Ok. I just want to start by apologising for taking so long. I keep forgetting how quickly time flies by, and I've been letting myself be distracted a lot by games, movies and ideas for other stories that I haven't released yet. And then there's Achievement Hunter videos, which are too funny to not watch. But I've decided that for Christmas, I'm going to work my way through as much of these Aftermaths as I can. So the next one should (hopefully) be in a couple of days. Maybe more since I've got work. And Destiny's Dawning came out. Want to get the cool stuff before it ends.

So, onto how things are changing for Dana.


Chapter 19: Aftermath – Athena

Dana was sitting at her desk, typing away at her laptop. Hacking system after system, file after file. Alex said that Gentek was up to something. Something they were willing to do anything to keep secret. People were going missing from work. He wanted her to find out what connected them; what exactly they all had in common.

He said she was the best hacker he knew. That if anyone could break into their systems, it was her. She swelled with pride at those words.

So here she was, tits-deep in company secrets. And if even half of these were true and not some weird false trails made up to catch people like her… Gentek was dirty. Worse than dirty.

She stopped typing, finding herself looking at their most top-secret folder. Something about 'Redlight'. About making it even more dangerous than before.

And on the list of names… was Alex.

Her screen flickered, just as a minor tremor shook the room. The screen now showed a skinny woman, wearing some kind of wetsuit, sitting on a table. It had restraints on it, and it was snug around her body. The woman looked up, and Dana backed away. Her eyes were dead. Empty abysses. There was no life, no hope, no anything in there.

Then the woman was reaching out of the screen, mouth split open wide to reveal hundreds of razor-sharp teeth. A pronged tentacle waved out from her mouth, her teeth rotating like some kind of wood-chipper. As she backed away in fear, the room shook more violently. One wall exploded, slamming into her. Her whole body ached.

And then something thick and strong was pressing against her stomach. Pressing her against something alive.

"Dana!" She heard Alex shout, just as the world shifted. She looked around her as best as she could, spotting Alex far behind. She was in the hands of some… monster. A giant monster that could easily kill her. She turned forward again to see the woman within inches of her face, floating above the ground. Her skin was completely pale, and her red hair was shorn in places.

Elizabeth Greene licked her lips. "You will be made anew." She said, her voice echoey. "You will become one of us. Now and forever." She moved her hand closer. Dana could feel her skin writhing as she approached, felt it start to tear as she went to pierce her skin. It hurt so much.

And then they were flying. The streets far below grew fainter and fainter as they rose. Greene was gone, left far down below. Dana turned in the tight grip around her to find a masked woman with long black hair holding her. She glanced down at Dana, scorn written all over her face.

"You are a disease." Alexandria said. "You doom our world simply because you think you know your so-called 'brother'. You keep pretending that it's really him and not some horrific monster wearing his face." The world shook, and lit up behind them. She twisted round to see a mushroom cloud, consuming everything. "But I have fixed that. I have unleashed a cure even the Virus cannot survive. And now… to deal with the last piece."

She released Dana, letting her fall away. Dana spun in the air, buffeted over and over again. The wind was great enough that she couldn't scream, no matter what. And all the while, the explosion was getting closer and closer.

She felt herself burning away. First her skin and clothes, then her muscles, and then her organs until she was nothing more than a skeleton. And still she burned with pain. She wanted it to stop. She wanted it to end.

And then the explosion met her, and her bones were shattered into dust.


Dana woke up with a start, panting like she just ran across the world without stopping. Her bedsheets were splayed around her, tangled around her legs. One hand was reaching towards the roof, grasping at air. Her whole body was covered in sweat.

She sighed, her head flopping back against the pillow. Dammit. It was just some stupid nightmare. Memories of shit that happened to her blending together into some fucked up world. And where the fuck did all the pain come from? Getting grabbed by the Leader Hunter and Alexandria had hurt, but what about the explosion? Where did all that come from?

"Miss Mercer? Are you alright?" Argus's voice filled the room. Not like it was deafening her, but in the sense that you couldn't tell where it came from. "Your heart rate increased dramatically, and you were thrashing in your sleep."

She waved a hand in front of her face. "Just a fucking nightmare, Argus. Humans get them sometimes. Weird shit that somehow got something to do with our greatest fears."

"I see." He paused. "Is there anything…?"

"Just ignore it. It was probably some one time bullshit. I just need a warm shower, some coffee, and a lot of chocolate. Then I'll be sweet again."

