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Betad by morde24
Beta note:
Hey guys, Shiro's Beta speaking. Been seeing some people saying things along the lines of "I think Shiro is bad" or "Shiro must endorse this awful thing" or "Shiro is awful because he wrote this racist thing while in this POV". Guys Shiro tries to write each POV as close to what he thinks that characters would actually behave as he can. It's one of the reasons why you love reading what he writes, he doesn't handwave, he fleshes out each and every character, their decision making process, their reason for existing, their views, etc. This doesn't stop just for the "good guys" either, to make the fic as consistent as possible this must be done for everyone or there will be a severe disconnect between certain characters and the fic, and the quality of his fics would take a huge dive. So do me a favor, and when you read from, say, a rapist POV don't be surprised when he thinks disgusting deragatory shit towards the person he has raped and others. Likewise when you read from a Nazi POV and the story reads like it is from the POV of a racist white supremacist, don't be like "oh no Shiro must endorse this," or "Shiro has to be one fucked up dude." You are reading the POV of a Nazi OF COURSE it will read as racist, it's a fucking Nazi. Now I know Shiro laughs off most of the shit people shovel into reviews, (and tbh some of them are funny as hell) so he won't defend himself, but I wanted to write this with the hopes that people won't wrongly assume Shiro is some sort of racist evil bastard.
The Guild of Gamers: The Supervillain
Chapter 04: Hot Blondes are my speciality
Squealer -
Being tossed back onto the ground in front of the little glass box that was apparently her new home, she glared at the entirely too smug Midas as he stared back at her happily.
"Now then, are you feeling better?" he asked, making her scowl around the ball-gag in her mouth, he'd taken offence to her language and had his minions put it into her mouth.
The worst thing was that… yes, she felt fucking amazing, better than she could ever remember, whatever Panacea had done to her had done wonders. She wasn't even feeling the shakes from the lack of drugs anymore.
"Oh right, you can't speak. I'll remove that shorty so you can answer some… pressing questions I have, but frankly I like the look on you and more importantly I like the silence. The important thing is that you are disease free, I didn't want to so much as stand near you before you were clean, hell I washed my hands four times after hitting you, they felt grimey." Midas admitted as she scowled.
She wasn't a fucking contagious leper, so what if she had a few STDs, try finding a girl in the docks that didn't. Hell, try finding any merchant that didn't have at least three.
"But now that you are nice and healthy? We can get started." Midas said, gesturing to one of his jumpsuit wearing lackeys, the woman walked up to him and passed him a… hose?
"Strip. Time to get fully clean." Midas said calmly, watching her as she sat there, glaring back at her kidnapper. "You can either take off the scraps of fabric you have the gall to call 'clothes' or have them torn off you, moments before you're beaten for your disobedience. Stand up and strip naked." Midas warned, two female lackeys standing behind him as they stared at her from behind their faces expressionless masks.
She could still feel the punches she tried to pretend didn't hurt, Midas had quite the punch for a posh twat, and she knew she couldn't win against all three of them.
Rising, she pulled her tank-top over her head quickly. It wasn't like she was shy, and while she wasn't going to switch sides just because she'd been grabbed, she didn't want to be beaten over something so stupid.
Skiddy liked to show herself off, so a lot of the time when she wasn't working or doing cape biz she was mostly naked, so this was nothing.
Pulling her booty shorts down, she stepped out of them without a hint of shame.
As one of the lackeys moved forwards, taking her clothes, she stood still as the woman undid her gag, pulling it off.
"Take her clothes and just burn them, they're a lost cause and I don't want anyone catching anything they're carrying." Midas ordered idly, staring her down.
"Yes, sir!"
"Happy now, you cocksucker?" Sherrel asked, glaring at him as his lips twitched into a frown for just a second. "Just take a fuckin picture, that way you can beat your limp dick to it later."
"Ahh, an excellent idea." Midas said with false approval, pulling out his phone and taking a quick snapshot of her, before he chuckled. "But why would I masturbate when I have you right here?" he asked, making her scoff.
"Try me, asshole. I'll bite your fucking cock off." Sherry warned, once again making him laugh.
"And then my next move would be to rip out every single tooth. Besides, you had two holes that I'm fairly certain don't have teeth, but let's move on. We need to get you… presentable, and frankly the amount of filth on you is disgusting. You might want to brace yourself." Midas warned, flipping a switch on the end of his hose, her eyes widening as a powerful spray of ice cold water struck her, knocking her back to the ground.
"Seriously, when was the last time you showered?" Midas asked with a sigh, the hose blasting her with water as she sputtered and tried to defend herself, holding her hand up feebly.
It hadn't been that long!
...actually, when was the last time she showered?
With a clearer mind, she shuddered slightly at the realisation that she didn't know. It almost made her want him to spray her down more, or it would if it wasn't so fucking cold.
As he turned the hose down, he nodded at his minion who approached her with a fluffy towel in hand and grabbed her arm, pulling her to her feet and starting to dry her off.
She considered hitting the hands away, but after a moment she calmed and let herself be dried, her hair still dripping wet as she stared at her captor, watching his gaze slowly move down her naked body.
His gaze lingered on her breasts, and after a moment she covered them with one arm, her other hand covering her vagina as she took a sliver of pleasure at denying him, even as his narrowing eyes told her she'd probably pay for it.
