Fuchsia Fox: "Assault on the Castle", by Centurion

[flirty_but_nice]

Fuchsia Fox: "Assault on the Castle"


Chapter 1 –


Inside the main building of the Smithsonian Institution, affectionately known as The Castle, Jennifer Traylor Fletcher glanced over her tour group. Jennifer was dressed in a navy blue skirt and a white blouse with see-through lace across the bodice. She worked at the National Archives these days, but Dr. Gervais was ill, and she had been asked to take up the slack by serving as assistant curator at the Castle for a couple of weeks. It was mostly administrative, but the pretty brunette had decided that it would be fun to take the last tour of the day, just for old times' sake.

There were three teenage boys in Catholic school uniforms right in front, apparently paying more attention to the way her skirt swished around her silken legs than they did to her spiel, a middle-aged couple who tried in vain to find every word she said in their guidebooks, a pair of twentyish students in glasses, and a matronly woman with two young girls who spent a lot of time on their phones.

"Now this is interesting," Jennifer said, coming at last to a huge block of black, weathered stone carved in the shape of an arched doorway some nine feet wide and six feet high. "This is the Gate of Seheil, discovered in the Sudan in 1951. It's been in deep storage ever since, as there seems to have been some controversy about whether the expedition actually had permission from the government to remove it. And then it was sort of misplaced. It was only recently found again, and it will only be on display for a week before it gets shipped back to Egypt."

The three teenage boys glanced briefly at the stone, nudging one another, then their eyes returned to the more attractive curves of Jennifer's smooth, feminine figure.

"If you look closely," Jennifer said, "you can see the figure of a scorpion etched across the top of the arch. We think it dates to the reign of the Pharaoh Thutmose III, one of his excursions in the Fifteenth Dynasty." But she could already tell that none of the group was interested. To them it was just a rock, not nearly as fascinating as the other things she had pointed out.

"Well, that's about it then," Jennifer said. "Remember that the museum will be closing in about forty minutes, but in the meantime enjoy yourselves." She spun around gracefully and left them to their own devices, feeling the stares of the boys on her pert caboose.

Jennifer's heels clicked briskly as she crossed the wide main entrance hall of the Castle. With one hand she rubbed her swanlike neck tiredly, her fingers brushing at the ends of her short brunette hair as she slipped behind the dark oak reception counter and joined Lisa Maxwell, who was already getting things ready for the end of shift.

"Did you have fun?" Lisa smirked, twirling a strand of her longer, lighter brown hair with one finger. She slouched against the counter slightly as she stepped out of her high heels and wiggled her toes in the carpet where no one could see.

"Yes, I did," Jennifer laughed. It seemed ridiculous now that she had once been jealous of Lisa for getting promoted over her to head tour guide. Now Lisa was still head tour guide and Jennifer was the assistant curator. Before she could say anything more, she felt her right buttock tingle. "Oops," she said, reaching into the pocket of her skirt for her phone. "Martin? No, hon, I'm still at work. What's that? Your flight's been delayed and your stuck in Baltimore?" She leaned over the counter a little to get a look out the front doors. "It's not raining that hard here in Washington. Okay, then." She lowered her voice slightly. "I'll keep the bed warm for you."

"That was my husband," Jenn said to Lisa, blushing as she clicked off her phone and returned it to her pocket.

"Was it?" Lisa said with a wink.

It was beginning to rain again as the last Tourmobile rumbled off, taking the last of the visitors with it. The guards locked the front doors and secured the metal detectors around the entrance. The rest of the museum staff trickled out the rear exit as Jennifer went back to her office to finish some paperwork while Lisa and two of the guards made a sweep of the building for stragglers. When they were done, Lisa poked her head into the office.

"The building's secure," she said. "Anything else you need?"

"No, that's good," Jennifer said. "See you tomorrow."

By the time she was finished with her paperwork, it was dark outside. Holding her coat, Jennifer had one last look around. It always seemed a little bit sad to see the museum this way, empty and silent. There was no one here but her and four nightshift security guards.

"I guess I'll mosey along, too," Jennifer said to them.

Roger Stoddard, the big, husky one who was an ex-Army military policeman, grinned at her as he took out his keys. "Want me to drive you home, Ms. Fletcher? I could do that easily."

RAP-RAP! Someone was outside the door, rapping his knuckles on the windowpane. Roger and Jennifer and the other three guards could see him huddling under the portico out of the rain, his body muffled in some kind of drab red cloak.

"Move along, fool," Roger said mildly, knowing that the man couldn't possibly hear him through the door. "The museum's closed. Can't you read the sign?" The other three guards glanced over, but didn't get up from the comfortable positions they had taken.

RAP-RAP! The man was still knocking on the window. Jennifer could see his eyes as he looked over the top of his cloak. He wasn't even wearing a hat, and he had brown, short-cropped hair. Suddenly she had an awful premonition, and stepped back from the door.

Roger noticed Jennifer's apprehension and saw an excellent opportunity to show her how tough he was. "I said move along," he repeated more loudly as he unlocked the door with a click.

"No! Don't--" Jennifer blurted, but it was too late.

As soon as the door was unlocked, the man in the cloak kicked it open and charged through the doorway. A flurry of punches landed on Roger's jaw, sending him staggering backward. The other three guards sprang to their feet, but the man in the cloak was like a whirlwind, kicking and striking out with a short wooden rod like a truncheon. Two of them went down fast. Elliot, the oldest and most experienced of the guards, drew his TASER, but the intruder spun in a graceful move that neatly disarmed him and then backhanded Elliot in the jaw. He dropped.

Roger jumped the intruder from behind, catching him in a bear hug. The guard was much bigger and yet the man in the cloak effortlessly broke his hold, took hold of his arm, and flipped him to the floor, knocking Roger out with a swift blow with his wooden rod, which he immediately slid into a sheath on his belt. The four guards were dispatched just that quickly.

It was only then that Jennifer got a good look at him, as he threw back his cloak. The man was dressed like an ancient Roman officer, in an off-white knee-length linen tunic, red woolen leggings and brown leather boots. His body was compact, wiry and athletic, with a short sword hanging from his weapon belt and a shiny brass breastplate on his powerful chest.

The Centurion! After all this time, what was he doing back in Washington?


***


Chapter 2 –


"Stand fast, damsel," the Centurion warned, catching sight of Jennifer about to bolt and run. Actually, it was more of a command, his left arm held out to her in an imperious gesture. "I have no desire to harm a woman. Give me no reason to." The girl froze instantly.

His right hand beckoned to someone outside, and four henchmen dressed in similar garb swarmed into the museum, closing and bolting the door behind them. Without an order being given, they began disarming and tying up the four security guards.

"Forgive this intrusion," the villain said, walking over to Jennifer and grabbing her forearms in his powerful grip. "Is anyone else inside the museum?"

Jennifer's heart was pounding. It had been a couple of years since she had seen him, but the Centurion looked more dangerous than ever. The security guards were all unconscious and tied up, leaving her all alone. She thought about the golden bracelets on her wrists under the sleeves of her blouse, but before she could make use of them she had to play for time. In the meantime there was no purpose served by antagonizing her captor. "No," she said, feeling a little out of breath.

"Tell me where I can find the Gate of Seheil."

"The Gate of Seheil?" Jennifer said. "It's... um... across the main gallery. Take the west corridor and turn left. What do you want it for?"

"That need not concern you," the Centurion said. "Come!" He squeezed her arm, inviting her to lead the way as if he didn't entirely trust her directions, or more likely just wanted to keep her under his eye.

Jennifer led the Centurion and his men across the building to the Gate. When they arrived, the villain looked the stone over carefully with narrowed eyes.

"Where is the Ankh?" he asked.

"The Ankh?" Jennifer said. Behind the Gate was a display case with several artifacts associated with it which she hadn't even bothered pointing out to the tourists -- bronze jars and lamps, terra cotta figurines and so on. Among them was a blue lapis lazuli Egyptian cross approximately a foot long. "It's in that display case over there. But you're wasting your time. That case has a separate alarm system. It will ring in the main security offices if you touch it."