"Understood." Her drawers opened, thin arms growing to pull out clothing. "Will you be in civilian garb, or uniform?"

"I think uniform for now. Let people see me walking around. After we've had time to sort things out, then I'll enjoy things like a normal person." Argus pulled out items that were slimmer, and she grabbed them on her way to her bathroom. The biomass in there resembled obsidian. Or dark marble. Whatever it was called. Lots of straight lines with curves on the corners. Growths hidden in the roof lit up with bio luminance, illuminating everything with soft light. Beasts under the floors, connected to pipes, were probably already heating their insides up. Ducts inside the shower started shooting water, steam starting to blossom and rise.

Before, she would've found it weird and creepy to be taking a shower inside something living, using water that's been passed through creatures. But now, it felt almost normal to her. So the building and water pipes were made from flesh instead of metal and wood. Big deal. She stripped off and hopped under the water, sighing as the warm water washed over her.

Sensors inside the shower kept an eye (probably literally) on her needs. The ducts shifted slightly, and the water sprayed out harder. Hard enough to knead the kinks in her shoulders and back.

"So Argus. What's on my schedule today?" She asked, grabbing a bar of soap and a sponge.

"Alex has requested to see you at 10 am about a new project he is working on. After that, you have a meeting with local dairy owners to discuss the price of our crops and what would be a fair average price for their stores. This will likely take until twelve, at which point you will be having a fancy lunch with wealthy homeowners interested in collaborating with the Pantheon, followed by at least three private meetings with Mr Stone, Mr Verruca, and Mr Grant." He paused. "According to city gossip, all three are well-known bachelors.

Dana made a face. "Probably want to get into my pants. Send them all a message telling them that before they try anything, my brother will brutally flay anyone that upsets me. We'll see if they're still keen after hearing that."

"I'm fairly certain that Alex would brutally kill them if he ever knew they were asking you out in the first place, but as you say. Well then, that leaves you a couple of hours free before your meeting with Faultline this afternoon. Then you have a meeting with Themis at 4 pm to discuss mayoral electorates."

"Shit. I'm already feeling tired just from hearing about all that." She sighed, washing off the soapy water. "Isn't there something I can unload on someone else?"

"That is everything you can't delegate to someone else. Right now, you are the second most powerful and important person in Brockton Bay. Alex is too antisocial for people to approach about their problems; that just leaves you to deal with them."

"Goddammit." She groaned. "I'm gonna have a word with Alex." Her stomach growled. "But first, breakfast. And coffee. Get me as much coffee as you can." She stopped the shower, dried herself off, and dressed in comfortable clothes. Baggy jeans, midriff baring shirt, and socks. Then she pretty much stumbled her way to the dining room. Then, she stopped. And turned away, heading towards Alex's labs. Breakfast was going to take time. Might as well get her talk out of the way. Free up some space for her.

She hammered her fist against the large doors, an appropriate loud thump responding. "Alex!" She called out. "Get off your tentacled ass and help me sort out this city! I am not dealing with this shit alone, ya hear me?!"

Alex's head and upper body melted out from the door, covered by his favourite hoodie. "Can't. Busy making adaptions in here. Get the Pantheon to help."

"I am. There's still a dozen shitty things that I personally have to deal with. You publicly took over the city; it's your responsibility to rule it."

"I'm not interested in ruling. I just want people to stop taking potshots at us. Besides, I told you already that I'm busy."

"With what?" She crossed her arms angrily. "What could you be working on that's way more important than taking this work load off my shoulders and helping the city?"

"Creating more and faster ways to purify saltwater; ready-to-go bindings for broken limbs; prosthetics for amputees; testing what other materials I can convert into biomass to build more structures, roads, and the border walls; implementing Crawler's genetic enhancements into more defenders; trying to figure out how to get Alexandria's Shard."

"Hold on. What was that last one?" Alex melted back into the door, and it unlocked for her; he always preferred to show than tell. She entered into his lab, which looked like a regular lab except for sacs for glass, biomass for walls, veins and nerves for pipes and wires, and a dozen strange experiments happening alongside each other. Over to one side were a series of pens, creatures scurrying around inside. One pen held crab-like Infected, a giant spike sticking out of their backs. Another one was filled ant-like insectoid things, their main bodies shaped like a bellow and covered in spikes. And the third set of creatures were bigger, with large mushroom-shaped bits stuck on top. They were covered in holes, each containing red pus eggs. She found the real Alex standing over a table in the center of the room, light shining down on it. Strapped to the table was Alexandria, now bereft of all clothing. Dana still found it really cheesy that somehow Shards could give people the proportions of a comic book character. How did that even make sense?

