Stranger Things on Heaven and Earth

They bit into neck, eye, chest, forehead. Then Verse landed on the wooden slats of the bridge, her quiver empty.

The men standing around me remained standing for a beat.

Then, like a puppet show that had been hit by a buzz-saw, every single one thumped to the ground. I blinked at Verse.

"And that," Verse said, snapping her bow shut, rolling it into a tube, and slinging it on her belt. "Is why Festina keeps me around."

***

"Please, explain to me again, why a pirate..." Verse grinned. "A student of a school I've never heard of..." I coughed and rubbed the back of my neck. "...and an outlander..." Festina looked extremely grumpy, even as she carefully cleaned her firearm. "...all came together to rescue me and my village?"

The owner of the school -- it wasn't actually a fort, which was why it had been kind of shitty in terms of defense -- looked like he should have come from a Quentin Tarantino movie. One of the movies that was like, 'hah, we're ironically racist!' He was tall and lean, well muscled despite being quite old, and had a rather impressive beard. Long and straight, it was combed and elegant, and the same silky white as the rest of his hair, which was done up in a severe top knot. The finishing touch was the gold-green robes with blue shirt and the chopstick stuck through the knot.

All very 'wise sensei.'

"Should we tell him?" Verse asked, leaning back on her palms, her attitude of total arrogant bitchiness on full bore.

I looked at Festina. Festina had managed to nix the helmet, shoulders, arms, greves and boots of her armor. This meant she was dressed in a vague 'European' fancy style, with a breast plate still strapped to her chest. It seemed her innate Explorer paranoia wasn't able to let her take off all her armor until she was in a heavy mass of armed and armored spaceship. And even then, I was pretty sure she kept some serious bras on.

"Well, uh, Master Li," Festina said. "What do you know about the lands beyond the..."

"Jade Empire," Master Li said, his voice calm and his face unreadable.

"Yes, that," Festina said, nodding.

"Very little," Master Li said. A student -- the girl who had fought so bravely on the bridge -- came into the room and set a cup down for each of us. I smiled at her and she smiled back, her expression shy and curious all at once. I picked up my cup as Verse downed her tea in one quick gulp before Master Li could even move. If this annoyed him, he didn't show it. Instead, he simply sipped from his cup, then said: "I was always taught that there is little that matters beyond the boarders of the Empire."

"That's rarely a good long term strategy," I said, coughing when Festina shot me a glare. I flushed, realizing that that might have been just as rude as anything Verse was doing intentionally.

Master Li simple chuckled. "That may be so." He paused. "I find it very curious that each of you are so clearly from another land, and yet can speak Tho Fan perfectly."

"W-" I stopped myself before asking 'we can?' But as I thought back to the conversation we had just had, we had been speaking one language, and now, we were speaking another. The language had been so natural that switching between the two had been like switching between English and Cantonese. Yeah, I knew Cantonese. My name wasn't Malik Fong for no reason.

Festina snorted. "Fine. We'll tell you." She drew her legs under her, rolled her shoulders, and set her rifle across her lap. And then she told Master Li everything. She told him about the Strange. She told him about Skorzeny and Sion and the Shadows. She told him about the Admin Code. And she told him about what the pieces of the code would look like. "It'd be something fucking valuable, but also fucking mundane. Something that most people wouldn't be surprised by if they saw, like, in the world. So, no...fucking...glowy orbs or bullshit like that. Not unless those are normal for your recursion."

Master Li leaned slowly back on his heels. His hands rested on his thighs and I'm pretty sure that I was one of the few people who had ever seen him look this surprised. It was just a gut feeling I had about him. He was not a guy who got shocked often. But, to his credit, he absorbed the whole 'you're fictional and also, everything else is fictional, but we're also real' thing faster than me. Because he immediately nodded.

"Yes, I know this thing." He stood, then walked towards a statue sat in the back of the room. It looked a bit like a lion, but very stylized. It was seated atop a stone plinth. Li leaned forward. Verse craned her head curiously -- but Li's robes hid what he was doing from us. When he turned around, though, he was holding what appeared to be an elegantly filigreed golden amulet, with a snarling dragon face in the center -- in that Chinese style. It floated a few inches above his hand, bobbing gently, and it shone with the same kind of intense desirability as the credit card that had been the piece in my recursion.

