing her ankles, I wrapped them up just as I had her\nwrists, including bringing the tape up between her ankles. Once she was\nadequately bound, I drew her up on her knees and stood before her, folding my\narms and watching her struggle helplessly for a time before she looked up at me\nwith defeated eyes. “You lied,” she whispered in a betrayed voice.
\nI sighed and rolled my eyes before leaning down so we were eye to eye. “No, I\ndidn’t. The problem is, you just don’t seem to understand what it means to want\nto keep a place secret. If I let you just run off like that you would have\nbrought the whole goddamn city down on my head.”
\nJerking her head back, she looked to the ceiling and screamed, “Help! Someone\nhelp me!”
\nInstantly, I slapped my hand over her mouth. “Will you shut up? I already have a\nheadache and you’re just making it worse.” She only mumbled behind my hand and\ntried to shake her head free of my grip. With a sigh, I looked around and spied\nthe small rubber ball I sometimes used to play fetch with the wolves sitting on\nthe low table beside me …yes they do play fetch. Snatching it up, I took my hand\nfrom her mouth only long enough to stuff the ball into her mouth so it settled\nbehind her teeth. For a second, I could tell by the look in her eyes that she\nwas thinking she was going to be sucking on wolf drool, but I had just washed\nthe thing that morning so it was perfectly clean. Hey, I’m not a total asshole.\nShe screamed again, but I was happy to hear the sound was greatly muffled,\nthough still too loud for my tastes. Using the tape, I layered fives strips over\nher mouth and lips. When that was done, her screams had been reduced to quiet\nwhimpers. Nodding with satisfaction, I went and put the tape back in the\ntoolbox. When I turned around I couldn’t help but laugh. Fire and Ice were\nlaying down next to Kara and licking her face happily. Apparently, the wolves\nthought her struggling and rolling around on the floor “Mmmmmpphhh”ing was some\nsort of game. She only squealed louder when she was set upon with wet tongues\nlapping at her face.
\nStrolling back over, I lightly shoved the wolves away, which had then trotting\nover to their food bowls and feasting upon the large hunks of meat that rested\nin them. Crouching down next to Kara, I brushed a few locks of her hair aside\nand looked into her wide blue eyes. “You probably think I’m an asshole now huh?\nProbably waiting for the traditional: I an’t ever had me a super bitch before.”
\nShe nodded. “Mmmmpphhh! MMmmph!”
\n“Well I hate to disappoint you, but I’m not going to do that. I didn’t tie you\nup just to rape you girl, I did it to keep you from doing something stupid and\ngetting either of us hurt. When you finally calm down enough to be rational I’ll\nsee about untying you. In the meantime…” I examined her collar where her cape\nattached to it. For a minute, I thought maybe the cape was just a part of the\ntunic, but then I caught sight of the tiny seam that could easily be looked\nover. I tried to pull it free but it was like the damn thing was welded to the\ntunic. Leaning over, I looked into Kara’s eyes when I spoke. “I want to take off\nyour cape so if you do freak out and start rolling around you don’t get\nstrangled.” Tears were running down her cheeks by now, but she nodded and the\ncape just fell off the collar. I blinked for a second since I hadn’t touched it,\nbut then realized what had happened. “It comes off at a mental command, huh?”\nShe nodded before turning her face into her shoulder to weep quietly. Folding up\nthe cape, I set it on the couch before tipping her chin up so I could look into\nthose gorgeous eyes again. I swear I could just gaze into those beauties all\nday. “Kara, listen to me.” She sniffled and her tears still flowed, but I could\ntell she was indeed listening. “You are perfectly safe with me, I won’t hurt you\nin the slightest. Do you believe me?”