Alex was currently pressing his hand to Alexandria's head, tendrils coating her skull like a cap. Her body twitched and jittered, but he obviously wasn't happy with his results.

"Oh, I get it now." She said once she was close enough. She looked back at the pens. "Nice walking turrets. Are they supposed to be trying to get to the mushroom crabs?"

Alex looked up in confusion, eyes darting to the experiments. He growled. "Dammit. Some predatory instincts must still be showing. Have to breed that out." The turrets immediately melted into puddles of biomass, merging together into a clump in the middle.

"Those our new defenders?"

"Yes. It takes longer to change Hunters, Infected, and Razorwings into turret systems. If I try to change them too quickly, there can even be imperfections and dangerous mutations. This way, I don't have to alter them so drastically. And I can adapt them when I need to."

"You realise Blizzard's going to sue you, right? Hey, is there even a Blizzard in this world?"

"I don't actually care what a video game company thinks of me. They should actually be thankful; I'm turning their weird sci-fi fiction into real world fact." He pointed at the mushroom crabs. "Fact; it is actually possible to create Swarm Hosts with an abundance of larvae. They just require nutrients from the ground. I loaded in some tree DNA to give them roots. And there's enough bug DNA that Taylor could hijack the Locust minds and direct them for me."

"She'll like that." Dana agreed. Turning away from the rip-off defenders, she looked down at Alexandria. "Sooo, you said you were trying to get her Shard?"

He nodded. "She has the classic 'Superman' powers. Flight, strength, and a virtually indestructible body. Because of that, I can't do anything to her cells. They're just too well protected. It's like trying to eat away at metal."

"And the clothes? You do realise that there's porn on the internet, right?" Alex glowered at her. He never was a fan of humour.

"Her Shard generates a minute protective layer around her. Just enough to protect her clothing. Explains why she never shows up on TV half naked. I couldn't actually shred it, but it didn't stop me from removing the suit. And it's perfectly shreddable away from her." The cap his hand was attached to shivered. Alexandria opened her mouth and started babbling in weird noises. "So I'm going for a different approach. Her mind is now braindead from having suffocated. Nothing's going on up there; just barely enough neural activity to keep her alive. I'm hoping that I could generate brainwaves strong enough to penetrate her skull and reach the brain itself, controlling the lobes from the outside. Get her to shut off her power long enough for me to consume her."

"And you think this because…?"

Alex reached for Alexandria's hair, tugging it straight out. Two blades grew from his wrist, sliced down on the hair. They just bounced on it. "Unless her hair and nails haven't changed since she first gained her Shard, she's got to have some means of trimming herself."

"You could get Siberian's power back and carve her apart that way."

"No good. It's just a projection of me. It doesn't actually have the same powers I do. And the Shard's in effect until it vanishes, meaning that by the time I could extract it, it'll be out of my reach. I want this power so badly."

"So you're not going to help me rule this city you've conquered."

"No. I won't."

"Fine, you ass. I'll leave you with your freaky lab equipment." She smiled a little bit. "Reminds me of when we… When Alex and I were younger. 'Alex, Alex. Could we go to the park? Not now Dana, I'm busy trying to figure out how to cure cancer and use that as my science project.' She shook her head. "Just don't forget; we've got that interview tomorrow. It'll look bad for us if our 'king' is late."

"I'll remember." He grunted. Knowing that there wasn't anything she could say to convince him, she turned around and headed back for dining. Mercifully, breakfast was ready and waiting.

She took a sip of her wonderful, delicious coffee… and stopped.

This wasn't her wonder, delicious coffee.

"Argus. What the hell is this?" She asked.

"Coffee. Like you ordered."

"No. No, no, no, no. This is not coffee. This is that cheap shit you find at the supermarket. What happened to the Super Coffee we make? Why didn't you serve that?"

"Because we don't have Super Coffee anymore. All our coffee beans were destroyed by the blast, and Alex hasn't made more yet. He's focusing on the essential produce we can make."

"Coffee is very essential. Very. I can't go back to branded crap." She pushed the coffee away.

"I see. So does that mean you don't want your branded cereal either?" Argus asked dryly.

"No, keep that. I'm fine with cereal." Alex said something about how he couldn't 'grow' cereal. How it needed to be processed, and the processing plant was totalled. So until they got around to fixing it up, they'd have to do with dairy cereal. With dairy milk. And regular sugar.

