AI's Got Me by the Balls: Rewritten [Final]

"I told you, remember?" Helena's muses, crossing her arms under her buxom chest.

"Yvette..." Colm recalls, "but I thought she was too young?"

"The will of the Shadow is one that can be confusing," she shrugs again, "but the Shadow does not make mistakes."

"Pretty sure choosing me was a glaring mistake," Colm smirked.

"You, Colm, have the strongest connection to the Shadow since the first Bane. You were no mistake," she laughs, leaning in and placing a hand on Colm's chest, "I believe in you."

"You sure know how to make a guy feel special," Colm grins.

"I'm sure you will do great things as the Bane of Shadows; after all, you're a hero," she says with a smile.

Colm leans in and closes his eyes at her touch. "I need to get back; was there anything else I needed to know?" Colm remarks.

She sighs, "No, I believe that's it."

"I guess it's time to go," Colm says, nodding.

"Until we meet again," she replies with a nod.

Colm concentrates as he channels the burning shadow into himself. "Colm," Helena says, reaching out to touch Colm's cheek. He looks up into her eyes. "Before you go," she says quietly as she steps closer. Her touch is intoxicating, her stare mesmerizing. Another step toward him and her knee rockets up between Colm's thighs, the bony cap of her knee colliding with his delicate testicles. She grabs Colm's head and pulls it up toward her in a deep kiss, muffling his groans of agony. She smiles as she steps back, her hand reaching down to stroke his aching plums. "I'll always remember you, and I hope you'll remember me," she says as she steps away from him.

Colm staggers for a moment without her assistance, clutching his aching eggs, before recomposing himself. "You're impossible to forget," he smirks as he burns in black flames. Vision returns to Colm as he looks around, noticing the dank cellar walls once more. The musty, rank smell transports him back to the location where he killed the three demonic beasts that Guinevere had left behind, and he's greeted by Yvette and Neimi throwing their arms around Colm.

"Colm! You're alive! We were so worried!" they exclaim, then turn to face their adversaries, and Yvette exclaims, "You killed them all! You're a fucking hero!"

"Yeah, you got shit done!" Neimi adds.

They wrap their arms around him and pat his back. "It's okay, we need to catch up to the Sheriff; I'm still figuring out all these powers."

Colm and his two companions exchange nods. "Don't worry, we were at least a little better prepared this time, and you didn't come back naked either!" Neimi says, her smile bright enough to light up a cave.

"Yeah, and you don't seem as exhausted! Seems you're getting the hang of things on the other side too!"

He smiles and nods; nothing could stop Colm now that he has Neimi and Yvette, as well as his newfound powers. "Come on! Let's hurry!" he exclaims as the three of them start running to catch up to Guinevere and Sheriff Donnel. They proceed through the tunnel to an iron gate. "This is the gate to the mines," Yvette says as she walks up to it, looking over her shoulder at Colm and Neimi.

"Do you believe the Ebony Claw Syndicate has made their base somewhere as obvious as the mines? If that's the case, wouldn't they have been found by now?"

"I'm sure the EC has a lot of tricks up their sleeve to hide their base, like magic, and they're probably covering other options, so let's get through the iron gate before we're discovered."

"True, plus it looks like this gate hasn't seen much use in several years; perhaps they're in a very deep reach of the cave?" Colm says as he and Neimi approach the gate, which is strangely hot to the touch. A shroud of darkness shields his hand as he forces open the gate, keeping his wits about him as he listens for traps clicking and looks around for potential ambushers. The three companions pass between the rusted bars and enter the true darkness of the mines.

Yvette raises a lantern from a nearby box, lighting the area. "Alright, don't lose sight of me, and don't stray too far, I don't want to go into these caves alone," she says as Colm takes the lantern and tells her that he should lead the way.

"Guinevere and the Sheriff had to have come this way, surely they aren't that far up ahead."

Colm walks for a while longer, still not seeing Ebony Claw or the Sheriff, though he noticed a light humming sound and comes to a halt. "Do you hear that?" Colm asks the others.

"I think I hear it too," Yvette says as she comes to a halt.

"What exactly is it?" Neimi inquires quietly.

"I'm not sure, but it sounds like it's coming from this direction," Colm says and dims the lantern, allowing just enough light to guide the way forward. Yvette and Neimi follow closely behind him. They soon find themselves staring down a long flight of stairs.

