2 Weeks later

Sometimes the lesser of two evils barely qualifies as evil. I was not particularly greedy, but I really wanted a car, and I was not going to give the DRM any more cooperation to get one.

I had demanded and received, 50 grand more to run a survey on the third team, out of Milwaukee. They were closely connected to the teams out of Detroit and Chicago and had decided that the Great Lakes defenders team 3 was perfectly fine. I still had a lot more work to do with Blackhawk, and he let me know that when the new Blackhawk had a bit more training, he was going to ask for my assistance in giving him the custom elixir. My reply was that if I had the time, I would make a better version because Blackhawk was an institution and my previous formula had been a bit rushed and makeshift.

Speaking of rushed, Glinda was a bit of a problem. I had given her space to take care of her kid, but she still insisted on sleeping at the foot of my bed unless I specifically ordered her not to. There was probably something I should do about it, but aside from finding a formula that I demanded she take that helped increase the distance on her portal, turning it into an ‘improved quantum portal’, I wasn’t currently making much use of whatever talents she possessed. I had been very busy.

I understand that drugs, in general, were considered bad, but after talking to Kjootoo about it, rapture, the name that the Res Loco Cartel had been marketing my substance under, really only affected the sex lives of the narcissistic elites that chose to spend incredible amounts of money on it. I had a lot more energy now that I was healthy and had improved my abilities, and was able to produce 200 doses fairly easily with a solid day’s work. The stuff was utterly untraceable, and because I didn’t qualify as a meta my own energy signature was likely untraceable as well.

I only accepted 400 grand from Kjootoo to distribute the load, even though he insisted that with its current scarcity, he could pull 12 grand a dose easily. Did I mention he was technically a drug dealer as well as a pirate? Haiti and his allies in Jamaica produced varieties of weed that were very popular in Hollywood, and he could use his network to move it even more easily than the weed since it wasn’t technically outlawed.

Rapture’s market was more than happy to keep their supply of nonaddicting, totally legal happy sauce away from the DEA. As long as the dealers didn’t sell it alongside some of the nastier Meta-produced substances, like Echo, which Kjootoo disapproved of both on principle and the reality that it brought down the authorities hard. The fact that Kjootoo preferred to deal in non-destructive substances was another reason I was more than willing to have him as my ally.

He joked that with the number of debts both he and Caelo now owed me, he might have to marry her to me just to break even. I wasn’t ready to settle down entirely even with a delightful girl like Caelo, so I told him I had a lot of favors I was going to ask him for in the future and didn’t want to wreck my chances of having him find me an entire ship full of teenaged redhead superheroines desperate to become my sex slaves and feed me grapes. He grinned and said he’d work on it.

Aquantis was going to stay in Detroit, with the team, for the time being, and Akiko promised that she would get in touch with me later after a few things stabilized. I spent another evening with Mariah renewing our acquaintance if by ‘evening’ you included still working on her wonderful body when the sun came up, and flatly ordered Vectress not to come anywhere near my bed that evening.

Now that her power was boosted, Vectress was able to dispatch a portal for more than a minute most of the way across the country, although the effort tended to exhaust her. I intended to exploit her abilities for some time in the future, though, because I wanted to head back to Virginia and resume my interrupted schooling, but I was not even remotely interested in a long-distance relationship with Aquantis or missing out on a potential tie to Kyokudai.

“So you are heading back to Virginia instead of going to the next DMA site? I don’t know what happened to Antonia, but my boss told me that the DMA is going to send out another meta agent when they can get one assigned. They still want you on the project, and you know how politicians are, even with the settlement signed, they think they own you.” Baldwin stated as Alison, who refused to stay with the Detroit group sat next to us in the subway sandwich shop. I had given Glinda an untraceable visa card with a ten-grand limit, and she was in the process of grabbing us sandwiches.

Baldwin was a little confused about Vectress’ presence, but I told him she was my personal assistant and her and her son would be accompanying us. Her appearance was a perfect fit for Baldwin’s fantasies, so he couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off her. She simply ignored him unless he spoke to her directly, so I doubted he had a chance. He seemed a little confused by her lack of interest even when he turned on the charm since she didn’t seem to be my lover or have any other romantic interests, but I simply shrugged and told him she was an exemplary personal assistant.

I nodded, “Yeah, but apparently the overendowed individual that made a mess of the Sanjira Cartel’s Puerto Vallarta operation is on Proteus’ list right now as a supervillain. I wish I was a fly on their wall because they think I had something to do with it, but you know? All the tests they had me take that were supposed to identify me as a meta came up negative.”

