In the clearing outside Anita’s house, Jacque stepped sideways and started jogging towards the city. He felt Anita move up next to him. He glanced to his left and smiled at her, watching her easily keep pace. Jacque shook his head. She was gorgeous with the wind flowing through her hair. The way her eyes sparkled as they watched the scenery around them pass by. He had a tough time believing she accepted him for who and what he was. If he had been in her shoes, he was not sure he would have been able to.  

‘It wasn’t easy to accept,’ Anita’s voice bubbled through his head. Jacque blinked and blushed. He could hear Anita’s laughter. Jacque smiled. He could not hear her laugh and not smile in return. Her amusement was infectious.   

‘Now, whose mind is wandering?’ Anita's thoughts bounced around inside his skull. Jacque shook his head, laughing.   

‘We need to focus on the task at hand. I have no idea what we will face when we get there. Be ready for anything.’  

Anita smiled as the thought flitted across her mind. ‘Anything,’ she thought back. ‘She visualized Jacque bending her over the front desk and taking her right there. Anita licked her lips. She felt Jacque blush.  

‘Not what I meant,’ she heard him think back to her.  

‘You did think anything.’  

She could feel Jacque sigh and shake his head. Anita laughed again.   

The laughter died on her lips as they popped into standard time outside the building. A deep sense of dread hung in the air around them. The sun was shining overhead, the sky was clear, and everything looked peaceful. It felt out of place. Anita felt like there needed to be a thunderstorm overhead—dark clouds, slashing rain, lightning. Something was off, and the serene picture of peace was a terrible lie.  

Anita looked at Jacque and could tell he felt the same sickening dread. She could feel it creeping across his skin as strongly as it did on hers. Anita resisted the urge to rub her arms. She could feel the goosebumps under her armor. The two of them walked up to the front door side by side. Jacque grasped the handle and pulled the door open.  

A sickening odor wafted out the open door. Anita covered her mouth with a grimace. Jacque frowned as he walked into the lobby. It smelled like sex, shit, and death. The lobby of the building was quiet. Nothing moved. The chairs were strewn about the room. The couches were overturned. There were dark streaks along the walls. Jacque could not tell if it was blood or something else.   

Walking through the lobby, they noticed splashes of dark stains on the ground in several places. In one, they spied a two-foot-tall spike of black protruding from the floor. It glistened with something dark along its surface. Anita looked at it and felt Jacque’s thoughts.  

‘Don’t touch anything. I have a bad feeling about this.’  

Anita nodded in agreement. They crossed the lobby to the front desk. Nobody was there. The computer on the other side was smashed. The chair was a pile of twisted metal against the wall. The floor was streaked with something dark. Small piles of something lay in small clumps across the floor.  

The lights flickered overhead. Some went out. Emergency lights came on. The half-light was ominous. Anita grabbed Jacque’s hand. He squeezed her hand in reassurance.  

‘It is just the lights,’ came his thought, ‘Nothing to worry about.’  

‘I know. I liked seeing what we could.’  

‘Not sure I want to see more detail than this.’  

‘Fair point. Which way?’  

Jacque closed his eyes. Anita felt him reaching out. She felt a wave of terror, fear, lust, and rage wash over her. Anita gasped and doubled over, clutching at her stomach. For a moment, she thought she was going to throw up. Jacque put an arm around her, helping her stand.  

‘What was that?’ Anita’s thoughts were scrambled. She tried to find her footing and found Jacque holding her as she opened her eyes and looked around. Nothing had changed, but everything around her pulsed with sickening impressions of something horrible.  

‘Psychic impressions. Something horrible happened here. Sorry. I am trying to shield you from it.’  

Jacque pointed down the left corridor. ‘This way.’  

Anita straightened up, feeling better but still sick to her stomach. She held Jacque’s hand like a lifeline and followed as he led them into the hallway. The hall was streaked with a dark stain down the middle of the corridor. There were dark handprints on the walls. Anita shuddered, looking at them.   

