A-Cup Angst Ch. 06

Jamie almost slapped his forehead and said, "Duh!" Blood carried life force even better than sexual fluids. "Do you have any rituals that are active right now, but not yet transferred?" The woman nodded and told him where the spell forms were drawn and which blood samples were tied to them. He asked her a few more questions about the logistics of the spells involved and then stood up.

"Are you going to heal them," she asked.

Jamie looked into her dark, pleading eyes. A part of him felt disturbed at what he did there that day, but a huge part of him was still in the grips of righteous rage and it was making him feel ashamed for letting these monsters get away so easy. He decided to fuck with this woman's head a little. "No," he said. He saw her hopes fade. "You made me ask too many follow up questions." He almost grinned when he saw her self recriminations rear up in her aura.

"However, since you've told me the truth, I'll give you one last chance to survive." He chuckled as the woman's ashen face went from rictus of mortal pain and anguish to desperate hope. "Whether you live or die depends on your answer to this question." He felt her mind attain complete focus on his words to come. "Do you have a light?"

He felt her panic as she said, "Whuh?!" The blade floated to his outstretched hand and the woman lost control of her bladder. "No! Wait! I, I can-"

"Then what good are you to me," said Jamie and slashed her throat open. The woman collapsed as her throat sprayed blood everywhere. She died in misery, without making a sound. Jamie sighed. His adrenaline rage was wearing off and it was making his limbs shake in its wake.

He destroyed the active rituals she spoke of and then called Rose and Sandra. The three of them used their magic to enable them to carry the surviving caster to the boot of the Subaru. People who saw them cross the street gave them looks and some grabbed cell phones to doubtlessly call the police. Jamie didn't care. The cars were warded against being correctly recorded on cameras, much like he and the girls were. They drove away without a problem.

"Where to now, boss," Helena asked Jamie.

"You saw a story about a guy that lost a lot of fat, on TV the other day, didn't you?" Helena nodded. "They removed the excess skin in a hospital, didn't they?"

"Yep," she said. "And there were lots of it! The guy weighed in at eight hundred pounds, before his gastric bypass!"

"We're going to that hospital. We need to find some skin."

At the hospital, they were informed that that skin was destroyed the same day, as most biological waste was. However, they lucked out as another man had seen the same segment on TV and was inspired to come in and have his flabby skin removed. When Jamie saw his pre-op photo, he was floored. There would be enough skin removed to cover Nova twice over, if needed. Rose charmed the orderlies to get them the skin, discreetly.

As soon as they came back to Bastion, Jamie had Nova route his phone through the dorm room, where he was officially staying, and where he kept a phone and computer. He called The Suit's house and left a message for The Suit about this operation of organ smugglers. He then had Nova send a set of emails with detailed information about the entire operation. Section now had everything, from the contacts abroad, to the coroner's assistant that issued fraudulent death certificates.

The next morning, Jamie expended the power spirit they had stored the night before, in order to keep the man in the trunk unconscious and incapacitated. They skipped classes and drove over to the hospital to await the arrival of their robot's covering. After they had the still warm skin, they drove back home. Sandra and Rose used magic to fashion the skin into a taut, new covering for Nova and then they dragged the magician from the trunk and woke him up. The ritual required him to be awake during the procedure.

Jamie shook his head to himself as he realized just how many options there had been for him to avoid being drained, or taking slaves, way back when they were all still in high school. He wished he had known of any of them back then. He forced himself to stay in the present as Sandra cast the ritual that tied the mute man's life force with the skin.

"I would just like to say one thing," Helena said. "You promised you weren't going to drain anyone to make a robot. And now look!"

"Seriously," Jamie asked, giving her a look. "Seriously?!" He gestured at the cowering caster. "Are you fucking kidding me?! He fucking took healthy people's organs and life force and killed everyone that questioned their operation!"

"Yeah, ok," she said with raised hands. "Proceed."

"Why, thank you," he said. Sandra, Rose and he used up the man's life force to turn the skin, that used to belong to a fat man, into the skin of a twenty-something girl, with the modified DNA that used to belong to Arlene Hartford. They wrapped it over Nova's body and enchanted it to be a barrier to all magic. The skin fused to its anchoring points and the gang had a magic proof robot at their beck and call. They had Nova put some clothes on and then carry the dead body to the trunk of the X5 for later disposal.