So many things they could grow themselves, if only they had enough time. And Alex could draw himself away from his Shards. Maybe she could convince him to create a farm Evolved. She'd name it Demeter.

Ah, who was she kidding. It'll be Old MacDonald. And it'll know that song off by heart.

She gulped down the last of her breakfast, the biomass ceramic bowls growing legs and scuttling off to the tray for the kitchen. "So, Alex has Alexandria in his lab. He's trying to get her Shard out of her. Think that was what he wanted to show me?"

"I'll ask him." Argus went silent for a moment. "It was. So that means you've got more time to talk to the dairy owners. Their union's meeting you in city hall."

Dana groaned. This was going to be a loooonnng day.


Out in Brockton Bay itself, people were walking about. Despite the current upheaval, there were still some things that never changed. People still needed bread, still needed milk, still needed internet connections. The only thing they dared to complain about was the fact that the roads had been churned up to rubble; no car could get close to the city centre.

Not even any car belonging to the villains in charge.

A large all-terrain truck pulled up at the outer edge, their path barred by cracked ground and giant holes. The back opened up, and the truck jolted as several large creatures stepped out. Built like two-legged hunters and carrying spears, they quickly and efficiently formed an honour guard for Dana, escorting her everywhere outside the city. She was dressed in her suit, complete with helmet. Maybe once they had time for things to settle down, she'd go without it. But for now, anonymity was important. She yawned as their group headed through the shopping district, passing by stores that were still somehow open and places where the owners had quickly abandoned. There were plenty of other people wandering around, but they all kept as far away from her as possible.

Well, so would she if she spotted this kind of entourage.

"Motherfucker!" She heard someone swearing loudly. She started and turned towards the commotion, spotting a man inside an electronics store arguing with the clerk. She sighed. As the new leaders, it was kinda up to the Pantheon and their forces to break shit like this up. People might get the wrong idea otherwise. And besides, it meant that she had a reason to not get to city hall early. She turned towards the store, and her guards turned with her. The first two crouched down and crawled into the shop, while the others waited outside. The shopkeeper went paler as he saw her approaching.

"Ok asshole, take a chill pill." She called out, standing with one hand on her hip. The customer turned around, still shouting but now at her. He went quiet as he realised who he had insulted. One of her guards growled deeply. She held up a hand, and it stopped. "Whatever crap you're dealing with, it's way too early to deal with it. How about we try using our words like we're not fucking cavemen."

"This thief is charging me twenty-five hundred dollars for a thousand dollar computer." The customer said, pointing at the clerk. "I am not paying a single cent more than what I got it before."

Dana gave the shopkeeper a look. The clerk looked embarrassed. "That's a bit much, isn't it? You really think you can charge a hundred and fifty percent more, just like that?"

"I have no choice. I need to charge that much to recoup my losses." The shopkeeper tried to explain. He wiped his forehead, beaded with sweat. "Most of my stock was lost during Leviathan's attack. And the rest were fried when the bomb went off over… over your lair." He waved a hand at the nearly empty shelves. "What you see here is literally all I have left."

"Then call up your suppliers and get some more stock. Things might be difficult for a bit, but you'll probably get your money back enough to stay afloat."

"I've tried. I had some ordered weeks ago. But they never arrived. And everytime I've called since the takeover, I keep getting put through to machines every time I try to find out where they are."

Dana frowned. "So you've heard nothing about your stock?" He shook his head. "What about a refund?" Another headshake. "So you haven't been put through to a single actual person?"

"Once. I managed to wait long enough for someone to answer. I started explaining my situation, but then they hung up on me." So, they were deliberately avoiding him. Question was, why? "I've got just enough for this month's rates, but then I'll barely have enough to eat. You're in charge; maybe you could waive the rates just this once?" He asked hopefully.

"Rates and stuff are Themis' area. But I'll have a talk with him about it." She turned away from them, heading out.

"Hey! What about me?" The irate customer asked. "Tell this crock of shit to give me the computer at its original price."

"I cannot give it to you any lower." The clerk reminded him.

"You heard the man; that's as low as he'll go. If you can't afford it, then I'm sure you can go a few days without your computer."

"This is bullshit!"

"Pro tip: life isn't fair. Get used to it." Swearing loudly, the man moved towards her. Whatever he was rearing to do must've been violent, because her guard roared and grabbed him with one hand, a loud crack filling the air. Then the man was thrown outside, skipping along the ground before slowly crawling away.