"What now?" Sherrel asked, making him chuckle as he walked towards her slowly.
Nodding at his minion, the other woman grabbed her from behind and as she went to struggle, she froze as Midas calmly reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a gun.
To add insult to injury, she recognised the weapon, it was her spare pistol that she kept in her van glove compartment.
"Let's not make this any more difficult than it has to be, take a seat over there." Midas ordered, the pistol aimed at her chest as she felt her heart start to beat.
She'd seen guns before, she'd seen people shot and she'd even been the one to shoot them, but she'd never been on the other end of one, and without the drugs clouding her mind, fear replaced it as she froze up.
Midas wouldn't just kill her, right? He put too much effort into her.
"I would. Let me be clear, Squealer, I need to make sure you never give the Merchant's your skills again, whether that means by making you join me or by tossing your corpse into the bay. If you prove to be too much effort, I'll simply put you out of your misery and move on." Midas warned as she was forced into a metal chair, her wrists attached to the cold metal arms as Midas watched her coldly.
"Leave us." Midas ordered, watching the minion leave as he picked up a small bag and placed it on a table, digging around in it as she watched in growing fear.
She thought she was going to be fucked, and that was something she barely cared about. She'd been passed around the merchants so often, what was one more dick?
She almost hated the new clear state of mind Panacea gave her, because without the constant need for more drugs, she almost puked at the memories of some of the things she'd done for a hit.
But as Midas pulled out a small blade, placing it on the table as he emptied the bag carefully, lining up the various tools as he looked them over, she realised that sex was the least of her worries.
"I'm afraid I'm rather inexperienced at this." Midas said calmly as he picked one of the knives and walked towards her, making her struggle in her seat, unable to free herself. "But we all have to start somewhere."
"W-what the fuck are you doing?! Get away from me you fucking psycho!"" Sherrel screeched as he stopped in front of her, his expression utterly serene as he watched her struggles.
"You've made it clear you won't be working with me willingly, and you have information I need. Let's start, what kind of numbers do the merchants have? How many capes, and how many unpowered gang members?" Midas asked, the cold metal of the blade resting on her naked thigh as she stared at him in horror.
"You're a monster…" Sherrel whimpered, the severity of her situation hitting her hard.
"The moral high ground, truly? I'm a villain, true, but you're a member of a group responsible for countless deaths. Your vehicles have enabled Skidmark to smuggle his drugs across America, you helped the merchants hold the Docks and the Trainyard. People overdose on your drugs every day, murders and assaults are at an all time high, and a woman can't walk through the Trainyard without there being a risk of being raped, drugged and forced into prostitution. I'm a supervillain, but just this once, I'm in the right. Once it's under my control, I intend to revitalise the Trainyard and Docks, make them flourish as I cut out the rot you drug addled scumbags have left in your wake." Midas monologued, digging the blade into her leg slightly, drawing a sliver of blood as she hissed in pain. "And for that goal? I doubt any of the Merchants' victims would see what I'm doing as a crime, no matter how far I have to go. You don't get to take the moral high ground, and frankly whatever I do to you is justified."
As he spoke, he started to drag the blade down her leg, cutting into her thigh, not deeply but enough that she whimpered in pain, the reality of her situation finally setting in.
She wasn't just going to get fucked a few times before Skidmark bust her out, she was going to be tortured, repeatedly, until Midas had what he wanted.
"I thought you said you were going to rape me… that'd be more fun, right?" Squealer half-begged, her legs spreading slightly to expose her pussy as he chucked down at her.
"Oh, I probably will at some point, and of course it'd be more fun… I'm not a sadist after all, I don't take any enjoyment over hurting you, but we both know you wouldn't be affected by something as simple as sex. I need you to talk, and I want you to put your talents to work for me, and we both know that you won't do either of those things if the only penalty for refusing is sex." Midas said, his tone relaxed as he looked down at her. "Answer my questions, honestly and without hesitation, and I won't hurt you. I get nothing out of harming you, and if you just work with me you can get out of this unscathed. Give me something I can work with, give me a reason to not damage this beautiful body." Midas said, almost kindly as he reached forwards and grabbed her chin, tilting her head to make her look up into his silver eyes.
"Seven, there's seven capes in the Merchants. I don't know how many normal people, most of them are just junkies that Skids bribes with drugs or people who owe us money. They aren't real Merchants, just nobodies we use." Squealer admitted, making him smile and pull the knife away.
"I see, no real connection to the Merchants means they won't really know anything if they are caught, and they are very expendable… but I imagine that means they aren't particularly loyal either." Midas said to himself, typing on his phone. "If you had to guess how many actual Merchants there were, what would you say?"
Skidmark would kill her if he got his hands on her, but Midas would definitely kill her, after torturing her, if she didn't fold and the idea of going back to the Merchants and ruining her body and mind with drugs again made her physically sick.
She hated Midas, but she might just hate Skidmark more.
Her recruitment into the Merchants was just her being knocked out while she was scavenging the Boat Graveyard for materials to tinker with, when she woke up there were so many drugs in her veins that Skidmark found it oh so easy to make her do just about anything for another hit, just waiting a week before the withdrawal symptoms were so bad that she was willing to do anything for a hit.
With the drug fuelled haze lifted from her mind, she knew she'd have nightmares over the things she'd done all for the sake of another hit.
