Chapter 6: Immunity and Indecency
The hobbit village was a grotesque parody of comfort. Mushroom-shaped houses dotted a landscape of meticulously raked gravel paths, their round doors and windows perfectly sized for the three-foot-tall inhabitants. The air, however, didn’t smell of pipe-weed and baking bread. It carried the sharp, clean scent of lye soap and the faint, ever-present undertone of ozone that signaled powerful, oppressive magic.
Kim watched a group of hobbits methodically polishing a large, granite statue of a flexing bicep, their cheerful songs praising “the Burn” and “the Pump.” They smiled at the humans with wide, vacant eyes, offering mugs of protein-rich slurry with bowing deference.
“They’re in awe,” Maryam muttered, keeping her voice low. She adjusted her baseball cap. “But it’s not a healthy awe. It’s like they’re programmed.”
“It’s more than that,” Kim said, her Green Moon intuition humming a discordant note. She knelt, catching the eye of a female hobbit with kind, wrinkled features. “Excuse me. How long have you lived here?”
“Oh, since always, my lady!” the hobbit chirped. “We work, we polish, we praise the Form! It is a good life.”
“What’s your name?”
The hobbit blinked. “I am… of the Village. We are all of the Village.” She beamed again, but the smile didn’t reach the faint confusion in her eyes.
Kim stood, her stomach tightening. “They’re refugees. People who came here to train, maybe from a dozen different worlds. Tobias trapped them and rewrote them. Wiped their memories and stuffed them into these… these cheerful little shells.” The injustice of it burned hotter than any spell.
The hum of Tobias’s realm-wide influence was quieter here, muffled by the village’s own weird magic. It was their chance. “We need a shield,” Kim announced. “Something to immunize us before we go back out there. I saw a still-house by the big mushroom. Looks like a lab.”
Beth hefted her digital camera, her photographer’s eye scanning the surreal scene. “I’ll document. For Aunt Jan, for… evidence.”
Mai already had her video camera out, the red recording light glowing. “And my livestream subscribers would pay a fortune for exclusive footage of a lost hobbit utopia.” Her grin was predatory. “Maybe we give them a little more than scenery.”
Kim shot her a warning look. “Focus, Mai.”
“I am! Adventure, discovery, monetization. It’s the family business.”
In the hobbit chemist’s lab—a chaotic mix of shining copper distilling coils, clay jars of pungent herbs, and neatly labeled vials of fluorescent liquids—Kim got to work. She muttered incantations, grinding moonbell petals and flakes of concentrated will-iron with a mortar and pestle. The green glow of her own magic mingled with the steam from the alembic.
Outside, under the wide cap of a scarlet-spotted toadstool roof, Mai’s boredom quickly took a turn.
“Beth, get a shot of this,” Mai said, peeling off her fitted tank top. Her skin was tan and smooth, marked here and there with tiny silvery scars from past adventures. “The daring explorer, communing with nature.”
Beth snorted but raised her camera, the shutter clicking. “You’re not communing, you’re stripping.”
“Semantics.” Mai shimmied out of her shorts, standing naked and unselfconscious in the dappled light. “It’s a statement. Freedom in a repressed realm.”
Maryam chuckled, leaning against a curved wall. “Your statement’s gonna get you arrested in, like, six dimensions.”
“Then they’ll have to catch me.” Mai struck a pose, arching her back, her hands running through her dark hair. “C’mon, Maryam. Don’t be a chicken. Show some solidarity. Bet your twin’s too busy being mystical to care.”
From the lab window, Kim could see them. She tried to block it out, focusing on the drop of essence she was extracting. But the sounds filtered in.
“Fine, you exhibitionist.” Maryam’s laugh was easy. She pulled her own shirt over her head, revealing the same sleek build as her sister, save for the shorter hair and the simple sports bra she still wore. “But only ‘cause it’ll piss off whatever god runs this gym.”
