Taking on the world2

Chapter 2

Simon and Tala materialized back in Simon’s living room. Simon heaved a sigh of relief at being away from Kevin and strangeness for a while. It wasn’t that Simon didn’t like his friend; far from it. It was just that he needed time to adjust to the new ideas.

Surrounding them now were several trinkets that Kevin had helped them construct. The replicator was the most important of them to Simon’s mind. It came, of course, with its own power supply. There were other sundry items that they had collected, including their own copies of The Law, which Tala had magically created once they’d finished laying it all out. It had taken three days of solid work for the trio to work out all of the details of what the United Earth Imperium would be. Tala was not happy about some of the details, but she was going along with things because she knew there was no chance of changing Simon’s mind.

With a big sigh, Simon picked up the replicator, and cleared a spot on his desk for it. Looking at the equipment, he paused. He looked at Tala, who was now wearing a blouse and skirt combination, and then he looked back at the replicator. She could almost read his thoughts without any telepathy. He confirmed her suspicions a moment later.

“This stuff can wait,” Simon said. “Come on.” He took her hand gently, and led her to the bedroom. Turning to her, he said, “I’ve been waiting for this for over two weeks, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to wait any longer.”

Tala came to him without words. Her body pressed tightly against his, and she looked up at him. Her eyes were hooded in a lustful expression, and her lips parted as her tongue slipped out to run across them. Simon wrapped his arms around her as he leaned down to kiss her. As their lips touched, it felt as if electricity were running over both of their bodies. The amazing thing to Simon was how good this seemed, given that neither of them really knew what they were doing.

Tala’s hands rubbed gently against his back, while Simon’s hands slipped down to her ass, pulling her even more tightly into him. She moaned out her passion for him as his fingers kneaded her flesh.

They broke the kiss, and Tala reached to undo her blouse, but Simon stopped her. “You know how I want this to go, don’t you?” he asked. She nodded, and dropped her hands to her sides, trembling in anticipation of his touch.

Simon moved behind Tala, and wrapped his arms around her waist. He leaned down and softly kissed her neck. Tala mewled as he continued to place soft kisses on her skin. Meanwhile, his hands moved up to the top button on her blouse. Slowly, he undid each button, pulling the fabric apart as he went so that her skin was bared. He switched to the other side of her neck when he got halfway down, and then continued to unbutton her shirt. When he reached the bottom, he pulled the blouse out of her skirt, and then gently peeled it off her shoulders. Tala forcefully pulled it off her arms, letting it fall to the floor before she returned to her still pose.

Simon caressed her bare arms now, massaging and fondling the skin there. Tala was smiling at the sensations, and was hoping he would never stop, it felt so good. He worked his way up to her shoulders, and massaged the muscles around her neck to remove what little tension she had left. His hands deftly slipped down her back, and undid the clasp of her bra with amazing speed. His hands moved very slowly back to her shoulders, and pushed the straps of the undergarment gently off her shoulders. It slipped down her arms, and revealed to him once again her wonderful breasts.

His hands did not immediately go to her tits, but instead, he slipped them down onto her abdomen, pulling her gently back against him. She could feel his hardness in the small of her back, and she longed to have at that, but she was loving every minute of her time with him. Simon’s hands softly caressed her skin, lightly tickling her navel, causing her to giggle. He moved leisurely upward, until his fingers were brushing against the underside of her breasts. Tala sighed with the enjoyment of it. Finally, Simon’s hands moved upward, and cupped her tits gently, supporting them and ever so softly fondling them. He moved his fingers up until the brushed against her nipples. Tala gasped at the sensation of his fingers sliding over her nips. Simon returned to kissing her neck, sliding his mouth up to her ear to suck on her earlobe. Tala smiled again as the sensation rippled through her body.

Simon continued to fondle and caress Tala in this manner for some minutes, bringing her to a very high state of arousal. She was squirming to his touch now, and he was loving every minute of pleasurable torture he could give her.

When he figured she couldn’t stand it anymore, Simon relented, sliding his hands off her breasts, and down onto her hips. Tala leaned against him as his hands found the clasp of her skirt, and unfastened it. She wiggled her hips to allow the garment to fall off her, while arousing Simon as much as possible. She stepped out of the skirt as Simon then knelt beside her, his hands maintaining their contact with her skin. She looked down at him, and saw that he was taking in her body. She blushed at his attention, though she was pleased that he was happy with her.

Slowly, carefully, Simon’s fingers reached under the waistband of Tala’s panties. He gingerly tugged on these until they slipped past her hips. He pulled more insistently until they fell to the floor, and Tala stepped out of them. As she lifted each foot to remove the panties, he also removed her shoes. Now she was wearing only a pair of stockings, and he liked how those looked on her. He tenderly turned her so that she was facing him, her pussy right at his eye level. Tala, knowing what he wanted, parted her legs for him. Simon was entranced with the sight of her beautiful body. He couldn’t resist himself any longer; he leaned in and kissed the hood of her clit. Tala shuddered with the sensation.

Simon rose slowly, his hands taking in her body’s softness as his eyes roved over her beautiful curves. When he was standing again, he took her into his arms and kissed her again, his tongue pressing past her lips to caress her own tongue, and his hands now roving over her bare skin, glorying in the feel of his woman.

After some moments, Simon broke their kiss, and he took Tala’s hand, leading her over to the bed. He turned her around, and very gently pushed her down onto the bed. She gave no resistance, and he helped her slide up onto the bed fully. Once she was there, Simon removed his clothes quickly, revealing his newly-hardened body, and his very hardened cock. Tala’s eyes engulfed his prick, and she wanted it badly.

But Simon had another gift for her first. He lay down on the bed, his head at the level of her hips. He softly parted her legs, and she complied, opening up for her lover. Simon moved between her legs, and placed feathery kisses on her inner thighs. Tala moaned at the touch of his lips, and circled her hips, trying to get him closer to her center of pleasure.

Simon really was too excited to torment her too much, and so he moved fairly quickly to her pussy, running his tongue softly along her outer lips, which parted to admit his tongue. Her inner lips were pale pink, and were emitting the sweetest of nectar. Simon lapped at Tala’s juices, enjoying how she was writhing on the bed above him. He flexed his tongue, and pushed it into her as far as he could manage. Tala cried out in pleasure at that sensation. He repeated it a few more times before returning to licking her slit. Sensing that she was approaching her orgasm, he moved up to her clit and flicked his tongue across it. Tala screamed out in joy. He softly sucked her clit into his mouth and ran the length of his tongue over it repeatedly. It wasn’t long before Tala was thrashing above him, screaming out in her ecstasy.

Simon held on and continued to lick her throughout her orgasm, but as she came down, he moved away. He could sense that she needed a moment to recover, and so he moved up beside her, pulling her to him and holding her. Tala melted against him, trying to catch her breath. He caressed her skin, but kept his touch gentle, not wanting to overload her senses.

Soon, Tala looked up at him, and then kissed him passionately. Her hands were clutching at his body, and he knew that she was now ready for more. Simon rolled her onto her back, and moved over her, but then he paused.

“Tala... I don’t know if this is going to hurt or not.” She knew he meant for her. It would obviously feel great for him. It touched her that, even at this moment, he was worried about her.

“I don’t think I have a cherry, Simon. But I don’t care, either. I want you. I need you. Now.”

Simon smiled down at his lover, as he slowly, gingerly pressed his cock head into her hole. Tala wriggled beneath him, trying to facilitate his entry. She was very tight, and the going was slow, and both of them cherished every second of it. Once he’d made his way in a little, he pulled out, to slide back in, going just a little further this time. He repeated his motions slowly, gently, and Tala mewled in pleasure beneath him.

After several minutes of small, gentle motions, Simon was fully buried in Tala’s cunt. The two stopped as they savored the feel. Simon couldn’t believe just how good it felt to be inside of a woman. Tala was lost in the fullness of her body at that moment. It wasn’t more than half a minute, but for the two it was an eternity.

Finally Simon started to move within her, and Tala almost passed out from the pleasure. She had an immediate orgasm, but Simon continued to move inside her. She was seeing stars, and moaning in ecstasy. Simon kept up his slow pace, enjoying the sensation of Tala’s velvety pussy grasping at his prick as he slipped slowly in and out of her.

Simon couldn’t keep his pace slow for very long. His body betrayed his wishes, and he quickened the tempo, starting to really thrust into Tala. This only increased her pleasure, and she was wracked by another orgasm. Simon thought to stop, but when he tried she screamed at him to keep going, to go faster, push harder. Simon complied, and was rewarded with wonderful sensations rippling along his dick. Tala’s encouragements echoed across the room as she was thrashing beneath him.

Simon had been keeping his control up until this point, but when Tala wrapped her arms around his neck and lifted herself off the bed, slamming herself down on his prick faster and faster, he just lost it. The pleasure was more than he could take. He screamed out as his cum poured forth, filling Tala’s pussy, and bringing her to yet another massive orgasm of her own. The two screamed and writhed for a long time before they collapsed together in a heap on the bed.

It was a full day before Simon and Tala left the bedroom for more than bodily function. They now knew each other in as intimate a detail as they had when Tala was living inside of him. Both of them were aware of the important things that had to be done to fulfill their plans, but they also knew that they had three months to get it accomplished, and they were certain that was plenty of time.

After some breakfast, which was produced the old-fashioned way, since Simon had never gotten around to connecting the replicator, they prepared for their duties. First, Simon finished the task of setting up their new technology. Strangely, he had this strong urge to drop what he was doing and carry Tala back to the bedroom, but he shook it off, knowing that it was merely his memory tricking him.

Once he’d completed those tasks, he sat down at his computer. Tala sat in a chair next to him, and quietly waited for him to begin. Signing on to the Internet, Simon did a little research. His first and most important task was to begin the spread of “the virus.” Although it wasn’t actually a biological, or even a technological, virus, that was what they had chosen to call it. It was a mental program that would propagate itself throughout the world.

Unfortunately, since the program drew on his mental powers in order to control others, neither Kevin nor Simon had the power to control the entire world, or even a small fraction of it. What they had decided to do was to use the program to control the leaders of the world: the governments, the military, and the police forces. They were also seeking individuals who fit certain criteria, to fill Imperial positions.

What Simon sought now was to find out if the houses of Congress were in session at the moment. He had so little interest in politics that he had no idea if they were or not. Luckily, according to their websites, they were. That was all he needed to know. He closed down his connection without so much as checking email. He worried that his writing might be hampered by ruling the world, but decided to worry about that later. He could always chronicle their exploits in taking over, which would be interesting reading for the six billion subjects who would be forced to read it in the Imperial schools.

“What’s first, Simon?” Over the last day, he had convinced Tala to stop calling him “boss.” He really didn’t like the sound of it, and he cared for her too much to think of her as less than his equal, even if he did still take the lead in most things.

“Washington. We have to start the virus.” Seeing the look on her face, he said, “Don’t start with me, Tala. I know how you dislike this controlling people business, but it’s the only way to get things done.”

“I know. I just wish we could be less... I don’t know. Not all of those people deserve this, you know?”

Simon snorted. “Show me an honest politician, and I’ll show you a guy who got elected as a fluke.” She smiled at him, but it was tinged with concern. Simon finally said, “Look, it’s not like we’re hurting them. We’re just taking control. And even that will only be so that they don’t resist our rule. Remember, we’re trying to make the world a better place.” Simon had told her this so many times, he was starting to believe it himself. That was a danger he’d have to avoid. Make the world a better place. Yeah, right. Well, it’ll be better for us, anyway.

Tala collected herself, and stood, as it was obvious Simon was waiting for her. “We’re going to teleport into the White House first. I’ll need you to enable our cloaking when we get there, as I may be too tired from the teleport.” Tala nodded at him, and he began to chant the spell.

Soon, they were in the executive washroom, just off the Oval Office. Thankfully, no one had been using it at the time. Tala quickly raised her mental cloak around them, and they were soon invisible to the normal eye. Simon used his magic to peer through the door, and could tell that no one was looking in this direction. They silently opened the door, and entered the Oval Office.

There, sitting at his desk, was Gregory T. Oaks. Everyone in the country called him “T”, to distinguish him from his father, who had held the office some years back. Simon watched for a moment, just noting how the man sat, how he looked. In truth, Simon liked T, and felt that he was doing a decent job, but there was nothing that could make the US run properly so long as the politicians were in charge. Wasting no more time on the matter, Simon planted the virus into the president’s mind. Simon could feel a very slight drain on his mental capabilities as the virus fully infected T. The drain stopped very shortly, however. Now, whenever T got close enough to someone to speak with them, the virus would jump. If the person it jumped into was one of their target personnel, the virus would fully infect them, taking control. If not, the virus would merely ride around in their brain, jumping to the other people they talked to. In this way, the virus program would travel through the populace very rapidly, but it would only infect a small number of those people.

Having finished his job, Simon didn’t dawdle. He didn’t want to tax their magical abilities. Neither of them had large reserves of mana, or magical energy, available to them yet. It would come with time and practice. Simon clasped Tala’s hand, and chanted the teleportation spell again.

This time, they ended up in the halls of Congress. While Tala maintained their cloak, Simon led her into the House chamber, where several of the representatives were waiting to make their speeches for the C-SPAN2 cameras. Simon walked through the room, infecting people as he went. He felt the drain on his ability, but it wasn’t severe, and so he kept going. He’d passed through the room in less than two minutes, and they quickly headed over to the Senate chamber, and repeated the process.

Having completed the initial infection of the United States Government, Simon smiled at Tala, and then teleported them both back home. Simon immediately slumped down on the sofa, worn out from the overuse of his magical skills. Tala sat down next to him, embracing him and running a hand along his forehead. She got up and went to the replicator, returning with a glass of fruit juice for him.

Simon drank it down in one long pull before saying anything. “Thanks, Sweetheart,” he said to her finally. She smiled at her partner.

“You need to be more careful, Simon. Don’t wear yourself out.”

“I hear that,” he said with a chuckle. “Damn, that was intense.”

“Are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah, I just need to take a break. All that teleporting, and doing two people together. Shit, I thought E made it look easy, but dammit, that gave me a hell of a headache.”

Tala smiled at him, and then laid her head on his chest. His hand immediately came to rest on her back, and he leaned his head back, trying to recover from the abuse he’d put himself through.

It was the next day before Simon felt he had enough energy to carry on with their plans. He and Tala dressed in casual hiking attire, and then got moving.

An annoyance was the fact that Simon, not being able to drive up to this point, did not own a car. He solved this problem by commandeering not only the apartment manager’s car, but the apartment manager to drive them. When Tala looked to him for an explanation, he simply shrugged and said, “How else is she going to get her car back?”

They drove to the airport, and he released the apartment manager, so that she could return to her duties. He took a quick look around, and saw what they needed. Hobbs was far too small an airport to have jet aircraft, but there were several turboprop-style private planes. He walked to the central office to find out where he could find a pilot.

Five minutes later, and he was talking to a gentleman who owned one of the aircraft.

“I need to fly to the Grand Canyon. Today. Right now, as a matter of fact.”

“That’s an awful long trip, mister. It’s gonna cost you a pretty penny.”

Simon smiled at the man and exerted his mental influence. “You know you want to see the canyon, too. I think you’d like to take us along on your little vacation, wouldn’t you?”

The man didn’t even bat an eye. “Yeah, hey, it sounds like fun! Let’s get her cranked up, shall we?”

Simon looked at Tala and grinned, but she didn’t smile back. It was going to be a long day. They climbed aboard the aircraft, securing their single large container behind the seats. They buckled in, and waited for the pilot to finish his work.

It wasn’t very long before the aircraft was leaving the ground. Tala was intently studying the scenery below, as she had never been in an airplane before. Simon had only been up twice, and that was before Tala had come into existence. He was also interested in the scenery, but he was more interested in paying attention to what the pilot was doing. Simon had always wanted to fly, and now he had both the eyesight and the knowledge to do so.

Climbing into the co-pilot’s seat, Simon asked the man, “Mind if I take over for a while?”

“Nah, go ahead. Just keep ‘er on this heading.”

“Gotcha.” Simon took hold of the controls, and shook them slightly to indicate he had control of the airplane.

The pilot’s hands came off the yoke, and he said, “Co-pilot’s plane.”

For the next hour and a half, Simon flew the plane over New Mexico. Only when they approached the landing did he return control to the pilot. Though he knew how, technically, to land an airplane, he really didn’t want to crash on his first attempt, not when he had a mission to complete.

Safely back on the ground, Simon thanked the man, and exerted a little more mental force. “We’ll be back in a couple of hours. If you want to go sight-seeing, we’ll wait for you here.”

