Osha Violations

Opal was a little surprised when, just a few minutes after leaving, her Mom barged back into her personal penthouse home, looking about ready to either start crying or pummel someone or both!

“Those… stupid… selfish… URRRRGHH!!!” Osha grit her teeth and flailed her arms, before decisively crossing them, and promptly flopping herself into one of the shapely recliners.

Opal just blinked at her for a second, a little taken aback. The Mingle couldn’t recall the last time Osha had been legitimately upset, but here she was, on the verge of a meltdown. The blue-haired Omny teleported over to her Mom and kneeled down next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, hey, what’s up? What happened?”

Osha grit her teeth. “They changed it! They did a whole freakin’ overhaul of the Fundament, did this whole alien invasion event and they didn’t even ask me!” Osha huffed. “What am I, chopped liver? I’d have loved to participate! But it’s like I wasn’t even worth considering! And now there’s some actual, out-in-the-open alien outpost established in my home country, and I wasn’t even told about it!”

Opal blinked again, then glanced across the dimensions, peering through the privacy barrier that separated the two Omnyverses. In a matter of seconds, she surmised everything that had happened during Shady’s invasion campaign, and the immediate fall-out when the Beyond Divers returned. All this occurring right next door, and none of them in the Second Omnyverse had had any idea, not even Shady’s Descended!

This, of course, had been the point of the separation; either Omnyverse could be up to their own business without it spilling over into one another’s awareness like a neighbor’s wall-rattling base speakers. For those who lived in the Second Omnyverse full time, it wasn’t technically their business what the First Omnyverse got up to, and vice versa.

Osha, however, still lived there, and unlike Cyl, Kat, and Reignbeau, who’d been out in the Beyond, it would have taken no effort at all for Shady, or Lettie, or any of the other Omnys involved to just send their junior a quick mental invite to participate.

Of course, the entire point initially had been for Shady to rope her fellow Progenitors into a prank and see how far they could get away with pulling it before getting caught. They’d deliberately hid the event from Demi and Wyllow as long as they could. But once the Mingles got involved, any of them could have easily alerted Osha and let her help with the wrap up! But none of them had even thought to!

“Am I just too nice?” said Osha. “Is that it? Did they think I didn’t have the stomach to help them femdominate the planet? Come on! I’d have made a great Azurite general! Or a superhero rebel! Or whatever! I coulda gotten my Wayfarer guild involved and done a whole kick-ass crossover event! But no, Osha, who’s that? Some dumb blonde THOT who’s outta sight, outta mind!” She smacked her hand against the seat cushion. “I know Shady can’t think past her own fuckin’ nose most days, but Lettie coulda thought to ask me! I thought we were buds, at least!”

Opal, recalling Lettie through two full sets of memories, gave a tentative smirk. “Lettie’s got the attention span of a toddler, to be fair.”

“Well, next time I see her, I’m gunna spank her like a toddler, and not in the fun way!” growled Osha. She flopped back on the chair even harder.

Opal pursed her lips. “I’m sorry, Mom. That sucks they didn’t include you.” Even as she said that, she flicked her thoughts across the dimensional divide to needle her other Mom about it, only to see she was already getting quite the needling from her fellows. She’d get to Shady later; right now, her actually attentive mother needed her support.

“Yeah, it does,” said Osha. She sighed. “And I’m sure it sucks for Kat and Reignbeau, too. I’m sure for Shady, this was mostly a dumb power play against Cyl, and everyone else got dragged along.”

Opal consulted herself, and couldn’t help but agree. “Shady might have gotten the ball rolling, but it’s a whole push-and-pull polycule dynamic between the Progenitors. They’re all still very wrapped up in each other. They probably didn’t mean to forget you, they just got tunnel visioned on each other once the game got started.”

“So, I am chopped liver to them,” muttered Osha with a pout.

“They also probably wouldn’t want you getting into real trouble because of their dynamic,” said Opal. “Shady pissing off Cyl and the other Mingles, the others willing to take that risk, they all kind of expect trouble from each other. They love each other, but when they get angry with one another, they get angry. You’re too new to the mixture to deserve getting caught in that crossfire.”