They had a small celebration with an elaborate, multi tiered cake they were saving for this very occasion., forgoing an orgy or booze on account of having lectures for the rest of the day.

Jamie was hardly paying attention to classes. He had a magic proof gynoid on his hands, but it was limited to staying close to Bastion and didn't have the range to go to the park and the vampire's cabin for a showdown. Between classes, he sat in the commissary and absentmindedly poked at something that was supposed to be edible, when Mara sat next to him with a winning smile.

Jamie reproached himself again for not sensing her coming. "Hi," she said. "You're the guy from the library! Did I damage your suit, that day? Please, tell me I haven't! Oh, I couldn't bear it if I ruined something so pretty!" She sat there, watching him with her huge, blue eyes. Jamie wanted to say something, anything, whether it be hostile or friendly, but he couldn't really think of anything at the moment. Mara nodded at his mess of scrawled notes. "What are you working on?"

Glad to have a topic of conversation, he explained his conundrum to her, in very guarded words. She nodded along, grinning and Jamie expected her to blank out at any moment. He kept up with his little lecture, nonetheless.

When he finished, she kept on nodding and then said, "Why don't you use GPS to keep track of the mobile receiver and then transpose it on a map of cell phone towers and have the mainframe pick the tower it would route the signal through?"

Jamie grinned and started to pick his words to shoot her idea down with, gently, when it hit him. That was exactly what he had to do. He couldn't magically anchor the rift to Nova anymore, but he could have the location of the mobile end of the rift changed by any means of his choosing. He could simply have Nova's own brain tell it where to be. There were navigation subroutines already running to keep careful track of Nova's position in the world, he just had to tie it to those and presto! Nova's body would have free reign of the planet, and its immediate vicinity, and instant communication with its brain.

It would be even better that way, as the rift might be seen by magicians. That morning, the rift was parked a few yards above Nova's head, making it a shining beacon of the robot's location to any magician worth their salt. Now, it could be kept roaming in a mile or so radius of the robot, preventing it's location from being pinpointed by it. It could even be underground, out of sight.

He was torn between feeling like a complete idiot for not thinking up of such a simple solution on his own, and feeling profoundly grateful to this beautiful girl for yanking his brain out of an endless mire of problems, with but an offhand suggestion. His emotions battled on, for a few seconds, before he leaned over and planted a quick kiss on Mara's grinning lips. His tongue darted out to give her soft lips a quick flick and tell him of her peach flavored lip gloss. Jamie realized what he did and pulled back, aghast. "I have to go," he said, gathered his things, and rushed out.

Mara sat there, looking after him and smiled. "So, he does find me attractive," she thought to herself. She looked around the mess hall. Hardly anyone paid any attention to the quick peck, but she still felt a blush on her cheek. It was her first touch from the man that would take her virginity. Emboldened by his deed, she got up and decided it was definitely time to go talk to his girlfriends. She consulted their schedules and chose the one that was having a lecture in the next building over.

Mara was too caught up in her daydream, sparked by the brief tickling of her lips, to spot Helena Worth having the same expression on her face as she did; that of recognizing someone from a photo. Mara introduced herself to the girl and the two of them soon hit it off, gabbing like they were the oldest and bestest of friends. Helena invited her to a party, later that evening, and Mara accepted.

Back in her dorm room, Mara felt the otter's call so she took the time before Julie came back from study group to see what was happening.

"The evil you were supposed to expose has been vanquished, Mara," said the otter.

Mara's many questions about who had done it and how, were left unanswered and would remain such until Mara had repaid her favor. The otter urged patience and assured her that an opportunity would present itself in due time. Mara left the prairie and came back to the physical world.

She had no idea who had taken care of Julie's rapist, or vanquished this evil. Those were supposed to be her quests. Someone was running around, doing the work assigned to her, and she had no idea who it was, except that it wasn't Section. She decided she didn't like that. Not one, little bit. It was time to pull back the curtain and see the wizard's face. Mara's pointed jaw set firmly as she decided she was going to the party tonight and try and seduce Jamie. She had already completed the first part of the ritual and her defloration would enable her to learn the identity of whoever was running around the city, doing her homework for her.