"That's it," Verse said, kipping to her feet in a single smooth motion. As her feet slapped to the ground and she held out her hand, Li casually batted her palm aside. The motion -- timed perfectly for while Verse was standing -- set the incredibly dangerous woman off balance. Li flicked her nose with his free hand and sent Verse toppling backwards. She smashed into the ground and blinked, looking more startled than hurt. The old man chuckled quietly.

"Those who seek to take before asking tend to lose both allies and treasure," Master Li said, his voice dry.

"Oh..." Verse muttered. "You're one of those old bastards." She sat up, scowling. "It's like being forced to work with the Disfavored again. Fuck." She glared at Festina, who was drinking some of the offered tea with clear relish. Festina shot her a look -- a look that made it clear she had exactly zero sympathy for Verse. Verse sighed, then shook her head as she looked at Li. "Sorry."

I wasn't sure how sorry she actually was. But the fact she was offering at all was worth a grin from me.

"I will give you this chi orb," Master Li said, his voice grave. "But on one condition."

Festina sighed, then said: "Name it."

"I wish to accompany you," Master Li said. "It is clear that the enemies you speak of have managed to contact Death's Head, the master of assassins of the Jade Empire. The amulet is not safe. And neither am I." He inclined his head. "I am but a humble teacher..."

Festina was looking at me, her eyes calculating. I nodded to her. This guy was obviously the good guy from whatever book or movie this place was based on -- not the main good guy, but the guy who teaches the main good guy how to kick ass. That'd mean he'd be several levels of badass more than, say, me. Plus, having another teacher for yours truly struck me as pretty damn wise.

Festina grinned. "I hope you don't mind spartan living conditions. We're on a military ship."

Master Li's smile was ghostly thin. But it was a smile. "I believe I shall manage."

Master Li and Festina started out -- Master Li tucking his amulet into his robes. As they walked, they spoke quietly. Verse, meanwhile, watched him go. Her voice was quiet. "Malik?" she asked, looking at me.

I looked at her.

"Don't take your eyes off that fucker." She started out of the door.

I shook my head. Of course Verse was going to be paranoid. But as she walked out of the door, a tiny part of me started to think a bit better of her.

...it was cause of her ass, okay? I licked my lips slightly -- then noticed that Verse was glancing over her shoulder at me. She saw where my eyes were going and she smirked at me. I coughed, flushed, then started after her.

***

The Normandy had a very crowded meeting room -- what with Tracer, Twilight, me, Festina, Verse, Bobbie, Tali, and now Master Li. Each of us were looking at the pair of objects seated on the table. The amulet, unlike the credit card, looked like it actually meant to be all fancy and mysterious and powerful. But next to one another, it was hard to dismiss the kind of subconscious similarity that radiated from them. Both looked vital and important.

And frustrating.

"So, what, do we rub them together?" Twilight asked, cocking her head.

Tracer snorted.

Twi slapped her under the table and Tracer squeaked.

"No," Festina said. "If they're not combining, it's either cause we're missing a piece -- and we know we are -- or because we're missing some kind of command word or something." She rubbed her temple. "I hope to fuck that it's the former and not the latter, cause...I have no idea where we'd start on the latter."

Tali's head bobbed.

"Where is the third piece located?" Master Li asked, his voice soft.

"Not sure, "Festina said. "We're following the beacon, same as how we found your piece." She looked at Tali.

Tali sighed. "The area of the Chaosphere we're being dragged to is so...well, chaotic that the recursion we're looking for could be in within two days of travel or within five weeks." She sighed. "No way to tell for sure, at least, not until we get past some of the fractal storms."

Festina nodded. "All right. That means we get to hurry up...and wait." She looked at me. "I want you to keep practicing on your skills. You've got a real knack for translating..." She grinned, slightly. "So, don't make me have to pry you out of your room with a crowbar."

I (somewhat unwisely, perhaps) decided to test something.

I grinned at Festina and said the first thing that popped into my mind. "I don't know, that sounds pretty risky. You might find it hard to get out." I winked at her. A snicker came from Tracer, while Twi flushed. Festina's right cheek colored almost as much as her left and she coughed and stood up, adjusting her shirt. "Let's get to work, people," she snapped, then stomped out of the room.

Tracer zipped away -- but as she shot past me, I felt the feather touch of her kiss on my cheek. Twi and Tali hurried off with the orb and the credit card. Master Li, meanwhile, regarded me curiously. I smiled shyly at him. He inclined his head -- but before he could speak, a hand closed around my shoulder and Verse hauled me to my feet.

