Three Square Meals Ch. 119

"So you create the initial hexagon, then the rest fan out around it to form the rest of the structure," she murmured in fascination.

Alyssa nodded, looking curiously at the disc-shaped shield. "I've never really thought about exactly how I construct them. Let me see what happens when I create an enclosed globe..."

Closing her eyes again, Alyssa's brow furrowed in concentration as she built a fully-enclosed psychic shield at a fraction of the usual speed.

"You started at six points simultaneously!" Rachel remarked in surprise. "In front, behind, to your left, to your right, above, and below... then the six shields merged together to form a complete barrier. Were you consciously aware that you were creating it that way?"

"I had no idea... I just wanted it to work and it did," Alyssa replied, looking thoughtful as she waved the shield out of existence. "Do you want to try now?"

Rachel tapped her finger on her chin. "Not quite yet. I was just thinking about the protective properties of the hexagons. They seem to be able to block kinetic force as well as energy weapons, protecting from melee weapon attacks as well as bullets. At least I assume so, going by the way the hive queens were able to shield themselves from John's sword strikes... until he smashed his way through."

Alyssa's hand went to her torso and she winced. "So I could have avoided getting stabbed by that Kirrix nest guardian if I had a shield up?"

"If all psychic shields share the same attributes... then yes."

Rolling her eyes, Alyssa said playfully, "Now she tells me..."

Rachel smiled and gave her friend a look of sympathy. "We really should have tested the full range of their capabilities as soon as you were able to create them. If I'm eventually able to extend my shields to cover civilians, I'll definitely need to know what I can protect them from."

"We can test it this afternoon. Calara and Sakura are up in the Dojo, so they can be our lab rats." Alyssa suggested. She raised an eyebrow and looked at the brunette. "Okay, no more stalling... now it's your turn."

After a moment of hesitation, Rachel gave her a tentative nod. "Alright..."

Studying the apprehensive young woman, Alyssa could feel the anxiety and self-doubt pouring off her. "Hold on a second," she said walking over to Rachel and gently cupping her cheek. "It's not like you to be so anxious. What's wrong?"

Rachel leaned into Alyssa's hand as the blonde caressed her. "I find psychic powers quite hard to rationalise... they bend reality and defy all sense of logic. My psychic healing developed organically, with me using my knowledge of medicine to repair injuries, then eventually progressing from there to healing clusters of patients... but this is completely different. You're expecting me to conjure up a tangible object out of nothing... it breaks the laws of physics. Dana calls our abilities 'space magic' and not to worry about the specifics, but I really struggle with that. Jade's also a great advocate of just believing that they'll work, but I find it difficult to take anything so important on faith."

"Why?" Alyssa asked softly, her piercing cerulean gaze seeing deep into Rachel's soul. "You've seen us use these abilities hundreds of times, so you know it's possible. Why do you struggle to believe?"

Rachel was quiet for a long moment as she turned that incredible intellect inwards. It didn't take long for her face to shadow with sorrow, realisation dawning in those troubled grey eyes.

"When you lost your mother..." Alyssa murmured, echoing her mournful thoughts.

"I prayed every night that she'd come home to me," Rachel whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek. "When I found out what happened, my faith died with her..."

Alyssa wrapped her up in a loving embrace and held Rachel close, standing quietly with her as she dealt with the outpouring of emotion. When the wave of grief had passed, Alyssa gently kissed Rachel on the cheek. "Losing your faith probably wasn't a bad thing..."

The brunette pulled back and looked at her in surprise. "Why?"

"Considering everything we've discovered about the origins of humanity and the part Mael'nerak played in our creation, if you were devoutly religious, you'd be going through one hell of a crisis of faith. Especially when you found out that he created life on Terra because he was bored."

Rachel couldn't help laughing as she nodded. "That's true. If Mael'nerak was God then I suppose that would make Ranagon the devil... which creates quite the dichotomy for John's role in that parable."

Alyssa looked at her seriously now and said, "But losing your faith isn't the same as not believing in yourself. Psychic abilities are just a form of science that we don't understand yet... but if anyone can figure them out, it'll be you. You're by far the smartest of any of us, Rachel."

"That was a pep talk worthy of John," the brunette said with a grateful smile. "Thank you."

Frowning in frustration, the blonde shook her head. "If I'd done it right, you'd be staring at me in awe right now, fired up and ready for action. I've no idea how he does it..."

