Torn Cape (The Boys SI)
By: Gothicjedi666
[NSFW] - Torn Cape (The Boys) by Gothicjedi666
Status: ongoing
Published: 2023-06-05
Updated: 2023-08-09
Words: 67894
Chapters: 24
Original source: https/forum./threads/22632
Exported with the assistance of
Torn Cape (The Boys SI)
Introduction
Torn Cape - 1
Torn Cape - 2
Torn Cape - 3
Torn Cape - 4
Torn Cape - 5
Torn Cape - 6
Torn Cape - 7
Torn Cape - 8
Torn Cape - 9
Torn Cape - 10
Torn Cape - 11
Torn Cape - 12
Torn Cape - 13
Torn Cape - 14
Torn Cape - 15
Torn Cape - 16
Torn Cape - 17
Torn Cape - 18
Torn Cape - 19
Torn Cape - 20
Torn Cape - 21
Torn Cape - 22
Torn Cape - 23
Torn Cape - 24
Torn Cape - 1
Many Worlds CYOA by Notinnamed
Spoiler
Setup
Universe - The Boys
60 points
Arrival - High Impact 5
65 points
Half-Viltrumite - 35 points
30 points
Reprisal (modded) - 5 points
25% of incoming damage is reflected back at the attacker and then the reflected damage has all healing to it reduced by 50%
25 points
Rider Belt - 15
10 points
Suit AI - 5 points
5 points
Drawbacks
Antagonistic 20 points
25 points
Items
Lightsaber - 5 points
20 points
Perks
Harem - 5 points
15 points
Fertility - 5 points
10 points
Good Looking - 5 points
5 points
Sex Driven - 5 points
0 points
Commissioned by The Hero Named Villan. copy for ease of reading
Torn Cape Chapter 2, a X-overs Boys Crossover fanfic FanFiction
Torn Cape
Part 1
Rooftop. New York City.
Even from up here, I could still hear the sirens as the emergency services sent out their forces to try to handle the damage I'd done to this city due to my rather energetic arrival.
The people of this city were lucky that the ROB who had set all of this up, after my sudden death, hadn't dropped me onto the city from orbit as that would have made much more of a devastating impact, and I might have even survived it.
As it was I'd wrecked some sort of apartment complex. I wouldn't say that I'd totally demolished it and I didn't think that I'd done too much harm to the locals upon my arrival when compared to what could have happened, yet I must have killed quite a few people.
I should feel bad about that, however, I couldn't bring myself to care much. I should be feeling a at least little guilty even if it wasn't really my fault. Had I been a better person then my crash landing on this world could have guided my future actions.
Perhaps I might have set out to become a real superhero, to make amends for the harm done to this city. Alas for the locals that just wasn't in my nature. I simply couldn't bring myself to care about the fates of total strangers.
Maybe this was due to me having become Half-Viltrumite thanks to me being able to set up my new life, or maybe I'd always been this way and now that I was a superior being, I just didn't have to pretend to have empathy towards people who I would never interact with.
Granted, I had chosen my method of arrival, with some encouragement, but I'd been under the impression it would be like time travel in the Terminator movies. That there would be a lot of flashy effects and I'd turn up naked, not that I'd destroy people's homes.
I'd managed to fly out of the crater that I'd made of some park after crashing through that block of apartments, hopefully, before anyone got a good look at me, and I was glad that it was nighttime.
Because of the darkness and the sheer speed of my arrival. No one should be able to pin the blame on me for the ROB's actions. The sudden storm that started with my arrival should have helped with that.
Spoiler
[img: https/i./originals/87/9b/dc/879bdcac4886d60ab834b9eea3336f06.jpg]
Before anyone could see me I'd flown off, rather slowly at first and then I'd found this rooftop to hang about on that gave me a great view of the city. I didn't yet know how to make use of my new powers so it was good that flying turned out to be so simple.
I would have been soaked to the bone right now if not for my Rider Belt which had deployed a set of armour for me, so as to keep the rain off. The suit also contained its own AI. Having my own version of Cortana would be a big help in the future.
While looking down at the streets below I saw one of the many advertisements.
Spoiler
[img: https/cdna./p/assets/images/images/025/674/576/large/andres-parada-the-boys-base-3.jpg]
In this world Superheroes were everywhere, they were the new gods, revered by millions maybe billions of people, and no pantheon was more worshipped than The Seven.
They were the Justice League of this dimension, The Avengers, at least in the eyes of the naive, and they could have been a great threat to me if their hands weren't so bound by public opinion, as long as they cared about the opinions of the masses they little more than slaves of Vought.
As I began to formulate my plans for this world and for my new life, I quickly realised that I would need to become one of The Seven if I was going to rise to the top of this society. Something I had to do before I could begin to shape it.
Sure I could have become a real superhero, one outside of Vought's control, and served as an example of what a superhuman hero should be, but I'd already ruled that out since it wasn't in my nature to be so selfless.
Besides, as a superior being, I had every right to be adored as members of The Seven were. That a group of mere humans were considered to be so far above me rankled my pride. I wouldn't have minded so much if they were decent people. Okay, maybe Mavue wasn't that bad, and Starlight was simply naive, but the rest were only it for fame and fortune.
I considered taking over directly using brute force, as there wasn't anything short of a nuclear strike that could threaten me, but that wouldn't work out well as I'd have no support or any way of actually ensuring the people were accepting me as their leader, other than simply killing anyone who didn't now before me.
No, I'd need to climb the social ladder, gather followers, become wealthy, obtain resources and then take over once I was ready to seize power.
Maybe if enough superhumans teamed up they could threaten me. Only that would never happen as they were divided by their own petty issues and without unifying none of them were strong enough to threaten me.
Homelander was the only superhuman who might be able to hurt me one on one. Viltrumites were vulnerable to intense heat and he has his laser eyes, however, Homelander was merely a bully and wouldn't know how to handle someone whose abilities surpassed his own.
He might have a mental breakdown just from finding out that there was someone so much stronger than him in this world.
I'd slap him down if I needed to and if he went crazy before lashing out because he was no longer top dog, then I would be there to save everyone. If he could be made to serve me, then I might have some use for him.
My plans didn't end with me becoming the top dog in the superhero business. No, I was thinking of becoming something much grander. In time I would take over the entire world and rule, but since I could live for thousands of years there was no rush.
It wouldn't be easy. I'd have to win the respect of the people and become powerful in different ways. I'd need to master my powers without the guidance of a teacher, that would take time and effort.
In the short term, I would need to set myself up. I would need money, food, and a place to stay. Then I could think about getting myself a reputation as a superhero. While I had no intention of helping others out of some sense of civic duty, playing the role would be necessary for my plans.
"Cortana," I said to my suit's AI.
When working with the ROB to set all of this up there had been no question of who my AI would be and I knew from the start that having her on my side was vital to my plans. Aside from having someone who could gather and sort information for me, Cortana could easily hack the computers of this time. They were extremely primitive when compared to her.
"Yes, Boss," replied the AI.
Cortana's image could be seen by me since I was wearing my helmet and I could hear her voice in my ear.
"I need you to find someone for me," I told her.
Assuming that the ROB had been telling me the truth, then it had only been a week since A-Train, The Flash of The Seven, had run right threw Hughie's girlfriend. Because of this Hughie, one of the main characters, would meet Billy Butcher before long and that psychopath would drag poor Hughie down a dark path.
Not that the fate of a single human mattered to me, it was just that I'd rather not have Butcher's little group of terrorists getting in the way of my plans. Best to deal with them quickly so that I could focus on what mattered.
"I'm looking for a white male called Hughie" I informed Cortana "He works in an electronic store and lives here in New York".
That wasn't much to go on.
"He lives with his father, if that helps," I added "And he won't be a manager because I remember that his girlfriend was trying to get him to talk to his boss about a promotion".
Before long Cortana had a lot of information about Hughie Campbell for me to go over. She'd shown me some photos to narrow down the search as Hughie is a more common name than I'd thought.
After the death of his girlfriend Robin, Hughie joins The Boys in order to get vengeance on superheroes and he becomes the love interest of Annie/Starlight. He also becomes increasingly savage due to Butcher's influence as the series progresses. He outright murders one of the Seven despite that superhuman having walked away without harming Hughie.
"I found him. He's employed at Bryman Audio" Cortana let me know "It's not that far from here".
She even hacked into the video footage for the store's security system for me. Now, I could see a very depressed Hughie Campell at work.
"Keep an eye on him I want to know the moment that a man called Willam Butcher makes contact with him" I ordered.
That wasn't something I needed to deal with right away and The Boys weren't the only issue I'd need to handle The ROB had given me the challenge of having to deal with some antagonists from other fictional universes.
My adversaries wouldn't simply be out to kill me, at least not all of them, as that wouldn't be much fun. They would want to foil my plans, challenge me, to give me obstacles that I would need to overcome. All for the amusement of the ROB who had set this up due to somehow having mishandled my soul, and to ensure that I didn't get bored in my new life.
"For now, I need somewhere to stay, and some sort of ID. I need to have been born in this world," I said "Cortana, can you help me with that".
The ROB had clearly altered her to look more appealing to me and the image she projected in my field of vision was distracting to say the least.
Spoiler
[img: https/wimg.rule34.xxx/images/3457/47501dd054628fa68b22560e18d84fe5.jpeg]
[img: http/pictures./v/vempire/331332.jpg]
"Boss, I'm a UNSC AI" she reminded me "The servers here might as well have no security at all. I could bring 21st-century life crashing down around us if that is what you want".
I wondered if she'd actually do that if I commanded her to. Not that I would since I wanted a world filled with modern comforts and a population that was easily controlled by social media.
"No need for that" I assured her "Just sort out some kind of ID for me and I'll need a lot of cash if I'm going to say in a nice hotel for a while".
My thinking was that if I could throw enough money at someone they'd let me stay somewhere even without a passport or driver's licence to show them. I was British so I could pretend to be a tourist who had lost his personal effects.
"Give me a fake name and I can have you booked in for a luxury suite at the New York Ritz in mere moments," Cortana informed me.
Wow, she was good.
"Nolan Grayson will be my name," I told the AI.
Getting things in motion didn't take long.
"Find a few ATM machines and I'll get you all the money you need" Cortana offered "Then you'll need to go pick up the driver's license that I just fabricated for you at the nearest DMV. It's closed so you'll need to break in. I'm also diverting some funds around on the web and creating a proper identity for you in this world".
I was very impressed by her work.
"You can do that?" I asked.
She seemed amused by my question.
"We're in New York in 2019," she pointed out "From here we're connected to the whole world. Creating the physical documentation was the hard part since I can't fabricate things for you directly. We will need our own base of operations for that".
The problem with setting up a base is the issue of there being no place on Earth I could go where the governments of the more advanced nations could not spy on me and I would need a secure location as a base.
It wasn't until I looked up into the night sky, and saw the clouds parting to show the moon, that an idea struck me. In his show, Invincible was able to fly to the moon, heck he'd hung out there and had a telepathic conversation with an alien. Therefore I should be able to fly to the moon and back without too much trouble.
"Cortana could you help me set up a base on the moon if I fly us there?" I wondered.
She took that query in stride.
"It depends on how much you can carry" she mused "And how long you last on the surface of the moon. We'll need to do some testing, but if you can fly that far and hang around for a while we could set up a base. We'll need some prefabricated buildings, and I can design those for you. We'll use a number of different companies to provide us with what we need".
Cortana showed me some diagrams.
"Setting up a moonbase is well within the capabilities of the people of this world the issue is that it would cost more than any country can afford to transport all the required materials to the moon," the AI told me "And it wouldn't be worth the expense. But you can just fly there and you should be able to set things up if I give you precise instructions".
If I had a base that no one else could reach, at least not without recreating the Apollo Programme, then I'd have a secure place to work from. I could imagine that from within that base, as long as I had the right equipment and supplies, Cortana could build me all sorts of things.
Once I had a better grasp of my powers, it might be possible for me to fly to other planets in this solar system, and to bash apart asteroids for raw materials.
"Get started on that" I instructed.
I'd need a proper home here in New York before I put much effort into a moonbase, and there was plenty of fun to be had here on Earth. So no rush.
Torn Cape - 2
Torn Cape
Part 2
Hotel. New York City.
Former Cerberus Operative, Miranda Lawson drank a glass of something expensive, that she'd gotten from the small bar in this rather costly suite, as she thought more about the extremely unexpected twist her life had suddenly taken.
Spoiler
[img: /wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Oriental-Suite-New-York-MO.jpg]
From her perspective a few hours ago she'd died while trying to get her little sister away from their insane father.
Shepard had done his best to prevent the loss of life, as he always did, however, Miranda Lawson had died in her lover's arms, or should that be the arms of her former lover given that he had gone back to his asari partner.
Whatever, it had all been very romantic if you liked that sort of thing, and Ori's safety was what had mattered most of all.
Yet rather than simply fade away or end up in Hell, which Miranda admitted to herself was something she deserved given some of the things she'd done, the genetically engineered woman, had been offered a new chance at life by a very strange creature.
Miranda had been okay with dying, but she'd chosen to keep on living even if it meant starting over somewhere new as death was so final. As such, she'd found herself on some version of Earth in the early 21st Century.
There were worse time periods and places she could have ended up in, it wasn't as primitive here as it could have been, but for a woman used to space travel and sharing the galaxy with alien races, this world seemed so backwards even if New York was nicer than some colonies she'd been forced to spend time in, and at least it smelt better than Omega.
The entity that had offered her a second chance wanted her to act as the enemy of another person who had also been offered a new life. She didn't have to kill this person, who she knew next to nothing about currently, but she and others had to be their enemy.
Miranda got the impression that this was all the amusement of some great power who must be bored of its existence, and while others might resent having their lives directed by some higher being, she was ready to play her part.
For all her intelligence and power she'd never been much of a leader, but give her a task, even one that seemed impossible, and she find some way to carry out her mission.
She wondered about those other people who like herself wouldn't belong in this universe. Had they all chosen to come here rather than die?
They would not be allies of hers, not unless she made truces with them and they would all be in this for themselves. so they couldn't be trusted. As such, Miranda knew that she would have to take precautions and have plans ready for when she was betrayed. She would need to be prepared to betray others.
Miranda didn't have much of a choice in all this as the alternative was death and never getting to see her sister again. Oriana was still in a galaxy filled with Reapers and people who had worked for her father.
The entity who clearly getting something out of all of this, had promised Miranda that her sister would be brought here should her efforts prove entertaining. She didn't know if that was true, and she was willing to take the entity at its word since it had no reason to lie to her.
To carry out her objective, Miss Lawson knew she would need to be in a position of power to challenge someone who would prove a worthy enemy to her and in that she had a valuable ally.
EDI, or at least some version of her, had been installed into her Omni-tool, despite the device not having nearly enough processing power to run such a complex series of programs.
"Are you feeling well Operative Lawson?" asked the AI.
Spoiler
[img: https/i./736x/73/4d/ec/734decc13f5a1693056db55a07ef7eec--boxes.jpg]
All things considered, she was feeling okay.
