Alkalians (34 page)

Dante then says to Giovanni, “Go find
some actual school staff to deliver these injured students to the
infirmary.” Giovanni nods, remorphs into the Machine Cat, and takes
off into the night. After bringing out his stone lighter and
cigarette for a smoke, Dante turns to the last two men with him and
tells them, “As for us, Raphael and Paul, let’s go into the casino
and play a few rounds of blackjack. And while we’re at it, announce
to everyone around that we defeated Cain and his entourage in the
name of Matt Calamos.”

Chapter 7

Capturing the Crowd

***

“
Wind Spirit damn it!”
Cussing as her fist slugs the wall before her, Cynthia fumes,
leaning her pounding forehead against the wall. Within a suite-like
room, with a coffee table before a large couch and stone sculptures
arranged throughout it, her back is turned to the other three women
present. Two are in similar dresses to her own, blue and purple in
color, and the third wears a suit of bright yellow leather,
complimenting her long, blonde hair with streaks of black through
it. Sighing, Cynthia asks without turning to them, “And how long
has it been going about?”

“
A few days now, Cynthia,”
replies the blue-dressed woman.

“
And Sean hasn’t wound up
in the infirmary, or worse, why?”

“
Well, despite the rumor
going around, not many people are willing to believe it,” answers
the purple-dressed woman. “They logically think it’s impossible for
you to wind up with him, given you are both on far sides of the
spectrum.”

“
I see. That’s good, then.
We’ll let them think that, I can’t afford to be, uh, humiliated
like that.” Waving her hand, Cynthia says, “You two may leave, I
wish to speak with Irene on further matters.” The two women bow
before leaving the room, exiting out a door a few feet to her
right. Once they are gone, she turns around to look at the blonde
woman, asking, “And how have the boss students reacted to this
rumor?”

Shrugging, Irene tells her, “Oh,
they’ve thought the same as the most of the community, that it’s
just some silly lie Sean came up with to tarnish your reputation,
in return for you tarnishing his in gambling. No need to worry
about them on that subject.”

In truth, Irene is furious of how her
gossip failed to be as devastating to Cynthia as she hoped it would
be. Yet cursing her younger brother for declaring her word couldn’t
be trusted on such topics, she doesn’t dare let Cynthia know it had
been her that spread the slanderous rumor. She asks her with a
smile, “So, are you recovering well from your fever,
Cynthia?”

“
Ugh, I guess. The fever
itself is gone, but my head still hurts, and I am weary from trying
to rest in the infirmary all day and night. I desperately need my
beauty sleep.” While Alkalians can quickly recover from injuries
endured in their battle morphs, trauma from disease or illness is a
different matter, their bodies taking longer to recuperate from
such. Walking across the room past Irene, she sits down on the
couch, collapsing against the cushions, and sighs, “That’s the last
time I take medicine personally prescribed to someone
else.”

“
Aw, don’t fret about your
beauty sleep, Cynthia. You still look beautiful to me!” Staring at
Cynthia’s figure briefly, she sits on the couch beside her,
brushing away some hair from across her face, and asks, “So that’s
what triggered your illness? You took some drugs they had?” She
already knows this, but plays dumb on the matter.

“
Yeah, Matt has some
insomnia pills or something. I was hoping the one pill would put me
to sleep before I did anything with Sean. But, unfortunately, it
backfired terribly on me.” A hot flash passes through her, causing
her to pause for a breath and fight back a fainting spell, before
she continues. “Although, the fact Matt has such medicine can be
used to spread gossip, itself. You can tell Cain about it, I’m sure
he’ll appreciate such knowledge to twist into a tall tale against
him.”

“
Uh huh. I’ll be sure to
give him the information.” She has already done so, but again,
nothing Cynthia needs to know. Shuffling closer next to her, her
eyes grazing over the beads of sweat on her bare, bright red skin,
a rare pink from the hot flash, Irene asks, “So, how was it, with
Sean? How much do you remember of it, despite you being out of your
mind?”