"Perhaps a vestigial form of psychic conditioning dating back to before he altered our connection?" Rachel postulated, her mind racing. "John wouldn't have been able to remove it, if he was unaware it exists."

Alyssa considered that for a moment. "It's certainly possible..."

Rachel paused and looked into Alyssa's eyes. They carried out a long, unspoken conversation, then smiled at each other.

"Don't worry, I won't say anything," Alyssa said, patting the brunette reassuringly on the arm. "Even if we are right, there's no way I'm giving that up."

"My thoughts exactly, revered matriarch," Rachel agreed with a coy smile. "We've got far too much other vital research that takes priority to waste time investigating such trivialities..."

"Exactly," Alyssa agreed, grinning back. "Okay, enough stalling... time to make me a shield!"

Rachel looked at her once more, then raised her hand in a defensive gesture. Nothing happened for a long moment, then the brunette tutted in frustration. Narrowing her eyes, they began to glow with an inner radiance and a billowing grey aura rolled down her arm to gather at her fingertips. The nebulous shapes rolled around her hand, moving with an ebb and flow generated by her will, then spread outwards into a shield-like shape. Rachel frowned in concentration and the misty haze swirled in place then faded away, leaving a glowing barrier formed of light grey hexagons.

"I did it!" she exclaimed in delight.

Alyssa was fascinated by Rachel's approach, her eyes widening as the brunette found an alternate method to create a barrier. "Nicely done! Do you think you could create one quicker?"

Rachel dismissed the psychic shield with a wave of her hand. She flattened her hand, palm upright and another gleaming barrier flashed into place, fully formed and glowing with a soft grey light. Tilting her head to one side, she studied the wall of hexagons, then they slowly spread out to enclose her in a perfect sphere.

"Wow... I can't believe how quickly you extended it!" Alyssa exclaimed, shaking her head in admiration. "Do you remember all the problems I had trying to teach John? He's as stubborn as a mule about learning new psychic powers..."

"Was..." Rachel corrected her, glancing at the blonde. "X-Ray vision, telekinetic wave mastery, runeforging his sword, growth... he even tried reading that hive queen's mind. New abilities are coming thick and fast now."

Alyssa's happy expression faded. "He thinks he's close to confronting his guide... but how the hell are we supposed to prepare him for that?"

"What did you learn from nearly merging with Athena? Is there anything there that might help?"

After thinking about it, Alyssa shook her head. "There was no conflict between us... Athena didn't want to be absorbed, but she would have still sacrificed herself for me. John locked up his guide to stop him interfering and they've been fighting for control ever since."

Rachel watched the troubled blonde, then said quietly, "I know how dangerous the Astral Plane can be, but John fighting there helped him develop his psychic powers here. Maybe convincing him never to return there isn't the answer?"

"I just don't know... that's the problem," Alyssa replied with a frown of frustration. With a sigh, she turned her attention back to Rachel's shield. "How about we test how strong your shield is? When I break through, quickly rebuilding it will be good practice for you."

Clicking her fingers in the air, a swarm of tiny telekinetic darts appeared, hovering above Alyssa's shoulder. Rachel stepped back to give them some room, then nodded in readiness. One of the glowing white projectiles raced out to slam into the grey barrier, the force of the impact cracking the hexagon it struck, but didn't break through.

Alyssa nodded her approval. "That's a good shield."

She made a casual gesture and the darts began to strike the shield from all directions, cracking hexagons with ever greater force. Rachel looked around in alarm, quickly replacing the shattered tiles wherever she saw them.

"Don't look for them... feel the breaks!" Alyssa urged her, summoning a score of fresh telekinetic darts. "You won't have time to check in the middle of a battle."

Rachel frowned at her in confusion. "How?"

Alyssa halted her barrage, then approached the grey barrier. "Okay, close your eyes..." She saw Rachel's eyebrows furrow and couldn't help laughing. "Don't worry, I'm not going to ask you to meditate to find inner peace."

The brunette smiled and closed her eyes. "Alright, consider me perfectly serene."

Closing her own eyes, Alyssa raised a hand towards the psychic barrier. She could feel its presence... an extension of Rachel's will manifested into a barrier of pure telekinetic force. Pushing out with her own mind, she made tentative contact with one of those hexagonal tiles and stroked it with a gentle telepathic caress.