"I'm fine, EDI," she said as she addressed the hologram "I'm just thinking about what happens next".
With her own skills and a 23rd Century AI that had access to a vast amount of information, there wasn't much Miranda couldn't do as long as she made good plans. Defeating some unknown enemy was important, but there was so much more she could accomplish while here.
She'd studied history, she studied a lot of everything, so she knew that this time in human history was one when humanity needed to deal with many challenges it didn't seem willing to face.
In her time most industrial work took place in other parts of the solar system, and the resources brought in from off-world had been used to tackle poverty. Sure Earth in her time was far from perfect, but before the Reapers came the standard of living had been improving.
Thinking on it Miranda wondered if she could push this version of humanity into space. Without access to Element Zero, there would be no means of reaching other solar systems within a human lifetime, but there was a whole solar system out there ripe for exploration and terraforming was always a possibility.
Simply dumping the information on the Internet wouldn't work, that would cause a lot of problems, so she'd have to disseminate it carefully and use it to progress mankind's development during her own long lifetime. Thanks to her gene enhancements she still had a lot of life ahead of her, as long she didn't get murdered.
If she made herself very rich and powerful while doing that then it would just make it easier for her to be a good enemy for whoever it was she went up against.
She'd know who that was soon enough, as well as the identities of the others who would come here to challenge her. The higher power had given her the chance to settle in first, and some time to prepare. She intended to use that time well.
It was tempting to go off the grid, to disappear, so that she could strike from the shadows, but she'd never be able to stand such a life and it wouldn't allow her to make something of herself.
So she would let herself be seen. She'd become a public figure and invest in a great deal of security.
If she made herself valuable enough then no one from this world would want to hurt her and she'd find a way to deal with this enemy when she knew who and what they were. Then perhaps she could make a deal. Just because these other people were her enemies that didn't mean they had to slaughter each other. There were other ways to be an adversary and some wars were cold.
Miranda would need to negotiate from a position of strength and that meant becoming wealthy very quickly.
"EDI how is going acquiring me those credits?" she asked.
Miranda was still learning about this world, and she knew no matter what she ended up doing it would be easier if she had plenty of funding, and there were no banking VI in this world to prevent EDI from getting her those funds, or at least altering people to the tampering.
"Dollars, Operative Lawson" the AI corrected "And it has been simple to acquire the funds you desire".
There were plenty of wealthy old men to steal a little from. It all added up.
"I'll need to set myself somewhere permanent and secure," she told the AI.
She already had a new identity. Miranda had been born in Brisbane, Australia, in the year 2150, and it wasn't much work to alter her date of birth and to create the Lawson family, who according to this added bit of history, had been a wealthy and reclusive lot ever since the first European settlers had reached that country.
Miranda would need to have graduated from some business school if she was going to enter that arena. Altered records wouldn't be enough, she'd have to patent certain bits of technology and convince a few people that they had known her their entire lives.
The former Cerberus Operative wasn't worried about that. She performed long-term undercover missions before, this wouldn't be much different, and she'd never had an AI to help her before.
"I'll look into acquiring a suitable property," EDI informed.
This hotel suite was nice, but she would need a proper home and a private space for her work.
"Alright EDI," said Miranda "I'm going to get a few hours of sleep. I have a feeling that we'll be busy tomorrow".
The AI stopped projecting her hologram, but she didn't stop working, they both had a lot to do in this new world.
Streets. New York.
Jason Todd AKA The Red Hood, certainly felt as if a bomb had gone off, yet when he woke up he wasn't in that abandoned building in Crime Alley with rumble all around him, he wasn't in any kind of cell, nor was he again dead.
He'd escaped death for the second time, thanks to the invention of some higher power. Maybe the third time would be the charm. Not that he was eager to go find out.
Spoiler
[img: https/images4./111/1112618.jpg]
Jason found that he was outside in a more well-lit area, and it was raining. He wasn't even in Gotham anymore, that city had a certain feel to it that Jason could feel the absence of whenever he left the city. If nothing else this place smelt a lot better.
The Red Hood then remembered. He'd blown himself up when Bruce had refused to do the right thing and finally end The Joker, so he'd decided to end them all in one big boom.
Looking back he wasn't quite sure what he'd been thinking when he set up. It would have made far more sense just to kill the clown in front of Bruce and then use the bomb as a diversion to escape, or better yet he should have just killed the Clown and had it out with Bruce.
Maybe his dip in Ra's Al Ghul's magic pit had messed with his mind. Thankfully he was thinking much more clearly now and starting to see the mistakes he'd made. This was good as Jason knew that he was going to need his wits as well as all of his skills if he was going to not only survive in this new world but prosper.
As Jason Todd found some shelter in yet another abandoned building, he wondered what exactly he was going to do with his new life. He couldn't go back to Gotham since he knew it didn't exist in this world and he had a job to do here.
He'd made a bargain and now he had another role to play. He needed to be an enemy of some other toy of that cosmic being. For this he would need all of his skills and tools, some minions wouldn't go amiss.
Bruce had trained him well, and Jason could acquire some new toys easily enough once he got his hands on the right materials. Even now he was far from helpless, but since he didn't yet know who or what he would be going up against he needed to be prepared for anything.
That would cost money, as would a proper place to stay, and thankfully he had a way of obtaining all the money he needed.
Sure he didn't know New York as he did Gotham, but Bruce had trained him very well, and he knew how to find crooks easily enough, he'd learned that they were similar in their actions no matter where you went.
First of all, he needed some weapons, and that could easily be sorted by breaking into the right place. Then he'd locate some street-level dealer before he began working his way up the food chain until he found the bosses.
The upper-level crook would tell him everything he needed to know before they died and Jason took over his operation. Red Hood knew how to make a man spell his secrets without things having to get too messy.
He'd done it before and he could do it again. He'd rise to the top of the criminal underworld and this time there would be no Batman to get in his way, and he doubted that the cops here would fair any better against him than those in Gotham.
Jason would need to take control of at least part of the drug trade so as to make sure he had plenty of income, and from there he could branch out, and offer protection against other gangs, as well as whatever capes they had in this world.
There would be heroes, there were those who felt they had the right to inflict their outdated morality upon others, who went around thinking that their actions made any difference in a world that needed someone to give it a proper cleaning up.
Todd knew that he'd have to move fast as before long the cosmic being would let him know who he was up against and they would know at least a little about him. So he'd needed a secure base and some security to start with.
That would have to wait a few hours. He'd had a very long day and he needed some sleep. Tomorrow he would begin to do what needed to be done.
Torn Cape - 3
Torn Cape.
Part 3.
Bryman Audio. New York City.
Once again I was hanging about on a rooftop and sadly the view wasn't very impressive from here as there were many taller buildings around. At least this time it wasn't raining.
As I stood and waited I once again wondered if I was going about this the right way. I'd selected a path for myself that would serve my needs, but I could still go another way. I could try to be the good guy even if this world wasn't built for them.
I could be the very thing that all those naive people thought Homelander was, a true hero, a Superman, someone that people could look up to and make people feel as if there was hope for the future.
Although I would never wear a cape I could still be a great hero. I could try to guide the other superhumans onto a better path.
With the technology Cortana had access to mankind could advance itself at a rapid pace. It would just have to be carefully managed and I felt certain that my AI companion could manage that while I saved kittens from trees or whatever.
Nope, I just couldn't summon any willingness to go do that. It would be a lie and I'd tire of it quickly as it wouldn't be any fun.
This was my new life, my second chance to find some sort of happiness, and I didn't owe it to anyone to spend time working in their interest.
"Vought International hosted its 2019 Shareholder event this week," said the news reporter as I watched her show via my helmet "In a public address The Deep of the Seven announced the retirement of Lamplighter and introduced their newest member Starlight".
Events were playing out as I'd known they would. Starlight had joined the Seven and become disillusioned with it very quickly thanks to The Deep.
Cortana was doing a great job of filtering out the unimportant information from the news channels, such as the endless adverts, to make sure that I only heard and saw the important stuff.
This meant I had plenty to think about as I stood on the roof of the electronic store and waited for the fun to begin.
I'd not been lazy while waiting for Billy Butcher to make contact with Hughie Campbell. By following the instructions of my AI I'd been able to set myself up in a Manhattan penthouse apartment and to ensure that I had all the right paperwork.
As soon as Translucent died, an event I planned to bring about a little sooner than in the show, then The Seven were going to need a replacement. Invincible, or whatever it was the media labelled me, would become that replacement.
Soon I'd appear all over the city and start to save people. Cortana was already working on a program that should allow her to predict crises and crimes which I could respond to. Vought did something similar just with much more primitive methods.
It would be important to gather my own following online if I wanted to join The Seven. Which was where I needed to be in order to reach the heights I desired.
If nothing else it would be easier to slaughter all of The Seven if I knew when they would all be in one place. I didn't think it would be much of a fight if I took that course of action.
Although I did hope to subvert The Seven and Vought, to make use of the organisation so that it could serve my plans. I could bring it all crashing down later on if needs be.
Heck, I wouldn't even need to get my hands dirty as Cortana could destroy the company electronically with just an order from me. Destroy its stock and expose incriminating information to the world.
Once people got a look at me in action there was no way Vought would be willing to pass up on the chance to acquire a superhero whose powers would appear to be much like those of Homelander.
I would have to make sure not to look too powerful when performing my rescues as I didn't want that man-child to realise that I could surpass him, at least not yet.
Also, I need to be enticing to Vought without making myself look like too much of a threat to them. That was why I wouldn't wear my armour when saving people because if nothing else Vought would want to put me in a costume of their own design.
The armour disguised me and enhanced my abilities, so I wanted to keep its existence hidden as I did the existence of my weapons.
"Vought also premiered its plans for the future, in which a superhero will guard every city in America" reported the news anchor.
The pretty woman on the screen wasn't the only person with something important to tell me. As expected I now had information on my adversaries.
"For now, we have two opponents to worry about" Cortana let me know as she displayed some pictures "A man known as the Red Hood and a woman called Miranda Lawson. Do those names ring any bells, boss?".
As a matter of fact, they did and they were surprising choices. I wondered what the ROB had been thinking when he chose them.
"I know of them," I told my AI.
The Red Hood was a comic book character and he was a peak human anti-hero. Given his training he could be a threat to me as like his mentor he had the intelligence to find a person's weaknesses and the willingness to exploit that weakness.
Jason Todd wasn't his mentor's equal and he wouldn't have excess to Bruce Wayne's fortune, but I would be foolish to assume that this meant he couldn't a real threat as he was willing to use lethal force.
Not that he nor Miranda Lawson needed to kill me in order to be my enemy.
Thinking about it I quickly reasoned what the Red Hood would do. He had no allies to call upon and no flashy superpowers as such it would make sense for him to do here in New York what he did in the Gotham of his world.
Going up against me even was going to take more than a few toys and special training. While I'm no Omni-Man, and sure I might only be Half-Viltrumite, I knew that it takes a lot of sheer power to hurt us with mere brute force so I wasn't worried about physical attacks.
Aside from setting himself up as a crime lord, so that he would have access to plenty of money, and maybe some minions, I figured that Red Hood would take the time to study me, to suss out my weaknesses, which I did have.
Only when he was ready to defeat me utterly would he strike and he'd do so when I was expecting it. Assuming that he was mentally stable enough for such a plan.
I shared my musings with Cortana before I began thinking about the other person she had named.
Miranda Lawson was in my view a very odd choice for the ROB to choose as someone for me to go up against given she was someone from a very different setting than this one. However, she was a sort of spy and could be very dangerous.
She might be able to pass off her biotics as a superpower given to her by the use of Compound V but didn't think she'd come at me that way or try to join the Seven.
Miranda Lawson was not the hero of her story, that was Shepard, she was an administrator and sometimes an operative. So how would she transfer her skills so that she could become successful in this world?
I just couldn't see her trying to become a superhero. Was there anything like Cerberus here? Would she join up with some sort of intelligence organisation? Maybe go into business?
I wondered if she'd try to seduce me. I might let that happen since she was very attractive and I had been thinking about having a few children to help me rule. I'd have to be careful with them and not let them team up against me.
"Boss, something is happening" warned Cortana.
She showed me some CCTV footage of the door to the store opening on its own. Either a ghost was haunting the electronics store or someone invisible had just entered.
It would be Translucent, The Seven's invisible superhero, a power he possessed thanks to his carbon metamaterial skin that bends light, which also made him bulletproof.
He was a master of stealth, he can sneak anywhere and give bad guys the surprise of a lifetime. Given that he'd walked in the front door it seemed that he was not expecting trouble in dealing with Hughie.
"That's him," I said "Now we just need to wait for Billy Butcher to drive his car through the store's window".
This happened soon enough and I jumped down on the street as I grasped the handle of my darksaber.
Spoiler
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I didn't really need a weapon and one came with my armour anyway, so buying a lightsaber hadn't been the best use of my points, yet I'd been unable to resist purchasing the weapon.
It did make for an interesting weapon of murder because no one else had one in this world, at least not yet, and the wounds it was able to make should baffle whoever did the autopsies.
Once I was inside the store I moved fast, killing Hughie Campbell before he could do whatever it was he did to disable Translucent. He was a mere human and the darksaber ended his lift with next to no effort by me.
Translucent, who was invisible and wrestling with the cockney punisher was tougher to kill. His strange skin actually resisted the energy blade.
Alas for him a lightsaber could defeat the blast doors on a starship so even the bulletproof skin of Translucent only slow down the blade as I drove it through where I guessed his heart to be.
"What the fuck" Billy Butcher had time to say.
His head hit the floor before he could do more than stare at me while cursing, and his body joined it a moment later. With that, it was all over.
"Fuck you, canon timeline" I muttered.
I decided to take Translucent's body with me as I wouldn't mind having Vought waste some time looking for him. I could throw the corpse into space without much trouble.
"Boss, I can't find any trace of a Red Hood" I was told.
She wouldn't since Todd would be living off the grid and would know how to cover his tracks.
"Just tag any police reports involving harm done to criminals and go over them" I ordered "You'll find a pattern or at least an idea of what Todd is up to".
I'd look at them later.
"Oh, I found Miranda Lawson" reported Cortana.
She showed me a new image and a file as I took the air, letting my black armour blend me in with the night sky.
"A graduate of AIM Business School" I read out "The Australian Institute of Management Education and Training. Heiress of the Lawson family, and she's already opened up her own technology company".
She'd gotten that done fast. Something I commented on to Cortana.
"I think she has her an AI with her," said my digital companion.
Now that did surprise me.
"Are you sure?" I asked.
That was worrying. Cortana was advanced, but I didn't know how well she'd do against another of her kind.
"The AI she's teamed up with, it is very good at covering up its tracks" my companion let me know "I'd say it was designed for electronic warfare because I'm seeing some of the tricks I've used myself when I didn't want people to know they'd been hacked".
By now I'd stopped up in the air because I needed to think. I held onto the invisible corpse of Translucent as I hovered above the city.
