Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own original characters and works, if you recognise it from somewhere else, surprise it isn't mine.
Discord Link: discord .gg/ wd3tUYWVCd
Pat reon Link: www.Pat reon .com/TheDarkWolfShiro
Betad by morde24
The Guild of Gamers: The Supervillain
Chapter 06: Moving Day
Even with all the schemes I have going on simultaneously, it doesn't change the fact that I have one big glaring problem.
Everyone and their blind, deaf grandmother knows where I am, it's not like I've been particularly subtle and that means it's time I find a new home before Skidmark kicks down my front door.
This is a problem easily solved, as the Docks and the Trainyard are mostly abandoned anyway, the industry of Brockton Bay has been dying a slow and painful death over the past decade and many companies that own these buildings and run-down warehouses have long since gone out of business.
Many of them are now owned by the city itself, but there are a few that remain in private hands, and ask yourself this.
If you are the failed CEO of a dead company, now poor and destitute with just a run down building to your name, and some stranger offers you a small fortune in unmarked bills to sign over the deed for your long abandoned building, do you A. Warn the authorities of the clearly suspicious person trying to buy land or B. Take the money and run for the hills.
If you answered A, I envy your faith in our fellow humans, but you're a naive fool, or perhaps just too optimistic. The former owner of my new building, for which a fancy deed now sits in my office drawer, didn't even question why I wanted a run-down building, he did try to barter for a higher price but…
Well, if he was good at business he'd not have gone bankrupt, and I was always known for my skill in the art of negotiations. He should have taken my first offer, it was considerably higher than the final agreed upon terms.
Don't try to negotiate with an expert if you lack the talent to do so, either hire someone to do it for you or just accept the price you were offered.
I am now the 'legal' owner of a fairly large two story building in the docks, on the edge between Merchant and PRT territory, along with quite a bit of the surrounding land.
A risky location, perhaps, but I plan for this base to be considerably more concealed than my old one and I've already started plotting everything out, my workers and my new technician minions have already subtly made their way over there and started the construction.
...which is spending the money I stole from the Merchants at a rather rapid rate, but needs must.
This base will remain, and I'll make sure to have enough minions coming and going to keep people's eyes on it, but my new base will become my main base of operations.
As for how I'll stop prowl from getting suspicious again?
Looking down at the permit in front of me, I chuckle to myself. It's nice to see that bureaucracy is the same in this world as it is everywhere else, my hackers made sure that my Jin persona held up to any passing attention and a little donation to the hard working men and women at the mayor's office made sure my permit request went through at record speed.
You have to spend money to make money, that's a simple truth of the world, and while it hurts to burn through my money as fast as I'm getting it, that doesn't change the fact that I'm investing in my future.
Plus, my hackers have started a rather successful scheme involving scam and phishing emails. Never underestimate how effective a flashy message can be at getting simple minded fools to click on it.
After all, a fool and their money are soon parted, just ask Skidmark.
But I can now legally open a bar, or a nightclub to be more specific because I need there to be a legitimate reason for people to be coming and going from my new building, and what better way than to make it a 'legitimate business'?
I did some more research, and the Penguin doesn't seem to exist here, or if he does he hasn't shown up yet, and that means I'm stealing his idea before he can do it.
This will be the first in a series of legal businesses spread through the city, making Jin Yukimura an influential and entirely legitimate member of society.
I've already started researching the first node of the military tree, and my minions are already hard at work building my new base, which I carefully designed to my exact specifications.
Once my military research is finished, I'll research the covert minions to help manage my new business.
As far as I can tell, there is never a reason to not have a class quest active, and with how badly I've pissed off the merchants, violence seems inevitable.
So I figured I might as well benefit from it, which is why I picked the Warlord class this time, because it seemed obvious that it'll have objectives I'll likely be doing anyway.
Warlord Class Quest
Objective 1: Have your minions defeat 20 enemies
Objective 2: Defeat 5 enemies personally
Objective 3: Burn a rival organisations building to the ground
Fighting my own battles doesn't suit me, but even a simple Brute power will increase my life expectancy and that's worth it.
I've noticed an increase in Merchants lurking around my base, but they aren't approaching yet, which is both smart and yet utterly... not.
They travel alone or in pairs, and that means it's been easy to have my minions jump and beat them, broken legs lowers the number of combatants Skidmark had available.
It has lost me two minions after the Merchants escalated, but I can replace my followers faster than Skidmark can, and after a dozen broken legs, Skidmark's men are less willing to get close. They aren't loyal to Skidmark, they're loyal to their vices and with the threat of pain awaiting them here they've lost their motivation.
My new base has a far larger barracks, allowing me to increase the number of minions I can recruit, and as soon as my research is finished I'm going to spend more of my money to rush a bunch of combat minions in case Skidmark gets impatient.
Reading over the message I found waiting for me in my inbox this morning again, I smile to myself.
TheQueenofGreen: You failed to leave me a way to get into contact with you, it's fortunate that you aren't exactly subtle. I accept your offer of a non-aggression pact, but I have no interest in an alliance with you and getting dragged into your war on the Merchants. I'll be watching, if you prove victorious I may reconsider.