"Oh! I felt that!" Rachel gasped in surprise.

"Your mind created the shield... you gave it a shape and physical form," Alyssa said softly. She swept her psychic touch across the surface of the grey barrier, slowly encompassing the sphere with her own mind. "There... do you feel that too?"

"I can feel the shape... it's like a bubble around me," the brunette marvelled.

Drawing back her telepathic contact, Alyssa looked at her quizzically. "Can you still feel it?"

Rachel nodded, confident now. "Yes... I understand what you mean now. I can picture the structure in my mind."

With a casual gesture, one of the floating darts streaked out to strike the grey barrier, shattering one of the hexagons. Rachel kept her eyes closed, but her hand shot up, replacing the sundered section of her shield. Alyssa smiled and launched more of her telekinetic darts at Rachel, the glowing projectiles looping around to hit her from all sides. Raising her other hand, the brunette turned, swiftly repairing any breaks in her barrier.

"Very nice..." Alyssa praised her, impressed by how quickly her student was learning. "But you don't have to make gestures... you're simply fixing a psychic construct that you've already created. The hand gestures help... but they're really just a crutch."

Rachel listened attentively, then lowered her hand, her beautiful face a mask of concentration. "I'm ready..."

Alyssa raised her hands and a host of glowing projectiles sprang into existence around her. She made flicking gestures with her fingers and the darts blasted into the shield, hitting dozens of times. Rachel grimaced, her brow furrowing further as she tried to keep up with the hail of deadly strikes, replacing shattered hexagons in all directions.

Amazed that she was able to keep up, Alyssa decided to push her further. "Good! But your shield's weak... I'm only hitting you with 10% power. I reckon you can make it a lot stronger!"

Rachel eyes flashed open in alarm as larger telekinetic bolts started blasting her shield, taking out clusters of seven hexagons at a time. "Stop! Wait a second!" She raised both hands and gritted her teeth, then the shield shimmered, growing opaque as she poured more psychic energy into it. "Okay, I'm ready!"

Startled by the sudden shift in the shield, Alyssa paused for a second before renewing her assault, hitting the barrier with a flurry of powerful bolts. Even though she'd tripled the power behind them, they were now only knocking out single hexagons at a time. She could feel the brunette tiring from the strain of learning how to use this new ability, so she channelled more energy into her, replenishing Rachel's reserves. The shield's opacity faded, the hexagons turning translucent once again, revealing Rachel's face set in a mask of concentration.

Alyssa hit her with scores of bolts, relentlessly pounding the shield, but her opponent was smoothly repairing them now. As fast as holes were punched through the barrier, Rachel replaced them an instant later, maintaining her shield's integrity. The strain was starting to show though and Alyssa could see beads of sweat dripping from the brunette's brow.

Dismissing her glowing projectiles with a casual wave of her hand, Alyssa grinned at her student. "That was amazing!"

Rachel returned her smile, then she wobbled unsteadily, the shield flickering out. "I think I might have overdone it..." she faltered, teetering on her high heels.

"Easy now..." Alyssa said soothingly, catching and supporting the brunette with a dozen telekinetic hands. Lifting her into the air in that glowing cradle, she smoothed back Rachel's hair from her brow. "I'm so proud of you. You pushed yourself hard... and did brilliantly."

"I got there in the end." Rachel gave her a weary smile, relaxing in that gentle embrace. "How did I compare to Sakura and Tashana? Was it difficult teaching them how to create shields?"

"Actually, I didn't have to give them much help to learn the basics," Alyssa replied, thinking back to the way both girls had largely taught themselves. "John chose well giving Sakura Cryokinesis and enhancing Tashana's Pyrokinesis... they tend to learn by instinct because those powers come naturally to them."

"Well, thanks for persevering with me... you're a good teacher," Rachel's said, her face falling with disappointment at her performance. She closed her eyes as Alyssa stroked her forehead. "Hopefully I'll be able to catch up to them with a bit of practice."

"You've surpassed them already," Alyssa said quietly, her voice full of admiration. "There's no way either Tashana or Sakura could maintain a shield against the shitstorm I just threw at you. I don't think they know how to create spherical shields yet... let alone repairing them without looking or using gestures."

Rachel's grey eyes flashed open and she looked at the blonde in surprise, then shook her head and laughed. "You're so bad..."

