“It’s a hole.” Renee pointed out with clear and present disbelief. They’d been walking in the forest for about an hour now and the irritation - or maybe the bugs - were getting to her. The chevy-sized snake molt they'd seen probably didn't help either.

“Filled with dirt.” Lucas confirmed, rather unhelpfully in Ryan’s opinion.

“Filled with dirt.” Renee echoed as the trio stared down into the location Ryan had picked out for their base. It was a small, partially collapsed chasm that had opened up in the grassy field they were in at some point in the distant past. Nobody’d heard of a cave around here and the area wasn’t exactly known for them, but how many people did actual land surveys these days? Aside from those armchair ‘experts’ scrolling through google maps and posting finds on reddit?

Renee gestured down at it with exaggerated emphasis. “You want us to live in a dirt-filled hole, one that’s half-closed already to the point that it doesn’t even qualify as a respectable hole. That’s how bad your idea is right now.”

“That might be what it is now.” Ryan conceded with just the barest hint of amusement in his voice. “But we can make it so much more. Besides, Lucas has been in there already. He cleared out the stuff that was living inside. Plus, there’s a ton of open space so I won’t have to waste points hollowing it out. And as remote as this place is - aint nobody finding it. They might track his blood to the farm, that's where the trail will end.”

“You want me to live in a failed hole in the middle of nowhere… that your wolf has already been in. I’m not living in the sloppy seconds hole!” Renee’s voice, calm at first, rose in incredulation with each passing word. She turned towards him with an outraged glare that quickly melted as her ability to keep herself from grinning gave up the act.

Ryan snorted and asked. “Did you say all that just for a bad joke?”

Renee nodded with self-satisfied pride. “Couldn’t help it. You caught on to my power, so now I actually have to try if I want something. Games aside though, I agree with Lucas, this - ” She gave him a meaningful look with a playful eyebrow raised as she emphasized her next word. “hole will do just fine.”

Lucas grunted and said he'd go get the others. He could speak in wolf form now, but seemed uncomfortable with the reception it usually got so he remained human whenever conversation was likely. The large man shifted and, in barely a moment, the wolf was out of sight even for their enhanced eyes.

Silence reigned in the forest once more as the two stood just a few feet apart, suddenly uncomfortable without the presence of a third party.

Renee's earlier comment hadn't been entirely in jest. Ryan’s recently enhanced intelligence had enabled him to pick up on a few things when he'd had a moment to process after the battle. The two days they’d spent looking for a new home in the forest had given him the time he needed to pick through his memories and confirm a suspicion that had been eating at his paranoia.

Renee had been manipulating him - albeit subtly - with her power ever since she’d woken up in his truck.

Her original power had been a type of sensory amplification. At least, that's what he'd thought at first when she'd amplified his torture at Stella's hands. But it did more than amplify signals like pain or those reported by the five senses. Or, maybe it was more accurate to say her use of it could be more nuanced.

The young woman he'd been so attracted to since they'd met was in fact able to enhance or deaden the reception of whatever the subject heard. She could, if she pressed, effectively make her suggestions irresistibly attractive. Or make someone’s else's objection sound downright banal. She had never revealed this fact to Stella in the hopes she might eventually be able to use it to free herself. And Ryan had never directly asked.

As powers went, her's was only a first stage evolution. But her use of it was… potent. Not to mention its brief nature probably only registered on someone’s status for a second at most, which explained why he hadn’t noticed it. It also explained why he’d been so willing to forgive her when they'd met. Or potentially injure himself just for the sake of giving her a new power.

Since her power basically piggybacked on his own senses to boost or weaken the signal, she couldn't actually make anyone feel something that wasn't already there. So, the best defense Ryan had figured out for himself was to give his nerves a form of public-key cryptography. Effectively, that meant whenever she was around he could flip it on and 'encrypt' his feelings so that his brain knew which were actually his own. Or at least had a chance at recognizing foreign ones.

He'd needed that measure because full and outright immunity to her power was impossible. Well, not impossible so much that it came with a cost he was unwilling to pay. The change was similar to the ‘mental immunity’ superpower he'd tried before that, aside from the large cost, would also prevent him from editing himself ever again. Only immunity to hers basically meant no feeling ever again.

Not… ideal. By any means.

Once reasonably confident she couldn’t control him via either of her powers, Ryan had confronted her on it as they traveled. To his great relief, Renee hadn’t tried to hide. She’d actually apologized… then asked if he could really have expected her not to, given the state of the world. Not to mention the situation she’d found herself in after he’d killed Stella. Alone in her boss's killer's monster truck…the same one he'd knocked her out with.

Ryan had… somewhat reluctantly… consented the point and forgiven her but the trust they'd had was still broken. She’d have to repair that damage without her power if they were going to work together. He’d also warned her that if she used it on him again - even if it failed - he’d take away everything he’d given her. Renee had agreed to those terms and the conversation had been summarily dropped.