"Just how the hell far down are we now? Are the Ebony Claw trying to build a tunnel through the earth?" Colm jokes; he's curious why they've gone to such lengths to be this deep underground. "Oh well, I guess we just keep descending, down another flight of stairs." After the hundredth stair, the floor merges with the stairs into a large open room with several doors along the far wall. Colm notices several sets of shackles on the floor in the dim light.

He approaches the center of the room, keeping his eyes and ears open to avoid being ambushed, the hilt of his dagger in his hand, though he keeps it sheathed so as not to alert anyone in here. Colm returned to the center of the room after checking each door and finding them empty. He finally comes to a halt and looks around, carefully listening... An adversary is approaching.

Colm prepares his dagger only to have his arm grabbed from behind and frozen in place, he looks around to see who is attempting to harm him. A pair of pale eyes looking back at him from the dark of a hood. A tall female figure steps from the shadows.

"Tch. And just who are you?" Colm asks the figure, who is struggling to free his arm, which appears to be held in place. It almost reminds him of Helena's magic.

"My real name isn't important; you may refer to me as the 'Matriarch,' if you so desire, and uou are the Bane of Shadows."

"Excuse me? The what?" Colm remarks.

"The Bane of Shadows, so named by the common people. Isn't it a fitting name?"

"I think you're confusing me with someone else," Colm says.

The figure begins to laugh, which reminds Colm of someone he knows.

"I don't believe so, little one; I know who you are; you're the one trying to destroy the Ebony Claw Syndicate."

His eyes widen in surprise, wondering what this 'Matriarch' knew and what she was trying to accomplish. Colm exhales slowly, smirking as he maintains his cool. "What does it matter if I am?"

Her eyes narrow and she raises an eyebrow, her smirk turning into a frown. "So what? I'd say you're doing a good job, wouldn't you, Colm?" the Matriarch says sternly and unfriendly.

"Yeah, I'm kind of a badass like that," Colm says.

"Hmph," the Matriarch says, nodding. "So you claim. Just tell me what I want to know, this can end swiftly. Why are you fighting the Ebony Claw Syndicate?"

"Let me guess, you're one of their lap dogs? Maybe you're one of the bosses. Is that supposed to frighten me?" Colm remarks.

The woman laughs once more. "Oh, we're not that organized. The Syndicate has many members, but nothing as petty as bosses. No, I'd call us more of a... unifier."

Colm mocks her, smirking as he always does. "Unifier, huh? Is that what you call it?" his voice is dripping with contempt and sarcasm.

The woman's smile fades as she raises her brow yet again. "I care not what you think of me but, what do you think of yourself, Colm?"

Colm smiles. "I'm the one who will bring you and all this Ebony Claw nonsense to an end."

The lady snorts. "Do you think you can bring down the Syndicate? You seem to have a lot of confidence for someone so young."

"You said it yourself; I've been kicking ass all over Holgard and then some," smirked Colm.

"So be it," she says, unfazed by Colm's assertion. She studies Colm with her head tilted to the side. "I have no doubts about your ability, but I'm not sure I believe this whole savior act; I think you're just a criminal doing a favor for someone you care about."

"You're the one who ambushed me and called me the Bane of Shadows, which still makes no sense to me; wouldn't it be more accurate for you to call me the Hero of Holgard or something?"

"Perhaps, but my point is that you're not particularly heroic."

"Yeah, I never saw it much myself, but everyone keeps depending on me and telling me I'm the chosen one or whatever, and after a while, it starts to have a ring to it."

"Hah, a chosen one? I like it." The woman smirks, then her face darkens and becomes solemn. "But you're still just a thief, right? Douche."

"Whoa, where did that come from?" Colm remarks.

"Just an asshole in need of a good beating; let me show you what we do to dirty assholes," she smirks, stepping up to Colm with intent in her eyes. "Be careful around the Bane of Shadows, they said. Well, you don't appear to be much to me."

"Why do you keep calling me that?" Colm remarks.

"Why do you think?" She reaches her hand up, smiling down at Colm before bringing it down in a stinging slap across Colm's cheek. "Oh, and I suppose you wanted me to acknowledge you as the Shadow Master, hm?"

