Chapter 17: Chapter 17: Heroic Inclinations
Aisha
Cleaning really wasn't that bad after she got used to it, though she'd deny it if asked. With her new music player and wireless headphones she could just jam out to her music as she did her chores, and she had realised that if she got through her chore list quickly they'd let her go early which meant she could basically do whatever she wanted for the rest of the day.
Which usually meant video games and binge-watching movies in her underwear, they had surprisingly good food down here.
But there was something that was worrying her, and that brought her here.
Looking at Midas as he sat behind his desk, she fidgeted slightly at his intense stare.
"You realise you are a prisoner? Prisoners don't usually make requests." Midas said with a chuckle as she rubbed the back of her neck.
"I know, but- look, it'll be easy for you and I'll do as many chores as you want, you won't even need to actually do anything since you've got minions for things like this." Aisha said quickly, making him laugh as he rose and walked around the desk, leaning against it.
"I'm just messing with you." Midas said, ruffling her hair with a smile. "You've been doing good lately, you haven't tried to escape, Jaina says you've been doing a great job cleaning and you aren't arguing with people anymore. I think you've earned a reward." Midas agreed as she beamed up at him. "As long as you can be a good girl and do as you're told I don't see any harm in hearing you out." Midas said, making her blush slightly.
She was many things, but not many people would call her a good girl. It didn't feel that bad.
"I… want you to have one of your men grab my mom." Aisha started, making him raise an eyebrow. "I know, I know. She's a shit mom, and she literally whored me out, but I'm worried about her, she's a junkie who just lost her dealers and I doubt she's smart enough to get help. So… maybe have someone grab her and keep her down here?" Aisha asked quickly, stumbling over her words slightly as Midas paused, before he chuckled.
"Celia Laborn, right?" Midas asked as he moved back behind the desk, typing away at his computer. "Hm, she was recently fired from her part time job at a store for repeatedly missing shifts, lazy behaviour and stealing from the tills, no charges were filed but she hasn't been seen since." Midas listed, reading over something. "I had my people keep an eye on her in case I needed more leverage to keep Brian obedient, their terrible relationship aside."
Now that was surprising, she hadn't even realised her mother had a job, but she wasn't surprised that she hadn't been able to keep it.
Pressing a button on his desk, Midas sat down and opened up a holographic map of Brockton, typing away as a small symbol appeared over her mom's house.
"Two guards should be enough for this, it's a nice and easy job." Midas said, the symbol lighting up before he turned the map back off. "There, one kidnapping." Midas said easily, making her eyes widen at how easy it was for him to arrange. "I've told my men to take their time, scope things out and make sure the job is done right, I don't like rushing things, but she'll be grabbed sooner rather than later."
"Thank you, fuck it's weird to thank your kidnapper for kidnapping my mom." Aisha mumbled, making him laugh.
"Indeed it is, but we live weird lives. Will that be all?" Midas asked, making her nod happily.
Her mother couldn't be trusted to look after a dead goldfish, let alone herself, she'd be safer locked up, and if she wasn't happier?
Well, she cared for her mother's safety, but after everything she'd been through she couldn't bring herself to give a shit about her happiness.
"It is, unless there's anything else you want from me, sir?" Aisha said, trying to use a sultry tone as he chuckled knowingly.
It had become a bit of a game for her to try and seduce him, but she was just determined to get him to stop treating her like a child.
"That will be all, Aisha. For now, at least." Midas agreed, making her scowl at him slightly.
Oh she'd get through to him eventually, she'd think of something.
Leaving his office, she smiled slightly to herself as she headed back to her room, she had an imported Earth Aleph sci-fi trilogy lined up, and she'd got some popcorn and drinks from the mess hall.
Then she had training to do, because Bob the Beast needed to go down, how the fuck was he so good at so many different games?
Amy
"I have to say, this is a bit of a change of pace, usually I have to summon you." Midas said calmly, looking at her with a strange expression as she sighed, holding a bag with a couple of outfits in it by her side.
How sad was it that the only person she could think of to escapey from Carol for a while was a supervillain?
"Look, can you just… not today." Amy said quietly, it had been so gratifying to shut Carol up, but she knew she'd probably destroyed whatever relationship they had for a moment of satisfaction.
"Ahh, that bad? And is that an overnight bag I see?" Midas asked as he rose from his couch, walking towards her and guiding her to sit down as she sighed.
"I know this probably seems stupid, but I need a place to crash for a couple of days, I… got into an argument with mom, I think it's best I stay away for at least tonight." Amy said, instinctively cuddling against Midas.
"…should I be flattered that you came to me?" Midas asked, a hint of amusement in his tone.
"You're the only person I know who won't try and make me go back. Can I stay here or not? I won't wander around, I'll stay wherever you want and I can heal anyone who needs it as payment." Amy said, making him chuckle.
"You know, I was actually preparing a surprise for you." Midas said, making her look up at him in confusion. "As people are soon to discover, I'm a Trump and part of my power lets me… communicate with other people's powers, when I have skin contact." Midas said, slipping his hand under her top and cupping her breast as she shuddered, her nipple hardening.
"What do you mean?" Amy asked, slightly breathy as Midas tweaked her nipple, her body pressed against his.
"Powers are… interesting, what they feel affects what the Cape feels, and yours is frustrated and bored." Midas said calmly, his other hand slipping between her legs. "All you do is heal, or minor cosmetic changes, despite your power's immense potential, and it's made your power depressed."
Freezing in place, she relaxed after a second, of course Midas knew how powerful she actually was.
"Carol didn't want me to ever use my power for anything but healing." Amy admitted, making him smile.
"I know, which is what my surprise is about." Midas said, moving his hands away as she whimpered slightly, a wicked smile on his face as he rose from the seat. "Come with me, I have something to show you."