Baldwin nodded, “Yeah, I think that’s why they are just sort of leaving me with you in Limbo until they can get someone else out here. Axeface has disappeared, no one knows where, and so has Agent Andropolis. Right now you are registered as a power offender, and yet there’s no evidence of you using a power except for a few medical records of you healing fast. If they have me pull you in as a parole violator, a giant barrel of legal worms gets kicked over, and even the DMA cannot afford the fees of the Lawyers that would descend on you like a cloud to try and take your case. Cruel and unusual punishment is just the tip of the iceberg, this thing could turn into a DMA clusterfuck of divine judgment proportions, not to mention wrecking Max's reputation and possibly re-election chances.”

I nodded and accepted the sandwich from Glinda as she brought back our orders. I was rocking Toby in his carrier with my foot, keeping a close eye on him as he napped. I think the kid might have been a little underdeveloped socially, he didn’t cry or fuss much except when there was a real problem, and I don’t think he got a lot of interaction when he was being held with the others in the Cartel’s holding rooms. I don’t know what happened to the others, but I wasn’t particularly interested either. I had done what I had gone to do, and now Glinda, or Vectress, was mine to do with as I pleased.

I had expected her debt to be grudged, and for her to hate me, but when I analyzed her she just seemed happy, protected, and occasionally very, very horny. I didn’t get it, but I needed her help and cooperation and getting it freely was far better than forcing it. Technically she could walk away at any time, but her absence of fear when I checked implied strongly that she was perfectly fine right where she was doing what she was like I was in my cell.

Alison was even stranger. She had refused to be left behind, almost going into a panic when I tried to make excuses for her to stay with Aquantis in Detroit or head back to Chicago. She was an oddly quiet girl, and still refused to allow me to scan her. That was her right, and she didn’t seem to be particularly worried about the fact that I might shortly become the most wanted man on the planet. She had her own financial resources, and sat at the table with us, quietly listening to the conversation. Weirdly, I found her mysteries extremely appealing, but that might have been because I hadn’t touched Aquantis in a few days.

So here we were, back in Fairfax. I had a few errands to run, including applying for a family tragedy waiver at the university and resuming my degree. One of these days I intended to become a doctor before truly embarking on my career of villainy and vengeance, and at that point, I know it was stupid, I could justify changing my super name to doctor something.

Outside of the window was a white Secret-service issue minivan. The first thing I did when I got here was to purchase a 2022 Dodge Charger, which I considered one of the most beautiful cars in existence, and find a nice four-bedroom farmhouse slightly out of town where I parked it, all in cash. That had burned my ready supply, and I knew that I could pick up more by heading down to Haiti to create more product for Kjootoo, but I should have enough to work with for some time, even accounting for both my classes and the ones I intended Glinda to take. I wasn’t going to live forever, and I intended Toby to be well taken care of even in the event of my untimely demise, which meant the woman who was taking care of him, my property, needed to be prepared to be on her own.

Glinda came from a wealthy family and refused to have any contact with the uncle who had helped raise her and her sister. For some reason which I planned to get to the bottom of at some point, she hated him and didn’t want to touch his money, and blamed him for her sister’s death.

“So, are you sure that you want to head to Jim’s? Technically my job still includes protecting you, and Sif is still a member of the protectors. She could get antsy and put you in traction before we cleared up your status, and there’s no way I could stop her if she decided that you were a supervillain breaking parole that needed to be apprehended. I know you left a text message with Calliope, but in the end, Sif is still one of the Defenders.”

I shrugged, “She has the information I need. Plus, I want to get both Alison and Glinda signed up for fitness training. It will greatly improve both of their abilities, and the next time a call for Siberia action comes, we are heading out.”

Alison was glaring at me through her thick glasses, and I shrugged, “You said you were sticking with me until we have to save the world. I can’t scan you, but you are in shit shape. Your power causes side effects, and side effects are easier to handle when you are fit enough to deal with them. I work out a lot, and I won’t let you just hang around and watch when I am working my ass off. You’d probably get kicked out of the Gym. Jim’s isn’t a health club, but there are more than a few female members that are serious about working out. While I figure out how to get my lifting on, both of you are going to be turning into lean, mean, muscle machines.” I grinned a little, “Plus, being fit, and I don’t mean pumping up like a female wrestler, will make you ten times as attractive. It’s also fun, and guys who are willing to work hard to get in shape generally aren’t afraid of putting in the work to make a life. You might meet some guy that you like. Or even a girl you like.”

She sighed a little, “I get your reasoning, but if some guy busts on my glasses or talks about my tits I cannot promise I won’t curse him with ED. I can give bad luck too, and I get lucky in return. I know you are joking about being a supervillain, but for me, it would be stupidly easy and rewarding, it’s an effort to not rationalize.”