Beth kept shooting, her artist’s eye captivated by the play of light on skin, the contrast of vibrant life against the eerie, manufactured village. “Okay, that’s actually a great shot. Now interact or something, it’s static.”
Mai didn’t need to be told twice. She slinked over to Maryam, her fingers tracing the line of her twin’s spine over the bra strap. “Interaction, huh?”
Maryam shivered, a slow smile spreading. “Oh, you’re that kind of adventurous.”
The kiss wasn’t tentative. It was hungry, a collision of boredom and adrenaline and the constant, low-grade fear of the realm. Beth’s camera clicked rapidly, capturing the way Mai’s hands slid down to cup Maryam’s ass, how Maryam’s fingers tangled in Mai’s hair.
Inside the lab, Kim’s hands trembled. The potion in her flask swirled, turning a luminous aqua. It was ready. She could feel the protective matrix stabilizing. She also felt everything else. The muffled gasp from outside as Mai’s mouth found Maryam’s nipple through the fabric. The soft, wet sound of their kiss deepening. Her own heartbeat thudded in her ears, a second rhythm beneath the pulse of the realm.
“Screw it,” she growled to herself, and downed the entire flask.
The effect was instantaneous and overwhelming. The muffled sounds from outside exploded into crystal clarity. She heard the snap of Maryam’s bra being undone, the soft moan that followed, the slick slide of tongue on skin. But it was more than hearing it. She felt it. The phantom sensation of a mouth on her own breast, a hand between her own legs. The potion had worked too well, syncing her nervous system to the arousal around her, amplifying it into a feedback loop of pure, shocking sensitivity. Her knees buckled and she caught herself on the wooden bench, a bolt of raw desire lightninging through her core.
She had to push it out. Share the immunity, dilute the sensation. But the formula required physical contact. Direct skin-to-skin transmission.
Clutching her curved sword for balance, Kim stumbled out of the lab. The scene under the toadstool was fully engaged. Maryam was on her back on a bed of soft moss, her shorts gone. Mai was between her thighs, her head buried, her shoulders working. Beth was kneeling nearby, one hand idly stroking herself over her jeans, the other still mechanically lifting the camera, capturing every detail of Mai’s tongue plunging into Maryam’s dripping cunt.
“Fuck… yes, right there,” Maryam panted, her hips rolling.
“Tastes like victory,” Mai mumbled, lifting her head for a second, her chin glistening.
Kim’s vision swam. The hyper-sensitivity made the scent of their sex hit her like a physical wave—musky, sweet, alive. She could almost taste it. “Stop,” she managed, her voice strangled.
Three heads turned. Beth lowered the camera, a blush coloring her cheeks. Mai looked intrigued. Maryam, breathless, propped herself up on her elbows.
“The potion,” Kim gasped. “I need to touch you. All of you. To spread the immunity. Or I’m gonna…” She didn’t finish. A particularly deep groan from Maryam sent another shock through her, making her clit throb violently in time.
Mai crawled back from between Maryam’s legs, wiping her mouth. “Sounds urgent.” She was utterly unashamed, naked and gleaming with sweat and arousal. “So do your thing, doc.”
Kim staggered forward and dropped to her knees, first grabbing Maryam’s outstretched hand. The moment their skin connected, a torrent of the calibrated magic rushed from Kim into her twin. The overwhelming sensory tsunami for Kim receded slightly, dialing down from agonizing intensity to merely fierce, shared arousal. Maryam’s eyes widened as she received the immunity, a sigh of relief escaping her.
“Whoa. That’s a trip.”
Kim then gripped Mai’s shoulder, transferring the charge. Lastly, she grabbed Beth’s hand, where she still sat, stunned. The circuit completed, the magic settled over all four of them like a protective sheath. Kim could still feel the heat of the moment, but it was hers now, not an invasive broadcast.
She sagged with relief. “Okay. It’s done. We’re shielded. Now we move. We have to find Stacy and the others.”