They reached the end of the corridor and turned right. Jacque stopped short. Anita walked right into him. She stumbled back and peeked around his side. Someone stood in the hallway. They were facing the wall, leaning their heads against it. As they watched, the figure pulled back and thumped their head against the wall with a soft, sickening thud. After a minute, the figure did it again. Jacque and Anita stood still and watched the figure do it again.   

The emergency lights strobed overhead, casting the figure in half-light. The white robe they were wearing was stained with red and black. It had blood along the trailing edge that had splashed up the back.   

Jacque and Anita crept closer. As they did, they heard a soft male voice.  

“Just a taste. Just a taste,” the man slurred. His speech sounded distorted as if something had stuck in his mouth. Anita felt a shiver run down her back. The man turned and looked at them. His eyes glowed with a sickly yellow light. He turned from the wall and stumbled towards them. Something was wrong with his legs. The man took two steps and fell to the ground, crawling towards them.  

“She said I could have a taste if I brought you. Have to bring you. Have to taste.” The man crawled towards them, reaching for them. His legs kicked and dragged on the floor behind him. The lights flickered on and off, then back on again.  

As the lights came on, they could see that the man had bashed half his skull in. The right side of his jaw was broken, the skin purple and splattered with blood. His right eye was gone, the socket empty, dark fluids leaking out of the torn hole in his face. The empty socket glowed with a sickly yellow light.  

Anita coughed and felt her lunch, trying to come back to visit her. She doubled over, clutching at her stomach, fighting her body. Jacque stepped forward and sideways. The crawling man stopped moving, his sickly eyes glued to where they stood. Jacque stepped around the crawling man and knelt next to him. He held his hand over the man’s head.   

Anita watched as the man’s flesh started to knit itself back together. His eye inflated in the socket, the skin closing over the gaps. His jaw was reshaping, his teeth popping back into place. Jacque frowned as he focused on the man’s legs, fixing the broken, misshapen bones. Anita heard the crunch of bones shifting. She shuddered as she felt his knees popping back in place. Anita closed her eyes, trying to push the image from her mind. Her link to Jacque was too strong; she felt every shift in the man’s body and every fix Jacque did.   

Anita clutched at her mouth, trying to hold back the bile. Jacque reached into the back of the man’s head, his hand passing through the skin. Anita could sense Jacque reaching for something, grabbing it, and pulling it out. She could feel another presence in the hall. Another mind pressing down upon her own. Anita heard evil, cruel laughter in her mind.   

‘DOGS! DOGS! YER ALL DOGS!’ Screamed across her mind. Anita clutched at her ears, trying to hold it out. The assault was too much; her body convulsed, and she felt her lunch come bursting out of her mouth to splatter against the wall in front of her. Anita wiped her mouth on her arm. She heard and felt Jacque clap his hands together. Its concussion was louder and more potent than it should have been. Anita felt a wave of energy roll down the hall from where Jacque stood. As it passed, she felt better.   

Anita leaned against the wall, pushing off it back to her feet. The man in the hall lay on his chest, his head turned to the side, breathing easily. His broken flesh was healed. She could sense him dreaming about soft waves on a sandy beach. She took a moment to take solace in that landscape of his mind.   

Jacque took Anita’s hand and squeezed it. Anita blinked and looked at Jacque. He had a sad smile on his face.  

“Will he be alright?” Anita asked. Jacque nodded. “What happened to him?”  

“The Queen,” Jacque answered, “She did not even touch him. Her powers are stronger; she can influence men just by being near them now.”  

“How are you going to fight that?”  

“I don’t know. But we need to find Delila.”  

Anita nodded. Jacque held her hand as they turned and continued down the hall. They came to another intersection without incident. Jacque turned right this time, leading deeper into the building. Up ahead, they saw an open area. They heard a rhythmic, wet, slapping sound. They started walking faster.  