\nAt first, I didn’t expect her to. After all, I had just tied her up, gagged her,\nand fundamentally made her a prisoner. Imagine my surprise when she nodded\ndespite her chest heaving with her muffled sobs. Tenderly, I leaned over and\nkisses away some of her tears before kissing her forehead. “Would you like to\nlay down somewhere more comfortable?” She nodded again and I lifted her into my\narms, surprised at how light she was. At a guess, I would say she could only\nhave weighed 105, 110 at the very most. I had always been under the impression\nKryptonian physiology was much denser than a humans, but apparently that theory\nwas out the window. Holding her close (and she actually cuddled against me), I\ncarried her into the adjoining bedroom and laid her down on the nice big\nking-sized bed. Brushing back her hair, I plumped a pillow behind her head\nbefore telling her, “I need to start looking for my contact to get those\nshackles off you, are you going to be all right for a couple of hours?” Her eyes\nwidened a bit when I mentioned I would be leaving and she whimpered in fear.\n“Don’t worry, Fire and Ice will be here and they should be able to keep you\ncompany and protect you from anything that comes down here.” Whistling, the two\nwolves trotted in and promptly hopped onto the bed, laying down on either side\nof Kara and curling up. Fire actually laid his head on Kara’s belly while Ice\ncomfortingly licked her cheek. I could tell from the way her shoulders shook\nKara was giggling at the licking. “I’ll be back soon, okay?” Now that she had\nher two protectors, she nodded before turning to nuzzle her face in Ice’s\nscruff. Moving out of the bedroom, I reloaded the Elites before heading topside.
\nI know what you’re thinking, why didn’t I just untie her since she seemed to\nhave calmed down. Because when I had looked into her eyes, it wasn’t just for\nsimple eye contact. I could tell by the dilation and fluctuation of her pupils\nthat she would still bolt if she had the chance. Better safe than sorry in my\nbook.
\nIt was a book that had saved my ass more than once.
\nYou could easily, and when I first knew about it did, pass the Leather Rose and\nnot even know it was there. The entrance was nothing more than a regular door to\nwhat looked like an apartment building with the words The Leather Rose painted\nonto the window beside it. The inside, however, was a different story. The main\nfloor consisted primarily of a shop. Everything could be found there from\nhardware to books to videos. Of course, we weren’t talking hardware here in the\ntraditional sense of hammers and nails here. See, the Leather Rose was the\npremier BDSM shop and club in Chicago. This image was further solidified by the\nthree different floors of the club that had various kinds of bondage and BDSM\nequipment for use of the patrons. Masters, Mistresses, slaves, submissives,\nhuman animals, just about every facet was explored in this place and the\nemployees did everything possible to ensure a safe environment for all\nconcerned. Anyone got out of line and they were thrown into the back alley\nbruised and bloody. The fact that it was one of maybe three of those kinds of\nplaces sort of helped them establish that reputation. Any “alternative\nlifestyle” enthusiast could find whatever their little sadomasochistic heart\ndesired. Leather bondage cuffs lined an entire table, ball gags dangled from\ndisplay racks, whips took up an entire damn wall. They even had full blown\noutfits for sale if you could afford the inflated price tags.
\nI wasn’t here to shop though. Aside from being a BDSM store and club, the\nLeather Rose was the stomping ground for the contact I needed to get in touch\nwith to help Kara. As I prowled through the club, my senses were assaulted by\nflesh at all sides and the screams accompanying the hiss of whips sailing\nthrough the air. If this wasn’t a place where consensual pain was being\ninflicted, I would have burned it to the ground a long time ago. A mild inquiry\nwith the bartender got me pointed in the right direction and I made way for the\nbasement.
\nThe basement itself was pretty mild compared to the rest of the club. Oh sure it\nstill had the required bondage horse or St. Andrews Cross, but otherwise it was\na pretty nondescript basement with several comfortable couches. Couches which,\ncurrently, were occupied by seven gorgeous women dressed in nothing but lacy\nlittle bras and thong panties of varying colors. Some sat on the couch with\ntheir legs crossed, some lounged like lazy jungle cats, some knelt on the floor\nat the feet of the one man present in the room. He was a rather average fellow,\nbut looks can be deceiving. Under that wiry frame was power-packed muscle\ncombined with a dexterity that made him the best in the business. He held the\nleashes that led to collars on two of the girls knelt at his feet, who were\ncurrently binding a third girl’s wrists and ankles with padded leather cuffs.\nThe girl was struggling weakly as her wrists were confined behind her back and\nher ankles chained together, but the look in her eyes only spoke of lust and\nrapture at the bondage she was confined in. Raphael Decosta, Chicago’s best\nknown Dominant and thief extraordinaire was having himself a fun-filled, or\nshould that be flesh-filled, night. When he saw me approach, he grinned wide.\n“Ashe, my old friend, how are you? Come to sample one of my delights?” Old\nRaphael prided himself on having only the finest slave flesh in all of Chicago.
