Emily bristled, and she pulled her jacket closer to her body. She leaned against the wooden slats that made up the frontal façade of the apartment complex. From her front porch vantage point, she scanned the horizon.

The streets were bare. Only the faintest hints of morning rays threatened to pierce the trees. She was in the clear.

Emily ground her teeth together. Then, she glanced at her phone.

2 Missed Calls.

Emily rolled her eyes and prepared to redial. Before her finger could punch in the last digit, Emily heard a single bell chime. Looking back to the street, a middle-aged woman was riding a recumbent bicycle. Noticing Emily, she waved. Emily waved back.

“Good morning, Mrs. Chau…” Emily called out half-heartedly.

An avalanche of heavily accented English was the response. “That’s Ms. Chau now! Didn’t I tell you I dropped that two-timing cheater down the drain like old eggshells last week? Hey, if you know any young single men who don’t mind getting with an older woman, you better send them my way, okay Honey? Anyway, how’s Gabrielle? Such sweet young girls, the both of you. Hey, did you ever visit that physical therapist I told you about? Don’t think I don’t see how sorry you look trying to limp around here! Ankle-biters like you shouldn’t have to worry about back pain for another forty years or so! The state of kids today, what with mutants running around, villains blowing up city blocks. Disgraceful, that’s what it is!”

Ms. Chau rode as fast as she could speak and was already nearly out of Emily’s sight. Not wanting to leave her hanging, Emily nervously called back, “Ah, uh, yeah! I’m with you…”

Ms. Chau shouted out, “Nice chat! We’ll talk later! My nephew is in town, I’m sure Gabrielle could be a good tutor for him! Maybe we could come by for dinner! He’s failing 4th grade…” Ms. Chau disappeared around the bend.

“Good chat…” Emily trailed off.

Emily shifted her eyes left to right and started counting down from sixty, but once she hit 48, her phone rang again.

The Commissioner blared out the speaker, clearly agitated. “Nice to know in this era of political division, ‘third time’s the charm’ still has some level of meaning to young folks like you.”

“Do you know how hard it is to keep a low profile out here? And this isn’t exactly a secure line…” Emily said.

“Imp, you’ve been at this for, what, five years?”

Emily thought for a bit. “Six,” she muttered.

The Commissioner laughed. “Right. Six. I’ve been working in this city for decades. And you know the most brutal lesson I’ve learned in that timeframe? It’s that nobody cares about you. Or me. Nobody will actually knock on your door unless they want something that you can give them. Nobody will go through the effort unless they already know who you are. Once you get that through your skull, let me tell ya. You’ll be able to enjoy yourself a whole lot more.”

Emily groaned, and she leaned on the balcony. “Speaking of enjoying myself… what is it? Why are you calling me on my day off?”

“Well, why else but to hear your lovely voice, Imp?” The Commissioner chuckled, then continued when Emily didn’t laugh. “Consider it a tip. A private firm asked the ACPD to escort an armored van today that’s passing through on its way to Circuit City.”

“So, what’s this got to do with me?”

“They’re keeping the cargo under wraps. Nobody’s telling what’s in the van, how much it’s worth… even the name of the firm is a mystery. It’s a black box as far as we can all tell.”

Emily was confused. “So why even take the job if you don’t know who’s paying for it? Aren’t you, like, the police? Don’t you get to make these decisions?”

The Commissioner was silent. “I do know who’s paying for it. An old… friend of mine.”

Emily thought on it for a bit. “So, it’s nepotism.”

“Look, if I know her well enough, I know whatever they’re transporting would be a ripe target for villains looking to score. I don’t know if it will happen… I would just appreciate it if you were there in case something did happen.”

“I take it Meteoroid was busy?”

“I’m not at liberty to discuss what Meteoroid is currently doing off-world. But rest assured, if she took a break from it to come back here, you, and me, and everyone we know would be speaking Galornish within a week. If we’re lucky.”