"EDI," I said "She's an AI who works with Miranda Lawson in the Mass Effect series. She starts off as this electronic warfare AI for a warship and grows from there".
Having an AI partner was serving me very well, and Miranda Lawson was smarter than me. This made her much more dangerous than I'd originally thought.
"This EDI has been avoiding me, and she seems to know that I already exist" I was informed.
I looked over the file that Cortana had already put together for them.
"She has a house just outside of the city. I think we should go pay her a visit" I said.
Since Miranda was the person I was supposed to PVPing against EDI shouldn't be an issue if I just went over to Lawson's place and crush her skull. But that might not be the best idea as the ROB will simply send someone else.
I knew Miranda Lawson I was sure that I could handle her, so perhaps we could come to some sort of truce.
"Are you going to kill her?" asked a curious-sounding Cortana.
She wouldn't try to stop me or render any kind of judgement. That wasn't her purpose.
"We'll see how the night plays out" I answered.
First I needed to get rid of the corpse I was lugging around. Then I would go see Miss Lawson and decide what to do with her.
Torn Cape - 4
Torn Cape.
Part 4.
Private Residence. New York State.
Miranda Lawson couldn't help wondering if she was becoming like her father. She didn't need a home as large as this yet she'd brought it anyway when EDI had offered to quickly get her moved in.
Spoiler
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Until now she'd actually preferred her living spaces to be much more basic and small because she liked to keep things orderly.
Now she had a mansion that she was never going to find the time to keep clean.
That meant having some staff who she would have to order about, as her father used to frequently when Miranda was going up.
She hoped that she would do so with more manners and a lot less shouting. As she'd gotten older she hated her father's yelling more and more. That man had always loved the sound of his own voice.
At least she could somewhat justify the house as a means to impress potential allies, and it was easier to keep her work private when the neighbours were miles away.
Despite that, she knew she could have settled for a nice apartment within the city and found ways to keep her activities hidden.
It might have even made things easier for her given how many meetings she would need to attend in the future as she entered the world of business.
Her father had always felt the need to show off, and to have the best, a big house, the newest aircar, and the perfect child.
If the old bastard hadn't been such a good businessman with an accountant who'd known how to get around quite a few tax laws, Henry Lawson would have ruined himself long before Miranda was even born.
As for the perfect child. He'd never gotten one of those despite how much time, credits and effort he'd poured into that project.
Even Miranda, who was as close as he'd gotten, hadn't measured up to his impossible standards. No matter how much she studied, trained and tried to please her father it had never been up.
She really hoped that she'd be a better parent when it was her turn, and while she hadn't planned to become one when first making her plans.
It did seem like the best way to handle this half-viltrumite who was calling himself Nolan Grayson, at least according to the file that EDI had been sent from somewhere.
Miranda Lawson didn't know what a viltrumite was, but given the context in the file, she figured that this Grayson was part alien, as silly as that sounded.
Even the asari didn't actually breed with other species despite what some idiots thought and yet breeding with someone with alien DNA looked like it would be a good way for Miranda to gain some control over this Grayson.
His file supported the idea that he could breed with a human and that he could control his own fertility because he'd chosen to be able to do that. This feature also removed any issues the woman might have with her pregnancy.
She didn't have much of a choice other than her sexuality as some sort of defence, and unless this Nolan was a complete monster he was unlikely to harm the mother of his child.
At least not while she was pregnant, and that would buy her some time because this Nolan Grayson was going to find her sooner or later. She'd not made any effort to hide.
Getting knocked up during a PVP was risky, however when compared to the Red Hood guy this Grayson seemed to be a much greater threat.
Perhaps she could get them to go up against each other if she played her cards right. From what she knew of this Red Hood he wouldn't be a threat to Grayson in a straight-up fight.
That combined with the fact that she was already thinking about how to use a child against his or her father, showed that in her case the apple really hadn't fallen far from the tree.
"Operative Lawson," said EDI as she projected her hologram "There is something heading this way".
Miranda had been able to install a few sensors around the property. They were rather crude things compared to the technology she'd gotten to use as the leader of a Cerberus cell, but she had to make do with what she could fabricate with her omni-tool.
She watched via a camera as a man in normal-looking black clothes simply dropped down to the ground in front of her house as if he had no need to employ any kind of stealth.
From what Miranda had read on the file she'd been provided with he didn't need to worry much about anything short of a nuclear strike. If that had been an option she certainly was going to escalate things that far.
Grayson was powerful enough to fly through space, he had super strength and super durability. To make matters even better they were known to be a violent race. Although the same could be said for humans.
If he was anything like that Homelander, and he was likely much more dangerous, then nothing she had would do more than annoy him. Any direct conflict was out of the question.
Good thing she'd slipped into some nightwear and Miranda was if nothing else something of an actress. So she made herself appear to be relaxed and poured a drink for herself along with her guest.
She considered using poison, but she had no idea what was lethal to a viltrumite, she knew how to kill humans that way, but she didn't know if they would work on a half-breed or even if he was half-human. Although his picture suggested he was.
He wasn't at all bad looking now that she'd some proper images to check out. Tall, dark-haired, and powerfully built. His fashion sense could use some work. Perhaps she could offer some tips.
She did feel an attraction to powerful men and he was supposed to be some sort of superhero, his superior genes mixed with her could make for an amazing child.
Cold-hearted of her to use a child that way, but seduction was her only option here. She needed to play for time and gain some sort of leverage over a man that could kill with ease.
Well, at least she wasn't going to be bored, and she was doing this to survive, not because of her ego, unlike her father. She would treat her child right.
"EDI go dormant" she ordered.
"Logging you out Miss Lawson," said the helpful AI.
The doorbell rang and Miranda took a deep breath before she went to answer it. When she did she made sure she looked a lot more confident than she currently felt.
"Hello, Greyson" she greeted.
It took quite a bit of effort for him to look into her eyes and for once she wasn't offended or even annoyed that he was staring at her breasts, because it was a good sign. What if he'd been gay or into blondes?
"Lawson," he said.
There was no sense in having their discussion outside.
"Come on in" she invited.
She turned her back to him leaving herself vulnerable. Not that it mattered since she felt fairly certain that she could spend the clip in the pistol she'd been carrying when appeared in this world and that it wouldn't have made any kind of impact.
"You've done well for yourself" commented Nolan as he took the drink Miranda offered.
EDI had detected another AI poking about on the Internet. EDI had avoided that intelligence and Miranda knew that there was a chance this unknown AI was in league with Grayson, yet there was no reason to confirm anything by admitting she had help.
"I've infiltrated much more sophisticated societies," she said.
Nolan clearly knew something about her. Given that he could relax in her presence that meant he knew she wouldn't be stupid to directly attack him and that he likely had some knowledge of her skill set.
"I'd like to propose a deal" informed the former Cerberus Operative as they sat down.
If Grayson had been intending to outright kill her he'd have done it already of that she felt mostly certain.
"What kind of deal?" inquired the hybrid.
At least he was willing to hear her out.
"I don't want to die. Not again." admitted the genetically engineered woman "So I've decided to give you a reason not only to spare my life but to protect me".
He looked interested.
"I've seen your file" shared Miranda "So I know you can control your fertility and that you can breed with other races".
Grayson betrayed a little surprise. This made her realise that he might not have known that his adversaries would have access to that much information about him
It might also mean he'd not been as well briefed as her. She wondered if this was some attempt by the power who had set all this up to even things out just a little.
"So I want you to put a baby in me" the 22nd Century woman then said.
Grayson needed a moment before he could reply to that. He might have been expecting her to use sex as a tool, but clearly, he'd not thought that Miranda would suggest making a baby together. At least not so soon.
"Why would I give you a child who you could raise to hate me or even use against me?" he questioned.
So he wasn't an idiot. That was good she'd hate for her child to inherit their smarts from his or her father if he was a fool.
"Because that would take a couple of decades and I wouldn't cut you from access to your own child" she pointed "Besides if the entity who sent us here keeps sending more people after the both of us we might need each other's help".
Sometimes you had to make alliances with one enemy to defeat another one.
"Allowing me to be the mother of your child or even children, would motivate you to protect me," she said.
She figured that Grayson saw the logic in this.
"It might still end up with the two of us facing each other down," he said.
But that could take years, decades if she got pregnant a few times. Miranda was in this for the long haul, and not just for herself.
"I have perfect genes and I want the strongest man in this world to mix his genes with mine" she stated "And you can fuck me for fun if that is what you want. I wouldn't let any other man touch me, and I wouldn't expect you to limit yourself".
If Nolan was the jealous type she pitied any man who tried anything. Not that she couldn't handle the man of this world on her own and frankly she wasn't interested in any romantic relationships.
Falling in love with Shepard had been unexpected and wasn't likely to happen again. No one would have compared with John in any case.
"Generous terms" commented Grayson.
They had to be.
"I'm not stupid" pointed out Miranda "You basically a version of Superman who doesn't let antiqued morality chain him down".
The former Cerberus Operative stood up and let her nightgown drop to the floor to show the tasteful bra and panties she wore underneath. She didn't know Grayson's taste so she hoped this outfit worked.
"Grayson, I'm ready when you are" she declared.
She didn't want to give Grayson time to think too much about this offer. She wanted him to trust his male drive to reproduce with the best female on offer.
With a smirk he took up the offer and moved over to her, to grab her and start touching her. There was nothing romantic about this arrangement, yet she didn't mind the feel of his strong hands on her body.
From a practical point of view, Nolan was the best choice as a father to her offspring since he was powerful enough to protect them from almost anything, and if his abilities were hereditary as the file suggested they were, then their children would be superior to everyone else on the planet.
Miranda didn't think about this for much longer. Grayson seemed to know exactly what he was doing and while she attempted to take control of the action he was having none of that.
Like some sort of caveman, he began doing what he pleased to her. He ripped her expensive underwear, leaving her naked for his viewing pleasure.
This wasn't what she had planned. She'd want to take him to her bedroom, and then ride him to orgasm. She'd planned to use her words to flatter his male ego and to find out what words he liked to hear.
Yet there was something primal and enjoyable about letting this superior example of a male bend her over the arm of the couch before he began to undress.
He was going to fuck her and Miranda didn't doubt that despite her preference for controlling the action during intercourse, she was going to enjoy it.
She was wet for him, and even if becoming pregnant was part of her plans to survive, she found herself wanting this to happen.
Lawson didn't even mind that he spanked her arse a few times, after all, she wanted him to keep coming back for more, for him to desire her. So it was good to know what he liked to do to a woman.
To that end, she'd let him do what he wanted to her, and she wouldn't even have to pretend that she was enjoying it since his file suggested he'd take measures to make himself superior to other men in many ways.
He felt very good as he forced himself inside her perfect pussy, which she had used to get what she wanted from many a man and no doubt it would again.
Miranda really began to enjoy what was happening. She'd never had sex like this before. She'd never let herself simply take it. Apparently, she'd been missing out.
"Yes! Y-Yes, Fuck me! Please fuck me harder! Breed me! Knock me up!" she yelled.
She was going to be used by him, she was here to be fucked, to be impregnated, so all Miranda could do was be fucked.
Miranda quickly lost the power of speech as her body responded to what was happening to her. She wanted this man's babies to grow inside her. Her biology was demanding this of her.
Nolan had his hands on her hips so he could push her back into him as he forced his cock deeper inside her. He spoke to her and she made no effort to reply as the only thing that mattered to Miranda was that he cum inside her.
He did so when he wanted to, and when it happened it barely registered as Miranda had already orgasmed, and her brain had been flooded with endorphins.
As the night went on and Grayson fucked her a few more times before leaving some hours later because he had something else he wanted to go do.
That night, Miranda Lawson forgot her concerns about becoming more like her father, at least for a while.
Torn Cape - 5
Torn Cape.
Part 5.
Abandoned Building. New York City.
Serge or Frenchie as he was called was not someone who I had originally cared enough about to take out because with Billy Butcher there were no The Boys to get in my way.
Alas for poor Frenchie I'd come across him because among other things he was a weapons dealer and thanks to my AI I knew that the city's new crime lord was using money taken from the drug trade to purchase weapons.
Cortana hadn't been able to track down the Red Hood himself, he was the off the grid and used to hiding, but she was able to work out some sort of pattern for his movements based on his interactions as other criminals weren't so careful about who they spoke to.
This had brought me to a boarded-up Tony Cicero's restaurant that really should have the police swarming given how many crooks I'd seen coming in and out of the place.
Spoiler
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"You never take me anywhere nice" complained Cortana.
I rather liked having an AI companion with a sense of humour.
"We've been to the moon" I pointed out "Some women tend to think of it as romantic".
I'd needed to go there to find a suitable site for my moonbase. Cortana had ordered the creation of a few specialised prefab buildings from many different companies that I would later be able to move from Earth to its only natural satellite.
Before Cortana could finish pointing out that the moon was an airless lump of rock covered in craters and therefore not romantic, I spotted my target.
"Someone went to a lot of trouble to delete this guy's history" said Cortana "There's hardly anything in his CIA file and I can't find him at all in the police's database".
That made sense since The Boys had worked for someone high up in the CIA. I just couldn't recall who and it didn't much matter since if that organisation ever came after me I could dismantle it with the help of Cortana.
"Looks like they are having a meeting as expected," I said.
Not unexpected given that the Red Hood was known for organising criminals. He would offer them protection from the capes in exchange for part of their profits and access to certain resources.
That was why I'd not already killed Frenchie and his friends, as while it would be good to kill a man known for coming up with ways to defeat sups, he wasn't a big deal compared to the Red Hood.
Once it looked as if everyone who was coming to the meeting they were holding had arrived, I deployed my special armour that covered up the outfit that Cortana had sorted out for me by ordering parts from different companies all over the seaboard.
I didn't really need armour I just wanted an outfit that would stay together as I flew about and fought crime. It was very important that my two sets of armour remain separate as I didn't want anyone to associate Invincible with the guy who was going around butchering criminals.
It was part of my long-term plan for the public to see Invincible, a name that I had supplied to the media as a Superman-like figure and I didn't mind saving people as it was a good way to test my abilities.
"This is where the fun begins" I whispered.
I detached the darksaber from my belt and smiled because I knew that there was no chance of anyone figuring out that it was a type of lightsaber due to Lucus having never made the Star Wars movies.
The superhero genre had grown to dominate the film industry over the decades, starting at the end of World War Two until the point that by now the folks in Hollywood made little other than superhero movies.
As such Lucus had spent his career working on those kinds of films in more of a support role. Sad that no one in this world got to see Star Wars the original trilogy, but at least they were spared from the disappointment that the movie franchise became.
The guard at the door, who pretended to be someone just hanging around having a smoke was the first to die as I swooped down from above and almost bisected him. If not for the feature of lightsabers cauterising wounds then I would have made quite a mess.
I wasn't going to bother with stealth as I had the ability to overwhelm my targets with sheer force. With that in mind, I kicked down the door and headed into the boarded-up restaurant which was as expected filled with weapon dealers.