\n“Not tonight Raph, I’m here on business.” He seemed a little disappointed, but I\nhonestly didn’t care. “I’ve got a girl who got some magickal shackles locked on\nher and I need those magic fingers of yours to get them off.”
\nRaphael just grinned. “Did you get out of hand again Ashe?” The obvious joke\ndidn’t amuse me, simply because I never got out of hand…ever.
\n“This is pretty serious Raph, the girl was so scared I had to tie her up and gag
\nher.” Fortunately, Raphael knew not to mess with me too much when I was serious\nbecause his own jovial expression faded.
\n“Do I wish to know whom I will be upsetting by doing this?”
\nI shrugged, pulling out a cigarette and lighting up. “Only if you’re worried\nabout dead men.”
\n“That does not encourage me Ashe, even the dead can kill you.”
\nI couldn’t help but chuckle. “Not with lead replacing their brains. It was a\nbunch from the Diatote clan.”
\n“Ah!” Raphael laughed, “Those wonderful fellows, I often see them in here\nutilizing the facilities. So they were going to harm this little bird?”
\nI nodded. “Power theft and murder afterwards.”
\nThe thief’s lips thinned. “I greatly disapprove of murder.” I didn’t ask about\nthe power theft issue. “I believe I can assist you my friend, do you wish my\nservices immediately?”
\n“Absolutely, how much?”
\nHe waved that question away. “After what you did for my dear Kaitlyn, it is only\nfair I repay you.” Kaitlyn was the red-haired beauty in soft pink lingerie\ncurled up with her head in his lap as content as a kitten. She was his prized\npet and got snatched a while back by some white slavers from the Middle East. I\ngot her back and eradicated the kidnappers, nothing fancy. But Raphael was quite\nthankful for what I had done. “Shall we go?”
\nI nodded and started for the stairs. Raphael told his pets to mind their manners\nwhile he was gone and put Kaitlyn in charge during his absence. The two of us\nthen moved back out into the night.
\nWhen we arrived at my home, Fire and Ice greeted us with happy panting,\nindicating that all was well. If there had been trouble or there was already\ntrouble, the two would excited and ready to go on a hunt. After giving them a\nscratch behind the ears, I led Raphael to the bedroom, and showed him the\n“little bird” that needed his help. Well good old Raph stopped right in his\ntracks and just stared in shock for several minutes at the bound and gagged girl\nlying on my bed. When he was finally able to find his voice, he stammered out,\n“Is…is that who I think it is?”
\nI nodded and walked over to the bound Kara, who had fallen asleep and had curled\nup against the pillow. Leaning down, I kissed her on the forehead and whispered,\n“Kara, Kara wake up.” She moaned softly, the sound barely penetrating the gag,\nand her eyes fluttered open to look at me blearily for several moments before\nthe sleep cleared out of her vision. Blinking a few times, she uttered a soft\n“Mmmpphh?” of inquiry before looking over to Raphael. Her eyes immediately went\nwide with fear and she squirmed back against the headboard with a whimper.\n“Shhhh,” I soothed, “It’s okay, he’s going to try and get the shackles off. Are\nyou calm enough for me to untie you?” She looked up at me and, although I could\nstill tell she was scared, she nodded. I looked into her eyes and confirmed that\nshe was indeed much calmer and would keep from running when she was unbound.\nSnapping open my automatic knife, I sliced through the tape on her wrists and\nankles and pulled the tape free with only a small wince of pain from her. Duct\ntape hurts coming off no matter how gentle you are. Once her wrists and ankles\nwere free, save for the shackle bands, I peeled the tape from her mouth and\nplucked out the rubber ball. She gasped a few times before croaking out, “Thank\nyou.”
