Dust swirled in the air as Tempest descended to set Phantom down in front of the Tether. It was really weird to see Castor in his super suit. Normally, Castor wore the adaptive suit in its default, semi-transparent appearance, but right now it had taken on the guise of his classic red-and-white Phantom suit.

Tempest looked skyward. The long cables that connected the base of the Tether to the orbital station were taut. They extended far up into the sky and beyond the clouds like they always did, but the elevator carriages that normally zoomed up and down them were conspicuously absent, today.

As they’d come in from above, Tempest had spotted a police perimeter around the building. Now that he was on the ground he noticed a number of fully-geared SWAT teams standing at the ready nearby, nearly all of them standing under the shade of awnings surrounding awnings.

It seemed that no one had tried to enter the building yet, and Tempest could see why. The entranceway had been blasted open. The metal frames of the doors were mangled, bent inward by the force of an explosion. The metal was melted in some places, and so was some of the surrounding stone. Broken glass from the doorway was scattered out toward the sidewalk and in toward the interior of the building. The fragments closest to the ruined entranceway looked half-melted.

"I’m starting to think this wasn’t the best idea, Co—Tempest," said Phantom. His gaze seemed riveted to the carnage that was the front door of the Tether. "I really wasn’t meant to be fighting on the front line."

Tempest placed a hand on Phantom’s shoulder. "We’ll be alright, Phantom," he said. "SIBYL, what’s the situation inside? Are there any civilians still in the building?"

"As I mentioned before, the tether was closed for maintenance today," chimed SIBYL. Right. That was good. "The engineering crew evacuated promptly when Temblor and Pyroclast showed up. Scans of the aboveground structure indicate that there are no civilians present. The building is currently empty."

"That’s great!" said Phantom. His expression brightened considerably. "That means that we can go in, you can blast them with your lightning, I can go tie them up if you want me to, and we’ll be done with it, right?" Phantom cracked his knuckles. "Let’s make short work of these villains," he said.

Tempest shook his head. Before he could explain, SIBYL beat him to the punch. "Unfortunately, Phantom, that simply is not the case. The Tether building is an economic cornerstone not just of Selene City, but the entire commonwealth. While it is by no means fragile thanks to advances in structural and material engineering, the excessive use of force can cause significant damage to the structure.

"At best, a misplaced lightning bolt may overload the building’s internal grid, leading to months of extensive repairs. I’m afraid that in the interest of preventing long-term negative repercussions on the local economy, I must advise that you, and any other heroes that respond to the ongoing situation, exercise restraint in your attempts to apprehend the perpetrators," said SIBYL.

"I understand, SIBYL," said Tempest. Phantom looked like he was on the verge of a panic attack. He was obviously well outside of his comfort zone. Tempest wouldn’t have been surprised if Phantom was thinking about making a break for it, but just to make sure his friend didn’t do anything stupid, he squeezed Phantom’s shoulder and whispered, "It’s not going to be a good look for you if you run away now. The media’s here."

Tempest jerked his head toward one of the adjoining streets. A news crew had already begun filming. Overhead, a few aerial footage drones were already milling about. "We can do this. Trust me," said Tempest. "Now, let’s take down some villains."

---

"There they are," Tempest whispered, as the short-range surveillance drone, a tiny metallic sphere the size of a pea, peered into the room. The central room of the Tether’s deepest basement floor was illuminated by an eerie reddish-orange glow. The light was coming from a machine situated in the center of the room, between the two villains guarding it.

The machine itself was strange. Tempest had never seen the like. It was a rectangular prism with a square base, one foot long on a side and three feet tall. It was made out of some sort of lustrous black stone. The sides were etched with glowing red lines that were similar to circuitry.

The top of the machine was dominated by something that resembled a ziggurat. The stepped pyramid structure glowed with the same lines of circuitry as on the main body of the machine. On top of the ziggurat was a dish, about the size of a saucer.

The dish was projecting a beam of light upward. Above it hovered a long cylindrical rod. It was about two feet long and it glowed at either end. Tempest had the strangest inkling that he’d seen the rod somewhere before, but he couldn’t put a figure out where.