The area ahead was a small waiting room. The chairs and couches had been shoved to the walls. The metal crumpled and crushed into the walls. Large black spikes protruded from the ground in several places, holding the chairs against the wall. In the middle of the room, they saw a hulking figure. A tail lashed the air around it as it thrust into something in front of it. They heard weak moans and cries. Anita cringed as she recognized the hulking figure as the transformed George. The spikes on his back quivered as he continued doing whatever he was doing.  

Jacque and Anita edged carefully into the room along the wall, careful not to touch any large black spikes.  

“Took your time, didn’t you?” George’s granite-crushing voice echoed around the room. “Ah, brother, I have a present for you.”  

George turned, and they could finally see what was before him. A young blonde woman was on her hands and knees, her ass pressed into George’s groin. Her clothes were torn off from the waist down. She was rocking back and forth against him. George pushed back, and they spied an enormous black tentacle connecting the space between her legs to his groin. Her legs were splattered with black ichor. The floor was covered with the substance. George stepped back from her, the tentacle still throbbing inside her. The woman was still rocking back and forth against it. George now stood beside the woman, who was oblivious to their presence. His massive dick bridged the gap between their bodies.   

“She was your favorite nurse,” George mused, “Wasn’t she? You never did get a chance to have her. Look at her now. See how much she loves what I give her. Do you think she would ever be satisfied with you now?”  

George laughed. It was a harsh sound that hurt the ears. The woman on her hands and knees continued to rock back and forth, moaning in pleasure. George’s dick pulled back out of her, and they could hear her crying.  

“Please! Please don’t stop. I need it. I need more.” She moaned. The woman crawled around, reaching for George’s cock. She grabbed it, caught hold of it, and collapsed on the floor, trying to pull it into her mouth. George reached down and ran his claws through her hair affectionately as she tried to fit the massive tip of his cock into her mouth. Anita gagged and coughed as the woman opened her mouth as wide as possible to fit it in her. George cooed softly to her, whispering. The woman nodded her head; then they heard a sickening crunch as she dislocated her jaw, trying to get his cock into her mouth. Her lower jaw hung limply as she slipped her mouth over it.   

Jacque stared in horror while Anita covered her eyes as George’s cock went down her throat. Jacque watched her throat bulge impossibly as it went down into her body. The woman’s entire body went rigid, shuddering and convulsing.  

“There, there,” George cooed as his dick pulled out of her mouth, spilling black ichor all over her face. The woman collapsed on the floor crying, her broken jaw flapping. George pointed over to Jacque. “Go to my brother. He will make you feel better. Let his tiny, limp little dick try to satisfy your need.”  

The woman turned to Jacque, crying as she dragged herself across the floor towards them. George laughed as he backed up and walked into the wall. Jacque stared in horror at the broken woman. Anita felt her stomach cramping again. If she had not just thrown up, she would have again. She leaned against the wall and dry heaved while Jacque approached the ruined woman. He held out his hand to her. She took it and tried to pull herself to her feet, but her legs hung at weird angles, unable to support her. Jacque lifted her, and she pressed her body against Jacque’s armor. She groped at his groin, pushing against the armored plates.  

Jacque wrapped his arms around her and whispered, “Sleep.”  

The woman went limp and collapsed in his arms. Anita could hear Jacque’s soft crying as he cradled the woman against his body. She could feel his anguish and rage for what George had done.   

Anita pulled herself off the wall and stumbled over to Jacque. She hugged him from behind. She felt his soft sobs, and her heart went out to him.   

“You can fix her, can’t you?”  

“Her body, yes. But I fear her mind is broken. I am not sure she will ever be the person she was. Did you know she has a brother? She visits him on weekends when she isn’t working here. She dreamed of opening an animal shelter.”  

“You cannot know for sure she won’t recover.” Anita hugged Jacque tighter, resting her head on his shoulder. “Do what you can. We can worry about the rest another day.”  

