Duel

The universe. Beautiful. Infinite. Unknowable. Man has studied the heavens, seeking answers, since he first cast his eyes upward. He has asked, 'Am I alone?', but the heavens have refused to answer. He is an unremarkable mote of life inhabiting an unremarkable planet in an unremarkable galaxy, a galaxy occupying the unfathomable vastness of space with other uncountable, and equally unremarkable, galaxies.

The universe took no notice of this speck of life, but other beings stirred, restless in their slumber. Light and Dark. Good and Evil. Young and Old. Male and Female. Yen and Yang. Man had no words, no concepts to describe the celestial beings that existed beyond his comprehension. He has sensed their existence, as all living things did, but the beings weren't unlike a gentle breeze... unseeable and untouchable, and yet there, their passage subtly influencing their surroundings.

Light and Dark have always existed and always will. In man's limited understanding, Light represented all that is good... love, compassion, trust, and peace, while Dark embodied his uglier instincts... lust, selfishness, suspicion, and anger. Light and Dark were as old as the heavens and as new as a sunrise. Their struggle always has been and always would be.

In man's primitive concept of time, Light and Dark, Good and Evil, meet once every ten-thousand years in their eternal battle for dominance. As man went about his life, secure in his foolish arrogance, blissful in his infinite ignorance, he had no concept of his place in the universe... or that powers beyond his understanding stirred, their sleep almost over...

.

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Light

I woke, the planet's star low on horizon. My sleep was over and I was corporeal again. As I took control of the body, I felt the cool hardness of the ground, the tickle of the plant life, and the warmth of the early morning sun. I sat up and began examining my form. I lifted my appendages, one on each side, mounted high on the central trunk of my body. At the end of each appendage were ten shorter appendages, five on each side. I found I could control the appendages and discovered they were strong and nimble, perfectly designed for grasping and holding. I had two more, similar, appendages, at the base of my trunk. The lower appendages were not as dexterous as the upper, but they were massively strong.

The body wanted to rise from the ground, so I allowed instincts to take over. I rose gracefully, realizing I was bipedal as I came to rest comfortably upright. I saw no fur, no scales, no covering of any kind, and I ran my upper appendages over my body. The five smaller attachments were sensitive to touch, and I found that my flesh was warm and soft. My new body felt strong, powerful, and full of life, with little fat and strong muscles clearly visible under my skin. My small, nimble attachments continued to explore my host. My skull was mounted on a short, stiff stalk that allowed me to direct my sensing organs as my head swiveled. I had keen stereoscopic vision, with my eyes mounted high for good visibility, and I found a thick mane of long golden hair at the top of my head. I breathed deep, my chest rising as atmosphere filled my internal cavity. I touched the large swells below my head, causing a trill of pleasure to wash over me. I touched again, caressing them as the centers hardened. I was likely a female and the swellings were mammary glands to provide nourishment for young.

I moved, allowing the body's instincts and muscle memory to do the work of locomotion. The body was full of lifeforce, so unlike my previous hosts. I touched my mammaries again, feeling the life energy swell within me as my nipples hardened. My fingers continued to explore, their touch pleasant as they glided over my flesh. I reached the base of my trunk and discover a small, slit like opening surrounded by more light-colored hair. I explored the opening with my fingers and pleasure exploded within me, the aural energy of the body blooming in a seemingly never-ending swell.

I moaned softly, not in pain, but in pleasure. I touched again, and again the lifeforce swelled, building and infusing me as it was stored. I smiled. With practice, I could control the energy to finally defeat my nemesis once and for all. I settled to the ground and lay back, touching myself, one hand on my mammary, the other gently probing the small slit. I found a small lump within the slit, a tiny bit of flesh that when touched caused the body's aural energy to increase rapidly. With a soft moan of pleasure, I continued to explore the slit as lifeforce built within me. I stroked and touched, building the energy and storing it within the cells of the body.

It had been eons since I controlled such a magnificent creature. I continued to touch myself, exploring the body's limits as I built aural energy. I begin to move, unable to remain still as my lifeforce swelled, growing until the body could no longer contain its aura. I wailed loudly as the aura exploded from me in a powerful wave of energy, of lifeforce, radiating out from me as my body emptied itself of stored aura.