Colm looked at her in disbelief; he didn't think anyone else was aware of the Shadow Realm or his newfound powers.

She smirks again, then says, "Well, now that you've had your five seconds of fame, we can get to the main event; Oh, this should be fun!" before stinging Colm's face with the back of her hand.

Yvette and Neimi are unconscious and slumped against the wall to his right. Colm concentrates, fighting with all his strength against the pale-eyed hooded figure behind him. He appears to be trapped in an unbreakable magical binding. Under his breath, Colm curses.

"Fine, then I guess that means I can stop holding back, huh?" Colm remarks.

Her eyes narrow, and she says frostily, "I have no idea what you're talking about." She pulls her hand back, tightly grasping his hair with the other hand, wrenching his head violently. With hand pulled back, balling it into a fist, she punches him square in the face. Colm hears a crunching sound as her knuckles pound into the bridge of his nose; hoping it isn't broken, Colm narrows his eyes.

Colm's body suddenly bursts into flames. The cultist behind him appears mute, but the fact that he can feel him back off means something definitely hurt him. "I was hoping he'd scream," Colm mocks as he reaches back and immolates the man in black flames. He writhes in agony as he collapses to the ground, and he observes that it isn't as satisfying when he doesn't scream, curling up in a horrible fetal position where the goon eventually stops moving. "One down."

"If that was the best you can muster, you'll need to do better than that!" the Matriarch shrieks as suddenly Colm feels an ungodly pain in his gut and lower abdomen, pain exploding from his groin; he turns to see a boot buried deep in between his legs.

Colm's eyes follow the leg up, noticing that it is attached to the tall female figure. She'd kicked Colm in the genitals while surrounded by some sort of magical forcefield. Colm collapsed in agony, clutching his aching crotch and rolling to his knees. The Matriarch stands over Colm with one leg raised and a cruel smile on her face. "Oh, this should be fun," she says as she pulls her foot back, allowing it to fly forward at an unusually fast pace. Colm tries to avoid her, but he no longer has the mobility he once had before she slammed her magic armor boot into his nads.

A burning pain shoots through his body as he notices the flames around him flickering a little as if they're about to be blown out. The magically enhanced boot was firmly in place against his aching testicles, though he's been getting abused all his life by Neimi and lately by Yvette and even Helena.

Helena. Colm roared furiously and the black flames roar into a frenzy. "It's time to get serious."

As the Matriarch raises her foot to stomp on his testicles, he breathes deeply and bellows out a roar of pure demonic anger. A ferocious black flame exhales from him to surround his entire body and engulfs her as well. He smirks as a wail of horror and agony erupts from her.

"For far too long, I've let you think that you can just do whatever you want. But I think it's my turn to ask some burning questions of my own!" Colm spits as he grips her wrist, yanking her toward him where the flames seared her flesh with a sickening sizzle. The Matriarch howls but maintains her composure, despite the black flame crawling up her arm. He is taken aback when he sees her suddenly cut her arm off at the elbow and jump away from him.

He looks at her with rage and malice as the black flames burn the arm to ash. Colm dashes forward at a rate no man could hope to match, but she's gone in an instant as she flits through a dimensional door. Under Colm's breath, he curses her, and the flames around Colm's body flare up intensely for a few seconds before he allows them to suffocate, frustrated by this annoying turn of events.

As Colm slowly allows himself to calm down and gather his bearings, he notices Neimi and Yvette begin to awaken. He rushes over to them. "Neimi, Yvette! Are you alright? What the hell happened to you guys?" Colm asks, concerned.

"Oww... My head hurts," groans Neimi.

Yvette rubs her temples, "I think someone blasted us with some sort of magic. I take it, you got the bastards who did this?"

"I was confronted by some powerful magic user named the Matriarch, but she got away before I could finish her," Colm says.

"Someone actually managed to escape you? That's quite unusual, Colm," Yvette observes with a wry grin.

"Well, today's just not been my day," Colm chuckles, "and we haven't caught Sheriff Donnel either. Let's focus on one thing at a time."

Nodding, the three companions stand up and try to find a way out of this atrium. It appears to be a prison-like setting, with a number of empty rooms that appear to be dead ends.

"But how are we going to find our way out?" Neimi asks.

"There has to be a secret in one of these rooms," Colm says. "Let's split up and search the rooms more thoroughly."