I nodded, “Yes, although you might want to just slap him instead.”

After finishing the sandwiches, a big pile of them for each of us except for Baldwin, who was technically a big guy but could not touch the amounts of food the two girls regularly consumed, we piled into the van, Baldwin driving. Technically, even if I had my license, it would have expired a while back, and I needed to also see about getting a replacement birth certificate, social security card, and license.

We had a full set of luggage this time, for all of us, but most of it was back at the house. I had insisted that each of the girls pack a day bag with clothes appropriate for working out, as well as towels and the usual stuff for getting cleaned up afterward. I liked the smell of a sweaty girl, but if we headed anywhere else later it might be inconvenient to smell like we’d been working out. I didn’t expect to get any exercise in, I doubted I could even find a challenge at the Gym anymore, but with a little work, I imagined I could find a good routine for the girls while I looked for sparring opportunities.

I glanced at Glinda, she was rubbing Toby’s tiny belly where he was locked backward into the seat in his carrier. Her expression was guarded, and she hadn’t spoken much, probably due to the fact that I hadn’t given her permission, and if she asked for permission to speak Baldwin would give her a funny look.

I still hated the bitch, but over time, my hatred had relaxed to just a general grumpiness about her. I hadn’t had much of a chance to talk with her yet, since each day had been full since then, finishing up with Detroit, cooking drugs, and getting crap squared away, but so far she had actually done stuff occasionally without being asked, and much of her own time was taken up caring for Toby. She was the boy’s only mother now, and I was growing rather fond of the little shit-making machine.

I know she had things tough, I had a sneaking suspicion that the uncle she’d mentioned was one of those funny uncles, and I’d be paying a visit to him soon. I was a vengeful bastard, but you know what? Vengeance tasted just as good cold as it did hot. I liked my vengeance with bananas and fudge on top.

The problem is, she was growing on me. I didn’t forgive her, but I could sort of understand the horrible situation she’d been in, and I felt a bit like Agent Andropolis did about the Echo thing. Yes, I know what she should have done, what she could have done, but she wasn’t me, and holding her to my own standards might not be the right play.

It didn’t help, of course, that every day I was away from Aquantis, or she needed down time, when I saw her sleeping at the foot of the bed I had to force myself not to throw her over the bed and pump that plump bottom until she screamed. I needed to talk with her seriously, but more importantly, I needed her abilities. She was surprisingly intelligent when someone wasn’t holding a gun to her head, and I might need that intelligence as much as I needed her portals.

Even understanding her plight, I wasn’t letting go of her. She was mine now. Maybe that makes me a monster, I didn’t care, but it didn’t help that every time I touched her and got a scan in she came back as content or frustrated, protected, and aroused. What did that make me?

There was an old series of books by John Norman that had been a bit of a joke because in over half of each book the protagonist wound up explaining to various slave girls that they were naturally suited to it. It gave rise to memes like explaining to a toaster how they were naturally and sexually suited to making toast, and dogs that tried to explain that they were innate bacon thieves due to their nature.

I figured half of the nerd psychology in the book was absolute shlock, but if there was ever a woman suited to being a slave, it was Vectress. If anything, her powerful abilities were a source of unhappiness and stress rather than empowerment. I knew pretty well that it was possible to break a human and damage their mind to the point that they welcomed servitude, but with Glinda, it just seemed to be natural to her, especially since I wasn’t asking her to do anything she didn’t seem to want to do already.

Would it be the responsible thing to do to… use her to relieve my needs? I was well aware that she wouldn’t say no, but it would be a ragefuck. She had enhanced durability, which was an extremely common ability for anyone that donned a cape, almost a prerequisite, but it would probably still be rough. Aquantis had it too, and sometimes I was just too much for her.

That was another thing I needed to find out more about. What were the ethics of abusing someone that wanted to be abused? Would it change the dynamics, and make her try to flee? I still needed her, so I resolved to clamp down on my libido until I knew better.

Hmm. Maybe I had a source right here, and it would be a little bit until we got to the gym. It wasn’t that it was a long trip, heck, the drive from my new house to the Gym was only ten minutes and I could run it with ease, it was that we had been picking up some very, very special items for both the girls from a specialty surplus shop. High-intensity military-grade polyprovantus was neither cheap nor easy to find, and I would even have to do a little monkeying with it to make it fit perfectly and protectively. I wasn’t going to have even the one I sort of hated unprotected in a fight. It was my right to punish her, she wasn’t getting away that easily.

“Hey, Adam. Have you ever messed around in the BDSM scene?” I asked him.