She got up and threw open her closet. "What to wear," she said to herself.

The party was a standard, end-of-semester affair. Students were milling around one of the large dorm suites, draining the keg and talking about going back home to see their folks. Snacks were eaten and midterms discussed, when Jamie and the girls arrived. A brief silence came over the gathering as the girls removed their coats. Mara joined them as soon as they crossed the threshold and Helena introduced her to the rest of the girls and Nova.

"And this fetching young man," said Helena, placing a hand on Jamie's shoulder, "is Jamie Jacobs. In case you were wondering." Jamie and Mara exchanged nervous smiles and shook hands. They babbled nonsense for a few minutes, before Helena declared, "I love this song!" She grabbed Mara's hand and drew her to the center of the room, which was the dance floor. The rest of the girls followed them and Jamie made the rounds, greeting the few people he knew by name and getting himself a beer. He had the distinct feeling that Helena had known Mara was going to be there.

Jamie sensed the attentions of everyone at the party turning towards the six dancing girls. In the space of a few songs, they became the topic of all conversation at the party. It was no wonder, considering that five of them were well endowed, the sixth was a tall asian chick and all of them were wearing less than they should in winter weather. Jamie was in the kitchenette, pouring himself a second cup of beer, and he could clearly tell that all the males at the party were lusting after one or more of the girls that were dancing. He could also sense that all the other girls were green with envy and exchanging passive-aggressive remarks about them.

When Jamie returned to the common room and peered over the shoulders of the gathered crowd, he could plainly see why. The girls were split into three pairs, Mara and Rose, Helena and Sandra, and Sonya and Nova. Their dancing was not so much actual dancing as it was rhythmical grinding and rubbing up against one another. Jamie admired the way Nova joined in the mass of writhing flesh, like it was an actual teenage girl. The girls changed partners between each song, much to the delight of the boys eagerly watching them. Drinks were passed to them and the girls poured them down each others' throats. Nova, not having the ability to swallow anything, was spared of that.

After an hour, Jamie could feel the mood of the crowd had changed. The boys were drunker than they had been and Jamie could feel that a few of them wanted to step into the mass of writhing, nubile flesh before them. Most of the girls at the party were dead drunk, driven to the keg by the unbeatable competition of the six beauties on the dance floor. Jamie could feel that the ones that didn't get drunk in response to being unable to draw the boys' attention to themselves, were feeling very hostile towards the six dancers.

Uncomfortable that his four girls, gynoid and a strange caster were the center of everyone's attention for so long, Jamie decided to break up the dance party. He squeezed his way to the dance floor and Sonya immediately drew him in. The girls positioned him in their center and began to dance around him and grind their bodies into his, from all sides. Even Mara joined in this new dance, much to Jamie's amazement. Jamie was uncomfortable, but the girls couldn't hear him complain over the throbbing tunes. Nova claculated that it better keep up with the dance, as well. Other boys tried to dance between the girls, but were rebuffed to lamely dance their way back to their seats and nurse a beer with a grudge chaser.

After a few more songs, Jamie felt the mood in the suite had changed, drastically. The girls that were hostile to his ladies, were now more focused on him, and Jamie sensed lust in their minds. The young men, on the other hand, were drunk and resenting the fact that the girls were refusing to dance with anyone but Jamie. He could feel the aggression build up in their hearts. He used his magic to issue an order to Sandra, Sonya and Rose. They were leaving the party before an incident occurred. Nova's mighty microphones picked up his voice, and the four of them got a hold of Helena and Mara, that were less dancing together and more groping each other, and began to steer them off the dance floor and towards the room where their coats were piled up.

Boys stood in their way and started to drunkenly demand that the girls dance some more. Jamie rolled his eyes in annoyance. He couldn't use his magic in front of Mara, she might spot it. Two large, beefy guys stood next to him and tried to drag him away from the girls. Nova spun around Jamie, with incredible speed and agility, and grabbed each young man's hand in a palm tap. It squeezed and the men dropped to their knees, snarling in agony.