With no real reason to refuse, she rose and followed Midas through the shifting corridors of the base, pausing as they entered a truly massive room.
The room was lit up with what looked like natural light, before she noticed the odd bright lamps hanging from the ceiling, and as she looked around she spotted fields, his workers farming vegetables.
Midas ignored them all and headed towards a large greenhouse in the side of the room, guiding her inside.
"Your power wants to experiment, to do anything other than just the same old boring routine, so I had this place built for you to play around in." Midas explained as she looked around the flowers and plants.
"I-I'm not supposed to." Amy said, feeling something deep inside her scream in annoyance at her words.
"Says who? Brandish?" Midas asked. "She probably would say you aren't supposed to come to a villain for support as well, but that didn't stop you." Midas teased, making her blush. "Just try it, I know what your power can do, I'm not telling you to make some super-plant abomination, just play around and see how you like it, Brandish won't find out and I honestly think you'll feel a lot better afterwards." Midas encouraged her.
Carol threw a fit that she relaxed, Midas cared enough about her to build her a greenhouse, she knew she was being manipulated but after years of disappointment she couldn't bring herself to care.
Moving towards one of the flowers, she placed her hand on it hesitantly and started to make tiny changes, watching the red flower petals turn to blue, then gold as her lips twitched into a smile.
"I have some things to take care of, but if you need anything just tell one of my minions and they'll pass it on to me." Midas said, watching her as she didn't even look up, her changes becoming more complicated as her power practically sang in joy.
"Hmm? Oh yeah, I will." Amy mumbled, making him chuckle as he gave her a kiss on the cheek, patting her head.
Jin
To say her power is happy would bring an understatement, if powers could do backflips, hers would be doing a full gymnastics routine.
Heading down to the garage, I chuckle at the sounds of metalworking coming from inside.
Entering, I have to admit Squealer works quickly, my limo isn't complete yet but it looks pretty damn close to me, from what little I understand about vehicles. Sherrel has basically lived in the garage, enjoying being able to Tinker with proper materials again.
"Hey, Boss." Leah says, giving me a wave as Sherrel moves away from the engine, pulling the welding helmet off as she notices me.
Leah has been helping Sherrel as her assistant mostly fetching tools and minor things like that, I think she just wants to be useful.
"Is there something wrong, boss?" Sherrel asks hesitantly, making me smirk.
"Just checking in, doing the rounds." I explain as I look over the limo. "You're making good progress, I wasn't expecting you to make this much progress so quickly." I say making her shrug, her breast bouncing as she does.
"Things are a lot easier when I have proper tools and materials, plus I haven't had a chance to Tinker in ages, I've missed it so I'm here… as much as I'm allowed to be." Sherrel admits, putting a modified wrench down.
"As long as you keep up your current good behavior, once this is done I'll let you work on a personal project, I think you can be trusted at this point." I say, making her perk up even as she tries to hide her excitement.
Sherrel isn't a trusting person, she's been through too much for that, but you can still catch more flies with honey and sugar than you can with salt and cocaine.
"Is there anything else you need, or are you all set down here?" I ask, making her smile slightly.
"This place is… almost scarily well-prepared, it's like you knew everything I'd need and got it before I could even ask for it. I know it's bullshit coming from a Tinker, but Thinkers are scary." Sherrel admits, making me chuckle.
I just had the workers build the room that became available when I got Sherrel, so I'm not surprised it's perfect for her.
"I like being prepared, it saves a lot of time and effort." I say simply, making her nod.
"This should be done by the end of the week, maybe a bit longer if I want to get the turrets installed." Sherrel adds, gesturing to the two mini guns sitting on the side of the workshop.
…where did she get those? I didn't do the armoury research yet.
"Bob's been a great help, even if I'm never sure where he gets this stuff from." Sherrel says, making me pause before I shrug.
"Bob is simply good at his job, I've learnt to not question it too hard." I say, making her shrug.
"If he can keep pulling rocket launchers out of his ass, I don't care how he's doing it." Sherrel agrees, wait… rocket launchers?
No, don't ask. Bob does what Bob does, I don't need to worry about it.
"Anyway, Leah? Has Sherrel mentioned my power buffing ability?" I ask, making her blink in confusion.
"Power buffing?" Leah asked, making me smile.
"Short version, I'm a trump capable of improving other capes powers, I removed some of the restrictions on Sherrel's power, and now I want to buff your own power since…" I trail off, making her laugh,
"I won't be offended, I know my power sucks." Leah agrees, approaching me. "What do I need to do, boss?" Leah asks as I reach forwards and place my hand on her cheek.
Her power is going to need multiple upgrades to be viable, but I can at least give it a start.
The first upgrade is obvious, and with a smile I grant a new power to her shard, getting a feeling of appreciation back.
"I've started simple and have given you the ability to throw anything caught in your whirlwind at a target, when the cooldown is over in a couple of weeks I'll increase the weight limit of the things you can lift but for now perhaps you should look into something light that you could carry on you? Marbles wouldn't be a bad choice, even if they aren't the most impressive, I think the throw will have enough for behind it to at least make them do some damage." I say calmly, giving her a smile which she returns quickly.
"Oh wow, that felt… thanks, boss." Leah says, shaking her head as I chuckle.
As I go to speak, I get a message making me sigh, pulling my phone and pausing as I read it.
Oh.
Amy
"Amy, would you like to explain this." Midas asked with a stern voice as she blushed. "I believe I said something about not making super-plant abominations."
"I… Umm, I can explain?" Amy said, her face bright red as her creation lashed out towards Midas with its vines, Midas's skin turning to gold as it attempted to wrap around his throat. "No! Bad, let him go." Amy ordered, watching the vime reluctantly slide back towards the writing mass of vines.