"Neimi, take Yvette and look for rooms in the west wing; I'll look in the east," Colm says.

"All right," Neimi says.

Colm says, "And... Be careful. Yell for me if you need anything."

"Okay, be safe," Yvette says, and both she and Neimi head to the respective wings of the immense palace.

Neimi and Yvette search every room again, and after the third room yields nothing, Neimi pouts and whines. "Ugh! This is so annoying! I despise this idiot Donnel and his idiot escape!"

"I'm sure we'll find him," Yvette says, "just keep your eyes open."

"Oh, you better believe I'm keeping them open," Neimi responds.

Yvette seemed a bit surprised at Neimi's snappy attitude but, she just figured it was likely due to the frustration. "Tell ya what, when we finally catch up to the bastard, I'll let you pop both of his balls if you want, how about that?" Yvette tells Neimi with a smile and a playful smirk.

"You're on!" Neimi smiles back, a bit thankful that this is not turning out to be as bad as she thought it would. She bounces in place just thinking about it, her breasts bouncing up and down as she imagines stomping that idiot Sheriff's balls into nothing.

Meanwhile, Colm was almost finished with the last room when he heard something strange. "Pip pip?" a distant but clear voice called out.

Curious, Colm pasued to listen; he heard nothing. A few moments pass by but, just as Colm took a step, he heard it again.

"Pip pip?"

"Who goes there?" Colm remarks.

"Pip pip?" says the voice, in a cutesy tone.

"I'm here," Colm says as he walks into the room.

"Oh, you've come to the right place, mister!"

Colm moves forward to see a small jar with an unmistakable Fae creature inside. Colm does not recognize this one, but he is familiar enough with the Fae to know that it was undoubtedly a Faerie.

The jar is made of clear glass, and the Fae creature inside has large, green eyes that look around at Colm. "Hello there," it says, its voice high and squeaky.

"Hello... What are you doing in there? Why aren't you in the Fae Forest?" Colm remarks.

The little creature is perplexed and tilts its head at him. "I was apprehended," it squeaks back.

"Captured? Interesting. By whom?" Colm ask.

"Ebony Claw."

"What were their plans for you?"

"They've already gotten some use out of me. They use my magic to get here and there."

Colm is perplexed, not knowing what he is talking about. "Does that mean you can transport people with magic? Can you do it to me and my friends? We're looking for someone."

"I can try... you would probably have a hard time getting back from there."

"Then we'll have to take a chance."

"My magic will transport you straight into the lion's den. Are you sure? That's like asking me to kill you. I don't want that on my conscience. You appear to be a decent enough person. I don't want to do that."

"Trust me, I'm more than strong enough to fight these Ebony Claw scum; help me out, and I'll free you from that jar," Colm says.

"Then we've got a deal: I'll get you straight into their headquarters, then I'll be free of this wretched hole."

"Thank you; I need to find my friends; give me a minute, okay?"

"Certainly, sir."

"Can you tell me your name?"

The faerie smiles and flutters around, "Call me Pent."

Colm nods and walks away to find Yvette and Neimi.

Yvette and Neimi, on the other hand, had discovered a book that opened a secret passageway and had traveled to find Colm. When they meet, he tells them the news, and they share theirs; it appears you're at a standstill because Donnel had two potential escape routes.

"But Pent can send us straight into the heart of their HQ and we can end this entire thing, possibly even skipping over Donnel," Colm says.

"It's dangerous," Yvette says. "And what if Pent is lying? He might just be leading us into a trap after all."

"I don't think that's the case," Colm says, shaking his head, "he seems like a genuinely nice guy. Neimi? What do you think?"

The fairy taps a finger to her lip, "It's risky, but it could help speed things up; I trust Colm's gut."

Yvette appears to be hurt by this, but she then looks up at Colm with wide eyes, as if she's had an idea. "Wait a minute, what about your abilities? Can they help us in any way?"

Colm considers it for a moment; he hadn't really explored all of his abilities, relying on them only in times of need during combat. With ultra-durable grunt enemies and ultra-strong sorcerer bitches coming at Colm all the time, he's used them more for combat than anything else. Colm closes his eyes and concentrates.