“That’s a sweet-sounding rationalization, but you’ll forgive my skepticism that it’s that deep or considerate,” said Osha. “Lettie’s just a taker, and Shady just doesn’t care. Hell, does she even care about you that much?”

Opal frowned. “She can be cavalier with her relationships.”

“Yeah,” muttered Osha. “I was just a fling to her, making you. She shoulda just Mingled with Megan.” Opal winced. Osha immediately regretted it and grabbed her daughter’s hand with a pained look. “Oh, god, I’m so sorry, baby. I didn’t mean it like that.”

Opal gave her a firm smile and put her hand over Osha’s. “I know. You’re just talkin’ shit cause you’re mad. I know what you mean.”

“I would hope so, since you you’re half me!” Osha smiled in a nervous attempt at lame humor, and let out a sigh, feeling some of her anger deflate. “I know, like I should talk. It was just a fling for me, too, so what am I acting like a spurned lover for? By that logic, I should’ve mingled with Reignbeau or Ryoko.”

Opal smirked. “I’m not sure either of them are ready for kids.”

Osha chuckled. “Probably not.” She gave her daughter a look over. “God, now I’m being an asshole, aren’t I? I hope I’m not making you feel like you were a pump and dump. Demi and Wyllow are so in love, and you’re just kinda out here on your own.”

“I got here how I got here, and you bitches are just gunna have to deal with it!” Opal shrugged. “Besides, I’m not on my own. I got Ryoko in the divorce, remember?”

“Don’t worry, I ain’t givin’ you up for adoption yet!” said Osha. She leaned forward and gave her daughter a tight hug. “I love you, baby.”

“Love you, too, Mom.” They pulled away. “So, what now? You want to extend your stay?”

“I don’t know,” said Osha with a sigh. “Maybe, maybe not. I think I should at least cool off a bit here.”

“Stay as long as you like,” said Opal. She stood and headed for the little bar in the corner. “I got some stuff to do, but I can spare a body to hang out.”

“I remind you my offer still stands,” said a familiar voice. “You are welcome to stay here as your main home.”

Osha’s recliner was now suddenly a reclining couch, and one woman in two bodies flanked her. To her right, Gold snuggled into her, while to her left, Rose put a comforting hand over hers.

Osha put one arm over Gold’s shoulders, and gave Rose’s fingers an affectionate squeeze. “I’m rather tempted at the moment.”

“No pressure,” said Rose.

“But it would please me,” said Gold.

“Hmmm,” said Osha. She gave it serious consideration for a moment, then shook her head. “Frustrated as I am with the others right now, I have too much invested in their Omnyverse.”

“You could easily migrate your assets here,” said Rose. “If Fulcrum displeases you, it would be a trifle to integrate an Earth of your preference into our Multiverse. Or whatever other Worlds you wish to maintain.”

“It would,” said Osha with a frown. “But I don’t want to pull all my Playthings from their real homes, either. And I haven’t really been much of a Worldbuilder yet.”

They were silent together for a bit, before Rose spoke up again. “Well, I won’t push it.”

“Does it upset you, my wanting to keep my roots there?”

With most other Omnys, such a question would be instantly answered with an open psychic brush of empathic intuition. But unlike the others, RoseGold by habit maintained a basic level of shield against her immediate thoughts and feelings. Any other Omny could easily force a read of her mind, but just like the privacy buffer between the two Omnyverses, the fact looking had to be deliberate was enough of a clue for most to respect her desire for privacy. Whether this was a holdover from Ryoko’s mortal life of masking herself in society, or whether her still-uncertain feelings about Omny relations kept her guarded, or both, was hard to tell.

Rose shrugged. “You do you, my dear. It’s not like seeing each other whenever we want takes any real effort on our part. If you are more comfortable in your home soil, then that is how it is.”

Osha pouted slightly. “That didn’t answer my question.”

Gold sat up, pulling away from her cuddle and stretching. “Yeah, it bugs me a little. You go through all that effort to torture me into goddesshood, to elevate me alongside you as an equal, but when the time comes, you don’t stand with me when I make my own stand. You’d rather stay behind with your cool girl club. Sometimes, I feel like you still just see me as another of your Playthings.”  She leaned over, getting her face right in Osha’s. “So, frankly, I don’t wanna fuckin’ hear you sobbin’ over feelin’ left out of their club, when half the time, I feel like I ain’t even in your club.”