He shook his head. He didn’t have time to speculate about the machine and its purpose. He’d never faced either Temblor or Pyroclast before, but from what he knew they were formidable.

Temblor, who was about a head shorter than Tempest and much, much broader, had the power to generate seismic waves. His powers were similar to Shatter, but Temblor’s were particularly suited to creating earthquakes.

Pyroclast, on the other hand, had a few inches of height on Tempest. He was lean, bordering on lanky. His suit was a deep almost-black purple with molten red accents. From what Tempest understood, Pyroclast was not a designation the villain had chosen for himself, but rather a name assigned to him by the Hall after he swept through a small village in the Serenity province, leaving a scene eerily reminiscent of ancient Pompeii in his wake.

Tempest ducked back around the corner before either supervillain noticed him. He crept a ways down the hall to where Phantom was waiting for him. The two of them had decided to take the stairs furthest from the main elevator shaft, as the two villains were most likely paying the closest attention to that angle of attack.

There was no doubt that some of the more headstrong heroes of the Hall would not have even thought of finding an alternative way down, but neither Tempest nor Phantom fought with brute strength. They chose the more tactical approach, and they were all the better for it, particularly since taking the stairs had allowed them to get this close without being detected. It had taken them longer than taking the elevator would have, but it was worth it.

"I think the machine uses some sort of mystic energy," said Tempest, as he and Phantom huddled in the darkness. He tapped his communicator and created a small projection of the machine. Phantom studied it closely, but it was apparent that he had never seen anything like it before, either. Tempest tapped his communicator again and said, "SIBYL, do you have any idea what the nature of this machine is, and how we might be able to disable it?"

A few garbled consonants and vowels was all that Tempest received in response. That on top of a high-pitched static whine that made his teeth ache. "That’s not good," murmured Phantom. "Here, let me try mine. SIBYL, are you there? Come in." The result of Phantom’s attempt was not much better. "Is it because we’re this far underground?"

Tempest clenched his fingers into a fist. "Ugh. No, not with SIBYL. And especially not in a building as advanced as the Tether. There are signal relays from the surface all over the place." he said. He looked back in the direction of the room with Temblor and Pyroclast. "It must be that machine… It might be producing some sort of radio wave interference…"

Tempest pinched the bridge of his nose. "Damn… that sucks. It looks like we’re going to have to figure this one out alone since SIBYL won’t be able to help us… Do you have any ideas?"

"We could… wait for reinforcements?" said Phantom, twiddling his thumbs. Tempest looked at his friend and smiled sympathetically. Phantom had really lost his confidence from his active days. Tempest couldn’t blame him. Morphs, before they were reassigned to secret identity protection, had had one of the highest mortality rates among the power classifications.

Tempest shook his head. What Phantom was suggestion was smart. In any other situation. Right now, it wasn’t really an option. SIBYL had mentioned that there was a possibility of reinforcements. "I don’t think that’s a good idea. We don’t know what the machine does or how long it needs to finish whatever it’s doing. And it’s clear the Azure Flame wants to keep heroes away from this place. I don’t think we’re going to see the cavalry any time soon."

Phantom whined. He buried his face in his hands. A moment later, his head shot up. "I think I have an idea," said Phantom. "You can summon pretty strong winds, can’t you? Do you think you can create a narrow directed stream of air? Make it as strong as the exhaust from a jet engine?"

Tempest thought about it. There was no reason he couldn’t. "How narrow are you thinking?" he said. The narrowest jet of air he’d tried to make was about a foot across. He’d never tried, nor had any reason to make one narrower than that, but he couldn’t think of why it wouldn’t work.

"Good, good," said Phantom. "If I could distract the two villains for long enough, do you think that you can knock the rod out of alignment? I’m willing to bet that’s the most important part of the whole contraption, and if we could just knock it out of that beam of energy we might just end up disabling the whole thing."

"It shouldn’t take me longer than six seconds to do that," said Tempest. "But I’m not sure it would work. Look, it’s clearly a mystical device of some sort. Wouldn’t an intelligent group of villains make sure there was some sort of spell to protect the rod from disturbance?"

"Shit. You’re right," said Phantom. He scratched his head. "Ugh! Back to square one… What are we supposed to do? We don’t have backup. You’re the only real superhero here. The best I can do is change into someone else."