It was how Skidmark kept his capes in line, by being the only way for them to get some of the drugs they were so addicted to.
"A couple hundred? The only important ones are the dealers, drivers, pimps and some of the better fighters, the rest are just cannon fodder." Sherre admitted, letting out a sigh of relief as Midas walked to the table and put the knife back down, walking back over to her and gently running his hand through her still wet hair.
"That's a good girl, you're hungry aren't you?" Midas asked, making her nod hesitantly. "The more you give me, the better your treatment will be, what's your favourite food?" he asked, smiling down at her.
"The mega burgers from Fugly Bob's, they… remind me of a better time." Sherrel admitted, making him nod as he typed something into his phone before he turned back to her. "The seven capes, tell me what their cape names and powers are, and a bit about their personality."
God, if Skidmark got his hands on her… well he'd probably just shoot her, which was still better than Midas deciding to get out his knife again.
"Skidmark's power is these… force fields? They make anything that goes through them much stronger. He's… smarter than he acts, but he's usually so high he can't think straight, and he gets pissed off easily." Sherrel started, surprised at how little guilt she felt. "Then there's me, I can make… basically anything that moves, if I have the materials."
"Something I intend to take full advantage of, you'll have all the materials you could ever want if you play your cards right, wouldn't it be nice to be able to Tinker freely, with proper equipment and materials?" Midas asked, making her force down her agreement.
"Mush can make his body stronger by covering himself in shit, it looks weird as fuck but he can really do some damage if he gathers enough. He's kinda a bitch? He's a coward and he's also kinda dumb." Squealer continued, making him chuckle. "Whirlygig can make a tornado around herself, she's… I don't really know, she keeps to herself. Trainwreck is the same, he mostly sticks to the Trainyard and doesn't spend that much time with the rest. He's a tinker, not as good as me cause all he can build is a power suit that only he can use."
"Interesting, you're doing great so far." Midas praised, and she had to force down the happy feeling his words give her.
Skidmark didn't really do positive reinforcement, other than give her more drugs when she did good. Normally she just got insulted and cursed at for not doing things faster.
"Grapist is… fucking scum. His power is making these sticky purple balls, if you get stuck to one it can take ages to pull yourself free, and he likes to use a load of them to keep his opponent in place. He… his name is everything you need to know about him, he likes using his balls to keep women in place while he has his way with them, he's a midget and he can't fight but if he gets you stuck in place there's really nothing you can do." Sherrel said, shuddering at the memories that resurfaced.
Grapist hated women, because he couldn't get so much as a hug from anyone thanks to his perverted personality and weird looks, and Skids had made a monster by enabling the little bastard.
Although…
"I know where he lives, if you get him by surprise he wouldn't be able to fight back." Sherrel offered, feeling absolutely zero guilt about selling out the creep. "His name is Minoru Mineta, he lives in the Downtown district."
"You want him gone." Midas said simply, making her nod.
"I'm already fucked, either you'll kill me or Skidmark will, but I can at least take that piece of shit down with me." Sherre said, making him smile.
"Well, if that's what you think I suppose I'm your best chance at survival." Midas teased as she gave him a dirty look. He put her in this mess in the first place.
"But yes, I want him gone." Sherrel admitted, making Midas chuckle.
"I have no use for someone so… crude, and he lacks the potential that you have, so I imagine that he will be dying fairly soon." Midas said idly, a slight smile appearing on her face.
"The last cape, I don't know anything about." Sherrel admitted, making Midas's eyebrows rise. "They're a drug tinker, but Skidmark wouldn't let any of us meet them, that way he was our only way to get our high. I don't know where they are, I don't know who they are. I only know they exist because I've picked drugs up from one of our drug labs, I think they constantly move between labs. I've never met them and I've never even seen them. Skids mentioned them a couple of times while he was high, but he never gave details." she explained, waiting for the punishment for failing to give Midas what he wanted.
"Ahh, that explains the Merchants' success, and why none of the other gangs can keep up with them in the drug business. Skidmark was smart to keep them hidden, but I'll find them all the same. Don't worry, I believe you. I'm not unreasonable, if you don't know then I get nothing from hurting you anyway." Midas said as he reached down and removed the straps holding her arms in place. "You've been cooperative, and I'd never punish you for good behaviour." Midas said cheerfully as he stepped back, allowing her to rise.
As a minion entered the room, her eyes widened at the sight of the Fugly Bobs takeaway bag, which he promptly handed to her.
"You can go back to your cell, eat and rest up. I will be back later to continue our conversation, but nobody wants to be interrogated on an empty stomach." Midas joked, giving her a smile as he stepped back.
"If I keep telling you what you want to know, you won't hurt me?" Sherrel asked, making him chuckle.
"I don't condone torture for the sake of torture, if you don't give me a reason to hurt you, I won't." Midas said, and strangely enough… she believed him.
"And if I behave, I'll get treated well?" she asked, pausing as he nodded.
Not replying, she sat down in her cell and started on her large greasy burger, she was pretty sure Panacea had fixed her cholesterol so it was time to fuck it up again.
"I'll leave you to your… food." Midas said, slightly disdainful as he looked at her burger.
Nodding, she took a bite of the burger and sighed as she realised just how hungry she was, now that the adrenaline and fear had started to fade.
Jin -
Leaving the prison, I added everything she told me to my growing files on the Merchants, and I send a single minion to go and scout out the Grapists home.