I lay panting, my body shivering. I'm stunned by the power of the aural release, but my body is unharmed, the sudden release of the excess aura pleasurable in the extreme. The power of the sudden, explosive release of lifeforce had surprised me, and I'd been unable to channel or control it. I touched myself again, wanting to recharge my aura. Now that I understood the body's limitations, I was confident I could learn to control and direct the release.

My aura began to build again with my touch, but more slowly than before. I'd have to conserve my aura, as after its release the body was slow to recharge, but recharge it would. I moaned softly as the rate of recharge increased. This body was a wonder of evolution, so much better for my purposes than my previous host.

When I'd last met my foe, we were plants, drawing our sustenance from the ground. The aura of the plants was weak, useless, and we spent two hundred orbits of the small, dim, red star slowly entwining each other, fractionally choking life from each other with each rotation of the planet. We were locked in a stalemate, neither having an advantage, until our hosts had perished of old age, and we'd once again slipped into our long sleep.

This time it would be different. With this vibrant being, I would finally vanquish my ancient enemy forever.

.

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Aphrodite

I glanced at Vanessa Gleeme, stage name Venus, and I couldn't stop the sneer from twisting my lips. I hated that fucking blonde bitch, and if it wasn't for Randal, the head bouncer, standing behind us, I'd gladly scratch her fucking eyes out. I hated her bleached blonde hair, her big fake tits, and I especially hated her holier-than-thou attitude. I hated her now even more than I'd hated her when we worked rival clubs in Atlanta.

Venus glared at me, her eyes full of hate, but I didn't care. She was nothing but a bitch. We were about the same age, pushing forty, and we used to be the two headliners at our respective clubs. Venus headlined Chasers while I did the same at Discretions, the two leading gentlemen's clubs in Atlanta. The two clubs were owned by brothers who'd had a falling out, and they were both intent on driving the other out of business. No tactic was to extreme, and the girls working each club hated each other with as much passion as the brothers did. More than one dancer became scratched up and bruised because of the rivalry.

The life of a stripper was no picnic, and as eventually happened to all of us, we'd finally aged out of our premium clubs. Our bodies may have softened slightly with age, and we had a few more creases around our eyes, but we were still trim and athletic with flat stomachs and good muscle tone. By an ironic twist of fate, we'd both ended up in this shithole of a club, The Lumberyard, Where Men Go to Get Wood, in Westlake, Georgia, stripping and dancing for military guys that were young enough to be our sons. Puck, the shithole's owner, thought he could improve his club's image by bringing in big talent, but he couldn't afford the truly premiere girls, so he'd hired Venus, and now me, and promoted the shit out of the fact we headlined in Atlanta. Venus had arrived about a year before I did, and she'd lorded over the other girls like a queen until I'd arrived.

While Venus and I upped The Lumberyard's game, and outclassed the rest of the girls by miles, it was still a shithole, and in the light of day anyone could see the stains on the walls from when small river at the back of the club flooded after a heavy rain, the abused and scarred furniture, and the stained and tatty coverings on the wall. I hated this fucking place, but the cops didn't hassle us, Puck tended to look the other way if I wanted to supplement my income with a handsome, oversexed, airman, and Randal and his crew did a good job keeping us girls safe.

The Lumberyard might be a shithole, but working a shithole beat turning tricks on the street, at least until I could find something better. When Venus arrived, she instantly became the top draw, taking home the bulk of the tips, but I was going to take that position from her, not only to prove to everyone who was the best bitch around here, but to use my top draw position to try to promote my way out of this place.

"Goddammit! What the fuck is it now?" Puck snarled as he stormed into his office.

"Alayna was stealing my fucking tips!" Venus snarled.

"Fuck you, bitch! I don't have to steal your fucking tips!"

"I know you did it!"

"You don't know shit!"

"Goddammit! Knock it off! Jesus, fucking, Christ! What is it with you two?"

"Ever since Aphrodite got here, she's been nothing but trouble! You should fire her ass!" Venus snarled.

"Fuck you, Venus! You just don't like the fact you've got competition and you're not getting as big a slice of the pie anymore!"

"Yeah, like you're fucking competition for me," she sneered.