Jacque nodded. He turned his focus back to the woman before him. He reknitted her jaw back together. Healed the ripped muscles in her throat. Then, he focused on her abdomen. The damage George had done was extensive. He noted that the damage was already starting to repair itself. Jacque closed his eyes and focused on reknitting the tissues together. Putting the bones back in the right places. Then he pushed all the black ichor out of the woman’s body. It poured out of her mouth, nose, ears, and from both her ass and vagina. Jacque held her out in front of him while the stuff formed a large pool on the ground at his feet. Anita stepped back, avoiding it.  The vile substance splashed across Jacque’s bare feet, and he froze for a moment. 

Time froze around Jacque. He felt the substance penetrating his skin, changing his body chemistry. He cocked his head to the side and examined the changes. He could feel it trying to make him desire George. No, that was not a strong enough word for it. He could sense the overwhelming need for George’s presence. Jacque altered the way his cells reacted, pushing the stuff out of his skin. Time snapped back to normal. The substance visibly pulled back from Jacque’s feet, leaving a clear circle around each.  

“What is that stuff?” Anita asked. 

“George’s cum. It has been altered by exposure to the Queen. Same general effect, but, more targeted. It is a rather ingenious combination of things, though. Anyone exposed to it would do anything for George, or the Queen. It also has some healing properties to it.” 

“So, he wrecks their body with his massive member, then heals the damage driving them insane with a need for more? That is kind of very strange kind of sick.” 

“He still cares, in some strange way. There may be hope for saving him yet.” 

Anita shuddered and backed away from it. Jacque shook the woman gently as the last few drops fell from her body. Then he cradled her against him as he carried her over to a clean spot on the floor. Then Jacque worked to reknit her clothes together. He laid the young woman on the floor and kissed her forehead softly.   

“Sleep now, Denise,” Jacque whispered, “And may this all be a bad dream when you wake.”  

Anita hugged Jacque, tears in her eyes, as she pulled him away. Jacque kept his eyes on the sleeping woman as they went around the corner. When he could not see her anymore, he turned back to the hall ahead of them. Anita could sense his rage building. Each step Jacque took shook the floor around him.   

“Take a deep breath, Jacque. This is what they want. You are out of control. Focus.”  

Jacque roared in rage and sank to his knees. He knew Anita was right. Jacque had to master his emotions. He could lose everything if he went in half-cocked and out of control. Anita knelt on the floor behind him and snaked her arms around his chest. Jacque could feel her heart beating against his back. He could feel her calming presence. Jacque felt the driving need to protect Anita from this. He had to calm himself if he was going to get her out of this safely. Jacque took several deep breaths, finding his focus. Anita kissed the back of his head and then stood.  

Jacque looked at her and took her hand, letting her pull him to his feet. Anita wrapped her arms around Jacque and leaned her head against his chest. A strange smell assailed her nostrils.   

“Do you smell that?” she asked.   

Jacque dropped to the floor, pulling Anita down with him. A hulking figure flew over them, crashing into the wall with a sickening thud. They watched in horror as a figure in a white lab coat turned towards them. Its legs were covered in fur and shaped like a dog. Large claws extended from its oversized feet and hands. It was hunched over, its body covered with coarse fur. The chest and lower body were fleshy and pink. A large cock dangled between its legs. The man-dog thing’s arms were oversized, rippling with muscle and sharp talons for hands. The face was a cross between a man's and a dog’s face. It roared at them with oversized canines and lunged towards them.  

Anita watched in horror as the thing froze in mid-air. Jacque rolled them to the side and stood. He walked over and lazily slapped the thing across the face. Time resumed, and the beast went flying down the corridor. It rolled over several times and lay still.   

“Da fuq was that?” Anita cried out. Then she heard movement behind her. Anita froze time and stood; another was bounding down the hall towards her. Even with time frozen, it still moved forward, its yellow eyes following her as she walked toward it. It started to turn toward her as Anita punched it in the side of the head. She heard and felt bones crunch as time resumed, and it flew into the wall with a bone-crunching thud. It slid down the wall and lay still.   

Jacque walked over to her. He looked at the man-dog on the floor at her feet. Jacque knelt and felt for a pulse.  

“Not so hard,” Jacque scolded softly, “You killed it. If we can stop the Queen, these things may revert to normal. If not, we may be able to undo what she has done. But not if you kill them.”  

