The Vespidian

Arc 9 Twilight

Chapter 8 Interlude: Stirrings

An underground warehouse expanded out, fading some distance away with the myriad of stacked boxes. Reinforced concrete and metal support beams lined the walls and ceiling. Armed individuals bustled about among the gathered crates and military equipment below the overhanging room. MKX Abram Seige Tanks lined one wall totaling ten in number. Their thick dual gauss cannons sat formidably on the rotatable turrets.

A little girl in a tight black spy outfit and red beret sat upon a soft leather chair, leisurely smoking an expensive Cuban cigar, with her feet up on the metal table. Nestled on a pillow to her side was a hairless cat. Standing behind Molotov was the tall, muscular form of Boris, wearing a fine suit with a red hammer and sickle tie. Molotov took a puff, before fixing her gaze upon a somewhat rounded individual. The black suit had hoses feeding into the helmet from the bulky backpack and red veins scurried along the limbs. The face was a single glowing red eye that moved about.

These were not the only people in the room, in total there were eight. The black rubber suit of Spark Spray kept her glowing, translucent skin somewhat in check as she sat in her seat beside Vira. The magnets in her electrified hair buzzed lowly. The red and flamboyant masked man sitting restlessly beside these two had his hands clutched together in front of him. Fold wore a pained expression.

Opposite these three, Glitter Kitten had on her leather catsuit on account of being furless at the moment. A purple headed woman in a leather jacket, tank top, and torn jeans paced nervously. Burnout scratched at her neck every now and again. Dr. Arbor stood off to the side against the wall. The green containment suit with a dome-like glass helmet covered her as green mist filled the inside every time that she breathed.

“Boss, I have received a report from Xava,” said Vira.

Molotov took a moment to reply, pulling the cigar out after another inhale, “Good, proceed.”

She nodded eagerly, “The anomaly appears to be formed of Psychokinetic energy. There are two forms that have opposite effects the pink causes increased dopamine and serotonin while the black inhibits these. Both cause hallucinations and hysteria causing victims to be lost in delusions and forming a quasi mind control bond between those afflicted and Sunshine. The Psychokinetic energy is fueled by emotions and feeds off of the hosts. Damage received while possessed is diminished, however, it is not enough to stop the hosts from being killed with excessive force.”

“I see.” Dully replied Molotov as though it didn’t really matter.

“What of Vesper?” asked Dr. Arbor.

“She was taken by Sunshine and transformed into some sort of cat persona. Sunshine’s physical body is somewhere in the bubble, likely in the center where the Hero League HQ was. Xava and the Robo Scorpio MKI went in to retrieve her and attempt to deal with Sunshine. If she is successful the sphere of influence should disappear and those controlled freed.”

“Any movement from Chimera?” asked Boris.

“No. What remains of the local Hero League is spread out through the city evacuating normies. There does not appear to be any reinforcements from other branches, like L.A. I believe that they have been left for dead.”

Molotov sat up straight and leaned forward gruffly putting her hand under her chin, “Mmmh, damn, they are being overly cautious. So Chimera is even willing to let one of their own die rather than risk a direct confrontation at the moment. They must be waiting for something, usually, this amount of antagonism would elicit a response. They might be trying to lull us into a false sense of security. Keep observing the situation and pay close attention to the communications network.”

To this Vira nodded, “They might not be aware of the situation. As far as we know almost all of the suspected Chimera agents were lost in sphere when it first materialized, they likely didn’t have time to request assistance.”

“Status on operation, Blackout?”

Vira took a moment, looking over a holographic image, “95% we are only awaiting your order and Vesper to return.”

“It is still too soon. Much too soon, but we might not have the luxury of waiting for her to get clear. We have at most a day before that bubble overtakes this location. If it is not stopped within the next 12 hours we will launch the operation, with or without her.”

“Even though you spent so much time and resources on her?” asked Dr. Arbor raising an eyebrow.

Molotov scowled, “This is war, sometimes sacrifices have to be made. She was bait to begin with and there are replacements for that particular task.”

Vira replied, “Bait for what?”

“Arachnaon of course. We catch her out and Chimera doesn’t have a damned thing capable of stopping us,” replied Molotov as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“I would prefer it if she was captured alive. I wish to study her, it has been a while since I was last able to and I am sure that she has changed since then,” said Dr. Arbor.

“Foolish, preposterous even. With all of us in the city we have at most a 2% survival rate against Arachnaon and that is assuming that she is alone. That percentage goes into the negatives should she have any help.”

Molotov simply smiled at this, it was a creepy smirk, “You don’t know a lot of things. For starters, she is getting old and it is slowing her down. While she is still formidable it isn’t to the point that she is a near god-like creature anymore. Even during the last raid that she killed one of the council members and destroyed a secret base, she was wounded. She is past her prime and that is why Chimera is scared like whipped Suka.”

“Even still to purposefully lure her out seems suicidal. Just last week she culled the German Parliament and assassinated Panzer’s forces for their attempt of breaking free of the United Nations.”