Because of this I suddenly had a lot of people reaching for the merchandise or guns they carried on their person. Not that it mattered I was on them before the shooting started and no bullet was going to do me any harm.
I simply ran forward and began cutting crooks down with my darksaber, I enjoyed this, the feeling of power, knowing that I could end so many dangerous men with such little effort.
There was a lot of screaming as I killed, I didn't even know if I managed to end Frenchie, who was a target of mine even if he wasn't a very important one.
Any concern I had over that man's fate became unimportant to me when I got hit by something with enough kick to it that I was made to stagger backwards and it left me feeling dizzy.
One weakness we Viltrumites have is our inner ear, which is delicately balanced and part of why we fly so well. Thousands of years of evolution and getting used to moving through a full 360 degrees of motion in the air has its drawbacks. Someone was exploiting this weakness.
As I'd known he would be The Red Hood was here. He'd come out of the kitchen with a grenade launcher that must be loaded with something very potent to have staggered me.
He fired again and again, each time causing me to be pushed back, and the next thing I knew the entire building was collapsing on top of me.
As I quickly dug my way out, I was surprised by what happened, the grenades hadn't done much to me, but the fact they had been more than annoyance meant that the Red Hood had been able to put together some sort of weapon that could at least slow me down.
At the very least he'd been able to buy himself enough time to get away and maybe saved some of his new minions who would now owe him.
"I'll start designing you a person shield" offered Cortana "Something that helps you handle concussive force".
While she did that I was going to go have a drink. I had a headache and I was in a foul mood. It didn't help that I had no idea if the Red Hood somehow knew about one of my few weaknesses or if he'd pulled out that trick because he knew he was dealing with someone with superpowers and screwing with my inner ear had been unintended.
"That would be helpful," I remarked.
I would have another chance to deal with the Red Hood. He was just a mortal man. I would find him and put my fist through his chest.
Vought Tower. New York City.
Spoiler [img: https/images./content/v1/52c9d908e4b0e87887310693/1565967081148-BCQKKYYC6MTPLX9TGT98/Boys_s01e02_04.png]
Stan Edgar and Madelyn Stillwell sat in Madelyn's office as they watched the video that had gotten the attention of many people around the world.
A new superhero was flying around the east coast, waging a one-man war on criminals and saving people from their own stupidity. Compared to the heroes under the employ of Vought this new cape was very active and also very good at his job.
Not that either Stan or Madelyn cared that his new hero was going out of his way to keep causalities down and reduce property damage when possible. They only cared that this new superhuman wasn't under their control.
"He hasn't stopped to talk to the press much," said Madelyn "We know that he calls himself Invincible, but beyond that, we don't know much other than he's from across the pond".
Of course, she'd found Invinicible's public identity, he was no one special and seemed to have come into his powers recently. Nolan Grayson had inherited his wealth and done nothing with it.
"He's foreign?" asked Stan "So where did his parents get the Compound V from?".
Superheroes didn't just pop up they were manufactured.
"We have no idea" said Madelyn "It's possible that he doesn't even know the source of his powers and he appears to have no interest in discussing the matter when he does bother talking to people".
As Vought's Senior Vice President of Hero Management, it was Madelyn Stillwell's job to manage the world's greatest superhero team, The Seven.
It was also her job to ensure that they were profitable for the company to keep despite the trouble they could cause, to that end, she'd taken an interest in this Invincible.
Her ambitions went beyond merely having superheroes fighting crime on America's streets; she desired to put them in the military, through a multi-billion-dollar government contract, and this Invincible might be able to help her with that.
"I assume you want to bring him under our umbrella," said Stan "You don't need my blessing for that".
He was quite happy to let Madelyn handle the talent while he did the actual work of running Vought.
"I want to bring him into the Seven" stated the Vice President.
That did surprise the CEO of Vought International even if he barely expressed it.
"He's not even part of the company" Stan pointed out "We have entire lines of heroes ready to compete for a place in our flagship team".
This was an odd move, but Madelyn had her reasons.
"I think he might one day be a match for Homelander," said Madelyn "He flies, he's strong, he's fast, he's bulletproof and I think he's still discovering what it is he can do. I think this Invincible could help us keep Homelander in line".
Stan was willing to listen. It had always been a fear that Homelander would grow impossible to control if he ever stopped caring about the admiration of the masses. Thankfully the leader of the Seven was so eager for validation and affection that Madelyn was able to keep him on a leash.
"What if he is like Homelander?" enquired Stan.
She had already thought about that.
"Invincible is still flexing his muscles" she said "I think he's out there learning what he can do and isn't prepared for what it means to be a superhero. He could do with some guidance and I intend to offer that. If I can get to him before he's too certain of himself I think I can guide him in the right direction".
Stan smiled just a little. Madelyn had always been good at dealing with the talent.
"As long as they don't team up we can set them against each other if we have to" he mused.
Madelyn knew that there was no chance of Invincible and Homelander becoming friends as the current leader of The Seven was much like a dog. He wouldn't like having someone around who could challenge his dominance.
"And what if he's worse than Homelander" the CEO wondered.
Madelyn had already thought of that.
"Then we brand him as an enemy and set The Seven on him," she said "We have enough supes on the payroll to bury this Invincible in bodies if we need to".
Stan gave this some thought.
"It's not without risk, however, having someone to pit against Homelander could be useful" he reasoned "But if he isn't strong enough he might not be worth the investment. Still, we can risk anyone else getting their hands on a superhero that powerful".
He wasn't interested in how exactly Madelyn would get this all done and he could trust her to have already thought of the details. She wouldn't have asked him to come to his office if she didn't already have a well-thought-out plan of action for acquiring this Invincible.
"I assume you want Invincible to replace Translucent," said Stan "Is there still no trace of him?".
Madelyn knew that she could get the blame for this and it was part of why she wanted to get a new superhero on the team so quickly. Invincible was becoming a household name and people would forget all about Translucent as soon as she could dangle Invincible in front of them as a distraction.
"None at all" she replied "As far we can tell he isn't anywhere on Earth".
Given that he could turn invisible there wasn't much chance of ever finding Translucent if he didn't want to be found and he seemed to have figured out a way of removing his tracking chip.
"Pity," said Stan without any conviction "He's in violation of his contract so let's wash our hands of him".
Neither of them had ever liked Translucent as he was known to be a pervert.
"This Invincible he dresses like Soldier Boy" commented the CEO as he rewatched the video "But without the iconography".
Compared to what most superheroes wore the outfit was rather practical and sedate.
"My department thinks he's trying to project strength without coming off as overly hostile" the Vice President informed her superior "And he isn't American so he won't be wearing the red, white and blue".
They had entire teams of people who could come up with a new image so it wasn't important.
"He sees himself as a warrior, not a soldier," remarked Stan as he got up to leave "Something to keep in mind. Now if you'll excuse me I do have a meeting after what will sadly be a short lunch".
Madelyn stayed in her office and watched as Invincible tore the door of a van, pulled out the driver and then handed over the crook to the police before flying away.
The superhero didn't stick around to receive praise, or make any statements, he got the job done and then left. He was a very different kind of hero and she would have to figure Invincible out if she was going to get him into the Seven.
Torn Cape - 6
Torn Cape.
Part 6.
Penthouse Apartment. New York City.
"So I didn't even rate a visit from Madelyn Stillwell in person," I said as I answered the door of my penthouse apartment "Please come on in Miss Barret".
Thanks to Cortana I had this fancy apartment wired up. No one could get near the place without her knowing it so I'd know that Ashley Barrett was coming to meet me before she'd even entered the building.
This kind of security was required because I was sure that by now quite a few groups had figured out who Invincible was when he was at home. Once the general public found out I might have to move.
The woman I let into my apartment was someone I knew well enough as I'd studied the files my AI had gotten me about the people working at Vought.
Ashley Barret was Madelyn Stillwell's assistant and had been assigned to handle Starlight as she settled into the Seven. Given that Starlight had never fitted in with the Seven and never could have due to having morals, then Miss Barret had been doomed from the start.
"Thank you, Mr Grayson," she said choosing to ignore my first remark "Or can I call you Invincible".
I didn't care either way, neither of those names meant anything to me. If the ROB ever sent a magic user after me it would be wise to keep my real name hidden as some types of magic could make use of your real name.
"Call me Nolan" I offered.
While I was disappointed that I hadn't rated a home visit from someone more important there was no sense in acting rude.
"Can I get you something?" I asked.
She politely refused and followed me into the sitting area.
"So what does Vought want from me?" I inquired.
It had just struck her that she'd never introduced herself.
"How do you know I'm from Vought?" she asked.
"I knew who you were as soon as you entered the building" I admitted "I have wonderful security".
No need to go into the details. Not that she would have understood them. I didn't understand a lot of it.
"You are Ashley Barrett, you work in public relations for Vought and I'm a superhero," I said "It's not hard to guess why you are here. You've been sent to recruit me".
She pretended not to be upset that I had stolen her thunder. No doubt she'd thought that I would be amazed by her offer and grateful to her for coming here to offer it to me in person.
I was actually a little insulted that the leaders of Vought had sent a lackey, but I was doing my best not to show it.
I'd seen the show and read her file so I knew that Ashley Barret was not a good person, she would suck up to whoever had power and she'd be willing to stab me in the back in a second if it meant advancing her own position or simply maintaining what she had.
"As a matter of fact that is why I am here" stated the woman "You're trending hard right now and your public approval is through the roof. This is the time to capitalise on your success and jump right into The Seven".
She no doubt expected me to be shocked by this. However, I kept my cool.
"I'm not interested in making more money," I said "I have plenty so I don't need to capitalise on anything".
Once you had your penthouse apartment in Manhattan and enough money to never have to work a day in your life the desire to obtain more wealth seemed rather pointless.
I could always have Cortana get more money if I really wanted it. Perhaps my lack of interest had to do with the fact that I wasn't putting in any effort to obtain money.
"Money isn't everything," said the Vought representative.
Judging by the look she was giving me Ashley thought me to be a little unhinged.
"Vought can manage your career, we have the best lawyers in the world, we can protect you from any fallout" she was now saying "Then there's the chance to have your own movie trilogy, a TV series, and think of the merchandise. You could have a music career or have books written about you. Who wouldn't want that?".
They really should have sent Madelyn Stillwell in person or just had this fool invite me to meet with her.
Vought didn't want to come off as too eager and they were prepared for me to reject the offer since there had been no word online about Vought seeking a replacement for the invisible guy who vanished some time ago.
That or they wanted to make sure it was a done deal before making any declaration to the public. I would find out which before too long.
"I don't have a career" I pointed out "I'm just helping people out. I'm not an actor, nor am I musical and my life isn't something for people to find amusement in".
It was easy to forget just how shallow the heroes of this world could be. They could dominate the planet or act as the true guardians of this world, instead, they were too busy tweeting to bring about any real change.
"Be a good little minion and go back to Madelyn Stillwell" I ordered keeping up a somewhat friendly tone "Tell her to call me when she wants to take this seriously".
While it might make sense for me to simply take up the offer I knew that I needed to play hardball or Vought would spend the next month trying to screw me over with contracts. I was the desirable one, they needed to seduce me properly.
"What?" asked Ashely "You can't just refuse to join the Seven. There are plenty of people out there just waiting to enter the big leagues".
The idea that someone wouldn't jump through hoops like a trained dolphin just for the opportunity to join the Seven was an alien one to this poor excuse for a human being.
"Then you don't need to waste your time with me," I said.
The poor woman simply sat there looking not unlike a goldfish that had been left out of the water.
"Was there anything else?" I asked.
She managed to get herself together long enough to make her way out of the building.
"So do you think they'll send Homelander to intimidate you into joining?" I heard Cortana say.
If so that would only aid my plans as I could send him packing and that would make me even more attractive to Vought.
"I don't know" I replied "I suspect that when Barret reports to her boss that I didn't appear interested then Stillwell will invite me to meet with her personally".
That should have been their opening move. They should have tried to impress me with a tour of the tower. Did they not want me near Homelander this soon?
He was unstable and might find me threatening enough that he'd do something stupid if his handlers didn't manage him right.
"Until then we need to make sure that I remain beloved in the eyes of the public," I said.
Which meant going out there and stopping more criminals.
If I had the means I might even make a supervillain appear just so I could defeat them. The me who went around with my darksaber while wearing armour couldn't perform that role since that would require me to be in two places at once.
Besides only a few criminals had ever seen the guy and they had pictures to post online, nor did they wish to draw attention to themselves by telling everyone about the other me.
Red Hood couldn't play that role for me as he clearly didn't wish to work with me at all, and I'd knocked up Miranda so I didn't want her in any kind of danger.
So unless the ROB added another player to the mix I'd have to keep myself popular by helping people in danger. Which wasn't such a bad way to pass the time.
Thinking on Red Hood I realised that I should have hit those weapon merchants harder and faster. I need to get a better grasp of what it was I could do and maybe try to train myself.
I also needed to finish what I had started with those arms dealers. In the short term at least Miranda wasn't a threat as she wanted a cold war, however, I couldn't let Red Hood obtain too much in the way of resources, wealth and manpower.
Even with the help of an AI, there was still much for me to do. Cortana would find me my target once he poked his head up above whatever hole he was hiding in.
"Find me some people to help," I instructed Cortana.
With that, I went to get changed.
Vought Tower. New York City.
Madelyn Stillwell was not as alarmed as she might have been when she heard that Invincible had little or no interest in becoming one of the Seven.
It was surprising, but Madelyn had known that there was a chance that Barret would manage to screw things up. At least she could clean up this mess.
"There's no need to get upset, Ashley" she assured her assistant "Sometimes negotiations take time. He only refused our opening offer, and it was a rather vague offer"
The less experienced woman didn't see things that way. She was pacing and mumbling. Barret really needed to learn how to take these things in stride or she'd have a mental breakdown sometime in the next few years.
"Who refuses to join The Seven?" said Ashley "No one does that".
Stillwell had an answer to that question.
"Someone who either has no idea what he'd be passing up or someone who is playing hard to get," she said.
The Vice President unmuted the television and the two women watched as Invincible pulled off another daring rescue.
A house fire had gotten out of control, trapping a family on the top floor of an apartment block. Invincible had gone in and saved the family, much to the joy of the onlookers.
"He's going to be all over social media" stated Ashley "And we can't manage any of it because everyone knows he isn't one of ours".
Madelyn had dealt with superheroes who had been unwilling to make themselves an asset to Vought.
Only they had always been more low-level supes, a few of which had actually cared about helping their communities, even if such types were few and far between. She'd worn them down and gotten them under her thumb.
Offering more money was pointless. Invincible had more than enough, as such offering anything he could buy by himself was also a waste of time. She would have to offer this man things he couldn't get on his own.
If Invincible did for some reason actually care about people, or at least want people to think that he cared, then she could use that against him.
Many heroes openly supported worthy causes that actually did some good in the world, even if they existed to help save Vought a few million since they were all tax deductible.
Failing that there was always the promise of sex. Not with herself, but there were always desperate young women who would whore themselves out if meant they could hang on the arm of a rising star.