It was weird that a supplier would actively screw their customers over like that. There wasn't any benefit to acting like a dick; yet this was obviously more than some clerical error. Maybe his suppliers didn't want to send stuff to a city that was hit by an Endbringer.

On a complete whim, she headed towards the nearest store still in business. Once again, her honour guard waited outside except for two. But since this roof was lower, her guards were even more cramped. Alex told her that pure Infected, like the Hunters and Hydras, couldn't change their shape as easily as Runners and Evolved. For them, they just kept growing and growing as they gained more biomass, sloughing it off to make smaller Infected if they absolutely needed to.

She found the manager, asked her a few questions. Are you getting stock delivered? Have you been able to reach your suppliers? What exactly are they saying to you? She asked at a few more stores, noticing a pretty blatant pattern happening.

No one was getting anything from their suppliers. Not stock, not money, not even an explanation.

Something wasn't right.

But then Noctua started chittering. Dammit; she was going to be late for her meeting at City Hall. Cursing, she decided against running herself and just signalled her guards. One of them got down on all fours, letting her onto its back before charging off like one of Bitch's dogs. They made it to City Hall easily, but it was still a close run thing. She slammed open the meeting hall doors and practically threw herself into her seat. Image was key here. She wasn't simply Dana Mercer anymore, hacker extraordinaire and caffeine-deprived woman. Now, she had to be Athena; Second in command of Mount Olympus, public face of the Pantheon, and all around badass bitch. She couldn't appear to be late; she had to appear to be in complete control. Her guards placed themselves around the room, standing to attention.

Barely five minutes after she got herself sorted, the union representatives arrived. They all started when they saw the guards, some of them looking ready to shit themselves. At the same time, Noctua informed her that the crops had been delivered.

She gave them a lazy smile, hiding how much her heart was beating. "Gentlemen. Ladies. Glad you could make it today. Don't mind my guards; getting kidnapped out of your own home tends to leave you a bit worried about your personal safety. Think of these fellows as being here to protect you. As long as you don't try anything." She motioned to the seats. After a couple of seconds of wariness, they all sat down around the table. "Now then, to business. You're interested in purchasing crops from us?"

The leader of the bunch nodded. He had a weathered look of being outside for too long. But he was also very large and muscular. "We've been hearing the rumours coming from Mount Olympus. You and Zeus have somehow created genetically enhanced fruit and vegetables that put everything else to shame. They're said to be bigger, fresher, and tastier than normal crops." The man leaned forward. "People have been going straight to the source; leaving everyone else selling less and less. The people we represent feel that helping us out is the least you could do, after doing this takeover."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." A woman interrupted. She was taller and skinnier, mostly skin and bones. "All we have to go on are rumours. And there are fears and worries about genetically enhanced crops at the best of times; let alone when they're altered by Tinker powers."

"It's not Tinker tech." Dana replied coolly. "We're just using our skills to make better food."

"Skills that involve bioweapons." The woman countered.

Right. Of course. Noctua picked up hundreds of stories about a link between Alex and bioweapons. Guess some members of the Protectorate wanted to let the truth come out. She discreetly swiped Noctua's screen. "So you want to know how much of our stuff is in our crops." Responding to her words, Noctua accessed Alex's Hive Mind for the info. And then started linking that to her own head, at a slow enough pace that she wasn't overwhelmed.

"Naturally. How exactly do you make these enhanced crops?"

Dana sat back, crossing her legs. "Simple actually. The 'bioweapon' is able to manipulate the genome with greater ease than current science can do; a lot like how Panacea heals people. All it's done is alter the vegetable DNA to select the best features. Larger size, better taste, more nutrients… All the things that people want in their food. They then transfer these enhancements into the seeds of the crops, allowing them to be planted and pass on their genes to the next generation. Only the initial crop had any Blacklight in it; the rest are perfectly clean. Cleaner than regular crops actually. Regular diseases can't survive against the gene." She waved a hand at the door. Linking to the Infected trolley on the other side, it opened the door and carried the crops into the room. "But if you're still not convinced that what we've got is greater, try a taste first."

Half of them tentatively reached out for the trolley, flinching at the sound of the crab legs clicking against the ground before randomly grabbing something from the pile. The other half refused outright, including the skeleton lady. Those that did have food took small bites of them, savouring the taste. A few started taking deeper bites, obviously enjoying the bounty. She gave them some time to process everything.

"Well? Does it match up with what you've heard about us?" She asked them.