“He was only a rank 7 so that was nothing too impressive,” dismissively said Dr. Arbor.

The blue glowing figure who had been quiet until now spoke up, “I don’t get it, what is so important about the wasp? I know Xava and Dr. Arbor have been going all goo-goo over her, but what would Arachnaon want with her? She isn’t even a rank 6.”

Molotov took a drag off of the Cuban, “She collects Spore Spawn. In other words, others like herself. Since they are very rare she gets very, very possessive and will stop at nothing to obtain them. The only thing that drives her more than that would be the utter loathing she has for the Puppeteer.”

“Nya, what is so special about Spore Spawn?” asked Glitter Kitten.

Dr. Arbor elaborated, “Spore Spawn are those who have high genetic compatibility with the Spore and have been mutated by it directly and survived. There are currently 7 such living individuals counting myself. Technically, Vesper isn’t a Spore Spawn since she has never been exposed to Spore directly, however, she has the markers for it, otherwise her exposure to Mutigene would have killed her. Think of it as building up a tolerance to a poison by taking small amounts.”

Glitter Kitten was thinking it over, “So are all of them bugs?”

“Not all of us are. Omega ,for instance, is something like a shapeshifter. And I, well, that isn’t too important.”

“So what does she do with them?”

Dr. Arbor replied, “Usually she gets them to be obedient to her and adds them to her personal team. Although the true purpose is a bit of a personal matter, she is looking for a mate.”

Glitter Kitten looked lost before a flash of understanding crossed her face, “A mate? Wait, can’t she just fuck dudes? Ah, although if she is like us, then she needs one of her own kind.”

“That is correct. Consider yourselves lucky she has not had the opportunity to breed.”

“Da, Arachnaon having children is the thing that we cannot allow at all costs.”

“Why is th-that Boss?” chattered Burnout.

“One of her is bad enough. What do you think would happen if there were more?”

“Ah, point taken.”

“I feel as though we have gotten a bit off topic,” said Fold. “What are the contingencies for the predicament at hand?”

Molotov put her elbows on the table, “Assuming that Xava fails to stop Sunshine, then we will deal with her.”

“How?”

“Although I would prefer to wait for Chimera to show up, but it should take out that little projector. Ah, speaking of which, it is armed right Boris, Arbor?”

“Da, we can deploy the bomb when needed.”

“It is stable.”

Glitter Kitten looked around, “Bomb? What bomb?”

“A little present from Nuclear Knight or rather I should say the man himself.”

There was a silence in the room until Burnout gulped, “You, you turned him into a nuke? You are going to blow the city up. Look, I love blowing shit up, but, but this is crazy talk. There won’t be a city left!”

“The blast radius should only completely vaporize the center of the city and the surrounding 2 kilometers. As for the radioactive fallout, well, depending on the winds it could irradiate 400 or so kilometers expanding out from the epicenter. We are more than safe here,” said Boris looking over his projections. “Although that bubble might contain a significant amount of the blast and radiation.”

Glitter Kitten drooped her ears, “Boss, I eh, don’t understand why you would want that.”

Dr. Arbor replied, “Simple, we want to make more Supers.”

“I wasn’t talking to you, Nyah!”

“What she said is true,” nodded Molotov, “The more of us there are, the less power those fools will have. We are winning this war, it is only a matter of time before the Normies go extinct, we are just speeding it up a little.”

“Oh well, they will die off eventually anyway, so I don’t understand why you are in such a hurry. Isn’t it more fun to watch them suffer?” said a distorted voice.

A new person walking into the room as though they owned the place. All eyes fell on the strange mask of white covering the face. It was oversized to the point that it stretched out well past the shoulders of the short-statured one wearing it, it would be big even for an adult. If one squinted it vaguely had a heart shape. Two huge eyes sat at either end wide open to the point that they were rounded. Two rows of normal-sized eyes filled the center where a nose should be and they curled up, circling the larger spheres. An unhinged smile that looked like a jagged crescent moon spread along the bottom.

The individual wore a white and black gothic lolita dress covered in ruffles and ridges. Black elbow length gloves covered the milky white skin. A little red umbrella snapped shut as she tied a lovely little loop that somewhat looked like bunny ears to keep it from popping open again.

Dr. Arbor took several weary steps back as did Boris and Molotov’s cigar dropped from her gaped mouth. Her mouth instantly dried up as she audibly gulped in terror. Those three were the only ones who recognized this evil for what it was. The hairless cat stretched and sauntered over to the figure who bent down and picked it up, scratching the kitty under the chin, before setting her at the top their head. The confusion among the others in the room was palpable.

“Who’s a good kitty?! Miss Wiggles is! Has little Molotov been treating you well?” asked the person, nodding as they conversed with the cat, though it seemed completely one-sided, “Oh really now? Eh, so many fishies? I see, I see. Oh, the kittens? They are doing just fine.”