“
Well, I can’t remember
what I was thinking, but what I was feeling, it, it was bizarre. I
just had this, ah, overpowering attraction to him, and he, he
wasn’t too bad. He certainly satisfied my desires, I guess, but
there were a few painful moments. Things he couldn’t have been wary
of, from it being his first time.”

“
Hmm, interesting. Then,
did you like it, or no?”

“
I, I don’t know. It’s
hard for me to say, I wasn’t really myself when we did it, so I
couldn’t give an honest answer.”

“
Yeah. Well, what do you
say we make it more clear to you, with something to, oh, compare it
against?” As she suggests it, Irene moves in closer to Cynthia,
pressing herself against her as their faces are inches apart with
her looking deeply into her eyes and breathing on her, the stance
of a predator before pouncing on its prey.

Her aching head and weakened body
hindering her from properly responding and denying the thing Irene
suggests, Cynthia looks in curious confusion back into her eyes,
asking, “What do you mean by that, Irene?”

“
Oh, don’t worry. You’ll
understand soon enough.” On that final note, Irene slowly moves in
on an impressionable Cynthia, the few inches between them
disappearing as their lips meet in a silent kiss.

After holding that first kiss for a
few seconds, they break away for a moment, each staring dreamily
into the other’s eyes, before they resume kissing, becoming more
passionate as they embraced, holding each other tightly. Soon,
Irene’s hands move across Cynthia to pluck at and slip off the
straps of her dress from her shoulders, and then zip down the back
of it to let it fall from her torso, leaving her chest
bare.

As Cynthia found herself relieved to
be free of the clothing, sighing contently and arcing her back,
Irene quickly tugs off her leather vest and undershirt to expose
her bare torso as well. Going in for the kill, Irene ensnares
Cynthia again in a deep embrace, kissing her furiously while their
bodies rub together, a fiery friction massaging their warm
skin.

A minute goes by in their crazed
passion, each relishing the searing sparks of sensation between
them, before Irene breaks from the kissing to let them breath in
gasps, and asks, “What do you think so far, Cynthia. Any better
than Sean?”

Her eyes closed, Cynthia replies,
“Hmm, this is, nice.”

“
Ah, that’s good.” While
her right hand sneaks down Cynthia’s waist to her legs, brushing
away her skirt to stroke her bare hip, she assures her, “Before
we’re done here, what you had with Sean will look pathetic compared
to this.” She licks Cynthia’s cheek like a tongue of flame before
kissing her again, laying them down on the couch with her on top,
her hand yet stroking Cynthia’s leg, her nails dragging across her
like flint to produce more sparks.

Softly moaning with rising arousal and
pleasure from Irene handling her, the fire started between them
engulfing her, Cynthia yet manages to ask her, “So, what have you
been up to, while I was in the infirmary and you were not working
for me?”

“
Oh, not much, just a
small favor for Cain,” Irene responds, moving down to Cynthia’s
neck to nibble her sensitive skin there. “All I had to do was spy
on Matt and Rose, let them fight each other, and then shoot Rose
after Matt defeated her. But, unfortunately, it was Rose who
defeated Matt, and I didn’t get the chance to shoot her.” Arcing
her back over Cynthia, she takes a moment to gasp, letting her body
shudder with burning pleasure, before staring back down at her,
hungrily licking her lips as she slowly lowers her face towards her
breasts.

At first not caring, but rather
enjoying, what Irene does to her, blinded by the heat between them,
something in the back of her mind suddenly yanks Cynthia’s
attention to a specific part of what she said. Steam hisses as it
clears the flames, and she stops her just before her mouth reaches
her chest, speaking out, “Whoa, wait, hang on. What were you going
to do with Matt and Rose? Shoot one of them?”

“
Well, yeah,” Irene
replies, a bit flustered. “That was Cain’s plan, after all. Get
them to fight each other, and then frame Matt for shooting Rose
when she was out-of-morph. That would have put him in huge trouble,
and…”

“
What the hell is wrong
with you
!?” A fierce back-hand slap from
Cynthia smacks Irene across the face, sending her reeling back from
the shocking blow, instantly dousing the flames of passion. Then
kicking her away to stand up from the couch, she glares down at
her, steaming as she explains, “Deceiving and manipulating others
is one thing, but physically, and maybe even fatally, harming them
out-of-morph? That is a confederate crime, Irene! How could you
even consider doing that!?”