The leader responded. "It seems the rumours aren't completely made up. But we will need time to discuss our feelings and thoughts on the matter."

Her heart sank. This was going to be a stupid game of back-and-forth. Both sides trying to get what they want out of this. Why couldn't she let someone with a degree in Business deal with this instead? Why did it have to be her?

But outwardly, she just gave a thin smile. "Sure. I'm sure we'll come to some agreement."


"…You're right, Ms Delilah. I don't have a business degree. But I can smell bullshit, and that's exactly what this deal is." Dana said coldly.

Ms Delilah sat up straighter, looking down her bony nose at Dana. "It is a fair deal Athena. Any sound businessman would tell you that."

"Sixty percent of all profits go to your farmers, along with a crapton of testing and the ability to veto an entire crop if even one is suspected to be bad? Sounds to me like we're doing most of the work, and you guys get most of the profits."

"Your actions have nearly ruined us. Crops that were expected to cover our debts are rotting away in storage because everyone wants yours instead. There are so many expenses when running a farm; you'd know that if Mount Olympus didn't cut corners."

"You call it cutting corners; we call it making life easier. That's pretty much why people build anything. Or are you saying that we should do everything by hand again? With ploughs tugged by bulls and all that old crap?" She glanced at her wrist; this meeting has gone on long enough. "Look, let's just cut the crap. Everyone here admits that despite how it was made and what's in it, our produce is the best around. You guys aren't really in a position to say no to us; not unless you want to go out of business. I'm proposing a forty percent cut for you guys, and we'll supply most of the hard work. Luckily, you don't have to agree right now. I'll give you guys a few days to talk this out." A few started grumbling, but a snap of her fingers made the guards bang their staves against the ground. "I'm sure you'd like to keep arguing, but I've got another meeting in ten minutes and I'm starving."

Ms Delilah was the first to stand up, watching Dana suspiciously. She turned and left in a huff, others joining her. Well, Dana didn't really give a shit. She was already tired and grumpy; another minute of arguing back and forth, and she might've ordered her head ripped off just to shut her up. The other leader of the union, Mr Fortuna, gave her a polite nod as he left. As soon as they all left, she groaned and leaned back in her chair, resting her feet on the table. A guard stepped in and supported her chair for her.

"Fuck me." Dana groaned. "Fuck this town, fuck politics, fuck being in charge, fuck, fuck, fuck." She so wanted to just dump this crap on Alex; but if she could only just resist killing someone, then he'd probably be knee-deep in corpses by now. "Fuuuuuccckkk." She drew the word out. Then she sat upright again, jumping out of the chair and heading for the door. At least the next meeting should be easier. Fancy meals and sycophants trying to get on her good side. Oh, she was going to have fun with them.

Even though they were having their lunch inside city hall, she was still late. Hopefully fashionably late, whatever that meant. The rich assholes were already seated and arranging their napkins when she entered. At least she looked impressive, her guards arrayed around her in a square. They made sure she was seated before marching to stand by the walls, eyes roaming the room. The guests went still at their approach.

"Lady Athena. A pleasure." One of the guys – your standard cliché tall blond rich guy – said politely. She figured his name was Charles; He looked like a Charles. "I trust we weren't interrupting anything too…"

"Nope. Nothing important. Just some idiots whining." Dana interrupted. "Now, can I at least get some food before you all start kissing my ass? I'm starving."

Charles wrinkled his nose. "You're making this sound a bit vulgar."

"Doesn't make it not true. Isn't that why you organised this? So you could get on our good side, and see if we can help each other? I don't have the time or the inclination for fancy words. Might as well call it as it is."

Charles hesitated, but eventually signalled for the waiter to approach. "How very… blunt of you."

"I've spent all morning being diplomatic to a group of farmers and dairy owners. Two fucking hours of being polite, and we barely got anywhere. I'm too tired and pissed to be nice anymore." A waiter quickly deposited a cup of coffee by her side. She took a deep drink of it. "So, what's there to talk about while we wait for lunch?"

A woman with blond hair made to resemble a piece of art spoke up. "Well, this might be a good time to point out our finer qualities. Things that made us the elite we are today…"

"Or we could just get right down to business." A lanky man with an oily toupee said quickly. "That might be a better option."

Dana smiled. "Good thinking. So… what do you guys want generally, and what do you want in particular?"