She's failing to mention her own war against the Empire, they've got her surrounded but they can't actually approach her without either getting mastered (as a dozen thugs have learnt) or getting ripped apart by Hookwolf.
It's curious that she isn't asking for help against them, she's clearly confident despite being confined in her gardens. And with rumours of the ABB assassinating a few high ranking non-cape Empire lieutenants, and taking Empire territory, she might be right to be confident.
The Empire has a lot of capes, but it can only split its attention in so many ways and the ABB expansion is a far bigger threat, especially with Hookwolf unavailable.
They can't risk the manpower to take down Hookwolf and Poison Ivy. The moment they tried, Lung would make his own move and they'd be wiped out, or at the very least crippled enough that the PRT would jump to grab the rest up.
There's a very unstable power balance to this city, with the PRT, Empire and ABB all in similar positions, and if any one of them gains an advantage over the others it'll flip the entire board and send the pieces flying, which is why they are all content to just ignore me and the Merchants.
The Merchants holding the crappy parts of the city has worked for the PRT, because it prevents the Empire and the ABB from claiming it and gaining an advantage over the others, which means they were willing to ignore the immense crime rates in Merchant territory.
The Merchants are a necessary evil, needed to maintain the balance in Brockton Bay, it's the only reason such an incompetent group has managed to keep any kind of power.
I'm going to take that position, claim the Merchant territory for myself and make the three major factions ignore me as they have the Merchants. It'll be their fatal mistake, because I am considerably more ambitious than Skidmark, and a good bit more competent as well.
Once I take over, and start improving the Boat Graveyard and Trainyard, this territory will become more enticing and the other gangs will be less willing to leave me be, I'll need to be prepared before that happens.
I've already had Squealer moved, she didn't particularly like having a bag put over her head as she was tossed into the back of a van, but I needed to move her in the dead of night to make sure nobody followed them to my new home.
"Everything valuable has been transferred, as you ordered." Jaina reports, making me smile.
Jaina might not have the powers of the Rabbit but she is talented all the same, so she's fulfilling the role of my secretary at the moment.
"Excellent work Jaina. And the minions?" I ask, making her straighten up.
"All the hackers have relocated, and most of the workers have headed over to the new base either alone or in small groups. One of them spotted someone following them from a rooftop and led them across the city before coming back here, the rest report that they weren't followed. There's been no unusual activity around our new base, and the Merchants are still focused on this one. They aren't willing to get too close though, so they've been easy to work around." Jaina says, smiling slightly. "You think Skidmark will take the bait?" she asks, making me chuckle.
"He has too. He's lost most of his money, and drugs or not he does have to pay his men, it's only a matter of time before they realise he can't pay them and he sees mass desertions, and he needs to act before that happens. That, plus the fact that he hasn't managed to do anything about me even after I stole Squealer means his men are starting to doubt him, and he needs a win before he loses everything. He has to attack us, and he can't afford to keep delaying much longer." I explain, spinning my fountain pen between my fingers idly. "If he isn't willing to take the bait yet, my next move should force his hand." I chuckle, looking over a file I've compiled.
Minoru Mineta is a creature of habit, and he's very… distinct, almost half my size with a bright purple outfit, which makes keeping track of him through strategically placed minions all too easy.
The Grapist seems loyal to Skidmark, too loyal, and I can't allow Skidmark to keep a loyal follower, also I hate the very concept of 'the Grapist' and frankly I don't want him breathing the same air as me.
It'll be a cold day in hell before I let him into my organisation, which means the Grapist isn't long for this world. And somehow, I don't think anyone will miss him overly much.
Taking a sip of my coffee, I frown slightly at the cheap taste.
Unlocking technicians also unlocked a coffee machine, oddly enough, but the coffee it makes isn't very good. It's a nostalgic taste, reminding me of long nights in the office when I was just interning under my father.
Heh.
Now all I need is a vending machine of unhealthy snacks outside my office and a pile of cup noodles and I'll be set.
"Impressive, it's a lose lose situation for him. I… underestimated you, sir." Jaina admits, making me smile.
"Leadership is a journey, not a destination. I expect my followers to constantly challenge me to prove that I deserve to be the one in charge, and I intend to prove myself each and every time, until you have no more doubts that you serve me for a reason." I explain, making her smirk.
"You've certainly done that so far, I'll be moving over to the new base myself later, I want to oversee the construction and repairs of our new home, I have high standards." Jaina admits making me chuckle.
"As do I, it's why this place was never going to be my long term home. Do as you wish, if I need you I'll be sure to let you know." I say idly, watching as she gives me a small bow before turning and leaving.
Going back to my computer, I click through some of the Guild apps, I wanted to know what the purpose of Guild Credits actually was, as I have 50 of them, and the answer is rather interesting.
The Guild has a marketplace, where one can buy and sell goods in exchange for Guild credits, there's a user called The Merchant that seems to be responsible for the majority of the items on sale, and as my default name is The Supervillain I can guess why.
You can buy literally anything from here, weapons, buildings, vehicles, skills, people. I even recognise some of the people being sold by The Slaver, from Hinata Hyuuga to Aphrodite and many, many more.
Each comes with a list of the skills, training and disposition, there's even an offer called the Saberface collection that has dozens of people included.