“Always nice being the backup…” Emily sighed, then winced in pain. A migraine just streaked through her forehead.

“Look… Emily. I know it’s tough. But think about what I’ve done for you. If not for me, the police would be on your–”

“I’ll do it, Jesus Christ…” Emily covered the phone and looked behind her. Nervous habit. “You don’t need to keep guilting me.”

“Right. Appreciate it. Oh, and one more thing.”

Emily said nothing, simply waiting for the Chief to finish. The Chief strode past her passive-aggressive silence with aplomb.

“My offer still stands. I could get you hooked up with a place downtown. Nice place, warm water, no bugs. I could even make some calls, get enough space squirreled away to have a sleeping area for your girl. We’d need to do some security checks, of course… There’s a weapons ban, for one. No controlled substances, that sort of thing. Standard. It’s an open invite.”

Emily was silent once again. The Commissioner at first thought she may have left the phone lying somewhere. She was prepared to hang up when Emily responded.

“I’ll think about it. What time is the convoy coming through?”

“Noon.”

“Got it.”

Click.

Imperia glared at the phone as a flurry of complex feelings bubbled and mixed in her stomach. She wanted to throw it out into the street, but ultimately cooler heads prevailed.

Noon…

Shopping with Gabrielle would have to go on hold.

But that gave her just enough time to let a let off a little steam…

***

Caldera didn’t know how long she had been asleep by the time she woke up.

She was sprawled out on the table. The stress and exertion of serving under Imperia had done a number on her stamina, and the repetitive low whale-like sounds had been an effective sleeping aid. In her mind-addled state, it was easy to think it was the hum of a computer, or a piece of heavy machinery elsewhere in the complex. It was only when Caldera blinked a few times and glanced to her side again that she was reminded of the true origin.

Shortfuse. She was in an odd, near-bowing position, her pert booty still raised high in the air, twitching. Said posterior was now coated and shiny slick with sweat and cum, with her legs only unfurled just enough to allow the insertion dildo to continue its gyration work. Her hands were sprawled out, tensing and clenching, loosening. The knees of her skin-tight rubber suit had been rubbed raw. The pool of sweat, and tears, and ejaculate within which she now laid was thin and viscous and goopy. The motor’s whir masked Shortfuse’s own, desolate moans. Continuously being drained of her fluids and her electricity, even when the actual phone she had been charging was long gone. She was far past the threshold for gleaning whatever meager pleasure she could from the torture device.

At first, Shortfuse’s predicament was a simple oddity, mere window dressing on Caldera’s own trials she had to endure to survive. Now though, the moment had passed, and she was still there. To be party to such misery was an active detriment to Caldera’s acceptance of her environment. Whether it was advantageous in the long run or not, Caldera couldn’t just leave her there. And besides, helping her might be the key to gaining yet another ally, a precious commodity.

Caldera glanced behind her. Penny was asleep, but still jittering in her dreams. Unlike the previous night, Caldera suspected that simply blowing on the duplicator would be enough to stir her from her slumber.

Caldera listened. She listened closely, trying to break through the droning sound of Shortfuse’s torment. She heard footsteps up above. Overlapping strides. The walls were just a bit too thick for her to discern whether she heard a voice or voices. She had no idea what it was Imperia was doing, but she seemed to be doing something. And whatever that something was, it’d be good enough for Caldera to work.

Caldera tiptoed over to Shortfuse’s body. She walked in front of the electromancer, trying to display herself so that Shortfuse at least knew she was there before getting to work on removing the vibrator. Shortfuse’s eyes widened, then they narrowed back to their slits. Her flushed, gaunt face returned to its default of painful lewdness.

Caldera was nervous. She felt hot. Seeing Shortfuse in such a revealing pose of course didn’t turn her on – the opposite, in fact. She was terrified of doing something wrong, something that could exacerbate the problem or magnify Shortfuse’s pain. The dildo was quite a big one, at least 9 inches proportionately from Caldera’s erstwhile observation. As it pumped and pumped, the suction keeping it in place inside Shortfuse’s vagina caused it to reveal an extra spare inch or two with every repetition, but otherwise the item had been fully inserted inside Shortfuse’s snatch.