Osha grit her teeth and teleported herself to stand at the foot of the recliner, arms crossed, almost glaring at her former Plaything. “You know I don’t see you that way! I only come over here at all just to see you and Opal!”

Rose shrugged, maintaining her composure as always, while Gold leaned back in a lazy slouch. “I know that, Osha,” said Rose calmly. “You asked how I feel, so I told you. And I know that these are unreasonable emotions on my part. Ones that I work to process.”

“But that doesn’t make ‘em not real,” said Gold with a half-sneer. To sell the point, she flickered her own mental barrier enough to let Osha have an authentic peek into her mind.

Osha pouted again. “I’m sorry I make you feel that way sometimes.”

“You are forgiven,” said Rose. “I am sorry my ingratitude lingers.”

Osha sighed. “I’ll forgive you since I feel responsible, but I do hope we can truly move past this some day.”

Rose continued. “I as well.”

“The Progenitors had to go through a lot of life lessons and rough patches to build the relationships they have now, and they still aren’t perfect,” said Opal. “We’re still new to all this, so we’re still figuring ourselves out, while they’re still probably adjusting to us being around.”

Osha let out a breath. “So, I should turn the other cheek and just accept a ‘whoops, sorry, luv, maybe next time’?”

“Or you could, you know, punch them in the other cheek,” said Gold with a grin. “Make sure they don’t forget about you again!”

Osha smirked. “Yeah. Maybe.”

“I’d suggest letting things settle a bit over there first,” said Opal.

“Yes, let’s ensure our dear love’s concerns are of secondary merit to the Progenitor’s whimsy,” said Rose icily.

Opal scowled at her. “Ryoko, for our dear love’s sake, process your damn grudge at some other time, through someone else.” She looked to Osha and winced slightly to see her mom pouting a bit at RoseGold’s words. “Hey, don’t let her get you more rattled. Please, feel free to keep crashing here.”

Osha sighed. “Thank you, but I’d really like to check on my Playthings back there. See how they’re adjusting to the changes.”

“That’s fair,” said Opal, shooting a glance to RoseGold before she could say anything.

The dual-body Omny’s expression didn’t change, but she did bite back her next words, knowing well how important an Omny’s Playthings were to them, however that relationship might manifest. She stood up from her couch, and both of her went up to give Osha a hug.

“Pay my bitterness no mind,” said Rose.

“You know me, always shootin’ my mouth off,” said Gold.

“I’ll update you,” said Osha, kissing both of her. She popped out an extra body next to Opal to give her daughter a slightly more chaste kiss as well. “Cheers!” And then she was gone.

Opal looked to RoseGold with a slight frown, while the dual-body woman stood in place for a moment, watching Osha as she stepped through the veil between the two Omnyverses. The woman sighed through both her bodies, before turning to stare back at Opal. “What?”

“All this time, and you still can’t let some things go, hmmm?” said Opal.

“How long did it take the Progenitors to let things go?” said Rose.

Opal pursed her lips. “A while, as I said.”

“But gods forbid we be allowed their grace in our own mistakes,” said Gold, unable to hold back a slight sneer. “Or allowed our own bitterness when their mistakes impact us, even after getting away from them.”

Opal made an exasperated sigh. “I understand what you’re saying, but carrying grudges forever does none of us any favors, least of all you. I really don’t know what’s keeping you so bitter.”

The woman lowered her heads, thinking on it. Rose then spoke, “I think often that I have moved past these things. But then something like this happens and it brings the feelings back. Not as sharply as before, perhaps, but it’s like an old wound getting prodded.”

Opal came over to her, cupping a cheek on each of her and lifting her heads up. “Are you really still mad at Osha for how she got you to Ascend?”

RoseGold lowered her defenses so Opal could sense her sincerity. She spoke back and forth between her two bodies. “I was never really mad at her, not truly. But she was the vector through which I was exposed to the inherent problems of the Omnys and their attitudes towards mortals. Let us call what she did what it was: she groomed me into being her addicted lover. And I embraced it with full abandon. I know she would have backed off if I’d asked her to stop. But she made it impossible for me to even conceive of asking. I know, of course, it was all towards the purpose of getting me to Ascend via setting up the Origin Factor. But she could have also just given me Ascension at any time.”

