The Standup Boys' Revolution

A hand closed over Kervin's mouth. Another clamped down around his waist. They lifted him off his feet.

"Your little hellcat boyfriend's not here to save you," growled a voice behind him. "So be smart and don't move."

His captor dragged him back, effortlessly keeping him stuck and silent. Finally, the burly man shoved him into a hut that he knew all too well.

Bruin sat there, fully dressed this time, holding up his flintlock pistol with a smug grin on his face, flanked by men with bayonetted muskets. His monster girl knelt at his side, collared and leashed, her hands on the tops of her thighs, her arms neatly framing her full breasts. Her head was bowed, which only made her look more sinister as she stared at him, her vertical-slit pupils playing up and down his body as if his clothes were not there.

"Don't think I've forgotten how you and that bony half-a-man threatened me," said Bruin, stroking behind the monster girl's ears. "I'm not giving you the chance to try again. Gag him."

The hand lifted from his mouth, and a rough, merciless rope forced itself between Kervin's jaws, silencing him before he could scream.

"Now get him out of here," said Bruin. "I want at least two people guarding him all the time. That skinny boy will come for him, so be ready."

Kervin screamed and fought, not because he thought he could win, but because it was what Vot would have done.

* * *

Vot woke up. He hadn't realized he had dozed off, but there he was, slumped against a boulder, his belly full to bursting.

It had been a good feast.

"How long was I out?" he asked Kervin. Just as those words left his mouth, he realized that Kervin was not with him. He looked around, seeing the table strewn with bones, fruit pits and broken utensils, but the diners and the cooks had all gone. For that matter, the sun had just risen. He had been asleep for a whole night.

Ambling to his feet, Vot shook his head vigorously. "Kervin?" He cupped his hands over his mouth. "Kervin!"

Still he got no response. He sprinted to their hut, but it was empty. For minutes, Vot scrambled around Standup, calling Kervin's name, not caring who was still sleeping or what they might think. Then, in the back of the city, beyond the half-finished wooden wall, he saw Kervin. He saw Kervin stripped and tied to a stake.

Kervin's head hung miserably, pretty brown hair spilling messily down his shoulders. His graceful arms were bound together behind the stake in a cruel system of knots that forced his elbows together, and his ankles were bound the same way, pulling back his thighs, exposing his flat stomach and his clean, round-headed cock.

And Bruin stood in front of him, for once without his pet monster girl, but only with an evil smile. A growl brewing in his throat, Vot leapt over wall and stormed up to them, murder in his heart.

"I wouldn't do that," said a simpering voice. "We have made a deal, and you would be wise not to interfere."

Turning, Vot saw Sarvy saunter up to him with a bayonetted musket cradled smartly in his hands.

"It's the troublemaker!" Bruin boomed. "Come out to cut loose your boyfriend, did you?"

"Ah," said Sarvy, "our customers have arrived."

The chieftain with the wood-beaded hair emerged again from the trees, flanked by a pair of warriors.

Vot felt fire surge up his spine. "You're the criminal!" he spat at Bruin. "Kervin's not yours to sell! He's no one's!" He faced the tribal women with ferocious defiance. "He's not yours!"

"I have all the guns," said Bruin, folding his arms. "If I say he goes, he goes, and if you have a problem with that, you should have brought a gun of your own."

Vot fumed. Back on the streets of Izaz, he would have skittered into the shadows or vanished into the crowd, but here there was nowhere to hide, and besides, now he had someone to protect. Desperately, he watched Bruin make the trade.

The chieftain knelt in front of Kervin, her fingers gently lifting his cock. "The tribe of many males are not virgins," she said guardedly. "Used males are dangerous. They have been with a different woman before. They think they can be with another again."

"That shouldn't stop you," said Bruin. "Just show him you mean what you say, and he'll obey." With a meaty hand, he reached down and gripped Kervin's chin, turning his cheek to the woman. "Or are you afraid? Is this too much man for you?"

"Not afraid," said the tribal woman distantly. "But virgins are worth more."

"Then this man's cheap."

That, of all things, drew a dirty look from Kervin. But no look in the world could stop the woman as she casually stroked Kervin to erection, hands moving more slowly than Vot had ever thought to. Kervin flexed his hips, trying to strike her with his hobbled knees, but she easily stayed him with one hand.

"If you make him cum, that's the trade," said Bruin.

As soon as he was hard, she uncoiled her fingers, then supported his shaft on her forefinger, bouncing it lightly. A drip of precum oozed from Kervin's tip.

Vot looked back, and to his amazement, Sarvy was watching the woman, not him, and his musket was lax in his hands. Vot took his chance. Grabbing the barrel of Sarvy's gun, he threw it aside, and before the scout had any time to react, Vot threw a fierce punch at his jaw. Sarvy's teeth clapped together, and he yelped through pursed lips as he fell. Wresting away Sarvy's gun, Vot held it the way he had, aiming its bayonetted tip at Bruin.

"Let him go!" snapped Vot. "Now!"

The woman who had been fondling Kervin drew a bone knife. Kervin gaped at Vot. Bruin cast his eyes about and barked, "Damn it, I said to have two guns here! Where's the rest of my guard?"

