Evil Eyes

Hello, everyone. This story co-stars Natalie (who belongs to turboman500), and three other valka fae (all by him).

Without further ado,


Evil Eyes

By Stabs



Natalie quickly flitted down to the ground between the two giant fairies. There was another still on the branches, but the two giants were cornering maybe ten, no, eleven people in matching uniforms, laid back to back, currently trapped inside a box made of green force. She approached it on foot.

"We got 'em, Natalie!" one of the giant fairies grinned, turning to her. "I didn't miss a single one!"

"Good job, Sasha. You're really good at wall techniques!"

"Thanks!"

"Now it's time to eat them...!" Tasha licked her lips.

"Of course, but first there's something I have to do..." Natalie smiled. "Can you soften the barrier?"

"What? But we caught them, aren't we going to eat them...?" Sasha pouted.

"Don't be silly, Sasha, she just wants to pick first." Tasha grinned. In response, the pink-haired giant softened the whirling energies that held these soldiers between her palms. Immediately, Natalie reached in with both arms through the barrier and pulled one of the mercenaries out by his shoulders.

"There you are!" she grinned, throwing him out on the ground. He rolled, gasping, and stood up quickly, keeping a low stance, with his eyes locked on hers. "What's your name, cutie?"

The man in question was very buff, on the tall side (a couple inches over six feet), with brown flat-top hair, black eyes, wearing a full camouflage ensemble. He also had puffy cheeks. If he would stand up straight, she'd be looking up at him instead of being level.

"Oh, you're planning on getting naughty, Natalie? Then I'm taking this one..." Tasha said, reaching into the barrier and pulling another one out. This one was a white-haired young man, with short hair, a pale complexion, and wide eyes. He did not take the fall as gracefully.

"Oooh, that one looks just like you, Jericho!" Sasha smirked, pinching her fingers as they crossed the barrier, fishing around for one she could eat, raising her eyes to one of the fairies on the branches. This one was a man, naked from the waist up, except for a large metallic epaulette held by a leather strap over his chest. He had long white hair, and...

"Wait, don't eat them just yet!" Natalie exclaimed. "I told you I have something to do first!"

"Just get it over with." the male fairy scoffed. "I don't see why must you waste your time with those humans. They are weak."

"Ohhh, someone got jealous~"

"My name is Marcel." the man snarled, straightening his stance. "Don't mind me, skinny, I wouldn't fuck her with your dick." he hissed as his eyes darted around.

"I'll kill him now." the fairy man dropped to the ground, making a three-point landing. The man in camouflage clenched his fists...

"No." Natalie grinned. "I let this one out for a reason. I've got a question for you, Marcel."

Marcel's eyes returned to her.

"How did you know I wasn't your teammate? It made me curious~! I spent three days watching you guys. I think I could pass for any of you... so how'd you figure it out, hm?"

"Because you were flirting using lines we knew she meant as jokes." he growled.

"Oh..." she grinned. "But what was it really?"

"We knew for a while you were coming." he lied.

"What was it really?"

"No, you don't get to know that one."

"I can beat it out of him." Jericho cracked his knuckles.

"Try me, Jerry." Marcel crossed his arms.

"Cut it out, wise guy!" Natalie grinned. "I'm the only one that's gonna try you!"

Marcel took a deep breath.

"How does this sound...?" she began. "We'll fight. If you win..." she raised a finger "I'll let you all walk away. If you lose..."

"No!" Tasha protested. "I'm hungry! We can't just let them go, they can't win anyway!"

"Yeah! And we caught them! Fair and square!" Sasha cried.

"If this was all for naught..." Jericho added.

"...we'll eat you all." she smiled.

"..." Marcel pursed his lips. "I have a different proposition."

"I'm listening."

"If you win..." he raised a finger, "I'll let you all walk away. If you lose... we'll eat you all."

The fairies exchanged quizzical looks for a moment.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!"

"Ow, my sides hurt~" Natalie grinned. "Here's a friendly warning, Nimrod, you don't wanna go that way!" she laughed, watching bullet-sized sweatdrops rolling down his temples. "Just tell us how you figured me out~"

"There's no way I'm doing that." Marcel frowned.