Carol might have had a point, but adding some human DNA into her creation had seemed a good idea, maybe it was the venus fly trap DNA she added?
In hindsight, making her creation carnivorous had been a bit of a mistake.
"It can hear you?" Midas asked, his skin still gold as her creation stared them down, towering over her with its vines covering the greenhouse.
"I gave it ears, kinda.. and a brain." Amy admitted as Midas looked back at the giant plant, the fang filled mouth staring down at them, it didn't have eyes but it had could sense them.
"…Amy, I was gone for less than an hour." Midas said calmly, even as another vine slowly reached out towards him, making the creature screech as he casually brought a metal foot down on it.
"I'm sorry… but it listens to me, I imprinted on it so it sees me as it's mother, I was careful to make sure it'd listen to me." Amy said quickly, making him chuckle.
"Don't worry, you aren't in trouble." Midas said with a laugh, patting her head in amusement. "Nobody got hurt, just a few minions got scared when your greenhouse was suddenly overgrown."
"…Can I keep it?" Amy asked shyly, making him chuckle.
"I think you need your own room here, before you traumatise my men. I'll have them build you a more private room, but yes, you can keep it as long as it doesn't eat anyone." Midas laughed, making her blush at his amused tone.
"I'll put it to sleep, so they can move it later." Amy agreed, still embarrassed as she reached down and tapped the viney tentacle, making the creature fall limp. "I'm sorry…"
"It's fine, I wanted you to experiment, I figured you'd get a bit carried away." Midas chuckled, his skin turning back to flesh as he ruffled her hair. "Did you have fun?"
"I… I did, I'll be more careful next time." Amy said quietly, sheepish and embarrassed.
"It's fine, it isn't going to wake up any time soon, is it?" Midas asked, making her shake her head.
"It's basically in a coma, it'll sleep until I wake it up." Amy agreed, despite the result she was fairly impressed with herself.
"Good, then you can come with me while my men work out how to move that thing." Midas said in amusement, taking her hand.
As he led her back to his office, she silently admitted she wouldn't be able to go back to healing, even now her power was flooding her mind with ideas on how she could make her baby bigger, and better, and she couldn't wait.
Carol would hate it, but she couldn't bring herself to care anymore. She'd burnt that bridge, not that Carol hadn't spent the last decade covering it in oil to make sure the fire would completely incinerate it.
Reaching Midas's bedroom, she blushed as he led her to the bed, not resisting as she already felt herself growing wet.
"I have something I want to show you, Amy." Midas said, moving her into the bed as he turned on the massive tv on the wall, her eyes widening as a picture of Vicky appeared on the screen.
It was much better quality than the pictures taken by her phone camera, and it looked far more professional as Vicky posed in nothing but the crown she wore as Glory Girl, her legs positioned so the camera couldn't see her pussy.
"What… this isn't one of the leaked ones." Amy said, watching the picture change to one of Vicky and Crystal with their naked bodies pressed together, their breasts pushed together as they both gave a sultry smile at the camera.
"Nope, it's part of a photo set she and Crystal did for charity recently, for charity. It was Prophet's idea, to turn the bad PR I gave them into a positive thing." Midas chuckled, watching her stare at the photos in shock. "But what I wanted to show you is this…" Midas said, pressing a button and making the pictures change. "They only released the softcore pictures, but the 'photo shoot' went on a lot longer than that." Midas said with a laugh, the camera looking down at Vicky and Crystal as they both kissed Prophet's cock.
"How did you get them then?" Amy asked, staring in shock as the pictures got progressively more slutty, Crystal riding Vicky's face while Prophet fucked her, making her bite her lip as she rubbed her thighs together.
"Even if I didn't already have access to Vicky's phone, Prophet's security isn't as good as he thinks, it took my hackers a while but I managed to create a back door in his systems, not that it's that useful, he's a Noctis cape and he doesn't actually write anything incriminating down. Typical Jin, always so cautious, always missing the obvious." Yin chuckled, tossing his mask off as he laid down on the bed next to her.
Staring at the screen, she felt herself grow irrationally angry, at Vicky, at herself, at someone she wasn't entirely sure.
How many years had she been struggling with her feelings for Vicky? Filled with shame and disgust at her wanting her adopted sister… and here Vicky was, happily making out with her 'cousin'.
It made her feel stupid, and kinda pissed her off even though Vicky hadn't actually done anything wrong.
"When was this?" Amy asked, biting her lip as Yin's hands slowly roamed over her body, removing her clothes piece by piece.
"Yesterday evening." Yin replied, pulling her top over her head and tossing her bra away as she blushed, not resisting as he started to gently play with her large breasts.
She had a better body than Crystal, not many people realised it because of her robe and preference for baggy clothes, but she had some of the biggest breasts in New Wave (aside from Vicky, and that was only because Vicky kept bugging her to make hers bigger every time Dean's eyes even flickered towards another girl.
Crystal was basically flat, barely even b-cups that were much smaller than her d's, and her ass was flatter, maybe Vicky just liked blondes?
…of course she did, because as much as she loved Vicky, she was well aware of how narcissistic she could be.
Crystal did look like a smaller, flatter Vicky, maybe that was enough for Vicky to be interested, she probably didn't actually like Crystal.
Shaking her head, she stopped that line of thought, she knew Crystal and Vicky got along very well, both were extroverts with similar hobbies, and it didn't surprise her as much as she wished it did, but it still hurt.
As Yin removed her trousers, she blushed as her panties were slowly pulled down with them, Yin removing his own clothes as she glanced down at his erect cock.
"Did you show me this just to hurt me?" Amy asked, making him chuckle as he leaned up and kissed her, laying down on top of her with his manhood resting on her stomach.
