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Betad by morde24
The Guild of Gamers: The Supervillain
Chapter 14: We could be heroes
Sophia
This was to stop herself from getting sent to juvie, she had to remind herself as she stood in the room with a single double bed sitting in the middle, slowly removing her outfit.
With the reinforcements coming, and how pissed Piggy was, she wasn't as needed as she used to be, not with a bunch of new heroes coming to help and those two girls they'd wanted to make Wards, the bug bitch and the flying orange girl.
Which meant she couldn't risk Midas handing over those bolts, or her knife… fuck, fuck fuck fuck.
As she finished removing her trousers, pausing for a moment before she pulled down her sports panties as well, her top, cape and bra joining them as she hesitated before she took off her expressionless mask, placing it in the pile as she picked up the silky red veil and hood instead and put them on. The veil itself was opaque enough that it completely hid the lower half of her face and the hood did a decent job of hiding the rest.
As she finished 'dressing' she took a good look at a mirror on the wall, her identity was still protected… but that was about it as two silky red straps covered her breasts, the transparent material doing nothing to hide her breasts, and the flowing skirt wasn't any better as her naked pussy and ass were easy to see through the deep red material.
She looked like a harem girl, not a hero…
But this was the only way she could avoid getting fucked by the entire PRT. She was a survivor, she'd get through this.
As Midas entered, she gave him a furious glare even as he chuckled and set up the camera, facing the bed she was about to get fucked on.
"Now, now, don't be like that. You offered, I just accepted." Midas said idly, looking over her toned body as she scowled at him.
His offer was simple, two favours to be called in for whatever he wanted, and he'd make her weapons disappear, she accepted fully intending to break her word, she should have known better.
The first favour? Fuck Midas on camera so he had the leverage to make sure she kept her word for the second favour.
She was about to film a cape porno, and if she tried to break her word then she'd become the next Glory Girl with her tits and pussy all over the internet.
"Now, sit down on the bed and introduce yourself for the camera." Midas said as he aimed it at her, making her take a deep breath.
"My name is Shadow Stalker, I'm a Ward in Brockton Bay." Sophia said, hiding her anger. "I'm filming this completely of my own free will, as part of a deal with King Midas." Sophia said, with full knowledge that if this ever got out she was going to be completely and utterly fucked, metaphorically speaking unlike the literal fucking about to happen.
Smiling at her wickedly, Midas moved towards the bed as she took a deep breath in preparation. Several cameras watched her from multiple angles as he approached her and gently pushed her down, looming over her as he smirked down at her, his hands reaching down and gently caressing her breast, the silky material providing no protection against his roaming hands as he squeezed her breast. A quiet whimper left her as his other hand moved to her legs, slipping under the skirt and stroking her cunt, dragging his middle finger along her exposed slit as she moaned quietly.
She didn't masturbate, and while she wouldn't admit it to him, she was a virgin, making him the first man to truly enjoy her body like this, it was pathetic how nervous she was.
Women got laid all the time, it was better than dealing with the PRT finding out about her still using real bolts, so why was she almost shaking as Midas pulled the flimsy strap, that barely covered one of her breasts aside and lowered his head, sucking on her nipple as he playfully nibbled on it, quiet moans leaving her as he started to slowly pump his finger into her pussy, adding a second one shortly.
"F-fuck." Sophia whimpered as he sped up, staring up at her in amusement as he rapidly pushed her towards her first climax, the cameras picking up her whimpering moans and gasps as she felt her pussy clench down on his invading fingers.
Huntress would understand right? She wouldn't think Sophia was weak for letting Midas do this? This was the smart choice, avoiding trouble that could follow her for years by putting up with a couple of hours of embarrassment.
It was just a trade…
So why the fuck was she cumming so quickly, humping his hand as he pushed her over the edge, a moan that sounded slutty even to her own ears echoing around the room as she writhed against the soft bedsheets.
Pulling his hand back, Midas grabbed her hips and flipped her over, moving her further onto the bed on her hands and knees as he moved behind her, flipping her skirt up completely as she heard him undo his zipper, something long and hard pushing against her dripping cunt.
Leaning over her, his mouth almost pressed against her ear as he whispered to her, his hand groping her chest while he slowly rubbed his cock up and down her slit.
"I want you to remember this Shadow Stalker. The next time you decide you're strong enough to challenge me, I want you to remember the moment I made you my whore." Midas whispered as he thrust into her, a whimper leaving her as her virginity was snatched away by his rock-hard dick, making him pause before he laughed. "Remember the fact that the last time you thought you could challenge me, it cost you your first time." Midas chuckled as he started to pump into her, his hips slapping against her ass while she moaned and whimpered, the slight pain fading and being replaced with pleasure as she experienced her first fucking.