"I think that I can manage," the Centurion said, looking the display case over. "Tertius, Quartus," he said to two of his henchmen, "there should be a storage room at the end of the corridor. Put her in there. She is not to be harmed, but make sure that you take her cell phone. Stand guard outside the door until I send for you."

Jennifer opened her mouth to protest. "Wait! What do you want with the--?" But the two henchmen each grabbed one of the girl's slender arms, picked her up and marched her down the hallway. Around a slight bend, they jerked open the door of the storage room and pushed her roughly inside. Quickly checking out the room to make sure there was no other exit, one of the men took her purse.

"What's this, then?" he said, his eyes running over her supple female curves and spotting a rectangular bulge in the pocket of her skirt. He reached into the tight pocket and pulled out her phone, which she had honestly forgotten about in all the excitement.

"Err... well..." Jennifer said sheepishly.

"I'm going to have to search you, babe," the henchman said with a lecherous grin. While the second thug watched, he backed the girl against a big wooden crate and patted her down, starting with her slim thighs and then roaming up her curvy hips to her narrow waist.

"Hey, I just had a thought," the second henchman said. "She might be hiding something in her blouse. You never know."

"L-look, you've already got my phone," Jennifer said nervously, rubbing her wrists. "Seriously. There's nothing else." She tried to back away, but there was no place to go.

"We have to be sure," the second thug said, his fingers already reaching for the buttons of her blouse.

Jennifer swallowed, her brown eyes as big as saucers. Trapped against a corner, there was little she could do except submit to the inevitable. The beautiful brunette felt her cheeks growing warm as the man unbuttoned her white blouse and pulled it open, slipping the garment over her alluringly silky shoulders to reveal her lean young torso and her firm little breasts sheathed in only a white push-up brassiere.

"Oooh, look at that," the henchman said, gently cupping his hands around Jennifer's lace-covered B-cups. "That's really nice." His fingers continued their illicit exploration, unhooking the front catch of her bra and peeling the flimsy, feminine garment back from her chest.

Jennifer gasped in dismay, her cheeks turning rosy red as her sweet, supple orbs were exposed to view, nipples and all. The men stared goggle-eyed at the breathtaking sight as the thug massaged her perky tits, causing her nipples to harden in unwanted arousal, but once again there wasn't anything Jenn could do about it unless she wanted to reveal her secret identity. At times like this, it was very difficult to keep that in mind.

"All right, that's enough," said the first thug. "Let's get out of here. The Centurion would flay us alive if he caught us doing this."

Leaving Jennifer's bra undone, the second thug used her blouse to tie her wrists behind her. "Just sit here quiet-like and don't give us any trouble, lady," he warned her. Then the two men left her in the storage room and closed the door firmly behind them.

Jennifer breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought they'd never leave," the girl said to herself, wriggling and struggling to get out of her blouse. They were going to be in for a rude surprise when she got free and changed into her alter ego.


***


Chapter 3 –


The Centurion withdrew a small, thin tool from his weapon belt, concentrating on disarming the alarm system on the display case. His other two henchmen, Primus and Secundus, worked quietly in the background, attaching a small black electronic device to the Gate of Seheil. Privately the men were worried. None of the artifacts in the display case looked as if they were worth breaking in to steal. And that big chunk of black rock certainly wasn't. But although they cast ominous looks at one another, neither of them said a word, remembering all too well what the Centurion had done to the last henchman who had dared to question him.

There was a slight click as the case opened. The Centurion swung the door ajar, reaching carefully inside past the jars and figurines, and picked up the Ankh.

"All done, sir?" said Primus, the most senior henchman.

"Is the device in place?" the Centurion asked, his eyes focused on the Ankh.

"Yes, sir."

"Then we are done. Get Tertius and Quartus, and--"

"I have them right here, Centurion," said an arrogant female voice. "But I'm afraid they're not in any condition to obey any orders."

The three men looked over and saw an extremely beautiful young woman standing at the head of the corridor, holding the two missing henchmen by the scruffs of their necks in either glove-sheathed hand. Her spectacular body was dressed in a two-piece costume of vivid purplish pink -- tight briefs hugging her pert little tush, and above her sylphlike midriff a clingy halter top dominated by a triangular fox head chest emblem. The girl let go of the two men, allowing them to drop semi-conscious at her ankle-booted feet.

"Holy shit, it's really HER," Primus whispered, gawking. "The Fuchsia Fox!"

"Yes, the Fuchsia Fox," the Centurion said with a smile. Carefully he set the Ankh down on the floor. "Once again you delight my eyes with the heavenly glow of your unequaled beauty."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Centurion," the Fox said, smugly cocking her shapely hips. "I know it's pointless to ask, but are you boys going to do the sensible thing and surrender?"

"I would not wish to disappoint you," the Centurion said, drawing his short sword. With a flick, he activated the energy sheath which surrounded its 18-inch blade, then he charged like a springing tiger, swinging his weapon like a small light-saber.

Jennifer parried the sword with her left forearm, feeling the tingle of the energy sword as her force shield deflected it. Simultaneously she thrust forward her right fist, hitting him square on his breastplate. The punch hardly fazed him. It might look like bronze, but she knew that it was an impact-absorbing polycarbonic material of his own design.

"I see you've upgraded a little bit," the Fox said casually, gracefully ducking another slash of his sword as she spun and kicked.

The Centurion's lithe body evaded her kick. "And you are a little stronger than I remember," he said with another thrust of his sword, missing her by a whisker.

The Fox parried the next slash and caught his weapon arm, his sword clattering to the floor as she twisted his arm behind him. "Stronger and smarter," she smirked.

The two henchmen meanwhile had drawn stun wands. They moved in now from either side, striking at her head. The Fox blocked one with her left arm and kicked at the other, but the distraction allowed the Centurion to wriggle out of her grasp. Spinning like a whirlwind, the stunning superheroine knocked the henchmen off their feet and sent them flying.

SWOOSH! The energy blade of the Centurion's sword, once more in his hand, connected with the side of the Fox's skull. "UNNNN!" groaned the gorgeous super babe, as pain exploded in her head. Fighting against unconsciousness, she pivoted to her left, striking out at the supervillain.

"The girdle!" the Centurion commanded, using his sword defensively to hold her at bay.

Primus, the senior henchman, scrambled to his feet, unslinging a short crossbow which he was wearing on his back. He took aim and fired. The projectile darted out and became a ribbon of metal which wrapped around the Fox's lissome waist, pinning her arms tightly to her sides.

The heroine struggled. "You boys don't honestly think this will stop--"

ZAP! As the Fox flexed her exquisite muscles, a hefty charge of electricity arced across the ribbon, rippling through the girl's nubile young body. "AHHHHH!" the Fox cried, as her struggling only triggered another shock which drove her briefly up on tiptoes. The beautiful brunette dropped to her knees, feeling as limp and helpless as a ragdoll. Every time she flexed her arms, another painful shock tingled her silken body.

"Yes, my sweet Temptresss," the Centurion said. "I think it will stop you, at least temporarily."

"I'm sorry," Primus apologized. "I should have used it sooner. I was just..."

"Mesmerized by her charms?" the villain said. "I can understand that." The other two henchmen had regained consciousness. As all four of them stood looking down at the captured Fox, the Centurion added, "But now our task is completed. All four of you go out to the chariot and wait for me."

Primus said, "Leave you? But--"

"Do as I command!" the Centurion snapped. The four henchmen obeyed him, although clearly not happy about it. In a moment, only the Centurion and the Fuchsia Fox were left in the museum.

Jennifer looked sullenly up at her captor. "What's this all about, Centurion?" she said. "Surely you don't expect me to believe that you plan to steal a ten-ton stone, all by yourself?"

"I might surprise you, Fox," the villain said, reaching over and pressing a button on the small device his henchmen had previously attached to the Gate of Seheil. A tiny green light began to blink as he stepped back. Suddenly a shimmering aura of energy seemed to cover the entire stone, suffusing throughout its very substance. To Jennifer's astonished eyes, the Gate of Seheil disappeared!