"I'm here, sir." A big but timid-looking man ambled over the wall, leveling a matchlock rifle at Vot. Vot aimed his musket at the big man, and before he could realize his mistake, Bruin trained his flintlock pistol on Vot.

The big man with the matchlock stared uncertainly at Vot, then at Kervin. Slowly, he let his gun down. "Sir," he said. "What did that man do wrong?"

"It doesn't matter!" shouted Bruin. "That boy is a dissident! Take him down!"

Sarvy groaned as he began to coalesce, and Vot contemplated how he could win a fight against all three.

"No, sir." The big man dropped his matchlock. "You can't sell your own boys. This is..." he swallowed. "This is wrong."

"They're your followers, not your slaves!" Vot cut in. He aimed his gun at the chieftain. "Get out of here!"

Other men appeared over the wall, their accusing eyes settling on Bruin, who now seemed so small, standing alone with only his pistol. Bruin looked around desperately, sputtered, growled and finally threw down his weapon.

The woman sheathed her knife. "A good tribe never threatens their own chief." She turned around. "And the tribe of many males summoned us here. To break a deal is dishonor."

"Do you think I care?" Vot spat as he spoke. "Leave, before I shoot a hole in you!"

The tribal women whispered to each other, but they left without a fight.

"Bruin," said Vot, aiming his rifle at the tattooed man. "Time to pay."

"No!" cried Kervin.

Kervin looked ridiculous, trussed up and still erect, straining his neck to look back at the men, but Vot listened anyway.

"He doesn't deserve to die!" said Kervin. "Only stop following him, and he's harmless!"

One look around confirmed that the city of Standup had indeed stopped following him. Letting the gun down, Vot breathed deeply, thankful to whatever gods there were that he and Kervin were still alive. Emotion swept over him like a blast of hot air as he ran to Kervin. "Are you hurt?" he demanded, putting his right hand protectively around Kervin's cock. "What happened? How did he get you? Did he...?"

"I'm alright, I'm alright," said Kervin, with a weak little laugh that became more genuine when Vot freed his arms and legs. "I'm scared witless, but it's nothing that won't heal." He stood up straight, unashamed of his nudity, or of the red rope-burns on his arms and legs. "Let's get back inside."

A few men grabbed Bruin and forced him back to Standup, leaving his pistol in the muck. Vot held onto the musket as he escorted Kervin back into the city. To Vot's disconcert, the other men stopped and made way until Vot was in the lead, with the others marching behind him.

"So," came the inevitable question from somewhere in the crowd, "who do we listen to now?"

Leaning down, Kervin whispered. "Why don't you run things, Vot?"

"I can't," Vot hissed back.

"Why not? You did great!"

"Was just as scared as you were."

"You still did great."

"..."

"Come on, do it. You don't want another Bruin to take his place, do you?"

Horrible possibilities flashed through Vot's mind. "Never." He raised his voice. "I'm the new leader!" He jabbed his finger at Bruin, the way Bruin so often had at him. "No more boy-selling, and no more distrusting each other! I want that man barricaded into his hut. We need him out of the way. Everyone..." he faltered. "Everyone meet me in my hut. We got decisions to make."

* * *

At last, the stake outside of Standup had been taken down. The city would never scandalize itself by selling its own citizens again. All the guards—and all the guns—now faced outside, not in.

Bruin had been dealt with, as had his odious pet. The monster girl stood on the uphill side of the city, bent over and locked into a hastily crafted stockade. The wood closed around her thin waist, with her arms folded sharply back and her wrists locked into smaller holes in the wood. Her ankles, too, were bound to supports of the wooden frame, leaving her unable to move, her womanhood bared and open for the world. The men of Standup were taking full advantage; a man thrust into her, hips slapping against her well-used rear. She moaned with every thrust, drooling on the ground.

It was well for her that she seemed to enjoy it. That man was not the first to take her, and there was a long line behind him.

Kervin shook his head. Sex, he had argued, should be kept behind closed doors, but the other Standup men had had their sense of propriety worn away by years of use and prostitution. At the same time, Kervin could not stop himself from approaching the bound monster girl.

She looked up at him, deep yellow eyes half-open, a line of saliva flinging from her mouth as a man rammed into her, hips slapping against her plump rear. She seemed to expect something from Kervin.

Even after all that had happened, it seemed terribly strange to have a female body bared for him, when his experience had so often been the opposite. Reaching forward, he cradled her dark purple breasts and his hands, feeling their weight as they pushed into his palms with every thrust. Her nipples were hot, stiff nubs, and when he squeezed them as he had seen other men do, she gave a high-pitched squeal that seemed out-of-place for such a dangerous being.

"Well?" said Vot. "You going to do it or not?"

Startled, Kervin looked back to see Vot watching him with arms folded and a mean-spirited smile.

"Oh," said Kervin. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay. Just want to watch."

Kervin tilted his head.

"Come one, do it. How often do you get the chance to make a woman please you?"