He's startled when a familiar voice calls to him like a guide. "Yes, Colm, now you are truly grasping what your powers can truly do. You can sense and track people through their shadows. Everyone has a shadow, even in darkness, they are visible to you. No shadow can escape you because you are their master. Focus, Colm, and you can trace back Donnel and Guinevere's shadows.

Colm opens his eyes and immediately recognizes the two shadows that comprise Donnel and Guinevere's forms. Colm smirk to himself as this power felt amazing. He felt incredible. He felt powerful.

"Come on, this way," Colm says to the two female companions taking them in the direction of Pent. Neimi and Yvette nod and trail behind Colm. Neimi fluttered through the air as usual. He burst into the room, Pent's tiny little body spins around in a hurry as he looks at Colm, frightened.

"Oh! You scared me!"

"Tell me, Pent. Where will your magic take me?"

"To the heart of Ebony Claws HQ, as I said!"

"Then why haven't Donnel and Guinevere entered this room?"

Pent is perplexed and blinking at Colm. "Uhh...?"

"Stop lying to me, Pent, you swine! Where were you trying to teleport me?" Colm remarks.

"I... I don't know!" Pent says, his eyes widening and his gaze fixed on the floor.

"Look, I'm not a real Fae. I was created by the Ebony Claw, they're trying to weaponize Fae magic. It appears they've found a way to harness Fae magic and imprint it into people, the process also turns those into tiny, winged humans. They haven't perfected it, it seems because they want the power and strength of larger races with the magical prowess of the Fae, that's all I know, I swear!"

The story appears to make Neimi uneasy, and Colm isn't thrilled with the idea of EC having Fae magic at their disposal. "Why didn't you just tell me the truth from the start?" sighs Colm. "Now, I don't even know if I can trust you."

Pent remains silent, as if he, too, is at a loss for words. Colm sighs again, then turns to face his companions.

Colm says "Should we free him or put him out of his misery?"

"I think we should free him..." Yvette says, looking at Colm nervously.

"He's an abomination. A disgrace. A reminder that people are using my kind as weapons," Neimi says, crossing her arms across her chest.

He contemplates for a few moments, Colm wouldn't feel right killing him if he had been honest and straight-forward from the start but then again he seems to have a tortured life as it is so, would killing him be merciful? He sighs and rubs his temples before turning to Neimi and then Yvette. "I'm sorry, Neimi. I hate having to kill people as it is, so let's go get Donnel. That son of a bitch is the real reason we're here, and I think it's time somebody paid for all the shit that's gone down today." Colm shatters the jar, glaring at Pent as he flutters around, terrified.

"You will wait until we've been gone for five minutes before leaving, understand?" Colm remarks. "If you tries anything, I'll kill you before you can even finish the thought."

"Yes! Yes! OK! " Pent says, terrified. Colm nodded and turned away from him, leaving the room behind him. This time, Colm followed the shadows from before down the correct path, leading Colm to the secret hideaway passage Neimi and Yvette had discovered previously.

"I'm sorry I doubted you, Yvette; and I'm sorry I didn't kill Pent, Neimi," Colm says.

"Don't worry, Colm. I know you had your reasons," Yvette says with a smile.

"Let's go get Donnel. That's all that matters now," Neimi dismissively says, waving her hand.

Colm nods and walks down the corridor.

"And don't forget, Neimi! You get to smash his balls!" Yvette says to cheer up Neimi.

Colm creeps down the passageway, hearing the soft, light thrumming of something below him. Colm can only assume it's the sound of the HQ's muffled footfall. He chases the shadows for what seems like an eternity before spotting two figures in the distance. The shadows slowly fade into the figures, and Colm realizes what that could only mean. Donnel and Guinevere.

"Huh, it appears they've stopped to rest here," Colm says. And, best of all, they led us right to the HQ; judging by the amount of manpower in there, this must be some kind of fort protecting the path into the HQ."

Yvette and Neimi exchange glances before turning to face Colm, realizing that there will be a massive brawl. Yvette breathes in and out slowly, calming herself before smirking at Colm. "Simply say the word. I'll be ready when you are."

Neimi nods, clutching Yvette's shoulder, almost sullen, and Colm assumes it's because this is going to be yet another fight where she won't be able to help much. Colm reached out and patted her head, smiling as he did so.

"Don't worry, Neimi. This will be over soon, and we'll be back in a nice hotel together."