"Would you rather have not known?" Yin asked, gently grasping his length and pressing the tip against her still-virgin slit. "Or not have gotten to see this?" he asked, gesturing to the screen, Vicky's face scrunched up in pleasure as Jin and Crystal toyed with her body.
"…just fuck me and get it over with." Amy grumbled, one of her legs wrapping around his waist as she glared at the smug villain.
Of course she wanted to see their video, and the fact that Vicky clearly didn't mind playing around with her relatives set her mind racing, and made her pussy incredibly wet, there'd be no resistance when he took her, something he clearly knew already.
"Oh? So grumpy, would you rather I stop? I'm sure Rabbit wouldn't mind taking your place." Yin teased, pulling back as she moved her other leg around his waist, holding him in place as she glowered up at him.
She wanted to forget about Vicky, about Carol and all her troubles for just a little while.
"You don't have to be so smug" Amy growled, rolling her eyes. "Yes, you win, I want you to fuck me, my virginity is yours. Hap-" she paused her eyes shooting open as Yin thrust forwards and sheathed his entire length in her virginal cunt in one swift motion. "O-oh, fuck… you could have given me some warning." Amy moaned, even as her legs tightened around his waist.
"You asked for it, quite literally." he teased back as he slowly started to thrust his hips, making her roll her eyes again even as she started to quietly moan.
What the hell had happened to her life that lead to her willingly, and happily, even if she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of saying it out loud, fucking a villain.
One that had made life difficult for her entire family no less, she couldn't even say she was being blackmailed anymore because she'd called him, asked to be picked up and brought to him.
Her, the hero, asked her villainous blackmailer to come pick her up because she was sad. Because she had no one else she could talk to, her aunt would have tried to get her and Carol to make up, and neither of them were ready for that, who else could she have gone to?
The doctors and nurses she knew? Her classmates she never spoke to? Her sister who was too busy playing with Crystal and Prophet?
No, her closest confidant was a supervillain, and that really drilled in how pathetic her life was.
As he started to speed up, she made up her mind and grabbed him, rolling them over so she was on top, looking down at him.
"Oh?" Yin said in curiosity, his hands resting on her hips as she gave him a small dry smile.
"I want to be the one in control, I'm just using you as a distraction. That's all this is." Amy lied, making him chuckle.
"Then by all means, set the pace." Yin said, giving her a little spank as she lifted herself up, before dropping herself down onto his cock with a wanton moan.
She wasn't in control of anything, everything was decided for her by other people, but for this alone she was taking control.
Yin wasn't fucking her, she was fucking him to take her mind of her cheating mother, beautiful sister and her shitty life.
It was a tiny difference, but it made all the difference to her as she smirked down at him, bouncing on his cock as her moans filled the room.
Yin was using her, manipulating her to his own ends, but she was using him as well, for pleasure, for a place to relax and experiment with her powers.
She felt safer and more comfortable here than she ever had at home, no Carol scowling down at her, no Vicky with her misguided attempts to set her up with boys she had no interest in, no responsibilities pressing down on her, she could just do whatever she wanted.
And right now, she wanted to fuck.
Riding his cock, she moaned as he reached up and groped her breasts, his nimble digits skilfully toying with her nipples, working out all her sensitive spots.
He was good at that, working out exactly how to push her buttons, probably some Thinker bullshit but she didn't really care about the how right now.
It didn't take her long to climax, she was too pent up and her private playtime at home just didn't do it for her, something he probably knew if the smug grin he was giving her as she clenched down on his length meant anything, loud moans leaving her mouth as she placed her hands on his chest, bracing herself.
Pausing, she wondered what the hell he'd done to his internal organs, her power seemed unable to affect them, before she mentally shrugged. They all seemingly worked, they just weren't organic?
"Finally noticed?" Yin chuckled, his entire body turning to a shiny gold, before he turned back slowly. "It's one of my powers, I always keep my insides nice and golden, it's a safety precaution you understand." Yin admitted, making her roll her eyes.
"You take the whole Midas thing too seriously." Amy said, her voice slightly breathy as she started to ride him again. She'd given up trying to work out what the hell he could do.
Part of her said she should tell someone, but a larger part of her laughed the thought out of her head. What the hell would she even say?
'Oh, I was fucking Midas and I noticed his bones and internal organs were all gold.'
Yup, that'd go down so well.
Feeling his climax approach, she paused as she looked down at him, she couldn't nuke her own womb like she did Vicky's.
"If you want to cum inside, I'm making you temporarily infertile." Amy warned, as he paused before he gave her a nod, his internal organs shifting back to their original form, a show of trust that made her smile slightly as she easily made him infertile, while also increasing his sperm production and lowering his refractory time.
He'd produce a lot of cum, it just wouldn't have any chance of getting anyone pregnant, and he'd be able to perform as often as he wanted to. A silent thank you for what he'd done for her, since she was too stubborn to admit it out loud.
A couple of minutes later, her eyes widened as she felt him release his load inside her, the warm and full feeling making her moan and collapse onto his chest, silently admitting that she could see why Vicky seemed to like sex so much.
Cuddling against his chest for a few minutes in comfortable silence, she looked up at him before she gave him a long kiss, her hips already moving again.
Later
Sitting in her new greenhouse, she calmly grasped one of her creations' vines, scolding it as one of the smaller ones struck at her hand.
It didn't hurt her, but it was just enough to tell her that her creation wasn't happy with her knocking it out like that, the massive maw staring down at her, green liquid dripping out of its mouth.
She should be afraid, it looked like it could swallow her whole but she knew she could kill it with a tap of her finger, it knew it as well.
"Behave." Amy warned, altering the texture of the vine so it wasn't so rough and ugly.
As her phone vibrated, she stared down at it on hesitation before she sighed.