Trying to not lose her dignity, Irene
stands up, whipping her hair back while rubbing her stung cheek,
and remarks, “Well, isn’t that surprising, you sticking up for
them. Why should you care about them, Cynthia? They’re just
freshmen, after all, and Matt is a threat to our student community,
as Cain has explained.”

“
And that’s your excuse to
endanger their lives? They’re not just freshmen, Irene, they’re
actual people, like you and I! And you would do that, for
Cain
!?” Groaning in
disgust, she puts her dress back up over her torso. “Some guy’s
sick obsession over being cruel towards other students shouldn’t be
something you’re willing to risk your reputation and liberty
over.”

Sighing, Irene adapts a superior air
about her as she steps closer to Cynthia, her breasts still bare as
she squares her shoulders, before she tells her with a venomous
tone, “My reputation, huh. Well, let me remind you, Cynthia, that I
don’t care what other people think of me here. After all, away from
campus, I’m superior to them all. I’m the heir to the throne of
Saratu.” Bringing a hand to Cynthia’s face to stroke it, she adds,
“And perhaps, since you’re from Saratu as well, you should give me
proper respect and loyalty, as well as your ‘service’ to
me.”

Irene’s attempt to
hard-press her into resuming their love-making is foiled by another
slap across the other cheek, and Cynthia, her eyes burning with an
different fire, remarks, “You haven’t acted like any noble I’d be
proud to serve the whole time at this school, so you are no
princess of mine, Irene Goros.” Pointing to the door, she orders
her, “Now get of my sight, and don’t ever cross me again, or I will
become
truly
angry. You understand that, Irene?”

Honestly shocked, hurt, and humiliated
she had been rejected by her, Irene glowers back at her before
retrieving her clothes and putting them back on. While zipping up
her vest, she says, “That’s a shame, Cynthia. Now I’ll have to let
Cain know you are no longer loyal to the cause, that you would let
the freshmen take over this school.”

“
Go ahead, Irene, let that
wretched, insane bastard know I’m not on his side anymore!” Cynthia
explodes. “In fact, go ahead and tell the whole community, I don’t
care! I will
never
work with that heartless monster again, and you are a
perverted fool to still support him!”

“
Fine, then. I’ll let them
know.” Heading for the door, Irene stops, glances back over her
shoulder, and brings up, “Oh, and by the way, the one who spread
the gossip about you and Sean? That was me. Have a good evening,
Cynthia Volvaron.” Without looking back, she opens the door and
leaves the room.

At first speechless, Cynthia then
erupts into furious screaming after the door closes, whirling on
the couch and repeatedly hammering her fists into it. Her snarling
turns into sobbing as she breaks down, her wearied body trembling
under guilt and shame. It feels like her whole world at the college
has flipped upside down, and she doesn’t know how to work out her
feelings, who to turn to, what to do. Until it all comes back to
Cain.

Raising her tear-streaked, enraged
face from the cushions, she understands all that she has suffered,
her being manipulated beyond her will, happened because of him, and
she would make sure he pays for it. If he was wound up so much over
some freshman, then he was in for a real nightmare once he met a
woman’s scorn, hotter than Hell itself.

***

Over the next few days after Dante’s
victory by the river, Matt’s operation unfolds and spreads
throughout campus. Dante and his friends continue to challenge and
wreck any of Cain’s servants they meet at the casino. Sean’s
criticism of Cain inspires more people to go against him and his
entourage. And in the pit arena, Matt, Rose, Sean, and Dante win
many of the duels they enter, taking control of the monetary flow
and the alliance of the students. The tide of opposition begins to
reverse, especially thanks to the shocking news that Dante also
defeated Cain. Soon, more people are for Matt’s uprising than for
surrendering to Cain’s dwindling oppression.