Caldera breathed. She focused. The plan was to gently place her hand on Shortfuse’s hind quarters, hold her in place, then pull it out with her free hand. Simple. So, Caldera executed step one: she touched Shortfuse.

“ACH, God, shit!”

A spark of light bridged the gap between Shortfuse’s skin and Caldera’s finger, flashing in a blinding stun, tossing Caldera a few feet back. She didn’t lose her balance, but she did lose her vision for a while, and her ears rang. Caldera waited, feeling the stress and anxiety associated with losing one of her senses. Eventually though, the spots in her eyesight once again coalesced into visible light. Even with much of the excess energy being siphoned out through the charger, the ambient static that collected on Shortfuse’s body still packed a hell of a punch.

Caldera rubbed her eyes. Shortfuse was just as incapacitated as she ever was.

Caldera looked back to the lightly stirring Polymaiden. Perhaps there was a reason Penny hadn’t gone to help Shortfuse herself.

Caldera’s eyes journeyed across Shortfuse’s body, eventually landing on the motor component.

It was small for normal proportions, though it looked plenty big enough to be a generator to the shrunken Caldera. Still though, it wasn’t a complex design, identical to those sold in RC stores and electrical shops used to power toy helicopters and hand-held fans. Caldera had worked with various electronics before, and she knew a few ways she might be able to disable to motor itself given the right tools. But without access to those – or, more importantly, her size -- the simplest method in her toolkit was to simply burn it and hope for the best.

So, Caldera inched close to the motor, keeping her distance from the villain it was attached to. The motor too was wobbling, lifting slight bits off the ground with each thrusting of itself and Shortfuse’s hips in response.

Caldera mentally prepared herself, placing her hands on the motor. She cringed, but ultimately it was well insulated enough to give her nothing but a slight static shock.

Then, Caldera closed her eyes… and breathed. This time, she focused her energy on every inhale.

She waited, feeling the heat and strength rush through her body and into her hands, until –

BOOM!

“Ah, ah, ahh!!”

Caldera opened her eyes. The motion had stopped. The aluminum casing had melted. Smoke was coming out.

“S-sorry!” Caldera said, reaching once again for the inserted sex toy. In her haste, she brushed against Shortfuse’s behind and was met with another shock. Stomaching the pain, she managed to hold it together long enough to brace her hand on Shortfuse’s back and use the other to rip the dildo out of her inflamed vagina. She didn’t want to close a circuit with Shortfuse’s body any longer than she had to.

Shortfuse summoned a wail and cut it off with a teeth clench. She curled in closer to a ball shape. The smoke from the destroyed motor had baked her buttocks, painting them red with the heat.

Caldera cleared her throat. “A-are you –”

“S-s-s-s-shut up!” Shortfuse whispered. “Just, be quiet, be quiet, be quiet…!”

Shortfuse put her hands to her ears, forehead to the ground. She banged her head on the table. Then banged it again, harder. Then another time.

She continued to do this. And Caldera watched, concerned. She reached out a hand tentatively, touching Shortfuse’s arm. To her surprise, there was no electric shock.

“Get. Your hand. Off me,” Shortfuse growled. “Now.” Her face was still obscured, glaring down at the table in despair.

Caldera acquiesced. Then she said, “I’m s… I’m sorry. I’m sorry this happened –”

“GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME. DO IT, DO IT NOW!”

Shortfuse bared her fangs, pouncing up and lunging for Caldera, who only barely managed to sidestep out of the way.

Shortfuse faceplanted, but quickly returned to her feet. Her stance was uneven, her knees were visibly weak, and her face was still being streaked with tears. Caldera put her hands up, scared, unsure of why Shortfuse attacked. Caldera had all but forgotten the reality of who she now boarded with. Villains, criminals, maniacs of all stripes.