Vicky: Mom said you ran off?! U okay? Where r u?
Amy: At my boyfriend's place (no I'm not telling u who he is), couldn't stay in the same house as her. Explain later, I'll be back in a couple of days. Ask her if you can't wait, not that she'll tell you what she did.
Vicky: Fuck. Knew you had a man, you've been too happy lately (and always texting someone lol). I did ask mom, she looked scared, the fuck did she do? If you don't come home in two days I'm coming looking for you. Text me if you need anything, I'll be there ASAP.
Wait, Vicky was actually letting her have some space? Was the world ending?
Before she could think about it any more, a vine wrapped around her leg and made her turn her glare back towards her creation, the vine retreating immediately as it looked away innocently.
She knew adding cat DNA was a bad idea, everyone knew cats were evil.
Vicky
Sighing to herself, she just hoped that Jin was right.
Her first instinct was to fly out and search for Amy, but Prophet pointed out the flaws in that plan.
First, it would publicly announce that Amy was 'missing', and give any opportunistic villains a chance to try and find her, secondly it'd say she didn't trust Amy to look after herself and he was sure that not being trusted was one of the thugs that caused this in the first place.
She was sure he knew where she was, and when she asked him he'd even admitted that he did, but he wouldn't tell her and she almost appreciated it because it meant she couldn't go make things worse.
But waiting around really didn't suit her.
What she did know is that her mom was definitely in the wrong, but nobody would tell her what she'd done.
Ugh, this sucked.
Jin
It's time I stopped playing with Independents and tried the big leagues. The PRT are still trying to find out as much as they can about me before they contact me, but I think I've waited long enough.
There's a chance this exposes my Prophet/Midas deception, but if it does? Well, I'm well positioned enough to be able to survive it, and what is life without a little risk?
I have plans in place for if this works, and for if I'm exposed.
My hackers have spent a lot of time making both persona's look legit, and they're very good at their jobs, as is to be expected of tier 3 minions.
It was absolutely the right choice to go for cyber-warfare first, normally it'd have been a lot harder to unlock which makes taking it as my freebie a very smart move.
The biggest threat at the moment is Armsmaster's lie detector, but fortunately I have a counter for that as well, even if it comes with a new responsibility.
Guild Obligation - Assigned by Kuro T
So, Armsmaster is a lil bitch. I just killed him when I did Worm, but I jumped the gun a little. Make him suffer.
Objective: Get Dragon as a harem member, discredit Armsmaster and end his career as a hero.
Reward: 250 Guild Credits, ?
Perk Unlocked
[Fuck You Armsmaster]
Armsmaster's tech will malfunction when used on you
I have no idea what Armsmaster did to piss off one of the Founders, and the creator of my system so much, but at this point I'm not sure I want to know.
As for how I'm going to go about this, I have a cunning plan to arrange my meeting with the PRT.
"Are you ready, my dear?" I ask, turning to the side where my newest follower smiles, the creation of the League has allowed me access to a great deal more villains than I would have had otherwise, and some I chose to recruit personally instead of inviting to join the League.
"Of course, master. I will not fail you." the accented voice replies as the woman struts towards me. "I will not let you down." the purple haired woman says, making me chuckle.
Knowing the personalities of the various villains before I even contact them is very useful, and I will never admit how many times I watched the Justice League Unlimited cartoon.
At least this world doesn't have Darkseid.
…God I hope it doesn't have Darkseid.
Emily Piggot
"Director, Prophet wishes to speak with you." her intercom said as she looked up in surprise, they planned to call the number they got from Glory Girl later this week when things had calmed down somewhat.
It appears he got impatient.
"Fine, put him through and make sure the call is recorded." Emily replied, already planning out what she'd say.
"Umm, I mean in person. He just walked up to the front desk and introduced himself. He's standing right in front of me." the agent corrected as she paused.
Quickly checking which heroes were on base, she frowned at the presumption that he could just walk into their base and expect an immediate meeting with her, before mentally admitting that he was right to think so as she cleared out her next meeting and had one of the secure conference rooms prepared.
Armsmaster and Miss Militia were on base, Assault and Battery were overseeing Shadow Stalkers transport, the rest were on patrol or still getting settled in.
Sending Miss Militia a message, she scowled. She was almost certain that Prophet did this without warning to throw her off balance.
Technically the headquarters was a public area, at least certain parts of it, to make the PRT seem more approachable. But that didn't mean that capes who weren't working for them should be allowed to just walk in and make themselves at home.
Telling the agent where to send him, she made her way to the conference room herself, still frowning. They didn't know anything about Prophet, not even what his power actually was, which was why they hadn't contacted him yet, they didn't like working with poor information.
Seeing Miss Militia already there, she took her seat and gave her favourite cape a nod, not that she'd admit to liking any of them, but Miss Militia was the easiest to deal with.
"Do we know how exactly this cape managed to just enter the Rig?" Emily asked immediately, making Miss Militia nod, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"He walked, all the way along the forcefield roadway, the agents assumed he was expected because he claimed he was visiting for a meeting with you. I've already reprimanded the agent who let him through without checking his story, it seems he was convinced because of how calm Prophet was." Miss Militia said with annoyance.
"Act like you're supposed to be there, and it's surprising how few people will question your presence." Emily scoffed, making a note to throw the agent into M/S containment for a night, not because she had any evidence that Prophet was a master but purely to teach him a lesson.
Before Miss Militia could reply, the door opened and an agent led in the cape who had to be Prophet, who confidently walked into the room without a hint of anxiety.
Wearing a long white hooded robe that was open at the front, his face was completely covered by a black skintight mask, a purple symbol of an eye inside a diamond sitting on his forehead as he took a seat without waiting to be offered one.