“Well,” said Opal. “Given the circumstances, that wasn’t really an option. The Origin Factor experiment was the only way the…” she paused, parsing her words for a moment “…the only way to get around the other Omnys not wanting us to just randomly Ascend any mortal women we pleased. That proved troublesome in past timelines.”

Rose exhaled primly. “Yes, yes, I know all the rationalities. And yes, I know Osha herself was the result of a similar experiment, though hers was far less taxing. Even still, knowing all the logistics, actually being the guinea pig in question is another matter. Osha was used, and in turn, used another.”

Gold made a derisive scoff. “Wonder if in the end, I’ll just do the same thing when it comes time for me to get procreative. Perhaps Illia’s whole line will be born through mad experimentation on hapless mortals.”

“Well, you made sure not to include an Ascension Force here, so you’ll have to do it deliberately, one way or the other,” said Opal. “But I know you ain’t as impulsive as our dear love.”

“Count your blessings on that,” said Gold with a smirk.

Opal glanced her over once more. She let the silence sit for a moment before saying, “You know, for someone who claims to not want to engage in the old Omnys’ poly-politics, you sure are quick to pounce on an opportunity to take advantage of them.”

RoseGold maintained her expressions of calm and smarm. “How do you figure?”

“Come on, now,” said Opal. “You weren’t exactly bein’ subtle, trying to keep her more pissed at the Progenitors. Hoping she’d rage-quit them to move here full time?”

Gold’s face shifted to an ugly scowl, with Rose’s expression stiffen into an icy glare. For a moment, her mental defenses slipped, and Opal caught the deeper flash of anger. But RoseGold tamped it down the same moment, and composed herself.

“I suppose part of me was,” said Rose.

“I was legit mad on her behalf, too, though,” said Gold.

“Yeah, me, too,” said Opal. “But Osha’s not a rage junkie, so you can’t bait her that way. That’s our other roommates.”

RoseGold gave a slight chuckle. “You are right, of course,” said Rose. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Love makes us do crazy things sometimes,” said Opal.

“Yeah,” said Gold. “And she drives me the craziest.”

“I know,” said Opal. “And she knows it, too.”

“I can tell,” said Gold. “That’s alright, though, as long as she also knows something else.”

“What’s that?” said Opal.

RoseGold met her gaze, and with both voices, said, “I don’t care who else she sleeps with, when all is said and done, she’s mine.”

***

To Osha’s relief, none of her Earthbound Playthings had gotten caught in any crossfire during the Azurite invasion. Osha didn’t actually have that many Playthings on Earth that she was serious with in the first place. The super-majority of her encounters had been flings, and most of her steadies were once-in-a-blue-moon visits. Most of them also had no idea she was an Omny, as opposed to various Empowered women; with the revelation of the Empowered’s existence, with them fighting as champions for Earth, most had probably assumed the women they knew only as a capricious magical fuckbuddy was probably wrapped up in the battles.

Ergo, very few had tried to actively pray to her for salvation during the war. The ones who did know she was an Omny, and had tried to reach out to her, had been blocked in their attempts by the barrier between the Omnyverses. She could hear them now as she reached back her senses to pinpoint these moments in the timeline, and immediately corrected for this, sending secret Avatars of herself back in time. Each instance of her assured her devotees that everything was going to be okay, and things were being addressed, and she was helping to handle things. Just trust her.

They had trusted her, and things had worked out regardless of her involvement. She wasn’t about to make things more complicated by retconning herself into the events, but her Playthings didn’t need to know she’d been snubbed on the whole affair.

And once that was done, Osha blipped herself over to the skies above Australia, where she could glower at the new silhouette that dominated the skyline of her home city. An Eydollanni “Embassy Ship”, planting itself strategically along the outskirts of the city limits, spearing into the sky a full two miles tall. A symbol of new alliances, and a stark reminder of the new status quo.

Not that she’d had any say in its placement! Who cared if she didn’t live here anymore? One of her most cherished Playthings still did, and she wasn’t exactly thrilled that the giant alien space-needle was visible right outside his window! Not that he was presently able to enjoy the view, as he was currently being edged and fucked blind by one of her Avatars at the moment.