You catch more flies with honey than vinegar, and her lack of loyalty tells me all I need to know about Skidmarks leadership style.
Without the drugs to keep her in line, she folded in seconds. Which is good because I legitimately have no idea how to torture someone, I just grabbed a bunch of random tools and threw them in a bag.
Guild Obligation Complete
50 Guild Credits added
Not quite what I meant when I said make her squeal, but you technically did it and that's good enough for me.
Oh, she'll squeal soon enough… but her lack of loyalty to Skidmark represents an opportunity I can't ignore.
Yeah, I see that. Still, I promised a secret reward from me if you could do it in three days, and it's not even been two yet...
That you did, Neith.
Heh, check your computer.
Heading back to my office, I start to plan out my next move. I need to give Squealer time to think, let the fact that she won't be escaping sink in, but I have a few ideas on how to start using the information Squealer gave me to use.
Logging into my pc, I spot a new app that simply has a chibi version of Neith giving me the thumbs up as its logo, clicking on it, I pause as a picture opens itself, covering my screen.
Neith smirking at the camera over her shoulder, her skimpy clothes long gone as she poses with her ass pushed out towards the camera.
Under it are the words 'I caught you staring, and success turns me on…'
Well, isn't that… interesting.
...sending a message to the White Rabbit, I get an immediate reply to my booty call, and I could swear I heard Neith laugh as I closed the app.
As she slips into my office, I don't even bother speaking as I simply grab her and bend her over my desk, making her giggle as her thong is torn away.
A couple of hours later, the White Rabbit leaves my office with a smug smile and a womb and stomach full of cum, and I get back to work.
Firstly, I need to continue with the tutorial now that I have a Henchwoman, and the next step is to either level my Schemer class or get a new one.
Going into the levelling app, I spend some times reading over the 'rules' to levelling in this game.
I can pick a class, either Schemer or one of the options I didn't pick before, and it will give me a levelling quest, completing it increases my level in that class and gives me rewards appropriate to said class.
If I pick Schemer, I might get a new power or perk or one of my other schemer powers or perk might get upgraded.
It does seem that the class quests get harder the more I take them, which suggests I should look into 'multi-classing' early to get some early power boosts.
After some thought, I hesitate before I make the selection that best fits my current build, even if it solidifies myself as the villain, despite my moral high ground against the Merchants.
Serial Killer Class Quest Added
Objective 1: Kill 3 people in 24 hours without being caught
Objective 2: Stalk someone for at least three hours before killing them
Objective 3: Leave a calling card on the corpse of one of your victims
The Serial Killer class adds a changer power, a stranger power and a new perk when unlocked, and right now my greatest asset is the ability to hide.
It's why I need to look into a new base location, one that isn't already compromised. I'll use this place as a bait base, but I need a hideout nobody knows about.
I've had a bunch of my minions dressed like hobos wandering the Merchants territory, only keeping the hackers and a few workers on base. They've been hard at work helping me locate Merchant hotspots.
I wasn't kidding when I said I'm not a sadist, I don't take pleasure in causing pain, but I am a pragmatic man, and if taking lives will advance my cause… well, I just need to find the right lives to take.
But first things first, it's time to put the information I got from Glory Girl's phone and Squealer to proper use, because if Amy honestly thought I'd leave her sister alone, she's deluded.
I just need to make sure neither of the sisters realises I'm double dipping. Thankfully, the virus did its job and Amy had added a new contact for Victoria's new phone.
...Neith, how secure is this computer?
Basically impenetrable, do what you want from it and no-one from this world will be able to trace it.
The Guild takes our security seriously, and this computer is your link to us.
Excellent.
Victoria Dallon -
Flying through the skies of the downtown area, she frowned to herself in annoyance.
It wasn't that she was shy, she wore a fairly small skirt as Glory Girl and she knew she was sexy.
But that didn't mean she liked the fact that half of Brockton Bay had seen her naked, not when she didn't even know what she'd done to piss someone off enough to expose her like this.
School had been humiliating, because she knew most of the guys had seen the picture, and while you couldn't actually see her nipples or pussy in it, that just excited people more and it had been shared a lot.
The fact that she was 16 had done a bit to stop people from sharing it, but with the rapidly dropping population (thanks to three certain apocalypse monsters) the legal age had been lowered to try and increase birth rates, so it wasn't technically illegal to have her picture.
So she was stuck dealing with the fact that all her friends, her family, her classmates and even the thugs she fought had seen her naked.
Dean was angry at her, because it was the first time he'd ever seen that picture and he didn't understand that she hadn't taken it for anyone other than herself, so he was convinced that she'd sent it to someone else during one of their many, many breaks.
She hadn't, and you'd think someone who could literally sense emotions would be able to tell that, but he wasn't exactly being reasonable right now.
Mostly because he picked up some guilt during it, and mistook it for confirmation, so they had broken up.
Again.
Landing on a rooftop, she sat on the ledge and sighed to herself.
She had hundreds of pictures of herself on her old phone, and now someone with a grudge against her had them.
She'd had a long patrol the night she lost her phone, and she honestly couldn't remember if she had taken it home with her, and that worried her.
If someone had just found it, and she'd left it unlocked, she didn't have to worry that much, but what if someone had stolen it from her bedroom while she slept, someone who had the skills to unlock it and had a grudge against her?