"Think you can beat me?"

"You're insane." he grimaced. "You wanna spare me if I win the fight?"

"Yes, and not just you. All of your friends. Don't tell me that's not a fair deal?"

"FAIR!?" he snarled. "We aren't your toys- you think it's fair for you to decide whether we live or die!? I will END you, bitch!"

"Alright, bring it on!"

"Mars, wait!" the other guy exclaimed, scrambling to get away from under Tasha's still giant hand, hovering a few inches over his body. "Before you fight her... the scanner has a couple things to point out..."

"Ohh, a scanner? Hehe, did he call you Mars?" Natalie grinned. The young man with white hair, now standing up, lifted a prism wrapped in foil.

"What about it?"

"The scanner points out those are fairies..."

"Scanners do that now too?" Natalie giggled. "They usually break around me~"

"...and there's three specific signatures, both coming from her. There's a spiral sign, a snowflake and a Z."

"The spiral sign... canopy fairy, correct?"

"It's broken already, I'm not a canopy fairy~"

"More or less, expect belly warps and phasing."

"Okay, I can do that~" Natalie smirked.

"I know the snowflake. The Z, what does it mean?"

Nadimon fished in his pockets for a brochure. "The Z means... 'please use a calibrated energy scanner for more information. By filling out the coupon at the bottom of this brochure and sending it to our headquarters, you're eligible for a 15% discount in ACME energy scanners!'" he quoted.

"Bah." Marcel grunted, closing in on Natalie. "It's probably nothing rel-"

And that's when he noticed her aura. He gave all the usual signs of surprise: he paled throughout his body and shivered, hesitating to come any closer. The hairs on his head stood on end, his face showing the fright one would associate to asphyxia. He regained his senses quickly, but he dallied too long, testing the air around him for something. She got tired to watching his mouth half-open, hesitating to speak.

"What's holding you back there~?" she said.

He seemed to wake up at her words.

"Nadimon, are the readings the same?" he turned to his companion.

"Yes. Fairy stripes, spiral, snowflake, and Z."

"You're... pointing it at her, right?"

Even though she was enjoying his reticence to go into her aura, it was a good opportunity to practice holding it down. She let out a soft breath, forcing the energy that radiated from her to withdraw into her body, letting the rest of it disperse into nothingness.

"Where ELSE could I be pointing it, Mar-!?" he gasped as the first blow was exchanged.

======

Dodging the first blow, he punched her in the side twice: it was a really, really strong blow- he'd just set that as the baseline for how hard she'd be hitting him. He threw a hook, she weaved off, he pursued with a jab, she blocked it, jab, jab, hook, cross. She blocked them all, countered with an overhead, he ducked, she roundhoused, he stepped back, the fight was faster, she sped up, he threw a jab, she parried and threw a hook, hook, cross, haymaker- he stepped back, she kicked up the pace another notch, there was still plenty of room for faster. Three punches, he blocked them, one uppercut struck his stomach, and she knew the limits of his speed. The uppercut was followed by a cross, two jabs, and then a kick. He gasped for air against a tree.

"How was that, think you can handle it?"

"Think I can handle it!?" he growled, between his gasps. "All you've got going for you is brute force. I can handle that just fine!"

He charged her, stopping just short of her arm. She threw a jab, he caught her fist, and a moment later he put an arm on her shoulder, thrown her to the ground and got her in an arm lock.

"And now to end you..." he snarled, stomping on her wing. To his surprise, it didn't break. What did break was his stance, which took her not a moment to reverse and put HIM in an arm lock instead.

"BITCH!"

"That's all you have to say? I've got legs to die for~" she added, grapevining her legs around his arm. He curled his free arm under his chest, so she had to grab his leg instead in order to force the submission. He lifted the two of them to the best of his ability, and tried to roll off- she didn't let him. He started getting more desperate as she gently pulled his arm out of its socket...

...and then he threw the two of them towards a tree. She hit her horns, which surprised her long enough for his arms to snake out from between her legs. Then he slipped out and stood up. She withdrew as well. He was panting furiously, holding back no doubt a stream of profanities as he nursed his arm for a moment- and then pulled it back into alignment with a quick tug.