Charles spoke up. "Well, obviously we had a beneficial relationship with Mayor Christner that made us wealthier. We were hoping to have a similar relationship with Zeus. There a so many things involved in running a city that we can't expect a major supervillain to have to deal with. And that's where we come in."

Dana ran her finger around the rim of her mug. "So basically, you want to get important jobs that'll make you guys really important or rich. Or both."

"Well… Yes. Pretty much."

"Cool. In that case, you're all hired. Don't piss us off, don't be assholes to the civilians, and don't be corrupt. Follow those rules and regular laws, and you guys can do whatever." She snapped her fingers for a waiter, as the rich folks looked at each other in surprise. "You. Get me a map of the city."

"You're going to agree? Just like that?" The art lady asked.

"Well some of the good stuff is going to the parahumans that stuck around. But the way I see it, the more stuff I get to hand to others, the less shit I have to deal with." She was about to say more, but she felt Noctua vibrating against her arm. He only did that when her systems picked up something incredibly important. She held her wrist up, and Noctua unfolded into a screen.

She only had to read the title of the article to understand the massive shitstorm before them. "Shit!" She cursed.

"Problems, Athena?" Oily guy asked politely. Probably wanted to try and get some more shit out of her 'incompetence'. Whatever. She didn't have time for that.

"Yeah. The Government's being a fucking asswipe." She said angrily, getting up. "I need to deal with it now. Mark on the map what it is you want to be in charge of, and hand it to administration. And save some food for me." She quickly left the room, her guards hurrying after her.

Fortunately for her, Themis was in his office. He was acting mayor, effective immediately and lasting indefinitely. He was in a suit, made from Blacklight to resemble a high quality material. Cost him nothing, and looked fancier than the suits the rich guys were wearing. He looked up as she entered his office. Her guards closed the doors behind her.

Themis put his pen down. "Athena. I thought our meeting wasn't due until 4. But if you're ready, I want to talk to you about upcoming elections."

"Don't have time for that Mathieu." She replied, unlatching Noctua and tossing him onto the desk. He immediately unfolded into a screen, showing the article that had her riled up. Made it big enough that they could both see it easily.

'President Declares Embargo on Brockton Bay.' It said. Mathieu grabbed Noctua by the screen, and he turned into paper; a newspaper version of the online article. He read the details quickly.

"I see. That is a bit of a problem." He said.

"A bit? A bit? They're trying to starve us! Make it so that it's illegal to buy or sell anything to anyone living in here! Because they're all fucking arrogant control freaks who can't accept that they fucked up and that we're better than them."

"I think you are overreacting. And putting too much faith in us." He put Noctua down. "Now, about the elections…"

"Forget the fucking elections. We've got bigger things to worry about than who's sitting in your fat chair."

"On the contrary. This is just as important. Right now, people see us as effectively dictators of the city since we made me Mayor for Life. People will be upset at the principle of having their ability to choose taken away from them."

"They'll get over it. We need to come up with ideas about our money." Dana started pacing the room. "Those rich bastards in the dining room could shore up our expenses for a bit. And we can use Blacklight to replace some things. Maybe sell organic computers to businesses, and then have them sell to the people. Get some tax, use that to build more things…" She groaned. "But we'll need to find someone who can supply us. Unless Alex gets creative with what Blacklight can do…"

"Dana." Mathieu interrupted her. "Look at me. Look at my desk." She groaned, but did as ordered. The desk was an old-fashioned thing. Thick and heavy. Would probably break someone's toe if they kicked it. No, their whole foot. "What do you see that you are not expecting."

"I don't know. A regular guy becoming Mayor? Pens?" She squinted. "A laptop that looks pretty damn normal?"

"Correct. This laptop looks normal because it is normal. One of the few functional laptops still available off the shelves. Do you know why I use a normal laptop?"

She shrugged. "Because you're old-fashioned?"

"Because I do not want to use a living thing that looks like a laptop. And I am not the only one, I'd imagine. People are fine with Blacklight being used for buildings, roads, and possibly clothes because it doesn't do anything else. It may change colours and styles, but for the most part what you see is what it will stay for the rest of its life. People are still wary of Blacklight; they will not accept it being used for everything." He sat back down. "I'd suggest getting in contact with the Black Market and have supply runs into the city. We will sort out sources of payment tomorrow. But right now, We need to talk about…"

"Elections, elections, I get it. People are pissed because they didn't get a say in who's in charge. So what? Do they really think we're just going to leave because they're unhappy? Brockton Bay's ours now; if they don't like it, they can leave."