Young men could be controlled by Madelyn in many ways.
"Are you sure you even want this guy in The Seven?" asked Ahsley "We've been looking for ways to make the team more diverse and he's a white male".
Had they known that he was half-alien this wouldn't have been a concern. Although it certainly would have caused other issues.
"Invincible has something that matters more than diversity" answered Madelyn.
The less intelligent woman clearly didn't grasp what that was.
"He has power, Ashley" the smarter of the two women explained "That is what matters. We can't have someone with that kind of power just going around doing whatever he wants".
Having another woman on the team would have been great, or a man with some sort of ethnic background, and they could always make room if needs be. Not all of the Seven had powers that were flashy enough to impress the public.
"What the fuck is this?" a voice demanded.
Madelyn knew that her job had just become more complicated. Homelander must have found out about the attempt to recruit Invincible and how it had so far failed.
News got around this building fast and even without that Homelander had superhearing. It bothered her that he saw and heard so much.
"Who the hell does this guy think he is?" the leader of the Seven demanded to know.
Madelyn gestured for Ashley to leave. It would be better for her to handle him alone.
"If you are talking about Invincible then don't worry, I have it handled" she assured Homelander.
He wasn't soothed so easily.
"What, does he think he's too good for us?" the man in the cape asked.
Madelyn worked to hide her smile. It was good that Homelander felt a little threatened as long as he didn't actually do anything about it.
"Is he starting his own team?" was the next question.
That couldn't happen. Invincible was only able to act outside the law without Vought backing him because he was so well-liked. However, if he put a team together he'd been seen as too much of a threat by those in power.
"Invincible is just playing hard to get" Madelyn assured Homelander "He might have some idea of how much he is worth, so he can afford to make us dance to his tune for a while, but don't worry I'll seal the deal. I always do".
Homelander gave the matter a little thought.
"I can go and meet with him" he offered.
Madelyn wondered what the result of such a meeting would be. But she needed to get more of a measure of the man before she put up against Homelander.
If Invincible proved too difficult to bring under her control then perhaps she'd have Homelander deal with him before he became too strong.
"I'll take care of him" she promised "Don't I always".
For now, she needed to soothe Homelander and then set up a meeting with Nolan Grayson.
She was confident that she would find something that he wanted and once she knew what that was she could use it to guide this new superhero.
Torn Cape - 7
Torn Cape.
Part 7.
Mons Bradley. The Moon.
Thanks to the base that I was working on under Cortana's instruction I could now listen to news shows from Earth while on the Luna surface so I was keeping in touch with what was happening on the alternate version of my homeworld.
The prefab buildings I'd flown here and then set up were just the start I was now working on digging into the solid rock so that we could have all sorts of things stored here that would remain hidden underground.
Cortana wanted to be able to fabricate equipment for me, and I wanted somewhere to store anything I confiscated because if the ROB was going to be spending more people for me to fight in some sort of PVP they were bound to bring things with them that I wouldn't want to fall into the hands of the natives.
Just having access to Compound V had in many ways radically altered this world making it very different to my version of Earth even if many things were similar. This made it clear to me that I didn't want any of the major factions getting their hands on magical items or advanced tech.
I was taking a break from punching my way into a mountain on the moon that was about four kilometres high and had a thirty-kilometre diameter.
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It was actually rather time-consuming work because I couldn't go full force with damaging the buildings that I'd set up and needed those intact because I could only go without oxygen for so long.
Sure I could fly back to Earth for a break, but it was best to stay up here and focus on my work. If I let myself get distracted I wouldn't get anything done.
I needed a base that no one on Earth could reach, at least not without putting a lot of funding into the space programme, and even if they did that I had plans to relocate to Mars once I had some way of carrying enough air with me.
"Minecraft makes this look so much easier than it really is" I commented.
Cortana was eager for me to keep working.
"Buck, up boss," she said "There are a lot of useful minerals here"
I envisioned having vast stores of gold hidden inside my base. My AI had different ideas.
"Here on the moon we will find vast amounts of iron, magnesium, calcium, aluminium, manganese and titanium" Cortana informed me "All of which are valuable resources for us if we want to build a proper base and start building some spacecraft".
Even Cortana couldn't build an FTL drive, but we could help mankind colonise the solar system.
"In your opinion has the appearance of Invincible played an important role in the sudden decreased of crime here in New York?" asked a voice.
Cortana was keeping me informed about how the public was seeing me. It was important for my plans that I remained well-liked by the sheeple.
"I would say yes" answered the government official who was speaking to some daytime radio host "Compared to most superheroes Invincible isn't wasting all his time peddling merchandise and attending movie premiers. He's out there helping people and making an effort to aid law enforcement without supplanting its authority".
There was a pause to let the listeners absorb those words.
"You make it sound as if the other heroes out there are lazy, at least when compared to Invincible," said the host.
I hadn't expected people to pay much attention to how much effort I was putting into my work.
"Aren't they?" questioned the guest "How many people do the heroes working for Vought actually save each month? I know the answer because I have access to police reports from all over this state and the numbers would surprise you. Even those heroes who actively patrol neighbourhoods don't save as many lives as you might think. Heck, some of those so-called heroes are the reason for 911 calls. Invincible goes out of his way to keep injuries and property damage to a minimum".
Impressive considering how new I was to my powers even if I did say so myself. Maybe the other supes had gotten lazy. They certainly did spend a lot of their time at events getting their photos taken rather than acting as if they were heroes.
I knew this, I just hadn't known that there were people who weren't happy about it, and I'd thought that the people in authority would be supporting this because it kept the supes too busy to cause any real problems for them. Such as fighting corruption.
"That's going make Vought even more eager to get their hands on you" commented Cortana "You're making their heroes look bad".
As I got back to work an image popped on my helmet that let me know Miranda Lawson was heading to my penthouse.
"What does she want?" I wondered.
Cortana didn't say anything she knew that question had been rhetorical. I knew that I would need to go and find out for myself so
I quickly flew back to Earth. Slowing down as I entered the atmosphere as I needed to worry about the intense heat caused by reentry.
The sonic boom caught up with me as I landed on the roof of my apartment building. Lucky for the people in New York I'd decreased my speed while some distance away so there was no damage done to the city and the boom sounded as if it came from far away.
Before going inside I took off my armour and let it return to the belt from where it had been deployed. When I got into my apartment Miranda Lawson was already sitting on my couch and had helped herself to something to drink. Non-alcoholic I hoped.
Upon seeing her I was reminded that Henry Lawson had designed his child to be genetically perfect, to be superior to every other human woman. She was stronger, faster, smarter, and apparently, sexier as well.
The outfit she wore, some sort of tailor-made business suit, was accentuating every curve of her body. Drawing attention to her large breasts and spankable ass.
She raised her head as I entered the room and smiled at me.
"I went to the doctor's office" she said rather than greet me "Well done, Daddy".
That was she pregnant didn't shock me as I decided that she would be allowed to be the mother of at least one of my children. I just hadn't thought she'd know for certain this soon as we'd not fucked that long ago.
"How did you get in here?" I asked.
Miranda smiled again.
"You're not the only one with an AI" she reminded "Your security is great, but it's not foolproof when your AI isn't heir to watch the system".
Cortana didn't say anything and neither did the AI that Miranda had with her. Which I assumed would be EDI.
"I thought we should celebrate so I brought some sushi" Miranda let me know.
She seemed very happy.
"Looking forward to becoming a mother?" I asked.
She stood up and took off her jacket. Letting me see that she'd undone a few buttons on her blouse.
"Things haven't been easy for me," she said "Before I died I was spending my time moving from safehouse to safehouse to avoid my old boss tracking me down".
Miranda moved closer to me.
"Then when the war started I was trying to dig up some old contacts to procure resources for the Crucible" she was now saying "Add to that all those meetings I had with Admiral Hackett who needed to go over everything I knew about Cerberus, and things got rather stressful for me".
She was telling me this so I would feel some sympathy for her. I did care since while I am a self-centred jerk I'm not incapable of feeling empathy for the people who are part of my life.
"Then I was searching the entire galaxy for Oriana. That led to a lot of messy business on Horizon" she added.
Horizon had been the location of a top-secret Cerberus base, a testing ground for technology meant to turn the indoctrinated slaves of the Reapers against their masters. I had no idea how that would have stopped the Reapers themselves since they were self-aware starships with a lot of weapons. They would have simply blasted the Cerberus base from orbit.
"Compared to that setting up my own business and becoming a mother doesn't seem so scary" she was now saying.
I was interested in hearing more.
"You're setting up your own business?" I asked.
Miranda was happy to tell me more.
"Cerberus Defence Contracts" she answered "Cerberus, the one I worked for, was originally supposed to be about defending mankind from a hostile galaxy. It only became about human domination later. I want my company to take up that role and to prepare mankind for the future".
Noble goals. I hoped that she stuck to them. My long-term projects should also benefit the human race.
"That leads me to my other reason to visit you" confessed Miranda and she undid her blouse and exposed her large breasts to my eyes "Grayson, I want you to join Cerberus and be a superhero mascot for my company".
Now this was a surprise.
"You know we are supposed to be enemies" I reminded her "I shouldn't be helping you with publicity".
Of course, she hadn't forgotten.
"You plan to join The Seven, I'm attempting to derail that plan by luring you over to Cerberus," she said as she took off her blouse "Although it could benefit you because if Vought heard that you were even thinking about working with me they'd be more eager than ever to get their hands on you. There is a small concern that they might target Cerberus, but it's more their style to throw money around to solve their problems".
Miranda's tits were an impossibly arousing sight, firm and gravity-defying, and her nipples were noticeable even through the material of her bra. She noticed my staring and the reaction her body was having to mine.
"Did I do that?" Miranda said as she smirked at me "The mighty Invincible isn't so hard to deal with".
In a few seconds, she had unzipped my trousers and freed my erection from its confines,
"Hard to imagine you managed to fit this bad boy inside me" she teased.
As her fingers wrapped around my shaft, she stroked the tip with her thumb. This made it tricky for me to focus on our discussion.
"I assume your plan is to trap me with some sort of contract so you can limit my rise" I reasoned "Maybe I'll even be around to protect you from Red Hood and whatever else the ROB throws at us. Is that the plan, Miss Lawson?".
She didn't verbally confirm or deny it. Instead, she went for a distraction.
"How do you want me?" she said.
I'd think more clearly after I'd fucked her.
"Up against the wall," I ordered.
She slowly walked over towards the adjoining wall, treating me to the sight of her firm ass swaying from side to side as she moved into position.
Miranda placed her hands on the wall and pushed her ass as she moved her legs apart. She clearly had no issue with letting me do what I wanted to her.
To start with I cupped her breasts from behind. As I squeezed her tits, she moaned with pleasure and I could tell that she was pushing into the wall.
Slowly, I slid my hands downwards, away from her breasts, so that I could remove the skirt that looked as if was something she'd wear to a business meeting if she wanted to distract any men in the room.
"Have you been showing people what is mine?" I wanted to know.
I enjoyed that little shiver of fear she displayed when I asked that. I wouldn't hurt my baby factory and she must believe I wouldn't or she wouldn't have requested that I get her pregnant, but she still feared my power.
"No," she said "Never. I promise. My body is yours, Nolan".
I enjoyed hearing that.
"Well I don't see my name on you" I joked.
Miranda made a sort of whimpering sound that was adorable.
"Let me sort that out. I'll fix it" she promised.
Once the skirt was done with I stopped to admire the underwear she'd worn for this encounter. A black thing that looked like I could floss with it.
She had clearly dressed with me in mind and she was willing to have sex with me so as to try to get me to do what she wanted. As such I didn't feel bad about using her.
"You came prepared" I commented.
She was more relaxed now.
"I always aim to impress, Grayson" she replied, craning her neck around to look at him "Do you like what you see?"
No heterosexual man could have resisted the sight. At least not in my opinion.
"What a silly question," I said.
I pulled down her panties until they were bunched around her ankles and then I got them off her. She was not going to get them back.
The former operative's ass was now on full display for my viewing pleasure as well as for touching. I squeezed her cheeks and slapped her ass quite a few times. I enjoyed how her backside got redder.
Miranda took it and made noises that suggested that she actually rather enjoyed the treatment. I rubbed her pussy for a little while to make sure of this. She was wet.
I undressed and while she turned her head to look at me she stayed in position. She understood that my commands were to be followed.
"So, Nolan," she said as she breathed in deep "Which hole do you want?".
Before long, I began pushing my cock into her waiting asshole. She was clearly eager to be fucked this way or she thought it would make me more accepting of her idea. Not that it mattered to me as I was going to fuck her arse and do it well.
"Fuck that's a big cock!" she yelled.
Her body tried to move away from me so I grabbed her hips and pulled her back. She kept her hands on the wall as I used her. It was a very good thing that I had no next-door neighbours since my home was at the top of the building. Anyone below me would just have to suffer the noise.
Torn Cape - 8
Torn Cape.
Part 8.
Vought Tower. New York City.
While having a moonbase was nice, and Miranda was setting up Cerberus Defence Contracts within a fancy building of her own, if asked I would have admitted that the tower I was currently touring was certainly an impressive set-up, and it served well as the headquarters of both Vought International and The Seven.
I knew that at some point I might need to destroy this tower or maybe infiltrate it for some reason, as such, when Madalyn Stillwell offered me a tour I accepted. I came along at a time she decided upon even if that gave her some tiny measure of control over me.
The fact that she didn't meet me herself at the front desk was another little power game. If the deluded woman thought that she could control me as she did Homelander, then she was in for a very rude awakening.
There was no harm in listening to whatever offer Vought made. The fact that Starlight was the one showing me around was a nice bonus as she was pleasant to look at and I didn't find her voice to be annoying.
Since I'd killed Hughie Campbell she should be single. Starlight also looked really good in her short skirt and she didn't seem to mind the fact that I was checking her out.
At her core, Annie January was an idealist and one of the very few superhumans who truly cares about helping others and doing what she believes is right.
As such, her joining The Seven had been a wrong move as there was nothing heroic at all about that group. She'd have been much better off working on her own or finding a team that was more active.
It shouldn't be too hard to disillusion her enough that she was willing to leave Vought and maybe come to work with me. Perhaps I should make an effort to seduce her?
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I didn't think it would be that hard to do since unlike most other men, I wouldn't feel threatened by the fact that she was stronger and tougher than me because she wasn't.
"Invincible, welcome to Floor 99," Starlight said.
This was where the Seven lived and worked. When they weren't off at some movie premiere or other event that let them preen for the cameras. This part of the building was filled with things that demonstrated how Vought controlled its talent.
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All the pictures and statues made the superhumans feel as if they were larger-than-life figures when they were just a means for Vought to make even more money.
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The Seven also had apartments here on this floor. I was not invited to check out any of them since they were meant to be private.
I took note of some of the other rooms. They were for meetings between members of the Seven and other Vought employees, there was also a dining room, a gym, and a rather nice lounge for people to hang around in.
"And this is where we have our meetings" Starlight let me know as we entered the most important part of this floor.