It's all far outside my price range of course, but it's interesting all the same.
What gets my attention is a message from a user called The Craftsman.
Hey newbie, welcome to the Guild!
Just sending a message along to let you know I give every first time buyer a massive discount on their first order (of a certain quality or below, no you can't order a divine tier weapon and still use the discount) , it's just good business after all.
Also, since I'm sick of explaining it, yes I'm a girl, the system is just called the Craftsman system and you can't change your username.
Good luck in Worm, that place sucks and you got a shit start, but hey, we're Gamers so we can do anything right?
The Crafts(wo)man
Sending a message of gratitude, I admire my fellow gamers' business sense, making allies while they are weak to benefit from them later, well played indeed.
Attached is a coupon for a whopping 95% of an order of 1000 credits or less, another sign of good business sense as 950 credits might seem like a massive amount to a new starter but some of her items sell for millions.
She's losing basically nothing and building good relations with up and coming gamers, who could be true powerhouses in the future.
...did she really sell a set of divine Tanuki sized armour for fifty million credits? Why did a Tanuki have that many credits?
The review just says 'Bork' but it also left ten stars so I guess it was a good purchase?
This is a strange place.
Checking out her profile, I spend some time going over my options. It won't get me anything truly amazing, but I can certainly get some truly interesting things if I so desire.
Making my decision, I spend all my credits in one go as I order a bullet-proof version of my suit and a weapon that I think suits my theme as Midas, adding some customisations in because style is a very important part of your reputation.
I'm only mildly surprised when a pink portal opens in front of me and spits out a box, immediately closing again.
A pleasure doing business with you!
Changing to my new suit, I read over the paperwork that came with it, looking at the information the Craftsman provided. It should be bullet and stab proof to a certain degree, but I shouldn't rely on it against Capes. It's also self repairing, but it can take days to fully repair if it is too badly damaged.
My head is still mostly exposed, even if my mask gives me some slight protection, but that's something I'll just have to deal with for now.
My weapons of choice are elegant, sexy and put a smile on my face as I pull them out of the box. I chose two, one close range and one long range, and I'm fairly certain the Craftsman was very, very generous in her prices this time and that makes me wonder why.
My close range weapon is the weapon of a true gentleman, a cane sword. The black cane had an elegant golden handle at the top, which can be unsheathed to reveal an incredibly sharp blade, it's nothing special in truth, just a mundane blade aside from its self-repairing function, but it's about the style.
Midas can't use something bland, it'd go against my entire image.
The pistol is similar, a black and gold .45 handgun. It regenerates ammo over time, at roughly one bullet every 30 seconds apparently which tells me I have definitely gotten a bargain.
Compared to some of the things she was selling, it's nothing. She had blades that could kill gods and guns that could destroy galaxies. I'd be lucky to hurt half the capes in this city, but the additional features she gave me for free tells me she's either a bad businesswoman or she is up to something.
And she seems too successful to be a bad businesswoman.
I should be careful when dealing with her, it's the free things that often cost the most in the end, I've certainly used that tactic plenty in the past.
Hell, I used it on Glory Girl. I gave her some free information that had her walk into my web, I won't walk into someone else's.
Shaking my head, I placed my gun in my jacket, she thought ahead and added a holster for it on the inner side, and grabbed the cane.
Walking with a cane is… unusual, and I spend a good half an hour practicing my walk, attempting to style my gait after a thief I remember from a show I watched out of boredom once named Roman Torchwick. I can't look too awkward as Midas after all, Midas is a self proclaimed King, he wouldn't be awkward.
During that time, my Prophet phone vibrates making me chuckle as I head over to it, only Glory Girl has that number after all.
To my surprise, it isn't Glory Girl who has messaged me, but I suppose I'm not that surprised she told the rest of New Wave about a new Thinker offering his services.
Prophet
I got this number from my daughter, Glory Girl, and on behalf of New Wave I can say that we are interested in hiring your services, depending on your prices and accuracy.
Brandish
Brandish, huh? Everything I know about her tells me that she's a hard ass, plus she's a lawyer which means she'll be far harder to deceive. Pulling the wool over a teenage girl's eyes isn't particularly difficult, but this will be quite a lot harder.
I need to do my research first.
Carol Dallon -
Sitting in her office, she read over her latest case carefully. A divorce case like this usually wouldn't be worth her time, but the client was particularly influential and wealthy, and they wanted the hero lawyer to take their case.
Frankly, while being a hero was more satisfying than sitting in an office all day, being a lawyer paid far, far better and with a family of hero's they needed the money.
Being a hero was costly, not even taking the fact that few hero's had actual jobs into account, and they couldn't completely rely on donations.
This latest scandal had proven that, as New Wave was supposed to be family friendly, it made them more approachable and easy to like than the Protectorate heroes.
Vicky did more hero work than any other member of New Wave, she loved patrolling and did it as often as she could. Thison top of her looks, friendliness and the mini-Alexandria image she had going for her, made Glory Girl an extremely popular hero.
That image, along with the reputation of New Wave, had taken a beating thanks to whoever it was that was posting pictures of her daughter in various states of undress on the internet.