"I'm getting real tired of this shit!" Puck bellowed. "I don't give a good steaming shit if you like each other or not, but I'm not going to have you two pushing and screaming at each other on the floor, understand?" he raged. "If you keep this shit up, you're both out of here, got it?" He glared at us, waiting for our response. We nodded meekly. I needed this job, and apparently Vanessa did too. "The next time Randal has to break up a fight between you two, you're done!"

"But my tips!" Venus whined.

"Did you see anyone steal her tips?" Puck growled at Randal.

"No."

"Where was Alayna?"

"She was working a booth."

"Could she have taken her tips?"

"I didn't fucking do it!" I snarled.

"She wasn't that close, but is it possible?" Randal shrugged. "Sure, I guess it's possible."

"I said I didn't do it!"

"I know it was you!"

"Did you see her do it?" Puck demanded, glaring at Venus.

"No, but I know it was her!"

"Then you don't know shit! Get the fuck out my club until you cool off, both of you!"

.

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Venus

I woke up feeling grumpy this afternoon, and even giving myself a good hard fucking with my favorite toy had done little to improve my mood. Ever since Alayna Branton, stage name Aphrodite, arrived at The Lumberyard, she'd been nothing but a problem. I'd been here, shaking my tits and ass, almost a year before she arrived. This was my fucking club, a dump though it was, I was the top draw, and I intended for it to stay that way.

Aphrodite had always been a mouthy bitch, even when she worked Discretions. I knew about her sniping and backstabbing, calling me out to settle our differences and prove who was the best, but I never rose to her bait. Even with her long legs, big fake tits, and exotic, caramel colored skin, we both knew who was the bigger draw in Atlanta, and I hadn't lowered myself to respond to her demands. I had everything to lose, and she had everything to gain, if I acknowledged that I had to defend my position.

Now, just like in Atlanta, she was trying to claw her way to the top. She's arrived like she owned the fucking place, and I'd had to slap her down, hard, in front of the other dancers. Just like in Atlanta, she started calling me out, but unlike Atlanta, here I couldn't easily ignore her. In the three months she'd been here, she was beginning to gain support among the other girls as she questioned me, undermined me and my position, and demanding equal billing from Puck.

This was the third time we'd been called into Puck's office, though this was the first time our feud had spilled onto the floor. For three months she'd been stirring the shit and causing trouble, and now she was stealing my tips? There was no fucking way I going to allow that to slide, and I didn't give a flying fuck what Puck said.

Randal grabbed our arms and frog marched us out of Puck's office and to our dressing room. In Atlanta I had my own room, but here I'd been reduced to sharing. It hadn't been so bad until Alayna arrived, and her constant sniping was pissing me off. Randal shoved us into the room, followed us in, and closed the door.

"Get out!" I demanded.

"I'm staying until I'm sure you two aren't going to cause any more trouble."

"Good. I don't want to be alone with this lying, backstabbing bitch," Aphrodite snarled.

Randal was pretty good guy. I'd fucked him a few times, and the only thing I was wearing was my heels, so it wasn't like he was going to see something he hadn't seen before, but having Aphrodite contradict me in front him pissed me off. It was always the same shit. If I were to say the fucking sky was blue, she'd argue with me.

"Fine! Fucking stay."

"I didn't steal your fucking tips," Aphrodite sneered as we ripped clothes from hangers and began to dress.

"I know you did."

"You don't know shit."

"You're not going to get away with it," I growled, keeping my voice low so Randal wouldn't hear.

"I didn't steal your fucking tips! Because you're such a bitch they probably didn't leave you one."

"You keep fucking with me and see what happens," I sneered as my head popped through the neck of my shirt. "This is my club and you'll never headline here. Never!"

"I'm not afraid of you."

"You should be."

"Knock it off, you two," Randal growled. "Just get your shit and get out. You heard Puck. You're both done until you go home and cool off."

Aphrodite glanced at Randal and then back to me. "You heard her, right? You heard her threaten me."

"I said knock it off. Both of you."

Aphrodite glared at me, annoyed she got no help from Randal. I smiled at her, but it wasn't a pleasant smile. It was time to rub her nose in it, and since it was still early... "Randal, baby. I need you tonight. I need your big cock to make me feel so good."