His body was covered with what seemed like a lightly armoured, white and black bodysuit. The white chest had another diamond in the middle, with the image of a black chess piece, a king, sitting within it. Not even a sliver of skin was exposed, white gloves and black bracers covering his hands, a purple gem on each bracer.
It was a well made costume, but it didn't exactly scream hero. The King piece was fairly concerning, which he likely knew from the way his mask crinkled from his smile.
"Thanks for agreeing to see me on such short notice, I'm afraid I got bored of waiting for you to finish your investigation into me." Prophet said idly, his tone very laidback as he rested his head on his hand, the very picture of casualness as she suppressed her scowl. "Well, that and the more time you waste, the more we all fall behind, and I'm not willing to lose because you were all being too cautious."
"Excuse me?" Emily said, the cocky tone already wearing on her patience as he grinned.
"Midas is winning, especially now that he's created his League, and I'm not willing to lose to him just because you guys were being too slow. Since I'm sure you've already noticed, yes I sound like Midas, brothers often do. I came to Brockton with the sole purpose of defeating him, and he's out there winning while you all sit on your hands and do nothing." Prophet said bluntly, making her scowl at him.
"You realise that admitting you're related to a villain that's been causing us so much trouble isn't going to help you." Emily said, making him laugh.
"Panacea is Marquis' daughter, Assault used to be Madcap, Shadow Stalker had more blood on her hands than some actual villains when you took her in, don't waste both our time pretending that me having a villainous twin brother would stop you from accepting me if I offered to join. Save your breath and don't try to mindgame a Thinker." Prophet laughed, making her scowl harder.
"Perhaps we have gotten off on the wrong foot, I doubt you came all this way just to antagonise the director." Miss Militia said calmly, making Prophet chuckle.
"True, I didn't. Allow me to get to the point then, me and my brother are connected thanks to my power, which allows me to link to a single other cape and mimic their powers, along with telling me where he is at all times. I'm here to offer my services upgrading the PRT capes so you can actually keep up with the upgraded villains, for a price of course." Prophet said casually.
"You… can upgrade powers?" Emily asked in growing suspicion, watching as he took off a glove and casually tapped the desk, turning it to gold.
"Among other things." Prophet agreed easily.
As she went to reply, another agent entered the room, making her stare at him.
"Director, we have a problem." he said immediately, glancing at Prophet.
"Report." Emily replied after a moment, her finger on the containment foam button.
"Midas and the League have assaulted Shadow Stalker's prison transport, Assault and Battery are heavily outnumbered." he reported, her eyes widening.
"What are their numbers, how many capes?" Emily asked quickly, Prophet seeming only mildly interested.
"Two dozen armed men, wearing the Golden Syndicates colours. Midas himself, White Rabbit, Scarecrow, Dusty Ash, Cheetah, Jinx and Killer Croc." he replied as her eyes widened. "Dusty Ash is showing signs of having an upgraded power, she has control of her ash and is using it to blind our men. Midas has turned the transport van itself to gold, Armsmaster is requesting permission to join the fight."
"Negative, tell Assault and Battery to fall back, Velocity and Triumph are to provide support and help them get away." Emily said, growling to herself. She couldn't take that fight.
Damn it.
"The first of many defeats, your people won't be able to keep up with the upgraded villains." Prophet said idly.
"You don't seem surprised." Emily accused making him chuckle.
"Shadow Stalker is the right kind of sociopath that Midas would like under his control, so no, I'm not particularly surprised." Prophet admitted. "He does like hitting transports, doesn't he?"
"Has anyone told you that you're incredibly unlikeable?" Emily asked bluntly, making him laugh.
"As many people as I'm sure have told you the same, but when you have powers like mine, being likeable becomes fairly unimportant. Besides, I'm nice to the people I like, I just dislike government agencies in general." Prophet admitted easily.
"How exactly does your power work, if you don't mind me asking?" Miss Militia asked, interrupting her reply.
"Im fairly certain my power works… somewhat similarly to the Butcher's but reversed, I can link to a single cape and copy their powers, but I can't break that link. I have suspicions that if I was to kill Midas, I'd get his powers permanently and be able to link to someone else, but I obviously haven't tested that and I have no real intention to do so. I want to beat my brother, I don't want to see him dead." Prophet admitted. "As for Midas? His power is developing powers, he has almost a dozen individual powers and due to the link, so do I. And no, I have no intention of telling you them all, because while it'd weaken Midas, it'd also weaken me. I will warn you that Midas can turn himself into that same golden alloy if he's in danger, and while he is in that form he doesn't need to breathe. It makes his secret backup plan fairly obvious, dropping a bunch of Scarecrow's fear gas grenades and escaping."
"You realise we could be much for effective at countering your brother if you helped us, isn't that why you came here?" Miss Militia asked, making him laugh again.
"I'm willing to work with the PRT, but I'd rather tongue kiss the Siberian than work for them. One thing me and my brother share is a refusal to work for anyone but ourselves, well that and a disdain for the inefficiency of the government. I don't really care if you like me, because it's not you who makes the decisions is it? When the Chief Director tells you to, you know how to get in contact with me. Or you can save yourself the trouble of being our middleman and just pass my number to her directly, I don't mind. Since it seems you're going to be busy soon, I'll show myself out." Prophet said, rising up as she glowered at him.
She wanted to wipe the smug grin of his face so badly, the skintight mask doing little to hide his expression. But she also knew how the Chief Director would react to her doing anything to alienate him.
Something he also clearly knew as he gave her a mocking wave.
"Oh, can someone tell Kid Win that his speciality is modular devices, it's just sad how much you people are wasting his potential. Guess Armsmaster doesn't want the competition." Prophet laughed as she nodded to the agent, just wanting him gone.