"Well, I think the distraction idea is pretty good," said Tempest. Phantom raised an eyebrow at him. "No, I mean it. It’s only what we do with the distraction that’s a bit iffy…"

"You could shoot the machine with lightning," said Phantom.

Tempest thought about it. It wasn’t a bad idea on the face of it. "But we don’t know what the machine does. They might be waiting for some stupid hero to come along and power it up for them," he said. "And besides, SIBYL said…"

"But couldn’t you, I dunno, create enough lightning to fry just the machine?" said Phantom.

Tempest looked at his hands. He remembered Luxus’ taunts, and the sheer amount of voltage he’d managed to unleash. "I don’t know if I have that much control over it," he lied. "And besides, the machine might be connected to the building’s electrical systems. Maybe I could… just knock the two villains out?"

Phantom blinked. "You know what, I think that’s a great idea," he said. "Why didn’t I think of that?" he added, shaking his head.

Tempest reached over and patted Phantom on the shoulder. "Hey, you said it yourself. You haven’t been on the field in decades. I’d say it’s more than okay to be a little bit rusty," he said.

"Right," said Phantom. A moment later, the spitting image of Luxus was standing in front of Tempest.

Tempest shivered. A chill had gone down his spine. His cheeks flushed with heat at the sight of Luxus, and his hole twitched. He didn’t understand the reaction, but there was no denying it. He just tried his best to ignore the blood rushing into his cock. "Good thing that your powers are as good as ever, though, Phantom," said Tempest. "Have you been studying Luxus in custody?"

Phantom—or in this case, Luxus—rolled his eyes. "Are you kidding me?" he said. "I’ve been ‘studying’ Luxus ever since he joined the Hall, if you get my meaning," said Luxus’ double with a grin.

It was Tempest’s turn to roll his eyes. He chuckled. Of course Phantom had lusted after Luxus. He was willing to bet that a person could count in one hand the number of adult heroes in the roster that Phantom hadn’t yet masturbated to.

"Alright," said Tempest, dusting off his hands as he straightened. "Let’s do this… Try not to stand too close to them, alright? I don’t want to accidentally hit you."

Phantom nodded. Together the two of them set off down the narrow hallway, but Tempest fell back when they neared the entrance. He needed Phantom to catch the attention of the villains inside the room before he showed up. It gave him the perfect opportunity to start building charge inside his body.

"Hello, boys," said Phantom. His voice was a pitch-perfect copy of Luxus’ low drawl. "You folks having some fun without me?"

Tempest waited around the corner by the entrance. Little sparks of electricity arced between his fingers. He was nearing the amount of voltage he needed to stun a normal human being, but for some reason, he didn’t feel right. It might have just been the electricity giving him the jitters, but he couldn’t shake the feeling.

His heart skipped a beat when Phantom started speaking again. "Woah, woah!" said the shapeshifter. Tempest was tempted to break his cover, but he resisted the urge. "Cool down, hothead. Sheesh. So aggressive… You don’t want to bring the building down on top of us, do you? You don’t need to look at me that way, son, I’m just here to watch how you young’ns do your villain-ing these days."

"Nice try," said a smooth, patronizing voice. "But we can see straight through you, shapeshifter. Luxus’ eyes are a beautiful bright blue."

Tempest’s blood ran cold. "Now, Tempest!" Phantom screamed.

When Tempest stepped into view of the entrance, Phantom was flat on the floor, having reverted back to his normal self. A fraction of a second later, he swung his arms forward and unleashed two bolts of lightning. Unfortunately, his brief hesitation was enough to give Pyroclast and Temblor a chance to dodge out of the way.

The only thing that Tempest managed to accomplish was scorching the ground around the machine. There was no time to worry about the way that the bolts had seemed to deflect around the machine. "Take cover, Phantom!" said Tempest, as he ducked to avoid a glob of molten rock that Pyroclast had lobbed at his head.

The artificial lava hissed as it struck the wall behind Tempest. It cooled quickly, but Tempest did not want to get hit by one of those things.

Tempest tried to make for cover, but the moment he tried, the floor shook viciously underneath him, compromising his balance. Temblor had a hand on the floor, cracks in the concrete slowly propagating outward from his fingers.