Still, it wasn’t really the aliens’ fault, and extrapolating along the timeline into the future, their presence was actually going to be a boon for the place, turning it into a major hub of interstellar contact. Goody for them.

Before she could decide where to go next, a presence popped into existence in the sky in front of her. Lettie grinned at her and held out her arms, “There’s my favorite goofball!”

Osha scowled at her and crossed her arms, pointedly floating back a few feet. “Favorite, huh?” she said with a bitter pout. “Coulda fooled me!”

Lettie gave a sheepish grin. “Yeah, I know, that was pretty assholish of me. In my defense, I’m an asshole.”

“Yeah, you are!” said Osha, almost surprised at the audacity. “Go away, Lettie. I’m actually mad at you.”

“That’s fair,” said the country cutie, who decidedly did not go away, and instead just stuck her hands in her pockets and continued to float nonchalantly in front of her. “Sincerely, I apologize.”

“Only ‘cause you got caught!” said Osha. “I thought we were friends!”

“We are! Honest! I would have invited you, really, if you’d been here when Shady first came to me, I definitely would have roped you in, first pick. But, you know, you were visitin’ the other Omnyverse and I didn’t want to interrupt that, and in the moment, I wasn’t sure we’d even get Whitney and Devi to go for it, so we talked to them first. And then while we were plannin’ the whole thing, I dunno, it just kinda became a… well, it became a Progenitor thing, you know?” Lettie shrugged. “Sorry, I’m sure that sucks to hear, but, like… you know. We get caught up in our old drama.”

Osha let out an exasperated sigh. “Yeah. Sure. I get it. You gals are the real main characters. The rest of us are just supporting cast.”

Lettie winced. “Aw, come on, now, you know it ain’t like that. I mean, shit, you got way more appearances than I did last season.”

“Comparing screentime doesn’t help your case! You’re in the top three! I’m barely half your count!”

Lettie paused and checked the website. “Huh. How about that?” She checked it again. “But hey, I mean, proportionally, that’s still pretty good, considering you showed up way later. And, hey, Sal’s drawn you more, so that’s something!”

Osha grit her teeth and unfolded her arms as she stamped a foot in mid-air. “This isn’t about Salamando’s output! It’s about your damn lack of consideration!”

Lettie frowned, seeing how genuinely upset she was. “I know, hun. Look, I…” she struggled to think of a non-insulting way to say it. “We… look, you live as long as I do, make as many connections as I do, and… well, you… I just…”

“Yeah?” said Osha, waiting with a pout.

Lettie made a half-flail, half-shrug. “What do you want me to say? I’m in a lot of different cliques. Not every clique is gunna blend in every scenario. And, like… you know, you got… you got one group of friends you do some stuff with, another group you do other stuff with… and when you’re with one group, you’re not always thinkin’ about the others… and, uh… cripes, this is coming out all wrong…”

Osha just glared at her, and said with firm deliberation, “This wasn’t one of Whitney’s themed sex parties. This wasn’t some roleplay in one of the other Worlds. This was a complete overhaul of the functions of the Fundament, where we all live! This is the kinda thing you Progenitors would insist on having Etiquette meetings to hash out! You’re talking like it was you and the old gals just pulling a prank, when it was a total violation of the oh-so-holy Etiquette you all made sure to browbeat into the rest of us!”

Lettie glanced to the side. “I mean, it was a prank, just a really big one.”

“And I would have loved to be a part of it!” said Osha throwing her hands up. “Gawd, if you’re going to fuck with my home planet, at least let me help make the mess!”

Lettie opened her mouth to respond, when suddenly, a third joined their argument. A certain rainbow-haired warrior and mutual lover was looking at them both with a bit of exasperation. “Ladies, just so you know, your energies are resonating across the whole city. I blocked it before things got out of hand, but if I hadn’t, there’d be a two-million person orgy going on down there.”

The other two blinked and glanced down.

“Oh, ah, whoops!” said Lettie. “Haha, guess things were getting a little heated.”

Osha frowned in concern, scanning to double-check everything was handled. “Shit. I haven’t lost control like that in a while.”