It was ridiculous, but public opinion was fickle and the only thing the masses liked more than a hero was to see one fall from the pedestal they'd been placed on.
That plus the fact that countless horny men had no doubt gotten off to the pictures of her daughter had left her in a very bad mood.
She needed to improve their image, which meant New Wave needed visibility, but that was a problem because donations were drying up (or in some cases came with requirements she wouldn't accept, no matter how much money was offered), which meant she was pulling overtime at the office to keep them funded.
Which was why she hadn't even put on her cape outfit in the past couple of days, she was too busy.
But then Vicky told her something very, very interesting. A new Thinker had moved into Brockton Bay, calling themselves Prophet.
A Thinker who had told Vicky of the location of a Merchant Cape, allowing Vicky to improve her image by taking one of those drug-addled fools off the streets.
She wouldn't need to spend all night patrolling, preventing her from working the next day, if she knew where she could find capes before she set out.
Masters and Strangers might be the capes who most people feared, but high-level Thinkers were definitely up there. How do you fight someone who knows everything you are going to do before you can do it?
It meant if there was an independent heroic-inclined Thinker in Brockton, she shouldn't let this opportunity slip away. The PRT would likely jump on the chance to grab them for themselves, and she didn't want New Wave to miss out because of it.
So she got his number from Vicky, who was surprisingly reluctant to give it to her, and sent a short message to test the waters.
If she could get villain locations from the Prophet, she could make the most of her time as Brandish, instead of wasting it dealing with petty crimes.
It was harsh but the public didn't really care how many muggers, burglars and rapists you stopped, it was all about the Cape scene. That was the best way to regain New Wave's reputation, that and finding whoever was posting Vicky's pictures and repeatedly punching them in the face.
...Vicky got her violent tendencies from someone, and it wasn't Mark.
To make her mood worse, Brockton Bay had a new Marquis wanna-be. Of course this arrogant fool wasn't content with calling themselves a Nobleman, no Midas decided to claim the title of King.
She had never seen a single cape that called themselves royalty that didn't turn out to be batshit crazy.
She recognised the act for what it was, the well-mannered polite attitude and fancy costume to disguise the cruelty underneath.
She hated it, and wanted nothing more than to crush this new villain before he could set his roots in deep, but she wasn't a fool.
Midas had been very careful not to show his powers yet, and it had the capes of the city on edge, not knowing what he could do meant that only the most reckless or arrogant cape would try their luck against him.
You didn't last long in the cape scene by attacking mystery capes, and even if he styled himself as a Thinker that didn't mean he couldn't hold his own in a fight.
Or if he couldn't protect himself, he would have certainly taken lengths to keep himself safe from hostile capes.
So she'd bide her time, for now.
As her phone vibrated, she put her paperwork down with a groan, hours of reading getting to her as she pulled her phone out.
Curious, Lady Photon tends to deal with most of the negotiations with other independent capes as far as I can tell. Actually, I don't think I've ever heard of you dealing with an independent yourself before, and I always do my research.
He wasn't wrong, Sarah was the face of New Wave and was just generally more of a people person, she herself was too harsh and had driven Independents away before.
But Sarah was also a full-time hero, so Lady Photon was always out there, being seen fighting the good fight, she didn't need the information as much as Brandish did.
I'm curious, can New Wave afford to hire an independent Thinker with your current financial situation? You've been pulling a lot of overtime at the office lately.
Fucking Thinkers.
You offered information to Glory Girl in exchange for favours and protection. Are you saying you aren't willing to do the same deal with me?
Possibly, but to speak bluntly? I've spent all day trying to figure out Midas, and I have an incredibly painful Thinker headache at the moment. If you were hoping for information immediately, I'm afraid you're going to have to wait.
Pausing, her eyebrows raised as she was over his message.
You're going after Midas?
Consider her interest peaked.
I'm preparing for when Midas goes after me, his own Thinker and Stranger powers make modelling him very, very difficult.
A Thinker and a Stranger, that was a rather unusual combination, and she could see the threat it posed. At least it didn't sound like he had any combat powers, unless he had hidden them so well that the Prophet couldn't discover them.
That's fine, it's good to see someone else recognises the threat Midas represents. Back on subject, are you interested in a trade of favours for the locations of villains?
Yes. Consider this you're freebie like Mush was Glory Girls, I'm 87% certain that Trainwreck is working for Midas, helping Midas's war against the Merchants. Helping Skidmark is distasteful, but we both know Midas is a far bigger threat, if he completes his conquest of the Merchant territory he'll be a much more dangerous opponent.
Understood, I look forward to working with you.
Trainwreck had been small enough that most heroes left him alone, despite his admittedly considerable combat potential, since he didn't really do anything other than a bunch of petty crimes around the Merchant territory.
If he was an agent for Midas, a forward agent preparing for his boss's arrival, that changed things. It explained why he kept such a low profile, why he stayed in Merchant territory, and why he was preparing it for when Midas showed up to take over.
Which meant Midas wasn't a new trigger, and had been planning this for a while.
Tattletale -
With three of Midas's minions following behind, in their civilian clothes, she headed towards the apartment with a determined look on her face.
