A Hell of a Time

"Tell me about Coil."

The two men were armed and had gotten into my house. It was too risky to fight them, dad was right there and I had a little girl just upstairs. So, I had to get them talking.

"Coil is a man who wants what's best for this city," the man with the gun at his hip said. "And he needs the help of strong Parahumans if he's gonna do it."

"And why does he want me," I asked, trying to keep the man talking.

"You'll have to ask him yourself, young miss." Something about the man's inflection made my skin crawl.

"And how am I to do that?"

"We can take you to him, easily."

I placed my hand on my chin and made a show of thinking about it. "Alright, take me to him."

The man closest to Dad went to the door, opened it, and walked out. The man with the gun on his hip gestured for me to follow, but instead, I walked up and hugged Dad.

"The director's numbers are on my nightstand," I whispered in Dad's ear, before releasing him from the hug and heading outside.

There was an honest to god limo parked in front of the house. The man with the gun followed up behind me and walked me to the backseat of the limousine, and soon I was sitting between the two men while a third drove us off to, what I assumed, to be a super villain's lair. I couldn't see where we were going with the two grown men on either side of me, and no one was talking.

After at least an hour, during which I think we'd been driving in circles, the limo stopped. The man on my right, who'd had the gun at his hip, took out a strip of cloth.

"You aren't getting out without a blindfold," he said. I sighed, figuring that if we were here, it meant I was probably already surrounded, so I allowed the thug to blindfold me.

Another half hour of walking, during which I was quite literally pushed in the right direction. I figure that it wouldn't have taken so long if we hadn't had to stop so one of the assholes could pee. Anyway, a half hour after being blindfolded, the damn thing was taken off and I was in a room with dozen guys dressed like soldiers and equipped with some fancy looking guns-Their stat screens said "Mercenary" and gave levels from 1-5, and sitting in the middle of was a bone-thin man dressed in a skin tight black suit, with a white cobra pattern on his face. The Man's Stat Screen said "Coil Class: Mastermind. Titles: True Villain." Strangely, it didn't give his level, not even in question marks.

I asked him, "Coil, I presume?"

"You presume correct, Akuma," the presumed villain replied.

"So," I asked, "you're the guy who wants to fix the city. What do you need me for?"

"Isn't it obvious," the man asked smugly?

"No, it's not," I answered. "I'm just a Brute. I'm not even that strong for a Brute." Really, from what I understood parahumans with extra strength and toughness were a dime a dozen.

The man laughed. "Please, Ms. Hebert. We both know that you're nothing like other Parahumans." Oh god, was this another one who knew? Am I gonna wake up tomorrow and find out that I'm literally the only person in the world who didn't know about angels and demons? "You? You can do anything if you put your mind to it, a trait that your kind possesses" Well shit, he did know. "I dare say that with proper training, you could grow to easily dwarf the Triumvirate as a whole. With someone like you at my side..."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, "and why should I join you? I've got an offer from New Wave, I can easily go back to the Wards, and Hell, if I wanted to be a villain-" fat chance of that- "I've even gotten an offer from E88," technically true. "What's your offer?"

The man laughed, "straight to business I see. It's quite simple really: New Wave? The PRT and their pet Heroes? None of them have this city's best interests in mind."

I blinked. "Explain that to me."

"Do you honestly think that the city is declining because the people in charge are helpless to stop it? The protectorate could easily wipe out the Merchants, and with the PRT and Wards with them could cripple the Empire." the man stood up. "With New Wave's help, they could even take Lung if they all fought him at once. But no. They're too busy playing at being heroes to be real heroes."

"And someone like you could do better?"

"Truthfully? No, not without help," Coil said, "I've numerous capes and mercenaries in my employ, but I still need more."

"And how do I know you're telling the truth about what the Heroes could do? About what you're planning to do?" Seriously, this guy's plan to recruit me involved sending armed men to my house.