“Thanks kindly,” the man said, and wandered off to get fuel for his aircraft.

“This way,” Simon told Tala, pointing toward a helicopter with a man working on it. Simon walked up and said, “Excuse me. I’m looking for a chopper for hire.”

The mechanic looked down at him from atop the helicopter and smiled. “Well, we’ve got one. This one here’s busted, but that one over there’ll take you where you need to get. What’s the destination?”

“The Grand Canyon.”

“Mister,” the man said, “you can get to the Canyon on any one of a dozen regularly scheduled helicopter flights, for a lot less than I’m gonna charge you.”

“We don’t want a tour. We want to go, look, and land, and we don’t want any questions asked.”

The man climbed down from his spot on the broken bird. He walked over to Simon and said, “That’s a problem. Those are federally-controlled lands. Some of that place is Indian country. You can’t just go flying around where-“

At this point, Simon reached out and backfisted the man in the temple. The man’s eyes rolled back in his head, and he would have collapsed to the ground if Tala hadn’t caught him.

“Judges Council, Net Wolf!” Tala said, slipping back into her old way of speaking. “Couldn’t you have just controlled him?”

Simon snickered at her. “Make up your mind, girl. Either you don’t mind me using my mental powers, or you do. Besides, this guy was going to be a pain in the ass. I didn’t feel like wasting my strength on him.” Simon could feel that his mental strength was being drawn upon. He was certain this was due to the virus program being spread throughout Washington. “Come on, let’s go.”

“Go where?”

“To the chopper, where else?” Simon also knew how to fly a helicopter, and he would simply have to risk the ability to take off and land. He grabbed their gear from the plane and carried it over to the chopper, setting the box in back and climbing into the pilot’s seat. After settling the unconscious man into the broken helicopter, Tala walked over and got in next to Simon. “Don’t touch anything,” Simon said. “And put on that headset. It’ll be hard to talk in here, because it’s gonna get noisy.”

Simon studied the controls momentarily, and then started flipping switches. The helicopter came to life, and the rotors started to turn. In a couple of minutes, they were airborne and heading north to the canyon.

It took them an hour of flying around and studying the area to find the perfect spot. It was a high butte overlooking the Colorado River, and the sides were completely unscaleable, except with quality climbing gear, and they would correct that, as well. He set the helicopter down in the middle of the butte’s summit, which was agreeably flat, though a tad windy. He pulled their box from the helicopter, and set it on the ground. He heard another helicopter approaching, and he didn’t know whether that was the parks department or some tour, so he thought he should hurry.

Upon opening the box, Simon was confronted with two large cylinders, each about a foot long, and nearly that large in diameter. On the top of each was a small display that indicated the status of the nanoprobes inside as “ready”. Simon pulled out one of the cylinders and closed the box. Simon and Kevin had prepared these nanoprobes to construct the Imperial Palace, and the other buildings in the Imperial Compound. They had relied heavily on Tala, as the only girl, to have some sense of décor and fashion. In retrospect, this was a little silly, as she was prone to follow Simon’s ideas of aesthetics, but it had worked out in the end. Finding a butte that was big enough had been Simon’s only real concern, and this one was nearly twice what they needed. Simon pressed the appropriate buttons on the container device, and it powered down, opening to allow for the exit of the nanoprobes. The nanoprobes immediately left their storage container and began their work, needing no further instructions as to what was to be done.

The other helicopter was soon upon them, and it turned out to be the parks department. Simon looked up at it, and used his mental powers on the pilot. The helicopter immediately turned around and headed back to its home base. Simon wasn’t yet ready to deal with them. He still had one more batch of nanoprobes to deliver.

The two climbed back in the helicopter after packing the remainder of their gear, and flew off to the North Rim of the canyon. There, they delivered another set of nanoprobes, which would construct the Imperial Wall. Though not as impressive as the Great Wall of China, it would serve more of a purpose. It would be thirty feet high and twenty feet thick, and would be made of the rock of the canyon itself. This would prevent others from even being able to see the canyon. That sight was reserved for those admitted to the Imperial Compound. Simon had designed these nanoprobes himself, but he didn’t figure that Kevin would object.

That job done, they reboarded the helicopter and flew to the office of the National Parks Service. They were greeted by some rather irate federal employees, who Simon merely waved off as he entered the NPS office.

“Where’s the head ranger?” Simon demanded. The secretary just motioned to the office. Simon walked in with Tala in tow, and stood, waiting for the man to get off the phone. That took longer than Simon was willing to wait, however, and so he reached down and yanked the phone cord out of the wall.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” the man demanded loudly. Simon stared him down. With his augmented mental abilities, Simon’s glare was well beyond intimidating, and the man settled quickly.

“This park is closed. You will start emptying the park of people, starting with the butte located right here,” Simon indicated on the wall map in the man’s office, then continued. “I want the area around that butte cleared in the next 24 hours. The entire park is to be closed by the end of the month. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir,” the man responded, with a little help from Simon’s mental commands.

“Good. There will be vehicles delivering building materials to the base of that butte. You will assist them in getting down there. Is that clear?” The man responded with a nod. “Good. A wall is going to be erected around the canyon, starting with the North Rim. Anyone who interferes with the construction of said wall will be executed. I would advise you to inform your people. As a matter of fact, as soon as you have cleared all the tourists out of my canyon,” Simon said with a smirk, “I would suggest you order your men to go home.”

“Yes, sir,” the man said. Simon, knowing that this man would soon be talking to politicians, local and state, infected him with the virus. He gave the man a few other orders, and then he left him. It took them only a few more minutes before they were back to the airport and waiting on their pilot friend, who had decided to go sight-seeing apparently. Simon used the time to find local material suppliers and place the necessary orders. Well, they were as local as they could get when you’re miles from anywhere remotely civilized.

Several hours later, the pilot returned, and they got back on the airplane. The trip home was uneventful, and Simon felt that he had put in a good day’s work. Tala slept on the way back, leaning against Simon as she did. He wrapped his arm around her, and enjoyed the scenery and the softness of the woman next to him.

The next day, Simon set about trying to find a few of his friends online. Simon and Kevin had discussed just who they would tell what to. They had decided to keep the truth very, very close. To their closer friends, they would simply say that they had been “given power”, but not how. To the rest of the world, they simply “were” powerful. No one needed to know more than that.

The first thing Simon did was to send off an email to his friend Robert. Known as Demon Grossclout to the rest of the world, Simon knew him as Robert Burns, but, as with Kevin, he tended to refer to him as “G.” He told Robert that he would be visiting him soon, and that he had something he wanted to talk to him about. He knew it would take a day or so for Robert to get back to him, and so he let that rest.

Next, he turned on his ICQ, looking for his other good friend, Top_Quark. It wasn’t long before he showed up.

Net Wolf>: Hey, TQ. How’s life?

Top_Quark>: fine.

Net Wolf>: Same as usual, huh?

Top_Quark>: Yeah. How’re things with you? Get any writing done?

Typical TQ, Simon thought. Always wants me to write something. If he only knew...

Net Wolf>: Nah, haven’t had time lately. Tala and I have been spending too much time together.

Simon could almost hear the laughter on the other end of the line. He’d mentioned Tala to TQ before, but she’d always been known as a figment of the imagination. Now, with her sitting across the room, it was a far more interesting situation.

Top_Quark>: lol right.

Net Wolf>: Actually, I’m serious. Say, I was thinking about coming for a visit. Just where is it you live, anyway?

Top_Quark told him, and Simon said he’d be there in a few days. Then he signed off, not wanting to get caught up in a conversation with him that TQ was unlikely to believe. He hadn’t mastered that little astral projection trick that Kevin had used, and so he couldn’t provide “proof” quite as easily as Kevin had.

Simon sat back and stretched, yawning.

“Bored, Sweetie?” Tala asked him. She was apparently growing used to the idea of calling him something affectionate, rather than “Boss.”

“Yeah, kind of.” He looked over at her, and saw that she was reading. “I don’t want to interrupt your reading, though,” he said with a smile. She blushed crimson, and hid her face behind the book. “Perhaps it’s time I expanded my horizons,” Simon thought out loud.

“What do you mean?” Tala asked.

“Time to enjoy the fruits of my power... uh, labor.”

“Oh.” Tala fidgeted a little. “Who?”

“I was thinking... Janet.”

Tala sat silent for a few moments. “I know how you’ve felt about her, and for how long. You won’t hurt her?”

“Tala! Of course not! How could you ask such a thing?”

“Sorry, but I worry about what this power is doing to you.”

Simon smiled at her. “Still my conscience, eh?” She smiled. “Don’t worry, I couldn’t hurt Janet. But, dammit, if I can’t use these powers, what’s the point of having them?”

Tala didn’t have an answer for that. She looked back down into her book, and said quietly, “Be careful. And I’ll be right here if you need me.”

Simon walked over to her, bent down, and kissed her on the cheek. “I love you, too, Tala.” With that, he went to get his coat. Soon, he was on his bicycle, pedaling off to the church. At least this is easier, now that I’m in great shape. He knew he’d have to get a car soon, but it wasn’t high on his priority list.

It didn’t take him long to make it to the church. He locked up his bicycle in its usual spot, and just looked at the building. It was St. Matthew’s Living Church. Simon had written a story about this place, and the people inside it. Of course, what he’d written hadn’t actually happened, or so he hoped. But the people existed, and he wanted to have a little fun.

Simon ducked into a spot secluded by trees, and raised his cloak. He didn’t want to be seen just yet. Next, he slipped in the door. So far, so good. He’d seen Janet’s truck in the parking lot, so he knew she would be here. As the education director, she spent a great deal of time here, for it was a big church. Slipping silently down the hall, he saw that her office door was closed. He placed his ear against it, and could hear her talking on the phone.

Thinking back to how he knew her office was arranged, he thought, If she’s looking at her computer, she’s facing away from the door. He listened more intently, and he heard a computer beep. Yes! Very carefully, Simon turned the doorknob. He opened it far enough to see that Janet was, indeed, facing away from the doorway, studying a computer document and chatting with someone. He entered quickly, and closed the door as silently as he had opened it.

He moved across the room, sitting on the worktable across from her desk, so that he could study her.

Now, Janet Caruso was in her early forties, but you couldn’t tell it by looking at her. She was slim, and well-built, and her face showed only the barest hints of her age. Her curly auburn hair flowed around her face, cascading down to her shoulders. Her face was one of those slightly-round, baby-faces that made Simon drool whenever he saw them. He watched as her lips formed words as she was talking on the phone, and all of his teenage fantasies came back to him. He had thought of a lot of things for her lips to be doing other than forming words. He’d had a crush on this woman since he’d been old enough to know what men and women did together in bed. She was married, but at this moment in time, Simon could not have possibly cared less about that. What had been completely impossible had now become not only possible, but easy. Simon couldn’t resist that temptation.

He waited calmly, or at least patiently, while Janet talked on the phone, apparently placing some kind of order for Sunday School supplies and materials. Simon enjoyed the view as she did. He watched her breasts swell against her dress, and he enjoyed the tilt of her head, the sweep of her neck. He couldn’t see her legs because the desk was in the way, but he filled in the details from memory.

Finally, Janet finished her conversation, and hung up the phone. Now, Simon had to figure out just exactly how to do what he had in mind. He knew he could just take her, without her really having much say in the matter, but that seemed rather cold and heartless for the feelings he had for her. Not only had she been his fantasy object, but she had also been a good friend and counselor during his Christian phase.

He reached out with his mind, and sent some instructions to her that she would not be surprised by his presence. Then, he faded back into existence, removing his mental cloak.

“Oh! Hi, Simon. I didn’t see you come in,” Janet greeted him when she saw him sitting in her office. “I haven’t seen you in a while. What’s been going on with you?”

Simon hopped off the table, and walked over to her desk, sitting on the corner of it, looking down at her. “Oh, nothing much. Doing some writing, generally goofing off, taking over the world, that sort of thing.” Simon smiled as Janet laughed. He could blatantly tell her the truth in this manner because it was the sort of exaggeration he was often prone to, in order to get people to smile. He loved hearing her laugh, and he took the opportunity to look down at her legs. The dress she was wearing came past her knees. It was about as sexy as a nun’s habit.

“Oh, Simon,” she said, calming down. “I needed that. It’s been, what? Nearly a year since we spoke last.”

“Yep. I have missed you.” Well, missed looking at you, anyway... “How’s everyone at home?”

“Same old thing,” she answered. She continued to talk about her family, while Simon was implanting a few commands in her mind. This was tricky business for him. He let her ramble on as he slipped down off the desk. Simon stepped behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders, gently rubbing them.

“Mm. That feels good,” she murmured. He had done this for her a few times before, and he had enjoyed it a lot more than she had, he was sure. He took a ragged breath, hoping his commands would hold. Then, quickly, before he lost his nerve, he bent down. His hands slipped over her shoulders and down her front, landing on her breasts. Janet inhaled sharply as Simon then placed a soft kiss on her neck. He began to rub her tits through her clothing, and Janet began to squirm.

“Oh, Simon...” she whispered. It was not a statement of regret, derision, or even reluctance. It was pure lust that he heard in her voice. He slipped his hands down to her waist quickly, and then pulled her gently up out of the chair. He turned her to face him, and her arms automatically slipped around his neck. Their lips met in a sensual exchange, and Simon’s hands now rested on her ass, squeezing and molding it. As they kissed, he pulled the fabric of the dress up until his hands felt bare skin. Then he continued to massage her ass cheeks, kneading the bare skin. He loved the feel of her body.

Janet soon broke their kiss, and leaned away from him a little bit. He wondered what she was going to do, and then her hands moved to his shirt. She pulled his shirt out of his pants, and then she lifted it over his head, setting it gently on the desk.

As her fingers ran through the hairs on his chest, she cooed, “You’ve been working out.”

Simon smiled at her as he felt her hands rubbing against him. He could feel them moving lower and lower, and then they were at his belt, undoing the buckle. He leaned in and kissed Janet’s neck while she was finishing undoing his pants. As those fell to the floor, she took hold of his briefs, and cautiously pulled them away from his body and down. Soon, they joined his pants on the floor.

“Sit down for me,” she said softly. Simon immediately complied, settling into her office chair. Janet knelt before him, taking his cock into her soft fingers. “Mm. Much bigger than Eric’s. This is going to be good.” Eric was her husband. He didn’t know if she was feeding him a line of bullshit or not, but he didn’t really care.

Janet’s tongue slipped out of her mouth and connected with the base of Simon’s cock, while her fingers softly held it upright. Her tongue slowly slithered up his shaft until it reached the head, which it swirled around and around. Janet repeated this several times as he groaned above her, his hands resting very gently on her shoulders. Finally, Janet’s lips opened to admit Simon’s cock. He felt electric sparks as her lips slid against the skin of his shaft. He felt his cock hit the back of her throat, and he expected her to pull off him, but she didn’t. She worked her mouth over him as she allowed her gag reflex to pass, and then she slipped the rest of the way onto his shaft.

Simon was in heaven. Tala was good, but this was fantasy. He had dreamed, quite literally, of this moment for years. Janet worked her tongue over him, keeping him in her throat for several seconds. Then, she began to slide back off him, her tongue skidding across his pole as she rose off him. He shuddered at the sensations she was giving him. She slid her lips all the way up to the head of his dick before moving back down.

Again and again, Janet moved her mouth along the entire length of Simon’s cock. He couldn’t take much of this. He tangled his fingers in her hair, just to feel the sensation. She needed no encouragement to suck him; she was doing an excellent job, as far as he was concerned. He started groaning, and his hands tightened slightly on her head to warn her that he was coming close. Instead of stopping, she sped up, her hand sliding down and over his balls, caressing them as if to coax the cum from them.

It worked. Simon’s climax was explosive and gut-wrenching. His hips thrust up off the chair, slamming his cock into her mouth. He was beyond any control. Janet quickly adjusted, and took his entire length with only mild discomfort. He jerked again and again, filling her mouth with his spunk. She swallowed it all, not missing a drop.

When Simon came down from his high, Janet did not release his prick. Instead, her lips worked over the head of it while her tongue played against the very tip. Her fingers slid along his length, trying to bring him back to hardness. He pulled her off him, and she gave him a slight frown. When he began to unbutton her dress, however, her smile returned.

Simon was too far gone to use any sort of finesse. He made sure not to damage the dress, but he had it undone just as quickly as he possibly could. Janet helped him get it off her shoulders, and it fell unceremoniously to the ground. He had enough sense to pick it up off the floor, but he tossed it on the desk without concern. He saw now that Janet was wearing as unprovocative a set of undergarments as he could imagine. Her bra and panties were both sturdy white cotton. He didn’t care. He was unconcerned about her underthings; he was more interested in what was under her underthings.