This would just be the beginning.
Her mother was furious, because while the original site had been taken down, it did nothing to stop the fact that the picture was fucking everywhere. New Wave were supposed to be family friendly, and this really messed with their image.
She'd seen a PHO thread about her tits, and even worse people were comparing her to fucking Squealer.
Squealer!
They couldn't post the picture on PHO because it was always taken down immediately, Tin Mother classified it as revenge porn and deleted it any time it showed up, but it didn't change the fact that it just kept popping up on different sites.
Some bastard had changed her Parahuman Wiki picture to it.
It got changed back less than ten minutes later but still, it was humiliating.
As her new phone vibrated, she sighed again and got ready for another wall of text lecturing her, her mother was really not happy with her, but as she looked at the screen, she paused.
Why was a blocked number texting her? She'd only given this phone number to her family, even Dean didn't have it yet.
Unlocking her phone, her eyes immediately narrowed as she read the message.
'Mush is leading a group of merchant thugs, he's planning to go house to house searching for Squealer, attacking anyone who gets in their way.'
Below was a GPS location, and after a moment of hesitation she took to the skies and shot off towards the location mentioned.
She flew high, to avoid being spotted, and while she knew she'd probably get into trouble for leaving her usual patrol pattern, she was in the mood to hurt someone right now.
Landing on a rooftop quietly, she peeked over the edge and into the empty streets.
'He's in one of the buildings now, fourth house from the right, with the broken upstairs window.'
Looking around, she felt a hint of paranoia overcome her but before she could think about it, a deformed goblin came out of the house the message had mentioned, a dozen men carrying various improvised weapons like tire irons and baseball bats, following behind him.
"This is gonna take all fucking night, you lot start on the other side of the street, kick the door in, search the place and if the owners give you any shit, beat their asses. If you see any valuables you can carry, grab them too." Mush grunted, making her put her phone away.
She'd seen enough.
Flying down, Mush barely had time to widen his eyes before she grabbed the ugly bastard and uppercutted him into the air, flying up above him and immediately kicking him back down to the ground as he groaned in pain.
Mush was easy to handle if you made sure he didn't have a chance to absorb trash, and the thugs weren't armed with guns so she could mostly ignore them as she rushed Mush again.
She'd fought him before, and she knew how to handle this idiot.
Grabbing him again, she took off into the air, far away from any junk he could use his power on as she flew all the way to the clouds.
"What the fuck are you doing here, Glory Hole?" Mush spat, swinging at her as his sloppy punch bounced off her forcefield.
"Stopping a bunch of druggies from assaulting innocent people, also… you really want to try and hit me? Look down, dumbass, can you fly?" Glory Girl asked with a smirk, his pudgy face paling as she calmly let go of his arm, watching him start to fall before flying down and grabbing his leg.
"Fuck off, you bimbo bitch. Don't you have more pictures to take, the boys loved your other one." Mush taunted, which would be more threatening if he didn't smell of urine from his little flight.
Pulling out her phone, she messaged the PRT line for Independent Heroes. She'd had to register her new phone, which had taken hours of paperwork, but it was worth it as she got an almost immediate reply.
The PRT needed some good PR after the White Rabbit fuck up so it wasn't surprising they were so willing to come take credit for Mush.
As for how to actually deal with him, she just stayed in the air where he couldn't do anything without making her drop him to the ground, his men had already scattered to the winds, Merchants were cowards like that.
Seeing the PRT car pull up a few minutes later she flew down and tossed the shaking goblin to the ground, the PRT troops immediately spraying him with containment foam as she crossed her arms with a smile.
She was still in a bad mood, but beating up some dumb Merchant always brightened her day.
"Strange to see a member of New Wave so far from Downtown, something changed that we should know about?" A friendly voice asked, making her perk up as she saw who was leading the PRT men.
"Oh, hey Mr Gordon!" Vicky said cheerfully, smiling at the moustached man. "I got a tip that Mush was causing trouble, and it was only a couple of minutes flight so I decided to check it out, I'm sure I'll get lectured for it later but whatever."
She always liked James, he was one of the more friendly PRT men, friendly and very competent. It was a damn shame what had happened to his daughter.
Poor Barbara…
Shaking her head, she put her crippled classmate out of her mind and focused on the present.
"You know the drill, we'll need you to come in and write up a report, but Mush already has an outstanding warrant, so we'll take it from here. You better get back to Downtown, let's not give Brandish any more of a reason to be angry." James chuckled, making her groan as she floated into the air.
"Trust me, I don't think I can make matters any worse than they already are." Vicky groaned, making him look at awkwardly. "You've seen it? Oh for- is there anybody that hasn't seen me naked?!" Vicky half-shouted.
"Sorry, clicked the wrong link, it was just labelled Glory Girl's Glory." he admitted with a slight blush to his cheeks.
"Ugh, it's fine. What's one more person at this point. I'm getting back to my route, good luck with the creepy goblin!" she said, setting off again to hide her embarrassment.
Opening her phone, she frowned at the three missed calls and several texts from her mom. Reading through them, she groaned as she realised what it was about.
Opening PHO it took her less than a minute to find a link to the new picture, and as she opened it she audibly groaned.
This time they hadn't posted one picture, they'd posted two.
The first was mostly harmless, it was just her in a set of red lingerie, sitting on her bed with a smile. The second was worse, because this time there was nothing at all covering her breasts as she smirked at the camera wearing nothing but a tiny white thong.