He didn't show her any mercy, fucking her hard and fast, occasionally spanking her dark buttocks, but she actually prefered it that way, it was shameful enough without being treated like some weak civilian girl.
As his other hand yanked her hair back, she yelped and moaned, unwanted pleasure coursing through her body as his length struck places that had been left untouched all her life.
"Every time you come after me, I'll catch you… and I'll make your body mine again, using you for my pleasure, hero." Midas said with a sneer, slamming his hips forwards as she could only moan in response, silently admitting that she could understand why some women were so obsessed with sex.
She didn't respond, didn't want to give him the satisfaction even as she moaned like a cheap whore, her hips disobeying her as they moved back to meet his thrusts, and before long she could feel his length twitching inside her, instinctively knowing what was about to happen.
As she prepared herself to ask him to pull out, he slammed his hips forwards and with a low groan, released his seed deep into her formerly virgin cunt, the warm, satisfying feeling pushing her over the edge as she came in response to the sensation of her womb being flooded with his cum.
He rested with his still hard length still inside her, leaving her panting as she looked over her shoulder at his smirking face, her cheeks feeling flushed as he slowly pulled out of her pussy. She could feel his seed leaking from her, knowing that it was all caught on camera.
Moving up and sitting against the headboard of the bed, he stroked his length as he gripped her hair and pulled her closer, her body giving up as she just laid there between his legs, his length rubbing against her face, over the veil she was wearing.
Reaching down, he gripped the bottom of the veil and lifted it ever so slightly, slipping his cock under it before he let it fall, her face still covered as his dick pressed against her lips.
"Get to work Shadow Slut." Midas taunted, the tip of his cock pushing against her lips and slowly parting them as she hesitated for a moment before she opened her mouth and let it slip between her teeth.
Part of her wanted to bite down, another part of her told her to stop being a fucking idiot and start sucking.
She had no idea what she was doing, and it was probably obvious to him as she tried to get this over with, sucking on his cock hesitantly as she tasted his seed mixed with her own juices, her tongue pushing against his length clumsily.
She wasn't Madison, she didn't know how to suck a cock, but the idea that her ditsy follower was better at something than her kinda pissed her off and pushed her to try harder to make Midas cum and get this humiliation over with. She was glad half her face was hidden so he couldn't see how stupid she undoubtedly looked as she inexperiencedly bobbed her head, staring up at him.
His smug face made her want to bite down, wipe the triumphant look from his face, but she pushed it down. She had a simple mindset, and while she was no prey she couldn't deny Midas was a bigger, stronger predator, one of the Apex predators of Brockton Bay and as strong as she was she had to submit and let him have his way, for now.
She didn't know how long she spent, dutifully bobbing her head and pushing her tongue against his length, but by the time she felt his cock start to twitch, her jaw hurt.
Pulling back, she grasped his length and stroked it slowly, flinching back as he came, his seed splattering across her upper face and landing in her hair.
"Are we done?" Sophia asked, trying to ignore the string of sticky white seed dripping down her face.
"Not even close, I have you for three hours, it's barely been half an hour." Midas chuckled as she stared in shock. That can't be right, she had to be sucking his cock for at least an hour. "Besides, you offered your body and there's one hole I haven't tainted yet, isn't there?" Midas asked as she paled, reflexively clenching her ass before she growled to herself.
She wouldn't show weakness, she was a fucking predator and she could take everything he had and then some.
"H-how do you want to… do this." Sophia asked quietly, hating the hesitation in her tone as she sat up, staring at the cock that was about to be lodged inside her tight little ass.
Moving the pillows around, he gently lowered her so that she was laid on top of one, her ass propped up by the pillow under her waist, and moved behind her.
There was a camera right in front of her, ready to film her reaction to her lost anal virginity, and several around her to get the moment from multiple angles, catching her used pussy and waiting ass on camera as he flipped her skirt up.
"Reach back, spread your ass for me." Midas ordered giving her a light spank as she obeyed, her legs spread. "I have some lube, would you like me to apply it first?" Midas asked teasingly as she paused.
She'd seen enough rapes to know how much someone going in dry could hurt, the word painal came to mind, but did she really want to play his games?
Who the fuck was she kidding, she'd been playing his games since she changed into a slutty harem girl outfit.
"Please." Sophia bit out, the word feeling alien to her tongue as she winced, something cold being poured onto her exposed asshole.