The Centurion picked up the Ankh and stood as though waiting for something. "Brace yourself," he said to the Fox, as the shimmering aura returned, covering both of their bodies and dematerializing them. As they both vanished from the museum, Jennifer suddenly realized what was happening. It was a matter transporter beam!

The two of them rematerialized inside a long room approximately twenty feet wide and about fifty long, both sides arching overhead like the walls of a tunnel. Square light panels appeared at intervals along the gray metal surface, providing sufficient light to see stacks of barrels along both sides, leaving plenty of room down the middle of the room. At one end was a rectangular door large enough to drive a truck through, and at the other end a smaller, person-sized door.

Once she saw the Gate of Seheil beside her, the Fox thrust herself to her feet, at the same time flexing her lissome arms. Once again the metal ribbon which held her helpless zapped her, but this time the heroine clenched her teeth and kept applying pressure, drawing more power from her bracelets of Ishtar. The metal ribbon parted with a twang and fell off.

"Excellent," the Centurion said mildly. "I knew that you would do it eventually."

"And now," the Fox panted, her tasty little bosom rising and falling as she recovered her wind, "are you going to tell me where we are?"

As an answer, the passenger-sized door whooshed open and a woman stepped through. She had olive skin and long, black hair which fell in luxurious cascades around her smooth bare shoulders. Across her forehead was a gold tiara with an enormous cat's eye stone set in it. Her flawless body was dressed in white. Her ample breasts were cupped by a white strapless bustier which stopped short at the top of her ribcage. Below her bare midriff, she wore white tights with a golden belt, but no shoes or boots. Her forearms were protected by brass armguards that covered them from wrist almost to elbow.

"I will tell you where you are, Earthling," the woman said, arching one aristocratic eyebrow. "You are in the cargo hold of my spaceship, in synchronous orbit above your planet."


***


Chapter 4 –


"Who might you be?" the Fuchsia Fox retorted. "And what gives you the right to steal things that don't belong to you?"

An amber flame seemed to flare inside the woman's arrogant eyes. "These things belonged to me before you were born, child!" she hissed. "Centurion, who is this little girl? Explain to her who I am, before she arouses my righteous wrath!"

"Err... forgive me, Your Worship," the male villain said. "Fuchsia Fox, this is Neith of the Cataracts. She's an Egyptian goddess."

"Really?" Jennifer said, raising one eyebrow and crossing her arms dubiously.

"Spare me your skepticism, child," Neith said, as she walked sinuously by the two Earthlings, her attention focused on the Gate of Seheil. As she strutted past him, the Centurion, being a man, could not keep his eyes off her desirable curves, especially her deliciously rounded buttocks, flexing inside those snug, form-fitting white tights. Jennifer, noting this, rolled her eyes.

"I do not claim to be the original," Neith continued absently. "I am the fourteenth lineal descendant of her. Our people came to Earth in the time of the pharaohs, hoping to civilize them. It was a futile gesture, obviously. Unlike the Zumerians, we Horusians know when to cut our loses."

Jennifer bristled. "I happen to be half Zumerian. I'm the daughter of Ishtar."

"Are you really?" Neith said, turning to face her. For a moment her dark eyes rested upon Jennifer's chest emblem as though studying the shapes of her nubile young boobs underneath. "Then your arrival is most fortuitous, child. Tell me, where was Ishtar when World War II ravished the world? Where was Ishtar when the ORCUS terrorist group rose to power? I rest my case."

"Zumerians don't believe in interfering with the natural--"

"Oh yes," Neith interrupted rudely. "A sexy way to say 'we will intervene when it is not too much trouble. In the meantime, carry on with your savage butchery amongst yourselves.'" Suddenly ignoring the Fox, she impatiently turned back toward the Gate. "The code remains intact. You have the Ankh, Earth man?" She held out her right hand expectantly.

"Yes, my lady," the Centurion said, still holding the lapis lazuli artifact in his hands. "I wonder if this is the time to remind you that you promised me the Mask of Thalia in return?"

The Fox remembered that when she had first met the Centurion, he had been after two beautiful crystalline masks representing the muses Euterpe and Urania. Was he still obsessed with those?

"Watch your place, Earthling!" Neith said dangerously. "I am still a goddess!"

"I meant no disrespect," the Centurion said. "It's merely business. I certainly don't mean to imply that a goddess would not honor her agreements ..."

"Just a minute here," the Fox said. "These artifacts are stolen! I don't care about the prior claim of your fourteenth ancestress. These artifacts belong to the Smithsonian now."

"Have a care, little girl!" Neith said without turning. "I have no patience with insolence!"

"I couldn't care less," Jennifer said, planting her hands on her luscious hips. "It suddenly occurs to me to wonder why you didn't steal them yourself. Why did you need to employ the Centurion to do it for you?"

"A goddess does not sully her hands with menial tasks," Neith said haughtily.

"More likely your species has rules, too, just like the Zumerians," the Fox said. "I'll bet your superiors monitor you, and if they caught you prowling around a human museum, you'd be in deep doo-doo. But if you can con an Earth man into doing it for you, you're in the clear."

"I do not have to listen to these calumnies!"

"I wonder if you even HAVE this mask you promised him," the heroine pressed on.

"A goddess has no need to lie," Neith said, turning. Her dark eyes looked directly into those of the Centurion. "You believe me, do you not?"

The Centurion hesitated only a moment. "Yes, I believe you," he said, surrendering the Ankh to her.

"Well, I don't," the Fox said, reaching to snatch it away from her.

Neith abruptly moved like lightning, her lissome body becoming a blur as she darted across the room. Suddenly she was thirty feet away, standing in front of the door.

"You are so amusing, little girl," she laughed, stroking the smooth surface of the Ankh as though it were a precious object, and then hanging it from the side of her golden belt. "Do you think you can command a goddess? You exist only to serve me at my whim. But I am merciful. I will send you both back to your planet now."

"Not without the Ankh," the Fox said stubbornly.

"Why don't you take it from me?" Neith smirked. The alien beauty raised both slender, brass-clad arms, miming the action of drawing a bow and arrow. As she did so, a glowing facsimile of a bow and arrow appeared in her hands. Releasing the virtual string sent the flaming arrow streaking toward the Fox. The heroine attempted to evade, but it was too fast, exploding around her with a shower of energy which stung even through her force shield.

The Centurion drew his short sword, but the second arrow struck him in the chest, knocking him off his feet. The Fox leaped over him and charged, deflecting another fiery arrow with her wrists. Neith met her charge with a whirlwind of kicks and punches which Jennifer could barely follow. Yet acting on instinct the stunning young heroine blocked, parried, blocked again, spun around and counter-attacked with a roundhouse kick. Her ankle boot swished through empty air as the Horusian evaded, turning and darting across the room again at superspeed.

"Ha-ha-ha!" Neith laughed, tossing her luxurious black tresses. "You have spunk, little girl, but you will ultimately lose. I will wear you down until you collapse." She drew back her imaginary bow and arrow again.

The Fox turned and dove behind the Gate of Seheil to catch her breath, guessing that Neith wouldn't want to risk any damage to it. There she bumped into the Centurion, who had had the same idea. "We've got to stop meeting like this, Fox," the villain said. "Any ideas how to handle this?"

"Just one," the superheroine said. "Nail her." Stubbornly she rushed out into the open again, immediately catching another fiery arrow right between the shoulder blades. Neith never seemed to miss. This time the Fox ducked behind the stack of barrels that were lined up along the righthand wall. Hefting up a barrel, she tossed it at the Horusian beauty. Then she grabbed another.

Neith fired an arrow which split the five hundred-pound projectile in half, deflecting its course. But by then barrels were flying too fast for her to cope with. The goddess turned desperately away, hoping to outdistance them, but as she did a barrel slammed into her, knocking her off her feet and sending her sprawling flat on her back, gasping for breath.

