The Vespidian

Arc 11 Blood Moon

Chapter 1 Interlude: Transgression part 1

Several days after the Hammer Strike

Nightmare sat in a daze she was hungry, thirsty and the stench of unwashed bodies made her nose wrinkle. Slowly her eyes panned over the room and the few people she had left under her control. Panther and Captain Metal stood near the door wearily watching the outside through the boarded up windows. Their suits ripped, dirty and stained. Even her outfit was in tatters, her mask sat on the table, a deep gouge in it where a bullet would have gone straight through her brain if she had not been wearing it.

Gnome sat in the far corner, her body encased in what was once a car making her appear as a strange chromed out golem. Her arms wrapped around her knees as she rocked perpetually to the point that it had worn a groove in the concrete floor. Nightmare sighed looking away from the shell shocked girl, knowing that she was going to have to fix that later, or at least get it to the point that she can point it at her enemies and unleash the girl’s powers on them.

Disk Jockey sat across from her. His goggles cracked seated on his head. Despite being visibly shaken, he looked more bored than anything else. It was understandable, the kid was addicted to tech stuff and was going on three days cut off from even being able to use his phone. Why? Well, the last time they had used anything that could be traced, the Cyber Swat had swarmed their location within minutes. This meant only one thing that Vira had hacked their devices. Realizing this, they destroyed or abandoned all phones or anything else that could be tracked. They had escaped, but now they had nowhere to go. The city at large was too dangerous; it was too tightly scrutinized to move about in. Every camera in Bronson City was searching for them and even with Disk Jockey hacking the cameras that in itself proved only to slow down the response time of the villains. It also served to tip them off on where they were due to blackouts being a red flag.

In essence, they were being hunted. Usually Nightmare would have used Panther and skipped town; however, she had been given new instructions before having to destroy her phone. One of which was that she was not allowed back without capturing Vesper. Arachnaon had heard of it and given specific instructions to bring it back or not to come back at all. This objective was Nightmare’s only chance at redemption. Failure was not an option.

That damned wasp! If only it didn’t exist. Nightmare could have just left, and she wouldn’t have to be sitting in this godforsaken, run down hell hole, hiding. She wasn’t meant for field work. This was what the mind slaves and the controlled were supposed to be doing this was indeed beneath Nightmare. Yes, it was lowly peon work that she shouldn’t have to do. It wasn’t fair. There were many better-suited people to be doing this. Like Mantia or Jackal, those two loved to get into the thick of it. For that matter, why didn’t Arachnaon come to take the wasp if she wanted it? Someone as important and valuable as Nightmare had no business getting her hands dirty in this disgusting and dangerous place. She lamented the current affairs, but there was a reason she was here. Normally, after a quarter of the city had been decimated she would have assumed that the wasp was dead. However, she had it on good authority that it was alive.

Speaking of Mantia, where the hell was she? It had already been days since she had requested so eloquently for withdrawal and support. She should have been here already. It takes less than a day to deploy operatives around the world. So where in the fuck was that god damned bug bitch? What was taking so damned long? At this rate, Nightmare might get killed.

No, no… they, they would capture her since she had valuable information. Killing me would be foolish. Nightmare reassured herself.

She ground her teeth for a moment, rubbing her scabbed forehead. How to lure it out? Could it even be lured out? Last she had heard it was barely alive and was in critical condition. In that case, there is no way that it would come out, which meant that she would have to go in and abduct it right from under the nose of Kraken. She gulped, trying to wet her dry mouth. With her current force, it was impossible. The other issue arose; she had no idea where Vesper currently was. That being said, there were ways of finding out; it was just a matter of getting her hands on the right people. For now, she would have to scout and hold out for when the Hero League showed up… they were late.

Why did incompetents surround her? Yes, it is not her fault that things went so badly. It was their fault. Yes, all their fault. If only she had better pawns to use.