He reached around and tried to undo her bra, but he couldn’t quite get it from his sitting position. Janet turned around for him, and that made it much easier. He quickly had the cursed garment unfastened, and Janet pulled it off, letting it fall on the desk with her dress. Simon’s eyes roamed from her upper back down to her ass, which was still covered by panties. He took hold of these and pulled them down until they fell off her hips and onto the floor. Janet stepped out of them as she turned back around to face him.

Simon stared up at the tits he had imagined for the last fifteen years. Her areolas were light pink and puckered. Her nipples were already erect. Her tits were not big, but they looked very good on her frame. Simon could not resist, and reached up to take her tits in his hands. Janet moaned as his palms ran over her nipples, gently massaging the flesh.

After a while, Simon’s hands left Janet’s breasts. She looked down at him as his hands slipped down to her hips. He took firm hold of her, and pushed up and backward, forcing her to sit down on the desk. Janet gave a knowing smile as she understood what was coming, and she parted her legs to give Simon access to her twat.

Simon looked longingly at the patch of red fur that sat above her cunt lips. She had it trimmed neatly so that it was highlighting her pussy instead of hiding it. Simon moved the chair forward, creeping closer to her warm wetness. He leaned down, and his tongue lightly contacted her outer lips. Janet sighed with the first contact, her head thrown back, her hands resting behind her on the desk to support her. Simon kept up his light contact, listening for the right spots. He soon found them, and Janet was writhing above him. Her cries were growing louder, and it was obvious she was approaching her orgasm. Simon slid his tongue up and flicked it gently across her exposed clit. He did this over and over, and it soon brought Janet past her peak. She cried out and shuddered, covering his face with a gush of her juices. Simon held on throughout her orgasm, continuing to lash her clit with his tongue.

Finally, she came down from her high, and Simon sat back. He looked up at her, and she was looking back at him, panting. Her tits were heaving on her chest as she gasped for air. It was clear from the look on her face, however, that she was amenable to more.

Simon stood up, and took her face in his hands. He kissed her hotly, his tongue intruding into her mouth. When he broke the kiss, she took hold of his face, and then licked him clean, not missing a single drop of her fluids. Then she plunged her tongue back into his mouth, sharing her taste with him.

As they continued to kiss, Simon placed his cock at her entrance. He pressed slowly in, and Janet squeaked with the surprise. Soon, she was moaning into his mouth, however, as his prick continued to push its way home. Simon loved the feel of her cunt around his dick. It wasn’t as tight as Tala, but again, this was fantasy being lived out. Once he was fully buried in her, he paused, rubbing his pelvis against hers, stimulating her clit. She groaned in pleasure.

Breaking the kiss, Janet said, rather breathlessly, “Don’t tease me, Simon. If you’re going to screw me, then screw me!”

Simon grasped her hips, and started to slam into her, hard. Janet squealed at first, but then her discomfort gave way to pure lust. She was moaning and squirming on the desk, humping her hips back up at Simon. Her tits were bouncing on her chest with their motion, and Simon couldn’t resist. He bent down and sucked one into his mouth, enjoying the taste of her skin, and even her sweat. He flicked his tongue over her tight nipple, and covered the entire area with his lips. Janet was crying out in ecstasy now, rapidly approaching another orgasm.

Simon wasn’t far off from his own. He started to move even more swiftly in and out of her cunt. Janet’s cries deteriorated into a series of grunts. Simon joined her with his own guttural noises, and they both broke over at the same moment. Simon’s cum poured into Janet’s grasping cunt, and it filled her to overflowing, his spunk leaking out of her, down onto the desk.

The two continued to thrash together for some time before they finally settled down. Simon lay lightly on top of her for several minutes, his cock softening within her before it finally slid from her cunt with a soft slurp. He straightened himself up, and looked down at his freshly-fucked friend. She smiled lovingly back up at him. He took hold of her and gently helped her stand. She kissed him tenderly as she steadied herself against him.

“Guardians, Janet. That’s been a fantasy of mine for years!” Simon uttered in awe.

“I know,” she said quietly. “And I don’t know what came over both of us to let it happen, but I’m pretty glad it did! You are a lot better than Eric.”

Simon looked at her sideways. “You’re just saying that,” he accused.

“No, I’m not,” she answered matter-of-factly. “If you want to do this again... next time could we use a bed? The desk is a little rough.”

Simon laughed at her, but smiled. He took her still-naked form into his arms. “I think we’ll have to do this again, many times.” Janet smiled at him as she picked up her clothes and began to get dressed. Simon dressed as well.

When they’d both settled, there was something else he had to do. “Janet? You need to leave this church.”

“Where am I supposed to go, Simon? Not much call for education directors in this town.”

“You need to leave the church altogether. Trust me, you’re not going to want to be here.” Simon couldn’t just come out and tell her, but he couldn’t let any of his friends here be harmed, either. He knew Kevin would understand. They had to abolish the religion, but that didn’t mean that some of the people couldn’t be spared.

“I don’t understand,” Janet said in confusion.

“No, I know you don’t. Just... be ready to abandon church, okay?”

She nodded at him, a look of consternation on her face. He kissed her again before he left her office, heading back out to his bike to go home. If nothing else, he’d simply “arrest” her and force her to live with him in the palace... as “punishment”, of course.

Over the couple of months, Simon and Tala took a tour of the Western Hemisphere. They visited each and every country, making sure to pay a call on the leaders of those countries, as well as their military leaders, and other important officials. In each case, they took a day to do it. They did a great deal of sight-seeing as well, taking pictures of all the areas, especially when they spent an extra day for a river trip down the Amazon.

There was a side trip over to Australia, as well, for Simon had asked to handle Australia and New Zealand because he had friends there. He didn’t have the opportunity to drop in to see them, but he could at least now say that he’d seen their countries. Australia struck him as a friendly and open place, although it was a bit hot and muggy where they had to be. New Zealand was just as nice, and Simon and Tala enjoyed the hospitality of both places.

A visit to each of the fifty states was also required. The United States was so big, and run in so decentralized a manner, that in order to guarantee cooperation from all of the leaders, they had to visit each one. It took them over a month for that all by itself. By the time they had made it to each planned destination, they had used up more than two of the three months designated for this phase of the operation.

Finally, Simon and Tala breathed a sigh of relief. Although their trips had, in fact, been a lot of fun, especially meeting a few of Simon’s online friends along the way, it had been a strenuous way to spend time. Overseeing the construction of the Imperial Compound was the easiest of his jobs. The palace had been finished in a month, and the nanoprobes had moved on to the other buildings in the complex. Simon and Tala had moved in to the palace immediately, but they occasionally returned to Hobbs, just because it was the area Simon was familiar with. They were there now, eating dinner at a nice restaurant, chatting about their journeys.

“So, we’ve finished with all the programming?” Tala asked. Over the course of the last two months, she had at least become used to the idea, and there was no longer the tone of distaste in her voice.

“Yeah. I want to head back to Washington, to make sure we’re fully in control there, and then maybe we can spend some time sightseeing. In a few weeks, none of those monuments will be important. Hell, I don’t know what E plans on doing, they might not even exist.”

“You think he’ll have them torn down?”

“Could be. I haven’t discussed it with him.”

“What about other monuments? The pyramids, or Stonehenge?”

“Again, I don’t know. I think he’d keep the really old stuff around just for tradition, but any time I’ve tried to predict E, it hasn’t...” Simon’s words trailed off as he saw Janet wave to him from across the room. She said something to her husband, who was sitting with her, and then got up to come see him.

“Hi, Simon. Long time no see,” she said in a public voice. Leaning in to hug him, she whispered, “Too damned long. I miss you... and your little friend.” She leaned back, and, as she did, she kissed him softly and warmly right in front of the ear. Now how did she know that was a sensitive spot?

Simon shivered from the kiss, but recovered quickly. “Janet. Good to see you again. Sorry, I’ve been busy with that whole taking over the world thing.” While Tala looked at him in shock, Janet just laughed happily.

“Well, you’ll keep us all safe, right?” she asked with a twinkle.

“Oh, absolutely. By the way, Janet, this is Tala. Tala, this is an old friend, Janet.” Tala knew he was telling her this only for appearances, as she obviously already knew who Janet was.

“Hello, Tala,” Janet said warmly. Turning to Simon, she said, “Is this your girlfriend? Very nice, stud,” She winked at him in an exaggerated fashion. Tala blushed, and Simon couldn’t keep from laughing.

“Yeah, I guess you could call her my girlfriend. How’s the family?”

“Usual crap. And Eric is...” at this point, Janet lowered her voice, “As unexciting and unfulfilling as ever. God, I miss you!” She nearly went weak in the knees.

Simon had not realized that his little fling with her would have this kind of repercussions. All in all, however, he figured it could be worse. “Soon, Janet, soon. I have some stuff to finish up, but we’ll get together again real soon.”

“That’s good to hear.” She hugged him again, wished Tala a good day, and then headed back to her husband. Simon tried not to stare to overtly at her backside as she walked, and instead smiled over at Eric.

“I thought you weren’t going to do anything permanent to her?” Tala asked accusingly.

“I didn’t think I did,” Simon answered defensively. “You check her head and see where I screwed up!”

Tala sat still for several moments, and Simon knew she was doing just what he’d suggested. Her face grew several shades paler as she sat. Finally, she looked at him and said, “You didn’t. She’s just really sexually frustrated, and you’re the first outlet she’s come across. And she thinks you’re the best lay she’s ever had.” Simon blushed at that, especially when Tala added, “Of course, I do, too, but my experience is somewhat more limited then hers.”

“Eat your dinner,” Simon choked out in embarrassment. They ate the rest of their meal making small talk, and trying to avoid looking over in Janet’s direction. They left the restaurant soon after dinner, not wanting to cause any awkwardness for anyone. They headed home to get some sleep, and Tala learned that Simon had found his run-in with Janet highly arousing. It took him several hours to get it out of his system, during which Tala was in heaven.

The couple slept in the next day, not that it really mattered. By the time they got up and finished breakfast, it was already after lunch in Washington. Simon put on his best clothes, and Tala dressed nicely. Then, together, they teleported into a small office in the Capitol that was deserted. Stepping out into the rotunda area, they immediately headed for the House chamber.

Simon strolled slowly through the chamber, taking note of whether there was a single person here who had not been affected by the virus. It reassured him to see that not a single person was free of their control. Of course, at this point it was dormant, but it could be awakened by Simon or Kevin at any time, and of course they would all be awakened on Proclamation Day, two weeks away.

Satisfied that the members of the lower house were ensnared, Simon led Tala out of the House chamber and across the building. They were not accosted by anyone, due to Simon’s mental controls.

Upon stepping into the Senate chamber, Simon paused. Except for his visit to infect the members of Congress, he’d never been to the Capitol before. He took in the sight of it, and smiled. His smile was in knowing that, in two weeks, this building would be nearly useless. Perhaps the regional governor of the Appalachian Province of the United Earth Imperium would use it to house his advisory committees. On the other hand, they might tear the thing down on the principle of the matter; this building represented “freedom” and “democracy”. Better to have that concept stamped into the ground.

Finally, Simon walked further into the room, again checking to see that the senators were under control. He encountered no surprises, until he bumped into one senator who had been talking to someone in one direction, and walking in another.

“Watch where you’re going you... who the hell are you?” the man said.

Simon didn’t answer his question. When he had bumped into the senator, a large medallion had come loose from inside his suit coat. It now swung freely in view. Simon stared at it.

The medallion was made of gold, and was roughly five inches in diameter. On it, there were two dragons. The dragons appeared to be fighting. The lower dragon was a shiny silver; the upper dragon was a subdued color. The light reflected off it and into Simon’s eyes, but he didn’t notice.

“I said who the hell are you?” the senator repeated.

“SkuggDrakarna,” Simon muttered. Only Tala heard him, and her face went pale with understanding.

“What?” the senator bellowed.

Simon looked up at him, and gave a mental order. Immediately, the senator snapped to an attentive posture, closed his mouth, and kept his eyes focused forward. In a subservient voice, he asked, “What does My Lord require of me?”

“You are a member of the SkuggDrakarna, are you not?”

“Yes, My Lord.”

“There are others of your kind here?”

“Many, Lord.”

“How many?”

“In the Senate, there are 14 other members of the SkuggDrakarna.”

Simon swore under his breath. Looking again at the senator, he asked, “Is the CAMP leadership here?”

“Yes, My Lord. We could not be here without them.”

“How many?”

“Seventy-three, Lord.”

“Eighty-seven members of the senate, total,” he said to Tala. To the senator: “And total, how many members of the House?”

“Three hundred twelve, Lord Hawke.”

“Judges Council, they control more than half the Congress. Ah, crap. What the hell is going on? These guys aren’t supposed to be here. Where is your office, senator?”

“This way, My Lord,” the senator eagerly led his superior downstairs and through a tunnel into the Hart Senate office building. He led him quickly to a large office, and closed the door, after telling his secretary to hold all communication.

Simon slumped down into a chair. Tala leaned on the arm of the chair. Simon motioned the senator into his office chair. “So, CAMP and the ShadowDragon are running the Congress.”

“Yes, My Lord.”

“Where is Ron Chaffey?”

“I do not know, Lord Hawke. When CAMP took over the government, Mr. Chaffey refused to join. He told us to leave him alone, and he has not been heard from since.”

Fuck. Fuck fuck! We don’t need this shit! Simon sat in contemplation for quite a while.

He finally said, “Mike McGavin?”

“Mr. McGavin was killed some years ago.”

“James Kirkpatrick.”

“Mr. Kirkpatrick works as aide to Congressman Richey.”

“Call him here. Now.”

“Yes, My Lord.” The senator quickly dialed a number, and gave some directions. Setting the phone down, he said, “It will be a few moments, he is in the other office building.”

“Susan Chandler. Bob Maxton. Lars Ohlin. Do any of these names mean anything to you?” Simon skipped Kimberly only because he had never given her a last name, and so she didn’t have one. Other than Chaffey, that is.

The senator nodded. “All of them belong to the group Ron led several years ago.”

“None are serving in the Congress?”

“No. They, like Ron, insisted that they not be contacted under any circumstances.”

“Very well.”

They waited in silence for a few minutes before James showed up. He looked very odd in a suit and tie, since Simon had written him in a black combat uniform.

“What’s up, Mr. Dasselli?” James said as he walked in. Simon kicked in James’ programming, and he snapped quickly to attention. Facing Simon, he bowed slightly and said, “How may I serve you, My Lord?”

“Your psionic rating, Mr. Kirkpatrick?”

“Officially, psion-18, Lord Hawke. Since CAMP abolished the competitive rating system, I can no longer claim my psion-46 rating.”

“Understood. Sit down.” Turning back to the senator, Simon started to put into motion the plan that had come into his head while they had been waiting. “Senator, is there a high-level medspec serving in the Congress?”

“There is an aide to Senator Williams. She is a psion-13.”

“Bring her here.”

“Yes, My Lord.”

The group sat in silence while the Senator called for the aide. She was in the office very quickly.

“Yes, Senator, how may I serve you?”

Simon activated her programming, and said, “Sit on the edge of the desk.” She complied instantly. “Now, here’s how this is going to go. You gentlemen will be coming back with us. You, Miss, will give your Ability Sphere to my partner. Now.”

“Yes, My Lord,” she intoned, and she immediately slumped over the senator’s desk. Tala was brought to her knees, her hands at her temples. Simon was instantly kneeling before her.

“Sweetheart?” he said in considerable concern.

“I’ll... be... okay,” she managed through gritted teeth. “Head... hurts.”

Simon stayed with her until she was able to stand again. She was still holding her head, however. Simon looked at the other two, and motioned them closer to him. He called out to the secretary in the anteroom, and she came in.

“The young lady has passed out. You had better call the dispensary.” When the woman went to do as she had been bidden, Simon uttered a teleportation spell, and the four were whisked back to the palace.

The two congressional servants were shown to rooms and told to stay put. Simon then went back to Tala, and stayed by her side. The headache eased in less than half an hour.

“Are you going to all right?” Simon asked with heavy concern.

Tala smiled at him. She loved it when he worried over her like this. But she didn’t like to scare him. “I’ll be okay, I think, but Guardians that hurt!”

“I’m sorry, Tala. I didn’t realize... I should have warned you or something.”

She put her hand on his cheek. “It’s okay, My Lord.”