Despite her anger, she did make a note to actually have the message passed on to Kid Win.
Now she had a brand new mess to deal with.
Later
Having more heroes in Brockton should always be a good thing, helping to maintain the balance and stop the PRT from being completely outclassed and outmatched.
Like when Shadow Stalker was busted out of her transport, and had to just back off and let Midas take her.
Their territory had been slowly shrinking for years, as ridiculous as it was to have to compete with the gangs for control of the city they were supposed to protect, but it was how the game was played.
But, sometimes a hero could legitimately be more trouble than they were worth, a hero who didn't understand the delicate balance of the city could destabilise everything and cause far more damage than the villain's they stopped.
It was why she hated dealing with Independents, she had no control over them and she couldn't stop them from making matters worse, like when Brandish and Glory Girl hit the Merchants and made Midas's rise far smoother.
She still wasn't convinced that Prophet wasn't working with his brother and playing them all, but she also knew that if they refused to work with him then the villains would all grow stronger while they fell behind.
It was a super powered arms race, and only Prophet and Midas had the goods each side so desperately needed.
If she didn't play along, the Chief Director would kick her to the curb and replace her with someone who'd bend over backwards for him, and she wouldn't allow that to happen.
She was well aware that the power to upgrade capes was far more valuable than she was, as well as the fact that Costa-Brown would get rid of her if she did anything to compromise the PRTs relationship with Prophet.
So, to keep her position and make sure Prophet couldn't have his way with PRT, she had to play nice, because if she was replaced they might as well give Prophet her position since whatever cape-sympathiser they replaced her with would give him anything and everything he wanted.
That, combined with her being told to leave Midas alone for now meant that this was something of a problem.
"You mean to tell me you knew this heroine was captured, days ago? You even know where she is, and you have done nothing?" The heroine staring her down almost shouted, shock and disgust on her face.
The incredibly fit woman wearing red, blue and gold armour glared down at her angrily, making her place her hand on the containment foam button on her chair, making her scoff derisively.
"It isn't that simple, but yes." Emily admitted, mentally sighing.
This was just a microcosm of the hardships she faced dealing with Independents, a powerful hero who she had now at to control running around Brockton with all the power and subtly as a wrecking ball.
When she found out who told Wonder Woman about Huntress, she would be having words.
The independent hero had come to Brockton tracking a villain named Aresia who served her mother, the S-class villain Hippolyta, but she was a true hero, unwilling to turn away from the plight of others, even when she really should.
Normally an independent wouldn't be given so much aid from the PRT, or be allowed to speak to her like this, but Wonder Woman was one of the strongest independents and once again, orders from above basically said 'give her whatever help she wants.'
"This Huntress, a former member of your own Wards, has been held captive by a villain for days, and you have done nothing to aid her? Have you no honour? Who knows what atrocities she has been put through." Wonder Woman growled, making her sigh.
"Midas's base is heavily defended, and while Huntress was a member of the Wards, that was many years ago and she left, she knew she couldn't expect us to help her after she left. Midas is-" Emily started.
"A villain, and a man. One who has taken Squealer, White Rabbit and likely other women we don't know about, I won't be fooled by his gilded words. You may sit on your hands and do nothing if you wish, I will rescue her myself." Wonder Woman declared heroically, once again confirming her dislike of independent heroes.
Midas was powerful and well-connected, attacking him without proper planning and support was a disaster waiting to happen.
Before she could even try and convince the hard-headed heroine of that fact, the other woman turned and marched away, on her self-appointed quest to poke the sleeping Midas.
He was getting settled into his territory for now, not attacking or expanding, which was ideal for them because they needed the war between the Empire and the ABB to end before he decided to push out. They just didn't have the manpower to deal with Midas and his league of empowered villains at the moment.
But who knew how he'd react to a raging Amazon and her sidekick kicking down his door.
Prophet, Prophet probably knew.
If Prophet was working with his brother, she'd be endangering Wonder Woman by contacting him, but at the end of the day her priority was the city itself, not a foreign hero too stubborn to listen to reason.
Picking up her phone, she messaged Prophet asking how he believed Midas would react to an independent hero attacking his base.
'Depends on how successful they are, Midas needs to keep up the good rep he's been enjoying, if someone damages his image by actually beating him, he'd aggressively retaliate to prevent himself from looking weak (especially now that Empire scouts have started testing the waters), but I'm almost certain that his public base is a decoy. Your independent is likely charging into a trap, unless they are attacking the hotel the League uses, in which case I imagine they'll just die. That's a hornet's nest that definitely shouldn't be kicked unless you're ready to deal with the consequences.'
Well, they were almost certain he'd moved Huntress to his main base, given the black van that left the hotel shortly after Shadow Stalker was captured, and that was where Wonder Woman was going to attack.
If the base was a decoy, which made far too much sense for it to be wrong, Wonder Woman would hopefully just come out of this looking like a fool, even if Midas getting another 'victory' under his belt was incredibly annoying.
Silently, she gave Midas the props he was due, Skidmark lost everything charging a base that probably wasn't even real.
Or it was real and Midas had multiple bases in Brockton, possibly in other areas aside from the Merchant territory… and also had the capability to move his men around without being noticed.
Oh.
Well, that was somewhat worrying.
Bonus Scene - Orika
"Jin, that night was a mistake." Orika said hesitantly, feeling Jin's hand resting in her leg, an almost mischievous smile on his face as he sat next to her on her lucky room couch.
They were meeting to go over the contracts he'd lined up, now that they were both sober, but in the back of her mind she admitted it could have been done over the phone or email, and there wasn't as much conviction in her tone as she would have liked even as Jin's hand slipped up her skirt completely.
"It was, shall we make another mistake?" Jin asked, grabbing her and pulling her into his lap as she yelped, not really resisting even as he moved both hands under her skirt and groped her barely covered ass.