\nI smiled and nodded. “I’ll get you a drink of water while Raph works on those\nshackles.” She nodded and I went to the kitchen as Raphael laid out his lock\npicking tools. By the time I had returned with the water, Raphael was already\nworking with the lock on the left ankle shackle, his eyes narrowed in\nconcentration as he diligently worked the picks against the tumblers contained\nwithin. I had just reached the side of the bed when I heard him hiss and snatch\nhis hands back. “What is it?” I asked with immediate concern. His response was\nto hold up the picks he had been using and nothing else was needed for\nexplanation. The ends of both picks had been melted like he had shoved them into\nlava. “What that fuck? How they hell did that happened?”
\nRaphael sighed and packed his kit up. “The magicks used to create this lock are\nunlike most other magickal locks. This one is designed so that only one key can\nopen it and will do this,” he held the damaged picks up for a visual aid, like\nhe needed it. “This is well beyond the scope of my abilities.”
\nKara sat up them, hugging a pillow to her chest. “And most likely one of those\nthat kidnapped me was the one that had the key,” she said, vocalizing all of our\nthoughts at the moment.
\n“Shit!” I snapped, handing Kara the water and looking at Raphael, “I know you’re\ngoing to tell me that you know someone who can break through the magick on\nthese.”
\nRaphael only shrugged. “I am afraid I do not my friend, not with something of\nthis caliber.”
\nShaking my head, I sighed and leaned against the wall, lighting a cigarette.\n“That leaves us with only one recourse.” Both of them looked at me curiously.\n“The Diatotes put them on her, they can get them off.”
\nLight exploded all around us as the music pounded in our ears and seemed to make\nthe ground shake. Everywhere you looked there were writhing bodies that seemed\nlike they were trying to make love to the music. It was chaos contained by a\nthread by a singular point, and that point was the music itself. The rave was\none of the biggest of the year and was being held in one of the warehouses down\non the far end of Navy Pier. Yes, I caught the “coincidence” about Navy Pier\nright away. Chances were, the remaining Diatote members had put this little\nfiesta together to try and utilize the magickal energies given off by ecstasy to\ndo something big. In the back of my mind, I wondered if the other mage clans and\nsects knew about their plans for a power play and how interested they would be\nto find out.
\nThose thoughts were but a whisper drowned out by the roar pressing in from all\naround us. That, and the scantily clad form clinging tightly against my side\nholding my arm in a death grip. For probably the fiftieth time tonight, I looked\nover at Kara to make sure she was all right. She had insisted before that she\nwas, but one look at her and you could tell she was scared, real scared. It\ndidn’t really have to do with the clothes, though she had reddened brightly when\nwe had bought them. We had stopped by an all night clothing store on the way\nover after I found the rave on a web search and a few inquiries. Her costume was\ncute and all, but it was lousy for undercover work, so I suggested a change of\nwardrobe. Since we couldn’t get rid of the bands on her wrists and ankles, I\ndecided to try and expand on a theme. With Raphael’s help, we were able to put\ntogether an outfit for Kara that was able to utilize the pre-existing bondage\nconnotation and warp it into a rave style. Her uniform was replaced it with a\ntight black belly shirt that nearly came to the underside of her breasts while\nmaking the magnificent bosom and cleavage almost excessively prominent. The\nmatching tight black miniskirt came to a few inches above the knee but had a\nsplit in the side that came up high on her thigh and showed almost the entire\nshapely leg; shapely legs that ended up capped in four inch black high heels\nwith a dainty strap buckled about the ankle. To complete the outfit, Raphael had\nselected from his personal stock an inch wide collar of black, glossy leather.\nIn fact, you would probably mistake it for a choker from a distance until you\ndrew close and saw the black ring set into the front. There was no mistaking\nwhat it was then. Kara was supremely embarrassed by the outfit, but demurred in\nthe end after some convincing on my part. I may not be up on my personal\nwardrobe, but I saw what other people wore and this was as close to rave fashion\nas we could get. Apparently it had worked because no one really gave either of\nus a second glance. I had gone with my basic black jeans and a very dark green\nskirt with my trench coat. More than likely people would just think I was an\necstasy dealer, which suited me fine.