“I bet you think you’re so safe, huh? The both of you…” Shortfuse’s eyes narrowed. Caldera turned around; Polymaiden was up, alert. She took a step toward the burgeoning battle, but a spark out of Shortfuse’s fingers deterred her. A threat.

“Look, Shortfuse…” Caldera held her hands out at length, and she tried her best to keep the flames they spurted at a minimum. “We’re on the same team, here… none of us want to be here!”

“Don’t play dumb, little girl…” Shortfuse held up one slim finger and pointed at Caldera, who felt the hairs on her neck stand on end. She didn’t know if it was from the fear or the static electricity. “I saw you… you think I didn’t notice… but I did. It didn’t take you a full day to become Imperia’s bitch…”

“What?! No, I’m not! Why would you think that?”

“What are you, dense? I’ve never seen her talk like that to anyone. Even her!” Shortfuse jerked her chin toward Polymaiden, who chagrined. “Giving all that focus bullshit and therapy crap... You need to make a choice, right now.”

Polymaiden took another step.

ZZZZAP-CRACK!!!

Shortfuse blasted the floor with a bolt of lightning. The table in front of Polymaiden was charred and smoking. “Stay the fuck away.”

Polymaiden obeyed.

Then Shortfuse returned her attention to a terrified Caldera. “Now… whose team are you really on?”

The accusation was blindsiding. Caldera stammered. “I… I-I… I mean, this team! Our team! I’m, I –”

“Say it like you mean it! Or I’ll –”

THWACK!

A swift running kick from behind knocked Shortfuse to the ground. Polymaiden then grabbed the scrambling villain, grappling her, keeping her down.

“Wha… but –” Caldera turned around. Polymaiden was there too, running into the fray. She locked her arms around Shortfuse’s legs, immobilizing her.

Polymaiden had Shortfuse in a headlock. “Stay down…” she whispered. “Stay down!” She increased the pressure on Shortfuse’s neck, even as Shortfuse unleashed a burst of energy through the air, causing both the clone and the original to hiss between their teeth. But still they maintained their dominance.

At last, Shortfuse went limp. The sparks at her fingers dissipated.

Polymaiden let go of Shortfuse’s head, catching her breath. She crawled over, helping herself get out the entanglement of Shortfuse’s legs. It was a very industrial, utilitarian display, yet Caldera was somehow intrigued watching the two nude clones run their hands along one another as they checked each other for damage.

SLAM!

Everybody looked up.

Imperia was back. She was glaring at the table with bloodshot eyes. She also held her supersuit in a bundle in her arms; the blue-white latex oversuit and the boots. Her black nylon riding suit had already been donned and zipped. “What… what’s this all about?” she asked, not unlike a mother arriving home to a group of squabbling children.

Steam still wafted off the tiny motor. Polymaiden standing above Shortfuse’s knocked out body just as she was beginning to regain consciousness did Poly no favors either.

“Who…” Imperia trotted down the stairs. “Who did… who did this?”

She walked in front of the table deposited the clothing in the seat before she pointed to the destroyed motor and charger. “Who broke this?” Imperia’s emotions flared, and her all-seeing gaze seemed to bore ever deeper into the ragtag group of disheveled super villains.

Shortfuse looked at Caldera. Caldera pleaded at Polymaiden. Polymaiden looked at the other Polymaiden. This Polymaiden seethed at Shortfuse. Yet not a one of them said a word.

"Was it you?” Imperia bared down ever closer to Shortfuse, freed from her perpetual orgasm. Even the hot-headed thunder queen had to put her head down in response to Imperia’s massive face approaching like a floating boulder. From this distance, Caldera could tell. Shortfuse was shivering. A far cry from her former demeanor. Still, she remained quiet.