Alyssa smiled affectionately. "And you're very gifted... you just learn differently to the others." She leaned down to give her a tender kiss. "Now, I'll take you up to bed, so you can get some rest and recover. We'll continue your training this afternoon."

***

Dana gazed down at John, a seductive smile teasing her lips as she rode him at a sensuous rhythm.

"You look so beautiful," he murmured, placing his hands on her breasts and squeezing the firm flesh.

She bit her flushed lower lip, then her expression changed to one of intense concentration as she began working her strong inner muscles. Every time she rolled her hips, her pussy clenched and squeezed him, dramatically heightening the pleasure he was feeling.

John gaped at her in surprise. "Where did you learn that?!"

"Kelli and Perl..." she murmured, milking his cock with her new skills. "Those girls really know how to fuck..."

He couldn't help thrusting up against her, no longer able to lie still. "God... that feels so good."

"Yeah? You like that?" Dana purred with satisfaction, increasing her tempo. "Then you'll love this..."

She shifted her weight forward and placed her hands to either side of his head, then began rocking her hips quickly, squeezing him the whole time.

"Oh fuck!" John gasped, feeling like a deliciously warm wet fist was rapidly jerking him off.

"Too much?" the redhead asked with a teasing smile, slowing her pace. "Want me to stop?"

"No! Keep going!" he begged her, thrusting up in desperation.

Dana grinned in triumph, rapidly ratcheting up her speed as she rode him. John didn't last long and he came with a guttural groan, his eyes rolling up as he thrust wildly at her clutching pussy.

"Yeah, give me all your cum..." she crooned, her eyes sparkling. She glanced down at her tummy, watching it expanding with the huge load he was pumping into her. "Oh, fuck... I love it when you fill me up..."

John wasn't in any state to respond, lost in an overwhelming surge of ecstasy. All he could focus on was Dana riding him and milking every last drop of spunk from his quad. His climax seemed to last forever and when he was finally done, he panted for breath, seeing stars as he gazed up at the ceiling.

Dana giggled when she saw his awestruck expression. She wasn't able to kiss him with her swollen belly in the way, so she carefully dismounted and knelt at his side, then leaned down to brush her lips against his. "I'm so glad you enjoyed it," she said lovingly. "That was probably the most expensive sex you've ever had... Alyssa gave the Karron girls 200 grand to teach us that."

He laughed and shook his head in disbelief. "Honey, that was worth every credit!" Rolling onto his side, John gave her a grateful smile as she lay down on the bed. "Thank you."

"After all the mind-blowing orgasms you've given me, it was the least I could do." Her gaze softened as she whispered, "I love you so much, John."

John gazed into her eyes and gently brushed a lock of hair away from her face. "I love you too." He was quiet for a long moment, then continued earnestly, "Coming back to Karron was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I'm so glad we rescued you, Sparks... I can't even imagine life without you now."

She wriggled closer, sighing with contentment as he held her. "It was so weird seeing that picture of me yesterday, of how I looked before. That scar had such a huge impact on my life... sometimes I still can't believe it's gone."

He caressed her cheek, then traced down her throat, brushing his fingers across her soft skin as he followed the path of the horrible burn scar that had once disfigured her face. "You're such a beautiful girl, Dana. This is how you should have always been."

Dana looked at him with big eyes, then whispered, "I'm actually glad it happened..."

"What was that, honey?" John asked, not sure if he'd heard her correctly.

"Me getting caught in that explosion..." she replied, a wistful smile teasing her lips.

John looked at her in shock. "But Alyssa told me you were in agony when you got burned! I can't stand the thought of you being in that much pain... it must have been horrific."

"It was worth it," she said with conviction. "Given a do-over, I'd still go through that again."

"But why?" he asked, bewildered that she'd voluntarily have her flesh seared for any reason.

"Because no man ever looked twice at me, not with my face all fucked up like that," she quietly explained. "If I hadn't been so badly scarred, some guy would have taken an interest, probably forcing me... and I wouldn't have been able to fight him off."

"Karron was such a horrible place to grow up," John said with sympathy. "I'm so glad you were spared that."

"No, that's not the reason." Dana gave him a shy smile. "The important bit was that I got to save myself for you..."

He looked at her in astonishment, then felt a surge of guilt. "I don't deserve you, Dana. You're happy you were burned and scarred just so I could be the only guy you've ever been with... but I'm sleeping with over twenty women."