As much as she hated it, she would have to do something on her own with what pieces she still had. Losing Agony, Chief, Neon Nurse, Sunshine, and Medavac in the Twilight incident made things even more difficult. Agony had been useful, if not a little manic. Without Neon Nurse the Cyber Swat got hacked and went rogue. Medavac might have been a horndog and a bit of an idiot, but he was sturdy at least. Fire Chief… she regretted losing him the most. After all this was sorted out she had planned to ship him out and have him work on Chimera projects. In one foul swoop, she had lost all of her essential pieces.

Her options were now minimal, however, there was one high ranked in the underworld that she could reach. That would be Glitter Kitten. If she could get her, then all sorts of insider information would be usable against Kraken, and the way to abduct the wasp would become a lot easier. Still, it was easier said than done to capture that wild cat.

A scratching sound drew all eyes to the door. Everybody tensed up, and then there was a knock, it repeated twice. Nightmare let her breath that had seized up in her throat escape… safe. The reinforced door opened and all eyes dipped to the small stature of the animal girl carrying in bags of food and bottled water.

The girl had tanned fur on the back with a large splotch of white on the belly. Her large rounded ears flicked as the door closed behind her. She set the bags down on the table. Not saying a word the rodent girl sat obediently gazing up at Nightmare, the stumpy little tail wiggling.

Reluctantly Nightmare reached down and pat the gerbil on the head, “Good girl.”

Excitedly the rodent lay on the floor exposing her soft belly as she squirmed about in bliss. “Nibbles did good!”

“Yes…” she replied vaguely, her foot pressing down on the overly happy rodent. “Any news?”

Nibbles thought things over her beady little eyes squinting from time to time. “Glitter Kitten is in charge of the Slum stuff so none of the other gangs will be coming down here. So Mistress is safe here.”

Yes, that was right; they had resorted to hiding in the Slums. Much to Nightmare’s displeasure. They had no running water and electricity was used sparingly. Every night was cold and filled with fear that ferals would find them, or worse. Nibbles was a handy tool. Nightmare nodded to herself once more for having such foresight to mind control this little thing last time they had come down here. Naturally since that time she had been reinforcing her control whenever she gleaned some more information about the Mad Dog’s movements.

At this point, Nibbles was slavishly loyal. To the point that if Nightmare told her to, then Nibbles would kill herself. It was more or less irreversible by mere will power. She sat contemplating what to do. Initially, she was going to use the gerbil to keep track on things down here, but now things were a bit different. She rubbed her temples even as her foot mashed at the giddy creature below her. How was she going to gain more useful slaves? Nibbles incessantly rubbed against her foot.

Nightmare kicked the gerbil, “Stop that you stupid animal- wait,” She leaned down staring Nibbles in the face, “Tell me, how trusted are you?”

She squeaked, “Very, very trusted!”

A disgusting smirk filled Nightmare’s face, “Well then here is what I want you to do…”

***

Glitter Kitten lay on her bed, yawning and stretching. Her bed, though soft and substantial was getting a bit beat up. Claw marks and ripped fabric dotted the area. She lazed there nodding in and out from sleep. She was tired after running around on errands for Molotov. Her tail twitched, though she was annoyed over being used as a gopher, she didn’t have much choice. If she wanted food to be supplied, then she had to do what she was told.

She had other problems too. Her kittens were getting to the age that they should likely be going to school, or at the very least learning some more villainous things. Street smarts were necessary, but this was a big world, and it was best to learn from those with experience. Currently, Nibbles and some of the others were teaching them, but that could only go so far. The problem was there wasn’t really a school for subhumans or rather none that would accept them. Despite how vicious and cruel Glitter Kitten was when it came to her kittens she was overprotective and doting. She usually wouldn’t even consider sending them to a school, but she had learned from Molotov’s way of running things that brute strength and instinct could only get one so far. She would have to ask about that next time they met.