Imperia scanned the faces of the other three. Caldera felt her body heat rise. Her breaths were getting shorter and shorter. She was getting hot. But she caught it in time, tried to breathe. Her hands flashed; Caldera glanced to Imperia, then squeaked and looked back to the ground. Her hands were normal again. She hadn’t seen. Hopefully.

Imperia clicked her tongue. “So, you finally managed to get it up, huh?” Both clones of Polymaiden glared down in shame.

Imperia shook her head, further frizzing her ornate blonde hair. She looked back at Caldera.

“You know anything about this? Caldera?”

Caldera leaned back from Imperia’s dominating gaze. She shook her head rapidly.

Imperia’s face twisted. She clicked her tongue again and shook her head. Then… a devilish smile crossed her lips.

Her fingers reached down for Polymaiden.

“N-no!” Polymaiden jittered, scooting away. Her clone too took several steps back. Yet she lunged for her other self when Imperia grasped her naked torso, lifting her into the air. Polymaiden held onto her shrieking clone’s leg and foot with all her might, yet still had her ripped away. Her face was pale, and her screams grew in power and primal fear as she was lifted forth to face Imperia directly, being continuously squeezed between Imperia’s thumb and forefinger.

“Fuck this… it was me!” Shortfuse screamed out, limping up to her feet. “I broke it. I broke your stupid charger!” She yelled out, waving her hands, spraying sparks from her fingertips. Caldera stepped back from her display.

“I did it! I… broke the thing…” Shortfuse struggled to complete the words. “Put her down!”

Up in Imperia's grasp, Polymaiden was still and silent. She tried to look out over the rim of Imperia’s grasping hands but couldn’t get a good look at what was going on underneath. However, she heard Shortfuse’s admittance all too well.

“A confession!” Imperia said perkily. She scooped up Shortfuse in her other hand, holding her by the scruff of the neck of her suit. Caldera watched in shock, stunned silent, unable to truly comprehend Shortfuse’s words and demeanor before Shortfuse was whisked into Imperia’s fingertips. The hero examined the humiliated villain, rotating her in her view. Imperia squinted down at Shortfuse’s red sore buttcheeks, as well as the glistening sweat and cum that was still dribbling down her legs and into the latex greaves of her suit.

“So… I hope I don’t have to explain to you why you’re in big trouble…” Imperia licked her lips as she looked at Shortfuse. “But I’m more just impressed… I never would’ve thought you’d be able to break out of it. I just keep underestimating you, huh, Shorty?”

“I told you… don’t fucking call me tha… what?!” Shortfuse looked around herself. Caldera had to squint to see, noticing a sudden shift in the light that made Shortfuse difficult to discern. Until she realized… it was no shift. She was getting smaller. The world around Shortfuse was shifting and morphing, becoming more and more convex, less and less fathomable. “N-no!” she yelled out, a tinny, rice-sized belt of mercy. Caldera couldn’t hear more than its ghostly echo. “What are you doing?! Stop! Get your hands off me! Please, please stop?! HELP, HE…”

It didn’t take long for her voice to fade into unrecognizability. Shortfuse became a germ in the palm of Imperia’s hand.

“And you…” her gaze whipped back to the Polymaiden clone in her fingertips. Both versions of the diminished supervillainess felt their seed of anxiety blossom into a mindless terror, stunned into a dreadful silence. Imperia let out a puff of air and continued. “So, it seems little Miss Duplicate couldn’t clone herself for me. But you were more than capable, more than willing to sprout a double to get your buddy off… the hook.”

Polymaiden shook her head. Tears were flowing down her face, both in Imperia’s grasp, and on the ground where the free version fell to her knees. Up above, she was pleading out. Her voice cracked. “I-I couldn’t… I swear! I had… you’d… I had to… please, I can make it up to you. I’ll, I’ll rub your feet, again, over and over! Grow me back, I’ll wait on you hand and foot! I’ll do anything for you! I love you, Imperia! I’ll love you and I’ll –”

Imperia tossed Polymaiden into her mouth.