Simon nearly choked, and Tala laughed before kissing him softly.

“Now what do we do?”

“Well, we need to wait for your Ability Sphere to settle in, to connect up with the rest of your mind.”

“Why?”

“Well, I want James’ sphere for myself. But I also want to keep the little prick alive, so he can be a menial little bastard.”

“What do you mean... wait, that woman back there, she’s dead!” Simon just nodded. “You had her kill herself, just to give me...”

Simon took hold of her hand. “No, not just to give you power. To fulfill what I needed to do. I didn’t feel like collecting a whole group of people for this. Besides, in the great scheme of things, she wasn’t important.”

Tala had to accept that as true, but she didn’t like the tone of voice that Simon had said it in. She kept her peace about it, however.

It was over an hour before Tala felt as if she could access her power at all, and several more hours before she felt she had the control Simon needed. When they were ready, they walked into James’ room unannounced. He was sitting, watching television, but snapped to attention when Simon walked in the room.

“Sit down,” Simon ordered. James quickly complied. “You are now going to hand over to me your Ability Sphere. Unlike the aide at the Capitol,” Simon went on, seeing James’ worried look, “I will attempt to keep your sorry ass alive. Tala isn’t entirely familiar with her powers, but I’d rather she practice them on you than on the senator. You may begin.”

Again, James slumped to the bed, and Simon was instantly catapulted fifteen feet backward, falling to the floor. It felt as if a bomb had gone off inside his head. Tala rushed to his side to check on him.

Simon waved her off. He pointed to the bed. “Got... to... ungh... keep... him... alive.” Reluctantly, she returned to the prone form of James, while Simon attempted to sit up. It took him several minutes just to do so, and another fifteen before he could stand. By that time, Tala was confident that James would survive the process, though he still wasn’t stable on his own. Simon lurched his way to the bed, and collapsed down onto it beside Tala. She pulled his head onto her shoulder, and he stayed that way for the next twenty minutes, as the headache faded.

“Fuckin’ shit, that hurt,” Simon exclaimed when the pain had died down enough for coherent thought. “Yours didn’t look this bad.”

“I don’t think it was. I mean, it didn’t knock me halfway across the room, that’s for sure!”

Simon grinned. “How’s he doing?”

“He’s gonna be okay now. We can go whenever you’re ready, he’ll be out for a while, but his vitals are stable.”

Simon stood, and Tala kept a close eye on him as they walked down to their own suite of rooms, and then into the bedroom, where Simon instantly collapsed. Tala gently removed his clothes before covering him up and slipping into bed with him. They were both asleep in minutes.

The next morning when Simon awoke, Tala had already risen, and was bringing him some juice. He took it from her, and sipped at it. “Sweetheart,” he said softly, “You aren’t my servant. You don’t have to do shit like this.”

“And what if I want to?” she said diffidently, sniffing theatrically.

Simon looked at her and saw the devotion in her eyes. He pulled her to him. “Then you can do whatever you like.” They kissed good-morning and then she got up to let him get dressed.

Simon started to walk to his closet, but then got an idea. “T, could you step out for a while? I have a surprise that I want to prepare for you. Um... go... wait in the throne room.”

She looked at him curiously, but could tell that he was excited about whatever his idea was, so she nodded her head, and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Simon moved over to the replicator. “Computer, I need the following items...”

It took the machine several minutes to produce everything he’d requested, but finally he had the items laid out on the bed. A whole separate set of items were folded neatly, for they were Tala’s. Simon looked over the black wardrobe on the bed, and smiled.

One of the characters that Simon had wanted to create, but had never managed to write the story for, was called a Shodon. They were loosely based on the Jedi, but had elements of technology thrown in, and their psionic capabilities were somewhat stronger than the Jedi. Their weapons were also special. Laid out before him on the bed was the outfit of a Shodon Master. Well, he had made some modifications, but they were minor.

First, Simon picked up the undershirt. He slipped it on, and felt it cling to his skin, but only for a moment, as it then became like his skin, and he almost couldn’t feel it at all. Satisfied, he reached for his socks. These were normal, although black. The pants came next. The pants were very similar to black cargo pants, or a modern SWAT utility uniform, but had even more pockets on them. He slipped the pants on, snugging them at the waist and moving around in them to see how well they fit.

Next came the tunic. This was a long-sleeved black affair which was also liberally covered in pockets. The tunic was snug only at the neck, where the color stood up against his neck. A belt fastened across Simon’s waist, and the black buckle disappeared against his other clothing.

Crossing the floor, Simon stepped into his combat boots. Though the replicator had created them with a high shine, he’d have to find somebody to keep them that way. He knew Tala would do it if he asked, but he thought this kind of job was far beneath her. He laced up the boots and straightened. He walked over to the full-length mirror on the closet door. Looking himself up and down, he thought, I always wanted to look this good in this kind of gear. But Simon was going for far more than just mere intimidation. He was going for terror.

Moving back to the bed, Simon picked up a cape. He had debated about using a cape, but decided that he just didn’t look sinister enough without it. He slipped it over his shoulders, and fastened it around his neck. The clasp was in the shape of the logo of the Ecclesia Invictus: the sun-and-lightning-bolt logo of the Emperor, superimposed by a blood-red infinity symbol. Simon shrugged, and the cape settled into place. He looked at the fabric, which was a non-reflective black. It gave no hint of its shape at all, it was as if it weren’t really there. He had to touch it, just to make sure that he wasn’t disappearing into a black hole.

Smiling to himself, he turned back to the bed. The next item was a helmet. Designed like a medieval infantry helmet, it fit tight against Simon’s head, but there were slight bulges at the ears, for comfort, and for communications gear. He settled the shiny black helmet onto his head, and could barely feel its weight. The gloves came next, and Simon pulled these on his hands. The synthetic material was tight, and dexterous enough that Simon could tie shoes with them on. They were, of course, made of black material.

There were only three objects left on the bed. But before he used them, he needed to cast a spell. He concentrated, and began the chant. He felt a tingle beneath his skin, but it died down in seconds. He had just created a power/data conduit inside his body, so that two of the objects could be connected. He picked up the first, a small black box with buttons and a display on it, and attached it to his belt. He felt a slight jolt as the box sought out the data conduit. The object that attached to the other end of the conduit was a visor that would completely cover his eyes. He picked it up and examined it. The inside contained some kind of visual display device, though he didn’t see a screen as such. Shrugging, he brought the device up to his face. As it neared contact, he suddenly felt a tickling sensation coming from the device. He almost dropped it, but as he let go, the tickling sensation turned into a pulling sensation, and the electronic cilia on the device walked the visor into position. The conduit immediately started providing power, and an image was formed inside the visor within a quarter of a second. Simon smiled widely. The image was as clear as his newly-healed eyes had given him. A silent command to the device, and it gave him infrared information. He switched through the entire spectrum, astounded at the different patterns that occurred.

Turning the visor back to normal viewing, Simon picked up the last device on the bed. Shaped like a cross, it looked like nothing so much as a bladeless sword. This was, in fact, what it was. The device was made of gold, and jewels were inset into the handle. The crossbar curved up slightly on each side, and the hilt came to a peak where there should have been a blade. At the top of the hilt was a small slit. Simon settled the weapon into his right hand, and then concentrated on it. This was a psionic weapon, and so he had to make use of his new Ability Sphere. He reached into it, feeling the power wash over him, and down into his hand. The power poured from his hand into the handle.

A metallic hiss filled the room, and Simon saw a crimson blade surging from the slit in the hilt of his psionic saber. He hefted the weapon, and felt how the psionic power gave it the proper sense of weight and balance. He twirled it and swished it like a normal sword, and it felt perfect in his hand. He performed several maneuvers, to get comfortable with his uniform, and to see how the clothing flowed in combat maneuvers. By the time he was done, a childish grin of glee was permanently plastered on his face. He walked over to the mirror to take one last look. The visor covering his eyes was as much a black hole as the cape was: no light came back from it, all was absorbed. The only parts of Simon’s skin visible were his forehead and his lower face. That, he figured, was sufficient. The outfit would, he hoped, scare the shit out of anyone who might think to challenge him. But he had to find out the hard way.

On his way out the door, he noticed his black metallic light saber lying on the dresser. He picked it up, and clipped it to his left hip. His psionic saber still in hand, he marched out into the hallway.

Simon could hear voices coming from the throne room. Tala was obviously talking to someone. Good. Two reactions for the price of one. The conversation stopped as he approached, the people obviously hearing the steady hum of the psionic blade.

Simon stepped into the room, and saw that Tala was talking to Bob Anderson, one of Simon’s online friends. Both of them backed away when Simon entered the room. Tala stepped back to the throne, and nearly fell down onto it. Bob circled to the other side of the room, trying to keep away from this Angel of Death that had come to visit them.

Swiftly, using his newly trained body, Simon leapt at Bob. A flip in mid-air threw Simon’s position into complete confusion, because of the blackness of the cape. One simply could not focus on it. Simon came down, and his blade lay on Bob’s shoulder before he had the time to so much as cringe.

Simon laughed.

“Shit, TQ. For a minute there I thought you were gonna piss your pants!” Bob, whom Simon knew as “Top_Quark”, relaxed after realizing who it was.”

“Christ, Simon! What the hell is that get-up? I thought Darth Vader, Jr. was attacking me!”

Tala, who had relaxed as soon as she had heard her lover’s voice, came to his side. “This was your surprise?” she asked.

Simon removed his visor carefully. The cilia let go for him, and it came loose. He looked at her and smiled. “Yep. Recognize it?”

Tala looked him over, and thought for a few seconds. “It looks a little bit like the Virathi from Shodon Central.”

Simon chuckled and nodded. “I thought, since I’m now a psionic, I ought to become a Shodon.” He turned to Bob and said, “You can’t be a Shodon without being a psionic. Like my psionic saber?”

Bob looked at him a little wanly. “Yeah. Love it. It nearly sliced my head off!”

“Nah, I was in full control all the way. Sorry, guys, but I wanted to see if the outfit gave off the right impression. Seeing the way both of you scampered away from me, well, that tells me it’s effective.”

“Very,” Tala confirmed.

Simon looked at her. “Okay, now it’s your turn. There’s an outfit waiting for you.”

Tala looked at him skeptically. “Okay, but I’m not going to try to scare the hell out of you. You can come with me.” She looked over at Bob and said, “Sorry, TQ, you’re not invited.”

Bob looked at her with a smirk and said, “Aw, shit.” Simon and Tala laughed as they left the room.

It didn’t take long for Tala to put on her outfit. Simon waited outside of the bedroom. He wanted to get the impression of the outfit once it was fully on. When Tala opened the door, his breath caught in his throat.

Tala was not wearing black; it wasn’t her color. She, instead, wore royal blue. Her cape, which came all the way to her heels, was a shimmering fabric that radiated light the way his cape absorbed it. Her boots were soft calfskin, and a dark navy blue. Her gloves, also, were navy, as well as her belt. The belt bore a shiny silver buckle. Her tunic was royal blue, and not as loose as his own. It showed her curves to great effect. Her tights, for they couldn’t be called anything else, hugged her legs and almost made Simon drool. On her head was not a helmet, but a sapphire tiara. The sapphires were the highest quality of color and clarity. It was mainly for holding her hair back away from her face. Of course, she wore the visor, but hers was a reflective blue, and he could see himself in her visor. He had left instructions for her on which spell to cast, so that her visor would function. Simon looked her up and down, and he grinned.

“Baby, you are hot in that!”

Tala blushed, and she held something out in her hand. “What’s this?”

Simon took it from her. It resembled three spheres that had been stretched along their long axis. Simon held it by the middle sphere, and concentrated. His psionic energy flowed into the weapon. First, the outer spheres pulled away from the center, exposing ribbed cylinders. The device extended until it was about thirty inches in length, and shiny silver. In the very end of each outer sphere was a small hole, and surrounding this hole were four prongs that extended outward, until they were nearly as far apart as the sphere was wide. As Simon continued to concentrate, a cylindrical blade extended from each set of prongs, so that the weapon ended up being just over six feet long. Simon twirled it lightly in his hand, the crimson blades sizzling through the air.

“It’s a psionic staff,” he explained. “The psionic saber is a nice weapon. Unlike a light saber, you can use the ‘flat’ of the psionic saber to smack somebody without doing damage. The edge, of course, will cut very well. The light saber does damage to everything it touches. Now, the psionic staff doesn’t have a cutting edge. It will hurt and do damage like a normal staff would. Oh, you can puncture something with the end of the staff, and you could crush somebody’s bones if you hit them hard enough, but it’s a more defensive weapon than my saber is.” Tala smiled. She appreciated that he worried over her distaste for combat. “Anyway, that’s how this works. You give it a try.”

The device retracted as Simon stopped putting energy into it, and then he handed it back to her. She took it in her hand, and concentrated. The device once again extended, but this time, electric blue blades protruded from the weapon. She looked at Simon in shock.

“The color depends on the person. My mental color is red. Yours is blue. Makes sense to me. Go ahead, get the feel of the weapon.”

Tala began one of her standard bo forms, with slight modifications, since she had slightly less room to hold this weapon. She was somewhat startled when Simon brought his psionic saber into the act. She reacted quickly, blocking his strikes, and swinging half-heartedly at him. She was not prepared when he quickly tilted his psionic blade, slipped it under her staff, and flipped the staff out of her hands.

“Tsk, tsk, Tala. Don’t get sloppy on me.” She dropped her head, and Simon then retracted his blade. He put his hand on her cheek, and she looked into his eyes. “Honey, I don’t ever want you to have to fight. But someday, it might be necessary, and I really don’t want you to get hurt.” Tala smiled at him in understanding, tears of love misting her eyes. He kissed her softly on the cheek, and she hugged him. It felt good, even with all the crap he was wearing.

“Okay. I think we’re ready to go see E now. I think he’ll be a little surprised to learn that I’m a psionic now.” Simon chuckled as they left the room to go collect Senator Dasselli, and then they teleported to Kevin’s home.

Simon could have teleported them to anywhere in Kevin’s house, yard, or in the middle of the street, for that matter. It was not, however, Simon’s way of doing things. He was an unexpected guest, and Kevin was a friend, not an underling, so he appeared at the front door and rang the bell.

Besides, Simon thought to himself, the way I look right now, E might fry my ass before he realizes who I am.

It was mere seconds before he heard Kevin’s voice in his head. <Back yard,> Kevin said, and Simon motioned the others to follow him. Simon did not walk, but marched around to the back of the house. When he cleared the corner, he was surprised to see that there was a young girl with Kevin. Upon seeing Simon, both people slipped into a combat stance. Though the girl’s pose was more street-fighter than formal schooling, Simon had little doubt as to her skill, especially if she’d been training with Kevin.

After only a second, Kevin straightened and said, “Simon, what in hell are you wearing?”

Simon laughed. "Hey, you made me wear that damned ESMF uniform. Now, welcome to the world of the Shodon." Before Kevin could respond, Simon asked, "Hey, who's she?" indicating Marise.

"Simon, Tala... meet Marise. A.k.a. Sailor Earth," Kevin said, motioning for the girl. Marise dipped her head. "She's been my Apprentice-Master Slayer for the last couple of days." Kevin studied Simon’s face – or what he could see of it – intently.

Simon went instantly pale. "You mean, Sailor Earth as in... well, as in the Sailor Scouts Sailor Earth?"

“Senshi,” Marise responded immediately.

Kevin glanced over at Marise, and smiled. "They prefer Sailor Senshi... maybe because the Japanese word translates to soldier, rather than scout. Anyway, to answer your question, yes. The very same."

Simon didn’t bother to explain to either of them that a scout was a very special and elite type of soldier, and that the word was, in fact, a compliment to them. Instead he looked up at the sky, and took a deep breath. Telepathically, Simon said, <Does she know what she is? That she's your character?>

<She knows she's a character. For the moment, that's enough. I don't think she'll appreciate it if I told her I was responsible for the shit in her life.>

"And who's your friend?" Kevin asked out loud, walking toward the senator. Simon watched Marise mirror Kevin’s actions, but kept far enough away from him to protect him. Simon could tell she didn’t trust the newcomers, but that was okay; Simon didn’t trust her, either. Kevin continued, "Somehow, his mind looks... different." It was obvious to Simon that Kevin didn’t have a clue about Marise’s actions, and probably would have been gratified if he had paid attention.

"You and I need to talk, E. And maybe we should talk alone." Simon wasn’t ready to discuss such sensitive information in front of a person he did not know he could trust.

Kevin stared at his friend for a moment, blinking. <Why?> he asked. Then he said, <And remove that damn thing before your eyes. It’s like staring into a black hole. It gives me the creeps.> Simon heard the laughter in his voice.