"YAAAAAAAAAHRRGGHHHHH!"

"Aww, did mean ol' Natalie break you already~?"

"BLAST!" he snarled. "I'm tired of your prattle. I'm going to kill you now, you third-rate brawler."

"All I'm doing is match you blow for blow~"

"GRRR!"

======

As far as fighting went... figuring out her disguise was still the most impressive thing she'd seen him do. She could see the pain in his reddening features, he didn't really mask it that well.

"That wasn't even one percent of my strength~ maybe you should quit while you're ahead!"

"GreghGGHHH." he took a few deep breaths. "It's... no use. I... WILL... KILL YOU!"

"Oh!~"

"What!?"

"You were just too cute saying that right now~"

He removed his jacket on one side, cracking his neck. Then he cracked his knuckles, and stepped forward, tilting his head to the side.

"What are you cooking~?" Natalie smiled.

"Get a taste!" he grumbled, raising his fists.

Though he'd just obviously set a plan in motion, she couldn't help but pity him a little. His rage wasn't going to keep him going much longer. She could tell it was dulling, the pain and the fear were now taking over. He didn't have long before he cracked. She wondered what would happen then...

He rushed her- she wasn't the one with a sense of urgency- she dodged the first blow, dodged the second, dodged the third, fourth, the rest. He stepped back, and she did not pursue- there was no need to fall into his trap.

In response, he gulped again, reassessing the situation. What was he playing at?

He dismissed his stance, taking a look at all the fairies around him. As if he were counting them. He brought a hand over his pocket. How telegraphed... what was he planning? Some smoke bomb for escaping? Oh, no he wouldn't!

"You're thinking too much~" she said, suddenly about to kick him over the head. He avoided her, stepped back, and then she was behind him. He smirked as he stepped forward, and she placed herself ahead of him. She was going really, really fast now. She could tell he was done fighting; there was no need to-

Then he swung his arm over her, and his jacket got caught on the antlers. He pulled the arm out of the sleeve, leaving her to try and take it off, but it got entangled, and all she did was rip off a piece. By the time she figured it out...!

"EeeH!" she cried, as an arm wrapped under her shoulder, and another around her neck. He lowered his head under her nape, the worst possible place to hit, as he lifted her off the ground by her neck and got on his knees!

"How do you like the guillotine? I've restricted the flow of blood to your brain. It's a vital organ, yes, even for you!" he snarled into her ear. "You thought you'd get to toy with my life and I wouldn't kill you? Oh, my mistake- you can't think."

She struggled. He made good use of her ranges of movement, her arms couldn't get any meaningful reach on her head in this position. She couldn't kick, because the ground got in the way. She wondered if this counted as a win. She had to try this on someone sometime.

"Struggle freely! The choke will only tighten." he chuckled sadistically. "Even with your strength and your technique, you still amount to nothing but a woman in the end. A freak, at that."

Boy, didn't he EVER shut up? He was starting to remind her of a certain late clan leader. The memory brought with it the taste of chocolate. Now she had a hankering for some. Or rather, maybe she was starting to actually hate someone. She mixed those two up at times, she wasn't normally crazy about the stuff. She tried to think sexy thoughts, think back to some tryst that would not have been possible hadn't she controlled her aura as tightly...

"I'll END you now. I wonder if you are satisfied with your life? Have you eaten enough? Have you had your fill, monster?"

Her craving for chocolate intensified, making it hard to think sexy thoughts. Her knee was bent oddly, and her butt was uncomfortable. The worst part was a blowhard yapping on and on in her ear: he would probably be killed on the spot if she let go of her aura, and it was getting tempting. If only she could stop pretending to be choked... or at least release her aura... but noo, she had to decide that she needed the practice. She was really regretting it now.

"Think of the kin you leave behind. You'll never see them again, but I'll be generous in victory. I'll let them know... they can mourn for you."

That's when she decided she'd toned down the aura for long enough. This guy really wouldn't give up in selling her the idea of a deathmatch, he was on his knees after all... having had her fill of his fighting style, she wasn't impressed. Besides, she'd been able to cool down her aura enough that this bigmouth could even fight inside it; however long she had done that, it was enough practice for a day. It was time to break this off.