"Fog, Tempest. Fog!" said the voice of Phantom. He was somewhere in the room, but Tempest couldn’t see him. And he didn’t have time to look.

Tempest did as he was told. He conjured up a fog cloud that filled the entire room. It was thick and impossible to see through. The only point of reference was the fuzzy light produced by the machine in the middle of the room.

Unable to see clearly in the current conditions, Tempest had to rely on his other senses. He crept across the room as quietly as he could. He listened, trying to figure out where the other people were relative to him. He heard a crack and a hiss from in front of him, probably Pyroclast lobbing a glob of lava at something.

"Tempest is in that direction!" said Pyroclast.

"Getting better, shapeshifter, but still not going to work," responded a voice that sounded like rocks grinding together.

It was a good idea, but apparently one that failed. There was a strangled yelp of pain followed by a loud thud. Tempest realized that the fog was now more of a liability than an asset.

Closing his eyes, he mustered the strongest sub-typhoon winds that he could muster and swept all of the fog toward the back of the room. When he opened his eyes he saw Phantom lying in a crumpled heap against one of the support pillars in the room.

Before he could do anything else, a blast of foul-smelling gas knocked Tempest back on his ass. The smell intensified as Pyroclast approached, Temblor close behind him. The two villains looked like they had intent to kill.

Tempest took a deep breath to settle his nerves but before he could even begin to channel his lightning, Pyroclast clucked his tongue and shook his head. "Ah, ah, ah, I wouldn’t do that if I were you, little thundercloud," said Pyroclast. "I’ve filled the room with an explosive mixture of gas and air. I’m sure you don’t want to blow the Tether up to kingdom come, and the rest of us with it."

"Let him go!" Phantom’s voice called out from across the room. Tempest’s gaze flitted in Phantom’s direction. The shapeshifter was holding a large metal pipe over his head, ready to strike at the machine in the center of the room. Temblor turned to look at him, fists clenched.

Pyroclast, however, kept his attention on Tempest. "Be a good jockboy and stay down," said Pyroclast, before turning to face Phantom.

Tempest shivered. His thoughts ground to a halt. A quiet moan escaped his lips as he felt something like ice-cold water trickle over his head and down his spine. It made his skin tingle, and his mind foggy. He felt fuzzy, giddy. Blank.

He tried to move his body but it was difficult. His arms and legs were like jelly, trembling to support his weight. Thinking was even harder, like his thoughts were buried in treacle. When Pyroclast walked away from him, the only thing he could think of to do was grab for the villain’s leg. But Pyroclast just stepped out of his reach.

When Temblor spoke, his modulated voice sounded like boulders tumbling down a mountain slope. "Put the pipe down, Phantom," he said. "The machine has done its job. The wand is charged. There is nothing you can do now to stop the Process. The earth will buckle and fire will rain from the heavens. The Tether will collapse and birth a new volcano!"

Tempest pushed himself back up to his hands and knees. It was hard work, but he got there, eventually. "You should have stayed out of this," said Temblor. He was still addressing Phantom. "You should have known better. After all, fucksluts aren’t meant to think."

The metal pipe slipped out of Phantom’s hands and fell to the ground with a metallic clang. Phantom’s pupils dilated, his eyes glazing over. He sank to his knees as his jaw went slack, a trickle of drool dribbling from the corner of his mouth.

Not so much thinking as acting on instinct, Tempest saw an opportunity to strike now that the villains seemed preoccupied with his friend. He had his secret weapon still. His body. It had worked fantastically well against Luxus. There was no reason it couldn’t work against Pyroclast and Temblor.

Swaying as he got back on his feet, Tempest took a deep breath and steeled himself. He peeled back his hood and tore out of his suit faster than he had ever done before. "Your time is up, Pyroclast," he called out. "We will stop you."

Before Pyroclast had time to react, Tempest launched himself at the villain. He managed to knock Pyroclast to the floor, the two of them skidding to a stop five feet away from where the villain was originally standing. "Weren’t expecting that, were you?" said Tempest, as he lowered himself to mouth at the outline of Pyroclast’s cock through Pyroclast’s suit.