He looked back to the monster girl, whose tongue lolled invitingly out from her mouth, and some of Vot's deviance infected him. Undoing the rope on his pants, he let them fall past his groin, and his erect cock emerged, more big and fearsome than it had ever seemed back in Izaz.

The monster girl's mouth was already open. He put it in.

Right away, she closed her lips around him, and Kervin felt a pull he hadn't expected, then her lips slurped as she sucked fiercely at him, every pull matching the rhythm of the man behind her.

Kervin's knees weakened, and he put his hands on the monster girl's shoulders, inadvertently forcing her down, and she stopped sucking as her back bent forward. Horrified, Kervin released her and put his hands on the stockade, and she immediately rewarded him with fresh suction. Her tongue rolled around his shaft, and he was grateful for the wood supporting his weight.

His head drooped, his energy sapped by her sheer skill with her mouth, and he opened his eyes to see hers squeezed shut as she focused on the cock in her mouth, giving only a deep, muffled hum at the sex she received from the man behind her. Sooner than he had expected, Kervin felt an orgasm simmering in his testicles, and the monster girl's merciless pressure pulled it up out of him. With a weak little gasp, he erupted, his cock forcing out his load one hard push at a time. For a few seconds, he was stiff from head to toe, then he mastered himself. Wobbling, he stepped back, pulling out of her mouth.

A string of saliva hung between the dripping tip of his cock and the monster girl's lips, and she stared at it as if she expected him to put it back in, but Kervin was spent. After one dizzy moment, he did up his pants again, unsure what to feel about what he had just done.

Vot did not look so conflicted. "A taste of her own medicine," he said through a grin. "That's justice. Come on, let's go get the weapons sorted." He didn't pause for Kervin to agree as he loped off.

Kervin followed, breaking into a jog to catch up with the lithe young man, but quickly found he couldn't. The heat overcame him, and he stumbled to a stop, his body vigorously reminding him how long it had been since he had eaten. In the shade of a crude awning someone had put up over the entry to a wooden hut, he leaned against a log stuck into the ground and panted, watching his sweat drip onto the mud.

He took a minute to savor the peace and quiet.

"You," said a deep, dull voice. "You're that man I almost sold."

Kervin jumped, then looked into the hut to see Bruin sitting dejectedly against a wall, his head drooping, his face slack. The wooden boards across the entrance only made him look smaller.

"Yes..." said Kervin, gathering himself. "Yes, that I am." He turned his nose up. "It seems your greed has served you your just desserts."

"My greed?" He straightened his back. "You think I sold you off for money?"

Kervin remembered the terror of being tied to the stake, and a flush of anger took him. "It certainly looked that way," he said coldly.

"I didn't do that for myself. I didn't do any of this for myself."

"Ah, so it was your civic duty to keep that monster girl as a personal slave?"

Bruin smiled distantly. "Okay, so I did one thing for myself. But do you remember when I first wrestled that sexy thing down? Everyone was cheering. They loved me. You loved me too."

"I did not love you. The others were wrong to cheer for you."

"But they still cheered. Fingir was the kind of leader we needed to pull this movement together. He had drive. He had charisma. He could talk to men who barely ever set foot out of their wives' houses, and he could convince them to go romping through the jungle. I know because I was with him right from the start." A rueful smile crossed Bruin's lips. "But he wasn't the kind of leader who could get us through the wilderness. He was just too soft, and the wild punishes soft. I had to take over, or he would have run us into our doom."

"And I suppose you simply had to sell men as sex slaves too?"

"I'm getting to that. You see, no matter what anyone says, you need friends to survive. You need to make allies, and you need to keep them around. Fingir wouldn't have done that. If he'd run this show, then pretty soon, every tribe in the bushes would have realized that the only way they'd ever get their legs around us would be to do it by force. It would have been us against the world. But by selling them a few men, I was going to lead them on. I thought they'd compete with each other to buy our men. And how could they fight us when they're busy fighting each other?"

"Fancy words, but nothing can justify taking a man's life away because he failed at his job."

"You mean the guards, don't you? I had to hold the guards responsible for their failures, even if it wasn't fair. I had to give them no choice but to do better, because there really was no choice. If we don't tighten up security, the monster girls will start kidnapping men, not just raping them, and we'll all end up stuffed into a den somewhere. Or eaten alive."

"You make it sound so noble... you certainly showed no remorse as you gave them away like whores."

"You can't show doubt, or your people will doubt you too. I didn't like doing it, but it had to be done, so I kept my face straight and went all in."

"For all the good it did you."

"I know." Bruin sighed. "The fat's going to hit the fire soon. Vot couldn't have picked a worse time to make trouble. We've slighted one of the woman-clans, and since he's put an end to selling men, the women will turn or us. They all will." He shook his head. "I hope Vot has better luck than I did. I really mean it. I want Standup to last." He sat back. "Everything I did backfired. I'm sorry."

Kervin wanted to accept his apology, but the fear of being exposed to the savage women, of being fondled by foreign hands and bargained over like an animal, was too fresh in his mind. All he could do was stand up silently and leave.

Perhaps Bruin truly had wanted what was best for Standup. Perhaps not. But Kervin knew Vot, and Vot would never let it fail.