"You... don't... my..." she mumbled.

"Excuse me, what was that!?" he hissed. "I don't think I quite caught your LAST WORDS..." he kept growling, as he tightened the choke. "Are you pleading, perhaps-" he gasped. "The others- your mates- they aren't even worried!?"

Gosh, she had been so slow she had missed his face when he figured it out on his own! She couldn't resist anymore: she took a deep breath, and turned around, breaking his hold with her neck.

"I was just trying to say you don't hurt my throat one bit~!" she grinned. His face as she confirmed his suspicions made putting up with his littany almost worth it, the key word being 'almost'.

"Curses!"

She grabbed his arms and pried them free of her nape, buckling backwards and throwing Marcel overhead. Just to be nice, she released one of his arms, and he barely managed to land on his feet. He tried to kick- and she just crossed her arms, releasing the tiniest fraction of her aura. He immediately stopped on his tracks.

"Gh-h-h--!"

"You know what happened to the last guy who tried to bring my daughter into this!?" she gave him a long kick, forcing him to fall on his back, frozen in fear. She didn't know how much strength she was using: probably too much. "C'mon, don't stop now!" she grabbed his head, lifting him to his full height. "I've got just three words for you!" she cried, preparing herself to flick him on the chest-

"Which words?"

"FUS-RO-DAH!"

-and was sent flying, slamming into a tree with a sickening crunch. His body fell on its side a moment later, the back broken by the bark of the tree.

======

"Marcel! No!" the other man cried, running towards his companion. "You... this can't be..."

"Oh, but it is~" Natalie smirked. "He better get up, I'm not done..."

"He's dead."

"I didn't hit him that hard! He can't be dead after all that trash he talked!"

"He's not breathing! No pulse either!"

"Of course he is! Check!"

Nadimon stood back up, and gave the body a kick in the family jewels.

"What was that?!"

"The balls... are inert."

"Excuse me!? This isn't over 'till I say it's over! Now get him up, you little guy, before I get REALLY MAD! I've got a beating for him, and if I can't beat him, I might have to take it out on YOU!"

"Uh, to be frank, I was cheering for you..." Nadimon searched in his pockets. "Please, let this work!" he put something on the man's mouth, moving his mouth up and down.

"Nadimon, what happ-?" Marcel gagged, spitting out a mouthful of blood that had gotten on his throat.

"So he survived..." Jericho said from the sidelines. "A pity." he sighed, heavy-hearted.

"You got your wish~" Natalie grinned. "It's deathmatch time!"

"Wait!" Nadimon cried. "Marcel, come on! Give up! One wrong move and she'll splatter your brain! I can't revive you from that!"

"Be a warrior~"

"I... have to...!" Marcel gulped, choking on another mouthful of fluids that had gone where they shouldn't.

"If you lose, we'll all get eaten!"

Marcel took a few deep breaths, gasping, looking around. Finally. The fear in his eyes was in full bloom. He knew he couldn't win: there was no point in toying with him any longer. Time to hammer in the last nails in his coffin.

"If you give up you get eaten too~ and I'll pummel you anyway~"

He turned pleading eyes to his teammates for a moment, before looking down in shame. Then he made angry eyes to the fairies around him, meeting all of their gazes.

He leaned close to Nadimon.

"I need a couple things." he whispered, making a few gestures. "After you get them to me... run away."

"Marcel, if THAT fails... you might make things even worse somehow..."

"Why?"

"These two girls have Z-eclipse instead of Z-snowflake-spiral." Nadimon's eyes veered towards Tasha and Sasha for a moment. "The man does register as Z-snowflake, no spiral."

"Make it three things, then. You might need to use the third yourself..."

"What things do you need~?" Natalie asked.

"I need you to give me YOUR FACE!" he pursed his lips, rushing Natalie. She vanished, reappearing behind him, and brutalizing his back with a spin kick. He dropped on his shins, avoided another stomp, caught a hook on the head, blocked a cross that broke his guard and went straight to his face. Two elbows on his chest and belly, another knee on his back, a few blows he barely blocked and avoided by staying off range. He threw a blow she avoided, one she blocked, one she didn't even acknowledge- and another to which she vanished.