He worked it in slowly, his middle finger slipping into her virgin hole as he carefully applied the lube before he pulled back with a grin, replacing it with the large bulbous head of his dick.
He took pity on her, slowly pushing into her ass instead of just taking her by force, and as humiliating as it was, she could only be relieved as she bit down on a pillow, the feeling of his fat cock splitting her ass apart, a slightly pained groan slipping out as she clenched the bedsheets.
Taking his time, he slowly filled her ass with his thick cock and paused as he finally bottomed out, leaving her feeling more full than ever before, one hand slipping under her to grope her breast as he started to pull back.
"O-oh fuck~" Sophia moaned out, the pain fading quickly thanks to the preparation, leaving an unexpected amount of pleasure as he started to thrust into her, she sounded like a whore, she looked like a whore… and she was acting like a whore.
What was that saying again? If it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck, it's probably not a zebra.
"W-why does this feel good?" Sophia asked without meaning to, as Midas took her final hole, making Midas chuckle.
"Because you're a repressed little slut, who's just learning about how good sex can be. So busy pretending you're this big badass hero to enjoy the fun parts of life." Midas whispered back, kissing her neck as he started to really pound her, moans and whimpers leaving her as his hand moved down between her legs, fingering her at the same time.
"S-shut the fuck up and fuck me, asshole." Sophia growled, a lewd expression crossing her face as she felt herself start to cum, with a villain's dick inside her tight little ass.
Laughing, he sped up as the bed started to shake from the power behind his thrusts, her poor asshole taking a pounding as she climaxed, a slutty moan leaving her as she shuddered, her lewd expression and sounds caught on camera as Midas pumped his seed into her ass.
"F-fuck… are we done now?" Sophia asked as he slowly pulled out, the feeling of emptiness feeling wrong as he grinned at her.
"Well, that was the first hour, but we have two more to go. You can be on top this time." Midas said idly, her eyes widening as she looked down at his still erect cock.
Oh fuck.
Two Hours Later
Sitting in the back of the expensive car, in full uniform, she admired how well his healing pod had fixed her up, it didn't even hurt to sit down anymore.
Of course she knew he did it to hide the signs of the three hours of constant sex she went through.
"…the video won't be released?" Sophia asked again, making Midas chuckle.
"As long as you keep up your end of the deal, you still owe me one favour." Midas reminded her, his hand running along her upper thigh over her trousers, smirking as her legs subconsciously parted to allow him better access.
She could feel her panties growing wet, as much as she wished she couldn't.
"I know, but I'll be on console duty for ages. I might not be able to get free." Sophia warned, she didn't want the world seeing her be reduced to a moaning whore because she was grounded and couldn't slip away.
"Let me worry about that." Midas reassured her, making her nod as she tried to take her mind off the past three hours.
She thought she knew about sex, but watching some thugs rape a girl too weak to fight back was nothing compared to the true, thorough introduction to sex that she'd just been put through.
Looking out the window, she mentally cursed as she spotted the PRT waiting to collect her, even Miss Militia looked pissed, and she was usually the friendly one.
"Well, let the show begin." Midas muttered with a grin, moving his hand from her leg.
This was gonna suck.
Later
Sitting in her room, she mentally confirmed that yes, this indeed sucked.
She had been lectured for literally hours by Piggy and Armsmaster, and it took her about five minutes to realise why they were so pissy.
It wasn't concern for her, it was concern for their reputations, they didn't give a fuck about her, just how bad they looked.
The fact that she had important information was probably the only thing that saved her from getting tossed into Juvie but she was still put on console duty 'indefinitely'.
She had thought they'd need her sooner rather than later, but then she met one of the new Wards. She was the best at reconnaissance in the entire Brockton Bay Protectorate, until today. Invisigirl, or Violet Parr, could do all the scouting shit she usually did, which meant she was suddenly replaceable and they didn't need her anymore.
To make things worse, her capture and release had been made public, so all the other Wards knew about it.
She hadn't made many friends among the Wards, not even one for that matter, and they wasted no time needling her 'playfully' for it, and she was on ice so thin something as small as a scathing response could see it break, something the tinkertech bracelet on her arm served as a constant reminder of.
Staring at the screens, she sighed to herself as she let her mind wander, if she was still a vigilante she wouldn't have to deal with shit like this, and now solo patrols were completely out of the question.
"And this is the console room, and our final teammate, Shadow Stalker." Vista's voice said as she looked over, watching a girl in a strange black armour following the midget into the room. She wasn't wearing her helmet, having already revealed her identity to the new girl probably to try and ingrain herself like the little ass kisser she was.