He nodded slightly, “Yeah when I was younger I kinda got involved in it. Met my first sort-of wife at a munch. Turns out that enjoying getting spanked and enjoying paying all of the bills when I was away on assignments were not related. Why, are you looking for a bear? You will have to ask a lot nicer than that.”

I shook my head and noticed I seemed to have all of Glinda’s attention before she looked away, back at Toby. “No, I was just wondering about the ethics. I mean, I assume it’s okay to spank a girl during sex if she enjoys it, right? So she can say no if she doesn’t want it anymore.”

He nods, “Yeah, that’s why the part-timers have safe words. I wasn’t really into most of it, that’s why I quit, but there’s this whole set of rules about what’s safe, sane, and consensual.”

“Were there some people that it was not really a game for? Like actual sadists and masochists and stuff?” I asked.

He started turning the wheel and half-nodded. “There are, but… well, real sadists are sick fucks. They get sent to prison eventually and then the chair, and most true masochists are that way because of a messed-up past. They think they deserve it and enjoy it because it makes them feel validated or punished or whatever they need to stabilize after whatever happened.”

“How about people that are just born that way? I don’t mean sadists a real sadist is a sociopath and needs to be taken out of circulation, but were there some people that just… it felt natural with?”

He smiled a little bit, “Okay, I am not going to bust your chops cause that feels like a real question. If you ever get into the system and avoid the idiots calling themselves psychologists, you start to realize that most people enjoy either being dominant or submissive. Hell, a good dominant makes the best sort of boss or CEO, and often has gifts like leadership or organization that can make a company rich.”

“There’s more complicated stuff, of course, but it’s not psychopathic. A lot of women… I am not going to say all of them because there are always exceptions, but, a lot, have a submissive streak. That’s why we are trained to take down female targets differently from males. Males tend to have three panic modes… fight, flight, or negotiate, while women tend to have four or even five panic modes. fight, flight, negotiate, submit, and deny. Some shrinks will tell you that deny and negotiate, or submit and negotiate, are the same thing, but when your principle’s life depends on judging the right mode for target 1 before you can deal with target 2, you learn that they are very different in practice.”

He shrugged, “There were some girls that the scene was just sort of protective towards, though. They were called no-limits types. Usually, people have limits, but no-limits types don’t even have safewords. They don’t have any idea when they have gone past what they can handle, and are super vulnerable. They can be forced to do anything, go to any lengths, and never realize they have gone too far for their minds or even their lives.”

He pulled into Jim’s parking lot, which looked almost identical save for the types of cars scattered around the lot, from 3 years ago.

“They are submissives, but because they have no limits, they tend to latch on to a particular dominant permanently. That can be awesome, some of the best lifetime relationships I have ever seen have been between a true sub and a real dominant that was willing to do what it took to be a good master, but it can also turn to abuse, horror, insanity, and even death if some poser jerk or serious sadist gets ahold of them.”

He grinned, turning off the van and opening the door. “You’d better avoid munches, though, because a good master type needs to know what he’s getting into, and you kind of radiate the whole master vibe. You’d be stripping the part-timers right away from their masters and they’d be fighting over you, and every true sub in the place would be like… trying to quiver and look subby so you’d notice her. You’d probably walk out with three of them lapping at your heels and swearing to serve you for the rest of their lives if you’d just touch them.”

I thought about it for a moment as we headed across the parking lot, I left Glinda wrestling the car seat with Toby in it out by herself, because she was paying way too much attention to the conversation “How hard would it be for someone that was a part-timer to talk one of these girls, or maybe boys, into doing something suicidally stupid or incredibly immoral?”

He sighed and shook his head. “Absurdly easy. They are incredibly naive when it comes to manipulators. They crave… people who radiate control, competence, and protectiveness, and will do anything, and I mean anything, for them if they feel like the other person is in control.”

I sighed, “Are there ethics about dealing with them? Especially if they cannot say no?”

Baldwin chuckled, “It’s way outside of ethics, honestly. It existed probably a long time before humans even thought about stuff like ethics. It’s a pretty good survival trait if a woman is trying to find a big, strong provider and protector, especially if they are pregnant and helpless. The closest I can figure, the rule is that you just don’t do anything unless you truly care about them, and if you care about them you can do anything you want, as long as you remember that you are the master, and the owner, and everything you do or have them do, is your responsibility. You literally can do no wrong, because if you really care about them, nothing you would want to do would, or even could, be wrong.”

I nodded and we walked into the gym.

As we walked in I felt as much as saw the strong platinum blonde woman with incredibly short hair who stepped up next to me. “You know,” Sif said conversationally, “You are an idiot, right?”