<We’re obviously having a... uh... “development” that you and I need to figure out... and you might not want her to hear the conversation. And I’m not removing this visor in the presence of someone who isn’t in the inner sanctum.> Though Simon motioned to the guy behind him to indicate that he meant both him and Marise, Simon wasn’t concerned about the senator. He didn’t want Marise to see his expression.

“I see,” Kevin said in response, giving the impression that he was answering Simon’s initial request. After a few moments of consideration, he said, “Marise’s a Master Slayer in training, Simon. Whatever you have to say can be said in front of her.” Continuing mentally, he added, <Just try to steer away from mentioning me creating her.>

<That’s going to be hard, Kevin,> Simon said, using Kevin’s actual name for the first time to help convey the seriousness of what was going on. He stared right at Kevin, though of course it was hard for Kevin to know that. “Okay...” Simon said jokingly, “it’s your funeral.” Quickly, his eyes darted over to Marise. She was an unknown quantity, and she might not understand his sense of humor.

After a moment of stunned silence, Kevin finally said, “Okay...” <Dammit, man! You’re making this harder and harder! Do you have any idea how much effort it took me to get her to trust me? If I turn away now, she’ll think I don’t trust her, and she’ll snap shut!>

Simon stared, impassive. He could hardly have cared less whether the girl trusted Kevin or not. He waited impassively for Kevin to make up his mind.

Finally, Kevin sent, <Okay, shoot. She has to find out sometime, and I’d rather have her find out now. At least she has the emotion-blocker still there.> Out loud, he responded, “In that case, you’re paying for the coroner, and the funeral service, Simon.”

Simon tried to control himself, but a sigh escaped him before he could stop it. There were times when Kevin just made no sense. This was one of them, and Simon was just going to have to slog his way through it. “Okay. Well, you know how you told me that Fred said that all our characters live in different universes, that they don’t intermingle?” Simon had intentionally avoided looking anywhere near Marise while he said this.

Kevin nodded. “That’s what he said.”

“Your characters?” Marise asked, annoying Simon, who just wanted to get this conversation over with.

Kevin, on the other hand, felt the need to indulge her need for information. “We write stories, Simon and I. That’s how I got my powers. One day, my most powerful character just stood in my room, and empowered me.”

“Ah,” Marise said, thinking she understood. “Similar to the TV series I originated from smashing into this reality.” Kevin’s wan smile was all the answer she needed. “I did not originate from a TV series, did I?”

Kevin sighed. “You originated from a story I wrote.”

Marise stared at him, dumbstruck. “You... wrote... me?” she asked, her words fumbling out of her mouth. “Everything that’s happened to me?” Simon saw it coming, but wasn’t about to interfere.

Kevin managed a single nod before Marise’s fist connected with his nose. Kevin was thrown a good ten feet backward. Marise stood and glared at him as he scrambled back to his feet.

“Okay, I deserved that,” he said.

“That,” Marise said, her temper flaring, “was for Manzo-sensei.” Suddenly, she was on him again, punching and striking at him, her body a blur of motion. Kevin managed to block all of her hits, to the point that Marise started screaming. Simon noticed that her power level was increasing quite rapidly, and he stepped back, motioning Tala to drop behind him.

Finally, having taken enough abuse, Kevin grabbed her. He said quietly, “Marise, listen. Please.”

She slumped in his grasp, muttering to herself. “Manzo-sensei. Dead.” Suddenly, she screamed again, struggling roughly to escape Kevin’s grasp. Simon looked on in disinterest, his only curiosity was why Kevin didn’t just smack the girl and put an end to this stupidity.

“Marise!” Kevin yelled. “Yes, I wrote you in a story! Yes, I’m responsible!” Kevin took a breath before continuing. “And I’m also responsible for the Tsukinos finding you! I am the one responsible for you having a good home, and food, and drink, and a warm bed, and good friends! I’m not a monster!”

Under different circumstances, Simon would definitely have said something about that last remark. This, however, was not the time for irreverence, so he kept quiet.

Marise visibly struggled to settle herself down, and then Kevin let go of her. It was a mistake. In a fraction of a second, she spun and sent him flying with a vicious spin-kick to the abdomen. Kevin flew several feet backward before landing on the ground. Next, she turned to Simon. Her voice was calm as she moved in his direction, but Simon wasn’t letting down his guard. She said, “Now that that is worked out, continue, please.”

I don’t take orders from you, was the thought that immediately ran through Simon’s head. However, on further consideration, since she was a Master Slayer, Simon wondered if she was capable of taking him down. He decided he would have to find out later, from Kevin, not from her.

Giving her his smallest smile, he answered, “Mind if I wait until he gets back up?”

Marise glanced over her shoulder, to where her Master was just now starting to get up off the ground. “He’s got a hard head,” she said arrogantly. “He’s already on his feet.” Her tone was cold and nearly gave Simon a chill. You’re a warm individual, aren’t you? he thought. She turned on Kevin and said in an almost-snarl, “I take it you’re not holding out on anything else anymore?”

Simon was somewhat stunned that his friend would take this level of shit from this girl. Most powerful guy on the planet, he’s still afraid of women.

Kevin lifted his hands in surrender. “I don’t think so. Empire, Emperor, global domination, Legate, character... I think that’s all.”

“Good,” Marise replied with cold finality. Simon kept his mouth shut.

“Good thing I’m immortal. That could have killed me.”

“I will do better next time,” Marise promised. Turning back to Simon, she said, in a rather imperious tone, “Now, you were explaining something?”

Simon paused as Kevin sent to him, <Take that as a reminder, my friend. Never, ever piss off a Master Slayer. I didn’t want to hurt her, so I didn’t really fight back, but I’d hate to see what she’d have done to you.>

Simon took the proffered opening, and used his usual direct method of getting information. <Is she stronger than me?>

<She’s a Master Slayer,> Kevin dodged, apparently not wanting to just come out and say it. <It’s what happens when the body can still be altered by Mental powers.>

<You’re dodging the question,> Simon said in irritation, but was willing to let the issue ride.

Kevin was not. <Yes, she’s stronger than you, faster than you, and has fighting ingrained into every muscle of her being. She’s a Master Slayer.>

Simon didn’t buy it. He didn’t believe anyone was unbeatable. But he wasn’t willing to press his luck just now. Instead, he carried on with the explanation that Marise had – rather rudely, he thought – interrupted with her little tirade.

“Well, as I was saying, our characters aren’t supposed to be in our universe. Marise there proves that something has gone wrong. And so does this guy.” Tala led the man closer into the group. “This is Tom Dasselli, independent party senator from the state of South Dakota.” Simon knew this wouldn’t mean anything to Kevin, and so he continued, “And he was wearing this.” Simon held up the ShadowDragon medallion.

“A psionic?” Kevin cried. “There are fucking psionics loose in my world?” His voice rose, whether in anger or fear, Simon didn’t know.

“And what is a psionic?” Marise interrupted again. Simon wondered why the fuck she couldn’t just keep her mouth shut and ask questions of Kevin later, as would be appropriate a person of her age and status.

Kevin, however, didn’t seem willing to put any discipline to her at all. “A character class from Simon’s stories,” he explained patiently. “Basically, someone with mental talents, only differently.”

“Makes sense,” Marise replied. “So, there are psionics on our planet. What’s the big deal?”

Simon was irritated by the way she’d said “our”. It wasn’t, in fact, her planet at all, and the fact that she was both interfering in the discussion, and pronouncing something that was patently wrong, angered him. Simon frowned in displeasure, but no one else seemed to care.

“They’re not supposed to be here,” Kevin stated.

“Like me and the Senshi?” she asked with arrogance. “We’re not supposed to be here, either?”

That’s right, Simon thought immediately. And I fucking well wish you weren’t.

Kevin said, “You got it. Looks like more universes are converging than I initially thought.”

“It’s worse than just psionics, E. This means that CAMP is here. It means that the ShadowDragon is here.” Simon paused for effect, still not sure he believed what he was about to say. “It also means that Ron is here. And that is bad for us. Very bad.”

Kevin cringed. “Which means the Provisional Psionic Army of the United States.”

“Who is this Ron guy? And what is a provisional psionic army?” Simon actually had to bite his tongue. He turned away from the conversation, toward Tala. She could see the anger radiating off him, and she sympathized. It was clear she didn’t much care for the hyper-aggressive little girl either. Simon fumed while Kevin calmly and patiently explained everything to the little interloper.

"Well... Ron's like the most powerful psionic. Well, maybe not the, but certainly one of the strongest. And the PPA is his army... a group of psionics, about 20,000 of them, who banded together to fight off an invasion by a different group of asshole-psionics. The Psionic War was something akin to WW III... most of the civilized world dropped into anarchy."

Marise snorted and then looked at Simon, who had turned back as Kevin had finished his needless, to Simon, explanation. She gestured to Kevin. “He’s done some bad shit. Killed my mentor, etc. But you did it on a global scale?”

Simon bit off the reply that came immediately to his lips. Again, he didn’t want to determine whether or not she could, in fact, beat him, though with James’ Ability Sphere settling into his mind, he didn’t think she could. There was no point in possibly giving her a bigger ego than she obviously already possessed.

Kevin continued to be gutless about dealing with her, however. “Marise, please. It’s a story. It’s not supposed to be real!”

“Well, I’ll ask ‘Ron’ when I meet him how real it feels to him,” Marise said snidely, with a malevolent grin on her face as she stared at Simon. Simon decided he wasn’t ever going to like the little bitch, and that it would be best for everyone if he ignored her from now on.

"It doesn't matter. It can't have happened. Not here, because, well... because there wasn't a war. Whatever the Ron Chaffey who exists in our world is, he didn't fight a war that destroyed seventy-five percent of the population. I have no idea what that means, except to say that it definitely means that our storylines don't necessarily transfer over exactly. The characters are here, but the events might not be.

"Shit, Kevin. If Ron is here, why not Andrew? Why not... why not April and Ariana? Why not... hell, why not any one of your other characters? What if Zack is real? Or any of the other characters I haven't yet gotten down on paper, but exist in my head? How do we know where this thing stops?" Simon had not put all of these thoughts together until now, and he was badly shaken by the thought that he could have brought all that about. Tala, sensing his discomfort, immediately moved to his side, placing her hand on his shoulder and sending him warm feelings of love and encouragement.

Simon looked to Tala. <Thanks, Sweetheart.>

<That’s what I’m here for.>

Turning back to the group, he said quietly, “Sorry about that.”

Marise thought for a few seconds and replied, “Maybe. Maybe not.”

Kevin obviously wasn’t going to get her out of the conversation. Simon decided that Kevin simply didn’t have the constitution for it. Oh, well. I guess I’ll keep clear of him, too, when she’s around.

Kevin said, with some wispiness in his voice, “Yeah, that’d be a blast. Have all my kids united...”

Marise sneered, “If you treat your other kids like you treated me, they’re very likely not to share your sentiment, Dad.”

Despite his distaste for her, Simon had to smile at the comment. Tala tapped him on the arm, reminding him of the senator. “Anyway,” he said to Kevin. “I came to bring the Emperor a present.”

Simon watched as Kevin’s eyes lit up. “A present? Cool. I always liked presents.” Clearing his throat, Kevin continued, “Your Emperor is pleased, Legate.”

Marise was obviously offended by the play-acting, but at least kept quiet.

Simon, however, played the game all the way. Bowing deeply before his friend, he intoned, “I bring His Majesty the gift of...” Simon paused for dramatic effect, lifting his eyes to look at Kevin. “Psionic power,” he finished, watching Kevin’s reaction as he rose from his bow.

Kevin’s eyes were immediately filled with a predatory gleam. “You’re going to transfer his Ability Sphere to me?” he asked, intensely interested. He circled the man like a shark. “What level is he? Scratch that. What type of psionic is he? Mentspec? Kinspec?”

Simon tried not to laugh at Kevin’s greed for more power. “The good senator is a psion-15 generalist. His focus is mainly mental, but his TK powers are quite high as well. The only thing he’s not terribly good at are his medical skills. And no, I won’t transfer his sphere. I can’t do that. He will transfer it to you. The senator was caught by our little virus, and so will do whatever the hell I tell him to. Especially since I’ve already got my own Ability Sphere.” Simon laughed deeply at what he suspected his friend would do when he found out whose sphere Simon had.

Kevin glanced at Simon. “I should have known,” he responded good-naturedly. “So how do we do this? And, uh... what shall we do with the body?”

“Body?" Marise asked. Simon ignored her, letting Kevin deal with the twit.

"Transferring the source of a psionic's power, the Ability Sphere, causes a complete drain in life-energy," Kevin explained.

"Ah. Okay," Marise said in understanding.

Care to know how to wipe your ass, too? Simon thought darkly.

"We can't kill him. That would be too visible. Luckily, we've got Tala, who now possesses the Ability Sphere of a medspec. She can keep him alive through the hour of his power drain. You might want to sit down, E, and you're going to have a splitting headache for the next twenty minutes or so... or at least we did."

Turning to the senator, Simon's voice grew deeper, lower, and darker. It no longer even sounded like Simon. He said, "Very well, Senator. You may proceed with the transfer."

There was no life in the senator's eyes as they closed, and his body fell limply to the ground. Tala bent over it, keeping his vital signs within tolerance ranges. Meanwhile, the senator's Mind conveyed into Kevin's Mind his psionic power, embodied in his Ability Sphere. Simon looked on, to make sure nothing went wrong, not that he was certain that he could do anything about it if it did.

Kevin was blasted to the ground by the power of the transfer. Marise immediately jumped between Kevin and the others, slipping into her street-fighting combat stance.

“Okay, you have ten seconds to restore him, or I will kick your ass into oblivion.” Her face was emotionless, but she was obviously angry.

Simon thought to himself, Are you really that stupid? If I had actually done that to E... if I actually could do that to E... what the fuck chance do you really think you’d have? He said nothing, however, before Kevin spoke.

“No,” Kevin managed through gritted teeth. Immediately, Marise rose out of her fighting posture, and turned to face Kevin. “ ‘s alright...” Kevin stuttered as he got up. “Wow, what a rush,” he said with some amount of awe.

"Are you okay?" Marise asked. "It looked like you were hit by a mental blast."

"It felt like it, too," Kevin said. "Thankfully, it's passed now... endorphins are such useful hormones," he told Simon. Turning to Marise, he added, "Thanks for the concern."

"You're my teacher. You're the only one who can train me. Too much hassle to find another. Take your pick," the girl replied curtly. The smile on her face, Simon felt, was no indication of her true feelings on the matter.

Simon turned to Tala with a slight smile on his face, but he made damned sure that the motion was not visible to Marise. "He doing okay, T?"

"He'll be fine," she answered. "Physically, anyway. I don't think he's going to like being a normal, though. He spent too much time using his powers to get what he wanted in Congress."

"Yeah, the little fuck was trying to screw up our country. We'll see how he likes being an Imperial paper-pusher now." Turning back to Kevin, he said, "I tried to warn you. The transfer hurts like hell. I guess I should have known, I mean, I wrote it... Anyway, it'll take about six or seven hours to fully settle in, then you'll have to learn exactly how to use it... I've only just started getting a handle on mine... of course, mine is more difficult than most." Simon didn't volunteer why that was so.

Kevin was staring up into the sky, giggly and euphoric. Marise looked at him in disgust. "Great. He's high on endorphins." Turning to Simon, she added, "Don't pay any attention to him... endorphins lock out pain, but also give pleasure... and right now, our esteemed majesty is high. Very high." She shook her head in obvious tolerance of her Master’s incompetence. "Mind if I know why your sphere's more difficult than most?"

Simon had no intention of answering her. If she wanted to start a fight, then so be it, but he’d had enough of her fucking attitude for one day.

Kevin solved the issue when he turned to Marise. "Am I high?" he asked.

"Yes," Marise answered coolly.

"Because I don't feel high," Kevin said in consternation.

"You were watching clouds while your 'friend' over there was about to explain why his Ability Sphere is harder to handle than most," The quotes around the term friend were clear to Simon, and he felt his irritation rise again. Who does this little fucking bitch think she is?

"Huh," Kevin said. "This better?" he asked, his voice no longer so dreamy.

"Much better," Marise answered.

"Sorry 'bout that," Kevin said. "Looks like I turned up my endorphin production just a little too much. Handy when you're being tortured. Keeps you from feeling pain."

You know, you could have just endured a little guarddamned pain. It’s not like it was life-threatening. Simon found it hard to tolerate his friend’s lack of willingness, at times, to just deal with things.