Tears welled up in Anita’s eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Oh god, what have I done.”  

Jacque hugged her and patted her on the back. “Just be gentler, love. A tap is all you need. Your strength has been magnified.”  

Anita sobbed in his arms. She nodded against his chest.   

“I didn’t mean to...”  

“I know. I forgive you. When this is over, we will find his family and do our best to make it right. Okay?”  

Anita nodded, tears still leaking from her eyes. “Okay.”  

Just then, they heard howling coming from down the hall. Anita and Jacque turned and saw a pack of the creatures bounding down the hall towards them. They froze in their tracks as Jacque and Anita sped towards them.   

Jacque easily side-stepped a swipe and tapped one on the head. Anita ducked under another and gently poked him under the jaw. Then she stood beside the next one and gently pushed it into the one behind it. Jacque stepped around the next two, tapping each on the head as he did so. Anita smiled over one at Jacque as she tapped another on the head as it bounded along the wall next to her. Once they were clear of the pack, time resumed, and the creatures careened into each other, bouncing off the walls and ceiling. Jacque and Anita watched momentarily, waiting to see if any would get back up. One started to, then collapsed.   

Jacque closed his eyes and listened for Delila. Anita could feel her as Jacque reached out. She was distant and above them somewhere. Jacque and Anita’s eyes met as they both thought the same thing. Stairs.  

They found the nearest staircase and started climbing. It was not long before they heard more of the dog-man things coming after them, some from above and some from below. Their half-human howls were haunting as they came into the stairway after them. Jacque and Anita calmly continued up the stairs. As each got close, they froze time, tapped them out of the way, and kept moving.   

After climbing two flights of stairs, Jacque and Anita agreed they had reached the right floor. They opened the door cautiously, wondering what new horrors awaited them. Jacque pictured the floor plan in his head, and Anita caught a clear view of it. They were not far from the control room, where the Queen was holed up. There were two long corridors, a left turn, and one short corridor to the room.   

As they opened the door to the long corridor, they were once again assailed with the stench of sweat, shit, and sex. Anita pinched her nose, and Jacque chuckled.   

‘Block the scent,’ his thought rolled through her head.   

‘Oh.’ Anita imagined that the smell did not bother her. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she realized she no longer felt sick to her stomach. She could still smell it, but it no longer bothered her. Jacque winked at her.  

They turned back to the corridor and froze. Standing in the middle of the corridor were half a dozen women. They were all swaying and moaning. Their clothes had been shredded, the rags hanging from their arms. The ground at their feet was covered in black ichor. A long tentacle stretched from the floor up to each of their groins. Each tentacle was gently pulsing in their bodies. Sliding in and out of their groins. Black ichor flowed down their legs. 

“What the fuck...” Anita started to say. Every figure stopped moving. A sickening wet sound filled the hall as the tentacles slipped from their bodies. The women raised their heads, opening glowing, baleful yellow eyes to glare at Jacque and Anita. The tentacles receded into the floor.  

The women bent and dragged their hands through the ichor at their feet. As they stood, the ichor molded itself around their fingers, forming long sharp talons. Then they ran towards Jacque and Anita screaming wordless cries of anguish and rage. The creatures moved in a blur of speed.  

Anita stepped to the side as the first creature lunged for her. She gasped as it twisted in mid-air, its claws swiping through her armored chest plate, drawing blood. The creature crashed to the ground past her, scrambling to its feet with impossible speed to come back at her. 

Anita watched the world crystalize around her. Her mind swam as she clutched at her chest. She looked down at her chest and saw the blood oozing. Her armor felt too tight. Anita felt the uncontrollable urge to peel her armor off. She was suffocating in it. It was too much. She needed to expose her skin. Anita needed to be free. She burned with the need for George. She had to have his big dick inside her, filling her holes. Tears slipped from her eyes. She needed him so badly. Only he could provide the kind of invasion her body craved.  

A distant voice in the back of her head cried out, ‘Fight it!’ 