Brian convinced Alec not to switch sides overnight, and he feared Coil's retaliation too much to risk betraying him, no matter what horror stories she told him.
He pitied her situation, but the simple truth about the Undersiders is that every one of them was in it for themselves, he liked her but he'd never choose to help her if it had a chance to put Aisha in danger.
Alec switched sides because he enjoyed annoying her, and found her irritation amusing. He did a lot of things that he knew would piss her off, knowing her power would tell her why he did it, just for the kick of seeing her react.
But she wasn't going to let a chance like this slip away, no matter what. Brian forced her hand, and she'd do whatever it took to make him see things her way.
Stopping outside the small store, she leaned against the wall and waited patiently, watching as the dark skinned teen slipped out, a mischievous grin on her face.
Has stolen three lighters, four chocolate bars and a coke.
Aisha didn't even bother looking around as she half-skipped down the street, drawing a fair bit of attention thanks to her particular style of dress, the tiny jean shorts barely covering anything and her thong was clearly visible, poking out of them, her white tube top not covering much more and doing very little to hide her lack of a bra.
Her age didn't matter to more than a few of the men staring after her, and the sway to her hips just encouraged them.
Acts out for attention, isn't a virgin, issues stem from parental issues, neglectful mother, abused by mother's boyfriend- boyfriends. Brian doesn't know the extent of the abuse, he thinks he saved her fast enough.
Heading across the street, she put a calm smile on her face as she followed Aisha, not even trying to hide it as Aisha immediately noticed.
Very observant, street smart, has learnt the hard way to keep an eye on who is following her.
"Lisa? What's up, did Brian send you to babysit me?" Aisha asked as Lisa grinned. Aisha would notice she was being followed, but it didn't matter when she trusted the person following her.
"Something like that, sorry to put a raincheck on your crime spree." Lisa teased, making Aisha shrug uncaringly.
"You gonna tell Brian? It's not like he can talk about committing crimes." Aisha replied.
Watching for a reaction, suspects Brian is a cape, suspects you are Tattletale. Isn't sure yet.
"Nope, I really don't care about some petty thefts. It's so small-time it doesn't matter." Lisa replied, watching her eyes narrow.
Doesn't like being called small time, wanted you to tell Brian so he'd visit more to keep an eye on her.
"Fine, what do you want?" Aisha muttered, pouting slightly.
"I'm just coming to pick you up, Brian's… well, his side job has made him some enemies and he's worried they'll go for you, so I'm here to take you to him." Lisa lied, Aisha perking up.
Aisha was predictable, despite how chaotic she tried to act. Something exciting was happening, and she was going to see Brian soon, that's all she took from that.
"Are those three guys on your side or are they a problem?" Aisha asked, nodding to the three minions she left on the other side of the street.
"They work for our employer, just in case I was too late." Lisa said easily.
"Heh, called it. I'm used to guys staring at me, but I'm not used to them not looking at my tits or ass. Those guys are so serious." Aisha said nonchalantly.
...what tits? She barely had b-cups.
"They're just my bodyguards, just pretend they aren't there." Lisa said with a smile.
"So, where are we going?" Aisha asked, sealing her fate.
"To our boss's hideout, it's safe there. Just follow me." Lisa said, heading back across the street as Aisha happily followed behind.
People didn't realise that most kidnappings were done by people the victim trusted, not realising the danger until it was too late. It was true for most crimes, from burglary to murder, it's always the ones close to the victim that you should suspect first.
Heading down the street, she headed towards the plain van she was pretty sure Midas had stolen, he did seem to like stealing vans for some reason.
"Ooh, I'm pretty sure Brian would say something about me getting into a plain white van with a bunch of strange men." Aisha laughed as she got into the back, one of the minions getting into the driver's seat as she sat in the back as well, keeping an eye on Aisha.
The ride back went easily enough, Aisha getting frustrated as her attempts to tear and flirt with Midas's minions fell on deaf ears, but as they got around half way to Midas's hideout, Aisha's phone vibrated making them both perk up.
As Aisha pulled it out, she idly unlocked it and started reading, her face paling slightly.
Brian noticed my absence, Brian was worried I'd abuse his main weakness to get my way, Brian warned Aisha not to trust me. Brian hopes he's wrong but won't risk it if he's right.
"Pass me the phone." Lisa warned, the two men sitting on either side of Aisha tensing up as Aisha's eyes widened.
As Aisha typed quickly, she reached forwards and snatched the phone from her hand, just a second too late as Aisha hit send, her message half finished.
With Lis
It wasn't much, but it was enough that Brian would understand.
The two minions both grabbed Aisha and held her in place, the much smaller girl unable to break free as her own phone rang.
Answering it, she didn't get a chance to speak before Brian's furious voice came through the phone.
"Lisa, I'm warning you once and only once. Let Aisha go." Brian growled, making her sigh. "You really want to break the unwritten rules like this?"
"Coil has me break them on a weekly basis, so yes, I do. I'm sorry Brian… but I can't lose this opportunity to see Coil gone. She won't be hurt." Lisa said calmly, already having played this entire conversation over in her head a dozen times.
"If I do what your new boss wants, right?! You said Coil recruited you by putting a gun to your head, but you don't seem to mind putting one to Aisha's." Brian snarled, making her shrug.