\nFinding anyone from the Diatote clan in this mess would probably be next to\nimpossible, but we were pretty much out of options as to what else to do, so we\nhad to try. Guiding Kara through the club, she gasped when one boy reached over\nand pinched her behind through her skirt. The boy was sent scurrying with one\nlook from me. “We should find a quiet corner and do some looking around.” I\nyelled in Kara’s ear over the din. She nodded and we pushed through the crowd to\na large, carpeted space along one wall that was unofficially reserved for those\ntaking a break from the dancing, making out, or just getting high. We sat down\nin a corner and Kara tucked her feet beside her, trying in vain to pull her\nskirt down when it rode up on her thighs. To alleviate her embarrassment, I\ntucked the side of my trench coat around her so the long tail would cover her\nlegs completely. To the casual observer, we looked like any other couple\nsnuggling together in-between dances. Fortunately, the music was considerably\nfaded in the resting area so we could talk without needing to yell in each\nother’s ear.
\n“Do you see anything?” Kara asked in a nervous voice.
\nI shook my head and scanned along the interior of the warehouse, trying to pick\nup anything. It was next to impossible with the varying lights and mass of\npeople all pushing against one another. Then I saw it. It was only a brief flash\nof black, but I caught the red, stitched symbols as it slipped through a back\ndoor. “Got ‘em.” I whispered in her ear and drew us both to stand. “Stay close,”\nI murmured in her ear as we started back in the fold.
\nWe had just about reached the edge of the dancers when I felt Kara suddenly\nyanked off my arm. Spinning around, I was already reaching for one of my Elite’s\nwhen a fist impacted my face, sending me sliding across the floor. I shook my\nhead and sat up just in time to see two men in black robes holding Kara’s arms\nand legs as they bundled her out the back door. One of them had his hand clamped\nover her mouth to keep her screams, which would have been drowned out anyway,\nfrom sounding to any partygoers. All in all, it had taken maybe a handful of\nseconds for them to initiate the attack and get her out of there. Very\nprofessional, very aggravating . With Kara out of the picture, that left me with\nfour bodyguard types looking rather anxious to be breaking several of my bones.\nSlowly getting to my feet, I brushed off my coat and cracked my neck. “You got\nmy coat dirty.”
\nThey only smiled before charging at me. One pulled a knife as he went and\nstabbed out, aiming for my heart. I pivoted slightly and caught his wrist before\nit came close, grinding down on the pressure point there that made the hand go\nlimp while keeping my other hand wrapped around his so he still held onto the\nknife. Driving my free hand into the inside of his elbow, I buckled the joint\nand used the momentum to slam the blade deep into his chest with his own hand.
\nI ducked to avoid the fist that sailed towards my head even as the body started\nto fall. My arm shot up and knocked the striking arm aside as my other fist\ndrove hard into his throat. He stumbled back and tried to get his windpipe to\nopen back up even as I spun and shot out my foot in a hook kick that caught\nbodyguard three across the face and spun him to the floor. That only left number\nfour, who was yanking a pistol from the small of his back.
\nThe gun had barely cleared the holster before I was on him, one hand locking on\nthe wrist that held the gun while the other had an Elite jammed into the\nunderside of his chin where it met the throat. “Do you want to live?” I asked\nhim simply. He nodded as best he could with a gun barrel keeping him rather\nstill. “Where are the taking her?”
\n“Next…next warehouse over,” he stammered.
\n“Thank you.” I drilled a knee right into his balls before bringing the butt of\nthe Elite down on the base of his skull when he keeled over from the knee. He\nhit the ground like a ton of bricks as I ducked out the back exit.
\nThe Diatote were so confident that no one would know what they were doing that\nperimeter security was at a minimum, only two armed guards. I took care of them\neasy enough and dumped them in the lake to be found by Chicago PD in the morning\nwith snapped necks. From there, getting inside was as simple as opening the\ndoor. I kept to the shadows as I snaked along the interior perimeter of the\nwarehouse until I came to a large, open area. In that area, I thought I was\nseeing déjà vu.
\nA large fire was set in the middle of the floor with an altar identical to the\none from the Botanical Gardens was beside the fire with Kara strapped down to\nit. It looked like new chains had been welded onto the shackle cuffs locked on\nher wrists and ankles, but I was betting magick had something to do with it. She\nstruggled desperately against the chains and screamed into the large ballgag\nthat had been strapped tightly around her mouth, but the four individuals\nsurrounding her just ignored her as they chanted quietly. The spell was\nfundamentally the same, only they had put a new spin on it. Instead of using\nnumbers of people, they utilized only four to represent the four elements:\nEarth, Air, Fire, and Water. A fifth man stepped into the circle from the\nshadows, holding a Kris knife that looked exactly like the one earlier, with a\ndifference. This Kris knife was probably three times as big in the blade as the\none from the gardens. For a second, I didn’t understand why a fifth would be\ninvolved until it hit me. In addition to the four elements that make up\neverything, including magick, there was one other element that completed it:\nChaos. Well, that explained the fifth man.