Things had been a bit awkward between them ever since. She was still funny, still smart, and still attractive… even without her power. But Ryan had to wonder how much of that was leftover and how much was real. It, quite simply, sucked.

In a moment of paranoia, Ryan had also gone to Lucas and given him a similar resistance. The wolf man promised to let him know if he noticed anything.

In a second moment of paranoia, he’d also checked the status of everyone just to make sure they weren't still under her. Ryahn had been relieved to discover that, true to her word, Renee’s control status wasn’t present on any of them.

Yesterday Ryan made another change. Making it so that both his mental and physical status could be called up at any time to an unobtrusive portion of his vision - much like a HUD display in first person shooter games. To be honest, he had no idea why that one had taken so long. It would instantly let him know if Renee or anyone else attempted a power on him, he’d know. It made him more comfortable around her, though not entirely.

Renee’s humor slowly left her face as the unease between the pair grew in the silence of the trees. Even after evolution, most of the forest still went quiet when a wolf showed up. Given Lucas's prestigious size, that was probably for the best.

Eventually, she broke the silence. “So, how big of a home are we planning here? Thirty people is a bit much for a four bedroom.”

Some of the captives they’d rescued had, understandably, gone back to their families. The rest either had none or had decided their chances of finding them were better with Ryan and crew than going solo. Of the ones who'd stayed, Sheila, had headed up construction crews for the better part of forty years. Unsurprisingly perhaps, she’d ended up as a dwarf. A dark dwarf, specifically - though Ryan hadn’t met enough yet to know the difference.

“Sheila says she can make it as big as we need. The only real issue will be food. Can’t rely on my uncle’s supply forever.” Ryan commented, staring down the hole like it contained the mysteries of his lost childhood.

“I’ve been thinking about that. You said you wanted to try out solar panels next, right?”

“Yeah. I’m not sure how efficient they'll be, but free points are free points.” Ryan remarked, tearing his eyes from the hole and checking out the area once more.

The location was ideal not just for its obscurity and open subterranean real estate, the field they were standing in was actually pretty open. And not just because of the hole. At about half the size of a football field, it had plenty of room to lay down panels at enough distance from the trees that they’d easily get a full day’s worth of sunlight.

“Why not use some of those free points to make food then? If the panels work, then we wouldn’t need to risk going back to town for supplies. You'd literally become that renewable food source the hippies have been after."

Ryan blinked. The obviousness of the suggestion astounded him. He hadn’t tried to make food yet, but if the costs were similar then… Well, they’d probably need more than a few panels but… it would work. While he digested that nugget of opportunity, Renee began to climb down into the hole.

“That’s… actually a pretty good idea. I’ll give it a shot once we set them up. Where are you going, by the way?”

Renee gave him a goofy grin. Even without her power, he still felt a response in his chest. “A girl isn’t going to just follow you into the dark without taking a peek herself first now, is she?” She motioned for him to follow then went in without bothering to wait. After a loud thud, he heard laughter. “Come on in, the dirt’s fine.”

That got a chuckle out of him. Ryan waited until she was at the next ledge down then followed her in, jumping all the way down to her with a loud whumpf. Thankfully his new leg muscles backed up his sudden bravado and made the long drop feel like nothing more than a small hop.

His companion giggled and gave him a well-earned golf clap of approval. Her tigress eyes were excited to have him play along and both grinned at each other like kids, happy to leave the prior gloomy atmosphere behind. Renee pointed into the dark of the tunnel system sprawling out before them. Ryan let out a low whistle. Lucas had been right, there was definitely a lot of room in here. Two tunnels spiralled off in either direction from where they stood.

You could drive a car down either and still have room to pass.

“You said Lucas explored this, but you haven’t, right? We’ve got some time before they come back. What do you say we… explore?” Renee’s eyes lit up with playful hidden meaning as she asked.

Ryan could think of worse ways to pass the time than being in confined spaces with a beautiful woman. Even if she was dangerous. Is it bad that actually makes it more fun? He wondered briefly, before deciding it was probably fine.

“Let’s go check out our new digs.”

The next few hours were spent doing just that. The pair explored the two tunnels and each of the branching offshoots thoroughly, leaving no hidden crag or cranny undiscovered.

At the end of the last one, Renee surprised him by throwing her arms around his neck. Perhaps emboldened by the notion that none could see them in this hidden alcove, she pulled him in for a quick kiss that... soon became something more. Ryan responded appropriately to the situation by gripping her tightly to him and enjoying how her curves pressed up into his chest. How she seemed to almost melt into him.