"Uh-huh," Simon answered doubtfully. "Are you back among the sane now? Or as close as you ever get to it?" Simon added the barb with a laugh.

Kevin chuckled. "Yeah, pretty much."

"Okay. To answer Marise's question,” Now that Kevin was involved, Simon would explain, since the information was important to Kevin. “Though I'm sure it won't mean anything to her, my Ability Sphere came from a guy... maybe you've heard of him... his name is James Kirkpatrick?" Simon waited to see the gleam of recognition in Kevin's eyes.

"You're fucking kidding me. You took the Sphere of a Skill? Of JAMES?" Kevin shouted. "Not that I mind, the guy was a coward, but... you took his SPHERE?"

"Skill?" Marise asked.

Simon continued to ignore her. Kevin didn’t seem to have the capability.

"They don't learn easily, but what they learn, they do perfectly. Extremely powerful guys," Kevin answered. "James was the strongest of them all..."

Marise raised an eyebrow, a smile tugging at her lips. "Looks like your Legate surpassed you, oh Great Emperor," she said with just enough sarcasm to make her point.

"Now, now, you two," Simon chided, chuckling at the look on Kevin's face. He couldn’t resist teasing Kevin, though he didn’t give much of a shit about Marise at this point. "I didn't want that bastard around with that kind of power. Sure, he was under our control, but his personality was too unpredictable. So, I just made sure he couldn't actually do us any harm."

"U-huh," Kevin answered. "Than why didn't you just give me his AS?"

"He admits it!" Marise said, chuckling. "He admits he's jealous!"

Kevin shrugged. "I didn't admit anything."

Marise sighed and shrugged.

Simon laughed outright. Despite her ego and her attitude, it was good to see someone put Kevin in his place from time to time. Even Tala was giggling by now. "Well, I figured you'd want Ron's Sphere. I mean, if you really want the weaker of the two..."

Marise was struggling with herself not to laugh at Kevin. His eyes were big as saucers, and his mouth was hanging open.

"Uh..." he said. "Uh... Ron's?" Greed filled his expression. "Sure. I'll take Ron's. Uh... one problem."

Marise nodded. "No Ron."

Kevin nodded. "No Ron," he agreed with his student.

Simon had been expecting that objection. "He's gotta be out there somewhere. You can't have the CAMP story without its main character. If CAMP is here, Ron is here. And he's going to be trouble for us. Which is why I've already started bringing the Legio Matrix to the Imperial Compound to begin their training.” Simon had sent out that mental signal just before coming here, so that the troops could begin gathering as soon as possible. “Also, with your permission, I'd like to start training some of the CAMP and ShadowDragon people to protect our forces from the mentspec psionics of the PPA, or whatever forces Ron is going to have with him.

"And, getting back to this uniform, I would like your authorization to start a new Order within the Church. I want to call them Shodons. They'll be specially trained psionics. We can use them mainly to handle the religious uprisings that will happen, but I want them ready to do battle in case we need them against Ron and his crew." Simon paused, waiting expectantly for his leader to speak.

Kevin nodded. "Good thinking." He blinked a couple of times. "I think I just felt my brain start making connections to the AS," he said. Kevin shook his head to clear the cobwebs. "About the Shodons: weren't they one of those creations of yours? A mainstream book?"

"Yeah. Figured I'd create the bastards before they decided to show up on their own," Simon replied somewhat sourly. "This has got me a little off-balance, E. If you don't mind, I'm going to get to work on this ASAP. Do you think we need to push back the proclamation at all?" Simon asked, referring to the day of their public announcement of power.

"Why?" Kevin asked. "Is there a reason we should? So far, all we've seen are some psionics, and you just took out one of the strongest single-handedly. As I see it, two weeks is plenty of time. Unless there is some very good reason why we should?"

Simon paced, nervous energy coursing through his body. "Listen, I didn't take out James. Our virus-program did. He got caught with his pants down, essentially. As soon as the psionics realize it's out there, it won't work on them anymore, they'll have set up an automatic block against it. The CAMP and SD guys, they just weren't expecting it, which is why we got them so easily. Ron is going to be a much harder challenge than this." Finally, he stopped pacing, and took a deep breath, letting it out in a rush. "But no, I don't see that delaying would change anything, really. The governments are pretty much under our control, and will be fully so in two weeks. I guess we can go ahead, unless something else nasty pops up."

Kevin nodded. "Agreed. Here, I want you to take this." He held out his hand, and something flashed into existence in it. It was a triangular patch, as worn on military uniforms. It showed a roaring phoenix on it. "If you see anyone... anyone... who wears this on a military uniform, I want you to first take out the guy that wears this, cut off his head, and bring it to me. Then we'll talk about adjusting our plans."

"What the hell is this?" Simon asked, reminding Kevin, again, that he wasn't entirely familiar with Kevin's universes. He took the patch, studied it, and handed it to Tala.

"More children, I guess," Marise answered. Simon devoutly ignored her comment.

Kevin nodded. "Phoenix Force. A group of men and women who hunt vampires, demons and black mages for a living. The best-trained group of professional plan-wreckers you've ever seen. They took out a fucking Hellgod!" Kevin said.

"More children", Marise stated. "You've created some weird stuff, boss. I can give you that," she added, shaking her head.

Simon nodded, seriously. "Okay. I assume that cutting off their head is the only way to kill them? Fun. Very well. I've got a lot more to do in the next two weeks now. By your leave, Your Majesty," Simon said with mock-seriousness, "I will return to the Palace and continue preparations."

Kevin smiled, and chuckled as he said, "Very well. You may continue, Legate."

Simon and Tala turned and left the yard. Simon carried the limp form of Senator Dasselli over his shoulder. Once clear of the yard, Simon cast the teleportation spell, and the three were immediately back at the Imperial Palace.

It was just three days before Proclamation Day. In the last week and a half, Simon had run himself slightly ragged preparing everything. Their original plan had said they could form up the Legio Matrix, their primary military arm, slowly over the course of a couple of months, because it would take that long for any group they didn’t control to be well organized enough to be a problem.

With the advent of the idea of merging universes, and the thought that perhaps Ron and the PPA were right around the corner, Simon knew that they had damned well better have the army up and running before P-Day occurred. He and Tala had spent an enormous amount of energy powering up these troops. The Legio Matrix consisted entirely of class 1 Mentals, with all the powers and abilities that entailed. All told, they had one thousand so far. Simon had pushed off as much of this job on Tala as he felt comfortable with, for he did have other things to be doing.

One of the more important of them was the creation of the Order of the Shodon. Simon, now known to all but the inner sanctum as “Lord Hawke”, walked into the Shodon training facility to view the progress. This building had been constructed just in the last week: the nanoprobes had used their now vast numbers to assemble the building in under a day. It occurred to Simon that, with as many nanoprobes as had probably been created to build the Canyon Wall, there may have been more nanoprobes on the job than there were molecules to be assembled. He smirked at the thought.

Striding into the training hall, he saw that Tala was there, practicing a form with her psionic staff. Others were sparring with each other. Simon looked at the other Shodon. Their uniforms were similar to his, but with some significant differences. Except for those on ceremonial duties, they would not wear capes. Their clothing, instead of being black, was a deep, blood red. Their visors were mirrored, like Tala’s, and also blood red in color. They each bore the signature of the Ecclesia Invictus on the left breast of their uniform: the sun-lightning-infinity symbol was all outlined in gold to make it stand out against the uniform. These were not the Shodon of Simon’s story idea: Simon’s Shodon were meant to hide, to be inconspicuous, except for their visor. These new Shodon were instead meant to stand out as the warrior priests of the Ecclesia Invictus.

As he watched, One of the newest approached Tala. He was carrying a psionic whip of intense white coloration. He lashed it out, and caught her psionic staff in its grasp, quickly yanking the weapon out of her hands. She had been concentrating on her form, and was not prepared for battle.

“You aren’t anything! What the hell makes you think you’re so special?”

Tala didn’t need to answer. The challenger soon heard the hiss of a psionic weapon, and soon felt the heat and power of a psionic saber lying across his cheek. A deep, ominous voice spoke from behind him.

“Apologize.”

The man was immediately shaking. Already four Shodon had needed serious medical care for crossing The Master. He looked to Tala, and said, very shakily, “I’m sorry, Tala, I didn’t...”

“Shut up,” the voice said. The man’s voice stopped in his throat and crawled its way back down, hiding well within him.

“Face me.” Slowly, very carefully, the Shodon turned to face Lord Hawke. “You would dare threaten my partner? You would threaten one I have sworn to protect with my very life? What kind of fool are you?” Simon’s voice rumbled out of his body, cast in that very intimidating tone that he had learned to use when appearing as Lord Hawke.

“Master, I... I’m sorry, I did not mean...”

“You didn’t mean? You didn’t mean what? You did not mean to imply that her skills were not comparable to yours? You did not mean to imply that she was a mere useless woman? You didn’t mean to say she ‘wasn’t anything’?” The man had no answer for that. Simon’s mind met Tala’s. He explained to her what he wanted to do. She didn’t like it, but understood the need for it. She reluctantly accepted, and nodded ever so slightly.

“Very well, then perhaps you didn’t mean to die today. I will give you a chance to prove it.” Bellowing at full volume, Lord Hawke cried, “BATTLE DOME!” Immediately, a large cage descended over the area. Tala backed quickly out of the way. There was no door to this cage, and it was too heavy to be lifted, especially since it was magnetically attached to the floor. The rules had not yet been set: the dome could still be lifted by a simple command. Once the rules had been declared, however, the dome would not lift until they had been fulfilled.

Simon had established a few sets of rules that he had given particular names to. One, of course, was “sparring”, in which case the dome would lift as soon as one participant fell to the ground and refused to get up. That was not the one Simon chose in this case.

Lord Hawke spoke the words that the Shodon had feared most. Simon screamed, again at the top of his voice, “MORTAL KOMBAT!” Simon’s voice reverberated through the training hall, actually causing physical pain to many of the Shodon. The dome now would not lift until one fighter was dead.

Lord Hawke stood, facing his opponent, now his enemy. The Shodon was shaking, but his whip was powered. Lord Hawke had not been in the cage in days. He’d only had to kill one other Shodon, on the very first day, simply to prove that he had the right to lead. It had not been fun. He had, in the privacy of his own room, with only Tala present, shaken for three solid hours after it. The experience had put him in a bad mood for two days, and none of the Shodon really wanted to see the experience repeated. They circled the dome, wanting a good view of the coming battle. Anyone who beat Lord Hawke would, by his own decree, become the leader of the Order of the Shodon. He had marked these orders down, so that the Emperor would know, and hopefully abide by, Lord Hawke’s decision.

Now, the battle dome was a full hemisphere, roughly thirty feet in radius. The walls were metal grating, with larger metal supports at five foot intervals. During Mortal Kombat, the walls were not electrified, as they were under other sets of rules. Lord Hawke raised his psionic saber in a proper salute to his opponent, who refused to return the gesture. Instead, he immediately circled the whip, and lashed out at Lord Hawke, hoping to catch him off guard.

Simon was much quicker than he used to be. His body was rolling across the ground, ducking out of the way of the whip, almost before he himself realized it. Back on his feet, he flipped himself through the air, curling up so that his cape might confuse his adversary. He landed within feet of the Shodon, who immediately scrambled back out of range of the psionic saber.

The Shodon lashed out with his psionic extension, trying to catch Simon unaware. Simon side-stepped it, and found himself close to the dome wall. He took three steps, leapt upward, and landed, feet first, against the dome. He sprang off the dome, directly at his opponent. His telekinetically-augmented speed was incredible, and the Shodon wasn’t ready for it. Though he raised his shields before impact, Simon’s own shields were far stronger, and the Shodon was flung to the floor.

Simon raised himself up to the top of the dome, holding himself there through levitation, while the Shodon beneath him tried to regain his bearings. He looked all over for Lord Hawke before finally looking up just as Simon descended on him. The Shodon flipped sideways, causing Simon to miss. The Shodon lashed out again with his whip, catching Simon in the arm. Simon’s shields, however, minimized any real damage. It was a mere annoyance, and it irritated him most that he would now have to replicate a new tunic, for this one had been damaged.

Simon stopped, and concentrated. He focused his mind, and drew from his Ability Sphere. Shortly, he opened his eyes again. Then, to the Shodon’s amazement, two other Lord Hawkes appeared beside the first. Then two more, and so on, until there was an entire circle of them, surrounding the Shodon. He still knew which one was real, as he hadn’t moved.

This changed as soon as the circle was complete. The Hawkes began running in a circle around the Shodon, faster and faster, until they were nearly a blur. The Shodon could not notice that one of the Lords was standing still.

Simon, waiting for his opponent to get distracted, stood perfectly still. When he saw the Shodon turn his head, trying to track in on one – any one – of the circling bodies, he made his move. Simon leapt forward, his psionic saber poised to strike. The Shodon turned only at the last instant, seeing his death approaching. Simon sliced through the body from left shoulder to right hip, and he watched as the body fell apart, collapsing to the ground.

Instantly, the fake Simons disappeared. Then, a siren blared, and the dome began to lift. The rules had been satisfied, and the battle dome would now retract. Lord Hawke stood over his vanquished enemy, and faced down his Shodon.

“Anyone who threatens the life, safety, or happiness of Tala Hawke will find that their life will soon end.” Tala had assigned the surname to herself, over Simon’s only mild objections. She was, after all, part of him, she had said, and that made her as close a relative as she could envision. “Do not challenge me, or you will meet the same fate as this young fool. Now, clean up this mess and get back to training!”

Simon turned to leave the room, and Tala was instantly at his side. <I’m sorry I had to kill him, Tala. But I had to make the point. I don’t need them challenging you when you don’t actually hold any position of authority.>

They reached their quarters, and Simon sat down in a lounge chair. Tala poured herself something to drink from the fridge, and looked over at him. She worried that he would react as badly as he had the last time he’d had to kill with his own hands, but he seemed much less shaken by this contest. The first challenger had not been any more difficult. What was different? Is it me? Because this fight was over me? She chose not to ask him about it just then. Simon changed the subject before it could begin, anyway.

Simon said to her, “There was something else I don’t like, and that was that he called you ‘Tala.’”

“That is my name....” she replied.

“I know, but I don’t like that they call you by your first name. It’s disrespectful. Even if you don’t have any authority, you need a title.”

Without further conversation, Simon used his CAMP telepathy to contact Kevin. <Hey, E, I got a question.>

Kevin blinked, not used to speaking CAMP-style. <Ask away, Simon.>

<It's about Tala. We need to give her a title. We can't have those uncouth barbarians out in the world calling her by her first name.>

Kevin chuckled telepathically.  Kevin sent, pausing for a few seconds, not sure of what to add. <Do you have anything in mind?>

Simon paused, considering whether Kevin would go for his suggestion. Or, worse yet, if Tala would, since he hadn't suggested it to her yet. To Kevin, he sent, <Well, her "duties" are entirely ceremonial, she doesn't have any power at all within our structure... except to boss me around, of course,> Simon added with a mental laugh. 

"Eh..." Kevin said verbally, before catching himself. He replied with Mental-style telepathy. <eh... princess?> Kevin closed his still open mouth. <well... eh... technically, she's our daughter... as Emperor, that makes her the Princess...> Kevin couldn't believe he was saying this, and shook his head. <Not as long a shot as I thought, but still... it's weird to think about an 18-year-old girl as my daughter, you know?>

Simon laughed in the real world, both at Kevin’s comment, and the fact that he’d switched telepathy styles. Simon replied still in CAMP-style. <True, and I hadn't really thought of it that way, but now that you mention it, you did give her life! So, I suppose that really does make her the Emperor's daughter, and thus the princess...>

Kevin blinked, realizing that he had just screwed up his powers, and replied CAMP-style. <Princess it is... I only hope that she doesn't take to playing my daughter with gusto... I see how she deals with you. I wouldn't want to get the same treatment,> he sent with a chuckle.

Simon glanced at Tala and then sent, <Hey, if she does, maybe she'll ease up off my back!> Then he chuckled, mentally and physically. Meanwhile, Tala, who was not privy to the conversation, looked on in consternation at her partner's laughter.

<You do know that I don't have your patience, don’t you?> Kevin asked, slightly worried. <Add to that the fact that I don't know how to deal with her, and we've got a potentially explosive situation on our hands.>

Simon rolled his eyes, and said to Kevin something he’d said to himself a couple of weeks ago. <Sheesh. The guy's about to become Emperor of the World, and he's still afraid of women!>

<Just afraid of that woman. It's fun as long as she's on your case,> Kevin sent with a chuckle.