She was fairly sure Midas wouldn't hurt Aisha, but she was almost certain Coil would kill her eventually, it wasn't the same.
"We could have avoided this if you just trusted me, I could have gotten Midas to keep a protection detail on Aisha until Coil was gone… look, this isn't going to change anything for you, it'll just be another shadowy boss you're taking orders from." Lisa reasoned, making him scoff.
"Coil was helping me get custody, Midas is holding her hostage. And I'm supposed to think Coil is the bad one?" Brian scoffed, making her roll her eyes.
"If Coil actually planned on helping you, he could have done it by now. He was never going to help you, you're too useful for him to lose his leverage. He'd have never let you go, and you were naive to think he would." Lisa retorted.
"...you were the one who talked me into joining Coil." Brian said, disbelief in his tone.
"And you were naive for trusting the word of a Thinker working for a Supervillain. Like I said, gun to my head." Lisa deadpanned back.
"Traitor."
"Oh don't give me that, you'd leave me out to dry with maybe a second of hesitation if it got you custody of Aisha. Rachel barely cares for anything that has two legs, Alec would turn on us for fun if he wasn't so lazy and Hitoshi would turn us all into the PRT if he wasn't convinced that they'd never let a master like him become a hero. I'm doing what's best for me, the same as you all would." Lisa scoffed.
"If anything happens to Aisha, I will kill you." Brian swore, and in lieu of a response, she simply ended the call.
"Has anyone told you that you're a bitch?" Aisha asked caustically, making Lisa grin.
"A great many people, but feel free to call me what you want." Lisa said idly, chuckling when Aisha lashed out and kicked her shin.
She'd been hit by brute capes before, a barely teenaged girl's kick wasn't really a problem.
"Please don't struggle too much, my helpful assistants might take offence." Lisa deadpanned, the two minions on either side of the tiny girl glaring at her warning.
"Brian will bust me out." Aisha said petulantly.
"He might try, and Midas will kill him if he tries, after which you'd have no purpose anymore and you'd follow him. I suggest you mind your manners around King Midas, he wants Brian on his side to get the whole group, but he really doesn't care about most of our group, Brian is expendable and replaceable. If Brian, or you, become too much of a problem he'll simply get rid of you." Lisa warned, mostly talking out of her ass as Aisha paled.
She had no idea how Midas would react to Aisha being… Aisha, but it was better to try and stop it before it became a problem.
As they drove into the garage of Midas's new base, and down into the underground parking garage his minions had built overnight, she stood and nodded at the two minions holding Aisha, causing them to rise and carry Aisha out of the van.
"So, Midas decided to keep you after all?" A teasing voice said, making her look towards it, smirking at the sight of the White Rabbit sitting on one of the cars, her legs swinging playfully. "Aww, and here I thought me and Midas had something special, but he had to go and get a side chick already~ hope you're comfortable on your knees."
Wants a reaction, wants me to do something stupid so she can get Midas to punish me, hopes to take part in the punishment, bought bdsm gear to help with punishing me, thinks I'd look lovely gagged. Tried to convince Midas to build a sex dungeon, put the idea in his head.
"And you even brought Midas a tight little plaything as well." Rabbit giggled, flipping off the car and prancing towards them, Aisha freezing slightly as she was held between the two minions. "She's cute, a bit trashy but that's not really a problem~"
Has literally no inhibitions, is extremely horny, Midas was too busy working for more than a quickie, knows Aisha is a hostage, will taunt Brian with implications that Aisha is being raped in captivity, will sexually abuse Aisha herself if given the chance
"Trashy? Fuck you, that's rich coming from a knock-off playboy bunny." Aisha bit back, making Rabbit's lips curl into a happy smile.
"Aww~ she's got a bit of fire to her, that's adorable." Rabbit giggled, leaning forwards and getting in Aisha's face. "We'll see how long that lasts."
"If you don't mind, I need to get her to the holding cells. Midas's orders." Lisa said bluntly, making Rabbit scowl.
Respects Midas for making Jaina summon her more, doesn't want to lose that freedom, won't actively interfere with Midas's orders.
"The boss isn't in right now, he's overseeing the final touches at the old base." Rabbit said, backing away with a small pout.
"I know, but I still have my orders." Lisa deadpanned as she walked past her, Rabbit was going to be a problem because she'd be the little devil whispering into Midas's ear.
But her power and personality meant she wasn't ever going to become a high-ranking member of Midas's operation, and if Lisa positioned herself right she could easily take the spot of Midas's right hand.
Hell, she'd be happy to be the right hand of a very successful supervillain as long as it meant she profited as well, it was a definite improvement over her current situation.
Leading Aisha through the lair, she headed down towards the prisons and watched as one of the minions unlocked one of the free cells, Squealer looking up out of curiosity as Aisha was physically tossed into the cell, unable to react before it was locked again.
"Great, I get a cell right next to some dumb Bimbo, guess I'll get a good show when Midas comes down to fuck his pet sex doll." Aisha scoffed, Squealer rising up in anger.
"The fuck did you just say? Big words coming from someone dressed sluttier than half the Merchant whores." Sherrel retorted as Lisa backed away. "What street corner did they pick you up from? Isn't your pimp going to miss you?"