Mai, however, wasn’t ready to move. The adventure had taken a delicious turn. She slid closer to Kim, her nude body pressing against Kim’s still-clothed side. “C’mon. The scary magic is handled. We’re all… energized.” Her hand settled on Kim’s thigh, inches from her core. “Can’t we finish what we started? My fans are gonna be so jealous.”
Kim’s resolve, already battered by the sensory assault, wavered. The shared arousal was still a live wire in the space between them. “We have a mission, Mai.”
“We’re also alive,” Beth said quietly, putting her camera down. Her eyes were dark, her earlier shyness burnt away by watching, by the transferred heat from Kim’s touch. “And this place… it tries to make everything into a routine. A workout. This isn’t that.” She moved with a sudden, decisive grace, lunging forward not with malice but with a playful hunger.
She tackled Kim onto the soft moss, straddling her hips. “You need to relax, or you’ll snap.”
“Beth—get off!” Kim protested, but her body betrayed her, arching up into the contact.
Beth just grinned, that wild-child smirk, and wrestled Kim’s top up. Her hands were strong from carrying camera gear, and in seconds, Kim’s breasts were free to the warm, strange air. Beth bent down, not kissing, but biting lightly at Kim’s collarbone, then laving the spot with her tongue.
The last thread of Kim’s resistance melted. A guttural sound, part frustration, part surrender, ripped from her throat. She grabbed the back of Beth’s head, pulling her up for a fierce, messy kiss. It was permission.
Maryam and Mai exchanged a glance and a simultaneous smile. They moved as one, a unit of hedonistic purpose. Maryam moved to Beth, peeling the blonde’s jeans and panties down in one rough pull, her hands immediately exploring Beth’s ass. Mai focused on Kim, her mouth latching onto a tight, pink nipple, sucking hard while her fingers popped the button on Kim’s pants.
It was a cascade of sensation, but now it was shared, consensual, amplified by their own wills, not the realm’s corruption. Kim cried out as Mai’s clever fingers found her, already soaked, and plunged inside her.
“Fuck! Yes, right there…”
Beth, moaning into Kim’s mouth as Maryam’s fingers worked her from behind, broke the kiss. “Told you… you needed this.”
Kim could only buck her hips, meeting Mai’s thrusts. The world narrowed to the heat of Beth on top of her, the skilled, relentless rhythm of Mai’s fingers curling inside her, the sight of Maryam bending over Beth, her tongue tracing Beth’s spine. It was raw, desperate, and affirmatively alive. Sweat slicked their skins together. The air filled with the sounds of slapping flesh, gasped obscenities, and the wet, rhythmic noises of fucking.
Mai added a second finger, stretching Kim, her thumb pressing tight circles on Kim’s clit. “Gonna come for us, Green Moon?” she whispered against Kim’s stomach. “Gonna scream for this fucking village to hear?”
Kim was close. The pressure was coiling, white-hot and inevitable. She looked up at Beth, whose face was contorted in her own pleasure, and then at Maryam, who winked, her own fingers glistening. The shared immunity magic seemed to thrum in time with their racing hearts, a protective bubble of pure, defiant ecstasy.
“Don’t stop,” Kim commanded, her voice a husky rasp, all leadership refined into this single, carnal need. “Don’t you fucking stop.”
Mai didn’t. The crescendo broke over Kim like a wave, tearing a ragged, loud scream from her lungs that echoed off the mushroom roofs, a banner of human defiance in the silent, oppressive air. As she shook, Beth followed her over, her own cry muffled against Kim’s neck, and Maryam soon after, her body tensing against Beth’s back.
For a long moment, there was only the sound of heavy breathing in the mossy clearing. The hum of Tobias’s realm seemed farther away than ever.
Kim finally pushed gently at Beth, who rolled off with a satiated sigh. Kim sat up, her clothes in disarray, her body humming with a pleasant, spent warmth. The urgency of their mission returned, but it was clearer now, sharpened.
