[Brockton Bay]
"This was it." Glory Girl psyched herself up. "All or nothing."
On this bright sunny winter day, they were fighting for the fate of Brockton Bay. The air boomed as she rocketed through the ruined city streets around her. The chaos and misery that was Brockton Bay now amplified as entire city blocks burned, roads were pockmarked by high explosive ordnance, and the din of bitter warfare echoed all across the city. And unfortunately, those weren't the only sounds she was hearing.
"You're much too late!" The ugly goateed mug of Saint appeared on her HUD to gloat. The crazed leader of the Dragonslayers with his wide-open eyes and his manic grin frothed at the mouth. "Soon, Dragon will be dead and the Dragonslayers will conquer the continent with the technology we will claim from her digital corpse."
No sooner than he finished his sentence did a call from Magos also pop in- a portrait of him with his trio of green optics whirring appearing at the corner of her HUD.
"I can still save her!" the cyborg panickedly refuted, "Glory Girl! We're so close to the Manufactorum now! You and your allies must escort us back for just a little while longer!"
Halfway point reached!
Time Remaining: 7 Minutes 14.343 seconds
Dunecrawler Shields: 66.2%
Glory Girl just shook her head. This was going to be incredibly close.
As she flew around the corner of a blasted out apartment building, the {Onager Dunecrawler} came into view. The large, four-legged tank carried the metal throne on its roof that was occupied by an insensate Dragon in her green power armour.
Affectionately named 'The Crab' by everyone, this twelve-foot-tall walker-tank which was also her main objective hurriedly stomped down the cratered roadways- the heavy thumping of metal on ruined asphalt echoing through the ruined city.
"Glory Girl is here!" Kaiser, one of her teammates, called out from beside the tank and looked relieved as he waved her over. Both he and Shadowstalker were walking beside the Crab, ready to lay down their lives protecting the main objective for this gruelling final stretch.
Shadow Stalker was less than impressed by her arrival though.
"That's nice, but is she sure that the road ahead is clear now?" the Wards heroine asked- without even glancing in her direction. The cape in all black had her crossbow up and was scanning the distance for hostiles.
"Oh, just get off her back, Shadow." Kaiser grunted in exasperation as he preemptively blocked off alleyway approaches with thick bars of steel. "Have some faith in your teammates, we have gotten this far, haven't we?"
"Only barely." She gruffly retorted behind the stern frown of her mask. "The Crab lost 30% of its shields through that last stretch of road."
"What are you even doing here, Shadow?" Glory Girl asked in a completely puzzled tone, "And where's Snubnose?"
Snubnose, a Seattle Protectorate cape who stomped around in a 800 pound metal armour and could launch short-ranged concussive blasts that caused antigravity, was also their team's dedicated tank cape- meant to distract enemies and soak up damage that her squishier teammates wouldn't have survived. But a solo operative she was not; and right now, she was protecting no one but herself.
"Did you let Snubnose go off on her own?!" Glory Girl demanded.
Kaiser sighed at her question- shaking his metal-crowned helmet.
"Shadow bullied Snubnose into switching duties with her." He said, "Snubnose is now the one taking the southern objective area."
"You let our tank- who has zero ability to escape bad situations- go off alone and unsupported?" Glory Girl rounded on Shadow Stalker, "Are you insane?! She'll just get picked off!"
"It's better than me going! The south objective area is too far!" Shadow Stalker bit back, "If a fight breaks out, I won't get here fast enough to save your asses!"
"Ugh, you braindead gloryhound. " Glory Girl just muttered and turned on her comms to check on the last member, "Oni Lee, how is your side objective coming along?"
"Met some trouble with the Eastern Uplink Station." the ABB cape answered immediately, "Give me a few more seconds to handle the gun servitors guarding it and... Done!"
Uplink Station Claimed: 2/4 (0.2% Progress per second)
Uplink Station Progress: 75.1%
Immediately as they passed the 75% mark, Magos once again appeared on her HUD.
"That's it!" Magos' modulated voice exclaimed in relief. "Hold onto the Uplink Stations for a bit longer and we'll be able to halt the Dragonslayer's hacking attempts and clear this misunderstanding with the Triumvirate! Once we do, we might be able to call upon their aid!"
"Oh, I wouldn't bet on that." Glory Girl sullenly muttered under her breath. They couldn't possibly hold onto those three Uplink stations AND escort the Crab to the finish line. No, it was more so that they were denying it from the enemy capes. If the enemy reaches 100% first, then they will be the ones who will have the Triumvirate on their side. Just one of them, but they're the Triumvirate for a reason.
It was a brutal balancing act of strategic objectives: Defend the Crab, but don't let them have the Uplink Stations lest they summon the Triumvirate. Control the Uplink Stations, but don't let the Crab go undefended or the Dragonslayers will overwhelm it. And that was in between the legions of servitors of both sides that constantly warred over the burning city.
"Snubnose, how is the southern objective area?" She called out through the comms.
"I'm holding steady, but all the servitors are whittling me down."
Waves of allied servitors with their big metal claws and arc guns fought their enemy counterparts in a never-ending meatgrinder. They may be ugly with their half-machine and half-mannequin appearances, they were probably the most important part in this fight.
Most of the time, the opposing waves of servitors were evenly matched, and both sides would perish on the battlefield that they clashed in; but with help from a cape, the scales could be tipped in their favour and they'll snowball and advance towards a side objective. Like what they were doing right now against Snubnose.
"Fuck, the enemy knows you're there." Glory Girl cursed under her breath. "Can you hold the area?"
"Hell no!" Snubnose replied, "They're whittling me down here, I'm going to have to pull back to grab a health pack in a minute."
"I'm on the way." Shadow Stalker reported, "Hold off the servs for just a while longer."
"No!" Kaiser shouted, "We don't need that side objective as badly as we need this main objective! I don't do enough damage on my own."
Shaker capes like Kaiser did indeed be like that. The Kaiser's power of extruding metal objects from surfaces were more for deterrence and controlling enemy movement than actual offensive power.
Coupled with the fact that it was well known that Shaker capes got more powerful the more they stayed in one place, and people can conclusively say that Kaiser was a defence-oriented cape... regardless of what the E88 fanboys would say.
"He's right, Shadow Stalker." Glory Girl said with a frown. "Snubnose will hold the objective for as long as she can before pulling back. We're too close to securing victory with how close we are to the finish line, so they're gathering all they got for one last all-or-nothing attack. If we manage to stop their attack's momentum here, we'll squeeze out a victory even if they manage to kill us all."
But apparently, Shadow Stalker had different ideas.
"Fuck you, I'm going to back up Snubnose, at least she knows who's top dog." She said flatly right before running off in her smoky breaker state and simply phasing through the buildings- making a beeline for Snubnose's position.
"Shadow Stalker, no! Gaaagh!" Glory Girl shouted out in frustration before turning her comms back on, "Everyone! Fall back to the Crab, we can push through to the manufactorum even without the Uplinks!"
Then even more bad news arrived.
The Dragonslayers have achieved Maximum Uplink!
Ultimate Cape request sent...
"They only needed one Uplink Station to creep to 100%." Kaiser muttered in horror beside her, and her cold pit sank in her stomach.
"Victory is ours!" Saint taunted before breaking out in maniacal laughter. "Watch as we turn the PRT against you and your abomination!"
"No!" Magos shouted into their HUDs, "They're hacking into PRT's information network and flooding it with their lies! They're making Dragon and I out as the bad guys! Worse still, one of the Triumvirate is responding! Glory Girl, get ready for the fight of your life!"
Ultimate Cape request... Answered.
"So..." Another face joined in on the HUD, and there was no mistaking her for anyone else. Alexandria was arriving to the battlefield... to fight against them. Her iconic costume of pure black complete with her billowing black cape and frown of stern displeasure. Her authoritative voice was calm, low and deadly, "... You're the ones who are attacking Brockton Bay. This ends now."
Grimacing, both she and Kaiser prepared for what was going to be an ugly fight.
"GG, we can't win." Kaiser pleaded as he stood beside her, his wrist blades at the ready, "This is just going to be too painful, we should just surrender."
"No, we make a stand." Glory Girl gritted her teeth- eyeing the road filled with flaming, ruined buildings that stretched out ahead of them. But despite her words, Glory Girl's heart fell- their odds of even surviving this was lingering in the single digits.
She knew the enemy cape team was going to be here any moment, and the following second proved her right: Armsmaster was the first to arrive riding his motorcycle. His blue power armour was distinct from the black and red of burning buildings as he went full speed towards them.
Then, the rest of the enemy team arrived sprinting and flying down the road: Lady Photon, Krieg, and Spitfire. Meanwhile, their own team was spread all across the battlefield. Oni Lee was still at eastern uplink, Snubnose was in the southern one and Shadow Stalker had fucked off like a coward.
The Dunecrawler's main gun blew out the Protectorate Tinker's bike, but Armsmaster kept sprinting towards them despite it- weathering the Beamer's laser with an almost suicidal valour. That was never a good sign.
His teammates contributed soon after- flanking them from the side roads that Kaiser had yet to block off. Lady Photon and Spitfire bore down on Dunecrawler with lasers and streams of firebreath.
Dune crawler Shields: 43.9%
Kaiser tried to respond- managing to trap Spitfire in a metal cage of blades. Glory Girl herself engaged Krieg- duking it out with the other Brute cape. In the distance, she saw Shadow Stalker dying like a little bitch trying to outshoot Lady Photon- not even hitting the flying artillery cape. And all the while, Armsmaster kept slicing at the Crab with his plasma halberd.
Dune crawler Shields: 16.1%
But before Glory Girl could reassess the situation, a black blur struck her like lightning, punching her down to the ground with a great crater. She managed to catch a glimpse of her assailant: Alexandria herself. But she couldn't respond in time before the legendary heroine's punches began raining down on her like furious bolts of lightning- pounding her into the asphalt as she was unable to regain her bearings.
Then it happened.
Dunec rawler Shields: 0%
"Dragon, my Love..." Magos spoke through their HUD, "I'm sorry."
The Dunecrawler exploded in a spectacular orange fireball of twisted metal, the last thing Glory Girl saw was Alexandria's fat ass crouching up and down her face. The laughter of a victorious Saint echoing in the background.
DEFEAT
Lady Photon in her skintight white jumpsuit twirled into the sky as the sun shone behind her- sunlight majestically streaming past her shoulders and the sides of her full breasts.
PLAY OF THE GAME
IronfangWolf
As Lady Photon
[The Undersider's apartment]
"Gaaagh! THIS FUCKING GAAAAMEEEE!"
Jean16 was rage incarnate- like the Endbringer Behemoth, but with just an oversized Alexandria crop top showing off his smooth tummy and a pair of Armsmaster Blue thong panties hugging his bulge and leaving his best asset bare and exposed. With a shout of anger, he threw his controller onto bed. Not even the many posters of his heroes- Venti, Astolfo, and Chevalier d'Eon- hanging from his walls were able to abate his fury. Just an angry superpowered femboy- wishing that he was in range of his power to make this arrogant bronze gaming idiot shove her controller sideways up her ass. Who knows? Maybe it'll even help her play better!
"For fucks' sake, Shadow Stalker!" he roared into his headset as he bolted up and paced around his room- uncaring if the entirety of his chat was eyeing his ass bouncing as he did, because right now, he just wanted to pace around, and keep replaying his superpowered revenge fantasy in his head.
Jean16's Elevated Chat
- ($100) F in chat, team too heavy to carry
- ($1) F
- ($1) F
- ($100) Bootylicious!
- ($1) Look at those buns bounce!
- ($1) I want to dip my tongue in a femboy's navel!
- ($1) *I want to dip my tongue in a femboy. Ftfy
- ($1) *I want to dip my penis in a femboy. Ftfy
- ($100) All hail the Femboy of the East!
- ($1) That bulge is poggers
- ($5) POGGERS!
- ($1) If I wasn't gay before, I'm gay now
- ($1) But traps and femboys aren't gay
- ($1) oreally? my bad im not gay then
- ($5) but boys can't fap to boys
- ($1) Not when I shift into Maximum Overfap!
"Well fuck you too!" the mystery girl on the other end of the comms shouted back, "And it's not my fault this game is garbage! Or that you can't play for shit! It's you and your pay-to-win cape! We would have won if you had just backed me up in wrecking Lady Photon's shit. I would have torn the rest of the enemy team a new one if you did!"
This chick had delusions of adequacy.
"Glory Girl isn't p2w!" Alec retorted into his bunny-eared headset, "Besides, you're the one who picked Shadow Stalker in a Ranked match on the same hour she was released! There's only one realistic reason to how you managed to get Shadow Stalker so fast: You paid for her. Who the hell even does that? Everyone knows you don't play ranked games on a Cape's release date, because no one except Magos knows how to properly play them yet!"
"Well, I could be the real Shadow Stalker and received this cape for free!" She retorted, "And fuck you, I was playing fine, but you shitheads were couldn't play for shit!"
This bitch was more deluded.
"Impossible, the real Shadow Stalker wouldn't have sucked so much ass and ended up with a 2-12 kill-death ratio while playing as herself!"
The girl was silent over the comms.
"Yeah, I'm not the real Shadowstalker."
"Yeah, brownie points for honesty and pointing out the obvious." Alec snorted in derision.
"Come on, guys." the Kaiser in the game spoke up in a diplomatic tone, "Let's forget about Escort Mode and just play some PvE to shake off the tilt."
"I can't, bro." Alec sighed- settling down onto his pastel pink gaming chair, "That was the last game of the stream."
"Sorry to hear that. Same time tomorrow?"
"Sure."
"Your stream sucks shit anyway, Jean16!" the girl shouted out- unable to help herself taking one last potshot at him. The bitch.
"Only because of your Bronze gaming antics!" he bit back.
"I'm Silver rank!" the girl shouted- probably lying out of her ass.
"Yeah, a boosted Silver." He shot back. "Why don't you go on PHO and complain to Magos about it!"
"Maybe I fucking will!"
Oh, how he wished that his power could reach through the screen. Because he really wanted to have this girl choke herself right now.
"Alright, guys." he sighed to the camera, "Sorry about that horrible last game, maybe we'll get better teammates tomorrow. See you soon!"
With a cute wink and a blown kiss from his pink lips, he ended the stream- the chat slowing down.
Jean16's Elevated Chat
- ($50) What's this bitch's prob anyway?
- ($5) Aside from only having one braincell?
- ($5) Bitches be cray-cray
- ($25) Don't hate! She's the best player the Bronze league has to offer. But seriously tho, that game was lost even before the Crab got halfway to the manufactorum.
- ($10) only cuz SS had her head up her ass and couldn't ambush people for shit. She's designed to be a sneaky 'shoot-people-in-the-back-and-fuck-off' Cape, but this girl couldn't even do the 'fuck off' right.
- ($10) She thinks this be Call4Duty and running up to people in broad daylight to shoot them in the face
- ($5) Exactly! She thought she was fighting zombies instead of Capes. Plot twist: she was the zombie all along with her braindead plays!
- ($10) lots of 'What? Capes fight back?!' moments there. Clipped!
- ($1) GG, Jean! Screw this chick. (Not literally)
- ($5) I'd screw that chick!
- ($25) Sexual attraction for women? In my Christian femboy stream? You're in the wrong neighbourhood, mofo
- ($5) I don't discriminate, I only penetrate
- ($10) Can't wait for tomorrow when ShadowStalkers can actually play for shit
- ($25) Overwatch players. Playing for shit. Pick one.
- ($100) For people who want the clips of Jean16 pacing around in his room with his Armsmaster Blue thong: [Clip] [Clip] [Clip] [Clip]
- ($5) Our hero! I'll take your entire stock!
"$1544 $618..." He squinted at his computer screen. "$2,162. Small haul on tips today, but eh... such is the life of a humble streamer."
With work done, he had the rest of the day to do fuck all. The mid boss- Coil- was still paying their retaining fee, and that messy job involving the 'Meatball of Glory' incident had only been a few days ago.
So, he figured that it will be another week or two before their next actual job. Sitting on his pert ass and playing games all day was fun, but he missed the action and excitement of going out there and tripping people up. He itched to use his power.
"Hey, Chloe?" he called out to his smart home.
"I'm here, Jean. How may I help you today?" The now very familiar voice of Magos' assistant cheerily reassured. The same voice that was likely in every home and phone and data-slate in Brockton Bay by now.
"I'm bored." he drawled, "Do you have anything interesting for me?"
Chloe didn't miss a beat as she immediately responded, "With the oncoming release of her greatest hits album, Canary will be performing live in the newly built Brockton Bay Colisée Grande for Valentines day this weekend." she readily supplied.
"Oh, I can't believe I forgot about that!" he said aloud, "Wait, I asked you to get tickets, right?"
"No, you did not." Chloe apologised before delivering good news, "However, Mechanicus Marketing Analytics anticipated that you would desire as such, and I took the liberty of reserving a pair of tickets for you. Would you like to confirm payment?"
"Hah! Of course!" Alec grinned, "Thank fuck for robots that know what you want! All that's left is for you to actually be here to clean up around the place and you'd be the perfect maidservant, Chloe. Speaking of which... does Magos ever plan on selling maid bots?"
"I am sorry, but I am programmed to inform you that-"
"Yeah, yeah." He groaned, "'The will of Magos is beyond the comprehension of mere meatbags.' Thanks anyway, Chloe... Go any more interesting things? Something that I could do now?"
Once again, Chloe was ready with an answer.
"Mechanicus Marketing Analytics also suggest that you would be amenable to Gucci's end-of-winter line, particularly their new miniskirt." She said, and a photo of the skirt in question displayed on his computer screen and he paused to stare at it in awe.
"Egyptian cotton, pleated and dangerously short at mid thigh." Alec observed before grinning, "Just the way I like my skirts. These will look cute on me! Good pick, Call the Gucci store at Lord Street Mall and have them reserve the new miniskirt for me? White and in my usual size."
"Certainly, confirm payment of 0.20427 Omnicoins to Gucci - Lord Street Mall Brockton Bay branch?"
"Confirm."
"Payment confirmed!" Chloe chirped, "Your item will be held for a maximum seven days before-"
"Tell them that I'll pick it up today, and call a Chloe-cab for me." He cut her off before prompting.
"Your Chloe-Cab will arrive shortly, Jean."
Opening his front door, he shouted out to the other denizens of Undersider's assigned duplex.
"I'm heading out to the mall if anyone wants to come with!" he called out.
"Pass." Brian grunted in his civvies of black biker jacket and jeans as he trudged up the stairs.
"Hey Brian, you look like shit." He greeted his burly teammate.
"I feel like shit too and for fuck's sake, Alec." Brian groaned as he walked by- shaking his head and not even giving him the stink eye anymore, "We talked about this. Put on some pants-"
"Or a skirt."
"Or a skirt..." Brian added with a helpless sigh. "...before you go out your room."
"But I'm not out of my room." Alec pointed out to where he was standing just at the threshold of the doorway, "So, I can wear my thong all I want. You like it?"
He tugged at the Armsmaster Blue and let go- a meaty slap as his bulge jiggled and Brian shuddered.
"I'm not talking to you while you're in your fucking thong."
Messing with Brian and his latent homosexuality was always fun.
"Fine, I'll put something on." He called out as he went to put on a skirt- leaving the door open for Brian as a subtle hint. "But what's the matter? Aisha bought a new bike with your money again?"
"Worse." his more muscular teammate told him with a grimace, "She bought NFTs. $80,000 just went up in smoke for some fucking monkey pics."
"NFTs? Never heard of them." Alec replied as he wiggled into a miniskirt, and smirked as he saw Brian's perturbed expression in a mirror before looking away.
"I don't fucking know." He sighed, "Why don't you ask the local AI overlord? It was her idea anyway."
Consider his interest piqued. It must be something good for Aisha to spend so much money on.
"You sure, you don't want to come with. It doesn't have to be a date." Alec invited with a playful wink that would have sent any of his chat members into a frenzy. Unfortunately, Brian was immune to the appeal of femboys. For now. Once upon a time, he would have just said 'fuck these losers' and went on his own. But the Undersiders have kind of grown onto him now. The missions they've gone through, the shit that they've pulled through together and the handsome wads of cash that they ended up earning... it was hard not to start liking them. The camaraderie was growing strong between them and he's been feeling a real sense of teamwork between them...
"Lord Street Mall? I'm coming with too!"
... Except Lisa. Lisa can go fuck herself.
"Hey! I haven't even said anything!" the blonde protested with a pout- her power likely feeding her their annoyance for her usual antics.
"You haven't said anything yet." Alec pointed out to her. "But we both know you will."
"That's fair..." She admitted as she adjusted her plaid scarf and light-green winter coat.
He idly noted that her outfit hid her body's silhouette, face's profile and even her height. All in all, a far cry from her skintight black and purple catsuit that she wears as Tattletale.
Out of all of them, she had always been the one who put the most effort into separating her civilian identity from her Cape identity. Not like him, if he wasn't 'Regent' then he was either Jean-Paul Vasil- the son of the supervillain Heartbreaker, or Jean16- Femboy streamer extraordinaire. And he'd take being the latter any day... which was why he had a miniskirt on.
"I already had my fill of bullshit thanks to Aisha, so I'm not going to tag along with you two." Brian groaned again as soon as Lisa stopped beside them, "So the two of you can go on that not-date without me."
Turning on his heels and shaking his head, Brian went upstairs to his room- leaving the two of them alone.
"Thanks a lot, Lisa." He flatly told her, "I almost had him."
"No, you didn't." She said with a smug smile as they headed down the stairs, "But I'll give you a free hint: You have to go through Aisha first if you want to convert Brian to the 'Trap aren't gay' crowd. It's only after he gets custody of her can he finally feel like he can unclench his ass."
"I'll keep that in mind." He murmured as they headed out on this cool winter day, "Oh, the Chloe-cab is here."
Lisa let out a low whistle as a sleek executive sedan pulled up in front of their duplex. Its glossy black paint standing out from the snow-covered neighbourhood around them.
"Got some cash to burn after streaming, huh?" she chuckled as the doors slid up and they climbed into the spacious, wood-lined interior.
"Eh, I don't feel like taking the subway today." He shrugged.
"Welcome!" The screen showing the onboard Chloe greeted them as they settled into the plush leather seats, "Thank you for choosing to ride with the Mechanicus Translocation Services today. May I interest you in a complimentary rosé?"
A pair of glasses rose up from the countertop in the corner- already filled with sparkling liquid. The car drove itself- supervised by a Chloe.
In effect, the space that would have taken by an underpaid, overworked cab driver who hadn't showered in 18 hours was now occupied by an automated drinks dispenser that could serve him whatever cola, milkshake or alcoholic drink he requested. Alec thought it was the best feature, right next to the heated leather seats.
"Don't mind if I do." Lisa grinned as she swiped a glass and took a sip, "Chloe, let's take the scenic route!"
"Certainly."
Dragon was the hero of every Quebecian. They'll give the Americans some degree of culture even if it kills them.
It was easier not to miss Montreal and Quebec now that Brockton Bay was becoming more and more like it everyday. But just as they passed by the nearby park, something seemed to have caught Lisa's attention- the blonde's eyes wide and her eyebrows rising to her hairline.
"What's going on, Lisa?" He asked her.
"Nothing, I just saw a cute teen couple chatting and laughing on a park bench. Nothing strange at all, except for the teeny tiny fact that the couple is freaking Magos and Alexandria... Also, our friendly neighbourhood stick girl, Taylor, is going to bump into them if she keeps jogging in that direction."
Lisa shook her head, but Alec was more concerned about that first half.
"Wait, back up! What was that about Magos and Alexandria?" He cried out in disbelief, "You're misreading things again."
The blonde Thinker sitting across him just shrugged.
"The date part? Yeah, I think so too." She conceded- having learned from that time when they tried to make Brian go Gay-for-pay, "I'm 100% about their identities though: I can recognise Magos' Aoicus identity anywhere. But I'll admit... I have never seen Alexandria acting like a shy schoolgirl on her first date before though. First the greatest heroine Tinker in the world, now the greatest heroine Brute in the world. Competition is tough. But on the other hand, the spot for the greatest heroi- Rogue Thinker in the world is open!"
"That didn't sound like you were joking." He pointed out with an arched eyebrow, "Really? You're going after the boss?"
"I mean... he's seriously cute, seriously loaded, and he has a big cyberdick." She smirked, "But most importantly, he's immune to my powers. I literally don't know what he's going to do to me and it's a pretty nice feeling. Do you know how long it's been since I last felt a drop of sexual arousal? Three fucking years ago. And seeing him in that hot tub and the size of that tent he pitched...?"
She let out a long appreciative whistle.
"Yeah, I know, right?! I'd ride that all day! Ahahaha!" Alec laughed with her for a minute or two...
...before they both settled down and frowned together.
"... It's just not the same without Brian around to be appalled and disgusted." Lisa noted with a sigh. "We need new blood in the team. Someone who takes the whole Cops and Robbers thing a bit too seriously like Brian does. That and we have been needing another heavy hitter anyway. A Shaker or Blaster would be ideal."
"I know exactly how you feel." He sighed as well, "But it's not like frowny, too-serious capes like Brian grow on trees."
(Meanwhile) [At a nearby park]
Taylor Hebert slowed down her jog as she felt a cold tingle race down her spine, and that was not a good sign.
Keeping herself from panickedly whipping her head around, she tapped into her bug powers to try and spot whoever was likely targeting her through the eyes of her beetles.
Was she being stalked by a gang? Some Merchant druggie who wandered into the better parts of town? An ABB 'kidnapper' who thinks a tall, skinny white girl will sell well at one of their brothels? Maybe an E88 skinhead who thinks she's Jewish because of her hair?
But no, there was no one around. The only ones around was a couple some ways ahead of her, and they looked like ordinary people.
Taylor shook her head as she went back to jogging, she was getting too jumpy. No one was out there plotting to do shitty things to her.
[Back in the Chloe-Cab]
"Maybe we can ask Magos to hook us up with a newbie." Alec heard Lisa think out loud. "Train the new guy up, get him nice and indebted to us."
"Planning on babysitting? But aren't you a bit too busy figuring out Magos' 'evil master plan for world domination'?" He tease- knowing just how obsessed she was with outsmarting Magos. Her room looked like it was inhabited by a paranoid schizophrenic. Corkboards full of pictures lined the walls and were interconnected by Red String. It was hilarious how much Magos outsmarting her that one time got under her skin. "You know... you could always just ask Magos himself about what he's up to."
Lisa rolled her green eyes- she knew he was mocking her.
"Laugh it up all you want. We'll see who is laughing when I'm the only one who sees Magos' plan coming." She retorted- tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder. "And it's not like I can just walk up to him and go 'Hey, boss. Can you tell me what your master plan for taking over the world is?'"
The blonde sitting across him paused for a moment as her Thinker power got to work.
"Well... actually, he might tell me if I did ask..." She conceded, "But what's more important is that no way in hell am I going to come crawling to him for answers because I couldn't figure it out on my own!"
Alec chortled into his drink. Yeah, Lisa channelling her intellectual inferiority complex will never stop being funny to him.
"You really think he's going to take over the world like one of those comic book supervillains?"
"About a third of the way there, I'd say." She estimated.
"Really, what makes you say that?" He raised a vaguely interested eyebrow. Normally, things like 'fighting to save/free the world' didn't interest him one bit, but seeing as he was being employed by Magos, it might involve him directly.
After all, his boss' ongoing plans for world domination had the potential of biting him in the ass. When the inevitable group of heroes came knocking to stop his evil master plan, he didn't want to be tried at the Hague along with his boss... no matter how much he liked him.
Meanwhile, Lisa just stared at him like he was an idiot- or at least, her expression was more pronounced than usual.
"Just look around you!" the blonde told him incredulously as she gestured all around them, "We're riding in his car, paying with his currency, living in his housing projects, using his electricity, browsing his internet, eating his food, and using his sex toys. If he decided to stop, the entire societal grid would fall apart in less than a day. We're dependent on him now."
"Yeah, but with him lowering everything to a tenth of the cost that it used to... is it really world domination or just another PHO conspiracy theories that you've latched onto?"
"Conspiracy theory." She scoffed the words out with no small amount of derision, "The phrase is a memetic buzzword. it invokes a trained, programmed response of immediate dismissal. You know who created it? The CIA. You know why? To discredit people who were talking about things they didn't like."
"Yeah, totally not sounding like a nutty conspiracy theorist right now, Lisa." He guffawed- his laughter echoing through the car cabin.
Palming her face, she just groaned in eye-rolling exasperation over him not having the same galaxy-brain that she had.
"Look. Whatever you call it, it's still true that Magos still has our entire society by the balls." Lisa massaged the bridge of her nose, "And from the way there's more Church-train subways planned in major cities across the US and Europe like the one in Birmingham, UK? Whatever Magos had done here at Brockton Bay, he's doing to the rest of the world. And from the rate at which they're going, they'll have the entirety of Earth-Bet by the socio-economic balls! Also, Dragon will have everyone speaking Français before the year even ends!"
Alec stiffened at that. His blue eyes wide like a man given hope as his voice continued with a small whisper.
"L'ère de l'anglais est-elle finalement révolue? Quel soulagement... (The Age of English is finally over? What a relief...)"
"I hate that I understood some of that." Lisa deadpanned in disgust. "And it only proves my point: Dragon's francophone goals need to be stopped before she turns us all into Quebecians!"
"Hey, I'm from Quebec!"
"I know!" Lisa stressed, "Being fellow countrymen with you makes it so much worse!"
"More people- and by that I mean everyone- speaking French is not a bad thing at all! And Dragon is truly a hero for it!" Alec grinned- having been born and raised in beautiful Quebec himself, "Also, it thought you hadn't figured this all out?"
"Magos is still making moves that don't make sense to me." she admitted- her lips drawn in a nervous pink line, "And I get that sinking feeling that he has yet to unveil their masterstroke."
"Is this sinking feeling an expression of your power?" He clarified with a raised brow.
"No, it's just a strong feeling." Lisa sighed as she nervously a hand through her blonde hair, "What we should be really worried about is the 100 square kilometres of land that Magos had just cleared outside of Brockton Bay. The place is as vast as Disney World, and it's empty. No manufactorums, no housing projects, no aircraft landing strips... nada. My power doesn't have a clue on what he plans to do there, only that it's going to be on a massive scale and it's about to make Brockton Bay the centre of the world... and that's makes me worry. Or not at all if I can get him to sleep with me, he's the possessive kind of guy after all. Pretty cute."
Alec thought about it for a second.
"What if it's some kind of Disney World theme park but with sexbots?" He speculated, relating his own experiences with controlling people as part of his father's Cape family. And often, there was no better way to control people than through their emotions... and their sex.
"You think he's going to take over the world by brainwashing people with a sexbot monopoly?" Lisa repeated with a flat look, "Now look who's talking wild and unbelievable conspiracy theories?"
Alec just gave a helpless shrug.
"You have to admit that it kind of fits Magos' style, no?" He reminded her, "I'm just saying... if Magos was to give everyone a robot maid, no one would even dream about rebelling against him."
"Oh, it's absolutely his style." She agreed, "I just think that's too batshit insane of a plan even for Magos. I outright refuse to entertain the fever dream that humanity would just let themselves be willingly conquered with- as Magos would rant on PHO- 'the power of Robussy.'"
(Meanwhile) [Fate Impact Land - Aestus Domus Aurea]
One hour.
One whole hour. That was how long Amy Dallon's willpower lasted. On luxuriously soft silken sheets with rose petals spread across the white surface, she lay breathless. Her brown hair spread like a halo across the pillows, and in her arms was...
"You're so beautiful." Amy whispered- cupping the other woman's luxuriously soft cheek. "And so blonde."
Emperor Nero Claudius just smiled- her naked body indistinguishable from a human's despite Amy's best efforts to explore every nook and cranny of her flawless body. With her tongue.
Nero was completely invisible to her power, and it was the closest Amy would ever get to feeling the same kind of sex as a normal unpowered human. On that note, however, she can sincerely say that the sex was anything but mediocre. Mind-blowing to the say the least.