She didn't want to get involved in that mess.
"Heh, you think I don't recognise you Squealer? Half the internet has seen those tits, tell me, do you live up to the name when Midas bends you over? I hope he didn't catch anything from your diseased cunt," Aisha mocked back, her face almost pressed against the strong glass of her cell wall, Squealer glaring right back.
"I don't have any fucking diseases, you little tart. I'd be more worried about you, you basically scream 'hey look at me, I've got daddy issues', I was probably wrong, I doubt you even charge any older men as long as they let you call them daddy." Sherrel taunted back, Aisha visibly flinching as she did.
Yeah, she was getting out of here.
Jin -
Strolling around the streets in my new suit, I spin my cane around in my hand idly. It won't unsheath without me pressing a tiny hidden button on the handle so I'd not need to worry as I head towards my destination, five guard minions following behind me, each of them well over six foot and built like a tank as they clutch their metal batons.
I've made my decision, and unwritten rules or not, tonight is the last night Grapist gets to draw breath, my vision of this city has no room for someone like him.
I've thought long and hard over the pros and cons of killing Grapist in my Lotus Killer guise, but from what I can tell Grapist is well and truly hated and his death won't bring too much punishment down on me, and many heroines and female villains despise him.
He's gotten away with a ridiculous amount of shit purely because he's surprisingly slippery, his balls are almost impossible to escape and he plays dirty.
In one Merchant raid, he had his men hold dozens of civilians hostage, threatening to have them open fire into a crowd with automatic weapons to force Battery to stand down.
Instead of fleeing, he used the opportunity to molest the Protectorate hero over her uniform, and was attempting to force her to orally pleasure him before Assault arrived and nearly killed the midget.
He only escaped because Squealer and Skidmark literally drove a tank into a crowd of civilians as a distraction.
He hasn't learnt his lesson, and there are countless stories of him doing similar shit, both to civilians and capes.
There's rumours that he successfully raped Othala after she and Victor were captured in his balls, but while a few Merchants have bragged about it online the Empire have denied it, though whether that's them trying to save face over two of their capes losing to the fucking Grapist is another question entirely.
I have managed to find out that Grapist basically disappeared from existence and wasn't seen for months after a failed attack on the Merchants by the Empire, which lines up with the timeline if Skidmark had to hide him from a wrathful Empire.
There's also the rumours that he tried something similar with the ABB's 'Red Kitsune', a cape who can take the form and powers of another by drinking their blood, but he was found on the edge of Merchant territory naked except for his mask and covered in his own blood from countless cuts, showing signs of torture, he's never gone into ABB territory since.
You can learn a lot from boasting idiots on the internet, and I've spent a lot of time building files on every Merchant cape, including their powers, their previous encounters (win or lose), rumours surrounding them and anything else I can get my hands on, including a timeline of what they did and when.
I'll do the rest of the city's capes when I have more time.
But for now, it's time to make this city a little more pg.
Through gratuitous violence.
Taylor -
"If you hear so much as a buzz, blast the bitches head off." he howled to his men, making her flinch.
She'd fucked up, it was one of her first nights out, why the hell did she think she could take on another cape?!
She hadn't even finished her full hero uniform yet, she just wanted to scout out the docks and make sure neither the Merchants or Midas were getting too close to the Dockworkers Association.
Struggling, she couldn't free her arms from the purple balls sticking them to the wall, and with three guns aimed at her, pissed off Merchants willing to end her career before she could even begin, she couldn't call her swarm down on them.
If they saw so much as a fly, they'd shoot first and ask questions never.
She hadn't planned on getting into a cape fight immediately, but she couldn't just ignore it when she heard someone being assaulted.
She'd mistaken if for a mugging until she actually arrived and spotted a dozen thugs surrounding a pair of girls, it wasn't money they wanted and she couldn't call herself a hero if she ignored a gang rape.
She'd taken most of them down easily, but she had been so focused on the girls that she hadn't noticed one of thugs immediately flee, and while she tried to comfort the traumatised women, while looking like a villain herself thanks to her stupid outfit, she hadn't been paying attention.
That changed when a dozen purple balls came flying at her, the girls ran but her attacker didn't care about them anymore, they cared about the wannabe hero who just took down a dozen of their men.
"You think you can fuck with the Merchants, huh bitch?" The short purple haired man ranted, moving closer to her as she struggled against the wall, her back and arms stuck to it. "You don't fuck with the Merchants, the Merchants fuck you." he growled, reaching forwards and grabbed at her belt, her eyes widening as he undid it.
Her final uniform she had planned would have been far harder to remove, but the black jeans she had on provided exactly zero resistance as the cape tugged them down.
Realising the seriousness of her situation, she went to kick at him but one of his men grabbed her leg long enough for him to create a small purple orb in his hand and attach it to the wall, a smirk on his face as the thug stuck her leg to it.
"Look, bitch, I've never even heard of you, which means you're new, and that means nobodies gonna miss you if you turn up naked and dead in an alleyway. They won't even know you were a cape, just another nobody. You wanna get out of this alive, stay still and take your punishment for fucking with Merchant business." The cape taunted, pulling out a knife and calmly cutting the sides of her panties as another thug put a gun against her head, smirking and jeering at her.