***

Verse didn't so much push me into bed as jam me into it. She sat herself down my lap and crooned. "Hmm, good enough," she whispered, her eyes glittering as her fingers dragged along my chest, almost tearing my shirt off with her fingernails alone. I was still not entirely sure how she had gotten me from the meeting room to this cabin quite so quickly -- and I was even less sure why she hadn't shut the fucking door. I looked at the door, which still opened out into the narrow, dark corridors of the Normandy -- and then what she said hit me.

"Good enough?" I asked.

"We're not covered in the blood of our enemies and their children," Verse crooned.

"Jesus Christ, Verse," I whispered.

"Fine, just the blood of our enemies then, god," she muttered. "You're lucky you're really hot for such a fucking weakling." She leaned forward and kissed me. And I realized, in that fleeting instant, that if I didn't do something, this wouldn't be sex so much as a barely controlled sexual conquest that would leave me as broken and bloodied as the Tiers before Verse's desires. And so, I grabbed her ass with one hand, her neck with my other hand, and used what she had taught me in grappling: I bucked my hips, rolled her onto her back, and jammed her onto the bed. Her teeth bit onto my lower lip and blood bloomed between our lips and I kept kissing her, thrusting my tongue past her teeth, past her tongue. I didn't kiss her, really.

I fucking conquered her. Verse's hand pressed to my chest and her fingers arched, digging her nails into me through my underarmor. Which was something to be impressed by. When we did break for breathing, my lips tingled and my tongue could taste the iron tang of her blood. Verse panted softly, then spat out: "You think that's impressive?" Her eyes flashed.

I let my porn instincts guide me.

Which was why I was shocked when my hand closed around her throat. Verse grabbed my arm -- but not before I started to squeeze. Her eyes widened. Rolled backwards. Her eyes fluttered partially shut as she opened her mouth wordlessly. Her thighs spread as if she was opening herself to me desperately -- her back arched, her belly undulating as she tightened her muscles. I released her and she drew in a shuddering gasp, her hips twitching as she wheezed and coughed, her eyes going completely funky -- one was almost closed, the other was rolled back up to her eyebrows. She closed her eyes, turned her ruddy cheeks aside, and coughed hard enough to almost dislodge the decorative feathers thrust into her hair.

"Kyros..." she wheezed.

I panted. "You like getting choked, huh?"

"I do now," she mumbled.

I grabbed her shirt -- such as it was -- and tugged it open. One of the crude buttons she used to fasten it shut went flying, pinging off the wall and skittering down the corridor. Verse's breasts were just as taut and perky as I had imagined, and her nipples looked hard enough to cut glass. I leaned forward, fastening my mouth around one of her nipples. I sucked and bit. Not just nibbled. I bit, hard enough to make Verse's back arch again. She let out a low, eager groan and clutched the back of my head with her hands. My hands, meanwhile, grabbed onto her leggings and shoved them down, just enough to reveal her sex. She was utterly soaked -- glimmering around the massive, wild poof of black hair.

Verse, it seemed, was as wild there as she was everywhere else.

"Gonna fuck me raw dog style?" Verse growled.

"Shut the fuck up, bitch," I said, then smacked her.

Whoa.

Uh.

Jesus Christ. I was not into that kind of domming, but my porno instincts seemed at peace. And that hadn't been a fun playful smack, that was a full on backhand. Verse looked stunned, her cheek reddening. She blinked, then whispered. "Holyfuck this is amazing," she breathed. "You're perfect."

My boner was extremely confused.

No.

Scratch that.

My boner had put on its fedora and was hastily backing towards the doorway while saying: Oh, I'm sorry, it seems I'm late I need to get home to, uh, water...my...uh...cat. I could mentally hear it leaping into the car and driving away.

"Fucking beat me," Verse purred.

"Yeah, I think that's enough," I whispered, feeling my porno instincts surging up to the fore again. I slipped back, grabbed onto Verse, then dragged her to her feet. I pushed her to the door, then slammed it shut behind her, panting and trembling. I felt slightly queasy, actually. I knew that Verse liked it that rough, but...I was from a dimension of incest fic come to hideous life, and I was slightly squicked out by incest. I think I was allowed to find something too hard for my tastes. My ears perked, then, and I heard Verse's sigh.