The villain squirmed and writhed underneath Tempest as he felt Pyroclast’s cock harden under his ministrations. He slobbered all over it, letting his drool seep into the fabric. He suckled at the head, eliciting high-pitched grunts from Pyroclast. "I don’t need my lightning to take villains like you down," he said, a hint of cockiness in his voice.

Just then, Tempest felt hands on his shoulders. Temblor. "Get off of him!" said that now-familiar gravelly voice. But before Temblor could attempt to pull Tempest off of Pyroclast, Tempest heard a loud thud and a grunt.

Briefly looking up from Pyroclast’s cock, Tempest saw that Phantom, now naked like he was, had tackled Temblor to the ground. Temblor grunted as he tried to get up off the floor, but Phantom pinned Temblor down with his weight and ground his naked ass against Temblor’s growing erection.

"Great idea to use this tactic, Tempest," said Phantom. He giggled. It was a quiet, vapid sound. His eyes were dull, glassy, vacant of any and all intelligence. Tempest should have found something wrong about that, but he couldn’t figure out what. Phantom looked as stupid as he was supposed to. "I would never have thought of it! I’m such a fucking airhead," said Phantom.

Tempest grinned at his super slutty friend. "That’s okay, Phantom. Thinking’s hard for us super whores, but sometimes we just gotta do what comes naturally." Tempest giggled, a shiver running down his spine as he acknowledged that Phantom really was such an empty-headed slut. It made him hot and horny. Hungry for cock. So he returned to Pyroclast’s clothed cock.

As he was mouthing at Pyroclast’s erection, his lips grazed what felt like a flap in Pyroclast’s suit in the crotch area. It really shouldn’t have been there, but Tempest was too far gone, too horny, his thoughts too slow to realize that there was anything wrong about it.

Using his fingers to pry the flap open, Tempest managed to coax Pyroclast’s cock out of its containment. He groaned at the sight of it, his hole twitching, his mouth salivating. Even if Pyroclast wasn’t one of the most masculine supers out there, his cock was enormous. It was almost as thick around as Tempest’s wrist and it was nearly as long as his forearm. He drooled as he rubbed it against his face.

Tempest was starting to see a pattern, one that he was sure he could exploit in future battles. Villains were horny fuckers. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen it before. Playing with their cocks was apparently an easy way to take them down. He didn’t understand how he hadn’t thought of it before.

He grinned to himself as he wrapped his lips around Pyroclast’s cock head. He loved the salty-sweet tang of pre-cum. It made his mind foggier, his thoughts slower. He moaned around it, swirling his tongue around the glans.

Pyroclast writhed underneath Tempest. That made Tempest feel good. So good. His own cock was hard, bobbing between his legs, leaking pre-cum onto the floor. This was what he was supposed to do, not slinging his lightning, pretending to be a superhero. He was a whore. A good jockboy. His purpose was to suck all the fight out of the villain, like a good little slut.

Tempest shifted around so that he could watch as Phantom ‘took care’ of Temblor. His friend had found a similar flap in Temblor’s suit as the one that had let Pyroclast’s cock out and Phantom was currently rubbing his ass crack up and down Temblor’s thick meat. Phantom giggled and mumbled, "It’s a good thing I know how to get guys to talk."

With a grunt, Phantom aimed Temblor’s cock at his hole and sat on it. Tempest watched, moaning quietly as he watched Phantom’s pucker stretch around Temblor’s thick piece. Tempest reached back and fingered his hole, feeling a bit jealous that his own hole was empty.

Phantom worked his way down Temblor’s cock slowly, sliding it inch by inch inside of him until he bottomed out, his fat ass cheeks resting on Temblor’s pelvis. "Fuuuuck…" Phantom moaned, a delirious look in his eyes. "Sooooo full…"

Tempest flinched when he felt Pyroclast’s fingers work their way through his hair. He looked up, wide-eyed at the villain. Pyroclast was looking at him, wild-eyed and red-faced. He had underestimated his opponent. Pyroclast was more resilient than he had anticipated.

But he wasn’t going to let Pyroclast take control of the situation. He sucked hard, digging his tongue into Pyroclast’s piss slit, eliciting a loud moan from the villain. Yes. That was it. Using his other hand he fondled Pyroclast’s balls, feeling the cum churning inside of them.