She was tempted to call down her bugs, but she'd be dead before they could do anything, she almost did it anyway as her panties were pulled away, her naked privates exposed to the cold night air.
The cape reached up again, his hand moving under her shirt and up to her small chest as she shuddered in disgust, chubby fingers slipping under her bra and squeezing her flesh, tweaking her nipples.
Reaching up with his free hand, he grabbed her bandana that she was using and ripped it off her, making her pale as they all looked at her exposed face, one of them taking a picture of her as they laughed and mocked her.
Moving back, the small cape reached down and undid his own uniform, pulling out a surprisingly large cock as she felt tears start to fall down her cheeks.
This… this wasn't what being a hero was supposed to be like.
As he moved forwards, she barely held in her vomit as she felt him press the bulbous head of his manhood against her virgin slit, she'd never even kissed a boy before…
The sound of a gunshot made her flinch, expecting death to come for her…
Turning her head to the side, she realised it wasn't her death was here for as she watched the merchant holding a gun to her head fall to the floor dead, the cape jumping in shock as he went to turn around, a second gunshot sounding out and she screamed as blood and gray matter splattered against her top and face, the cape's body falling against her as five large angry looking men charged at the Merchants, swinging metal batons wildly.
Her eyes widened as she spotted her 'saviour', strolling through the chaos without a care as he calmly placed a golden gun back into his jacket, watching his men easily overwhelm the remaining Merchants.
"And just who exactly, are you? I came here looking for my prey, and I certainly found him." Midas drawled, kicking the cape corpse lightly. "You're no civilian, are you?" Midas deadpanned, looking over her outfit and the bandana on the floor.
"W-Weaver, I'm Weaver." Taylor stuttered, making him raise an eyebrow.
"Hero or Villain?" Midas asked as she felt her heart freeze over, Midas might have stopped her rape... but he was still a villain.
"H-hero." Taylor admitted, head held high despite her exposed face and the way her lower body was on display.
"So you are, do you know that unmasking a cape is against the Unwritten rules? Grapist apparently didn't." Midas said idly.
"I-it doesn't matter now… the Merchants saw my face, they took pictures…" Taylor said weakly, making him chuckle as he reached down and picked up her bandana, placing it back over her face.
"That they did." Midas said calmly, before he turned around and pulled out his gun, aiming at the beaten Merchants and immediately firing as he executed the three still conscious. "Kill the rest." he said idly, his minions pulling out short blades and going to work as her eyes widened in horror, watching him pick up the phone on the floor.
Moving towards her, he gently grabbed her bare leg and started to pull, using a knife to cut at the purple ball until her leg was free, and immediately reaching down and pulling her jeans back up.
Freeing her arms and back, he passed her the phone and gave her a smile.
"I've deleted the picture, and my minions didn't see your face, did you?" Midas asked with a dangerous tone.
"No, boss."
"I was stargazing, boss."
"I'm legally blind."
"Your identity is safe, you have my word. Not all villains are so… degenerate. Some are simply villains by necessity." Midas chuckled. "After all, the Heroes have utterly failed to clean up the city, so it's time for evil to fight evil." Midas said as she checked the phone, sighing in relief as she saw he was telling the truth.
Throwing the phone down, she stomped on it repeatedly with a yell until it broke beneath her boot.
"So then, Weaver, what happens now? Shall we play cops and robbers?" Midas asked as she shook her head.
"I-if I catch you commiting crimes, I'll stop you… but tonight I just want to go home and shower." Taylor said, still shaking. "I… thank you." Taylor said, looking up at the smiling Villain.
"Trust me, killing the Grapist was my pleasure. Run on home, Weaver, and maybe be a little more careful in the future." Midas advised with a smile.
Nodding, she pulled herself together and set off into the night, wanting nothing more than her bed.
Jin -
Taking a look around the chaos, I nod in approval.
One less Cape, a dozen less thugs, the Merchants will feel the sting of tonight's operation.
Oh right, one last thing.
Brandish
Midas and Grapist clashing in the Docks, sending you the location.
Prophet
And with that, it's time for me to not be here anymore.
As we head back to my base, I get a notification from some of my other minions I sent on a separate mission, and I can already smell the smoke telling me that their mission succeeded.
Tattletale was right about their drug lab locations, so I decided to take them from six to five and give the drug tinker less places to hide.
Plus, my mission did mention burning one of their buildings.
Warlord Class Quest completed
Warlord Power Unlocked
[Witness me, Shiny and Gold]
This Brute power allows the user to turn their skin into a tough golden alloy, greatly increasing its durability.
Warlord Power Unlocked
[The Touch of Midas]
This Striker power allows the user to turn anything they are touching to solid gold, however it is Manton limited and cannot currently affect living matter.
Warlord Perk Unlocked
[The Warlord's Banner]
Your name and image inspires fear in the hearts of your enemies and inspires your allies to go the extra mile to prove their loyalty to you. While your minions and henchmen are in the presence of something that represents you, they gain a small buff to all stats, and enemies gain a small debuff.
Well, Skidmark? I'm waiting.