Instantly, on the table, Polymaiden shuddered, and began gibbering incomprehensibly. Caldera rushed to her, rubbing her back, but was battered away as Polymaiden began to convulse, taking deep, rapid breaths that only grew faster. And yet, she was in utter heaven compared to the experience of her shared hive-sensation clone within Imperia’s mouth. Battered by a phenomenal tongue, gummed on by massive, stone-edged teeth, shlicked and sucked on in a torrent of slimy saliva that saturated Polymaiden’s every pore and orifice, she could barely even scream. Any noises she did make failed to breach the puffed-up cheeks of Imperia’s jowls.

All Imperia managed was a giggle, then a gulp.

And Polymaiden was sent down a fleshy, peristaltic tunnel into her acrid tomb.

On the table, Polymaiden collapsed into a heap.

“Polymaiden, Polymaiden?!” Caldera tried to move her but was taken aback by her wide-open eyes. She was dry-hiccupping with each moment, taking in hoarse breaths. Her mouth shuttered open and closed, and she was visibly crying, letting out pitiful coughs as the air in her lungs depleted. When Caldera touched her, Polymaiden would flail and twitch and vibrate painfully.

Caldera looked up to Imperia, mouth agape.

Imperia glanced down at Caldera. And she let out a cute burp in response. She smiled.

Then she closed her other fist. And she trotted up the stairs.

Caldera slumped to the ground. Though Polymaiden lay next to her, Caldera knew in her heart that for the first time in what felt like both a lifetime and a single moment, she was alone again.

And when the prone form of Polymaiden started to scream out a pained, horrid scream, that’s when Caldera knew the digestion had begun.

***

Emily held her fist tight and broke back into the kitchen area, leaning against the door. Her temper was still high… but falling. The charger was a pain in the ass to put together, but it wouldn’t be difficult to make another one. As she accepted this, Emily was able to turn her attention to the fragrant scent of what was cooking.

A hashbrown-and-pepper dish was sizzling in the frying pan, along with some eggs. As usual, Gabrielle wasn’t in sight, but her presence could be felt everywhere. Crosses hung up in corners and on end-tables, a picture of the Virgin of Guadalupe in the living area, and her very footsteps could be felt around corners and further into the bedrooms. Clearly, she had wanted to multi-task by preparing breakfast at the same time as she got into her outfit.

Emily grabbed the pan and tossed the food for a few seconds, or at least until her eyes began to water. Content that this was enough to keep it from getting burnt, she scoured the floor, until she found a single brown flat with well-worn rubber soles, just barely peeking out from underneath the couch. It had clearly seen better days.

Emily reached down and grabbed the shoe. She pressed it into her face, sniffing the hard-worn insole, depressed by the heel and ball of Gabrielle’s foot in addition to five perfectly proportioned toes there at the end. These shoes had yet to fail the budding woman, as evidenced by its continued place in her repertoire of apparel. Imperia smiled as she felt Gabrielle’s scent fill her. From anyone else, she might’ve gagged. She could absorb everything within Gabrielle all day. For the rest of her life.

More footsteps.

Emily darted her eyes left to right, then unclenched her fist.

If she looked down hard enough, there in the center of her palm, there was an off-white speck planted right on her heartline. It must’ve been like a canyon to her. Emily had no idea what she was saying, or if she was saying anything at all. She might as well have just been so awe-inspired by the absolute scale of the landscape of Emily’s hand, or the visage of Emily’s face, a god-like satellite that glared down with demented amusement, that she was simply stumped into silence. Unworthy of communing with this higher being. One way or another, Emily had finally gotten Shortfuse to shut up.

Emily heard Gabrielle cursing in Spanish, and she emptied out the barren hand over the opening of the mouth of the shoe. Emily stood up just in time to see Gabrielle come out of her room. She was dressed in a knee-length sundress, her hair collected in a scrunchee’d ponytail. Her makeup was sparse, and her adornments nonexistent with the dual exceptions of a cross chain above her sternum and a lanyard next to it, displaying her identification card as a substitute teacher at Aster City Preparatory College. She had on a single shoe, the matching piece to the pair.

