Chapter 6

"Does everyone know what they're doing?" I asked from the backseat of Michelle's car.

"Yes," the girls replied.

We'd spent the night in Karen's apartment. The darkness of her bedroom set me free of inhibitions. We fucked until they almost glowed from the amount of magical energy I poured into them.

"She's here," Karen said, opening her door and stepping out.

"You're better at shielding," Michelle told me. "Keep it in mind!"

"Are you going to be okay?" I asked.

"Melissa warned us about Vessel killing in duels," Michelle said. "Vessels fight each other to rob the other Maker of stored energy. You need to stay out of it! Or if that bitch comes at us, remember your bolts have to throw her Vessels and kill them from impact. You did it to Melissa. If you cut through them, the magical energies will mix and could kill us all."

"So she can attack you but I have to hold back! Fuck!"

"She's hitting us with her toaster," Michelle said, turning to look at me. "You're hitting them with pure energy! If it comes down to it, then fuck it--nuke them!"

I nodded slowly. Michelle and I stepped out of the car at the same time. The girls walked in front of me onto the football field. The pyro-bitch did not feel like talking! As soon as I was ten yards from her, she dropped fire-rain on us.

My shield was already up! She frowned. I could see air warping around her. Our shields were see-through, but unlike mine, her shields were not perfectly transparent.

"She has to have years on you," Michelle said. "Your shields are better than hers."

"I don't know about better," I replied. "Maybe prettier."

I sat in the lotus position and removed the transparency from my shield. My opponent seemed surprised by the brightness of the shield. She released her efforts to hide her shield.

The fire rain came down faster and harder!

"Not yet, Karen," Michelle said.

The pyro-bitch pulled a staff out. The fire-rain stopped. She pointed the staff at me; fireballs shot towards my shield.

"Okay! I change my mind--staffs and wands are stupid," I said. Melissa had messaged Karen that unlike other Makers I didn't need magical accessories. They used them to focus magical energy into their form of attack, but since I handled the energy directly focusing was kind of counterproductive. I didn't get it, but it got Michelle to stop yelling 'Focus!' at me during practice.

"Remember ... keep away from her shields," Michelle said to Karen. "You're bigger so they're going to focus on you."

"They should know you're a better fighter," Karen replied.

The fireballs went around to impact against the back of my shield. The Maker tried every angle to test if I was conserving energy by keeping them lighter outside the points of attack.

"She might be a hothead," Michelle said. "And she'd know you were Michael's first, so you store more of energy than I do."

"I still say we stay in my shield and let her burn out," I said.

"Enough with the fire jokes," Karen grumbled.

The Maker engulfed my shield in flames.

"This may not last as long as I thought," I said.

"Why?" Michelle asked.

"She's blowing energy like there's no tomorrow."

"She has six Vessels," Michelle said. "They've probably got years more experience than us so they're farther along."

"Yeah but..." I said as the pyro-bitch went back to shooting fireballs at me. "I don't think she's Ranked yet."

"Why not?" Michelle asked.

"Because shielding is a fuck of a lot easier and cost effective for me than what she's doing. She should know that! This isn't a good tactic for her."

"How can YOU know that, Michael?" Karen asked.

Because I could feel the surge every time the other Maker used her power! I was losing energy at a vastly lower rate. I had a feeling the surge might be unique to me, but I couldn't think of a way to get Karen to ask Melissa without giving away a potential advantage.

The pyro-bitch went at my shields for ten minutes before she arrived at the conclusion we needed to move on to the next phase.

"You can't win without attacking!" the Maker yelled at me.

Her six Vessels stepped outside of her shield.

I shrugged at the pyro-bitch.

"Watch her shields!" Michelle said as she stepped out of my shields with Karen.

Michelle had it right! The Vessels split up: four on Karen and two on Michelle. The other Maker's Vessels learned caution quickly though. On a purely physical level, Karen was their superior and Michelle was at least their equal. My girls couldn't store as much energy as my opponent's Vessels, but physical advancement had limits. The amount of energy I could pour into my Vessels made up the difference for what we lacked in time together.

"Fool!" the pyro-bitch yelled at me. She raised her staff and sent a fireball at Karen. The fire crackled against the shield I placed around Karen.

I raised my hand; six balls of light appeared. I sent six energy bolts at my opponent's Vessels. She shielded them, but I could see the effort it took to split her attention. The six balls of energy became one; I sent all of the energy at prettiest male among her Vessels.

"Idiot! Don't you know anything?" the Maker yelled as she focused a strong shield around her Vessel. "You'll kill us all!"