Jamie barely had time to mutter a, "Shitfuck," before the boys snarled in rage and tackled Nova together, linebacker style. Their shoulders smacked into Nova's hips and lifted it off the ground. They intended to slam the asian girl into a table by the wall. Before Jamie could react, Nova slapped the boys on the lower back. He winced. The strike was pretty loud and the boys immediately flagged and fell down, dropping Nova. The gynoid took a single step backwards to retain its balance. The music died. Jamie felt that everyone at the party was scared of the kung fu mistress in their midst. He moved to grant them their unspoken wish of seeing her leave and dug the girls' coats out of the big heap on the couch.

They left the party. After a few tense moments, they heard the music start back up. Jamie let out a sigh of relief. He didn't want any problems or scrutiny from the authorities, especially with Nova around. They put on their coats and moved down the hall to the front door of the dormitory. His girls looked contrite. Mara, on the other hand, looked like she'd like the party to continue. She smiled and said, "So..."

"Where is she," bellowed one of the guys that Nova had put down. As soon as he said it, he saw them buttoning up, in front of the door. He ran at them, roaring like an enraged bull. Nova took two steps to intercept him and spun under his swinging fist to bring her boot in sharp contact with his knee. The man fell flat on his face and she sat on his back, catching him in a sleeper hold. On Jamie's order, she didn't actually use her hold. It was just a pretext for Jamie's sleep spell to be unnoticed by Mara, or the other students that were smoking in the hallway.

Their assailant went off to dreamland and Nova placed him in the recovery position. "Let's get out of here," Jamie said. "Mara, we'll walk you home and make sure you get there safe!"

She led them to her dorm room, questioning Nova about her martial arts skills. "When I was growing up," Nova said, "all the kids assumed I knew kung fu or karate and they kept teasing me about it. Finally, I got sick of it and took actual classes."

Mara accepted the explanation with a nod. "This is me," she said, indicating her door. "Would you guys like to come in? My roommate is pulling an all-nighter in the library, so she won't be back till who knows when." Jamie politely declined her invitation and the girls followed his lead. They exchanged hugs and cheek kisses with Mara, wished her a good night and left.

Jamie was driven home to Bastion by Nova in the Subaru. He was delighted at the robot's ability to drive. They beat the girls in the Ferrari and Cayenne by more than a minute. As soon as the girls came in and hung up their coats, they began to grin at Jamie. He recognized their shared expressions of mischief. "What is it," he asked.

"We've finished our thorough assessment of Mara," said Helena.

"Magical and mundane, both," said Rose, tapping her temple.

"Yes," said Helena, "and we have concluded that the girl harbors no ill intentions towards you. Quite the opposite, Jamie. She thinks you're the ideal man to deflower her."

Jamie stared at her smiling face, for a few moments, before saying, "Huh?"

"She wants to be rid of her virginity and her heart's desire is for you to be the one that does the deed," said Sandra.

"Bullshit," said Jamie.

"Oh, my freaking God, Jamie," said an angry Helena. "Why are you so resistant to the idea of ordinary, everyday, average women wanting to have some of your wild, monkey loving? What's your damage?"

"Because they're not ordinary, everyday, average women," said Jamie. "First it's that shapeshifter Lilah, and now it's this Mara chick who is a type of spellcaster I've never seen before!"

"It's not only those two, Jamie," said Helena. "You scoff at all the non-magical chicks around campus that would love to taste your cum."

"Let's stick to the subject, here," said Jamie. "Mara has some secret agenda concerning me. I could feel it. I'm not going to get involved with this chick without knowing all the angles."

"It's nothing malicious, Jamie," said Sandra. "Rose and I felt no nefarious plan against you bouncing around her noggin. If she is hiding anything regarding you, it's completely minor and nothing to worry about. I bet your life, and my own, that Mara has no intention of devouring you alive after sex."

Jamie rolled his eyes at her glibness. Rose said, "You're afraid."

"What," he asked.

"You are scared of making love to a woman that isn't your slave," said Rose.

"No, I am not," he said. "Even if this Mara chick is hiding something completely minor and irrelevant, there are some very real considerations one must... take into consideration before having sex with another person."