"W-we shouldn't." Orika said quietly, her hands resting on his chest as he groped and squeezed her.
"Be honest, you wanted this. Why else would you want to meet me here, while your husband was at the new warehouse? Why else would you be wearing such a short skirt, such a sexy thong?" Jin asked, moving his hand back around to unbutton her shirt, revealing the matching bra as she blushed and looked away.
She couldn't deny it, even if it hadn't been her intention. She was terrible, but she already knew that.
She had a secret, something only her husband knew, she was a villain. A minor retired villain to be exact, but a villain nonetheless, she robbed, lied and hurt people for personal gain then faked her death to avoid the consequences of her actions. People died because of her and she fled to play housewife.
Her husband had accepted her, despite her history and crimes, and here she was letting a stranger molest her in their living room.
"You know, this place is incredibly run down, I'm guessing you put all your money into the business?" Jin asked, making her blink before she nodded, slightly embarrassed by how run down their house was, they didn't have the money for luxuries, or to replace old furniture.
"We do." Orika admitted, shamefully disappointed when Jin moved her out of his lap and went back to pick up his briefcase, her eyes widening as he pulled out a stack of notes and placed them on the old coffee table in front of her.
"$5000, spending money to do with as you wish… if you let me do with you as I wish." Jin said with a playful smile.
"I-I am not a prostitute!" Orika half shouted, offended even as she looked at the stack of notes.
"Of course not, this isn't a street corner, and you aren't offering yourself to every passerby. Consider this… a sugar daddy arrangement, it can be our little secret and you can enjoy the finer things in life. You've been working so hard for so long, and we both know you want this." Jin said easily, sitting on the edge of the table with a casual grin. "Now, why don't you be a good girl and remove your shirt for me?" Jin asked, his tone equally domineering and teasing as she glanced back at the pile of money.
That was almost a year's worth of groceries, she could splurge and get some better food instead of the cheap store brand stuff. She could replace her laptop with something that didn't run like hot garbage, replace some furniture…
It was embarrassing how easy she could think of excuses for the money, but as a former villain who stole quite a lot, she was used to explaining away influxes of money, even if she was a bit rusty.
Standing up, she slowly finished unbuttoning her shirt, she dropped it in silent acceptance making Jin smile hungrily as he rose, towards her and guiding her to her knees as he sat down, his belt coming off.
She was selling herself, she couldn't deny that, but she knew she was too weak willed to resist Jin anyway, she wanted this and she might as well get paid for something she'd do for free.
Ochako
Sitting in her bedroom, Ochako felt her cheeks growing increasingly warm as she hid under the pillow.
She was supposed to be out, her parents thought she was but she'd come home early when her friends had decided to go to the movies because she didn't want to admit she didn't have the money for it.
Why was popcorn so expensive in the first place?
But it meant she'd been at home, when her mother clearly thought she was out.
"Harder! Fuck me, pound my slutty pussy." Her mother moaned, the thin walls letting them noise through as she pulled her pillow tighter against her head.
It didn't do anything to muffle her mothers pleasured moans and pleas, and it wasn't until what seemed like hours later that they finally died down, making her slowly get up and peek out of her door, confirming what she suspected.
Watching a man she didn't know walk out of her parents bedroom, she snuck out of her room as he went downstairs, her heart dripping at the realisation that her mother was having an affair.
Unable to stop herself, she peeked into her parents room, her eyes widening at the sight of her mothers cum-stained body, but what drew her attention was the bank notes scattered around her, some clutched in her hand. Had she…
Realisation setting in, she snuck to the bottom of the stairs and watched the man calmly picking up a briefcase, still naked as he turned and looked right at her, making her jump as he gave her a lazy smile.
"Ahh, you must be Ochako?" he asked, calmly pulling his boxers back on, covering his… impressive manhood, not that she knew anything about male anatomy, other than a few videos she wouldn't admit to watching.
"Did you pay-" Ochako started, going silent as he approached.
"Did I pay your mother for sex? Yes, I'm guessing she didn't realise you were home." he said idly. "I'm a business partner of hers, it's just an arrangement we came to for my aid pulling your family out of debt."
Unable to think of a reply, she just watched as he finished dressing, before he walked right up to her.
"Still, that must have been a bit traumatising for you." he said calmly, opening his briefcase and pulling out some notes. "Here, call it my apology." he said, passing her the stack of twenties as her eyes widened, barely reacting fast enough to catch the tossed money, more than she'd ever had. "There's… I don't know, $500? $1000? Something like that in there." he said unconcerned, at the amount of money he was literally tossing around.
"Wha-" Ochako started, cutting off with a yelp as the older man gave her a spank on her backside, making her turn bright red as he grinned at her, his other hand grabbing her chin gently and making her look up into his intense eyes.
"That should be enough for a shopping trip, and you don't want to ruin things for your parents so why don't you be a good girl and keep this between us, okay?" he asked, giving her a smile.
Before she could even respond, he grabbed his briefcase again and calmly walked towards the door.
"Oh, it's Jin by the way, and I set your mothers alarm to go off in fifteen minutes so she could clean up, so you might want to be out of the house before then." Jin said playfully, leaving her alone with a pile of cash.
…what the hell just happened?!
Jin
And that's two powers confirmed, and there's a leaflet about UA on the bedside table in her parents room, which I briefly skimmed while Orika was out.
The good thing about Noctis Cape is that I can't forget what I read, even if I just skim something.
I shook her husband's hand when I gave him the key to the new warehouse, he doesn't have a power, so now it's just a case of matching the power Orika has to a hero or villain.
After all, the ability to produce miniature pseudo-black holes is rather noteworthy, there can't be that many people with similar powers.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone