With a logo and a name for the army of villains he would amass - the Toxic Mega Cunts - Chris turned his attention to building up said army. While he interviewed people for the top ranks of his personal guard (which meant that he just sat there getting high while Javier did all of the assembling), Emily was busy at work on her own costume and persona. It had to fit to the Mother Fucker, since she was his number two, but she also wanted it to have a life of her own. She would die for Chris, but she still acknowledged the fact that as a person, she fell terribly short of having her own personality, probably landing someplace on the sex-doll side of the spectrum...

Before she had met Chris, Emily had wanted to become a psychologist, maybe even open up her own practice in New York, possibly working in a prison beforehand so she could better examine the criminal mind first hand, but somehow, that fell away somewhere down the line. Art had always been like an escape for her, but lately it felt almost like a profession (although one she wasn't paid for). She used to love mushrooms and would eat them in almost every dish she possibly could, but ever since she had stated to date Chris, she hadn't touched them once. Honestly, she couldn't even remember what her favorite color used to be...

Way back when, she would have stopped to analyze why this had been, why she had changed so much virtually overnight, but she didn't have to, because the answer was glaring - it was because of Chris. However, the reason for her transformation was not for love or an unhealthy obsession (although that was partially a factor), but out of fear. As much as she got off on being treated like shit, being raped was not a sensation she enjoyed in the slightest, so she had found ways of doing everything in her power to prevent that. Mostly it worked, but she wasn't always so lucky...

It didn't help any that she had a certain kind of weak spot for him when he would get that maniacal gleam in his eyes. Just thinking about his psychotic face could get her wet, but it was a dangerous line to walk, because when he did get that look in his eyes, there was only a certain way to handle him, and if she so much as breathed the wrong way, it could send him over the edge and into that dark place... Pitch-black, it was the same kind of place he went whenever he thought of Kick-Ass and Hit Girl, of killing them, of what they had done. It was in those deepest moments of his worst obsessions that she knew she would die.

Sure, she could have left him; gone off and found some nice guy that would have been good for her, but there was no conceivable way that any good, sane guy could understand her, not in the same way that Chris did. As fucked up as it was, they really were two halves of a whole... They were the real-life Mickey and Mallory Knox...

"Emily," Chris passed her the blunt he had been smoking, using the freedom of his free hands to shove her legs off his lap. They were on a fucking couch for fuck's sake, and yet she still found a way to make it feel like an armchair! Well, had she not been so comfortable with him, he would have known that something was wrong with her (which currently there was nothing more than usual). "My legs are falling sleep."

Doodling ideas in her sketch book - which she had tenderly set aside to take the blunt - she swung around, sitting up as she took a hit. "Sorry. I was just coming up with some ideas for my costume..."

Well, at least she was being useful... Reaching across her lap, Chris grabbed the book and looked at what she had done so far. Some of it was ok, most being mediocre at best, but there was one that really caught his eye in particular. The top was a simple corset that tied in the front and zipped up the sides, which she had paired off with leather arm-warmers that perfectly mirrored his own sleeves, and in the same vein of similarity, the picture Emily had also dawned a couple of identical buckles around her legs, except hers would cover knee-high boots and stockings that were torn-up in the top band. Bright red socks poked outside of the boots, and a simple black ribbon adorned her throat. Those were all good features, but what he took issue with was the skirt; astronomical and wispy, the layered fabric was mostly red with an additional draping of black, tying up the side, revealing her lack of underwear. The uniform belt was cocked up one side of her hip, and she wore a messy wig that had been scribbled in a dark magenta.

"What the fuck is this?" He pointed out the design. "You look like a fucking prostitute!"

Javier, sitting just feet away while he interviewed the heavy-hitters, looked over at the outburst. As much as he disagreed with their habits, they were adults now, so he couldn't stop them. He was curious to know what his niece had drawn, but on a lot of levels, he figured that it was probably better to just stay out of it.

She looked over at the paper. "I thought it was a cute idea. What's wrong with it?"

Chris looked like he was about to hit her, but he did not. "Besides the fact that you're literally putting the 'cunt' in 'Toxic Mega Cunts'?'

Giving the picture a better look, she jabbed a many ringed finger at the belt. "No, there are underwear with the costume. I just drew them higher up so you could see the way that the skirt ties up the side better. It's kinda a shitty piece, so I'm not surprised you missed that. You can't really see the little black hearts I have dangling from all the laces either."

No, he hadn't seem them, but he noticed the black heart painted across her one visible eye - the face was drawn at an angle, and the wig had side bangs - that matched her earrings. "Black Hearts? What, to match the lack of love you have for me?"

Personally, she thought that he was overreacting, since she had scrapped that idea rather quickly. That was one hazard of falling in love with a total fucking drama queen. "It was just one of my many ideas. Besides, you know I don't like running around like some whore. And as for the hearts, I just thought that it was a cute touch."

Although... It was a catchy name, and wasn't one point of wearing a costume being able to be who you weren't in your ordinary life? Chris said that it was to do what you really wanted to do, and he wasn't completely wrong about that...

Clicking into place, Emily grinned over at her boyfriend, "Mother Fucker, meet your Black Heart!"

"Black Heart, huh?" It was at least a printable name, so she had had that much going for her, and it really was fitting, scathing comments aside. "Welcome to the gang!" Shaking her hand, he frowned, "But seriously, I'm not allowing you to wear that costume."

She rolled her eyes, "It's not my costume."

But it ended up being her costume, with a few minor alterations...

Oh, Natural Born Killers! It was a movie that I hadn't seen before, not until a year or two ago, and the first time I watched it was actually after buying it. Best random movie purchase ever! Well, not completely random, as I had heard of it in passing, and I read about the Tarantino connection. Man, Tarantino knows his shit! Oh, and other than this once, I NEVER buy a movie without seeing it first (unless it comes in a multi-pack). Although, it's kind of funny, don't you think? How I mention Kill Bill awhile back (which was mentioned on the case of the first Kick-Ass), and now I bring up Tarantino again, who wrote Natural Born Killers, which was directed by Oliver Stone, who directed Savages, my first Aaron Taylor-Johnson flick. Full circle much? I think so. Anyways, getting back on topic, I wrote this chapter mostly because I recognize that Emily is rather flat, but she was kinda meant to be (although not as much as I think she came out).

Epic Fail! When I started this fic, I had drawn out a picture of the pair of them together, and I just realized that I have a major typo in the picture! Seriously, I went back in and outlined the picture, adding color after that, and I just now see it when I look back! Fuck biscuits!

Don't let this story became an epic fail! Review!

Kick-Ass is the property of Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. Emily Vela is mine. Knight and Charlotte too.