"You were saying something about spunk?" the Fox said, standing over her fallen opponent. The superheroine dropped to one knee and grabbed hold of the front of Neith's bustier, hauling her upward a few inches. From his vantage point, the Centurion could see the clingy white fabric stretch, giving him a pretty decent view of the Horusian's two marvelous boobs.

"You're going to send us back to the museum," the Fox declared. "I'm taking the Ankh now."

"No! Do not touch it!" Neith said. "I am warning you!"

"Fortunately, I don't take orders from you," the heroine said. She grabbed the Ankh.

Instantly the Fox felt a surge of something shoot through her body from head to toe. It couldn't actually be described as painful, not in the same way that the arrows or the Centurion's sword had been. It was more like that feeling you get when you're on the exercise bike and you hit about mile five. Her legs suddenly felt like rubber, her lungs felt like they were lined with sandpaper, and her body felt as if it didn't have a single, solitary effort left in it.

The stunning superheroine dropped weakly to her knees, feeling like every ounce of strength in her body had been drained! Neith plucked her hand off of her bustier and sat up, evidently feeling much stronger. The Ankh attached to her slim waist was now glowing brightly.

"I did tell you not to touch it, did I not?" the alien beauty smirked, her fingers snaking around the Fox's swanlike throat. "How very cooperative of you to allow the energy siphon to drain you. As of now, your power is MINE!"


***


Chapter 5 –


The Centurion's hand went to the hilt of his short sword, preparing to draw the weapon. Suddenly the big doors slid open and eight men marched into the room, all bare-chested with the same olive complexion as their mistress. Their uniforms seemed to consist of sandy-brown trousers, boots and head-cloths. Four of the guards immediately surrounded the Centurion, pointing handguns at him. Prudently he removed his hand from the hilt of his sword.

Two others seized the Fuchsia Fox and hoisted her to her feet. Bewildered and drained of her powers, the stunning superheroine struggled in vain as the stronger males twisted her slender arms behind her and held her helpless, with her toes hardly touching the floor. The remaining two took up positions behind Neith.

"This is a True Ankh," the dark-haired Horusian goddess said, complacently stroking the glowing blue object. "They were made hundreds of years ago, when our people were at war with the Zumerians. We needed a weapon which could counter their power bracelets. When we made peace, our leaders -- foolishly in my opinion -- agreed to destroy the True Ankhs. But my great-grandmother hid the last one here on Earth, in case they were ever needed."

"It can't be much of a weapon," the Fox said, glaring at the device resentfully, "if the victim has to actually touch it."

"Tricked, you mean," Neith said with a cheerful laugh. "Go ahead and say it. You were duped into touching it. You were too cocky for your own good -- a common trait among all you Zumerians, I might add." Her guards chuckled obsequiously along with her.

"This particular Ankh," the goddess continued, "has been lying dormant a long time, which is why it had to be primed. That is the reason I staged that glorious battle for you, so you would charge up your force shield to full power. Then when you so foolishly touched the Ankh -- WHAM! Now that the Ankh is fully charged, it will shut down the bracelets of any arrogant, self-righteous little Zumerian warrior maiden who approaches within fifty feet of it. Even Ishtar herself!"

The Fox couldn't keep her cheeks from flushing rose red as she thought of the way she had been used. The two men who were holding her prisoner patted her round little butt patronizingly. She couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't make her feel worse.

"It does not become you to pout," Neith gloated, hanging the Ankh on the golden belt at her waist. "You would make a good serving wench for me. But as you see," she added, gesturing to her men, "I insist that my servants go bare-chested. Let me see what you have..."

"Don't touch me," the Fox glowered, squirming in the hands of her captors. But the two men held her firmly in place, as Neith reached forward with both hands and rested them on the girl's lithe waist. Jennifer felt butterflies of apprehension in her stomach, her lovely chest rising and falling noticeably as waited for what was going to happen next.

"You are so cute when you try to act tough," the Horusian said, her hands gently gliding upward along the Fox's sleek young body, sliding under the skimpy fabric of her halter top and peeling it along with them. The heroine's silken smooth skin tingled with arousal from the sensual touch of the other woman's fingers as they arrived at her breasts, pulling her top over her round little orbs.

Jennifer felt her cheeks getting warmer and warmer, her body quivering with helplessness. She tried to struggle, but the men were still holding her firmly, and on tiptoe so that she didn't have the slightest chance of applying any leverage to escape. She was helpless. There was nothing she could do but stand here and take it.

Neith reached behind her and undid the clasps of her halter top, tossing the garment to the floor.

The eight guards grinned openly as they ogled the Fox's beautiful bare tits, her nipples standing up like little peaks. The Centurion licked his lips, unable to take his eyes away.

"Well... I have seen better," Neith said, as her fingers cupped the Fox's naked coconuts, her thumbs rubbing her nipples. "But it does amuse me to have a Zumerian servant, even a half-Zumerian. Now let us get this inhibitor collar on you."

One of the guards handed her a thick collar made seemingly of brass. "Your silly little bracelets still cannot be removed without your consent," Neith smirked. "This will keep them from recharging themselves when you are more than fifty feet away from me." The Fox squirmed desperately in the hands of her captors, but it was pathetically useless as the Horusian slipped the collar around the superheroine's slim neck and locked it in place.

"That is better," Neith gloated. "How ironic it is. I imagine that this evening when you stuck your egotistical little nose into what you thought was a simple museum robbery, you never dreamed that you would end up like this, defeated and helpless. Did you?"

The Fox said nothing.

"This was not part of our agreement, Neith," the Centurion said, glancing at the men who still kept him covered with their guns.

"Not part of our agreement?" Neith said disdainfully. "She tried to stop you from acquiring the Ankh, did she not?"

"But I don't think--"

"No one cares what you think, Earthling," the dark-haired goddess smirked. "You may take your reward and go." She snapped her fingers and another of the guards passed her a small metal box, which she in turn gracefully handed over to the Centurion. "You see, I do keep my promises."

The Centurion hesitated, then carefully opened the box. Snuggled inside the velvet lining was an exquisite crystalline mask in the shape of a beautiful woman's face. On her left cheek was etched a scroll. "The Mask of Thalia!" he gasped. "I acquired the Mask of Terpsichore some time ago, and I have seen the masks of Euterpe and Urania..."

"Of course, you are aware of the nature of these artifacts?" Neith said negligently. "The masks are para-psychotronic in nature, made of a quad lithium matrix which absorbs psionic energy from those around them. The special property of this one is to absorb memories from sentient beings who come in contact with it. Not a very useful power I would have thought -- but what would you expect of the muse of History?"

"On the contrary," the Centurion said, still in awe of the object in his hands. "It occurs to me that if I put on the mask, I could learn the whereabouts of the other five."

"Possibly," the Horusian conceded. "In any case, our business is concluded."

The Centurion closed the box reverently. "You still have not told me what you need with the Gate of Seheil," he said, looking over at the black stone arch.

"Ah, the Gate!" Neith strolled over to it, running her fingers along the barely visible hieroglyphics engraved along its two sides. "The inscriptions themselves do not concern us. They merely recount the inconsequential deeds of some justly forgotten pharaoh. But my great-grandmother left coded instructions laser-etched within the chisel marks -- instructions on how to construct more True Ankhs. Once the code has been deciphered, I will be able to replicate hundreds of them for all of my minions and those of several gods and goddesses who are allied with me, making us a major power in this part of the galaxy. The Zumerians will fall, helpless before us."

"NO!" the Fox blurted, suddenly lunging forward, hoping to catch her guards by surprise. But they were ready for her and held her alluring body tightly in their clutches, their free hands groping at her jiggling bare B-cups.

"We really must teach you," Neith commented, more amused by her outburst than alarmed, "that a serving wench is seen and not heard."

The Centurion reached down and picked up the Fox's halter top from where it had been discarded on the floor. As his fingers caressed the thin, clingy fabric of the heroine's fox head chest emblem, Neith added, "You may keep that as a souvenir, Earthling. Little Miss Fuchsia Fox is not going to be needing it."