\nAs he stopped at Kara’s head, she looked up at him and screamed again at the\nsight of the knife, thrashing desperately against the chains. Her cries were\nignored as the chanting grew louder and louder until it seemed to fill the air.\nTo couple the words, there was a definite tingle in the air that could only mean\na seriously high level of magick was being invoked. These guys wanted to be sure\nthis was done right, and I didn’t have any time left for stealth.
\nBreaking from the shadows, I raced across the floor and darted right passed one\nof the magi, leaping just as the knife started its lethal decline towards Kara’s\nheart. Praying to whatever Gods or Goddesses were listening at that given\nmoment, I reached out with my hand towards the knife as it drew closer to its\ntarget. Time seemed to slow down as the blade came closer and closer to my hand\nwhile the same applied for Kara’s heart. At that moment, I knew I hadn’t been\nfast enough and Kara would die.
\nThere was one small detail I hadn’t counted on. It was that very detail that\nprobably spared the beautiful blonde. I surprised the mage, and that made him\npause for a breath of a split second. That tiny, miniscule portion of time was\njust enough for my hand to hit his wrist and divert the blow. When the rest of\nme followed suit, it further altered the knife’s trajectory so it went back\ntowards Kara’s head and wide towards the edges of the altar. It didn’t clear it,\nthough, instead it struck against Kara’s left wrist, sending a shower of sparks\ninto the air as both me and the mage went down in a rolling heap. I managed a\nquick jab into the mage’s stomach before rolling to my feet, my Elite’s already\nleaving their holsters. As I started to rise from my crouch, I noticed two\nthings: one, the magi were all preparing to start hurling combative spells\nagainst me and two, Kara’s left wrist was free and the shackle was laying open\non the Altar.
\nIt was the knife, the goddamn knife! That was the key to her shackles! I didn’t\nhave much time to congratulate myself for discovering this fact as a blast of\nmagickal energy roared towards me. I dove out of the way, but that was precisely\nwhat they wanted me to do. As I rolled across the ground, I felt my coat go up\nin flames, the heat of the fire searing up my back with surprising alacrity.\nShrugging off the coat, I continue to roll just in case my clothing had caught\nfire as well before coming up to my feet. I made a mental note as I fired off a\nburst into the mage that had sent the magick blast my way: these guys are\nsmarter than the others. Apparently faster too because the mage was able to dive\nout of the way and only catch a grazing wound in his leg. Changing tactics, I\nfired at the one who had roasted my coat, pulling the triggers a second apart of\none another. The first burst led the man into a dive to take him away from the\nrounds, which put him directly in line with the burst from the second gun that\nripped apart his chest and out his back. He slumped to the ground even as I\nfired off a few bursts at the remaining three around the altar, just to get them\nmoving and unable to concentrate to throw the really nasty spells at me. Of\ncourse, it didn’t take a lot of conversation to send five arrows of energy\nstreaking at me from the fingertips, which one of the magi did. I hit the ground\nin a forward roll and came up firing. Well, I came up firing but only managed\none burst before both guns clicked empty. One of these days I was going to have\nto find someone who could give me some kind of ‘clip of unlimited bullets’ or\nsomething. Tossing the Elites away, I reached up and slapped my hands against my\ntattoos. Fortunately, with the loss of my coat, I had easy access to activate\nthe magickal swords which sprung from my hands.
\nThe surprise on the three faces of the magi only gave me the opportunity to move\nin and attack. I slashed through one and pivoted to skewer a second even as the\nfirst fell apart onto the ground. Yanking my sword free, I spun to face the\nthird as he send a nice big fireball at me that would probably easily engulf my\nentire body. Would have, if I didn’t scissor my blades through it and dissipate\nthe spell before it ever got to me. The mage looked dumbfounded, and continued\nto look that way when his head was bouncing along the floor like a basketball.