Observing him from all around him, she moved beyond fast, looking at his bewildered expression. She knew what he was thinking. Was he seeing double... or were there many more than one of her?

"Take his advice seriously~ You never stood a chance~" they grinned. "Can you guess which one is real?"

He stumbled on his shins, disoriented, seemingly unable to get up.

"The real one..." he turned, disoriented, not looking at her. He couldn't see her, he couldn't touch her. "...is YOU!"

"I'm not there~"

He had missed, obviously. He had not even missed: she wasn't anywhere near him. But as she looked at him, a blinding flash of light burst straight into her face.

======

"Aiiieeee!"

"My eyes!"

"What was that?!"

"I can't see!"

"That bastard...!"

When Natalie's eyes regained their sensitivity, Marcel was still standing right where he had been. He cracked his knuckles, and took a deep breath.

"Are you ready for round three?" he smirked.

"Where'd that confidence come from?"

"I healed myself while you couldn't see." he grinned. "And I think that's all the healing my body can take for today. Now let's finish this." he smirked, drawing a broad knife. "You're going down."

"That's it? That's your great plan, drawing a knife in broad view?" Natalie grinned. "Why didn't you keep it until the last moment?"

"That's a good question!" Marcel laughed. "And I have a good answer, too..."

"..."

"What's your answer?"

"What indeed. My answer is, of course, a good answer. I could've simply surprised you with the knife- but I thought it would be more appropriate to gauge your reaction to it. You're unimpressed. Whether that is because..."

"He's stalling." Jericho blurted.

"Stalling, you say. But what am I stalling fo-?"

"The humans are missing!"

"...I was hoping you wouldn't find out." Marcel sighed, sheathing the knife.

"That's your big plan!?" Natalie grinned. "You distracted us so your comrades would escape?"

"That's half of the plan."

"What's the other half?"

"Stall as long as possible, then escape myself shortly after."

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

"..." Marcel rolled his eyes. "Improvise."

"Well, I'll help you with the first part." Natalie smiled, curious. "Why didn't you do this any sooner?"

"..."

"Why did you fight in the first place? Why didn't you start with the blinding flash?"

"..."

"You wanted to fight me... until you realized you were losing. You aren't a warrior... you don't respect the art of fighting. You aren't ready to live or die by your fighting."

He bared his teeth.

"You're no warrior. I can see it in your eyes. The anger, the fear, are too much for you. It was a pain to resort to the flash, hm? But still..." she pointed at him, crying out in an exaggerated manner, "YOU DO NOT POSSESS TRUE PRIDE!"

Raising his stance, he let out a long breath, tilting his head.

"I thought I was like that, once. And it was the worst mistake in my life. I spent most of my life... trying to be the strongest. Thinking I was. I sought to be strong enough to destroy... everything in my way. You... tempted me."

"Well, darlin', I'm just that tempting~"

"You tempted me to be that fool again." he spat. "But I'm not anymore- If I have to be strong, it is to not be tempted. This... thing you do, measuring our right to live by strength- that's a trap, believing in might becomes a trap." he cracked his neck. "I am not to believe in might- but in finding a way."

"That sounds like a sore loser to me~"

His eye twitched.

"I am a fighter! And this is what I do!" he raised the knife.

"Darlin', that's gonna help you none~" she smirked. "Guys, go catch the others. I'll take it from here!"

"Alright~"

"Let's go!"

"Hmph. Take care of that fool quickly..."

"Good thing we're now alone." he smirked. "Time to end this."

"After all that spiel you're still going on with that?"

"Beat it."

She dashed towards him. He stepped up his game, using a different parry now. He stepped back and to the side after the blow, and she was ready to catch him over, but he mixed the parries up with dodges. The next one was neither a parry nor a dodge, but merely jumping back, and the fourth was a counterattack. Then he mixed up the movements a little, keeping her on her guard. This was a bit more fun, but he was slowing down. He wouldn't last long inside her aura, and he knew it. He reached for a flash grenade at his waist; she sped up, stole it, and threw it away.

"Don't get all boring on me, pretty pleeeease~" she whispered, now that he was out of flash grenades. He reverted his turn, trying to elbow her ear, but she wasn't there any longer...