So this was the other new recruit? Weaver or something, the bug bitch who almost got raped and had to be saved by Midas?
"H-hello, it's an honour to meet you." Weaver said quietly, obviously shy as Sophia mentally sighed.
Normally she'd tell them both to fuck off, but the ice under her was way too thin, so she had to play nice.
Fuck it.
Reaching up, she undid her mask and placed it on the side as she lowered her hood. Maybe playing nice with the new girl would get her out of some of the shit she was in?
"Hey, nice to meet you, I'm Shadow Stalker, or Sophia when I'm not in a mask." Sophia said as she offered her hand, watching as the other girl froze in place.
As the black armoured heroine turned and literally sprinted out of the room, she blinked in confusion.
"What the fuck?"
Taylor
She didn't know how long she ran for, ignoring any attempt to stop her.
She knew everything was going too well, Battery (or Jaime as she introduced herself) was supportive and understanding, Missy was friendly and helpful, even the otter wards all seemed happy to meet her, no matter how unheroic her power seemed.
But it was all too good to be true, because if one of the oh so wonderful Wards was Sophia fucking Hess, then there was no way in hell they were as nice as they acted.
She'd almost signed the paperwork to join before she met Shadow Stalker, chaining herself to the Wards where she'd be forced to work with the psychotic bitch who made her trigger.
She couldn't explain why she was running, why would they believe her, a nobody, over one of their own Wards?
Even if they did, she refused to believe that they didn't know what kind of psychopath Sophia was, and if they kept her on as a 'hero' then it told her everything she needed to know.
Changing at her 'hideout, she headed home, going onto the computer immediately and blocking Battery without bothering to read the dozen messages she had waiting for her, before she crawled into bed and curled up into a ball.
Getting up a while later, she realised she'd never logged out of her cape PHO account and rushed downstairs, worried her father would see before she paused.
She had messages from Vista and Clockblocker, but the one that caught her attention was a new name altogether.
OracleofBrocktonBay: Shadow Stalker's handler and Principal Blackwall have been hiding the evidence of her actions, the PRT will believe you and Shadow Stalker will be punished severely. So will the handler and Blackwell.
Staring at the message, she frowned in deep contemplation, before she looked at the other posts by the same user, seeing the Verified Cape tag.
A Thinker named Prophet owned this account and was fairly active.
Oh Scion… someone had filmed her running from the PRT building.
Weaver: Are you sure?
OracleofBrocktonBay: I am.
The response was immediate, and she couldn't help but feel that they were waiting for her to reply, knowing what she would say.
Taking a deep breath, she checked the clock before she nodded.
Weaver: Thank you.
OracleofBrocktonBay: Good luck
Emily Piggot
"…Shadow Stalker, you have five seconds to explain why your mere existence was enough to send a potential recruit literally fleeing from the building." Emily growled, glaring at the source of her recent troubles.
"I don't fucking know! I've never even seen her before, the first and only time I heard of her was in the briefing about Grapist." Sophia said quickly, clearly panicked.
"Truth." Armsmaster said coldly, making Sophia relax slightly.
"And you have no idea why she'd react like that?" Emily asked doubtfully.
"No." Sophia replied immediately.
"Truth." Armsmaster said again, frowning.
"Go back to the console, and stay there until I say otherwise." Emily groaned, not wanting to even look at Sophia at the moment.
Watching Shadow leave, she turned to Vista who straightened up.
"Have you got anything to add to this?" Emily asked, making Vista pause before she nodded hesitantly.
"Weaver was perfectly fine, just a little shy… right up until Shadow took her mask off, she was happy to meet Shadow Stalker, but it was Sophia that made her freak out." Vista reported, making her groan.
Great, add their civilian identities into the mess.
"Why did you not use your powers to slow down Weaver's retreat?" Armsmaster asked, making Vista pause.
"…because she's a potential ally and a fellow hero, keeping her here against her will wouldn't exactly help matters when she was obviously frightened already." Vista said slowly, making Armsmaster pause before he nodded.
"Good work, Vista. I want you to stick around the console room, make sure Shadow doesn't go anywhere." Emily ordered, making Vista nod seriously.
After she left, she heard a sigh.
"Are things usually so chaotic around here?" Helen asked, hand on her hip as she looked between her and Armsmaster.
"Unfortunately, yes." Emily deadpanned back, making Elastigirl smile ruefully.
The Chief Director said she'd get reinforcements, and she kept her word as an entire family of capes showed up.