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The Seven meeting room consists of an open circular space containing a large table in the shape of the Vought Seven logo which is a conjoined V7.
On one of the walls, I saw a number of screens that displayed information that must be important to the Seven, and there was also a set of windows that allowed for an impressive view of the city.
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The subordinate six members are seated so they can face Homelander as he enters from the doorway and his chair, which I went and sat on, and the design allowed him to face any member of the Seven just by turning a little in his seat.
"I can see the appeal," I said, "If you are shallow and like bowing to the whims of unimportant people who bitch on social media about injustices rather than actually doing something about them".
Starlight looked more uncomfortable about what I was doing than the words I'd spoken. She knew as well as I that if Homelander saw what I was doing he would see it as a threat to his dominance.
I hoped that he did come in and give me an excuse to slap him down. That was the other reason why I'd decided to come here as it was time to declare myself top dog.
"You're scared of him, aren't you?" I asked.
She made an effort to deny it. It was a wasted effort as I could see the fear in her pretty little eyes.
"No, of course not" she insisted "Homelander is great, he's wonderful".
Even if I hadn't known the truth I wouldn't have been convinced by those words.
"So I assume that Stillwell told you to sell me on the idea of joining The Seven," I said.
I was giving real thought to working closer with Miranda despite the fact that we should be hostile towards each other. The more I looked into what the heroes who worked for Vought actually spent their time doing the less appealing it become to join The Seven.
I'd spend so much time getting my picture taken and attending meetings that I'd never get anything important done. The whole point of me wanting to originally join The Seven was for power and influence, but even if I could get that here I didn't think it would be worth all the crap I'd have to put up with.
They were already trying to suck me into that sort of life. That was why there had been so many reporters outside when I'd arrived. Had I appeared in costume rather than walking in the front door in a business suit and a pair of shades, I would have been swamped.
Stillwell had wanted me to get a taste of the attention I'd get as a member of the Seven. Had I been a vain person her little trick might have even worked.
I felt sure that the other reason was so that everyone would know that Vought was in talks with me. It hadn't been declared that I'd been offered a place in The Seven, however, if people saw Invincible visiting Vought Tower they would draw their own conclusions.
"She only asked me to show you around" Starlight replied.
I smiled upon hearing that.
"She asked the most attractive member of your team, who happens to be the newest member who knows the place the least well, to show me around," I said, "Madelyn Stillwell is very good at her job".
When you want something from someone there are two direct ways to get it. The carrot and the stick. You either offer them something they want in exchange, or at least offer something you make them think they want, or use the stick to beat them into submission.
She wasn't actually offering up Annie January to me, she was simply and subtly suggesting that I could get close to Starlight. Soon would come the actual offer, money, fame and all that jazz.
Plus since Starlight wouldn't know as much about this place as others who worked here she was the least likely to give away important information.
"You think I'm the most attractive?" Starlight enquired "Not a big fan of Maeve".
It wasn't even a contest and I took note that Annie enjoyed it when I flattered her. I'd never gotten the impression that she was a shallow person so I assumed that something must have happened recently to make her feel bad about herself.
She might still feel like trash because of what The Deep had her do when she joined The Seven. I made a mental note to go and hurt that jerk at some point.
"By far," I said, "Given your looks, smarts, and your power, it's a real shame that you are letting yourself be wasted here. Getting treated as a commodity rather than the hero you could be".
Before she could find out what I meant by that Stillwell entered the room.
"I see that you are already making yourself comfortable" she commented.
Starlight took her own seat and smiled at me. She was still naive enough to think that joining the Seven was a good thing.
"So what do you think of Floor 99?" asked Madalyn Stillwell as she sat down.
Since I had my own penthouse apartment in Manhattan and I had an AI who monitors things for me, such as my social media presence, that meant Vought had nothing to offer me other than distractions. Something that I should have realised sooner. I'd almost fallen for the same trap as the other superhumans.
"I'm impressed by this fancy cage you've made" I answered.
Stillwell looked confused and I didn't bother to elaborate. The whole reminded me a little of the pilot episode of the original Star Trek series that involves the Captain of the Enterprise getting captured by some telepathic aliens who trap him within illusions.
"So make your offer," I invited as I put my feet up on the table.
Stillwell's lackey, that annoying Ashely woman they sent to my home not so long ago, took a contract out of a suitcase, and presented a contract to me. I made a show of reading it.
If you didn't know what to look for it could seem rather inviting. Stock options, health care for you and your family, insurance, legal defence, a share of the profits from products that use my name, and so on.
But it wasn't all good. I'd be required to jump through a lot of hoops, to make public appearances, star in movies, to appear on chat shows. It would all be a waste of my time when I could keep the public loving me by saving people.
To ensure that the public didn't get bored of me I'd have to up my game. It was a shame I couldn't work with the Red Hood as I did with Miranda Lawson. If we did then we could have staged a terrorist attack for me to foil.
"I'm not an actor and I'm not at all musical" I pointed out.
That wasn't the deal breaker it might seem to be, at least not for Vought.
"We can work around that" assured Stillwell "We can set up acting lessons and..".
I stopped her there as she simply wasn't getting the message.
"No I mean I'm not an actor, I'm not a musician" I argued "I have no talent or any interest in such things. I'm a superhero and there's not much in here about helping people".
I had no intention of actually accepting any contract I just wanted to take this chance to show Starlight how meaningless all this was. Perhaps I could convince her to come and work with me.
"That's not true" insisted Ashley "The Seven support a lot of good charities".
I put the contract down.
"None of which make any difference in the real world," I stated "These good causes exist to help Vought save millions in taxes and they create good publicity".
Poor Ashley didn't get where this was going.
"You can set up new charities if that is what you want" she offered.
I ignored that idea as it would just lead to Vought using it to generate more good publicity.
"That's not what I mean by helping people," I said, "Don't the Seven ever go out and stop crimes. I mean ones that you don't stage for publicity".
Starlight suddenly looked a lot more uncomfortable. Perhaps she hadn't considered that Vought staged events so as to make the heroes look good. I didn't know if that was actually true and I moved on before anyone could make a denial.
"Then there's this whole part about you owning my image" I mentioned.
Madlyn handled this apart.
"That's to protect you from any legal actions," she said "Any lawsuits made against you would have to go through us".
In theory, that sounds good, but I could have Cortana handle such things by destroying any electronic records that could incriminate me and simply removing any records of the lawsuits.
Not that this mattered as the real reason they wanted to control my image was that they sell my name to other companies who could they stick my name on any bit of crap they wanted to.
Stillwell soon got the heart of the matter.
"What exactly is it you want?" she asked.
I sighed.
"From you nothing at all," I said "I'm never going to join Vought. I did want to at one time, but the more I learn about this company the less appealing it became to become a part of it, and I have other options now".
The two company women seemed to be having trouble accepting that I simply didn't care about anything they thought I should care about.
"No one can offer you more than Vought" insisted the Vice-President "We can make you a household name. Merchandise, books, your own TV show, every kid in America is going to want Invincible on their lunchbox".
They simply couldn't understand.
"I don't care about any of that" I explained "My ambitions aren't so limited. I want to be more than Vought's way of making a few more bucks".
The doors opened and Homelander entered the room. He'd been listening in as I'd figured he would do.
"I knew it!" he yelled "He's planning on building his own team".
That was something I'd considered, but there wasn't anyone who could keep up with me, and while a team might be good for publicity for Cerberus that was Miranda Lawson's concern, not mine.
"I've given it some thought" I admitted.
Stillwell got between the two of us before Homelander did something stupid.
"I told you that I would handle this," she said.
Homelander looked mighty peeved.
"He's not interested in joining The Seven" he stated.
If I played my cards right I could end up in a fight with Homelander and be able to humble him.
"Why should I work under you?" I asked, "Maybe I should be running the Seven".
He did not like hearing that.
"I LEAD THE SEVEN!" he yelled.
Stillwell did her best to calm him. She was very much like a mother trying to soothe a toddler who was having a temper tantrum.
"No one is taking over the Seven" Stillwell stated "Invincible was invited to tour the tower, that is all".
Given the contract sitting on the table in front of me that was clearly a lie. Yet Stillwell was able to soothe the overgrown manchild.
"Good boy" I mocked "Listen to Mummy".
At this point, I'd decided that I was defiantly going to slap Homelander down and that I would do it hard. If only for my own amusement.
As it turned out, the mummy remark was too much for Homelander to handle and he came right up to me as I stood up. He punched me in the face. He knocked the fancy table aside with ease as he made his way over to me.
"I actually felt that," I admitted as I rubbed my cheek.
Despite not doing me much harm at all the asshole in the cape looked very pleased with himself. He should be a little happy, as until now the only thing that had even distracted me in a fight was getting shot at by a guy with a grenade launcher.
Then he flinched as if he'd been slapped. That must be the reflected damage I'd been told about when this all got set up by the ROB. I assumed that Red Hood hadn't felt it when he attacked because he'd only disoriented me.
"I'm the real hero," he said "America loves me".
Hearing that made me snigger.
"America," I said with a snort, "You think in such limited terms".
With that, I pushed Homelander right into the monitors on the wall. The screens that weren't outright demolished would still need replacing.
"You ladies might want to give us some space" I advised.
Only Starlight was willing to stick around and I wondered if she was going to try to separate us. There was still enough power in this room for her to channel into a blast and she was strong enough to try getting in our way.
Not that she got the chance as Homelander tackled me and we both went flying out of the window. We didn't stop until hit the inside of some sort of office block that happened to be occupied.
"Finally someone who might be a challenge," I said.
I'd been transformed into a member of a race of conquerors who had become a great power by turning themselves into fighters. There was a part of me that longed to challenge myself against a strong foe and Homelander might just be tough enough for me to get some exercise while beating the shit out of him.
"It's Homelander!" someone called out.
The guy in the cape actually got up and waved at everyone.
"Is that Invincible! a woman yelled.
It was hard to tell since I wasn't in my hero outfit. Although I had lost my shades.
"Don't worry. This is just an accident," he said "We were sparing at the tower and things got out of hand".
I got up and punched him in his stupid face with my right fist which caused Homelander to stagger backwards. He took the blow well.
"Can't you go five seconds without getting your picture taken?" I asked.
People were taking photos and recording us with their phones. Not that Homelander kept caring about that as he tried to punch me. Well, he managed to punch me, but the blow was rather weak.
"Please," I said.
That was when he backed off so that he could strike at me with his heat vision and that did hurt a little. Something he noticed right away and it made him smile. It was also an extremely reckless thing for him to do as we were surrounded by office workers.
Since getting a load of bystanders killed would only harm my image, and because there was no sense in harming random civilians, I grabbed Homelander and took us both out of the building and into the sky.
What followed was a lot of punching and kicking that would have made us look more like two young boys fighting in the schoolyard if it hadn't been happening up in the sky.
I really hoped that if someone was recording this that it looked much cooler from a distance.
"Can you handle space?" I asked.
As I took us higher. He fired off his laser eyes again, and this time the beams went wild, but since we were up in the air there was nothing for them to hit unless some unfortunate bird happened to be flying by.
This was followed up by lots of weak blows as I took us both even further up.
I didn't get the chance to see how he handled space as Homelander headbutted me with enough force that I lost control of the flight and then he was pushing down on me as we fell back to Earth. He was saying something, I just had no idea what as the air was too thin up here and my focus was elsewhere.
By the time I managed to get control of our flight, I was able to use Homelander to cushion my fall. He hit the helicopter landing pad, taking the impact, and we both went through the foot and ended up back on Floor 99.
"You need to train," I told Homelander as I got off him.
So did I, that he'd be able to take control of the fight even for a short time was simply embarrassing.
"Holy Fuck is he dead?" questioned Starlight.
Given that the guy was groaning in pain it appeared not. In fact, he was already recovering, and his eyes glowed when he looked at me so I kicked him in the face, knocking him out.
"Nah he's just all tuckered out" I joked.
To my surprise, Starlight took out a handkerchief and handed it to me.
"Your nose is bleeding," she let me know.
Given that she trying to aid me when her team leader was lying in the ruins told me just how little she cared for Homelander.
"Thank you," I said.
What a nice young lady.
"Should we call a doctor" Starlight wondered "For Homelander I mean".
Did anyone even know how to treat him for injuries?
"Vought must have some specialists" I answered "I'm just going to go home".
I gave Annie my address.
"Come over for a drink if you ever want to talk to shop or just hang out" I invited.
Smartly, no one from security tried to stop me and so I was free to leave the building.
Torn Cape - 9
Author Note
A double post today since I was inspired by your comments about what to write next. My muse didn't even have to prod me much.
Torn Cape.
Part 9.
Penthouse. New York City.
"Boss, do you know what a dungeon keeper is?" I was asked by Cortana.
It wasn't often that she needed information from me, not unless it was about refining and altering my plans. My AI ally had access to all the knowledge of this world so for her not to be able to find information on a topic was very strange.
"Is this some sort of sex thing?" I asked back.
I'd just gotten out of the shower and now I was starting to change into my outfit for my superhero work. If I'd known she wanted to discuss something sexual I wouldn't have rubbed one out while in the bathroom.
"No, it's the name of the new player in the PVP, or maybe a title," Cortana let me know "I know that you haven't killed Miranda Lawson so I was trying to work out why we have a new enemy. Do you think it has something to do with you agreeing to be Cerberus's mascot?".
That was possible. One way to rid yourself of an enemy is to make them an ally. The ROB had never told me that I actually needed to kill anyone just that I would have enemies. Looking back I should have gotten more information, but to be fair it had all been rather overwhelming at the time.
"It makes sense, Miranda was never much interested in acting as my enemy even if she wanted to foil my plan to join The Seven" I mused "She might have even planned it to work out this way".
I had lowered my guard around, knocked her up, and chosen to work for her company, at this point we might as well be partners. So it made sense that the ROB might add a new enemy with Miranda now counting as my ally as Cortana did.
The ROB might even have wanted things to work out this way. Short of bringing the Normandy with her Miranda was never going to be a physical threat, seduction had been her only option and it had worked out for her.
"Outside of S , I don't think I've heard of a Dungeon Keeper," I said. "I doubt it means Dungeon Master in the D way because someone with that kind of power could alter this entire reality.
There was something a little familiar about it.
"I thought it might be something that is fictional from your world that doesn't exist here because of how the superhero genre nearly totally dominates all forms of entertainment," said Cortana.
There was a feeling that I should know, that some piece of information was missing.
"It might be something I saw only once about twenty years ago" I pointed out "I'm sure it will come to me".
The human brain was a strange machine. If I focused on something else then the memory I desire might pop up to the surface of my mind.
"I'll get back to you if anything jogs my memory" I promised Cortana.
For now, all she could do was look for anything odd going on while I got back out there. I hadn't forgotten about the Red Hood or that arms dealer who could be a problem if I didn't end him now.
"Boss, someone is coming" warned my AI.
A laptop screen showed the image of a redheaded woman entering the building.
"Any idea who she is?" I asked.