The fingers in Tempest’s hair tightened. A pressure on the back of his head pushed his mouth further down Pyroclast’s shaft. This was going to be a fight. But Tempest wasn’t going to lose it.

Before Tempest could mount a defense, Pyroclast’s cock started moving in and out of his mouth. Tempest moaned and gagged as each thrust drove Pyroclast’s cock deeper and deeper into his throat. He choked on Pyroclast’s endowment, his eyes watering, his lungs burning.

Pyroclast was merciless. Vicious. Each thrust drove his powerful cock down Tempest’s throat as far as it could go. As Tempest retched around Pyroclast’s endowment, he could feel his own cock pulsing and throbbing. Pleasure surged throughout his body. He felt his resolve slipping, his mind softening.

It would have been so easier to just give in, to surrender and let the villain win, but Tempest wasn’t about to let that happen. He couldn’t fight back much, but he wasn’t powerless. If only he could get Pyroclast to orgasm, he knew that he would win.

Tempest gripped Pyroclast’s thighs tightly, his fingers digging into the fabric of the villain’s suit. He sucked as hard as he could, sweeping his tongue back and forth under Pyroclast’s shaft, trying to coax the cum out of it.

Harder. Faster. It was a tug of war. Every pump of Pyroclast’s hips jarred Tempest’s head, made his jaw ache, made his brain bounce around in his skull. It was hard to think. Harder every moment. Arousal. Lust. Fuzzy giddiness filled his empty head with every thrust.

Each time Tempest sucked on Pyroclast’s cock, the villain’s moans went higher. He could feel Pyroclast’s muscles tensing, his cock throbbing. Pyroclast was close. But Tempest didn’t know how much longer he could hold on. It was getting harder and harder to fight the urge to surrender.

Tempest moaned. Drool and throat slime trickled down the sides of Pyroclast’s cock as the vicious skullfucking continued. He let Pyroclast’s hand mash his face into Pyroclast’s pubes.

The strength drained from Tempest’s body. He couldn’t fight. Not anymore. He let go. He gave up, letting his arms and legs go limp. He surrendered. This was his place now. Little more than a glorified flesh light. Defeated by a villain’s powerful cock. When this was all over and done with, Pyroclast was within his rights to take Tempest home and use him as a slave for eternity.

Despair suffocated Tempest’s heart, but it didn’t last long. With every mind-numbing thrust of Pyroclast’s cock down his throat, Tempest felt a familiar sensation descending over him. His thoughts slowly dissolved. He wasn’t supposed to have them. The despair evaporated. Things weren’t supposed to have emotions.

His eyes became glassy. Blank. His mind slowly emptied of all irrelevant things. From now on his only objective would be to serve his owner. Pyroclast. But as he felt Pyroclast’s cock pulse and swell in his mouth, a small grain of him realized that the villain was on the edge.

Tempest could still win. He didn’t have to become Pyroclast’s slave. He didn’t need to become a thing for the rest of his life. He mustered the last of his strength into his body, sucking hard like his life depended on it.

Tempest turned the tables. Pyroclast tried to pull Tempest off his cock, but Tempest held on for dear life. He sucked as hard as he could, bobbing his head up and down Pyroclast’s shaft as fast as he could. Pyroclast’s fingers untangled from his hair as he gained the upper hand.

He fucked his own face onto Pyroclast’s fat cock, swallowing it again and again all the way to the root. He could feel Pyroclast’s hot cum surging up his shaft, blasting out of the tip. He swallowed some of it, the molten liquid sliding down the back of his throat.

It was good. So good. He pulled off, choking and spluttering as he coughed up some of Pyroclast’s cum. It was hot. So hot. And even more was spewing out, sending thick ropes of white cum all over his face.

Tempest grinned and licked up the last of the cum that was oozing from the tip of Pyroclast’s cock. The villain had passed out, chest rising and falling evenly.

When he looked up, Tempest saw that Temblor had likewise been defeated. Phantom looked utterly delirious with pleasure. His tongue was lolling out, drool trickling from the tip of his chin, Temblor’s thick cock still buried in his ass.