<Bastard,> Simon sent back. <Okay, but we're okay with the idea of calling her the Princess?>

<Yep,> Kevin said, still chuckling. <What does Tala feel about it?>

<Haven't asked her yet. She'll adjust. She always does. The only thing that would bother her about it is if it meant she had to exert some kind of authority over others. Since it's entirely for show, I don't think she'll mind much.>

<Okay,> Kevin replied. <Let me know her response, okay?>

<Gotcha. I'll 'call back' if there's a problem,> Simon said, laughing as he broke the telepathic connection.

“What was that all about?” Tala asked, seeing that Simon had returned his attention to her.

“Well, E and I had a little talk. You need a title, and we had to decide on one.”

Tala sat down slowly across from him, not sure she was ready for what was coming. “And what did you decide?” she asked quietly.

“From now on, you’ll be known as Princess Tala.”

Tala grew slightly pale at the thought. Her eyes were wide, and her breathing became slightly shallow. “Simon, I’m not... I mean, I can’t...”

He moved beside her, as she was sitting on a love seat. He wrapped his arm around her to comfort her. “Shh. It’s only a title, Sweetie. It doesn’t change what you do, or who you are. Oh, I suppose we might have you do some ceremonial stuff, be the hostess for feasts and such, but it doesn’t mean you have to order people around. Princesses are supposed to be pampered and spoiled. But if you turn into a rotten bitch, I’m taking the title back!” Simon smiled at her as she giggled. It was good to hear her laugh. It had been a few weeks since either of them had been in the mood for fun.

“Think we have time to celebrate my coronation?” she asked coyly, her eyes darting toward the bedroom door.

“It’s just what the Emperor ordered,” Simon said with a laugh. Kevin would never have said such a thing, but what the hell.

The next day, Simon was busy overseeing the last few bits of things that needed to be done. The Legio Matrix was fully in attendance now, as were the Shodon. Simon was, in fact, screaming at two of the Shodon when Tala walked in the room. She’d thought that he was upset about something; she’d sensed his anger from all the way across the palace.

“Two days!” Lord Hawke’s voice rumbled in its false lowness. “We have two days, and you fucks are sitting here screwing off! You will report to the Senex Primus, and ask for the shittiest possible job he can think to give you. Personally, I’d have you counting nanoprobes for the next two weeks, so consider yourselves lucky! Now get the fuck out of my sight!” Both Shodon scurried away, eager to be away from the Master Shodon’s wrath.

Tala stepped up to Simon and placed her hand softly on his arm. Though he had not heard her coming up behind him, she could not surprise him. He always knew when she was near. Her presence eased his angered soul quickly.

“Sweetheart, you need to get away from this for a while. It’s starting to eat at you. You’re snapping at people for the least little thing.”

Simon slumped down in the nearest chair, removing his visor as he did so, and then rubbing his eyes with his fingers. “I know, T. But it’s hard. E won’t be here until the day after tomorrow, and I have to have everything ready here. Oh, the buildings were completed right on schedule, but somehow we forgot that we were dealing with people, who are far less reliable than nanoprobes. Fuck.”

Tala moved to sit in his lap. He immediately sat straighter to give her a better “chair” to sit on. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and leaned against him. “You need to get out of here before you wring someone’s neck. I’ve got an idea, and I want you to just do it, okay?”

Simon looked at her skeptically. “What?”

“There’s a small get-together tonight, in Hollywood. They’re wrapping up the final season of Serena: Sorceress Teen, and so the entire cast will be there. I want you to go, mingle with those people. Have some fun.” Tala paused, considering whether she wanted to say what she felt he needed to do. “Have fun... CAMP style.” It was their internal shorthand; she meant he should just take what he wanted, without consideration for the others involved.

“Tala?” he asked incredulously.

“I know, it’s not like me to say that. But you need it. You’ve been so stuck with this bureaucratic bullshit for the last few months, it’s starting to drive you nuts. I love you dearly, and I want you all to myself, really, but I know I can’t have that, and I’d rather have a small chunk of a happy you than all of a miserable you. Go on.”

Still, Simon hesitated.

“Melody JoAnne will be there...” Tala prodded.

Melody JoAnne Hardy, MJ to everyone who watched her shows, was a dream. She was an extremely cute and sexy blonde, a bit thin, but with a great set of tits and a nice ass. Simon had been drooling over her since her first show, “Marissa Tells All.” She’d only been a teen then, and he was just into college, but still, she had gotten his juices flowing. Still, he wasn’t certain.

“So will Carol Rae...” Tala provoked in that sickly sweet tone.

“Okay,” he said almost immediately. “You’ve convinced me. Will you be coming with me?”

Tala just looked at him cockeyed. “Uh, no. I think I’d be a bit in the way on this trip. I may be giving you permission to ‘break the rules,’ Simon, but I sure as hell don’t want to watch.”

He kissed her softly on the lips by way of thank-you, and then she got up. He followed after her, for he had to change if he was going to a party tonight.

Simon showed up for the party “fashionably late.” Not that anyone noticed, since he wasn’t on the guest list, and had to exert some influence just to get in. He stepped into the room, and looked around. He obviously could not wear his Shodon uniform before Proclamation Day, but he had approximated it. He was wearing a black button-up dress shirt with silver buttons, a pair of black slacks, a black belt with silver buckle, and black dress shoes. His hair was neatly combed back, and he was ready to face...

Well, okay, he wasn’t ready. He actually had butterflies. It was silly: he was one of the most powerful people on the planet, and he was actually nervous about meeting a couple of normals. Of course, he’d had a crush on both of them for a lot longer than he’d been a superhero, as he sometimes jokingly referred to his powers, but still.

He walked over to the bar, and ordered himself a soda. Before the change, Simon hadn’t been able to tolerate alcohol. He could now, but found that he still didn’t like the stuff. He sipped on his soft drink while he studied the room. Most of the people here he did not recognize. A couple of them asked him, as they came to the bar, who he was. These, he gave a little mental push, and they left him alone.

Turning back to the bartender, he asked, “Where are MJ and Carol? I see Betty over there, but not the others.”

“Off in some conference or other, I think. They left with one of the producers a while ago, said they’d be back.”

“Oh. Okay. Thanks for the drink.” Simon wandered his way to the door that led into the hallway. He wandered down a hall, listening at doors. It didn’t take long before he heard a conversation going on. He stepped in quietly, and shut the door. The conversation was happening in the inner office, while Simon stood in the anteroom.

“Look,” the man was saying in an exasperated and rather nasty tone. “Betty already said she’d do it. Why the fuck can’t you two just get off your high horses and sign on with the project?”

“How about because it makes me look like a fool?” Carol retorted. Simon smiled. He’d seen her appearances on celebrity game shows, and he knew she was feisty. He liked that about her.

“Not to mention that we have other things planned, and you aren’t paying enough to cancel those plans,” MJ said. He didn’t really know too much about Melody JoAnne, but he didn’t need to. She was hot.

“Goddammit! There is no way I’m paying you more than four million! No fucking way!”

“Then I’m not doing the project. Look, I made commitments. If you’re going to ask me to break them, then it has to be worth my while. Four million isn’t.” That seemed rather greedy to Simon, but then, rich people had a different sense of money than he did.

“Listen, you little bitch – “ That was as far as the man got, before Simon stepped into the room.

“Don’t raise your voice to her,” he said in a quiet, calm, and utterly emotionless manner.

“Who the fuck are you? And I’ll say any goddamned thing I well please to her, in any tone I like!”

“Apparently, I didn’t make myself clear,” Simon said, stepping across the room and around the desk. As he did so, he passed by Carol’s shoulder. He couldn’t help running his hand along the bare skin above her dress. He felt her shiver.

Stepping up to the man, he looked at him squarely. “That wasn’t a request,” Simon said coldly. “It was an order. Now, you are going to apologize to her.”

“Or what?” the man said snidely.

Simon hauled off and punched the man very hard. The man’s feet left the floor, and he flew back six feet, falling into a chair and tipping it over backward. Simon stood calmly, waiting for the man to get back up. He could feel the eyes of the two women on him. He chose, for now, not to look in their direction.

Slowly, unsteadily, the man got back to his feet. “Son of a bitch!” he screamed.

“Would you like me to do it again, or are you going to apologize now?” Simon asked.

The man looked at Simon, and then at the blood on his handkerchief, which he’d wiped away from his broken nose. He looked back and forth for several seconds, then he looked at MJ. “Sorry. It won’t happen again.” She nodded in acknowledgment, but said nothing.

“Now, get the hell out. And you can forget about your precious project.” The man quickly scurried out of the room.

Simon finally turned to the two women. Trying to act cool about it, he sat down in the vacated office chair, and swiveled to face them. He pulled out one of the desk drawers, and rested his feet on it.

“Who are you?” Carol asked curiously. Her voice held interest, which surprised Simon.

“My name is Simon. I’m...” he hesitated, trying to figure out what to say to them. He thought to himself, Oh, what the fuck. “I’m the main representative of the new ruler of the world.”

Both ladies grinned at him, but neither of them laughed, which surprised him somewhat.

“Is that so?” Carol asked. Although her character on the show was rather “proper”, he’d heard that she liked to have a good time. “And just who is ruling the world?”

“Well, not yet. He doesn’t start ruling until Friday. His name is...” Simon paused for a second, as he’d almost said, “Kevin.” “Sol Invictus.”

MJ giggled. “Saul?” she asked, misinterpreting the pronunciation. “King Saul?”

Simon grinned at her, understanding by context her misunderstanding. “No, no, not S-a-u-l. S-o-l. And he’ll be Emperor Invictus I.”

“Uh-huh,” MJ said dubiously. “And, who are you, Prime Minister Mercury?”

Simon laughed with her. “No, I am Lord Simon Hawke, Supreme Legate to the Emperor, and Shodon Master.”

“Oooh,” cooed Carol. “That sounds important.” Both of them were grinning like school girls. The strange part was that Simon hadn’t done anything to them yet. He shrugged in response, trying to play it nonchalantly. Carol stood up and moved around the desk, then sat on the edge of it. “I bet you could get us the really good roles, couldn’t you?”

Simon grinned. “By the end of the week, no one will dare challenge me.” He knew that was a complete lie, but it sounded good. “But you know,” he said with an obvious leer on his face. “The only thing I’ve seen you play is someone’s slightly stuffy aunt. I think I’d definitely need to see an audition from you.” Carol smiled knowingly at exactly what he meant. When he turned to MJ, her face showed that she understood what he was talking about, as well. Her smile was gone, and replaced with a frown of consternation.

Simon sighed. He hadn’t expected to not use his powers, but he was having fun without them. Oh, well. Maybe Carol will play nice, anyway... He reached out and placed some commands in MJ’s head, and her smile returned. She rose from her chair and slipped around the desk. “What about me?” she said in a sexy-sultry-innocent-pouting-all-at-once voice.

“Well,” Simon said, now fully into their game, “I’ve seen everything you’ve ever done. I think I know where your talents lie.” Simon, always the writer, instantly had to backtrack in his mind to figure out if “lie” was the right word to use here. Then he figured, fuck it, and returned his attention to the ladies.

“But,” MJ objected, “I can play so much more than I’ve done so far.” Her leg brushed up against his as she moved closer to him.

Carol, not to be outdone, and still of her own volition, bent down and whispered in his ear, “The little tease won’t do you as good as I can.” Simon smiled wickedly at her words, and his hand reached up to caress her ass. Carol adjusted her position to make this easier for him, and her hand rubbed against his chest. He could feel the warmth of her breath on his cheek.

Simon turned, and his mouth met Carol’s. Her lips were soft and sensuous, moving strongly against his own. Her tongue soon wormed its way past his lips, to caress and fondle his tongue, before coaxing his tongue into her own mouth, so she could suck on it.

Meanwhile, MJ knelt, and ran her hands along his legs. She lifted his feet off the open drawer, and then closed it. Setting his feet on the floor, she moved in front of him, and ran her fingernails along his thighs. His pants were thin enough to make this an extremely arousing sensation. Her fingers coursed their way up his legs toward his belt, sending tingles along his body. She finally reached his belt buckle, and began undoing it.

As MJ was busy below, Carol started to unbutton Simon’s shirt Her mouth was still engaging his tongue as her deft little fingers exposed the skin on his chest. Her hand snaked in and caressed the skin briefly before working on the next button. Simon’s hand was firmly planted on Carol’s ass, groping her butt and loving every second of it.

Once MJ got Simon’s belt undone, she started to work on his pants. These took very little time, and then her soft hand traced the outline of his hardening dick. She hummed slightly at the thought of what his briefs were hiding.

Carol finally made it to the bottom of Simon’s shirt, and exposed his chest, so that she could caress it, and play in the hairs there. She tugged at Simon, trying to get him to stand, so that she could get the shirt off him. Finally, he understood and complied. As soon as he was upright, both his shirt and his pants were tugged off him. He stepped out of his pants, and his shoes went with them. His shirt quickly joined them on the floor. Before he could even think to sit back down, MJ had her fingers under the waistband of his briefs. These were carefully pulled away and down, allowing his now hard cock to show. Both women stared at it, and while he knew that MJ’s reaction was programmed, he enjoyed the hungry look in Carol’s eyes.

MJ flicked her tongue softly against the end of his cock, and watched it twitch. She did it again, and then she placed her lips against the head of his dick. Slowly, very slowly, she let her lips part so that Simon’s prick could slip into her mouth, her lips in full contact at all times. Simon grunted at the sensation.

As he adjusted to the feeling, he turned to Carol, who looked slightly left out. “Undress for me,” he said quietly, and she beamed him a smile. She was wearing a fancy evening gown, and it was obvious that she had no bra on. He wanted a look at those tits.

Now, Carol Rae was not, to most people, a goddess. She was slightly chubby, and her face wasn’t what most guys would dream about at night. Those guys were not Simon. Of all three of the women prominent on the show, she was the one that kept him watching. Her blonde hair, normally kept up, or short, was now falling to her shoulders, and its fullness accented her round face. Her soft lips smiled for him, and her blue eyes radiated... well, they radiated lust at the moment.

Slowly, sexily, Carol’s hands came up and tugged on the shoulder straps of her dress. Slowly they moved off her shoulders, and fell down her arms. Carol kept her arms crossed for just a moment, savoring the way Simon’s eyes drank in her body. Then, she uncrossed her arms and allowed the dress to fall to the floor.

The sight before him almost made Simon forget about the really good blowjob he was getting. Carol’s tits were large, and stood firmly off her chest. Her nipples were pale, and small, and very erect. He reached out, and she stepped to him, allowing his hand to gently caress the flesh of her tit. His thumb ran over her nipple, and she shuddered. His hand slipped behind her back, and he pulled her softly to him, their mouths meeting again, only this time, her nipples pressed sharply into his chest, and he savored the feel of her warm skin directly against his own.

MJ, meanwhile, was working mightily on his cock. Her lips and tongue were dancing across the flesh of his shaft. She couldn’t take all of him, for she had never been able to deep-throat, but her hand was stroking what her mouth could not. Her other hand fondled his balls, enticing his cum to spill into her mouth. She could feel him tensing, his climax approaching, and so her mouth moved faster, her hands caressed more urgently.

Simon could hold back no longer, and he came explosively in MJ’s mouth. She eagerly swallowed all he had to offer, and kept right on sucking. Simon’s mind was reeling from the orgasm, one of the best he’d ever had. Carol was still caressing him, though she’d broken their kiss as he’d come.

“Sit up on the desk,” he said to her softly. He didn’t feel any need to order her, since she was fully cooperative, not to mention damned hot. Once she was situated, he had her lean back. Then he pulled her panties gently down and off her legs. As soon as the garment was off, Carol spread her legs lewdly, and her pussy was obviously wet. Simon bent to kiss her pussy, but her hands stopped him.

“What was your title again?” she asked.

“Supreme Legate.”

“No, your other one.” He smiled. It did get confusing at times.

“Lord Hawke.”

“Well, My Lord, there is no need for you to debase yourself for this humble wench. She would be most honored if you’d just screw her silly.” The grin on her face showed that she really was enjoying this little game. Simon smiled his answer, and then tapped MJ on the head. She immediately released his cock from her mouth, and rose.

“Undress,” he said simply, and then turned back to Carol. Moving his cock to her hole, he paused. “Is this what you want?” he asked quietly.

“Yes, My Lord!” she cried out, in obvious passion.