“We go,” Kim said, her voice firm again. She stood, fastening her pants, her movements purposeful. “Now. We find Stacy. We find Jan. And we fuck up Tobias’s whole operation.”
Mai, still naked, stretched like a satisfied cat. “Okay, boss. But I’m uploading the highlights later.”
A genuine, sharp laugh escaped Kim. It felt good. They were alive, shielded, and united. They gathered their gear, a new and potent energy crackling among them, and turned their backs on the serene, horrifying hobbit village, ready to plunge back into the heart of the nightmare.
They gathered their gear, a new and potent energy crackling among them, and turned their backs on the serene, horrifying hobbit village, ready to plunge back into the heart of the nightmare.
Kim led them back to the main path, her curved sword held loosely at her side. The oppressive, humid air of the realm closed around them again. “We need to find a way back to the central maze,” she said. “Stacy’s trapped there.”
Maryam, still fastening her shorts, stopped walking. “Hold up. Stacy said to find help.” She jerked a thumb back toward the village. “We’ve got a whole village of… whatever they are. Muscle-bound little people.”
Beth sighed, adjusting the strap of her camera bag. “They don’t remember who they are, Maryam. They’re prisoners. And according to Tolkien, hobbits hate adventures. They’d never leave home.”
“These aren’t Tolkien’s hobbits,” Mai said, a wicked grin spreading across her face. “These are Tobias’s. Programmed to praise ‘the Pump.’” She spun around, cupped her hands around her mouth, and shouted back toward the village at the top of her lungs. “HEY! We’re going for a fun run! A super fun run to the Scary Maze at the center of the land! Anybody want to come?”
For a moment, nothing happened. Then, a door on a nearby mushroom-house creaked open. A hobbit in tiny running shorts and a headband peered out. “A run, you say?”
“Yeah!” Mai yelled, jogging in place with exaggerated enthusiasm. “It’s gonna be great! Lots of… cardio!”
Another door opened. Then another. Within minutes, dozens of hobbits had emerged, all now clad in various forms of athletic wear. They began stretching with robotic precision, their vacant eyes fixed on the four young women. “Where are we going?” one asked, bending to touch his toes.
“Doesn’t matter!” another hobbit chirped. “We run!”
“We praise the Cardio Burn!” a third chimed in, lunging side to side.
Soon, a small army of eager, fitness-obsessed hobbits had assembled, bouncing on the balls of their feet. Kim surveyed the crowd, a slow smile touching her lips. “Well,” she muttered to her companions. “We have an army. Sort of.”
Beth’s face palmed. “Oh, god. You’re going to make me jog all the way back to a deadly maze, aren’t you?”
“Yep!” Mai said, already leading the cheerful stampede down the gravel path. “Move those legs, shutterbug!”
In the damp, iron-smelling tunnels beneath the maze, Franklin returned from his scouting mission. The faint, greenish light from the walls glinted off the discarded, mossy workout equipment.
He rounded a bend and stopped dead. Calista, Mandy, and Ben were lying on a bed of what looked like old gym mats, naked and glistening with sweat. Ben was spooning a content-looking Mandy, his arm draped over her waist. Calista lay on her back beside them, one arm thrown over her eyes, her silver hair fanned out like a halo.
Franklin cleared his throat. “You didn’t waste much time,” he observed, his tone dry. “I make it so your emotions are your own again, and you immediately start screwing around.”
Calista didn’t move her arm. “We were tired of waiting for him to figure out which Williamson sister he really wanted.” Her voice was languid, satisfied.
Franklin nodded slowly. “Of course you were.”
Ben lifted his head, blinking. “Wait. Was I the only one who didn’t see that coming?”
“Probably,” Franklin said. “But both of them? At once?”
Ben settled back against Mandy, a dopey, satiated smile on his face. “Hey, I’m with Mandy now. It’s fine. Besides, they’re not really sisters. Calista’s adopted.”