Anita blinked in confusion. She had not remembered dropping to her knees. She looked up and saw Jacque moving through the crystalized world, knocking the crazed women around. As he moved towards her, she saw his eyes. The love and concern that burned there filled her with joy. Who was George again? Oh, right, the crazy, stone, dog bastard. She did not want him. She wanted Jacque. Only Jacque. 

Anita closed her eyes and realized the black ichor on the woman’s claws had seeped into her skin causing instant changes to her. She examined those changes and started to undo them. In a heartbeat she felt back to normal.  

A shudder of disgust ran through her as she stood. Even crystallized, the woman on the floor behind her was still trying to get to her. She could see her starting to move. They were so fast! Anita stepped towards her and lightly tapped her on the side of the head. 

Time snapped back to normal. Bodies flew in every direction. They smashed into the ceiling, walls, and floor. Jacque was at Anita’s side holding her in his arms. She looked up at him and sighed in pleasure. She hugged her body against his, feeling his heat through the armor. 

“Are you okay?” Jacque asked in concern. 

“I am now. Thanks.” 

The women around them started to pull themselves up off the floor. Anita groaned. Jacque took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. He closed his eyes and raised one hand in the air. Anita closed her eyes and felt Jacque pulling the black essence from all the women around them at once. She could feel the streamers of energy from their bodies flowing into Jacque’s closed fist over her head. The women roared in rage. Anita opened her eyes and saw the nearest one reaching for them, her body convulsing, her muscles shuddering. Then they collapsed to the floor, writing in agony and rage. 

Anita watched as a tiny, yellow glowing orb was pulled out of the nearest woman’s chest. As it left, she collapsed and stopped moving. All around her, she heard the same thing happening. The orbs were pulled up to Jacque’s fist. Once they had all been collected Jacque stepped away from Anita and clapped his hands together.  

A thunderous shockwave filled the hall, causing the entire building to reverberate around them. A new voice roared with rage from down the hall. The building shook around them with it. 

“Time to go,” Jacque said quietly.  

Jacque took Anita’s hand in his as they rounded the next corner. This corridor was crowded with black spikes. They stuck out of the floor, the walls, even the ceiling. Black ichor dripped from all of them. Forming pools on the floor. The walls and floor around them seemed to pulse with a life of its own. Jacque eyed it wearily. Anita felt like she was walking into the belly of some great beast.  

‘Not an inaccurate portrayal,’ Jacque thought to her, ‘George has merged with too much of the building. It is his pulse we feel around us.’  

Anita shuddered in disgust. Jacque wrapped an around her shoulders to comfort her. They heard a scream from down the hall. Jacque’s eyes went wide. He mouthed her name, Delila. Time froze as they ran.  

They rounded the corner, leaping and jumping over ichor pools as they raced down the hall. The final corridor was a maze of spikes and pools. Jacque and Anita had to slow down and step carefully to avoid everything in their way.   

Finally, they stood before the control room door. Jacque took a deep breath and reached for the handle. The door opened of its own accord. Jacque looked at Anita, took her hand, and stepped over the threshold.   

In the middle of the room was a dais of black stonework that leaked black ichor from every surface. A large black throne stood in the middle of the dais. The Queen sat in it, laughing. She was completely naked, with black stains along her white skin. Her large breasts swayed with her laughter. Her nipples were pink and taught with arousal. Curled up at her feet were two of the man-dog things—the largest they had seen, aside from George, who was nowhere to be seen.   

The air around the dais sparkled with motes of swirling dust. As the Queen saw them, she cackled with evil glee. She bounced on the throne as if giddy to get on with whatever would happen next. She rocked back and forth, clearly enjoying herself. Jacque looked at Anita questioningly. Anita shrugged.  

“Come at last!” The Queen’s voice boomed through the room. A seductive lure to her voice snapped their attention back to her. “Come to bow before me and join us, or be subjugated? Choose wisely!”  