“Hey, Emily, have you seen my…” she lit up as Emily handed her the shoe. “Oh, thank you! Ay, gracias a Dios…” She slipped it on, her wide, bare foot easily slipping into the stretched-out shoe, all five toes travelling obediently to their ripe, designated stations. She stretched and flexed the digits, curling them up and relaxing again as she hopped a little to ensure her stride was even.

Then, Gabrielle exclaimed, “Oh, right!” She trotted to the kitchen and gave the spicy mixture another flip. “Thank goodness they didn’t burn…”

“Heading in?” Emily asked.

“I might as well, right?” Gabrielle sighed. “The music teacher is out for a funeral. I think her husband died in that bombing. Someone else would’ve been coming in from Circuit but I’m closer, and… we need the money.”

“Ah.” Emily watched Gabrielle stir the fry, and she awkwardly tapped her own foot on the floor. “Hey, in that case… Since our plans for going on a date today fell through… maybe I could drive you to the school? So, we can spend at least a bit of time together…”

“Oh, sweetie…” Emily watched as Gabrielle poured a helping of the eggs and hashbrowns into a plastic Tupperware dish. She walked up to Emily and touched her cheek, standing on her tippytoes to wrap her arms around Imperia’s neck. “Don’t worry about me. You just worry about saving the world, okay? Besides, you drive like a crazy person.”

She planted a kiss on Emily’s lips, one that took Emily a split-second too long to realize she had to reciprocate.

Gabrielle opened the freezer and grabbed a bottle of water, rock-solid from spending the previous night inside the capsule. She trotted to the door, then stopped on the mat. Gabrielle reached down to her shoes. She hooked a pair of fingers into the heel and pulled it on properly. “Thought I felt something kind of tingly in there… but it’s gone now. Hasta luego, Emilita! And help yourself to some breakfast!”

She slipped out of the door, kicking it closed behind her. From the other side of the solid wood, she could hear Gabrielle cheer out, muffled, “Hóla, Señora Chau! Congratulations on the divorce!”

Imperia stood a moment, glaring at the door.

Then she turned back to the hashbrowns and eggs. The green and red bits of chopped pepper perfectly accented the yellow and brown of eggs and potatoes. The stove had been turned off for a good few moments now, so Imperia simply grabbed the wooden spoon and scooped up a healthy portion onto it. Opening her mouth wide, she gulped it down, chewing the food into a mush before swallowing it delectably. It was spicy, yet oh so satisfying…

She could only imagine what it must’ve felt like to the shrunken Polymaiden inside her stomach.

To be whimpering in static terror, the acids of her stomach eating away at her hair, her nails… her flesh, her bones… only to look up in sheer terror and be buried in globs of spit-laden food.

She wondered if any of the disgusting shlop would wind up in Polymaiden’s mouth, inescapable. Or even she would eat it herself… to get even the slightest reminder of what it felt to taste something real. Something that had been cooked with love. Imperia pondered whether her stomach’s contents would spill out as Polymaiden’s chassis was continuously disintegrated into the valuable nutrients Imperia needed for crime-fighting.

It was a flurry of imagination, each one more and more lewd and domineering, thinking about what was going on right inside of her. She even allowed Shortfuse to get in on the daydream, wondering about the hot, sweaty, muggy atmosphere within Gabrielle’s shoe that she would be forced to either survive against or be crushed beneath.

“Ah…” Imperia hadn’t even felt it. Her hand had gone to the lip of her pants, a single zipper all that it took to unblock the coming torrent of pleasure that threatened to tear her apart.

Fuck it… fuck it all… Gabrielle’s gone, I’ve got work later, the stupid bitch broke my toy… I deserve this… I deserve this…

All she needed now was…

And then Imperia turned around, straightening her back. Her mouth was watering as she stepped back into her underground base.