"You left PRT headquarters in quite a hurry this afternoon," he replied, "specifically after Shadow Stalker rejoined her fellow Wards while you were visiting." Did he have spies in the PRT building or something? "It didn't take much digging to find that you had a history with miss Hess. And they know too."

"What!?"

"Oh, the so called heroes know exactly what kind of person young Sophia is, Akuma." The man gave a mirthless chuckle, "she was given the choice of becoming a Ward or going to Prison after she crucified a man. If you were to tell the director exactly what Shadow Stalker did to you, she wouldn't be surprised and would do nothing to bring her to justice-They'd rather have her to play hero with than put her away for her crimes."

"Again, why should I believe you?" Gallant... Gallant seemed nice. If he'd known about... There's no way in hell that... If that's what a probationary Ward meant, then she'd have to have a case worker or something, right? A case worker would have reported on every time Sophia got sent to the office for fighting or picking on someone that wasn't me. She'd...

"It isn't even the first time they've done something like this," Coil continued, ignoring my question. "Have you ever heard of a man called Madcap?" Coil was pacing around me by now. "He was a villain that attacked Birdcage transports and freed the dangerous villains inside. By all means, when he was caught he should have been sent to the Cage himself."

"I take it he wasn't then?" It's bullshit. He's trying to feed me bullshit.

"You probably know him better as Assault." See, bullshit... But, if he was right about Sophia, then it was certainly... Plausible.

"You keep telling me these things, Coil," I said, "but you haven't given me any proof."

"I suppose I haven't," the man replied nonchalantly, "but it's not really the kind of thing I can prove. You'll just have to see for yourself." I was now pretty sure that he's lying through his teeth.

"Okay, you've given your reasons," I answered, trying to keep him talking, "but you haven't given me a reason why I should join you, only ones to keep me from joining the PRT."

"Perhaps a bit more incentive is required?" he was behind me now, with a hand on my exposed shoulder. My skin crawled at his touch. "I have businesses, legitimate and... otherwise. I have fingers in every industry and contacts at every level of this city's government. I understand that your father's been lobbying to get the ferry up and running again" Seriously, how does he know this shit about my family? "I can help with that. I know about your troubles at school, and I can easily get you a transfer to Arcadia." Well, that was tempting, but... "I can pay your say... two thousand a month, plus bonus for a job well done. I can move you and your father into a home away from the gangs..." he let go of me and walked around in front of me again. "I might even be able to give you friends."

I blinked. "What?"

"You're far from the only teenager I've sought out," he answered, "right now I have a young man doing what he has to do to save his little sister, a girl who ran away from a father who exploited her, a boy who never had a chance to be normal, and a girl branded a dangerous killer because of a freak accident. Lost and scared children, abandoned by their families and failed by the system until Uncle Coil took them in. Were you not failed by the system yourself, Miss? By the school that allowed you to be shoved into a biological hazard? By the PRT who allowed a budding psychopath to go free?" What he was saying made sense but... He offered me his hand. "Join me, Akuma. Join me and together we can clean up this city and make it great again-and make your life significantly more comfortable in the process."

I was tempted. I even reached out my hand, but then I remembered what I saw on his stat screen. This man was a true villain. He was evil. I retracted my hand.

"I'm afraid that I'll have to decline, Coil."

He chuckled again, "And I'm afraid that that isn't an option, Miss Hebert. You can either work for me and get every benefit I've offered... Or you can decline, and I have your father killed. And that little girl in your house, too."

How did he know about Sicily? No, not important right now. Now was the time to be mad. "And doesn't that make you just as bad as the PRT?"

The man shrugged, "I'm sure you've heard the phrase about making omelets. Now make the choice, money, or a dead family?"

I don't think I had much choice, but suddenly another mercenary rushed into the room. "Boss, the Protectorate are here!"

Coil's body language changed. He seemed frightened and confused now... And then he stumbled as if receiving a massive shock.

I jumped back and held up my clenched fists. "I choose option three: Fuck you Snake Face!"