Simon pressed into her slowly. Carol writhed on the desk, overjoyed by the sensation of his dick penetrating her. She moaned in pleasure as his cock bottomed out, and his pubic hair rested against her pussy lips. Simon leaned down, and flicked his tongue over one of her nipples. Carol had an instant orgasm. It was small, but oh, did it feel good. He repeated his actions with the other nipple, and got another orgasm for his troubles.

At this point, MJ stepped to him, her clothes now removed. He studied her body momentarily, finding that it was as nice, as curvy, as wonderfully soft as he expected it to be. Unfortunately, this was at a point where she just couldn’t measure up to the competition. Especially since the competition was so willing. Looking back to Carol, he asked, “Are you bisexual?” It was kind of a rude question, but necessary.

“I’ve never tried it,” she replied, “but it intrigues me.” The look in her eyes said she wouldn’t be against trying it now.

Simon sent MJ several mental orders. She moved around the other side of the desk, and stopped just above Carol’s head. Now Simon could look at both of his beautiful partners while he was having his fun. Slowly, he started to move inside of Carol. She moaned immediately. MJ, following her instructions, reached down and began to gently massage Carol’s tits, paying special attention to the nipples.

Carol’s reaction was immediate. Her orgasm washed over Simon’s cock as her cunt grasped at him. He kept thrusting into her in long, slow strokes throughout her orgasm. MJ reached down and started licking Carol’s nipples, which prolonged and heightened the orgasm.

Finally, Carol came down, and, seeing MJ’s tit mere inches from her face, she reached up and sucked it into her mouth. MJ gasped in surprise at first, and then moaned at how good it felt. The two began working heavily on each other’s tits, as Simon continued his slow fucking of Carol. He was enjoying the show almost as much as the soft, velvety cunt that was gripping his shaft.

After a few minutes, Simon reached over and gently pulled MJ toward him. She looked up at him in confusion, until she was now fully on the desk. Carol, now seeing MJ’s cunt staring her in the face, immediately dove in, lapping at MJ’s wonderful juices.

MJ’s eyes glossed over as she felt the sensation, but then Simon brought her back by indicating that she should return the favor. He guided her head down gently. The position was a little awkward, as he was still fucking Carol, and the pace had increased. Still, she found a way to begin licking at Carol’s clit while Simon continued to pound away. Carol was thrown into her fourth large orgasm by this, and she wriggled beneath MJ as her system overloaded on pleasure.

Simon couldn’t hold back too much longer, and with Carol’s twat clamping down on him rhythmically, it was just more than he could take, and he blew his load inside her. This sent Carol through the roof, and she began bucking on the desk. MJ held on for dear life throughout the orgasm. It took a while for Carol to quit twisting from her orgasm, but it finally subsided, and she settled.

Simon pulled out of her, now feeling somewhat cold and lonely. He knew the feeling would pass. Looking down at Carol’s pussy, he saw it was leaking his cum. To MJ, he said, “Lick her clean.” MJ didn’t hesitate to do as she was instructed.

Four hours later, Simon and Carol were snuggling on the couch, having finished up their third session for the night. MJ was sleeping on the other couch, for they had worn her completely out. Carol was resting against Simon, who had his arm wrapped around her back, drawing small circles in the soft skin there. She smiled contentedly.

“Something I’d like to know,” he asked quietly, because that was the mood at the moment.

“Sure,” she encouraged.

“I expected to have to do to you what I did to her. How come you were so willing?”

Carol straightened a little, so she could look at him. “Yeah, I kind of thought you’d done something to her. She’s kind of a prude at times. Me? Simple. You’re cute, I was horny, that was about all I needed. I was concerned she’d get in our way, though. What did you do to her?”

“I just, well, sort of, mind controlled her.”

Carol looked at him out of the corner of her eye, then smiled. “Okay.” Thinking for a few more seconds, she finally asked, “So, who are you really, anyway?”

Simon chuckled. “I really am Lord Simon Hawke, Supreme Legate to Emperor Invictus I of Earth. Everyone will know about him in a couple days.”

“So... what are you doing here?”

“Having fun. My... uh... advisor said I needed to get away from some of the stress, and recommended, since I kind of have a thing for you two, that maybe I should come and... hmm... entertain myself. Sorry if that seems a little cruel for you two, but...”

Carol shrugged, marvelously unoffended by the whole thing. “So, you really do have a lot of power?”

“Will have, I guess. Look, um... damn, this is easier when the girl is fully under my control.” She smiled at him. “I’ll be taking MJ back to the Palace with me. She doesn’t get a say in the matter. I was going to take you, too, but since you played nice,” he smiled at his phrase, and she giggled, “I won’t take you unless you want to go.”

“What would I do there?”

“Goof off, mostly. And more of what we just did, when I was in the mood.”

“What about when I’m in the mood?” she asked with a pout.

He nipped the end of her nose with his finger. “Then play with MJ.”

She laughed. Over the past four hours, she’d come to really enjoy the feel of another woman against her. Not nearly as good as a man, but still damned wonderful.

“Okay.”

“Just like that?” Simon asked, somewhat puzzled.

“Hey, if the world is changing into some Empire-thing, and I can be at a point where I can have the...uh... ‘ear’ of one of the top people in the Empire, that’s a good thing, in my book. And if I don’t have to do anything but sleep with you to get it, hell, I’d sleep with you for nothing.” She leered at him, and he feigned distress.

“Not now, you might kill me!” he said with a laugh. “Well. I really hadn’t expected you to go along with the idea.” Had she not done so, he would have wiped her memories before he left.

Again, she shrugged. “Hey, weird shit happens. This is the best job offer I’ve had in years.”

He smiled at her, and then looked at the clock on the wall. Yawning, he said, “Oh. I’ve got work to do tomorrow. We should get going.”

Carol got up, and went to put her dress back on. Simon shook MJ awake, and directed her to dress as well. Simon decided to get just a little fancy, and chanted a spell to teleport his Shodon uniform directly onto his body. MJ dropped her blouse in shock as she saw the slight flash, and then saw before her a dark presence that looked like the embodiment of death itself.

“Wow,” Carol said, having seen the whole transformation. “You... are... still Simon, right?”

Simon chuckled. “It’s still me, Carol. This is how I’ll be dressing in public after Friday.”

“Scary,” MJ said, in an awed little girl voice.

“That’s the idea,” he said kindly. Under his control or not, he saw no reason to be abusive to her. Besides, she was still damned hot.

“We should go,” he said, before he heard a ruckus at the door. Turning, he walked to it, and opened it, peering into the hallway. It was dark, but his visor fixed that, both amplifying the light, and using thermal imaging to show him what was going on. It was nothing more than two people having an animated discussion. However, one of the people caught his attention. He sent a mental command to both to have them halt.

Walking up to them, he saw that his impression was right. He could feel his two friends behind him as he walked, but that did not bother me.

“You are?” he asked, just to double check.

“Sara Melanie Gelman,” she replied softly. Sara Melanie Gelman, or SMG to her fans, was the star of a show called Demon Hunter. It was a show that Simon never watched, and she didn’t really do much for him, anyway. That wasn’t why he was talking to her.

“What are you doing here?” he asked. “Your show isn’t even on this network.”

“I was in negotiations for another role. A movie.”

“Oh,” Simon replied. She’d never make it to another movie set, he was sure.

“Very well.” Turning to the other woman that was with her, Simon said, “You may go.” The woman departed without another word. Turning to his friends and motioning, he faced Sara. “You are coming with me. First, we must go to your wardrobe collection for the show.”

An hour later, the group of four materialized back in Simon’s suite at the Palace. Tala was waiting for him. She hesitated only briefly before going to him, and giving him a wonderful kiss.

 she sent.

 Simon replied. She blushed, and kept quiet.

Turning to the others, Simon continued. “As I’m sure you know, this is Carol Rae and Melody JoAnne Hardy. They’ll be staying for a while here at the Palace.” Facing the two, he said, “Ladies, if you’ll go through that door,” Simon indicated a semi-hidden door that led out of the room away from the main hall, “You’ll find it leads to other bedrooms. Each of you should pick one. I’ll be by tomorrow to show you around.” MJ left without saying anything, but Carol walked over and gave Simon a warm kiss.

“Good night, My Lord,” she said sweetly.

“Good night, Carol. Sleep well.”

When they had left the room, Tala looked at him. “She’s not under.”

“Nope.”

“How did you...?”

“I didn’t. She just likes me.” Pausing and glaring at her, he asked with mock-severity. “What’s the matter with that?”

Tala raised her hands in defense. “Nothing, nothing!” Looking at the remaining girl, who had arrived with a clothing box in her arms, she asked, “Who is that? She looks familiar...”

“Sara Melanie Gelman. The star of Demon Hunter.” Seeing the look on Tala’s face, he shook his head negatively. “No, not what you’re thinking. I thought Kevin might like a little Proclamation Day present. He has this thing for her.” Turning to SMG, he said, “You will go where the other girls went. I will show you your permanent quarters tomorrow. Good night.”

The girl bowed silently and left the room. Finally, Simon could take off his visor. He then spread his arms, and his girl came to him. As he embraced her, he said, “Thank you, Sweetheart, for allowing me to do that.”

“I love you, too, Simon,” she replied, just before kissing him.

“The Day” was finally upon them. It was Proclamation Day, the day when Emperor Sol Invictus I of Earth would make his public appearance. As he was getting dressed that morning, it occurred to Simon that “Simon Hawke” had just disappeared. To the rest of the world, he was no longer Simon, or even Mr. Hawke. He would be Lord Hawke, Legate Hawke, Master (to the Shodon), or sire. No one who didn’t live in the Palace would ever refer to him as Simon again.

He wasn’t sure what he felt about that.

Tala appeared beside him, decked out in her royal blue Shodon-like uniform.

“Ready for the big day?” she asked.

Simon took a deep breath. At least she’ll be with me through this. “As ready as I’ll ever be. You ready, Princess?”

She blushed when he called her that, but she knew she’d have to get used to it. “Yes, Lord Hawke,” she said, just to return the favor.

He frowned at her for a moment, but then his expression cleared. He checked his watch. “E will be here in... twelve minutes. We’d better get in gear.”

The two walked to the entry hall of the Palace, arriving shortly before midnight. Their day would be a long one, but both had slept well enough to cover it. Kevin teleported into the hall shortly after they had entered. Simon was surprised first at what Kevin was wearing. A black suit of armor with gold joints covered him from head to toe. It was obviously battle gear, and it had a visored helmet that obscured his expression. Copycat, Simon thought with a chuckle.

Simon stepped forward slightly, in greeting, but it was clear even without seeing his face that Simon was curious as to the other two people in the party.

Kevin retracted the visor and guard across his face, so that Simon could now see the broad smile. The other three did the same. As expected, one was Marise. Simon determinedly ignored her. The other two, however...

“By the way, Simon, meet April and Ariana,” Kevin said, chuckling. Simon froze. He was well beyond the point where the entry of more of their characters would surprise him, but it was really starting to get to him. Also, there was another issue to clear up.

<Inner sanctum?> Simon sent, indicating the core group of people within the Imperial Court. Simon had no clue what the new armor signified.

Kevin replied affirmatively, and then sent, <Like the outfit?>

<Very... creative> Simon said diplomatically. He stepped forward to face April and Ariana. He had to step past Marise to do it, and he did not look in her direction. In a completely uncharacteristic move for Simon, he dropped to one knee before the two young ladies, bowing his head before speaking. "Ladies, allow me to welcome you to the Imperial Palace, and thank you for gracing our presence." Simon rose and, while doing so, removed his visor so that they could see his eyes. As he turned to introduce her, Tala removed hers as well. "This is my life partner, Tala."

Tala bowed gracefully. “Welcome,” she said softly.

The young ladies smiled in acknowledgment before Kevin returned to the business of the day.

<So, is everything ready for the big day?> Kevin asked, coincidentally mimicking Tala’s earlier words.

Simon, confused as to why Kevin was speaking telepathically, slipped back into his role as Chief Advisor. He wondered – or hoped, he wasn’t sure – if Kevin would ever find a replacement for him in this role. Answering Kevin, he said, “Your Majesty, everything has been fully prepared for Proclamation Day. The cloak around the palace will be dropped in... forty-seven minutes," he said, after checking the time. Once construction had become obvious, Simon had erected a cloaking field around the Palace, and an illusion around the Canyon Wall, so that people would not be able to notice its construction. There was no point in alerting them early.

Kevin blinked rapidly before speaking. “Right. Sorry, sometimes my Mental abilities get the better of me. Certainly since that damned Ability Sphere is in there as well,” he added with a laugh.

Simon thought to himself, I’m sure we can remove it if you really want us to... but didn’t say it.

Kevin continued, with a wicked grin and a quick rubbing of his hands, “Come, let’s grab ourselves a planet.”

Kevin’s entourage fell into step behind him, and they all marched out of the room. Simon looked to Tala, a worried expression on his face. She smiled at him encouragingly. They didn’t follow Kevin into the throne room, but instead went up to the tower balcony. There was nothing for either of them to do, and they wanted to be alone at the time of the proclamation.

The pronouncement began at exactly midnight, Mountain – no, that’s not right. Imperial Standard Time. Was there a cry? A shout? Trumpets blasting? Guns firing?

Maybe there were, but neither Simon nor Tala could hear them, and neither of them cared.

They stood, staring up at the stars, on the single most portentous day of their lives. Tala’s small hand reached into Simon’s, and he grasped it firmly. Neither of them spoke for a long time. Finally, Tala had to break the silence.

“So, it’s done.”

“Yep.”

“I’m worried, Simon.”

He looked away from the stars, into her eyes. “Me, too.”

“Kevin’s too confident.”

“I am aware.”

“He’s also brutal.”

“I am aware of that, too.”

“I don’t want you to turn into him.”

“That’s what you’re here for, Sweetheart. To keep that from happening.”

They lapsed back into silence for a few moments.

“Simon?” He turned to face her. “I’ll always be here for you.”

“I love you, Tala.” He kissed her softly.

And the proclamation went on.

Ron awoke with a start. It was just after eight, but both of his girls were already out of bed. That worried him. He hopped up and headed for a bathroom. Minutes later, he was fully dressed, and headed for the kitchen.

“Hey, guys, what’s...” Ron stopped, as he could see that both women were staring at the screen, stricken. All Ron saw was a countdown. It had about thirty seconds to go.

“Big Brother, you’d better see this,” Nikki said, her voice under tight control.

“Okay...” he said, confused. He sat down next to her, putting his arm around her. She immediately clutched to him, as if she were scared. That’s when he realized that she was scared. In fact, she was terrified. What could be so bad as that.

In nineteen seconds, he would find out.

To all the peoples of the Earth:

We, Emperor Sol Invictus, do hereby announce that we have taken over control of the planet. All governments, agencies, and bureaus now belong to us.

We have already gained control of all military, paramilitary, and police agencies across the world. All governments are within our power, and all of those governments' agencies also fall under our command.

We, Emperor Invictus I, do not wish for undue bloodshed or carnage. We encourage you all to remain calm. We advise you to go about your lives. Your taxes, duties, and other required governmental contributions will still be collected, but will be delivered to us. Soon your burden will be recalculated, and raised or lowered as is required by Imperial Law, established on this date.

We inform you that any rioting or disturbance will not be tolerated. As of this moment, gatherings of larger than twenty people are strictly forbidden until further notice. We are a benevolent ruler, but we will not tolerate any form of insurgence whatsoever.

We have assumed responsibility for your lives. We are the living God Invictus I. All religion other than Invictism is forbidden, active immediately. Anyone caught practicing another form of religion will be put to death. The Ecclesia Invictus will establish and distribute proclamations to inform you of your new manner of worship. Anyone caught not worshiping us will also be put to death.

Those of you who may wish to speak directly with Us, the Emperor, may visit the Imperial Palace, located within the Grand Canyon region of the Imperial Province. Those wishing special treatment from us may offer the gift of a young female virgin for our enjoyment, and if she is chosen, we may consider your request. Virgins must be presented on the first Friday of the month, and at no other time. They must be presented at the front gate of the Imperial Compound, to be found in the Grand Canyon region, Arizona State, Imperial Province.

Police and other government enforcement officials are hereby given free reign to enforce the new laws of the Empire. Disobeying those laws will bring swift and harsh punishment. There will be order in the Empire, as we have decreed it.

We advise you to adjust your lives to the new reality. We have control. We will keep control. We, Emperor Sol Invictus I of Earth, the Living God of the People, the Defender of the Planet, do end this proclamation.

Kimberly was visibly shaking in her chair, and Ron leaned over, with Nikki still clasping onto him, to embrace her as well. In his stunned state, he had only one thing to say.

“Over my dead body.”