...and then he swung the knife at her face. She caught it midway without even blinking, but then there was another light, coming from his other hand- and the world turned into a red spot.

"How's THAT!?" the now invisible pink man said, as he threw a punch at her side. She didn't need to dodge; she took the chance to catch his fist, and force him into trapping range. Without sight, she needed to stay close, in contact, so she wouldn't miss him. Then she forced him into an arm lock on the ground, and

BAAAAAM!

After thirty seconds, she regained use of her predator sense. He'd gone too far. She couldn't feel him anymore. Affording herself a moment to think, Natalie went back over his actions... he knew she knew he could use a flash, and she was sure she could've countered it. In fact, she had! She had assumed he had blinded her to keep her from seeing his fist, but apparently, he did that so he could use the flash again. But he didn't have another flash grenade... she was sure of that. And they were alone, she was sure of that too. How had he pulled that off!?

Well, her eyes were back, so now she could follow his tracks~

If she did that, though... he still wouldn't tell her how he'd done it. And he was expecting it. She didn't have much interest in fighting anymore: he wasn't strong. She didn't want to beat him, that was already done. She wanted to WIN.

Something brushed her hair; she caught it with a violently ephemeral movement. Much to her surprise, it was a length of... string, a length she couldn't see, only feel, because of its vanishing, hair-thin thickness: slowly her eyes caught up, regaining full use of their color perception, until it was evident. Looking up, she saw it had been tied to a branch. And there was a powder stain on it. Oh, so Mars had set up a trap when the first flash had blinded her! And that was what the green light was for- so she wouldn't spot the string and figure out the trap, with which the grenade had gone off right on her face! It would've been pretty dumb of him to think blinding her would've saved his life, he knew he couldn't even scratch her! If he did, he wouldn't have shown her the knife! So there was more to the blowhard than she thought...

She giggled to herself as she rose into the air and fondled the knots. Was that what he meant by finding a way? Two could play this game~

"So... you believe in finding a way~" she hummed to herself. "I think I'm gonna do just that..."


======

Surfacing, he gasped, jumping out of the water, and crawling over the shore. Had this gambit worked, she'd have probably overshot him. The rocks he'd stuffed his pockets with had helped him tread water at the bottom, but a hundred metres downstream without air other than a plastic bag had still been a call way too close for comfort.

He lay against a tree, gasping for air. He'd be sore for days, probably, but damn, he was ALIVE. That had to count for something. It was secondary, however, to something else, as he adjusted his earpiece.

"Marcel here. Status?"

"Everyone well... and accounted for, Marcel. You?"

He pumped his fist in victory.

"I believe she lost me, captain." he said. "Whatever happens next, I gotta thank you, boss, the trap and the laser pointer were literal lifesavers."

"Oh, you're welcome."

"Did Sarcos do these knots? It was a snap to fit it there, I'm just glad I didn't screw it up."

"I don't recall who did."

"...you don't...? Can you ask now?"

"Can it wait until we meet again?" the captain replied.

"That's alright. I'll meet you up at rendezvous point three."

"Roger that. By the way..."

"Yeah?"

"How did you figure she had gotten in our midst, Marcel?"

"Her lexicon." Marcel gasped.

"What do you mean?"

"She cased Nura, and limited her lexicon to words Nura had used during the last three days. She even imitated the accent: that fairy must've had quite a talented mouth."

"Mhm, then how'd you catch her?"

"She improvised the conjugation of the irregular verbs. That forced her to employ several sounds I was sure Nura had never used before. I could understand because of the magic, but it was still suspicious to hear Nura smoothly use sounds her mouth was clearly not meant for." Marcel explained. "Besides, Nadimon had been detecting fairy signs on the scanner for the last three days, so I was on edge already. When she flirted with me in spite of the situation..." he made a pause. "Still can't believe I didn't land any bullets on her, I'm certain I took her by surprise."

"Did you ask her favourite flavor?"

"I... forgot..." Marcel sighed. "But during the final struggle, I placed Tracker Three on her..." he smirked. "If she rejoins the group, you'll get the drop on her. Can you check now if she followed me?"