I'm sure those who stay accept that there's nothing they can do about us. But that doesn't mean they will take our choice of mayor without a fight. There will be protests; riots even."

"So what are you suggesting we do? Let them pick someone? What if they turn the city against us?"

"I am not saying that we just choose anyone to run for Mayor. I let the staff know that this will only be temporary; see if anyone took the bait. I have had at least three politicians come up to me, implying that they would gladly support the Pantheon if we could make them Mayor." He waved a hand at his laptop. "I have been sent drafts for their policies and goals. We could put the list out, give people the chance to choose. That way, no matter who wins, we're still pulling the strings. And let's be honest here, none of us are politicians. They could make our jobs so much easier."

"Why do we even care? I mean, it's not like they'll be able to kick us out."

"We have to show them that we're not a group of Supervillains like the Government is telling everyone. If we act in a fair and just manner, then people will side with us."

Dana groaned. "Fucking hell. Whatever. Do what you want. I'm starving, I've got yet another meeting to deal with, and I need to figure out how to fix this fucking mess. Fuck those assholes."

"And we've got that interview tomorrow." Mathieu added. "Maybe put the embargo aside for a day or two. We've got enough capital and food to last us a while. It's the non-essentials that we need right now. We can last a week or more. Getting around an embargo doesn't happen overnight."

Dana sighed. "I know, I know. It's just… it's just one more fucking problem I'll have to deal with." She looked Mathieu in the eye. "I'm delegating. I want you to send out feeler, or whatever they're called. Get the word out that we're interested in dealing with other groups or something. You work out the details. I need to have lunch before I start murdering people."

Mathieu nodded. "Of course. I'll get right on that as soon as I sort out the elections."

"Now." She said firmly. Then she headed out of his office, heading back for lunch.

And her day still wasn't over. Fuck.


It had been a very long day by the time Dana returned to Mount Olympus. And she had practically enough of everything.

"Hold all my calls." She told Argus once she stumbled inside. One of her guards picked her up, carrying her in his arms. "Tell everyone I'm busy, and I don't have time for anything else. Actually, tell them that unless it's a fucking Endbringer, I don't give a flying fuck." Her guard dropped her gently into her room, closing the door behind him as he left. She immediately headed for the bathroom, her suit opening up and walking away. She hopped in the shower, and let the warm massaging water wash over her.

This was nothing like the comic books. They had all been about fighting and cool powers and good guys kicking ass. None of them ever pointed out the damn logistics and problems that ever came up when someone took over a city. Why did anyone ever want to take over if they had to deal with this?

"Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck." She repeated over and over. She stayed in that shower until her skin was all wrinkly. Then she put her casual clothes on, and flopped onto the bed.

"Dana? I know you said you were busy, but maybe we should go over what we need to do before the interview tomorrow." Argus said. Growling in anger and frustration, Dana pressed her pillow against her face, screaming into it. "Unless you want to leave this to Alex instead."

"No. God no. Just… Just clean the place up. Have Alex seal up his lab. Tell people to be on their best behaviour. Anything else… Get Apollo to deal with it."

"Of course. I'll begin with the preparations."

"Good. Now… Wake me up… when… it's…" Her breathing slowed right down, and her body sagged. Her arm flopped to the bed as she fell asleep. Her covers unweaved themselves around her, reforming again on top of her.

Argus decided to let her sleep until tomorrow. There were at least seven matters that she had to deal with before the week was out, and she'd probably break under the strain. Once the interview was over, then maybe she'd feel better.


And there we go. There's probably a few things that don't quite mix, but that's what happens when you start writing, take a break that goes on forever, and then jump back in. To be honest, I've actually lost complete track of the timeline for these interludes. So I'm really just adding events where I feel they flow or fit best. So if you're wondering why an interlude happens earlier or later than it did in a different interlude, now you know.

I wrote this mainly to show the things I felt one would have to deal with if they ever took over a city and weren't a complete monster looking to kill and steal everything. Obviously if you introduce a better version of anything, someone's going to complain about it stealing their business. People would be unhappy if they were told that so-and-so was the mayor, and to just deal with it. And of course, the easiest way for a Government to starve a captured city is to avoid trading with it. Mind you, they clearly forgot that Brockton Bay technically has a port.

So obviously, the next chapter is the Interview. It's basically a chance for the Pantheon to answer questions and talk about Alex's origin story. And that gives me an idea. If you guys were actual people in the Wormverse, what kind of questions would you ask the Pantheon. Any questions at all.