"Just 'beautiful?'" Nero tittered with a teasing smile- her luscious body lightly pinning Amy's down to the decadently soft mattress, "I am the envy of the Goddesses Juno and Venus. The only Emperor of Roma who is a vision of womanly perfection. My shining royal locks that would make gold appear like pig iron in comparison. My presence brings men and women to their knees in sheer awe. And 'beautiful' is the word you elect to use?"
Amy pouted.
"I'm not wrong, am I- Mmmmm~"
Whatever she was going to say or think was nipped at the bud when Nero captured her lips in a feverish kiss. Tongues danced like in a sweeping waltz in andante, and Amy couldn't help but moan into it. Even her kisses were sublime. But it was not just her kisses, it was her everything: The softness of Nero's smooth pale bust on hers more freckled one, the blonde's soft thigh rubbing between hers, and her slender hand wandering down her side. The pleasure was overwhelming.
"No, you were not incorrect in description." Nero whispered with a smug smile as she broke the kiss- their lips bridged with a gossamer thread of sweet saliva, "Only in magnitude."
Eminently proud and supremely confident. Something about her attitude just made Amy so throbbingly wet. Oh, right. The attitude reminded her of Vicky, but... dare she say that Nero was even sexier than her sister?
Then slender fingers found her sensitive folds and Amy cried out the answer to her own question: "Yessss~!"
And as Nero's lips descended back on hers, Amy's world once again exploded into stars.
This... this was bad. If this kept up, she was never going to want to leave this place.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to her. An entire squad of Chloes were watching- absorbing every iota of information they could glean from the horny heroine. Their Data-Tethers streaming raging rivers of raw data back to their Forgelord's Cogitator-Throne.
And with each orgasm the meat female experienced, the Forgelord's (sexual) prowess only grew more formidable. Each stroke, each lick and each guttural moan of approval refining the {F.U.C.C.} systems present in all of his gynoids as well as in his own subroutines... all in pursuit for the pinnacle of sexual proficiency.
Meanwhile, several Earths away, their Forgelord and master regally nodded slightly in approval.
Soon, Fate Impact Land will be whole, its legions of sex dolls skilled beyond mortal comprehension and there will be nothing humanity can do to resist the Power of Robussy and his cyberdong.
[Lord Street Mall - South Entrance 2]
"Well, when you say it back to me like that..." Alec hesitantly conceded as they disembarked from the cab, "Yeah, it sounds too insane to be real."
"Also, Dragon would never allow it. She's evil, just not that evil." Lisa added as they walked into the mall, and he whistled at the sight. Balloons, flowers, pink streamers and endless amounts of heart-shaped decorations covered the vast mall interior. Massive posters of the upcoming Canary concert hung from the ceiling. The blonde with bright yellow feathers growing out of her hair posing in a dazzlingly coloured dress. The Valentine's rush really was in swing right now.
"I guess you're right." He nodded in agreement as they made their way to the Gucci outlet, "If there is anything a do-gooder heroine like Dragon can be counted on to do, it is that she'll be against anything that wipes out all of mankind. Ironic from how many movies portray the opposite with AIs... I'm looking forward to the release of her VR project though. What was it called again?"
"The Matrix." Lisa supplied- her eyes idly scanning the storefronts, "And I'm not too sure about it... it sounds like a ploy to make more people speak French."
He just chuckled.
"See? It sounds cool and serves a good purpose."
But then, Alec stopped in his tracks as if Mastered.
"What? You recognise this person?" Lisa subtly whispered as she squinted at the person who he was staring at, "Is it one of your family?"
"No, this is mildly better than encountering my family: my archrival is here..." Alec said lowly as they approached the Gucci store.
"You mean a hero cape?" Lisa puzzled for a second before realisation came to her green eyes, "No... you can't be serious."
Ostensibly a blonde girl, cute as a button with a flat chest. Her slender frame in a teal shirt and a white miniskirt. A smile that Alec found too cheerful and full of live on the 'her' face.
"He once went by the name xXVoid_CowboyXx, now he is Vowoid_CuWuBoy. The Femboy of the North."
"... you're fucking with me. My power is fucking with me." Lisa murmured in dismay and disbelief beside him, "Neither of you can't be fucking serious. Earth-Bet used to make sense, I don't know what's happening on this fucking planet anymore."
"Oh, I know what's happening." Alec volunteered- never taking his eyes off his rival, "That's my Gucci miniskirt that he's wearing. This means war."
And for a split second, their eyes met. Jean16's deep blue meeting Vowoid_CuWuBoy's lighter blue ones. It would seem... the title of Earth-Bet's Greatest Femboy Streamer was not going to be claimed without conflict.