I nodded, “I am told that constantly, yes. I kind of expected you to put a knife to my throat out in the parking lot, though.”

She nodded, “I could have, but every time I started to move in your direction, she,” And she waved a hand towards Alison.”Was always looking right at me. If not for her, I could have killed you six times before you came in the door.”

Alison blinked innocently and smiled at Sif, “You must be Sif. I did not see you.”

Sif looked startled, “But you watched me like a hawk every time I came close enough to strike.”

Alison shrugged, and took off her glasses and cleaned them. “No, I didn’t. I have terrible eyesight. I must have just been looking in your direction.”

Sif shook her head in disbelief. “I may have misspoken. Perhaps, choosing allies that can penetrate my abilities, you were not an idiot.”

I smiled and shrugged, “I am slowly learning. Very slowly.”

She nodded, “You know, you are on the DMA’s apprehend for questioning list. Right now, I am supposed to be bringing you in unharmed but secured. Something happened that has Proteus poking the DMA to invite them in to assist in the capture of what they call your monster.”

“My monster?” I asked curiously.

She nodded, “Yes, apparently Proteus is convinced that you are some kind of summoner or have control of some kind of monster that attacked a Resort down in Mexico. One of the local Prometheans tried to intercept it, and was having some success when it crushed his leg.”

I nodded, “Is he okay?”

She nodded back, “Yes. He said it apologized to him and handed him what it called a regen potion. He… took that as friendly intent, drank it, and didn’t save any for analysis. He was fine a few minutes later, but by then it had finished wrecking the resort and had left. The way he described the potion suspiciously resembled the potions that you were known for creating, and so Proteus is working under the assumption that you were an ally or controller of the creature somehow.”

I nodded, “And since I am not completely in the wind, they sent you to pick me up?”

She shook her head, “No. They have no idea that you sent Calliope a message meant for me. That’s a standing order. Care to tell me what’s going on? Or do we spend a few minutes sparring until you cannot move anymore, then I carry you off?”

I smiled at her evilly, “I think you would find me much more a challenge than you were prepared for, but I am not leaving my people, and I love this old Gym, I wouldn’t want it wrecked So how about you ask me a few questions, and then I ask you a few questions?”

She nodded and walked over to one of the benches. I raised an eyebrow at Baldwin, and he directed the two girls into the gym. He was in great shape for his age, so I knew that he would know his way around a gym. I sat down next to her on the bench, and she inspected me. “You have gotten much denser and stronger since we last met. I doubt very much you would be a challenge, I would encourage the trial, though.”

I sighed. “Look, I know you have this whole persona thing you have to keep up, but I am not buying it. You may be older than me, but you aren’t that old. You need to be intimidating, I get it, but I am not going back under the DMA’s thumb, If you decide we should fight, then let’s go have a beer, find someplace far away from civilians or old places either of us cares about, and throw down. If not, then let’s talk about sex or the DMA or whatever and behave like civilized people, fair?”

She chuckled a little, “Fair enough. We can always throw down later. I thought the sex talk was covered pretty well the last time we spoke, though.”

I smiled, “Last time we spoke I wasn’t convinced I could put you over a table and have my evil way with you. Now I am. That changes the conversation a little.”

She smiled a little and gave me a challenging look. “Perhaps later we can try that too. But for now, do you know anything about this monster?”

I nodded, “Yes.”

“And what can you tell me?”

I shrugged, “That he attacked a resort in Mexico, got into a fight with one of Prometheus’ little bitch enforcers, won, healed him, and disappeared.”

“What I just told you.”

I nodded, “pretty much. I know a little more, like why the Resort was attacked, but I cannot share a lot, and anything I tell you will be complete hearsay evidence in a court of law.”

She nodded, “So tell me why it was attacked?”

I chuckled, “Now we get into the meat of it. It was attacked because it was a holding and special distribution facility for the Sanjira Cartel. It was attacked because it was a distribution point for cocaine products as well as nastier stuff like Echo into the United States, and money and both Metatech and military weaponry returned. Unless you think the artillery, rockets, autocannons, and miniguns are normal equipment for resort police?”

“It was a center for human trafficking, and it was attacked because that was the best and quickest way to dramatically weaken the Sanjira Cartel, and to allow its less destructive competition to carve out a chunk of territory. Sure, its competition is criminal as well, but it was a case of the lesser of two evils being barely evil at all in comparison, and that is not the most important reason.”

She raised an eyebrow, “And what would the most important reason be?” she asked curiously.

I shrugged a little, It was risky, but she wasn’t your normal meta. I think she would appreciate the truth, and it was hearsay in court, not that it would ever get to court. “They pissed me off and deserved to die.”