After they came up for air, Renee pulled back slightly and her flushed face adopted an apologetic expression. “I know you’re still upset with me for before…” She whispered, honesty pouring out of her. “But I--”

Ryan put a finger to her mouth, silencing her. The lithe woman in his arms was intoxicating and he needed a bit of air in order to regain full control of his faculties. It had been… quite a while since he’d been touched, least of all like this. He had to check--

… his mental status hadn’t changed. Renee wasn’t using her power. Her skin, like fire on his, did that all on its own. Paranoia can take a back seat now, Ryan. Focus on what you have. He chided himself.

Renee’s wide eyes gazed up at him, uncertainty crossing onto her face as the moment stretched. Then he kissed her. Once. Twice… and a few more times after for good measure.

Then he stopped counting. Renee met each with increasing eagerness and the pair lost themselves in the heat of the other.

It turned out to be some time before the others returned. The entangled pair made full use of it. By the time they were done, Ryan felt much reassured about the place in his life of this supremely confusing-yet-delightful woman.

Renee had even ended up using her power on him a few times, but since those uses had been rather... creative…

He hadn’t minded.

*********

After their little rendezvous - and some quick clean up in a rather conveniently placed underground spring - the pair ascended the tunnel to come up for air. Ryan set about making minor adjustments to the cave’s interior to be, if not comfortable, at least moderately livable. Not long after, Lucas returned at the wheel of BGMv2 - now with tree-chopping action - and ‘Big Mamba’ right behind. The metal bus Ryan had retrofitted had apparently earned its new title by virtue of the horse-sized snake it had unceremoniously pulped on its way over.

Once everyone was reasonably moved into the main underground chamber, Ryan and co. set about retrieving dinner from the vehicles parked above. It wasn’t the most showy affair, but MREs did have M&Ms in some packs so… all in all it wasn’t half bad. Almost nobody choked.

As they sat down Ryan met first with Lucas, then everyone else and handed out a homebrew superpower of sorts. One he’d come up with as a response to his now totally justified and completely healthy paranoia of someone he’d helped working against him. One he decided everyone who joined their merry band would have to accept. And if they refused, they could leave. After the shitshow he’d seen growing up, Ryan had no intention of trying to run a democracy during a global apocalypse. It was his way or the cocoon-husk-filled highway.

Would you like to grant Lucas the superpower: Blood Oath? Cost: 50 points. Yes, or no?

Blood Oath: Grants the ability to make an oath of blood that, if broken, will immediately inflict one or more status conditions, determined at the time of making, upon the oath breaker. Blood oaths are made by blood-to-blood contact and must be entered into willingly by both parties.

Warning: Blood oaths do not expire and one can only be released from them by reversing the process with the original party. Death may be selected as a potential status.

Everyone was then summarily bound to the death by the following two oaths:

Not to intentionally directly or indirectly harm, or work to harm, Ryan or others given this superpower by him. Not to share information about Ryan, his power, their new base, or others given this superpower with anyone without Ryan's explicit, verbal permission.

He'd considered adding something in there about following orders but… that was basically mind control with extra steps. Nobody objected, though he'd expected at least some to do so. These past few weeks must've been worse for them than I'd thought.

After everyone had made the oath and eaten their fill, Ryan got up and walked to the center fire. Lucas followed and stood just behind him on his right. The silent, imposing wolf man was quickly becoming something of a reliable shadow for him. Not a second in command, Renee seemed happy to slide into that role, but more of a right hand man.

His presence was reassuring. Ryan didn't have much experience with public speaking. Doing so in front of 30+ staring pairs of eyes, each of whom relied upon and were entrusting him with their safety, didn't make it any easier. Speaking in front of the only light in an otherwise dark cavern with naught but moonlight in the corner would help. The stones would make his voice echo and he felt like the backdrop would help magnify his newly muscled presence. Give his words more authority than any podium could. Or maybe this is starting to go to my head a bit.

Regardless, it was time to set the tone. Lay down the ground rules. Present the game plan. For tomorrow… they had work to do.

"Alright, everyone. I'm no good at speeches, so I'll lay down what I have to say and then we can open up for questions. First things first: as has been shared with some of you, my power goes quite a bit beyond just keeping everyone honest or renovating old school buses."

That part got a few half-hearted chuckles from some and serious nods from others who'd come to the very same conclusion themselves. He imagined, for them at least, that fact played a large part in why they'd decided to throw their lot in with his in the first place.

Ryan flexed the fingers of his right hand and drew all the diamond he could summon to his arm. Then, he tried something new and pure, shining diamond shimmered its way across his face. Though he hadn't planned it, the diamond skin encasing his skull gave his voice a reverberant quality that magnified it somewhat without having to shout.

"As long as I have the energy, I can change anything - or anyone - I want into something else. Any superpower you want, I can grant it… with time and enough energy, anyway."

That got their attention alright. Most began to lean in while several tried to cover their surprise behind a covered mouth or reserved expression. Still, their eyes gave them away.