***


Chapter 6 –


"There has been some deterioration," Neith said, holding a small scanning device up to the hieroglyphics and studying the readings that were displayed on its small screen. "But the code is 98% intact. The scan will be completed in ten minutes. Geb! Prepare to leave orbit. Plot a course to rendezvous with Apophis and Osiris."

"At once, mistress!" The guards had holstered their guns and the two holding the Fuchsia Fox prisoner had released her. Four of them now wheeled about and exited through the smaller door. The other four merely stood around, relaxed and unwary.

Jennifer couldn't help feeling a slight surge of hope as half the guards left, setting her pulse racing faster. But a moment later, that hope died. Thanks to this inhibitor collar she was forced to wear, she was powerless! What chance did she have against even four guards, not to mention Neith herself?

"Teppi," Neith continued, "take charge of the matter transporter. Send this Earth man back where he belongs."

"At once, mistress!" one of the guards said, hastening to an upright control panel toward the rear of the room.

"It has been a pleasure," the Centurion said with a slight bow. Neith didn't even acknowledge him, her attention focused entirely on scanning the Gate. The remaining three guards barely spared him a glance as he tucked the metal box containing the Mask of Thalia into a corner of his red cloak.

The Fox watched him as he turned toward the matter transporter. The superheroine felt so forlorn and vulnerable, her gloved arms folded over her breasts in a pathetic attempt at modesty. He was her one chance... but how could she expect a villain like him to rescue her?

"Oh, one last thing..." the Centurion said as he passed by her. Suddenly his powerful right arm snaked around her alluring waist, scooping her slender frame into his clutches.

Caught off balance, the Fox had no chance of resisting. Her arms parted to grab hold of his broad shoulders, allowing her naked little orbs to be crushed against his breastplate as he kissed her. Her eyes closed, and her lips opened, submissively accepting the invasion of his tongue into her mouth as he pulled her closer. She could feel one hand on her round butt, holding her helpless in place against him. Jennifer groaned, feeling the hard bulge of his cock through the front of his tunic. Her heart was hammering so loudly it seemed to drown out everything. Her body was soft and defenseless in his arms, her pussy wet with arousal. At some level she was aware that the horny guards were lasciviously watching her, which only served to add to the arousal her body was feeling, but nothing seemed to matter. After what seemed like an eternity, the Centurion's lips left her mouth, trailing a path of fire along her smooth, swanlike neck.

"Please, Centurion," the heroine whispered. "You've got to help me."

"Help you, Temptress?" he whispered back. "We're on opposite sides."

Jennifer felt tears of feminine helplessness welling up in her eyes. Why should she expect mercy or compassion from a man like this? "Please," she begged. "I don't ask just for myself. You have to stop Neith. You don't know what would happen to Earth if the Zumerians weren't able to protect us. Please?"

"Temptress, I've never even heard of Zumerians until today," the Centurion said. "Anyway, I'm a villain. And you can see that I'm outnumbered."

The Fox's heart quavered. There was only one hope left now. This wasn't just about her. What was her pride compared to the alternative? "Please, I'm begging you," she pleaded. "I'll... I'll do anything you want."

That got his attention. "Do you mean what I think you mean?"

"I mean..." the heroine said, swallowing her pride, "... anything."

The guards were becoming impatient. "Are you going or are you staying, Earth man?" snapped the one on the transporter controls.

"Just a moment," the Centurion said, taking one final kiss, the drape of his cloak all but hiding her from view of the guards. As he did so, the Fox's eyes widened, almost gasping out loud as she felt something long and thick and HARD slip inside the back of her pants, sliding in between her moist, bare buttocks. It felt like his wooden fighting rod which he had been using earlier!

"Now I'm ready," the Centurion said, giving her a wink and turning toward the transporter. The Fox, her pretty knees quivering, put her hands behind her to help conceal the weapon he had passed her. Her fingers clasped around the thick shaft.

"Step onto that," the guard at the controls said, pointing toward a diamond-shaped pattern in the middle of the floor. The other three guards were staring at the Fox's exposed tits as the Centurion walked that way and paused right on the brink.

"Oh, there is just one other thing..." he said. Suddenly he whirled around, dropping his cloak to the floor at the same time he drew a small, crescent-shaped dagger from his belt and threw it at the nearest guard, hitting him in the thigh. As that guard toppled, the Centurion had already drawn and activated his short sword, its energy blade singing as he charged the other two.

The guard at the controls of the transporter drew his pistol and took aim. The Fox frantically yanked the wooden rod out of her pants and attacked, knocking the gun out of his hand, then spinning around and smacking him across his bare chest. The alien struck out with a fist which the heroine ducked, whopping him again with rod. The inhibitor collar around her neck oppressed her with its weight. With that neutralizing her powers, this was going to be just woman against man, and she knew which one had the advantage.

"You need to be taught a lesson, serving wench," the alien smirked, driving past the Fox's next swing, grappling her arms and wrestling the struggling girl into his grasp. The young heroine groaned in despair as his strong arms snaked around her defenseless, half-naked body, holding her prisoner while his hands groped for her luscious coconuts.

Desperately the Fox twisted around in his embrace, her smooth bare skin slippery with perspiration, her breasts bobbing as she thrust the Centurion's rod lengthwise against the guard's throat with both hands. Her attacker fought to twist his head out of her reach, but her left arm snaked around his neck, catching him in a head lock with the rod choking off his wind. He struggled to break her grip, one hand kneading her pliant little boob... until at last he ran out of breath and collapsed on top of her, pinning her supple body underneath him.

"Oh god," the Fox gasped, wriggling out from under him just as the Centurion dropped the two guards he had been fighting. Jennifer picked up the guard's gun and joined him.

Just then Neith's scanning device let out a beep, signifying that it's scan was complete. The Horusian beauty hung the device on her golden belt. "What do you think you accomplished by taking on a few guards?" she said to the Centurion, drawing her lissome frame to full height. "Now you face a goddess!"

"But you're not a Roman goddess," the Centurion said flippantly. Quick as lightning, his left hand whipped out from behind his back, tossing two small objects which turned out to be mini-grenades. Neith drew her energy bow and arrow, but found herself unexpectedly engulfed in thick white smoke, confusing and throwing off her aim.

The Centurion and the Fox charged. One of Neith's arrows exploded against the front of the Centurion's breastplate, but he kept coming, head-butting the Horusian beauty and sending her sprawling against the black stone. His energy sword whined in the air as the flat of the blade smacked her in the side, and then his powerful left arm snaked around her smooth, bare torso, struggling to pin her arm behind her.

Neith twisted free and spun around with a flying kick which hit the center of his breastplate. The polycarbonic armor absorbed the impact, but her superspeed enabled her to duck underneath his counterattack, catch his sword arm in a disarming move, and kick his legs out from under him. The short sword clattered to the floor as the Centurion himself went tumbling.

The Fox opened fire with the guard's laser gun, but Neith dodged at superspeed. The laser beams hit the Gate of Seheil instead, blasting some of the hieroglyphics! "Oh no!" Jennifer gasped, appalled at what she had inadvertently done.

Meanwhile the Centurion was back on his feet, grappling with Neith. Evidently her powers did not include super strength, because the lissome, olive-skinned woman seemed to be barely holding her own against him, arm against arm. The Fox looked around frantically for some means of breaking the deadlock and spotted the Centurion's sword, lying where it had fallen.

"You no longer amuse me," Neith said, grinning as an amber glow appeared at the bases of both her arm-length bracelets. The energy traveled rapidly down the bracelets and emerged from her wrists as a flaming arrow which took the Centurion squarely in the chest, throwing him backward off his feet.

The Fox snatched up his sword and took a desperate swing, aiming at the True Ankh which hung from Neith's alluring waist. The impact tore the Ankh free from her belt and sent it sliding across the floor.

"What are you doing, stupid child?" Neith cried, as both women lunged for the glowing blue artifact. Neith reached it first, holding it up in triumph, but the Fox spun around without hesitation and with all her strength brought the edge of the Centurion's energy blade across the Ankh. The surface cracked, split in half, and all of its stored energy erupted in a single blast!


***


Chapter 7 –


The Fuchsia Fox was amazed that she wasn't killed outright by the explosion. A blaze of hot air like an open blast furnace threw her off her feet, rippling her brunette hair, parching her silken skin and plucking at her elbow length gloves and pants.

Neith had suffered a bit worse. Her white costume was scorched and smoking as she lay there panting in utter disbelief. "The True Ankh! You nitwit! You have destroyed the True Ankh!"

The Fox didn't give her the chance to recover. The girl pounced immediately, yanking the Horusian's slim arms behind her and plucking off her bracelets.

"Unhand me!" Neith demanded, kicking and squirming in Jenn's grasp.

"Not on your life," the Fox retorted, hauling the struggling goddess to her feet. "Centurion? Are you okay?"

"I've been worse," he replied, reclaiming his short sword. "We're both still alive. I'm impressed."

The door at the end of the room hissed open as the other four guards came rushing through, armed and ready for action. "That's far enough!" the Fox demanded, tightening her grip on her prisoner's arms. "Throw down your weapons and surrender!"

The four guards did not appear to be very intimidated by her. "I believe on Earth they call this checkmate," Neith smirked. "Are you ready to concede?"

Jennifer wished that she had some kind of weapon in her hand that she could hold against Neith's throat. "Um... Centurion? Do you think you could...?"

He glanced over. Then he delicately traced the razor-sharp point of his short sword along the front of Neith's white bustier. The fabric parted and fell off. The dark-eyed Horusian beauty gasped in outrage, while her guards' eyes bugged out at the sight of their mistress' wonderful bare hooters.

"That's not quite what I had in mind," the Fox said, with a slightly twisted smile.

"I could slice off her tights as well, if you think that would--"

Neith gasped. "What are you waiting for, you fools?" she squeaked at her men. "Throw down your weapons and surrender!"

The men dropped their weapons, and the Centurion had them lie down face first in the opposite corner. By this time the first four guards were regaining consciousness, and they were given the same treatment. "Now what?" the Centurion asked the Fox.

"Well," the superheroine said, busy tying Neith's wrists behind her with her own bustier, "the Ankh is destroyed. We have to make sure that she can't replicate another one." The Centurion picked up the scanning device which Neith had used to read off the code from the Gate of Seheil and ran it through with his sword, destroying it and whatever data was stored in it.

"Now there's just the Gate itself to deal with," the Fox mused, folding her hands over her nubile young bust. "Err... could I please have my top back?"

"But Neith gave it to me as a souvenir."

"Centurion ..." the stunning superheroine said testily.

He took the skimpy garment from where he had tucked it into his belt and tossed it to her. While she wiggled into it, he took charge of Neith, laying the deactivated blade of his sword across the tops of the goddess' breasts, just underneath her swanlike throat, while his right hand rested on her backside, patting her round little butt.

"I hate to say it," the Fox said, fastening the clasps of her top, "but there's only one way I can think of to be absolutely sure. You, Teppi! Get over to the matter transporter machine. I want you to transport the Gate into an active volcano."

"NO!" Neith protested, squirming in the Centurion's clutches. "I forbid you!" The Centurion grabbed a handful of the back of her tights, giving the fabric a tug so that she felt air on her sweet little caboose. "I mean... do whatever she says!"

"Fox, are you sure?" the Centurion said.

Jenn sighed as she finished fastening the clasps of her top. "I can't think of any other way to make sure the code can't ever be deciphered."

"But think of the museum! In the morning, the Gate and the Ankh will be gone. Everyone will think that I managed to steal them right under your nose. That will do wonders for MY reputation, but what about yours?"

"I think my reputation can stand a little failure, now and again." the superheroine said. "Anyway, this is more important than my reputation."

The Centurion stood guard over Neith with the flat of his sword resting on her round little tush, while the Fox watched the technician to ensure that he did as he was told. The Gate dematerialized. Then it was their turn.

"If we let you go, are you going to give us a hard time?" the Fox asked Neith.

"You have played the game with honor, Fuchsia Fox," the Horusian said, somewhat sulkily with her wrists still tied behind her and the Centurian's hand caressing her bare breast. "With the Ankh destroyed beyond repair, there is no reason for me to play you false. But know this: you have foiled my plans and humiliated me in front of my minions. I will have revenge. If not today, then someday."

"Someday I figure I can handle," the Fox said, walking over and standing inside the diamond-shaped pattern on the floor. "Beam us down."


***


The Fox and the Centurion materialized in the west rotunda of the Castle, not far from the empty spot where the Gate of Seheil once rested. The superheroine heaved a heavy sigh, thinking of what would happen in the morning when its loss was discovered. At least the Centurion got something out of it -- the Mask of Thalia.

"I suppose you had better get out of here," she said sullenly.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" he smirked, setting down his cloak and the box that held the Mask.

"I don't think--" the Fox began, rubbing her neck and touching that inhibitor collar. "Oh rats! I forgot all about this! Can you help me get this thing off?"

"I'm sure that I could," the Centurion said with a grin, removing his weapons belt and breastplate and setting them aside. "But that's not what I was thinking. I was thinking of what you promised me for rescuing you. If I may quote you -- 'anything'."

The superheroine's brown eyes widened as he took off his tunic, revealing his bare chest... his gorgeous, yummy bare chest! "N-n-now wait a minute!" the Fox stammered. "I didn't really mean--"

"What you meant is not important," he said, cutting off her escape. "What is important is what you promised. I want YOU, right now."

"But... but..." Jennifer protested, her knees quivering weakly as his overpoweringly masculine body backed her against one of the display cases. With this stupid inhibitor on, she had no chance of fighting him off or even of escaping him. "Please... you can't..." she murmured as his brawny arms slid around her waist, and then she found herself pinned against the display case with his lips planting kisses along her slender neck and his roaming hands fondling her sweet breasts.

"We... we really shouldn't be..." the Fox moaned, closing her eyes helplessly as his bold, clever fingers found the clasps of her halter top, undid them and stripped it from her as easily as undressing a child. "... please... not in the Smithsonian..."

"What's wrong with doing it in the Smithsonian?" he asked huskily, guiding her to one of the leather benches for the tourists to rest on.

The Fox sank back onto the bench as his mouth claimed her lips with wet, hungry kisses. "Mmmmm... nothing... nothing at all," she moaned, as his lips roamed downward to her tender young breasts, engulfing her nipples in waves of pleasure. In fact, from the very first time she had seen it, Jennifer had fantasized about making love right here in the rotunda of the Castle! Not that she would ever admit that to him.

Meanwhile his hands were busy slipping her pants down and sliding them over her ankles. The Fox's glove-sheathed hands clutched as his broad, manly shoulders as he positioned himself on top of her, his fingers gently caressing her silken stems. Her legs parted in response almost of their own volition, spreading wide as though to invite him inside. She heard him let out a deep groan of male arousal, his hazel eyes opening wide at the sight of her succulent coosh, so pink and vulnerable. Then he dove in between her legs, his mouth kissing her smooth inner thighs before closing over her pussy lips, gently sucking up her juices as he ate her.

What am I doing? Jennifer thought incoherently, her body tingling all over, her cheeks feeling flushed and hot. Granted that she had promised him "anything" in return for rescuing her, she should be putting up more of a struggle than this. She should be stronger. Instead she seemed powerless in his hands. With his killer bod and his imperious self-assurance, he was the kind of rogue that no girl could resist. How many others had fallen victim to his virile charm in the past, just as helplessly as she was falling?

"OOH!" she gasped suddenly as he mounted her, his rigid shaft sliding smoothly past her lubricated pussy lips and into her love hole. Oh God! What was she doing -- being taken in a public place, in the Smithsonian itself, while stripped of her powers and helpless to resist!

The heroine let out a shuddering moan of pleasure as their bodies joined, his iron hard male Thing pumping steadily and continuously like a piston. The Fox felt like a doll, an instrument meant only to service his pleasure. She did not even want to resist, instead groaning with ecstasy, her emotions swelling, her hips bucking urgently up and down in the same rhythm as her sexual arousal grew and grew. Her glove-sheathed arms embraced him, holding desperately to his muscular waist as his amazing cock kept up its steady beat, filling her, each powerful thrust driving her nearer and nearer to nirvana...

"Oh GOD!" the Fox squealed as a devastating orgasm ripped through her lissome body, taking her breath away. Hard on the heels of that was his own orgasm, filling her love tunnel with hot, thick jizm. "OH GOD, YES!" she again cried, hit by a second orgasm that made her see nothing but stars.


***


Epilogue –


The Fox was lying lengthwise along the bench feeling both consumed and satiated, with the Centurion's wonderfully male body on top of hers. It seemed like hours later that she felt him stir, his lips kissing the silken skin of her shoulders while his hand caressed her naked body. Jennifer stretched languidly underneath him, feeling like nothing more than a weak, docile puddle of mush.

"You were amazing," the Centurion said as he sat up. The Fox merely lay there breathlessly looking up at him, admiring his virile male form as he bent over and reached for his leggings. "But the night wears on, Temptress. All goods things and so on."

He leaned over and fiddled with the latch on the inhibitor collar, until with a click it sprang open and he could take it off. The act of releasing her reminded Jennifer quite suddenly of just who and where she was.

"Thank you," the Fox murmured, with a small measure of embarrassment, sitting up and reaching for her costume. "You really ought to be getting out of here. I don't know how well your men tied up the security guards. What if they manage to get free and catch you?" As the rush of adrenalin faded, the young heroine began to feel worried, internally questioning how she could be actually helping the villain make his escape . She was pretty sure that the security cameras in the Rotunda didn't cover this particular bench, but she needed time to make sure before the guards got free. And then, if she was lucky, she could switch back to Jennifer Fletcher and no one need know that the Fuchsia Fox had even been here. And then... oh my God! -- Martin was probably waiting for her at home by now, wondering what had happened to her. What was she going to tell him?

"I don't think you need worry about that," the Centurion said, as he finished getting dressed. "There is just one more detail..."

The Fox was fully dressed now as well. Suddenly the Centurion was grabbing her and handcuffing her wrists behind her. "Hey!" the superheroine protested, uselessly. "What are you doing?"

She struggled in his grasp, flexing her marvelous muscles to no avail. Her bracelets of Ishtar, having been drained of power by the True Ankh, had not yet recharged enough from the ambient cosmic energy to enhance her strength by more than just a small fraction. "I mean it, Centurion! Let me out of this! Where did you even get handcuffs, anyway?" she added a bit sulkily.

"I got them off of one of Neith's bodyguards," the infuriating man replied, pushing her tush down on the bench and slapping another pair of cuffs on her trim ankles. "We have to make it look good. No one would believe that I stole the Gate and the Ankh unless I was able to overpower you first."

"But..." the Fox began, her heart fluttering with anxiety, but at the same time, arousal. She couldn't tell him how she had planned to simply change back into her alter ego, because then he'd know that she was a Smithsonian employee! This was like a nightmare! "Centurion, you can't leave me like this!" she pleaded, struggling to no avail with the alien shackles.

"It will only be for a few minutes," the Centurion said, picking up his cloak and the box with the Mask of Thalia inside. "Then I'm sure the guards will be able to set you loose. Good night, Temptress. I look forward to running into you again some time."

"The guards?" the Fox whimpered helplessly as Centurion turned on his heel and disappeared into the shadows. "Centurion! Come back here!"


THE END>>>>
By Centurion

[scwank]

Another enjoyable read. I was a bit torn on this one, as it had some of my favorite elements, mixed with some of my least favorite. I’ve always liked the power loss stuff (two prior ones that come to mind were when Major Wright slipped off the Fox’s bracelets in combat, and when the Fox hit a bridge and ended up along the road and got stripped of her bracelets). I’m not quite why, but I’ve never been into the alien stuff, or the stuff with other superheroines. Not just with the Fox, but even with the Supergirl TV show. It just feels a bit jarring, and more SciFi than superheroine. But that’s just me, I realize. Still, I enjoyed reading this one.

Thinking back to past stories has me thinking it might be interesting to see everyone’s “Top 5” list of favorite Fox moments, maybe overall, or broken down into category (power, peril, etc.)

[NoonShadow]

I meant to offer some feedback on this story, but it's honestly hard for me to find something to say. I'm bad at this.

Regardless, though, it's fun for villains to come back into the picture. Even better when they do manage to get the better of the heroine at least once. I liked that element of this story, but this particular villain doesn't really do much for me.

The other thing that does work is the peril within her secret identity. That's always fun-catching them when they're not able to pull their heroics off.

[flirty_but_nice]

Thank you so much, scwank and NoonShadow, for both of your feedback comments. Really appreciated and I have forwarded your comments on to Centurion. If he replies, I will post it here.

SC, I kind of agree a little bit about the alien stuff and for me, I find it to be so much more alluring when the superheroine does battle against much lessor foes, but foes that somehow nevertheless find a way to get the jump on our heroine or are able to somehow manage to temporarily depower the heroine.

To lose to the common man (or woman), for me that is just SO much more of a kinky turn-on. Centurion is making this kind of difficult, though, for more and more it seems he is wanting the Fox to become more like Supergirl, just super powerful, so much so that no common human should be able to hurt her. Me on the other hand, I like that a superheroine still has vulnerabilities to normal fighting. Like if she faces five to ten guys, it becomes quite a battle because of the volume of foes and as such, she might take some blows that can serve to weaken her.

With Supergirl and increasingly the Fuchsia Fox, though, I know that Centurion seems to be of the opinion that with her forceshield up, there's just no way a thug's fist or club or anything like that should be able to appreciably faze her.

I know it just boils down to preference, but I guess I prefer my superheroines to be, well, simply less "super", so that common foes have a chance. Oh, another example of this, in the most recent Justice League movie, there is that scene near the beginning when Wonder Woman foils a bomb plot … and one of the foes manages to come up behind her and nail her with the butt of his rifle, but Wonder Woman is not fazed in the least by this. I would have MUCH preferred if that whack from the back would have partially dazed the superheroine, possible causing her to stumble and slightly pause. Ergo, the introduction of an element of peril rather than Wonder Woman seemingly being indestructible in a fight against common people.

Anyway, like I said, I have passed your comments on and I appreciate the time you guys have taken to respond. As always, I love feedback. :x

[scwank]

Thanks, Flirty. Seems we are alike in that regard. I don't even mind if the heroine is seemingly indestructible, as long as there is some avenue for the villains to take. With the Fuchsia Fox, that avenue is that she isn't naturally superpowered, so a clever (or lucky) villain could still come out on top. But, yeah, I've been writing my own stuff (early stages), and right now my heroine goes against "normal" villains. I like the idea that she alone is "super" in the world, and therefore really something special and someone that everyone is awe over. It makes the setbacks that much more dramatic.

[flirty_but_nice]

Reply from Centurion …

"I appreciate the feedback. I always consider the superhero genre a sub-category of science fiction (all those gadgets that Batman carries, what else would you call that?). The Fox is half alien herself, and her bracelets are alien technology, so it makes sense that other alien technologies might defeat them. But I agree with you that I wouldn't want it happening all the time, just on rare occasions.

I think of the Centurion as a "bad boy". He could have been a hero except that he's a little too mercenary for that. Or did you mean Neith? Yeah, I kind of agree that I didn't really flesh Neith out that well. She comes off as more a plot device than a character. I'll have to work on that."

[scwank]

Reply from Centurion …


I think of the Centurion as a "bad boy". He could have been a hero except that he's a little too mercenary for that.

I do enjoy the Centurion character, and some of the binds he gets the Fuchsia Fox in. The ending of this story, leaving her handcuffed and helpless, was pretty hot. I know it isn't where Centurion was probably going with this, but that could almost be a jumping off point for another story - someone (a villain that normally would have no shot against her?) aside from just the normal museum crowd finds her, and things go from there.

[flirty_but_nice]

Reply from Centurion …


I think of the Centurion as a "bad boy". He could have been a hero except that he's a little too mercenary for that.

I do enjoy the Centurion character, and some of the binds he gets the Fuchsia Fox in. The ending of this story, leaving her handcuffed and helpless, was pretty hot. I know it isn't where Centurion was probably going with this, but that could almost be a jumping off point for another story - someone (a villain that normally would have no shot against her?) aside from just the normal museum crowd finds her, and things go from there.

I also think it was really hot how he left her chained and apparently helpless, leaving her to be embarrassingly discovered, defeated. Despite my own intentions of wanting that scene written out, Centurion wanted to leave the ending kind of up in the air, for the reader to imagine what happens next.

[dodosony]

Hi Flirty,

I must first confront the thing that I am a big fan of the scenarios where superheroine loss their superpower during the battle — not merely drained or stripped the superpower by their enemies, but at least temperately cannot use those superpowers as usually. I remember another superheroine story writer Damselbinder who asked a question about how to robbed superpower from heroine but not just suppressed with kryptonite-like elements in this forum in few weeks ago. Then, I think Centurion made a fantastic example to show the possibility to achieve this gold in his latest chapters.


While the idea of “Power-limit collar” is not first time appear into Fuchsia Fox series if you had read the story “The Perils of Victory: The Price of Doom” which Centurion co-write with LadyJane in a few years ago. However, I find there is a giant leap forward that Centurion uses the element of the power-limit collar in his creative work. Specifically, in the previous story “The Price of Doom,” the function of the power-limit collar was used by the villain as a punisher which tames superheroine to be an obedient person. On the contrary, Centurion radically altered the role of power collar in his latest story “Assault on the Castle,” and in this time, the power-limit collar is work as an inhibitor which neutralizes Fox’s superpowers instead of hurt Fox directly in any way.


There is also an interesting point which made Centurion a unique and fantasy writer — he put “himself” in the story and interact with his other characters. In this way, from my point of view, put writer as a protagonist within the fiction makes the audience felt like they read a superheroine adventure story from villain’s diary. Such kind of scenario is also the fantasy of us when we are children, isn’t it? I mean, children may imagine they became a superhero or supervillain in their mind and fought with the other side for fun. I agreed with Scwank and Flitry’s standpoint that leaving Fox handcuffed and waited to be rescued by “normal” guards of the museum. Again, for me, stripped superpower of a heroine made them as helpless and vulnerable as a maiden, and villains allure superheroine to give up fight turn me on so much.


By the way, I want to thank Centurion, not only for his Fuchsia Fox story, but also he makes me take an interest on the history and myth in ancient Egypt and Greek. I used to dislike them — the name and narrative of Egypt and Greek story are far from my culture. Yet, after I read more and more Centurion’s Fox story, I find out there are lots of Greek and Egypt elements in his work made me to research on Greek and Egypt myth. For example, the name of Demetrius is from the Ancient Greek tale, Nemesis as the Family of Nyx who also originated from the ancient Greek. The imaginary terrorist organization “ORCUS” stands for the god of the underworld in Roman mythology — same cultural background as Neith, Nibiru, and Manticore. Most villain characters within the Fuchsia Fox adventure story may found prototypes from either Greek or Egypt tales — it may be a common sense for an audience who familiar with western culture, but it impressed me that the history of ancient Greek and Egypt can be so much fun. I never imagine that a superheroine fiction can have so much historical root in its narrative, and those believable characters who came from ancient Greek and Egypt tales made Fuchsia Fox story has a vast difference with the other superheroine stories from another writers.

Here is one question made me confused after I read “Assault on the Castle.” In Chapter 5, Neith tossed Fox’s halter top down to the floor in front of eight guards, Centurion, and even the security camera of the museum. Is it means those eight badass, Centurion, and even public had a chance to see the “real identity” of Fox because of she loss her "enhanced aura that build-in Fox’s halter top? Or, I guess because of the light in the museum too dark to let them judge the difference between Fox’s appearance when she loses her Halter top?


Yours

Dodosony


By the way, here is the URL of LadyJane and Centurion's "The Price of Doom" if some of your interest to read: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=20670

[DrDominator9]

Another very enjoyable excursion into the Fuschia Fox's world. I loved how Neith maneuvered FF into touching the Ankh and the resulting power draining scene. There were many enjoyable instances throughout of heroine humiliation.

I also welcomed Centurian's appearance and behavior in the contest. He's a interesting character and brought a fresh attitude with him I felt.

Another aspect worth noting was the bantering between FF and Neith about their two civilizations and their customs. It gave some insight into the Zumerians I hadn't heard before.

All in all, it was a fun, involving and altogether delightful story from one of our master craftsman here in heroine peril.

[flirty_but_nice]

I do enjoy the Centurion character, and some of the binds he gets the Fuchsia Fox in. The ending of this story, leaving her handcuffed and helpless, was pretty hot. I know it isn't where Centurion was probably going with this, but that could almost be a jumping off point for another story - someone (a villain that normally would have no shot against her?) aside from just the normal museum crowd finds her, and things go from there.

Centurion's response …

"Yeah, Flirty liked that ending, too. I left it hanging so that the reader could imagine his own ending, suitable to his or her taste. My own ending would be that without the inhibitor collar, her bracelets recharge their power in a matter of minutes, and she is able to break out of the handcuffs before the security guards are able to get free. Centurion"

[Damselbinder]

God in heaven, this was delicious. Fuschia's various defeats were absolutely delectable, from her getting wrapped up and zapped, to her being tricked with the True Ankh. I think that was my favourite, especially since you describe her afterwards as being so weak and feminine. That she just offers herself up to the Centurion like that was quite shocking - especially since she seemed to derive so much pleasure out of consummating it!

Excellent work!

[flirty_but_nice]

Another reply from Centurion …

"Once again, thanks to all of you for the feedback. All writers need encouragement to let them know what they're doing right or wrong as the case may be. If you like heroines unable to use their powers for one reason or another, you'll like the next two stories (when Flirty gets around to posting them). One involves Jennifer being caught in one of those situations where she dares not change into her super alter ego for about half the story. The next one after that also involves a villainess stripping the Fox of her powers, but in a unique way that I hope you'll find amusing.

I've always been loved Greek and Roman mythology which is why I borrow so many names from that culture.

When Neith took her halter top off, they had been transported up to her spaceship and were no longer in the museum. I'm sorry if that was not clear. Yes the bad guys got to see her real identity, but they're aliens, so what do they care? The Centurion has already seen her without her top (in the previous story where they met), and in any case he's not the sort of man who would blackmail her with her real identity. The halter had had been returned to her before they transported back down to the museum, so the security cameras never got the chance to record her without it. I'm pretty sure that I said that the bench where they made love was not covered by the cameras, didn't I? (At least I hope so!)


Centurion"

[scwank]

Another reply from Centurion …

If you like heroines unable to use their powers for one reason or another, you'll like the next two stories (when Flirty gets around to posting them).

Uh, oh, Flirty, the eyes of the Internet are on you, and waiting!

[scwank]

On a more serious note, I’m glad to see people commenting. Just by the view numbers alone, every one person commenting represents many, many more people who are reading.

[dodosony]

Another reply from Centurion …

If you like heroines unable to use their powers for one reason or another, you'll like the next two stories (when Flirty gets around to posting them).

Uh, oh, Flirty, the eyes of the Internet are on you, and waiting!

Yeah, I agree with you Scwank, waiting for another two episodes coming soon. Also, hope there will more people could make a comment on Fuchsia Fox's story and thanks for all people who can make a comment on Centurion and Flirty's story.

Dodo

[flirty_but_nice]

Another reply from Centurion …

If you like heroines unable to use their powers for one reason or another, you'll like the next two stories (when Flirty gets around to posting them).

Uh, oh, Flirty, the eyes of the Internet are on you, and waiting!

Uh oh, the pressure is on!

Guys, I am indeed doing my best to review, edit, and format the latest FF story, so that I may soon post it. Stay tuned!