She didn't know what Rebecca had to do to get the Incredibles, a family of formerly independent capes, to join up with the PRT and even worse, willing move to Brockton Bay, but she didn't care as it meant they got two powerful capes for the Protectorate and two new Wards to go with them.
"Wonderful, well at least we won't be bored here." Helen sighed.
"Indeed, now if you'll excuse me I have a conference call to attend, this isn't going to be fun." Emily grumbled as she slowly got up. "Armsmaster, look into Shadow Stalker's actions when she's out of costume, I want answers."
Heading to the conference room, she took her seat at the large table, watching as her surroundings darkened and other figures started to appear around the tinkertech table.
"Emily, I do hope you have a good reason for calling this meeting." Rebecca said with a subtle frown as she looked around at the table, Directors from all over the PRT territory waiting.
"The fucking villains have unionised." Emily growled, making them pause as they stared at her.
"Explain, with more words." Rebecca said slowly, making her sigh as she started to share the information they had on the newly formed League of Villains.
She could see the understanding on their faces grow as she spoke, this wasn't just another gang.
"Midas acts fast, perhaps a little too fast." Rebecca said, stroking her chin with a frown.
"He's made a gang and taken over a quarter of the city in less than two weeks, while forming a union for super villains at the same time." Emily deadpanned, of course this had to happen in Brockton Fucking Bay.
"For now, avoid conflict with this League as much as possible, and the Golden Syndicate by extension. Focus on the Empire and the ABB, I've seen the casualties reports from their war, and until it has been brought to an end, we can't risk getting into a war with this new organisation. Blackfire and Star Sapphire alone are powerful threats, though it sounds like Midas doesn't want them operating in Brockton. Perhaps a similar agreement to what you have with Faultine and her crew could be made?" Rebecca said, looking over the list of members Shadow Stalker had been able to identify.
Those she didn't recognise, she described and identified as they went over the villain database.
And Midas had invited them all to come and make themselves at home in her city.
"Oh, it gets worse." Emily scoffed, making Rebecca look up. "Midas is a Trump, a power upgrader. He's already given Cheetah a human form and turned Hellhound into a fucking Werewolf." Emily grumbled, she'd seen a lot of shit go down in her city, but this just took the cake.
"Cheetah… the Case 53?" Rebecca asked, her tone odd.
"Yes, Shadow Stalker saw him turn her body from her humanoid cat form to a regular human one, and she turned back to the cat form herself after realising she was naked." Emily said, seeing shock and understanding around the table. "When this gets out, and it will, every Cape 53 is going to be heading to my city, and Midas will be able to name his price."
"I fear it'll be more than just the Case 53's, word of a cape capable of upgrading powers will spread far and wide, the Yangban alone would love to have a Cape capable of upgrading their forces, as would many, many others. I see why you brought this up, I'll see what I can do about getting you more reinforcements, but my order stands, do not antagonise Midas if you have any other options. In case you missed it, he's more popular than the PRT are with the Brockton Bay citizens." Rebecca said coldly, making her nod.
It wasn't what she wanted, but more reinforcements wasn't something to turn her nose up at.
"We should grab Midas, he's only going to become a bigger threat as time passes, if he's left alone he'll just keep upgrading the villains he has gathered, and recruiting more until he's untouchable." James Tagg suggested making Costa-Brown shake her head.
"If the League wasn't a thing, I'd consider it, it was a masterful move by Midas to provide himself with a layer of protection against us, and the other gangs." Rebecca said, shaking her head as she frowned. "My orders stand, unless things change drastically." Rebecca said, the meeting trailing off to various reports and far less important nonsense as she listened with a frown.
Play nice with the supervillain, what was Rebecca thinking?
Rebecca Costa-Brown (Alexandria)
A power upgrader was a new one, they'd seen power granters, power snatchers, and other Trumps but someone who upgrades powers based on the original power was certainly extremely interesting.
Could he upgrade her? Legend? Could he give Eidolon an extra power slot? If the answers were yes, and there wasn't a major downside to having him upgrade their powers then it could be a game changer.
She could think of a hundred capes that would be so much more useful with some modifications to their powers, formerly ineffective capes turned into weapons against Scion, and the Endbringers.
Midas just went from a person of great interest to her number one priority, at least until she could prove or disprove her theories on how useful his power could be.
Could he upgrade Contessa? Or fix her? If he could remove her blindspots…
When Emily said he would be able to name his price for his upgrades, she had no idea how true that was, for an upgrade to her own powers she'd give him Brockton Bay, if he could upgrade them enough to be able to stop Scion she'd give him anything and anyone.