Among her many concerns was the missing members of her gang. It wasn’t uncommon for people to die, but it was rather alarming how twenty-five of the weaker members had vanished over the last two months. Usually, it was after the full moon when they would be discovered to be missing. If the number of vanished were smaller, then she would chalk it up to ferals or picking a fight with something they shouldn’t have, that sort of thing was common after all. The problem was that recently the Mad Dogs had been confining themselves to the breeding pens on the full moons in order to keep themselves out of trouble. It was a kill two birds with one stone situation. It prevented them from rampaging, and it satiated their heats.

So if ten or so went missing every time it started to leave a dent in their numbers. If Glitter Kitten were not reduced to being a wild horny bitch cat in heat, then she would have gotten to the bottom of this problem herself, but as such well… she needed outside help. It would be foolish not to ask even if her pride tried to get in the way, that had long since been beaten out of her. Though she wouldn’t mind if Vesper came down to help with things she knew that the wasp would likely get dragged into the crazed animal person orgy and that wouldn’t solve the problem.

It would be fun, and she wanted to wallow in those pheromones again, not to mention Vesper’s thing… her dick or whatever the hell that thing was. It didn’t matter what it was, just the thought of it sliding back into her made Glitter Kitten shudder. Her ears drooped, remembering the state that Vesper had been in last she saw. Vesper wasn’t particularly up and about at the moment. She was still not even able to walk. Hell, she didn’t even have her abdomen anymore. Poor thing was just a torso and a head with an arm. It was a wonder she was even alive.

Glitter Kitten had meant to visit and the more that she thought about it, the more that she really should. The problem was, things were rather hectic. Gang wars popping up, ferals running wild, the whole city was riled up out for blood looking for Nightmare and what remained of the Hero League. There was just so much to do and no time to do what she wanted to do. Truth be told Glitter kitten wanted nothing more than to take a few weeks off and just relax. She hadn’t even had too much time for her Kittens lately.

Her nose scrunched a little, speaking of those little terrors they were awfully quiet today. Usually, they would pounce her when she was trying to rest. The lack of fur balls assailing her… it was suspicious. Which meant the little trouble makers were up to no good. Hmm, well she had not heard anything break, and there were no pestered cries. She would have to ask Den or Nibbles later. She rolled over snuggling up into the pillows to take a well-deserved cat nap.

Or at least she was going to until she heard the door creak open and soft feet approach.

Lazily she rolled over, her ears flicking. Her eye peeked open, “Fucking hell Nibbles! Stop sneaking around.”

Nibbles seemed to be sweating, worried over something, “Glitter Kitten…”

The cat eyed her, “What is it? You are creeping me out.”

“Sorry.”

“You seen my Kittens around?”

Nibbles looked lost in thought for a moment, “I recall seeing them sneaking around the porno theater, I scolded them, but I doubt that they listened.”

Glitter Kitten rubbed the back of her head, “Nyahaha well I guess they are getting to be that age… being curious about things. Not the worse thing they could be getting into. It is no surprise really; the oldest might be getting their first heat soon anyway so. The little furburglers grow up so fast. I remember when I could hold them in hand and now they about to start caterwauling. It seems like it was just a blink of an eye. Nya… if it like that we will have to lock them up on the full moon or else who knows what they might get up to. Well, I will just have them with me so it should be fine.”

“Sorry Glitter Kitten,” said Nibbles.

She tilted her head, “What are you sorry about?”

“Den… Den Mother wanted to talk to you about a feral nest that she found.”

“Nyah? A feral nest? Why didn’t she tell me herself?”

Nibbles trembled, “She wanted to keep an eye on it.”

“So? It is just a feral nest. Why is she worried?”

“It, it is a scaly nest.”

Glitter Kitten’s eyes opened wide for a moment, and she nodded, “Oh… alright show me where it is at, I will get Thumper, and we will clear it out.”

“Thumper is already there too.”

“Why the fuck didn’t you guys tell me?”

Nibbles hesitated, “We didn’t want to disturb you. You have been running yourself ragged lately.”

She sighed and pat Nibbles on the head. She couldn’t really be mad about that; they were being considerate. “Alright, I get it let’s go.”