The last words were a moan of pleasure. The Queen rocked and forth more rapidly. Jacque peered closer and noticed that her lower abdomen was flexing and throbbing of its own accord. As he watched, the Queen threw her head back and moaned in pleasure. The arms of the throne curled around her body, long talons scraping across her breasts, drawing blood. The wounds seeped, then closed. The throne started to shift and change.   

The Queen was sitting in George’s lap. His massive dick was entirely inside her body. Anita choked and covered her mouth. She felt strangely aroused to see the Queen’s body shuddering in ecstasy. She could see where her abdomen bulged around the length of George inside her. The bulging went clear up to her ribcage.   

‘That’s impossible,’ Anita thought, her eyes wide.   

‘Normally, yes,’ Jacque answered, ‘She borrowed a trick from us. Shifting her body to allow that thing inside her. Close your eyes; you can feel the track of it inside her if you try. It is more than a bit disturbing. Takes sadomasochism to a whole new level.’  

Anita gasped and dry-heaved again. She tried to catch her breath.   

‘He punched through her pelvis, ripped through her abdomen, and is pressing against her diaphragm?’  

The Queen moaned in pleasure, bouncing in George’s lap. George’s voice was a deep, grinding moan of pleasure that made the whole room shudder.  

‘She is healing herself enough to keep herself alive. She is relishing in the pain. Getting off as much on how much it hurts as anything else.’ Jacque answered. Anita threw up a little bit in her mouth. She coughed and spit to the side. She could not tear her eyes away from the scene on the dais. Both disgusted and enthralled. The two man-dogs at her feet licked her feet, licking up the bits of fluid and ichor that dribbled down her legs. Anita shuddered again.  

A whimper from the side of the room drew their attention. Jacque and Anita turned and saw Delila. She was stuck to the wall. Her arms over her head, partially buried in the wall itself. His legs dangled a foot off the ground. Blood and ichor were splattered over her thighs and legs. Her groin was splashed with black ichor. Her body was as naked as the last time Jacque had seen her. Delila’s breasts were covered in bloody scratches. Her head lolled to one side. She was still alive but not aware of the room around her.  

As Jacque and Anita watched, a tentacle snaked up out of the floor and curled around Delila’s leg, creeping up towards her groin.   

Time froze. Jacque raced towards Delila. The man-dogs perked up and launched towards Jacque. Even with time frozen, they were still moving, and fast. Anita closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and forced herself to move as fast as ever. The world crystalized around her. She ran up the steps towards the man dogs. Jacque continued to move towards Delila, not seeing the dogs. The floor under his feet started to dissolve. The dogs still moved towards him. Anita ran up the steps and slapped the first man-dog away. She grabbed the second by the tail and whipped it into the first, sending it flying towards the dais.   

Jacque had eyes only for Delila. His heart ached to see what had been done to her. How could George have done this? He could sense her internal injuries. The ruptured organs. She had tried to heal herself, but that had never been something she understood well. Jacque felt the floor start to shift beneath him. He threw himself into the air and felt the wind whip around him, cushioning him, carrying him to Delila.   

Anita turned to Jacque and started to move towards him when she sensed movement from the top of the dais. She fell out of the crystalized universe and saw the Queen stand up. The massiveness of George’s dick still sliding in and out of her body. The ripples still carried farther up into her than should have been possible. The Queen screamed. George flicked his arm towards Jacque—massive spikes launched from his arms. Anita screamed.  

Jacque landed in front of Delila. He reached out and dissolved the tentacle. Jacque heard a roar behind him but had eyes only for Delila. He reached up and gently pulled her hands out of the wall. She collapsed on top of him. He hugged her limp body, whispering to her.  

“I’ve got you. You’re going to be okay. I’ll get you out of here. You’re safe now.”  

“Jacque?” Delila opened her eyes. “JACQUE!”  

Delila’s voice screamed through the air. George clutched his ears and fell back from the Queen. The Queen cried out and dropped to her knees, clutching her head. Anita screamed again.  

Jacque felt a strange thud and looked down. A massive spike had rammed through his chest. It was as big around as his leg. It had gone through him to impale Delila against him and to the wall.   