Burnout didn’t seem scared of this person, though she should be, “Oh, another cat whisperer.”

“What is the matter, Molotov? Cat got your tongue?” asked the person after finishing their conversation with Miss Wiggles, completely and utterly ignoring everyone else in the room.

“Yo-you came back.”

“Boss, who is this?” asked Spark Spray not understanding.

“That is the most powerful Super in the world and the Master of Kraken, the Sanguine Puppeteer,” replied Molotov.

“That is the Sanguine Puppeteer? But there is hardly any red,” complained Fold.

The mask cocked to the side, “Do you young ones not even know of me anymore? I would think that this mask would strike fear into the hearts of man. Have I really been gone that long? I could have sworn that people still thought I was running around. The Sanguine comes from the blood that flows in my wake little one.”

“Master, it has been fifteen years.”

“Ah, I suppose it has been a while. I guess, I will just have to make them learn my name, with their bodies and souls. Just like I did to you all those years ago. Assume the position,” lightly said the Puppeteer, snapping her fingers.

Everyone held their heads as their eyes rolled up becoming white and blank. The sounds of eight bodies falling to the floor filled the room, followed by the scraping of fingernails as they crawled to her feet. She hummed merrily as she pulled off her shoes and socks, wiggling her toes for them to kiss.

“That is it, animals should know their place. Acting like people, so silly, you little things aren’t people you are just my toys to play with. Good make sure you get in between the toes,” she rocked back and forth while being worshiped. “Hmmm, I should really have Vesper lick my feet with that tongue of hers, it would be wonderful. Knowing her I wouldn’t even have to mind control her. Ah, my bad habits are coming out again. Ehh, well, I guess it is fine to indulge every now and again~”

After a good ten minutes or so of letting them lavish her feet, the Sanguine Puppeteer grew bored and snapped her fingers again, releasing them from her control. They fearfully retreated. Well, save Molotov she was used to this sort of thing. It had happened to her many times in the past and could easily be considered on the light side compared to some of the things the Puppeteer had made people do. They had all been very much aware of what they had been doing, however, they had just been passengers in their own bodies.

“Let me introduce myself again. I am the Puppeteer and I am the closest thing to a God that this miserable world has. Now that you have felt my power, felt me having my way with you, overpowering you and throwing you away like a used condom I am sure that even your primitive minds can understand your place. Now just to make sure you don’t do anything stupid I am going to sit here with you and keep you company.”

“What do you want us to do?” Asked Molotov.

“That is simple, nothing. Don’t interfere with my new toy.”

“Your toy?” asked Vira.

“Oh yes. I am having a great time watching her. Sunshine, I just couldn’t resist. Such an open and vulnerable mind. Nightmare was very stupid, so sloppy, she broke down all the walls, but didn’t even bother building back up the mental defenses. I tried so hard, really I did, not to get involved, not to enter that delicious little mind. But the temptation was too great. Well, I did hold back so there is that. I want to see how this plays out. I might have to meddle a little more, but I think it is for the better. I did help her, I did free her… now it is up to her what she does with it.”

Molotov sighed, “It was another experiment, I see.”

“Of course, I wanted to see how strong I could make a weak little projector.”

Vira asks, “How strong did you make her?”

The Puppeteer thought for a long moment and shrugged, “Hmmm, I guess an 8? Not entirely sure, this is the strongest Projector I have ever seen so, who knows? It might only be a 7 though, she is a bit too unstable right now.”

“Is there a purpose to this?”

“Cause I thought it would be fun? Well to be fair, Nightmare was planning it first, granted it would have been weaker. So what if I basically just stole her plan and turned the dial up to ten. You should have seen the look on her face when Twilight-chan turned on her. Her suffering was simply magic.”

“Why don’t you just kill Nightmare?” asked Molotov.

“Oh please, and do all your work for you? Boring, where is the fun in that? Molotov, you know full well that my most favorite thing to do is to fuck with little impostors. I like watching her struggle helplessly, trying to follow in my footsteps. I wonder if I should turn her into a dog… should I train her and name her Pochi? No that is too good for her. Mmhmm, I will decide on that for later, assuming she gets on my naughty list.”

“So you are going to deal with Chimera?” asked Molotov hopeful.

“Nope, nope. My game isn’t over yet. After this I will go back to not using my powers, unless absolutely necessary, this was a eh… binge, yeah that is it, a little relapse, or something like that. It doesn’t count~” she replied whimsically. “Molotov!”

“What?” she asked apprehensively.

The Sanguine Puppeteer put her hands on Molotov, caressing her and pulling on her cheeks, “My pretty little doll. I missed my cute and cuddly little pet. We haven’t played dress up in a while have we? I have so many ideas! You have heard about cosplay, haven’t you?”

Molotov gulped, looking not only sick, but scared, “I- I have.”

“Oh? Excellent!” The smile on the Puppeteer’s mask looked even more unhinged than usual as her hand grasped onto Molotov’s head, “We are going to have so… much… fun.”