Neimi smiles and blushes slightly as she looks into Colm's eyes and nods firmly.

"Just leave everything to me; I'll handle it all."

Yvette smirks and nods, "Save a few of these filthy scum suckers for me, yeah?"

Colm gives a slight nod before dissolving into a foggy haze. Yvette, on the other hand, moves stealthily through the camp while concentrating on keeping a low profile and remaining silent.

Colm makes his way through the camp while carefully placing the deceased on the ground so that the sound of their bodies falling won't wake up any of the camp's nearby comrades. Each victim quickly and quietly dispatched before the blood of the previous victim has even had a chance to reach the ground. He makes it through the first half of the stronghold before anyone realizes the odd silence that has fallen. Colm suddenly appears immediately behind a man who is about to alert the camp, but his throat is instantly slit before he can finish his warning.

When he hears the voice of Guinevere, who appears to be alone, he can't help but crack a grin. "Come to take me down all by your lonesome?" the rogue asks, a smirk tugging at his lips. Guinevere appears to be surprised by the fact that Colm was alone, seeing this, she immediately lunges in to assault him.

Colm deftly sidestepped her strike and then spun around to her backside after quickly moving out of the way. He covered her mouth with his spare hand, pinning her arms behind her back. "Tsk, tsk," Colm remarks. "I had hoped to avoid pointless bloodshed. You should know you can't match me. If you tell me where Donnel is, it would save me a lot of time and effort looking for him myself."

Colm experiences a wave of nausea that washes over him, and the ache originates in his crotch area. In addition to this, he is aware of Guinevere's heel rubbing against his nethers. The fact that she had kicked Colm in the balls with her heel had caused him to lose a little bit of his hold on her.

Colm gritted his teeth and then remarked, "That wasn't very nice, but you will have to do better than that."

Guinevere gives off the impression that she is taken aback, but the fact that she felt Colm's grip relax indicates that she is aware that it had an effect on him. She then coolly states, "So be it," before swinging her legs up and forward in a long arc till they reach a clear above both of their heads. After that, she swings them back down in a perfectly aimed arc that cut through the air like a wrecking ball; their travel concludes their journey with a thud against Colm's groin which was not protected by anything more than soft cloth.

Colm gasps in pain as another heel strikes his balls, causing him such severe discomfort that he is forced to double over. Colm heaved a heavy sigh before collapsing on the floor. "Okay, that was a good hit." Colm mutters something under his breath and muses to himself. While Guinevere makes her way forward, Colm scrambles to his side, pulls himself to his feet, and then falls backward. He realizes there are now two of Guinevere. Like identical twin sisters, the Guineveres exude an air of self-assurance and pride. "Shit," Colm curses but doesn't have time to think because both Guineveres are approaching him; one in front and one behind, attempting to trap him in the middle.

Colm avoids the kick delivered by the first twin by kicking her ankle with his own, but the twin at his rear immediately delivers another kick that catches him off guard. Although Colm makes an effort to cup his manhood, all they can feel is her leather boot sole. The kick causes Colm's legs to collide, but all he's accomplishing is pinning her foot against his aching testicles. This is making his testicles hurt even more. "Damn, does every fight have to be an assault on my nuts?!"

As a result of the second kick that lands squarely in his crotch, he is unable to think clearly. Colm attempted to fight through the pain that is currently clouding his head, letting out a roar that was filled with both pain and wrath. Before making a move to escape away, he was caught from behind, and both of his arms were held behind him. One Guinevere locked him up, and while she did so, her twin's foot kicked his balls repeatedly.

"Please, hold nothing back," as she suddenly kicks her leg forward with a vicious snap, colliding with her foot hitting Colm's balls, causing him to yell in pain and let his head fall forward, trying not to scream as the searing pain ran through his body. "I want you to give me everything you have because when I beat you, I want no doubt who was the better fighter."

In the space between his legs, Colm experiences yet another wave of nausea and dizziness. Once more, Guinevere kicks him in the testicles, producing a resounding thud that can be heard clearly in Colm's ears. In contrast to the loudness of the kick, her chuckle is rather subdued. Colm's perception of the world is becoming increasingly hazy as time goes on. He grit his teeth and made an effort to pay attention, but he began to lose consciousness as he felt her hot breath on his ear.