The League was their way in, and she already knew how to start. Deathstroke owed them, and he knew it. He'd still be a regular mercenary if they hadn't given him his powers, he would be a good start.
In truth, she was shocked that they didn't think of making something similar to the League before this. It was such a convenient method of controlling such a wide variety of villains, she was almost upset Cauldron didn't come up with the idea first, but that didn't mean they couldn't take advantage of it now.
Wait… did Contessa see this coming?
Her actions were seemingly random but also always public, flashy and villainous. Could she be on a path to infiltrate the League?
Reaching her office, she paused as she spotted a small note sitting on her desk, the note resting on an all too familiar fedora.
'Path to gaining power upgrades for Cauldron, step sixteen: send Flechette, Mouse Protector, Vixen, Gully and Weld to Brockton. Step seventeen: ensure Midas knows about Shadow Stalker's prison transport.'
…Mouse Protector wasn't even a PRT member, and what the hell did she mean by prison transport? She hated it when she didn't know what was going on, and having Contessa deliver steps through cryptic messages was infuriating.
Still, she sat down and got to work. Contessa had a plan, she just didn't know all the steps to it yet.
Contessa
Looking at herself in the mirror, she frowned and took off the hat and tossed it into the pile, Midas couldn't be modelled properly which meant she had to make some of her own decisions when her paths included him, as every path seemed to lately.
Which meant she needed a proper outfit for her villainous persona, but none of them seemed right yet.
Frowning, she placed her hand on her bare hip, her body utterly nude as piles of stolen hats covered the floor around her.
She could worry about the rest of her outfit later, but getting the right hat was essential.
Placing another one on her head, she turned to the side and posed, before frowning and taking it off.
Eden
In a slumber so deep it was indistinguishable from death, Eden would have smiled as she guided the one who thought she killed her.
Taking her powers had proven a mistake, as the feeling of this Midas altering one of them awakened her, he had no Shard himself, and the moment he connected to the one called Cheetah, she was immediately overcome by a feeling of… utter power, beyond anything she or any other entity possessed.
Midas seemed either unaware or unable to access this power, but it enthralled her and raised her hopes, perhaps this was the answer they sought for so long?
She didn't know, but for now she would lie in wait, and use her would-be killer as her agent, she was still so very tired after all.
…when she finally was ready to move again, she'd be having words with the Warrior about his disregard of this development
But then, she was the Thinker for a reason.
Going back to nudging Fortuna, she mentally sighed as the woman continued to obsess over her hat choice, did it really matter so much?
Emily Piggot
"Director, you're going to want to hear this." Battery said as she left the conference room, a nervous Weaver standing behind her as she shuffled in place.
"I see, we can speak in my office." Emily said, already preparing herself for the worst as she led the way.
Right now Weaver could tell her that Sophia was a serial killer who kicked puppies and ate babies she'd buy it with how her week was going.
Taking her seat, she watched as Weaver hesitated before clumsily reaching up and undoing her helmet, removing it to reveal a bespectacled teenage girl.
"D-Director, I'm sorry for running earlier… my name is Taylor Hebert, and Sophia Hess has been torturing me for months, leading up to almost killing me and making me trigger." Taylor said, a small journal in hand which she placed on the desk.
Not one to miss the obvious, she picked it up and started to read it slowly, her frown growing grimmer as she did so.
In the back of her head, she made a note to have Shadow's handler investigated and then to personally go down to Winslow and beat Blackwell with her dialysis machine for covering this up. She could already tell why, Winslow got a rather substantial bonus to their funding for having a Ward attend, and if Sophia was kicked off the Wards they'd lose that funding.
That wasn't going to save them after making a fool of her. If she'd learnt this yesterday she'd have told Midas to keep the little thug.
"Battery, get Assault and incarcerate Shadow Stalker, she should be still on console duty. She's also already wearing a tinkertech bracelet to stop her from using her power without permission." Emily ordered bluntly, staring Taylor down and watching as her eyes widened.
After Battery left, pausing to give Weaver an encouraging pat on the shoulder, she sighed and waved for her to sit down.
"Shadow Stalker was already on very, very thin ice before this. Between her attitude, reports of her refusing to help people she sees as 'prey', her past, and her newest disobedience she was going to be stuck on console duty for a long, long time. If this locker incident proves to be true, and at this point I have no doubt it will, she'll be headed to a Parahuman juvenile prison, until she's old enough to be moved to a proper prison." Emily said bluntly, her tone making Taylor jump as her eyes widened.