‘Awkward,’ was the thought that rolled through Jacque’s mind. Time froze and turned to crystal around Jacque. He projected himself sideways. Jacque took a step back and looked at his impaled body against Delila. He frowned and pulled the spike out of his body. Delila and his body remained where they had been impaled. Jacque took a deep breath and walked up the dais. He walked to Anita and kissed her on the cheek.  

Jacque walked up to where the Queen had sunk to her knees. George’s dick was still partially inside her body. Jacque swiped his hand from his right to his left. George’s dick slid from the Queen’s body. Jacque knelt in front of the Queen. He put a finger under her chin and lifted her gaze to meet his eyes.  

‘I forgive you,’ he said. He leaned forward and kissed her lips. As he did so, he reached into her body and pulled out the mutated cells. The power she had. He felt it twist like a snake in his grasp, trying to stay with her. Jacque grabbed it more firmly and tore it from her. The Queen’s body sagged forward. The glow in her eyes faded. He caressed her cheek as he threw the glowing ball of goop into the air. As it soared through the air, he pointed at it, and it exploded in a shower of sparks. The glowing mist in the air winked out of existence. Jacque then reached into her body and started rearranging the organs. He slid things back into their right places. He healed the broken bones and the ripped tissues. Jacque put everything back the way it was supposed to be.   

When he was done, Jacque knelt in front of her again. He caressed her cheek lovingly.  

“I know you grew up in an abused household. But not all men are dogs. Nor do they deserve to be turned into them. You cannot rule this city. It is not yours to rule. I have taken your mutation away. I have made you a normal person again. This is your chance to try again. Do better.”  

Jacque stood, took a deep breath, and walked over to where George was falling backward from the dais. Jacque felt tired. He wiped at his brow as if there was sweat there. He walked over and caught George. Jacque reached through the spikes and the misshapen body. He pulled George’s original form out. The hulking thing that he was dissolved to sand.   

“There you are, brother,” Jacque said with a smile. He reached into George’s body and ripped out a black pulsing ball of black ichor. He tossed it aside, watching as it splattered against the wall. Jacque cocked his fingers like a gun at it. The ichor went up in smoke. Jacque brushed George’s sweat-soaked hair from his face and kissed his forehead.  

“I’m sorry I couldn’t rescue you sooner. You deserved better. They called you the shadow, but you can be the better brother. Do better. I forgive you.”  

Jacque laid his brother on the ground. He stood, feeling an ache that he had never known. He looked back to where his body was still pressed against Delila’s at the wall. Jacque staggered over to the wall where they were. He bent over and peered through the hole in his chest to the hole in Delila’s body. He took a deep breath and sighed.   

Holding his hand over the gaping wound, Jacque forced it to close. He studied Delila’s beautiful body. Jacque looked closer and ensured every cut, scrape, and wound had been closed. He carefully went over her body to make sure that everything was exactly as it was supposed to be.   

Jacque took another deep breath, satisfied that he had repaired all the damage done to his dear sister. He leaned into her and kissed her on the cheek.  

“I always loved you, dear sister. I’m sorry I made you jealous.”  

The lights flickered in the room. Jacque peered up to where the ceiling was supposed to be. He could see the sky starting to leak through, which was a bit odd. Then he looked at the hole in his body and started trying to knit it back together. The wound refused to close. Jacque felt the world starting to go grey around him. He looked over his shoulder at Anita and saw her reaching out to him.  

“I’m sorry, love, it looks like I've run out of time...”  

Jacque snapped back into his body. The sounds of the room blasted his ears. His body sagged and sank to the floor. Delila landed on top of him. He tried to breathe. Blood gurgled out onto his lips.  

‘Awkward,’ was the thought that crossed his mind. As he lay on his back looking across the room, he saw Anita racing towards him, tears streaming down her face.   

‘You are so amazing,’ Jacque thought as Anita skidded to the floor on her knees, cradling his head, ‘I love you.’  

Then everything went black.