"I'm ninety-ten that my shields will hold against whatever happens if I cut your boy-toy in half."

She didn't give me another opportunity to go on the offensive. The fire rain was definitely her favorite attack!

I waited five minutes before standing up. Karen and Michelle took the signal. They broke contact to step into my shield range.

"I hope it works," I told them. The girls stretched their arms out.

The pyro-bitch was smiling. She must have thought I was retreating.

I set a palm on Karen and Michelle's chest. Closing my eyes, I pulled some of the energy stored in them out and sent it back into them in a slightly different...

"What the fuck!" It was a whisper from the pyro-bitch's lips, but we heard it clearly.

Karen and Michelle attacked her Vessels. We needed to take advantage before the other Maker figured out what I had done. The other Vessels went back to their strategy--four on Karen and two on Michelle. My girls stretched out their opponents, as if they were being backed up. Suddenly, Karen and Michelle crossed each other, attacking the other's combatants. It put Karen on two girls, and Michelle on four. Michelle had speed, but Karen had power! Much more power after I Juiced her directly with magical energy.

"NOOO!" the pyro-bitch yelled.

The two Vessels couldn't handle Karen. She took the punches from one so she could get her hands on the other. Karen lifted the girl into the air and broke the girl's back over a knee. Michelle used her speed to keep the other Vessels busy. Clearly, Michelle was the best-trained fighter on the field. Karen dragged the second Vessel, the pretty male, to the ground. Mounting him, she pounded his face in. Michelle tried to keep the other four Vessels from retreating behind their Maker's shield, but she couldn't commit without endangering herself.

I brought up the strong shields on my Vessels as the pyro-bitch went crazy. She sent every form of fire at the girls trying to kill them. Karen and Michelle dove behind my shields.

"You bastard! You bastard! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"

The bitch was coming down hard on my shield. Directly on top of my shield! I went down to one knee and drew energy hard from Michelle and Karen. I'd surprised the other Maker by focusing on defense and using my Vessels to carry my offense, but now she was making it purely about power. I raised my hand--a second shield formed underneath the spot she was focusing on. I drew energy away from other portions of the shield.

She pounded and pounded at me!

Michelle, Karen, and I were all on our knees when she stopped. The girls stood up. They shook themselves, trying to relieve some of the exhaustion they felt from having me draw out almost all the stored energy out of them.

The other Maker backed away from us. Her Vessels stayed between us but followed their Mistress.

"I told you!" the pyro-bitch yelled at me. "You can't win without offense."

"They're drained too!" Karen said. "She's not shielding."

"I'll find you, fucker!" the pyro-bitch screamed. "I'm going to kill you..."

She backed right into Cathy's waiting arms. Cathy grabbed the Maker's head and twisted hard.

"Shit!" I yelled and pulled energy out of Cathy to shield her. I was too late! Flames poured out of the Maker's body, covering Cathy and the Vessels. Cathy was going down, but I had to protect Michelle and Karen. I drew energy from Cathy and reinforced my shield. The fire flowed over the shield and around it.

"Mom!" Karen screamed. She would have run into the flames if Michelle hadn't tackled her.

Leaving Cathy out there, even shielded, for those few seconds almost killed me!

Finally, we could see the four Vessels standing around the remains of their Mistress. Karen broke free of Michelle and ran towards her mom.

"Blast them!" Michelle yelled at me.

Without shields, my energy bolts threw the Vessels out of Karen's path. I remembered what Michelle said and sent four more bolts at the Vessels. They struck the wall on the other end of the field. They didn't get up!

"Quickly!" Karen said to me when I got close.

I'd been too late with the shield. Cathy's skin was almost black.

"She wore gloves, like I told her!" Michelle grabbed my arm tightly. "It was just the fire magic."

"We need you," Karen whispered to me.

"What can I do?" I asked.

Michelle and Karen undid my pants.

"What are you doing? Cathy is hurt! We need to take her to the hospital!" I said.

Karen grabbed my hands and put them on the back of her head. She opened her mouth to take my dick in. I fucked into Karen's throat. Michelle put her hands over my eyes.

"It's okay!" Michelle whispered. "Cathy needs this! Please, Master! You need to cum!"

It didn't take long. Almost unwillingly, I released into Karen's mouth. Michelle took her hands away from my eyes. I saw Karen leaning over her mother. Karen let my semen fall from her mouth into Cathy's open mouth. Cathy convulsed!

Michelle knelt in front of me. She fucked her face onto my dick. A couple of minutes later, Michelle was leaning over Cathy ... feeding her cum, while Karen took her place back at my cock.

"A couple more," Michelle whispered to Karen. "A couple more and we can move her!"