\nTurning to Kara, I saw her desperately yanking on the chain that still held her\nright wrist. She probably would have been able to tear it out of the granite no\nproblem except it was magickal, and although her left hand no retained her\nsuperhuman strength, she still had a vulnerability to magick. I started towards\nher and saw her look over at me, relief clear in her eyes and a whimper coming\nfrom her gagged mouth. That whimper turned into a scream of terror just before I\nfelt the Kris knife stab down into my shoulder. I howled in pain as my entire\nleft arm went completely numb and the sword collapsed back into the tattoo. I\nstumbled forward and fell to my knees, the sword collapsing in my right hand as\nit went up to grab at my pierced shoulder. Blood flowed from my arm in rivers as\nI looked up to see the mage that had acted as Chaos approach me with the Kris\nknife. I’d forgotten about him. A rookie mistake, but I was entitled to make one\nor two every hundred years. This was number two, I won’t tell you about number\none.
\nI tried to summon the strength to get the hell out of the way as that knife came\ndown again, but my muscles were just too damn slow and the knife punched into\nthe left side of my chest. I let out a scream of pain as the knife was yanked\nout of my chest and I collapsed to the floor, trying to get my punctured lungs\nto suck in oxygen. My vision had blurred so when I looked up, I saw two images\nof the mage approaching me with the knife raised for the killing blow. No, I\nwouldn’t die completely, but that hour recovery time would make it certain that\nKara would be killed. I couldn’t let that happen.
\nThe one thing I had working in my favor was that the mage hadn’t actually\npierced my heart. That was because what most people didn’t know was the heart\nwas actually located in the center of the chest, not the left side. Why do you\nthink you press on the sternum in CPR? Duh. If he had actually gotten the heart,\nI would already be out and going through recovery, but as it stood I figured I\nhad five minutes at the most before I was done. That gave me the opportunity I\nneeded.
\nReaching over with my right hand, I grabbed my left shoulder right over the\ntattoo while using my right hand to yank my left arm up. Just as my hand reached\nthe level of his chest, the magickal sword erupted into existence, piercing\nright through him and exploding out his back in a wash of blood. His eyes went\nwide and he looked down at the glowing blade as though he couldn’t believe it\nwas there just before he fell back and hit the ground. Letting go of my arm, the\nblade collapsed inward and reached out to take the Kris knife. My hand was\ntrembling when I did, and that wasn’t a good sign. It meant I was damn close to\ngoing under and I needed to free Kara before that happened. Getting to my feet\ntook nearly a minute and staggering over to her took another. The entire time,\nshe was yanking and struggling wildly against the chains that still held her and\nscreaming desperately to me through the gag. When I hit the altar, I fell\nforward against her belly and needed to take a few moments to catch my breath\nwhile she clutched at me, a pleading sound in her gagged voice. It seemed like\nthe knife weighed a hundred pounds as I lifted it and brought the blade down on\nthe right shackle. Almost instantly, the band snapped open and her hands were\nfree. Immediately, she clawed at the buckle on the ballgag and tore it from her\nmouth. “Ashe!” she gasped, “Ashe don’t die!”
\nI couldn’t help but chuckle, even though doing that made it feel like my chest\nturned into an inferno. “Don’t worry about me darlin, I’ll be fine in about an\nhour,” I tried to bring the knife to the shackles on her ankles but my arms\ndecided to stop working at that point and the knife clattered to the altar. “I\nthink you’ll have to do the rest.”
\nShe nodded and quickly picked up the knife, using it to free her ankles. By that\ntime, I had slid to the floor of the warehouse and was just trying to focus on\nbreathing. Every part of my body hurt with sharp spikes of pain that made me\nhiss or groan. Just because I couldn’t actually die didn’t mean I enjoyed it\nwhen I died temporarily.
\nA new weight against my back brought my focus back to something besides\nbreathing as Kara pulled me into her lap. She stroked my hair, shushing me\nsoftly as I was cradled me against her breasts. Not a bad place to be if you’re\nabout to die I must say. “Do you promise me you won’t die?” she asked in a\nwhisper.