I didn't recognise her.
"She's Margaret Shaw," I was told.
The name meant nothing to me.
"Also known as Queen Maeve" Cortana explained.
I still did not recognise her. She looked so normal when not in her superhero outfit.
"Oh the knock-off Wonder Woman," I realised, "What could she want".
I knew from the show that she feared Homelander and wanted him taken down because he would never let her go be happy with anyone else. He would rather kill Maeve than let her love someone who wasn't him.
Because she knew that she couldn't take Homelander, not her own, I very much doubted she'd come to threaten me, and she was more likely to thank me than try to avenge him.
"So what brings you to my humble abode?" I asked Miss Shaw when I answered.
I'd always wondered why people only ever call their homes humble abodes when they don't mean it.
"I want to make a deal" she answered.
So much for small talk.
"Please come in," I invited.
I might not have any fancy psychic powers, but I didn't need them to know that Queen Maeve was worried about something and desperate for my help.
"What can I do for you?" I inquired.
Maeve reached into her handbag and took out six vials of some sort of chemical.
Spoiler
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"This is Compound V," she told me "This is what Vought uses to make superhumans, it doesn't always work on adults, but who knows, you seem lucky, and if nothing else you can use it as a way to hurt Vought".
It wasn't hard for me to figure out that she was trying to buy protection from me. The value of what she was offering had to be in the millions of dollars. Not that I cared for that it was just a means of measuring how much this meant to her.
Of course, I knew about V and could have stolen some myself if I'd cared to. Cortana had even shown me a report on a blood sample that Vought's lab that had checked for traces of the compound. The reports didn't know what to make of my blood and Vought wasn't equipped to clone people, so I wasn't worried about that.
"Where did you just this much Compound V from?" I wondered.
If she'd just stolen from it Vought Tower then I was going to need to find out if she could survive a trip to the moon very quickly.
"Homelander has been using A-Train to smuggle V to some fringe groups because he wants to make supervillains for us to fight, so people will need us more, or that was what his plan" she let me know "I guess he'll be focusing on you if he ever wakes up as anything other than a vegetable".
I could picture him acting like that Immortal superhero who was part of the Guardians of the Globe before Omni-Man killed them all. I could see him waking up screaming my name and flying right here to try to kill me. That could be fun.
"So you want protection from Homelander in exchange for this V" I stated.
Rather a silly plan. I could have killed her at this point, and then thrown her body into space. Just as I did with another member of The Seven.
"If you need me to sweeten the deal I'm willing" she offered.
There was no need for that. I did consider knocking her up, but I'd never been much attracted to redheaded women, and I wasn't in the mood.
"No, I was just thinking of where to send you," I said.
Cortana could easily erase the existence of Margaret Shaw electronically and set her up with a new identity, but she was famous and some people other than me might recognise her. It wasn't as if I could erase people's memories.
"There's nowhere in the world I can go" she pointed out "I need you to protect me by making it clear to Homelander that if he so much as looks at me you'll finish him off".
She was desperate. I could have so easily taken advantage of this.
"I never mentioned anything about you staying here on Earth," I said.
While Maeve had a girlfriend I wasn't sure if they were together right now and even if they were I could deal with that later. It was possible to return her to the world in the near future once the heat had died down.
"How durable are you?" I asked.
It wasn't just a matter of her leaving the atmosphere, she needed shielding from cosmic radiation until we reached the base and a supply of air. I might need to borrow a space suit from NASA.
Restaurant. New York City.
"Billions of dollars and decades of effort spent for the world's most expensive nosebleed," said Stan Edgar.
Despite the seriousness of this conversation the CEO of Vought International couldn't help smiling a little as he spoke to Miranda Lawson. She'd agreed to meet him at a location of her choosing, because she wasn't stupid, and now they were here to discuss the future of both their companies in a restaurant he'd made sure would be closed for the evening.
Spoiler
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"I've seen the footage," stated Miranda Lawson.
Stan was not happy about that bit of video making its way onto the web. It had done more to harm Vought's finances than the damage done to the building. It was humiliating for Vought and for Homelander's supporters to see the world's strongest hero lying on the broken remains of The Seven's meeting room.
Somewhat symbolic too. As if the act as broken The Seven and it certainly had removed their aura of invincibility. An aura that had been broken by someone who might as well be invincible in name as well as nature.
Homelander was in Vought's own ICU and Invincible had walked away with a nosebleed. The new hero might as well have been a schoolyard scuffle.
"What you might not know is that Homelander still hasn't woken up," said Stan Edgar "Over the years, he's been shot, stabbed, blown up, gassed, poisoned, and set on fire. None of it did more than require him to change his clothing and comb his hair. Then your company's new mascot put him into a coma".
Invincible was frightening. The Vought CEO wondered if anything short of a nuclear weapon could stop the new superhero from doing anything he pleased.
"You don't seem terribly upset, Mr Edgar," remarked Miranda Lawson.
Stan didn't normally take much notice of a person's looks as other men might, yet he took note that Lawson was a very attractive woman, and resourceful too, as she'd managed to get the most powerful superhuman on the planet to come and work for her. Most impressive.
"Please call me Stan" he invited "I prefer to use first names".
She had no problem with that.
"The truth is Miranda, Vought is fat and lazy" admitted the CEO "What's worse is that we were never meant to be a superhero company. Like Cerberus, we were originally meant to be a defence contractor, yet we have become a global leader in the media, retail, energy, and pharmaceutical sectors. Vought is a bloated monster that nearly always crushes or absorbs everything it comes into contact with".
Miranda was surprised to hear this, yet she soon deduced where this was going.
"You're planning on using Invincible's fight with Homelander as an excuse to shake things up over at Vought" she realised.
That was indeed the plan. Every crisis can be made into an opportunity.
"Vought has suffered due to this, and investors have become nervous" he shared "As for the public they can't decide if Invincible is going to replace Homelander as he supplanted Soldier Boy, or if Invincible is some kind of threat".
While the former seemed to be what the majority wanted from Invincible there were many people who saw what happened to Homelander as proof that Invincible was some sort of godless supervillain.
What Stan didn't know was that thanks to the work of a couple of AI the negative opinions kept disappearing and the positive views on the situation were popping up everywhere. He'd expected more panic from people and more outrage.
The US Government had so not spoken on the subject, yet they had to see the potential of Invincible and it helped that while Homelander was recovering the man who'd been put in a coma was still out there doing good deeds.
"Invincible is better, stronger, faster and he's new," said Miranda as she enjoyed her meal "Homelander could be getting a bit stale".
Stan nodded in agreement.
"As he's a wakeup call," said the CEO of Vought "It's not just my company that's become lazy, the talent has too. The sex, the drugs, the publicity, it all goes to their heads and makes them a nightmare to manage".
Stan sipped his cooling coffee.
"I want them to be scared of Invincible" he told Miranda "I need, we all need, someone who can make sure that they don't step too far out of line".
Lawson already understood where this was going.
"You want to use Invincible to keep the other superhumans in line," she said "But why would he agree to that. Why should I?".
Stan had already considered this.
"Cerberus is a new company," he pointed out "New and hungry, and you have some control over Invincible, or at least influence. Vought could do with some way of outsourcing a few of our problems. We'd pay for the privilege and in turn, we can help Cerberus to grow".
Miranda would be a fool to refuse that aid.
"What exactly is it you want from Invincible?" she asked.
Stan drank some more coffee before answering. It was a good blend.
"Mostly we need him to keep doing what is already doing," he said "Invincible makes every superhero on the Vought payroll look lazy and careless. As long as he is out there actually acting like a superhero the others don't measure up and they won't be able to stand that".
Their egos simply wouldn't allow it.
"I'll use Invincible and this recent incident to justify holding our superheroes to a higher standard" stated Stan "We'll cut away some of the weeds and enforce a training schedule. This way I can get rid of some of the troublemakers and find new ways to keep the rest out of some of the trouble they get themselves into".
Miranda could see the logic in this.
"We'll make it clear that the only hope Vought's heroes have of ever taking on Invincible is if they work in teams as they are supposed to and actually do their jobs," said Vought's leader "This crisis is ironically good for me, at least in the long term, and it could be good for my company".
Stan was aware that the US military and government would be nervous about Invincible. He should be able to use this to push the idea of their talent getting into the military because Invincible wasn't American and short nuking one of their own cities they could do nothing to stop Invincible.
No, they would need superheroes in the hundreds to take down Invincible, each of them trained and ready to work in teams. The military would need superhumans of their own as well.
Madelyn Stillwell didn't see it that way, she and others at Vought were freaking out about how they couldn't use Invinicble's name to sell anything because he'd signed a contract with Cerberus and that was known publicly. Vought couldn't licence others to use a hero name that they didn't manage.
Even getting a DNA sample from Invincible hadn't led to anything because the sample they'd gotten made no sense at all. Some of the experts weren't even sure that Nolan Grayson was human. What else could he be? An alien?
One that just happened to look exactly like a human, bleed red blood, spoke English and for some reason come to this world to be a superhero. Not even the fictional heroes created by Vought to sell more comic books ever had people with origin stories that silly.
No something must have either altered Grayson's DNA, a byproduct of whatever bootleg version of Compound V and genetic engineering had been made to make him, or something had corrupted the sample.
Perhaps the blood had been exposed to something in the Vought lab and it was his people who had messed up. He'd believe in the incompetence of men over the idea of an alien flying around doing good deeds.
Heck Nolan might even be some freak mutant who somehow got exposed to Compound V and didn't end up a total mess due to random chance.
He'd even considered the idea that the UK had managed to make their own Homelander, one they had trained and refined, but that seemed unlikely since the United Kingdom wouldn't have sent their Homlander overseas when they could keep him at home and paraded him around.
Stan didn't understand where Invincible had come from, but he certainly wasn't some alien as a few of the scientists in the lab had speculated and no one would take that seriously even if the idea leaked out.
"So you use Invincible as a threat to make your heroes shape up," said Miranda "I can see that working and the public isn't turning on Invincible because they don't seem to know what to think. But happens when Homelander wakes up".
Miranda was having EDI working 24/7 to make sure that public opinion remained so divided that they would never take any unified action. The main two political factions were too interested in blaming each other to get anything meaningful done.
In her time and place, this wouldn't have worked, but the people of this Earth were either led about by the nose by social media or they didn't believe the news at all.
There were a few people out there claiming that all the footage was fake and that it was all promotion for some movie called Dawn of The Seven.
"If he wakes up" corrected Stan Edger "And if he does he might be so brain damaged that he won't even know who he is. Our doctors are anticipating memory loss and a change of behaviour".
Not surprising given his head injury.
"Even if he recovers and goes for a rematch he can't beat Invisible. As long as he doesn't kill Homelander we don't really have much to be concerned about" promised Stan "Homelander is well loved yes, but he's been shown to be vulnerable now. He's not the god in a cape people thought he was".
Stan had wondered if people would be foolish to demand that Invincible be arrested, and there had been talk of that, it "had just never gotten anywhere. Which was good as to who would even be able to arrest Invincible?
"We've been downplaying Homelander's condition, trying to get people to think that he and Invincible were testing themselves at Vought Tower with some sparring and it got out of hand" Stan was now saying "Since he's remained out of sight it's hard to disprove and Invincible hasn't shown any hostility towards any other superheroes, at least not publicly".
Things could have escalated if Grayson had picked another fight.
"Alright," said Miranda "I'll talk to Grayson and let him know the deal".
With that, they shook hands and parted ways as they both had a lot of work to be getting on with.
Torn Cape - 10
Torn Cape.
Part 10.
Underground Base. New York.
Jason Todd knew better than to get his news from the Internet as he understood that any online activity could be tracked. Besides, you couldn't even get a wifi signal while down here, and the television, which was purely a receiver, was mostly used by Kimiko who found having it on to be some sort of comfort.
He still hadn't figured out exactly how Kimiko was connected to Vought having a chemical mixture called Compound V smuggled around. While Jason Todd felt fairly certain that it was some sort of formula that made regular people into metahumans he hadn't yet been willing to try it on himself.
Jason didn't actually know what her name was, nor did anyone else, and the only person who'd ever bothered to ask was the arms dealer called Frenchie. He was a crook that Jason had been doing a lot of business with ever since that guy had nearly been killed by Invincible.
The Red Hood as he was known to the few who ever saw him was the only person who could control the metahuman woman as he was also the only person who had been able to beat her down when she got out of control.
Oddly she didn't seem to resent him for it. Maybe they got along because they were both freaks or maybe she stuck around simply because she had nowhere else to go.
"So Invincible really did take down Homelander" muttered Jason.
He hadn't believed it at first, even with all the news reports, but no one had seen Homelander for a while now and normally that glory hound couldn't go a day without popping on some TV show or getting talked about on the news.
If he was staying out of sight it was because he simply couldn't get out there and bask in the admiration of the masses. Rumour had it that Homelander was in a coma.
It was interesting that Queen Maeve hadn't been seen either. She wasn't as much in the public eye as Homelander, yet her absence had been noticed by those who passed on information to the Red Hood, and Jason wondered what it meant.
Had she been hurt by Invincible or had she taken off? Could she have seen what happened to Homelander and decided to flee so she didn't suffer the same fate?
Given that Maeve was the Wonder Woman of this world and Homelander was the local version of Superman it worried him that Invincible could have beaten them both.
Jason was supposed to be taking on that guy in combat, he was supposed to foil that guy's plans. The whole thing seemed like a cruel joke.
Sure he'd managed to stop Invincible from killing some arms dealers during a meeting, but that wasn't much and while the main problem in taking on Invincible was that Jason couldn't do much more than annoy him there was also the problem that the Red Hood didn't know what the superhuman was actually up to.
It's hard to foil plans when you don't know what they involve. Batman had taught him the importance of having as much information as possible for making a move. Granted sometimes who had to improvise, but this wasn't one of those times.
He couldn't even go after Miranda Lawson because she'd been removed from the PVP by the entity who had set all of this up, for some unknown reason, and while there was a new enemy Jason had no idea what a Dungeon Keeper was because he wasn't getting enough information.
So all he could do was keep his head down and try to prepare for the day when Invincible finally found him.
Hence why Jason was working on a batch of sonic grenades. He'd dealt with metahumans who had enhanced senses before and there were ways to use their strengths against them.
"Hood, there's something you need to know" said one of his contacts who was allowed to visit him "You wanted to know if anything odd happened and it turns out that people are going missing when underground".
Since he lived underground and kept his operation here this was of interest to Jason.
"I've been talking to some of the workers on the subway lines and they told me that a lot of the homeless who sleep in the stations are going missing" said the information provider "Maybe someone is taking them".
Since he didn't have any other leads he might as well look into it.
Mallory Estate. Remote Location.
Secretary of Defence, Robert Singer, got out of his car as the driver pulled up in front of the home of Lieutenant-Colonel Grace Mallory, the former Deputy Director of the CIA.
She'd retired after losing her grandchildren and while Robert was loath to do this he needed to try to convince Mallory to come out of retirement for a couple of years at least.