"... which is why Marcus wants me. 'Dead or alive', apparently. And he’s willing to pay a lot of money or kill a lot of people to do… well, I imagine for the same reason he wanted all of you. So before I cover my response to his magnanimous gesture, what exactly does our illustrious mayor want with people like us?"

A young man with wild red hair was the first to respond. Wisps of fire exited a wide mouth filled with rather inhumanely sharp teeth. If memory served, the man’s name was Kevin.

"The bastard can mess with your head. The effect seemed to… stack on itself, sort of. It got…" Kevin looked down at his hands. "harder to resist every day. When my first roomie gave in, he was… different. All he cared about was doing whatever that son of a bitch wanted. He left with them willingly an hour later and I haven’t seen him since."

Another fucking mind control super? Just how many people have that damn power?! Mind control was quickly becoming one hell of a strong argument for the whole "anti-mutant" argument in comic books.

Renee stepped forward, confusion in her tone. "But… that can't be right. He's got so many following him - all of them can't be under his control at the same time. All powers, even his-" She gestured at Ryan with her thumb. "-have their limits. The duration of my control goes way down with each person I add to it. The strain of too many gets… intense. Quickly. And if that breaks, they're free."

Kevin just shook his head. "I don't know how it works. All I can tell you is what I know. The rest of you felt it too, didn't you?”

The red-haired young man looked out at his compatriots. “You heard that quiet voice in your head, the one trying to overpower your own? The one shouting louder and louder every time he came by?" The young man's voice slowed to a chilling pace as he spoke, until it was barely above a whisper. His eyes were distant, looking in as much as out.

From what Ryan could tell as he followed the man’s gaze, the others knew exactly what Kevin was talking about. Some held their arms gripped tightly to their chest. Others had various unsettled expressions. A few shared the same grim look he had, lost in their own memory of it.

At least until a senior, frail-looking man with energetic blue eyes that sought to defy his clearly diminishing stature, barked up in a commanding voice. "Hey now, that's enough of that, y'hear? He may have gotten into yer heads, but every mother's one of you ran him out every time! Sent ‘is horse running for whatever hills he calls home. That’s why you’re - it’s why we’re all still here! So be proud of yerself for it!" The old man - John, Ryan recalled suddenly - stared out mean-eyed at everyone shivering with the emphatic, come-on-now energy only old men seemed to have. His posture daring them to say otherwise.

Noone did.

John nodded to himself and settled back down into his camping chair with a satisfied harumph. Then he busied himself with the still-uneaten morsel of maybe-steak left in his teeth as if the matter were settled.

The mood in the cavern lifted some. Lucas spoke up. "John's right. You all resisted him before. Now, this guy-" Lucas placed a hand on Ryan's shoulder and gave it an encouraging rub. "-is going to give you the chance to do more than that. So let’s hear the rest, yeah?."

Ryan nodded and thanked Lucas with a nod. The big wolf removed his hand and stood back. He's been much more supportive since we got his wife back. Ryan reflected as he spared a glance over at his fuzzy friend's spouse. Lucas’s wife - Carrie - hadn't left her wolf form since they found her. Their children hadn't been among the rescued. Unsurprising. I can't imagine how she must feel. It had been all Lucas could do to keep her from running out into the city after them. The only thing that kept her was a harsh truth: that they had no idea where the kids were being kept.

Ryan faced the small crowd once more and turned slowly to face all of them as he spoke. It was a public speaking technique he’d learned from some self-improvement class back in his college days. "I won't promise you false dreams. Our world is at war and this town - our town - is just the start. Now that we're all bound by oaths, however, I will share my power with you all as I can. And all I ask in exchange--" He clenched his diamond fist to make the following point.

"-- is that you help me take down bastards like Marcus. Whether that's on the frontline with me or making life better for us all back here, I don't care. There are people who need me - who need us - and I intend to help them. If that sounds like too much for you, or it ever gets to be, just say the word and you can walk with no restrictions. This is not a dictatorship. But it's not charity, either. So if you walk, know that I will be taking back the power granted to you when you leave."

Nobody moved until it was clear Ryan was done talking. The cavern remained still as the grave on a cold night - maybe more so, given that it was deeper down.

Then John began to clap. The sound echoed across the dirt and stone until it found an answer in Kevin. A young woman named Alura stood and added her own response. As did Sheila and a middle-aged bouncer who went by the name Hudson. Then the whole room stood.

Ryan got an honest-to-goodness standing ovation filled with cheers of ‘Hell yeah we’ll help’, ‘Let’s do this’, and ‘About damn time someone did something’.

Their new leader looked around at his band of superhumans and fantasy races. Ryan felt true excitement begin to well up within him for the first time in a long time. As if slow-running rivers of flame were now rushing full-torrent through each and every one of his veins. A part of him knew then, with utter certainty from truest depths of his soul.

This… this the start of something great.