Reignbeau hooked a thumb behind her. “Let’s take this outside, huh?” The three side-stepped into the Planar Void, emerging into the iridescent space between Worlds. Reignbeau positioned herself between and to the side of the other two. She didn’t think things would get violent, but if it did, she could cut either off easily from here. She let the two have a moment to collect themselves before she got the ball rolling again.

“I didn’t get a say in any of it, either,” she said, looking to Osha.

“I know, luv,” said Osha. “But you were out in the Beyond, and your absence was part of the reason they did it. I was right next door, she literally just had to ping me!”

Lettie held up her hands in a placating gesture. “You’re right. You’re right. You’re right.”

“I know I’m right!” said Osha, still glaring. “You got anything else?”

Lettie opened her mouth, then closed it. “No. Sorry. I really am sorry.”

Reignbeau scowled. “You’re quick to apologize, but you never change, Collette.”

Lettie shrugged. “Better forgiveness than permission and all that.”

Osha took a deep, sobering breath, held it for a moment, then let it out. “Okay. Alright. I can get used to the aliens being around. I don’t spend that much time on Earth anyway these days. But I will not be forgotten about again! I stuck with you guys after the Second Omnyverse was formed, I’m a founding challenger in the Contest of Climaxes, I’m part of the club!”

“Yes, you are, hun.” Lettie raised her arms in a surrendering gesture. “You want to punish me for this, I’ll let you have at me. Tease me to death, beat me up, whatever you want to do, I’ll let you take all your anger out on me.”

Osha debated for a minute, then a grin slowly formed that made even Lettie nervous. “You’d enjoy that too much. You want a real punishment? I got a great one for you.” She pointed at her with a salacious grin. “No sex. With anyone, yourself included! For a year.”

Lettie gawked at her. “Are you fuckin’ serious?”

“Yes. It’s the one thing you’ll actually be bothered by. And no putting yourself in a coma or timewarping your awareness to skip it! You gotta live that year!”

Lettie grinned nervously for a second, “You are a fuckin’ tease! But how do you expect to enforce it? You know I can’t go a week without, and I’m real bad at ignoring temptation!”

Reignbeau grinned at Osha. “We can give her an Omny-Grade Chastity Spell. Between you and me, we can fix up one even she can’t slip out of!”

“That’d be great!” said Osha with a grin of her own.

Lettie forced a chuckle. “Yeah, right. I’ll have it picked in a day.”

“And if you do, we’ll sense it, and then we’ll put it on you again, and get Cyl to help us, and more importantly, I’ll really hate you!” Osha glared at her. “It’s a test of loyalty!”

“Good grief.” Lettie sighed and thought it over. She was a creature of impulse and id, but that didn’t mean she didn’t genuinely value her connections. Finally, she shrugged, and held up her hands in a surrender. “Alright. Fine. Slap it on me. Can’t promise it’ll actually hold me, but I will try to stay pure. One year max, though.”

Osha pursed her lips. “Hmph. You be genuinely good for six months, I’ll consider an early parole.”

Reignbeau and Osha floated over to Lettie, placed their hands on her, and laced a special condition on her omnipotent body through sheer force of will. A cosmic lattice of locks and parries would divert Lettie’s hands (and anything else she tried to conjure) away from any self-pleasure, and would hold her back from taking initiative for sex. Someone else could still initiate on her, of course, but the spell also made sure she wouldn’t be allowed to just place herself in situations where she was easy open access to others.

“Man, this sucks,” said Lettie, pouting as she looked herself over, feeling the sheath of the Chastity Spell over her every cell.

“It’s supposed to!” said Osha, and she kissed Lettie deeply, firing a hard spike of arousal straight into her system!

Lettie, caught off guard, gasped and shivered as she was suddenly filled with the intense need to be touched, to fuck and suck her way to a thousand orgasms! She tested the Chastity Spell by trying to grab herself, only to find her hands blocked by a field that pushed them several inches away!

Even as she shivered in frustration, she grinned at Osha. “You can be a right mean one when you want to be, huh?”

Osha smiled primly. “We’re Salamando’s fantasy girls, there’s a vicious femdom bitch inside each and every one of us.”

“You were already an edge queen to start,” pointed out Reignbeau.

Lettie laughed, powering through the lust spike to get herself under control. “Well, I get the picture. I won’t piss you off again, that’s for sure! Least not till next time!”

“I’m rethinking my parole consideration already,” said Osha.

Lettie snickered. “Okay, okay, jeez.”

“Alright, that’s our country girl down,” said Reignbeau turning to Osha. “You want to talk to any of the others?”

Osha nodded. “I’d like to give ‘em a little piece of my mind, yeah.”

Lettie spoke up. “Go easy on Whit, okay? We bullied her into it. And Demi and Wyllow got put on the spot by us, so you really shouldn’t be mad at them. And, well, to be honest, you and Devi don’t really hang out anyway.”

“They could have still said something.”

“Yeah, maybe, but I’m the one who should have.”

“Fine.” Osha stared at Lettie, waiting.

“So, uh, we cool?” said Lettie.

Osha scowled. “You fucking know we’re not! What about the bitch who started the whole thing? I know we aren’t steadies, but the least my fucking baby momma could have done is shoot me an invite!” She glanced around the Omnyverse. “Where even is she right now? I’m gunna deck her one!”

Lettie gave her trademark sheepish grin again. “Ah, yeah… thing about that… Shady’s actually getting the worst of it. She’s been kicked out for a decade.”

Osha blinked. “She… what?”

“Exile,” said Reignbeau. “For ten years. Subjective to both her own personal sense of time, and to the Omnyverse’s timescale. She already left.”

“So, if you wanna get you’re justice on her, you’ll have to either go kick her ass out in the Beyond, or wait till she comes back,” said Lettie.

Osha wasn’t quite sure how to process that. Of all the things the dark Omny could have been sentenced to, somehow, that felt like the realest actual punishment of all. Omnys were creatures of connection, emotional and social as much as physical. It was one thing for an Omny to willingly sojourn outside of the Omnyverse once in a while, but to actually deprive an Omny of her home, of the touch of her people, that seemed truly cruel. Her anger at her Mingle partner softened a bit as she realized this was a far harsher punishment than any she could have thought of.

Still, ten years wasn’t really that much for an Omny. Long enough to give the punishment sufficient impact, but for millennia-old immortals, really just the equivalent of a short time-out.

“Alright,” said Osha. “Well. Okay. That’s that, then, I guess.”

“You sure?” said Reignbeau.

Osha paused, then frowned. “Actually, you know what? No.” Quicker than the other two could react, Osha looked back in time to the moment after Shady’s sentence had been decided. The dark Omny was just about to leave, and Osha sent herself to that exact moment.

***

The five Progenitors, their two Mingles, and Reignbeau had been standing together in a large study in Whitney’s Mansion, having just finished whatever their final statements were on the matter. Shady was looking pissed, but somehow smug at the same time, having just managed to get Cyl to agree to her own “stay put” order in exchange for the acceptance of exile. Shady was just about to take her leave and exit the Omnyverse. She opened her mouth to let out one last shot of sass.

Before she could, Osha appeared in the room right in front of Shady, and socked her in the jaw so hard, she went flying into the far wall! Shady, not really hurt, but utterly stunned, gaped at her Mingle-partner as she tumbled to the floor. Osha glared down at her, arms crossed. “Let’s get one thing straight, hoe-bag, nobody cucks me out of a good time! Next time you decide to fuck the planet behind everyone’s back, don’t forget my number!”

“Osha!” Cyl, utterly startled herself, for once, reached out a hand to the young Omny, but before she could touch her, Osha blipped herself right up against the white-haired Omnys side, and kissed her on the cheek.

“Sorry, carry on,” she said with a grin, before popping out again.

The other Omny’s blinked and shared a mutual glance. Lettie smacked herself on the forehead and said, “Aw, fuck, I bet she’s pissed we didn’t invite her.”

Shady laughed as she got back to her feet. “What do you know, the goody-good’s got some bite! Now I know she was worth Mingling with!”

Cyl scowled at her. “Shady. This is exactly why—”

Shady held up a hand and cut her off, “Yeah, yeah, wider consequences, blah blah blah, I heard you the first ten times.” She stretched nonchalantly. “Don’t worry, I’m hittin’ the dusty old trail already.” She looked to Lettie. “Uh, tell her sorry for me, will ya?”