"You... forgot. She hasn't followed you, trust me on that."

Marcel nodded quietly.

======

"Roger, sir. Sorry I forgot." his voice rang out of a communicator Natalie held to the man's head. "Any further orders?"

Natalie smirked at the captain.

"Here's further orders." Natalie added, licking her chops and taking the communicator. Having heard the entire previous conversation, now she could mimic his voice perfectly with her magic. "Move your hips if you want to punch."

"I make a thousand reps for those katas every night." Natalie shook her head at his tone. "Don't tell me how to fight now!"

"Well, find yourself other katas. There's no good reason to throw a haymaker, ever."

"I'm gonna kick your..." he trailed off.

"My what, soldier?"

"Sorry, captain, I spoke out of line. You saved my life. I'll see about that, it's the least I can do." she grinned. What a cute reaction!

"Yeah, you do that." Natalie laughed. "Over and-"

"W-wait!" Marcel cried.

"What is it?"

"I just thought of something..." Marcel blurted out. "She was strong. She said it wasn't even one percent of her strength, and frankly, I'm starting to believe it..." he continued. "But there is a way in which we may defeat her next time."

"Yeah, bub, look. You can forget your plan already..."

"Look, just hear me out in case something happens to me! Think of this. I'm mostly a grappler, so I never employed any throws. But if we managed to use a throw and have her land on her back, it could break her wings..."

"No, YOU look." Natalie chuckled, remembering to keep to the captain's voice. "You ran away, no one's giving you another chance. If she sees you, again, she's not going to fight you just eat you. And you won't know it 'till the world turns pink."

"Huh. Pink, eh?" Marcel's voice replied from the comm. "I'm fine with that, I can handle that. It's that way with all the other fairies!"

Natalie laughed, almost forgetting to mimic the captain's voice. Then she kept laughing, and laughed some more.

"Of course, you clever girl! Alright, Mars, that's enough for now. Captain over and out."

"Mars over and out. Sorry for the outburst, and thanks again, boss."

Natalie dropped the comm unit on the ground.

"Alright, now I know~" she grinned. She then casually undressed down to nothing but her necklace, which would probably keep the captain from imploding in her aura.

"What's the matter?" the captain asked, still unable to get up.

"Did he really put a tracker on me? Today's been so full of surprises~" she felt around the fabric of her clothes, humming softly. Casually their eyes met, and she winked, motioning down to her naked body. "Come on, a healthy man peeps at every opportunity~" she whispered in his ear, taunting the man immobilized by her aura. He winced as her antler scratched his scalp.

"You're scratching me with your..." he stopped himself mid-sentence.

"With my...?"

"..."

"Is it the antlers? Why don't you just say it? I'm not sensitive about them or any-" she ran her hands over her antlers. Feeling, something, she gasped, and giggled. "Oh! That NAUGHTY boy!" she fished out a coin-sized device with three stars on it. She twirled it around, her eyes twinkling, kneeling in front of the captain. "So THIS is why we couldn't sneak up on you at all the second time! You're all surprises, aren't y~"

Then she pretended to gasp, and covered herself.

"But what if all this was just part of your malevolent plan to look at my naked body!?" she gasped. "and you abandoned your underling knowing I wouldn't kill him, so I'd try and trick him, and you knew that'd make him scare me out of my clothes, just so I'd leave my cherished, treasured beauty defenseless~ for your, ravenous, cold, evil eyes to violate~" she gingerly rubbed her hands over her curves, pretending to hesitate as she did. "That's why you gave him that trap he used on me... just how many steps ahead of everyone are you? You're such a terrifying manipulator! Is your next move going to be forcing yourself on poor little me, as I cry helplessly for mercy? Now I'll never be a bride! Why would you do something so heartless to me!?" Natalie faked some tears at the captain, holding one arm under her chest and another to her forehead, turning away in a mock demure fashion. He took a deep breath, unable to turn his head: she leaned in almost immediately.

"He shouldn't have f@&%ing mentioned the tracker." he hissed between his teeth. "You have your answer. You got to say your piece to him, too. Now will you let us go?"

"But you've seen my bare body..." she sobbed. "and the only way I can ever clear my shame is with your life..."