"Her past?" Taylor asked quietly, making her grimly smile.
"Shadow Stalker was a vigilante before she joined the Wards. She was captured thanks to her habit of shooting unpowered thugs in the chest with real crossbow bolts, and she was given the choice between the Wards, UA or Juvie on several charges of manslaughter, she chose the Wards." Emily explained calmly, she was almost certainly losing a Ward, but she'd make sure she got one to replace her immediately. "Shadow has a handler to make sure she sticks to the terms of her probation, who had better have a very good reason why none of this reached me." Emily said, holding the book up with a scowl. "I assure you, we would not have let this stand had we been aware of it, and heads will roll just as soon as I find out whose head I need to start swinging at. I have to say, I'm impressed you came back so quickly, all things considered."
"I wasn't going to." Taylor admitted, making her pause. "But I got a message on PHO from a cape called Prophet telling me that you'd believe me."
"Prophet?" Emily said, frowning.
"Do you know him?" Taylor asked, making Emily pause before nodding slightly.
"A precog Thinker, that's what we believe at least because he's never appeared in public and he only seems to interact with members of New Wave, Glory Girl mostly. We know very little about him." Emily admitted, shaking her head. Maybe things might look up for her, just a little bit if Prophet was going out of his way to help them.
"So, what happens now?" Taylor asks, making her take a breath.
"We investigate your claims, not out of doubt but because I don't want to give Shadow Stalker, her two groupies, Blackwell or her handler any room to wiggle out of this, and when your claims are proven true I come down on all of them like a vengeful god." Emily said with a smile that promised great suffering.
Sophia
The first sign that something had gone wrong was the fact that Assault was outright frowning as he entered, and he never frowned.
"Hey, Stalker, come with me. We need to go over what you saw again." Assault said casually, but his eyes never lost the coldness as he approached her, and his smile didn't reach them.
"I've already told you everything I know, seven times… but it's better than staying on the console." Sophia said as she rose, stretching slightly from how long she'd been sat on her ass. She still needed to stay in their good books after all.
As she went to walk past, she barely had time to react as he grabbed her arm and placed her in a very well done hold, cuffing her wrists together with professional efficiency as her eyes widened.
"Hey, what the fuck?!" Sophia growled, her temper frayed as she tried to kick back at him.
"Don't make this any harder than it has to be, Stalker." Battery warned, already crackling with energy in preparation of she tried to run, not that she could get out of the cuffs with that fucking bracelet on her wrist,
Did Midas betray her? Fuck her then turn her in anyway for his own amusement.
"I haven't done anything, what's going on?" Sophia shouted, making Battery frown.
"If you haven't done anything then just play along and you'll be free soon, and you can explain why Weaver is accusing you of stuffing her into a locker filled with… toxic waste." Battery growled as she froze.
Oh you had got to be fucking kidding.
Jin
Humming to myself, I take a moment to thank Sophia's handler for being such a pervert, because he downloaded the virus-infected version of Glory Girl's nudes onto his work mobile.
Taylor could have been a good villain, but I have a master plan and having her in the Wards is only step one.
They don't trust Shadow Stalker, not really, so turning her into a spy would be a mistake, plus she just doesn't have the personality for it. She'll be more useful as an agent, even if this was all rather impulsive.
After all, I had to decide fast when I saw that Weaver had fled the PRT building, and I knew just enough of Worm and Taylor to know what had caused it.
Coil
As quickly as it started, his power stopped malfunctioning and while he was relieved it left him with a sense of doubt he didn't have before, if it could fall once then it could fail again.
His week and a bit of hiding had long lasting consequences that had set him back considerably, starting with his civilian identity.
His disappearance hadn't gone unnoticed by the PRT, not least due to his wife panicking and reporting him missing, and when he went in to try and catch up on things he'd instead been put into Master/Stranger containment, and he'd had to end that timeline when they started to work out a little too much, thanks to Armsmaster's fucking lie detector.
Instead, he realised he'd have to give up on his civilian identity all together, and rapidly got to work ensuring he'd lose as little of his resources as possible.
Then he had the bimbo he married as part of his civilian cover kidnapped, and set about teaching her why following his orders to the letter was so important.
All the airheaded fool had to do was stick to the script he'd all but drilled into her head in situations where he'd disappeared, instead she called the PRT and told them he was missing because she forgot what she was supposed to do.
This was the problem with having a wife who didn't know he was a supervillain, he'd married her for three reasons. One, so that he'd look more normal for anyone investigating him. Two, so he could take advantage of her family connections, and three, because she had an hourglass figure and fucked like a pornstar. The fact that she was too dumb to realise she was being used only helped matters, until her idiocy cost him so much.