Guinevere smirks and traces a sigil in the air, two tentacles spring forth and slither their way down between Colm's legs. The two slithery appendages coil around his nuggets, pulling his sac taut and constricting them tightly. Colm growls and howls out in agony, a light sweat forming on his brow. "Dear Shadow, are you experiencing any pain? When was the last time you felt so pitiful? I can't imagine how this must hurt you. Come on, give me permission to destroy these worthless balls. I could end your suffering forever."

Colm is even more perplexed as to how she is aware of who he is and what the Shadow is because he has no idea what she is talking about and no idea what she is referring to. Once more, with a muffled thud, her foot strikes Colm's already aching balls. The combination of the constricting tentacles and her devastating leather boots, Colm's consciousness begins to fade. "Oh that's right, you like this, huh?"

Colm clenches his teeth and sets his mind on ignoring her, but he can sense that his power is waning swiftly. She mocks, "Give me your might! Give me that strength of the night!" and she demands it." As Guinevere's leather boot once more shoots up between Colm's legs, she instructs him on what he should do. When her foot hits his balls again, Colm feels pain surge through his crotch all the way down to the individual nerves. Colm makes an effort to block out the pain, but she continues to kick him in the crotch and laugh at him while he writhes around in agony.

"Give it to me! Give me your power! I want to see the mighty Bane of Shadows! Hahaha~!"

As she continues to press her foot against Colm's swelling balls, he experiences a searing pain that spreads throughout his entire body. Guinevere's hold on him appears to be as stronger than even he expected, despite the fact that his balls are being crushed and kicked repeatedly.

Colm's head falls as he slowly drifts in and out of consciousness. He recalled what Helena had said about the manner in which his true strength conceals itself and pondered it. He was holding back again. His efforts were focused on defending his balls and not on kicking her ass. As Guinevere sends her fiftieth or so kick towards his bruised sac, Colm suddenly blocks it with his knee.

Guinevere stares at Colm with a look of utter disbelief and terror on her face as he deftly deflects her attack and kills the person who is acting as her double. She lets out a furious scream, then dashes toward Colm, she slips into a split-legged slide and her fist slams forward, surrounded by a magical force, aimed directly at his balls; the magic-imbued knuckles crunch his nuts as forcefully as she can. Colm slumped over in discomfort, desperately attempting to prevent her from gaining the satisfaction of hearing him scream out while he held his nuts.

"Hah! That means that the answer is still yes! You're still weak down here!" Guinevere's thoughts are interrupted when she sees Colm get down on one knee, which prompts her to step up the intensity of her assault and deliver another ball-shattering punch between Colm's knees, then flipping herself off the ground, sending two toe kicks spinning into his bloated bag. The tentacles were still squeezing them so that there was no where for the balls to hide. They were simply forcefully packed into the bottom of his sac.

Suddenly, Colm's body alights like a black bonfire, but she tries to end his rousing with another swinging front kick to his injured pain receptors. "These stupid things are like buttons to victory for me! Haha!"

"I do grow tired of you," Colm's voice retorted, as Guinevere draws her foot away from his groin, which was aflame; she yells in astonishment and pain. As the shadow fire quickly consumes her body, it is currently climbing up her leg and shedding ash from her ankle as it does so. "Huh. It would appear that my ruse was successful."

"What? What the heck is going on?! Ahhhh!"

"So, in order to determine whether or not you believed that I was fragile, I feigned that the last kick you gave me wounded me. Instead, I prepared a trap for you to fall into, which would result in a gory or perhaps I should say crispy death if you touched me there once more. Clever, eh? It seems that every lady I meet feels driven to try and beat up my balls. While this strategy is effective for a while, I keep forgetting that I can simply fight back against it. Because I spend so much of my power to ensure there's no actual, long-lasting damage to my balls, I sometimes forget that I can just fight back when someone attacks me. It's something that my instructor demonstrated to me."

As Colm draws to a close on his humorous remarks, he takes note of the fact that Guinevere is no longer shrieking. When he turns his head to look around, he spots a pitch-black flame a few feet away from him. Colm would blink and thought aloud at the same time "Oh, you've already turned to ash... Uhh, shit. I said all of that for no particular reason."

Colm is under the impression that the thing that he can see deteriorating in Guinevere's shadow is her soul.