\nI smiled and winked at her. “Just give me an hour and I’ll be good as new.”
\nShe nodded and smiled, leaning down and kissing my lips before whispering, “I’ll\ntake care of you until then.”
\nIt was the last thing I heard before the world went black and me and the Grim\nReaper played our millionth and one game of poker. Maybe I should switch to\nblackjack.
\nWhen I woke up, I was in my own bed. My shirt, boots, and socks had been taken\noff as well as my weapons, but all of them were draped on a chair by me so I\nknew they were still there. With a moan from the stiffness in my muscles, I sat\nup and stretched out the kinks in them before swinging my legs over the edge of\nthe bed and getting to my feet. The tv was droning on mindlessly about some\nincredible gadget you could get for only $29.95 so I headed there.
\nI was brought up short by the picturesque image of Kara, back in her costume,\nand the wolves curled up with each other on the couch, all of them fast asleep.\nI smiled at how innocent she looked as I switched off the tv and walked over to\nthe trio. Leaning against the back of the couch, I lower my lips to hers in a\nsoft kiss. She moaned softly and her lips parted beneath mine, kissing back\ntimidly as our tongues intertwined with one another for several long minutes.\nWhen our lips parted company, she looked up into my eyes with a sleepy smile.\n“Hi,” she whispered.
\n“Hi back,” I answered just as quietly, “Did you sleep okay?”
\nShe stretched luxuriously, which made her breasts strain delightfully against\nher tunic. “Mmmmm yes, Fire and Ice make for great snugglers.”
\nI chuckled and helped her extradite herself from the two snoozing pups,\ngathering her into my arms and holding her close. “Thanks for watching out for\nme.”
\nShe smiled up at me, her eyes sparkling in the candlelight of the room. “Thank\nyou for saving my life, twice. Can I do anything to repay you?”
\nI grinned and couldn’t help it when I said, “Well, I can think of one thing.”
\nTo my surprise, she smiled right back just before her lips met mine again. This\ntime, her kiss was hot and full of desire as we feasted upon each other, tasting\none another in a most intimate fashion. “Done,” she whispered against my lips.
\nWithout even hesitating or asking a question, I scooped her into my arms and\ncarried her into the bedroom, kicking the door shut behind me. It woke up Fire\nand Ice, but I had more important things ahead of me to think about.
\nEPOLOGUE
\nNo, I am not going to give you all the nasty little details of our lovemaking.\nSuffice to say we shared a truly intimate and wonderful experience together that\nI will remember from now until forever. I even entertained thoughts of the two\nof us having a relationship, but in the end we both agreed that the duties we\nhad appointed for ourselves just couldn’t be ignored by our personal feelings\nfor each other. So, we ended up staying together for a few days, enjoying the\ntown and each other, and she flew off to continue with her duty of protecting\nthe planet and mine of doing the same on a smaller scale. We saw each other a\nlot of times after that, usually with me rescuing her from some trap or another,\nand each time was wonderful. I’m not sure if I have ever known a more perfect\nwoman in all my years on this world, but in the end it didn’t matter, and this\nring on my finger is my testament to the world of that fact.
\nWell, I have to finish this particular tale. Kara’s calling for me in that oh so\nsweet and sexy voice of hers. Stop by again and I’ll tell you about some of my\nother little adventures. Right now, I have some…ahem…husbandly duties to tend\nto. I wonder if she’s wearing her costume this time….?
\nThe End
","frontmatter":{"text":"Of Love and Chains","tags":["Supergirl","Wizards Lair Contest Supergirl 2003"],"date":"2/25/2026","part":null},"excerpt":"The autumn wind was cool and brisk, but not oppressively so, as it streaked\nthrough the city. It was still early enough in the fall that…","timeToRead":58,"fields":{"slug":"/stories/paradox_ofloveandchains/"},"author":{"authorName":"Paradox","authorEmail":null,"authorSite":null},"series":null,"storyStats":{"visits":1252},"summary":null,"similarStories":[]}},"pageContext":{"nextInSeries":null,"slug":"/stories/paradox_ofloveandchains/","templatePath":"./src/templates/stories-post.js"}},"staticQueryHashes":["4139622702","641652024","942210989"],"slicesMap":{}}