"We had a deal." he spat. "You gave your word."

"Mmm... that's right... but I'm still not fond of cowards who abandon their underlings to die just so they can run away~" she smirked. "Even though he was such a horrible person... I think all of you should just go straight to hell together~"

Cobayon let out a hum.

"Shouldn't have made a deal with you."

"Too late, no takebacks..." she picked him up as he shrank to the size of her finger. "for you, I mean~" She dangled him, like many others before, over her mouth.

"Wait...!"

She dropped him unceremoniously inside her mouth, savoring him. She drew every turn of her tongue as much as she could, making it a point of giving him all the time in the world to regret his crookedness. She sucked in her saliva, wondering if it tasted any worse than other humans... she didn't taste humans much lately, but there was just something about him that would need chocolate to help it go down. Oh well.

Getting a bit tired, she gulped him down, following the lump down her neck with a finger. She sighed in appreciation as he started struggling. Even if her stomach wasn't as tough as the rest, it would still all amount to no more than a pleasant tickle. She smiled: he struggled more than anyone had in some time. Placing her hand under her bare ribs, she let herself feel it. It was so pleasant... almost deliberate. She'd like nothing more than to wait until they died down...

...but a deal was a deal. Taking a deep breath, she forced her stomach to squeeze him up into her throat, and then back upon her mouth. Oddly enough, the lump seemed bigger on the way up...

She opened her mouth, curious, and let him loose into her hand. He carried under his arm the body of the woman she'd eaten first. She seemed to be in pretty good shape for someone who had been... how long in her stomach? Apparently, fighting after a meal did stop digestion. Who would've thought? She learned something new every day...

"Well, I give you a hand and you take food from my belly?" she grinned, holding one hand to her hip.

"She's alive. She's one of us." the captain cried. "If you're gonna eat us...!"

"Oh, don't worry your pretty little head, I keep my word~" she winked. "And junk food like you is prolly gonna go straight to my hips. But my willpower has limits too! Next time I'm gonna scarf you all down even if my butt gets bigger than that lazy child of mine~" she licked her lips.

Cobayon's eyes brightened, but even in this situation, he had enough restraint to temper his elation with caution.

"Thank you... but... are your friends going to be happy to let us go? I remember they weren't too thrilled you ate one and they couldn't."

"I was thinking about that too." Natalie grinned, dropping both of them in the ground. "But a quarter hour ago, we came to an agreement with the fine young man over there." she pointed at Nadimon, as she took her clothes and donned them slowly. Cobayon's eyes widened.

"What... agreement?"

======

"I whipped up a menu to see if they'd order anything first." Sarcos replied.

"Did they order anything to start?"

"They looked at the list and said 'okay'."

Nadimon grimaced.

"Hey! You!" Tasha cried, making him shudder. "Six more bowls of rice!"

"Yeah! And six more for me too!" the pink-haired one demanded.

Nadimon just stared as the two scarfed down excessive amounts of food. The man with them stayed quiet, too focused on the cooked meat he was gobbling to even make a cute comment about it.

"How much have they eaten yet?"

"I lost track after the fortieth bowl." Nadimon scrunched as he did some long division. "How long until we run out?"

"That was thirty minutes ago."

A bead of sweat ran down Nadimon's brow. It always surprised him that fairies ate people, but after watching each of them gobble down their weight in rice (not counting water), it suddenly made a lot more sense.

He decided to be brave, and turn the situation around... or die trying.

"Excuse me...?"

Their eyes turned to him, but they did not stop eating.

"Are you sure you haven't had enough for a meal?"

They exchanged gazes. It was the man that spoke.

"Very well: we shall have temperance."

"Just five bowls more~" Nadimon smiled, that gave him some maneuvering room.

"We need some room for dessert after all!" Sasha grinned.

That's when he flopped.

"Yeah! What's for dessert? The food was completely lousy!" Sasha added, gobbling down her fifty-seventh bowl of rice.

"I want my dessert with liquor!"

"It has to be something fancy! Or I'll be really mad!"

"Be quick about it, humans."

"Just a moment please." the operative nodded, going for the secret ice chest. He wondered how much could he fancy up the ice cream...