Mandy craned her neck to kiss his shoulder. “That is correct,” she said, her voice muffled against his skin. “Because, technically, Calista is my niece.”
Ben’s smile faltered. “What?”
Calista finally lowered her arm, propping herself up on an elbow. Her luminous eyes held a patient amusement. “I am actually, biologically, Rick’s daughter. My mother is an elf lady who… borrowed some genetic material during a time travel thing. But I was adopted and raised as a Williamson sister.”
Ben stared. His face cycled through confusion, disbelief, and more confusion. “But you’re… we’re… and Rick is…”
Mandy turned in his arms, silencing him with a deep, lingering kiss. When she pulled back, she whispered against his lips. “It was time travel. You should understand that. Your sister’s a time traveler, idiot.”
Franklin watched the gears turn in Ben’s head and then seemingly jam. He chuckled. “Right. Well, fascinating family tree. Get dressed.” He held up a grimy, folded piece of parchment he’d found stuffed into a pipe. “I found something. Looks like a map of this level, before Tobias warped it. There’s a chamber marked ‘Conduit.’ Could be a way to disrupt his control.”
The air in the remains of Bob’s office tasted of dust and ozone. Portia sifted through a filing cabinet tipped on its side, her fingers careful on the singed folders. “Look for anything that doesn’t belong,” she called over her shoulder to Jenny, Amanda, and Cody. “Bob was a goblin with a spreadsheet fetish. Tobias is a drama queen. The difference should be obvious.”
Jenny was poking at a warped, abstract sculpture that might have once been a trophy. Amanda drifted toward a smaller door, labeled ‘Janitorial’ in peeling paint. She caught Cody’s wrist and pulled him into the shadow of the doorway.
“Hey,” she whispered, her voice a low, teasing hum. “Back when we were all together, and Tobias hit us with that… wave. You liked it when Jenny and I were kissing, didn’t you?”
Cody’s fair skin flushed instantly. “I… that’s a crass… I didn’t…”
Amanda backed him into the transformed broom closet, now lined with strange, fleshy-looking shelves. She placed a hand on his chest, feeling his heart hammer. “It’s okay. I saw you watching.” Her other hand slid down, palming the growing hardness in his jeans. “So what are you gonna do to make up for such a crass, rude comment?”
Cody stopped stammering. The fear and strangeness of the realm condensed into a single, hot point of desire. He got the idea. His mouth found Amanda’s, hungry and urgent, as he fumbled with the button of her jeans.
Meanwhile, Jenny had moved to a clearer space near the center of the room. The air before her shimmered, like heat haze off asphalt. Tobias materialized from the distortion, his human form impeccable, his sunglasses hiding his eyes. He didn’t speak. He simply lifted a hand, and a filament of purple-black light, thin as spider silk, lanced from his finger into Jenny’s forehead.
Her eyes went wide and vacant. A small, puzzled sound escaped her lips. Then she vanished, leaving only a faint scent of ozone behind.
Portia, sensing the shift in magical pressure, looked up from the cabinet. She saw the empty space where Jenny had been. She heard the distinct, rhythmic sound of flesh against flesh, a muffled groan from Cody, and Amanda’s whispered “fuck yes” coming from the broom closet.
She closed her eyes for a brief second, a muscle twitching in her jaw. When she opened them, they were hard with frustrated resolve. She stormed over to the closet door and yanked it open. Cody had Amanda pressed against the fleshy wall, her legs hooked around his hips, his pants around his ankles as he drove into her with sharp, desperate thrusts.
“Really?” Portia snapped, her voice cracking like a whip.
They froze. Cody looked over his shoulder, his face a mask of horror and ecstasy. Amanda just smirked, breathless. “We were… gathering intelligence?”
Portia pinched the bridge of her nose. “Jenny’s gone. Tobias was here. And you two are fucking in a goddamn closet.” She let out a long, slow breath. “How,” she said to the uncaring ceiling, “am I going to explain this to Stacy?”