She knew this was only going to get worse, because they were still some of the milder pictures she could remember taking.
The message this time made her panic slightly, as it simply said '729 pictures, 39 videos'.
Her mystery informant messaged her again while she was cursing herself for loving the camera so much.
'Nice work.'
'Thanks for the tip, don't suppose you want to tell me who you are?' she replied, waiting for a moment.
'No, but I can tell you something more interesting. I know who has your phone.'
Pausing, she stared at the screen in shock.
'Who?' She asked immediately, the person on the other end of the line not responding.
'That's going to cost you, I gave you a freebie to… advertise my services. My name is Prophet, and I'm an information broker, offering my services to the heroes, for the right price.'
Groaning, she paused before replying. That made a lot of sense, it was wrong to say as a hero but nobody did anything for free, especially in Brockton.
'I'm not exactly wealthy, neither is my family.' she admitted, being a Hero didn't pay well and donations only went so far, it was why her mother spent more time in her lawyer outfit than she did her heroic one.
'In this case, it's not money I want. A favour for a favour, to be called in at my discretion. Nothing illegal of course.'
'Fine, but if you try and get me to break the law, I'm coming for you next.' she warned.
'I'm sure you would, but I'm not worried. I'm on the side of the angels, I just think having Alexandria Jr on my side is a good idea if I'm going to be supplying information on villains.' Prophet replied, making her pause, before she smiled. He wanted protection, and he probably had his reasons for not wanting to go the PRT, Thinkers were always in high demand, and he wasn't wrong to be worried.
'Heh, you could have just asked for protection. If you're working for the good guys, I'll protect you from any pissed off villains, whether you're getting paid or not.' Vicky replied, she understood that not every cape could afford to work for free, she had her family and donations, but an independent thinker wasn't going to have any of that.
'Glad to hear it, because I might just need it. Midas has your phone, he had the White Rabbit steal it. Not sure what you did to get his attention, but he's focused on you.' Prophet answered, making her pause.
All she did to Midas was… well, she kinda threatened him on PHO but that couldn't have been it.
Midas was gonna pay for this...
'Glory Girl, do not confront him directly. He got a lot from your phone… including the identity of Gallant, from which he deduced the identities of almost every ward. He also has proof that you've crippled people, making your sister cover for your mistakes. I'm telling you this as a hopeful ally and a powerful Thinker, if you go after Midas directly, people will die.' Prophet sent, making her pause as she read through it, her heart dropping to ground level as she realised the seriousness of the situation.
She'd exposed the real identity of her boyfriend, and Midas was smart enough to link the rest of the wards to Dean's friends. She'd gotten Amy into trouble as well.
'What should I do then, oh mighty Prophet?' she replied, scowling to herself. She wasn't angry at Prophet, only mad at the whole situation, and herself.
'For now, bide your time. I know it sucks, but Midas isn't doing this on a whim, and he's a pain to try and predict. He wants something from you, wait until you find out what and I'll do my own research. Keep it to yourself, I've already predicted what happens if you tell your family. In short, New Wave is destroyed. Brandish is a powerful and admirable cape, but her brand of diplomacy will make this situation so much worse. Don't tell Amy either, she loves you too much to stand by and do nothing. She'll try to help and it won't end well.' Prophet warned as she landed on top of one of the towers, frowning to herself.
'And if Midas starts making demands?' Vicky asked, hating his answer but she couldn't say he was wrong
Her mom would definitely try and deal with the problem directly, and Amy would get herself into trouble.
'Depends on what he asks for I suppose, like I said, I can't model him that well. I'll keep trying and see if I can find a way to outsmart him, but I'm fairly certain he's a more powerful thinker than me, and that his Stranger power is what is making it so hard to get a grasp on him.' Prophet replied as she sighed.
She hated when people made this much sense, she wanted to just go and punch Midas in his fancy mask but… Prophet was obviously a fairly powerful thinker, and she wasn't arrogant enough to think she knew better than someone whose entire power was knowing things.
'So just keep my mouth shut and bide my time? I hate it, but fine.'
'If it makes you feel better, this is the best way to deal with him. He is focused on you at the moment, but I'm 89% sure he has dirt on other heroes. If you prove too resistant he'll move onto other heroes, whatever he is planning, the best way to counter it is to play along until we know enough to stop it. Sorry, I know this isn't ideal, but I can't show my hand yet, Midas cares little for the unwritten rules and he will kill us both if he feels threatened, he knows how your forcefield works, I'm sure of that. Anonymity is my only defence against him.'
'Got it, he has a PHO account, should I confront him that way?' Vicky asked, pausing as she sat on the edge of a tower, watching the city.
'It won't result in any casualties, but I think it'll speed up his plans. Try not to insult him, he responds poorly to disrespect, as you'd expect from a self proclaimed king, although he might show his hand early if you do, but he'll probably go out of his way to humiliate you at the same time. Your choice.' Prophet said after a couple of minutes. 'I have to go, thinker headache, just be careful, Brockton Bay is a far worse place without you in it, trust me I did the maths.'
'Heh, flattery will get you nowhere.' Vicky replied, smiling slightly. 'Get some rest, I won't do anything stupid.'
'If flattery will get me nowhere, why are you smiling like that?' Prophet teased back, making her blush slightly.