Then, so softly I almost didn't hear it: "Guess it's back to Bobby's room then."

My eyes nearly popped out of their head.

Footsteps thumped away. Then footsteps padded back up. I frowned slightly. I wasn't a big believer in Verse's self control, so when a rapping came at the door, I sighed and said: "No, Verse, I am not interested."

A male chuckle came through the door. I yelped and swung it open to find myself facing the wizened, genteel face of Master Li. He was dressed in Normandy fatigues -- clearly, he was the kind of person who could adapt to new situations. He looked good in the uniform of the System's Alliance, even if he also looked a little bit too old for it. "Playing with fire is rarely wise," he said, quietly. "But it is always memorable."

"That's...a...that is true," I said, nodding. "Can I help you, Mr. Lee? Master...Li? Lie?" I shook my head, then smacked my hand over my face. "Master. Li. Words!"

Master Li chuckled again. "Young Fong, you showed great promise outside of my school. As we are traveling to a dangerous recursion, I believe it is best that I use my talents to assist you," he said. "i am considered quite the teacher. People came from all over the Jade Empire to seek my talents." His hand stroked his beard, making it even more razor sharp.

I grinned, slightly. "If you had asked me at the beginning of this vacation if getting a training montage would be more fun than getting laid by a chick, no matter how crazy, I'd have called you the crazy one."

Master Li smiled.

***

Master Li hadn't been kidding.

I could see why he attracted students from all across the Jade Empire. He woke me up every morning and set me to running throughout the Normandy, and used Tali's talents at engineering to adjust the gravity while also putting huge weights on my back. He made me do pushups, lunges, squats, thrusts. But he also had me sit and meditated. Kick in the same pattern for what felt like hours, making me do it again and again and again until I did it exactly right. He had me fall, roll, tumble. It felt like time itself was stretching out into taffy -- exhaustion and bone tiredness robbing me of hours and coherence.

Between training, I had meals, showers, sleep, and the occasional time where Tracer or Twi or sometimes Verse tried to trap me in their snare of lust. Not that I tried very hard to avoid anyone -- but I was usually far too tired to do anything more than half heartedly chow down on some pussy, then fall asleep halfway through a blowjob -- not matter how messy or enthusiastic it was.

But slowly, my energy started to return. I felt fitter and more focused than before -- which was an impressive feat, considering I had already translated my body into that of a Rogue Trader on my first adventure. Everyone noticed it. Tracer caressed my tummy and kissed my cheek and mumbled in my ear about how she wanted to dunk me in chocolate and lick me clean. Twi couldn't look my way without blushing. I even caught Tali looking at me in an obvious way -- even with her mask on. Even Festina sometimes glanced my way before she jerked her head aside.

As we came closer to the Recursion that the third marker beamed its signal from, I stayed up later and later, practicing. Getting ready. Who knew what tricks or traps Mr. Morden and his cronies had been preparing. And there was something else that I needed to deal with. I considered that as I punched, kicked and kneed at the hanging punching bag in the ship's gym.

The door to the gym opened. I paused, panting softly as I placed my hands on the bag, leaning against it. Looking past my sweat streaked arms, I could see Festina. She was dressed in a gray tank top and thigh hugging sweats, and was barefoot. She had tied her hair back into a pony tail, which showed off her brilliant birthmark. She had a stance and facial expression that subtly said: So? Stare, go fucking ahead, dipshit.

I grinned at her. "Hey Admiral," I said.

"Malik," she said, curtly. "Didn't know you'd still be up. I thought your slavemaster would have run you into the ground by now."

I chuckled. "I'm actually feeling more energetic now," I said, bouncing from foot to foot. "Wanna spar?"

She pursed her lips, then smirked. "Sure," she said.

"Sweeeet," I said.

"This isn't going to end up with you fucking me," she said, seriously.

"I know," I said.

She walked forward, onto one of the judo mats. Her cheeks heated. She glared at me. I coughed, then looked aside. "I know, seriously, Festina. Like..." I paused. "I don't just see you as a fucktoy. I might be from a porn dimension, but..." I shrugged. "I'm a person too. I might have just been dreamed up to win the Literotica summer contest or something, but..." I shrugged again. "But...but I...I want to be more than that. I want to do more than that. And that means being your friend more than it means getting to dip my dick in you."