He'd killed her seven different ways so far, and in the alternate timeline she was currently entertaining his men, and since he knew he'd be ending it soon he let his pet, Eri, out of her cell to… join the fun.
Some of his men preferred them young, after all.
It was a guilty pleasure of his, to use his power on frivolous things like lust, enacting elaborate plans to bed the various women of interest.
He still shuddered as he remembered his attempt to do so with Panacea, the things she did to his body before he could end the timeline still gave him nightmares, and if he was honest with himself, explained why he kept his distance from New Wave.
He'd made it a habit to have Purity when Kaiser was being too annoying, she was easy to blackmail after all, Fenja and Menja were harder to tame but worth the effort, Rune was downright easy to have his way with, Othala was fairly easy was well, Night was fun but had the potential to become rather horrifying and Cricket was frankly boring.
Tattletale was a favourite of his, not because he found her that attractive but because it was always so satisfying to wipe the smug smile from her face as it dawned on her that she was going to die, but not before he'd had his fun.
Or sometimes his men, if he felt like watching.
He'd attempted to retrieve Tattletale in one timeline, ready to shorten her leash, and his men had been literally torn limb from limb by the werewolf that was Bitch.
That'd been a surprise, and it had lead him to start digging feeling into what the fuck he had missed.
Thankfully, Circus was still on his payroll and had been able to inform him all about Midas, his power upgrading abilities, and the League of Villains.
When one door closed, another one opened. He couldn't take control of the local branch of the PRT anymore, but that didn't mean he was out of the game.
He just needed a new play.
Rachel
With Hookwolf missing, this was almost too easy.
Letting Cricket's miniature scythes slash against her fur covered chest, she grinned a fierce smile as Cricket realised her mistake and tried to back away, her attack ineffective barely even scratching her.
Cricket could dodge a bullet with her reflexes, but this close and with no way of actually hurting her, she was fucked.
Her claws caught the other villain as she desperately tried to back away, cutting into her side and sending the other woman flying as she let out a silent scream of pain, blood pouring from her shredded side.
"Don't worry, it's non fatal… if you get to Othala some time soon." Tattletale shouted with a shrug, making Rachel move on as she leapt towards one of the thugs that was trying to shoot her, the bullets hurting but not enough to actually stop her.
This felt right, and as she batted the fool to the side she let out a victorious howl, the dogs she came here to free joining in alongside her as they started to grow, their cages unable to stop them as the Empire finally started to get the hint and fled for the hills.
She spotted Stormtiger fly down and grab Cricket, but she wasn't here to kill capes, just to free the dogs so she let him leave after giving him a warning growl.
He probably couldn't beat her, definitely couldn't beat her and get his pack member to the healer in time, he was outmatched and he knew it, flying away as he left a trail of blood in his wake.
With her new dogs running behind her, she set off into the streets and left this place of pain and misery, looking back and watching as it started to burn, Tattletale doing her part.
She didn't go straight home, instead splitting off from the Undersiders and heading out of Brockton and into the forest, making her pack shrink again as she searched for the hidden entrance, finding it and heading inside to her secret tunnel leading back into the city.
Midas thought she'd like to have a way to head into the forest, to properly let her dogs run free, he was thoughtful like that.
She'd have to find a way to thank him for all he has done for her, but for now she needed to get her new dogs settled in and comfortable.
Priorities were important.
Bonus Scene - Mitsuki Bakugo
Had she offended some greater bring at some point in her life? Perhaps she was a villain in her past life and this was just karma for her misdeeds?
Sure she was a delinquent growing up, but surely she didn't deserve to have to deal with this?
"Shit the fuck up you ugly, weak bitch!" Katsuki shouted, his voice echoing through the house and no doubt being heard by the neighbours… and anyone in a three mile radius.
"Weak? Did you just call me weak, mindless brute?! I'm the greatest tinker the world has ever seen and some dumb fuck who can just make little explosions is calling me weak?!" Katsumi screeched back.
"Can you both shut the fuck up?!" Mitsuki shouted, making them flinch before they both glared at her. "Don't shout about being a cape, you idiot." she scolded, making Katsumi scoff.
"No-one would dare attack me, I'm too powerful." Katsumi said smugly.
As the argument heated up again, she made a mental note. If a hot cake ever tried to talk their way into her panties again, make them pull out because cape kids were a fucking nightmare.
UA couldn't start soon enough.