'Shush. Go sleep.'
'Heh, later GG.'
Putting her phone away, she sighed to herself despite her smile. Midas, so that was her enemy.
She hated enemies she couldn't just punch.
Jin -
Closing the phone app, I chuckle to myself.
Glory Girl is a more complicated woman than you'd think, but she's still an easily flattered teenage girl who's feeling down, it makes getting into her good graces all too easy.
She's got an ego and having it stroked makes her like the person who is doing the stroking, even if it's a faceless cape over the phone.
Plus, neutralizing another Merchant cape in the process is the cherry on the top.
It might seem like a bad idea to sell myself out, but it's all part of the plan.
Looking down at the text from Amy on my actual phone, I smile to myself at a job well done.
'Okay, you've proven your point. I'm sorry. Please stop humiliating Vicky'
'If only apologies fixed all the problems in the world… but life isn't that simple. ' I reply easily, knowing that she's feeling guilty, because why else would I still be posting Glory Girl's pictures other than to spite her?
'What do you want?' Amy replies immediately, she really does love Vicky a little too much.
'A vault filled with gold, a tropical island and a harem of busty women in bikinis seeing to my every whim, but since I can't have that? A topless picture of you will do.'
'So you can post it online?' Amy asks immediately.
'That entirely depends on you, my dear.' I reply, waiting a few minutes before my phone vibrates again.
Opening it, I let out a light laugh at the furious flare in her face as she stares at the mirror, only wearing some linen pyjama bottoms as her surprisingly large breasts hang free.
'There, asshole. Now take Vicky's pictures down.' Amy says, the growl in her tone audible even over text.
'Ah, that wasn't the deal was it? I'll stop posting her pictures, but the pictures I've already posted are out of my hands now. But don't worry, I'm a man of my word, as long as you don't irritate me, the rest of her collection will stay in my personal collection.' I reply easily, I'm not taking them down when it would ruin my game with Vicky.
'Fuck you.'
'That won't be necessary, but perhaps the next time you decide to hit me we can try that avenue.'
Amy doesn't respond after that, but it doesn't matter. I've already got what I wanted. The picture is nice but the whole point of this exercise was simply to start training Amy to behave herself and do whatever I tell her.
By the time the two sisters realise I have played them, it will be too late.
'Prophet' will help me keep the far more reckless Glory Girl under control, and I can handle Amy myself.
"Boss, the job was a success. He didn't have that much, but we grabbed everything that wasn't tied down. Had to beat up a couple of junkies as well, but we had no casualties." A minion reports as I lean back and smile.
Mush is a very noticeable man, which made having a minion track him back to his 'hideout', a literal crack house, easy enough.
A crack house we just raided, while Mush was being beaten down by Glory Girl, because he emptied it of basically all the people who were in any condition to actually fight.
"It's done then? Take the loot to the vault, I'll sort it myself later." I order, happy with my work.
"Yes, boss!"
It's not much, but it has put off my looming financial problems a bit, Mush had a bit of a nest egg in unmarked bills, he also had a lot of drugs which I'll probably dump in the ocean and now the Leviathan gets high or something, I just don't want the merchants having them.
Also I had them set his house on fire, after throwing the druggies out of it, but that was mostly out of spite.
It probably raised the local property value, to be perfectly honest.
Going back to my computer, I spend my newly acquired money immediately as I start the next research project, the first node of the science tree, unlocking technicians who can maintain my equipment and a few other toys.
It will take time, because my current research power is… not excellent to be honest. My hackers have some research prowess but my basic minions are bad at research so it'll take a lot longer.
Which is why I'm going down the science tree, I want actual researchers. Also, I need the lab room for Scarecrow when I finish that recruitment.
As I write up an email, I look over the information I've managed to dig up.
I need a legal side, something I can link Jin to instead of Midas, even if I use it as a cover for my illegal activities and I think I've found something.
Uraraka Constructions is a small, family run business and while my time as a ceo has taught me that family businesses are usually more trouble than they are worth… this one might be worth the exception.
First of all, they are failing. A much larger company named Fortress Constructions has been undercutting them, and because of it they have fallen into deep debt and that presents an opportunity.
If I get the money, I can pull them out of debt and use my own skills to turn a profit, even just a small one would be enough.
Plus... Uraraka, I know that name. It's what drew me to actually look into this company more than the passing glance I gave it.
I've found the mothers Facebook page, and from it I've confirmed what I already suspected.
She has a daughter, one Ochaco Uraraka, a daughter who has recently been pulled out of regular schooling and basically vanished from the system, coincidentally it seems UA is taking in more students in the near future, from PRT announcements.
They've spent some time boasting about the hero Lemillion, a graduate of UA who has become a full-time hero, leading the Wards in Brockton Bay.
It's not surprising they sent him here, it's close to UA and it is woefully understaffed when you compare the villain/hero ratio to other cities.
He's the UA poster child at the moment, a shining example that their methods work. He does seem a bit problematic, a real hero of justice. I can't say I like it.
Mostly because he seems like someone I'll have to deal with eventually.
But back on topic, I finish up and send an email to Orika Uraraka, the mother of the family and the woman listed as the CEO of Uraraka Constructions.
It's nothing special, just a tentative email inquiring whether they would be interested in an investment to help with their current financial situation.