He glared at me, clearly wise to what I was trying to do. "I'm working."

This time it was Aphrodite that smiled, and her smile was just as ugly as mine had been. "Face it, you're washed up," she sneered as she took her purse from the rack. "You're nothing but a dried out old has-been."

"Keep talking that shit and see what happens," I growled in return as I grabbed my own purse.

"Anytime you think you want a piece of me, come and try to get it."

Hatred like I never felt before washed over me. I lunged at Aphrodite, intent on kicking her ass. We slammed together with a scream of pure mutual hatred as our hands tangled in each other's hair. Before we could inflict any serious damage on each other, Randal was dragging me off her. I held tight to her hair until he grabbed my pinky and twisted it back. I screamed in pain as I reflexively let go. He threw me onto the couch. For a moment I thought Aphrodite was going to come at me again, but a glare from Randal stopped her in her tracks.

"Enough!" Randal bellowed. "Get out before I kick both of your asses," he roared, pointing at the door.

I jumped to my feet, dragging my fingers through my hair to remove the loose strands Aphrodite had pulled out. "Bitch."

"You want some more? Come on!"

Randal put his meaty hand in Aphrodite's face and shoved her back before pointing at the door. "Out!" He then pointed at me, his face hard and ugly. "You! Sit!" he growled as he jabbed his finger at the couch.

I dropped onto the couch as Aphrodite glared at me a moment, picked up her purse from the floor, and then stomped out of the room. I glared at her retreating back. That bitch had to go. Whatever it took, she had to go.

.

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Dark

I wandered along the edge of the small river, its waters sparkling and blue as it reflected the sun's rays. I'd woke the previous day on this lush, green planet. The planet was obviously young and full of life, food available everywhere for the taking. There were plants in an amazing variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, along with an abundance of animals inhabiting the air, water, and ground.

I was inhabiting one of those animals. While most of the fauna I'd seen were quadrupeds, I was bipedal, with a thick mass of dark hair at the top of my head, along with a smaller patch between my lower appendages. I was likely female, with large mammary glands mounted high up on my body, and I felt a heaviness in my loins along with an eagerness to breed. I was filled with longing, a need that filled me with power.

I'd discovered my host possessed a remarkable ability to generate aura, the lifeforce of all living things, and I could enhance the ability by touching a small slit I'd discovered at the base of my trunk. I'd also found I could control and direct the aura, releasing it in a powerful wave of energy, energy I would use to defeat my eternal foe.

I could feel Light. She was here, and her presence filled me with loathing. I hated my foe, my mortal enemy, a hatred bred over eternity, an all-consuming need to destroy her and everything she represented. I was power, I was death, and power and death always triumphed over or weakness and life. I'd battled Light for time immemorial, but each time we met, she managed to slip away before I could finish her. Here, on this planet, with this amazing body, I would finally destroy her.

I continued to walk, drawn toward Light, a need to meet and join with her in battle as eternal and unwavering as the universe itself. I felt a ripple in the aura. It was Light. She'd expended her aura, but as I couldn't locate her presence, the release must have been hugely powerful for me to sense the wave as it washed over me. She was learning to control her aura in preparation for combat.

I paused, trying to determine her distance by reaching out, and though I could sense her, she was much too far away for anything else. I knew only her general direction and that she was here on the planet with me. I ached for combat, to meet Light on the field of battle, but I had to be ready. I touched my mammaries, causing the energy to swell within me. My walk slowed, and then stopped as I settled onto a thick patch of low-growing, green, plant life that grew in abundance everywhere I looked.

As the planet's sun warmed my skin, I touched my slit, my fingers softly caressing and probing. My aura built, and then built more, swelling within me, growing more powerful with each soft stroke. I strained to contain the ever-increasing energy, writhing as my fingers plunged and stroked. My need to release the overabundance of aura made me wail, my body so alive with energy my flesh tingled as I crackled with lifeforce. I was bursting with aura, so overcharged with energy I could scarcely contain it.

My control over my aura began to fail, so I focused and directed my lifeforce away from me in a concentrated beam. I wailed loudly as aura poured out me, and still my fingers danced as I frantically tried to replenish my lifeforce even as I expended it. And then I was empty.