Karen nodded as her hands stroked my dick.

"That healing shit is for real!" I slapped my forehead. Karen had told me it was one of the tests, but I had been too chicken-shit to make her do it again so I could see how it worked.

"I don't know if it can heal the damage," Michelle said, looking at Cathy's burnt body. "But you're going to try, Michael! You're going to fucking try!"

I nodded.

"You need to destroy the Maker's body and her Vessels' too," Michelle told me. "They're dead so there should only be enough residual energy that it will disintegrate them when the energies mix. At least, that's what Melissa said!"

I closed my eyes and focused on what Cathy needed.

Karen was kicking my ass in her latest fighting game obsession. Michelle lay on the bed humming. Cathy stood naked in front of the mirror. (I really needed a bigger mirror!) It had taken two weeks of almost constant semen to get Cathy back to normal. The healing progressed faster once she was well enough to have sex with me. For some reason, sex in three orifices was more effective than the same amount of sex in one orifice.

I was really hoping somebody had a fucking manual on being a Maker!

Melissa explained to Karen that the healing probably wouldn't have been possible with any other kind of Maker. I was also happy to hear only Fire-Mages went in for the explosive deaths! If these assholes were going to keep trying to kill me, it would have sucked that each one of them got a 'final' shot.

My character went flying across the screen. Karen laughed at the blood splatter.

Cathy looked over her shoulder at me. Her nudity had more to do with finally getting to appreciate how I looked at her than studying her new skin.

"You need some sun," I told her. She ran a hand from her thigh and up her ass cheek.

"You knew?" Cathy asked. "About me!"

Michelle giggled.

"What's so funny?" Cathy asked seriously.

I sighed loudly. Cathy coming out of hiding meant she and Michelle had to work out some things. Who came first seemed like a big deal to them!

"Unless I'm special, we can feel him," Michelle said, somewhat snarky. "And sometimes what he feels, which is so cool!!!"

"You know what I feel?" I spun the chair around to look at Michelle.

Cathy coughed--I spun the chair back to continue staring at her naked body. Karen sat up; she frowned at me then at Michelle.

"She's right, mom," Karen said. "We feel him! Michael knew all along!"

"Not all along!" I said quickly. "Only after Melissa made me take some energy out of you. Well, I knew before that too! Both ways, since I was feeling you before the Melissa thing. I just didn't know what it was."

Cathy looked confused.

"We store energy for him," Michelle said patiently. "Wouldn't be much good if he didn't know where that energy was, would it?"

"Oh!" Cathy said, staring at me. "Good point!"

I shrugged.

"You should move in," I said to Cathy. The subject about what I knew was one I wanted to die quickly and quietly. "You should all move in!"

"That's pushing it, Michael," Michelle said. "I'm already feeling uncomfortable about not reporting your dad to Child Services."

"What?!?" Karen and Cathy came to stand on either side of my chair after I spun it to face Michelle.

"Come on!" Michelle said to me. "He leaves you on your own for weeks! Somebody has to say something."

I laughed.

"Michelle," I said. "Do you have any idea how rich my dad is?"

"What does that have to do with it?"

"Honey, Child Services would be laughed out of any court room," I said slowly. "I have a live-in nanny. There's a service which takes care of her days off or I can call in case something happens to her."

"There's twenty-four hour security," Cathy told Michelle.

Michelle grabbed a blanket and covered her body. She scanned the room for cameras.

"They're not allowed in here," Karen said. "But keep the curtains closed, there are cameras pointed at the windows."

"You've had the food, dear," Cathy said to Michelle. "Michael has a private chef."

"My clothes are always washed," Michelle said suspiciously. "I've never seen a teenager's room so spotless either."

"Maids," I said with a nod. "Really? You didn't know?"

"Holy shit!" Michelle exclaimed. "How rich are you? How come you go to public school?"

"That's a whole story," Karen said, waving her hand dismissively and grabbing her game controller.

Cathy went back to the mirror.

"Very rich!" I said. "And I did go to private school. Grammar school was fine, but I got kicked out of high school. I'd like to point out that even though the Halls aren't as rich as my dad, Sandra goes to public school too."

"The high school is named after her great-grandfather," Cathy said.

"Seriously?" I asked.

"Michael, it's called Hall High School!" Cathy gave me the 'eye'.

"Shit! I never thought of it that way."

"Why did you get kicked out?" Michelle asked. "And why didn't your dad smooth it over or send you to another private school?"

Karen snickered and kicked her feet.

"He did both things," Cathy said. "He even offered to pay for Karen to go so Michael would have at least one friend at the school."