I have a bigger plan for this as well, if I can 'invest' in their company, I intend to take over and expand, and where better to get workers than the Dockworkers Union, which is all but led by Danny Hebert.
Never settle for only achieving a single objective with your scheme, not when you can get so much more out of it.
Checking PHO, I pause as I notice a new conversation someone has started with me, opening it up.
AllSeeingEye: I don't suppose you're still hiring minions? No, not minions… Henchmen. How does someone usually join a Supervillain, my last recruitment was at gunpoint so I'm not used to applying. Am I supposed to send you my resume?
TheGoldenKing: I tend to be the one to approach my prospective Henchmen, but if you think you have talents I'd like in my organisation, you're more than welcome to apply.
AllSeeingEye: I can do one better, I know you plan on taking down the Merchants first, and now is the best time to do it with ABB and Empire at each other's throats, and I can show you where all six of their drug labs are located. I have a price, and it's not something I'm willing to discuss over the internet. Can we meet?
TheGoldenKing: Well, you've already started to impress me, so I suppose I can give you a bit of my time, tomorrow at midnight at the eastern side of the Boat Graveyard. If this is a trap, you'll die first Tattletale, and the rest of the Undersiders will follow you.
AllSeeingEye: Understood, I'll be there, alone.
Well, well… isn't it nice when my prey comes to me?
I can only hope Blank works as advertised.
But for now… where can I find three expendable merchants? I have a quest to complete.
Tattletale -
She hated the fact that she had no way to confirm her suspicions, that she didn't know what Midas was thinking, that she only had guesses to work with.
But this was her best chance, Coil was all but paralysied for now, she was sure he wasn't leaving his base until his power was working again, which had even helped her pinpoint his actual identity.
Thomas Calvert hadn't shown up for work in days, nor had he been home, and that had been the last thing she needed to narrow it down from the three suspects she had.
"New orders from the boss?" Grue asked as she left her room, Rachel sat on the floor with her dogs around her.
"Not yet, he's dealing with his own thing at the moment. We have some time to ourselves, for now at least." Lisa said, making Grue nod calmly, going back to his laptop.
"So we get to laze around and do what we want until the big bad boss calls for us? Works for me." Regent said over his shoulder, not looking away from the tv screen as he rapidly pressed the buttons on his controller.
"That's because you're a slacker." the purple haired teen sat next to him deadpanned, making Regent laugh as gunshots came from the speakers.
"Yeah, well this slacker just 360'd you." Regent mocked before freezing in place, Shinsho grinning slightly. "Don't you fucking-"
"Stay still." Shinso ordered, watching as Alec froze in place. "You think I didn't notice my fingers twitching whenever we fought? Dumbass."
Sighing to herself, even as Grue told them both off for mastering each other, she pushed down a sliver of guilt.
She was fond of the undersiders, and if she could take them with her into Midas's gang, she would… but if she had to abandon them to escape Coil?
Well, there was only so much honour among thieves.
Bonus Scene - Alexandria -
"You're telling me that Contessa is useless?" she asked, her tone icy cold.
"Worse than useless, any path she gets is pure nonsense. She's almost killed herself three times because her path told her it would help. She's had the path guiding her for so long she doesn't know how to act without it." Doctor Mother agreed, making her mind race.
This was… catastrophic, she'd already realised that almost every pre-cog Thinker had stopped producing results that actually made sense, and a lot of other Thinkers were having similar issues.
"Something is interfering with any Thinkers that works on a large scale, Thinkers that have to actually see what they are using their powers on aren't affected, but pre-cogs as a whole have become completely unreliable." Doctor Mother explained, making her mentally groan.
"Why aren't you more worried?" Alexandria asked, sitting down with a deep sigh.
"Because it's affecting every Thinker that works on a large scale, from the weakest precog… to the greatest." Doctor Mother explained, passing her a file.
Reading through it in seconds, she froze as she looked up.
"Is this confirmed?" Alexandria asked quickly, making the dark skinned Doctor nod calmly.
"The Simurgh broke her usual pattern at the exact same time that we first started getting reports of Thinkers having issues. She's been wandering in orbit with a frankly confused expression on her face ever since." Doctor Mother explained. "She was seen flying into a satellite, she didn't even react."
"Could it be a Simurgh plot?" Alexandria asked, making Doctor Mother sigh.
"Unlikely, if she could cripple Thinkers on a worldwide scale like this she'd have done it already. Plus… Scion hasn't been spotted since this started, though long disappearances aren't unusual for him. We have never seen a power affect Endbringers like this before, and even if we can't find a way to use this against Scion, we need to learn what makes whatever is doing this so different." Doctor explained, making her sigh.
"At the cost of losing access to any precog?" Alexandria asked, unsurprised when she didn't respond. Scion and the Endbringers were the only enemies that truly mattered, and neither of those could be seen in precognition anyway. "I'll tell David to avoid using any of his Thinker powers, but I think he's done that already. Do we have any idea what the cause is?"
"Not yet, but we are fairly certain the cause is somewhere in America, we'll keep narrowing the area down." Doctor Mother said calmly, making her nod.
The whole point of Cauldron was to find a way to stop Scion, if whatever was causing this could actually affect him they'd just become the most important person on this Earth.
As Doctor Mother's phone rang, she answered it calmly, a calm that immediately fell apart as her eyes widened.
"What do you mean Contessa escaped?!"