“Do it yourself when you get back,” said Lettie. “But I’ll talk to her.”

“Thanks.” She made a salute to them. “Later girlies. Keep your cunnies hot and juicy for when I get back!”

“Go already,” said Wyllow with a glare.

Shady stuck her tongue out at her before vanishing from the World, and heading for the Beyond.

***

Osha returned to the moment she left.

Lettie grinned. “I was waitin’ for you to do that first, but yeah, Shady says sorry, for what it’s worth.”

“Not worth much right now, but I’ll put a pin in it till she gets back.” Osha put a hand on her hip and quirked an eyebrow at the country cutie. “So, Shady gets exiled, but the rest of you get off easy?”

Lettie shook her head. “Well, not easy, exactly. Devi and Whitney are doing like a community service, kinda, they’re maintaining responsibility with smoothing over the relations with the aliens and technology integration and such. Earth’s going to be joining a galactic federation sooner than later. So, you know, that’ll be cool.”

“Uh-huh. And you?”

Lettie looked a little sheepish again. “Uh, well, they don’t trust me to be responsible with anything serious like that. Demi was gunna come up with something, but when you popped in and socked Shady, we figured you were pissed at all of us. I said I’d take your heat as my penance.”

Osha scowled. “Well, aren’t you the martyr.”

Lettie looked her sexy-cute friend over, her eyes roaming her body with obvious desire. “It’s true! I wanna fuck you so fucking bad right now!” She floated closer, giving her the puppy dog eyes and clasping her hands in front of her in a beg. “Come on, you don’t wanna at least have a welcome back quickie?”

Osha smirked primly. “You are not tricking me into giving you an early release!” She blipped over to Reignbeau and slung an arm around her, grinning wickedly. “You can watch us fuck instead if you like!”

Reignbeau put an arm around Osha and gave Lettie an equally wicked grin. “I’d be down for that!”

Lettie pouted. “Gosh, you really do mean it with the Spell, huh?”

“Yep!” said Osha.

“Rrrrrgh!” groaned Lettie. “Fine! But we’re doing a super sloppy threesome when I get out of the clink!”

“We’ll see,” said Osha primly.

“That’s a definitely! See you then!” Lettie blew them each a kiss, which they both felt on their lips, before she vanished.

Reignbeau smirked as the two floated apart. “You know, it’s probably good you didn’t get invited, ‘cuz then I’d have to punish you, too.”

Osha smirked back. “Woulda been worth it!”

“Really?”

Osha gave her a serious expression for once. “It wasn’t just about missing out on some fun, you know. This has fundamentally altered my home world, changed the course of human history forever, and it would have been nice to have had some input into those changes. I know the Progenitors created this Earth, so I owe them my existence and my status as an Omny, but Harmonious Co-Existence is supposed to mean I’m not lesser than them for it. And as an Omny actually born here, I’m invested, in a way they probably haven’t even considered.”

Reignbeau paused. “Huh. Hadn’t thought of that way. I was mostly just mad they made a point to pull this level of bullshit behind our backs. But, yeah, for you, that must actually hurt.”

Osha shrugged. “I’m willing to forgive them for it this time, as long as they understand. So, I still want to talk to the others about it.”

Reignbeau nodded. “Sure. I can tag along as arbiter, if you want.”

“Oh, I doubt we’ll need it, but I would appreciate the support,” said Osha.

“Sure thing. We can go now, if you like.” Reignbeau paused and smirked. “Unless you would like a welcome back quickie first?”

Osha grinned. “I wouldn’t be opposed!”

The two came together and canoodled for only a few days, but Osha felt much more at ease after a good, hard Energy Climax! In the end, things were smoothed over rather amicably, and Osha even contributed a few ideas to the rapidly developing galactic community the Omnys were retconning into the Fundament.

Once everything had been hashed out with the other Omnys, she took a moment to teleport out into space to observe her home world in full once more. It really was a beautiful and fun planet, and she had all the more appreciation for it now. And if the Omnys wanted to screw around with it again, she had dibs on the next changes!

END