After turning around, Colm was able to see Yvette and Neimi inside an adjacent building via a narrow window. They have a smile on their face and appear to be laughing. He decides he should go see what it was they seemed so pleased about. Colm enters the room to find Donnel laying on the bed, and he appears to be in a really bad state. Yvette was laughing. Even though Neimi does not appear to be around, Colm can still hear her laughing. "What exactly is going on here?" Donnel hurls on the floor in response to Colm's question, adding to the vomit that appeared to be already there. Yvette gives Colm a grin while she glances at him.

"Oh, we're just figuring stuff out right now." She says it in a nonchalant manner as she turns back to Donnel, who is wailing out in anguish at that very moment.

"I swear to GOD, that is the only thing I am aware of." After hearing a crack, Donnel lets out a high-pitched squeal.

When Colm looked down, he noticed that the front of Donnel's medical robe was swaying ever-so-slightly, which prompted him to raise an eyebrow. "Neimi? What kind of treatment is this poor individual getting?"

Neimi pokes her head out from inside the robe and gestures to her audience "Oh hi, Colm! I believe I just made another hole in this moron's left testicle with what I just did. But I can't say for certain what happened. I sure wish he'd quit squealing though, his voice is wretched."

Colm's eyes widened and he began to shudder as he considered the horrifying possibility, but he managed to keep a straight face and give a simple nod in response. "I see, well... Do you have the information that we require?"

Yvette responds with an "Oh yeah, he spoke up rather fast. At this point, all we are doing is making certain that he is not concealing anything from us. Plus, Neimi was really tired of this guy after all he's put us through. She said that after she was done, he'd wished he was dead."

However, even though he is at a loss for words, Colm continues to make an effort to communicate. "Oh well, uh, it sounds like maybe we should get going. My guess is that the Ebony Claw's headquarters are located behind those gates. This individual is not worthy of any more of our attention or time."

"Hmm, yeah, okay. Fine," Neimi says, sulking. "However, I was promised I could break his balls. Can I, please?"

Colm let out a quick giggle and nodded, "It's fine to proceed, but you should move quickly. It is imperative that we put an end to this before Holgard's predicament becomes any direr." he remains silent although he has agreed to let the Sheriff's balls be broken, which Donnel finds objectionable.

Neimi can only let out a shout of happiness before turning to look at Yvette. "I'll take one, and you're free to choose whatever one you want."

Yvette smiles, "I'd be honored. When the count of three comes, both of us are going to stomp on his balls, okay? You take the left, I'll get the right."

Neimi agrees and glances at Colm. She gives him a thank you while she is spinning in the air and looking at Donnel's balls. "Are you ready, Yvette?"

"You bet! Let's get rid of this guy as soon as possible!" She exclaims, giving off an almost ecstatic tone of voice.

"Say goodbye to your balls, bitch!"

Both of the girls smile at one another before chanting their countdown in unison.

"One..."

Neimi pulls her legs up to Donnel's left testicle and calculating the force of the final kick she needs to administer to destroy it.

"Two..."

In response, Yvette places the sole of her foot on Donnel's right testicle and gets ready to squash it just as Neimi begins her kick.

"Three!"

Donnel is aghast; Colm witnesses Neimi bore through Donnel's ball with perhaps the most fierce dive-kick using both her feet to slam into it with a sickening crunch and a horrific scream. Yvette's nut didn't seem to burst as quickly as Neimi's, she continues to grind and pound into his last testicle, he clings to Yvette's foot desperately. Hoping he can save at least one of his nuggets.

"Damn, sorry Neimi. His nut did not break immediately," Yvette continues to work on getting the last ball flat while commenting.

"Don, there is still time for you!" Neimi giggles in his face.

It takes a few more labored moments but, suddenly the room fills with a horrid squelching and crunching sound followed by an eerie silence. As soon as Neimi sees that Yvette has completed the task, she bursts out laughing and yelling.

Donnel draws in a long breath, pauses for a moment, and then screams out in agony.

Suddenly, everyone hears a resounding crunch, and then they hear something pop with a grisly wet crunch beneath Yvette's knee-high leather boot as it bursts through the shell of Donnel's remaining testicle.

As Colm sees the light leave Donnel's eyes, the horrible sound is still ringing in his ears, and he is still shaking from the experience.