Despite being a member of the United States Department of Defense and the Democratic Party, meaning that he was used to awkward conversations, he was somewhat nervous about this meeting, but not because he was scared of Grace Mallory, rather he was concerned about the future.
The clash between Homelander and Invincible shook the world in many ways. The people working at the White House had been concerned about Invincible ever since he'd turned up one day and started saving people. Ever since then, they'd been watching the superhero, trying to learn all they could about this new superhuman.
Robert Singer had heard some interesting things, but they were mostly theories, and even getting a DNA sample hadn't helped much because the results of that test made no sense. Not unless Grayson was an alien and there was no real evidence of that as Vought could have screwed up the tests they made or something could have messed with Grayson's DNA.
One of the few things they knew for certain he had a legal identity and that he owned a penthouse in New York, and that he had the habit of leaving Earth's atmosphere, but until recently they hadn't known what Invincible was doing when he left the planet.
The idea that any one man could build a base on the moon was mind-boggling and Robert Singer wasn't sure that he believed it despite having seen the photos provided to him by NASA.
Seeing that base made Robert Singer reevaluate the idea that Invincible could be a creature from outer space. Perhaps Grayson's human appearance was just some sort of clever disguise.
Regardless the President wanted this information so tightly classified that the people who did already know didn't have the clearance to even think about it.
Alien or not, Grayson must have gotten help from someone in order to set it up, but so far the only person they knew who was working with Invincible was Miranda Lawson the CEO of Cerberus Defence Contracts.
Robert Singer intended to meet with Miss Lawson as soon as he could find space in his calendar and invent some pretext. He needed to find out how closely connected Cerberus and Invincible were as well as what they had planned. He doubted that Grayson was really just some sort of mascot for the company.
"Whatever it is I'm not interested," said Mallory as she opened her door.
Robert Singer had been hoping for a warmer welcome, but he wasn't surprised by Mallory's displeasure at his presence.
"This is important, Colonel" insisted the Secretary of Defence "I didn't come out here all the way from Washington for a social call".
Mallory didn't have it in her to stand here and argue. She knew that it would be better to just listen to what the man had to say before refusing his request.
So she let him and Singer's security people didn't bother to follow. Which meant whatever he had to say wasn't something he wanted them to overhear.
They moved into the living room and Singer opened up his suitcase so that he could show Mallory the files he'd brought.
"I've seen the video," she remarked as she glanced at the photos "Pity that Homelander survived".
While a few people would have been happy about that most of the country would have been unsettled, to say the least. The public was rather divided upon the issue, some supported Homelander, and there had been a few candlelight vigils outside Vought Tower recently, and some others thought that Invincible was their new saviour.
Robert remembered when Soldier Boy had been a household name and how quickly he'd been forgotten after the supposed nuclear meltdown. If Homelander died or had to retire then the people would need a new hero to place their faith in.
Perhaps that had been why Invincible nearly killed Homelander. Maybe he wanted people to put their faith in him instead.
"I'm more concerned with his potential successor" said Singer "Nolan Greyson is far more powerful and unlike Homelander he isn't letting himself get distracted by the glitz and glamour".
And wasn't that strange? Robert Singer couldn't think of a single superhero who didn't love the attention. It was as if gaining superpowers made you hungry for admiration.
"Certain people in the White House are worried about what will happen if Invincible decides that he can do more good if he's in charge" admitted the Democrat.
That had once been a concern about Homelander until it became clear that Vought had him mostly under control.
"What could anyone do short of nuking the bastard" wondered Mallory.
That hadn't been ruled out.
"For now he seems content to fly around and actually save people" Singer was now saying "So we have some time to prepare, but that's not why I am here".
The Secretary of Defence showed the retired Colonel a new file.
"So you managed to get approval for it," said the former director "Vought's been blocking the idea for years".
Singer looked pleased.
"Stan Edgar has been trimming the fat at Vought" he told the woman "Streamlining things, he's using the incident with Homelander as an excuse to make it clear that he thinks the superhumans have gotten lazy".
Which wasn't wrong. They were lazy. Most of the A-listers rarely saved anyone and even those superhumans who did go out to fight crime could cause more problems than they solved.
"Mostly he's doing this to assure the shareholders that he still has a tight grip on things and while it's good that Vought is going to be straightening some things out it is going to cause problems" said Singer.
Mallory could already foresee a few issues cropping up.
"Letting even a few of supes go means that they might turn to crime to fund their habits" she realised "That could cause chaos".
Robert Singer didn't look too concerned.
"Lawson over at CDC, has some sort of influence over Invincible" he explained "She's promised Stan Edgar that if any of the supes start causing too much chaos then Invincible will slap them down, but we need more than that. We need a department to manage this new situation, and people who are willing to bring rogue supes to justice if Invincible does bring them in".
There wouldn't be much point capturing them if they couldn't hold the superhumans and get them into a courtroom.
"Hence the creation of The Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs, a government agency meant to monitor, police, arrest and convict any members of the superhuman community accused of illegal activities" informed Singer "And we want you to run it".
Mallory put down the file.
"I'm retired" she reminded her unwelcome guest.
Robert Singer wasn't put off so easily.
"Edgar is willing to give us Lamplighter" he informed the retired CIA director "He's going down to murder. Edgar thinks that it will scare at least some of the supes into better behaviour".
Mallory was shocked and it took a few moments to think about what this meant.
"Vought would never give up someone who was part of The Seven" she insisted "They can't afford to betray one of their own like that. The supes will lose faith and start looking elsewhere for someone to write their cheques".
The Secretary of Defence would have agreed with her not so long ago.
"Invincible has changed what it means to be a superhero" he pointed out "People are seeing how lazy they are, and how they only care for publicity. I don't know what Stan Edgar has planned in the long term, but he is changing things at Vought".
Mallory was at least willing to keep on listening.
"Lamplighter goes down for murder," she said.
It was a statement, not a question.
"Double homicide" was Robert Singer's reply "This state doesn't have the death penalty and we're not sure how to kill him anyway so barring any fuck ups he gets life imprisonment without parole. We can have a special cell made just for him".
Mallory considered this.
"No superhuman is just going to accept that" she warned.
The Secretary of Defence had considered this.
"That's why The Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs is going to have the resources required to go after people like Lamplighter" informed Robert Singer "You'll pick your team and we might even be able to get some superhumans to help out once in a while in exchange for us forgiving minor indiscretions. Call it community service".
Mallory knew that sometimes you needed to work with people you didn't like in order to go after a bigger bastard, but that that hadn't worked out so well for her last time. Still, she couldn't give up on justice for her family when it was being offered to her like this.
"We don't want you to run it for too long" assured Robert Singer "Come out of retirement for a couple of years, train up a team, teach someone to take over, get justice for your grandkids and then go back into retirement".
It was a tempting offer.
"I'll do it," she said.
Mallory figured that if nothing else it beat birdwatching.
Torn Cape - 11
Torn Cape.
Part 11.
Underground Tunnels. New York.
The sonic grenade went off and ended up being far more effective than the bullets had been mere moments ago. It brought Jason, Frenchie and the woman whose name they still didn't know, enough time to start running down the underground corridors.
Alas for them they did little more than buy themselves a few more moments of life and freedom as the monsters chasing them down here in the dark were not simply going to give up.
Jason had even collapsed an entire tunnel using some of the explosives he'd been carrying, only for some small creatures to clear the rubble away in mere seconds and somehow fix the passageway.
Spoiler
[img: https/cdna./p/assets/images/images/011/581/720/medium/ted-arfken-dungeonkeepr.jpg?1530304965]
So all that had accomplished was to give the Red Hood the time to realise that they were up against something far more powerful than he had imagined.
"What the fuck are those things?" asked Serge.
No one bothered to answer, they didn't have time for that, and they needed to keep running. Despite what was happening now the three of them had actually been rather successful in this venture to begin with.
Jason, Frenchie and Kimiko had ventured into the tunnels after speaking with one of the few homeless people they'd been able to find nearby in a mostly empty subway station.
The man had told them about the things he and others had seen moving in the dark. At first, he'd thought them to be children due to their small size, only they weren't and when they came into the light the homeless man had run from what he called monsters.
He talked about how they carried tools and how their eyes were pools of black. The creatures had not bothered him or the other homeless people he'd been down here with, if anything they had been skittish. Sadly they hadn't been alone.
What else was in the dark turned out to be much worse. There was something down here grabbing people. When had just been the homeless going missing that had mostly gone unnoticed, at least until recently.
Then one of Jason's few contacts had informed him about the people getting taken and it had turned out that the situation was so much worse than they had imagined.
"Vampires!" called out Jason "They're vampires".
Bruce had told him about Dracula and the vampires that creature had sired. The Red Hood had been the under the impression that they were all gone, but apparently, this world had other ideas on the subject.
"Vampires aren't real" insisted Frenchie.
Jason gestured to the figure that was flying down the tunnel, chasing them as they fled. They would not get away as the Keeper had ordered that none who saw his minions could be allowed to report sightings to those who lived above.
"Tell them that," said Red Hood.
Serge didn't have time to argue the fact as one of the vampires grabbed him. Jason tried to stop the creature only to feel his own life force getting drained by some sort of ranged attack. His smoke bombs and other tricks did little more than slow the enemy down.
Kimiko did a little better, but she passed out as her life force was drained by one of the vampires who had been chasing them. As she was drained she fought back as best she could, but there were simply too many vampires.
Jason had dealt with a few freaks during his lifetime, mostly as Robin, but mostly he dealt with thugs and assassins, not supernatural creatures. He simply hadn't been prepared to face vampires and whatever else was down here.
One of the undead managed to sink his teeth into the neck of Jason Todd and it began drinking his blood, draining him until there was nothing left other than a corpse.
Kimiko was the only one of the three who managed to get away and she would never speak of what happened down here because she couldn't. Not that anyone would have believed her even if she had been able to explain what she saw.
Jason's body was soon dragged away by the imps who collected the cooling cadaver, they dragged it into one of the many graveyards that the Keeper had created deep underground.
The underground graveyard stank of death and dark magic. Only a few of the corpses brought here would rise again, yet enough did to make the effort worthwhile.
Serge's fate was arguably worse. He was still alive when the imps found him as the vampires knew not to kill everyone they encountered.
So soon he was dragged off to a cell, one of many that contained the lost souls that had found their way into the ever-growing dungeon that was beneath the city of New York.
Down here in the dungeons, these poor sods would be introduced to the terrifying delights of the dark mistresses, assuming that they weren't left to die of dehydration and hunger so that they could rise as skeletons who would work tirelessly to defend the dungeon.
They might be considered the lucky ones as those who went to the torture chambers were broken in either body or mind. Those that broke in terms of the body went to the graveyards or to feed the armies of the Keeper.
Those that broke in mind became willing servants of the Keeper and would help to spread his evil.
In time Serge's mind would break and the Dark Mistresses who he would learn to love would ensure that his skills were used to serve the Keeper.
Base. The Moon.
"Think I've got it," I said as I finished with the wiring.
The new command centre was finally up and running. I'd been digging into the mountain called Mons Bradley for what felt like weeks, even if it had just been days of work for me.
Now I was finally finished setting up the last of the equipment that would allow me to monitor what was happening on Earth while staying inside the base.
Spoiler
[img: https/i./originals/11/53/ec/1153ec899ca2d8dc19b459cc213b5208.jpg]
Such an operation took quite a bit of equipment as not only did all the information we got from Earth need to be processed and sorted, but we also needed to make electronic records of everything in case some bit of information came in useful later.
Soon the screens came to life and began to show different news programs. I could see the conflicts and disasters that were going on all across the Earth.
Cortana monitored such sources of information for me and kept me informed of what was happening, but it was good to see some of what was going on with my own eyes.
Few of the disasters and conflicts were anything I wanted to handle. I didn't have any desire to involve myself in humanity's little wars and there wasn't much I could do about a lot of the other problems. At least not without more resources and allies.
Besides, I didn't want people to become dependent upon me, if they did then they would stop trying to solve their own problems.
"If they had any idea what he was really like they'd be demanding that Vought put him down like a rabid dog" muttered Maeve who was ranting about what one of the screens was showing "I can't believe that so many people fall for his act".
I had wrestled with the choice to bring her here or not. It was risky as she could damage my base or try to expose it, but should she do the former she'd likely get herself killed, and Cortana was able to install safeguards to prevent anyone from sending out a signal.
There wasn't anything here to send out a signal with since we didn't have any transmitters, at least not any that an organic intelligence could use.
Besides, Mageret Shaw knew better than to anger me because she knew that if I put Homelander in the ICU then I could kill her with ease. Not that I wanted to as I did need allies, so it was worth the risk to have her here.
She couldn't even lead anyone else here because no one on Earth had any means of reaching the moon. At least not without me having plenty of warning of a space shuttle or probe heading this way.
As for Homelander, people were calling my arrest despite him starting the fight, and yet Vought wasn't besmirching my name, they were too scared of me to do that.
Since Cortana wasn't the only AI messing with social media that meant the opinions of the public were so divided that no one group could put enough pressure on the government to demand that they actually do something.
I put all of that aside and focused on one of the news reports that had gotten my attention.
"So there are vampires now?" I asked.
I watched all three seasons of The Boys and I'd mostly paid attention as such I felt sure that all the weird science fiction bullshit they had in that show and this world, was the result of Compound V and there were no other supernatural or otherworldy factors aside from those that had been introduced by the ROB.
"That's what the news reports are saying," said Maeve.
I didn't trust the news reports, that was why Cortan was monitoring other sources of information for verification, but this was concerning if true.
"There isn't much for me to do up here," she said "So I've been watching the news in my room. Just this morning a body was found in New York that had bite marks on them. People think it's either vampires or someone who wants us to think there are vampires".
Nothing the ROB had done suggested that we'd end up vampires in this world. Could it have something to do with this Dungeon Keeper I'd been thinking about? Could they be a vampire? Or someone who kept vampires?
The Keeper part of the name or title did suggest that this person kept a dungeon running. Was it the kind of dungeon that contained monsters, such as in D ?
Although if that were the case then this Keeper had been a fool not to cover up the actions of their minion. Letting a body be found would only lead to people investigating the incident.
I would have Cortana monitor the case so that if the authorities did learn something then it could aid me in my own investigations. Assuming I ever bothered to go deal with the matter.
"Must be one of Vought's mistakes" said Maeve "I've met a few supes who turned out wrong. One of them could be drinking blood".
If this was a superhuman who had a thirst for blood due to something going wrong then it was unlikely to be something that could spread. On the other hand, if this was a real vampire then the condition might spread and New York could end up overrun by vampires.
"Might need to sharpen some stakes" I muttered.
Before I could think more about that my AI wanted my attention.
"Nolan would you please come to the workshop," requested Cortana.
When I got there I found that the place was full of sets of power armour from the Fallout universe for some unknown reason.
"I don't recall you making these," I said.
Because she hadn't.
"They just got here" the AI told me "I had nothing to do with it".
Spoiler
[img: https/pbs./media/EfaN8n2XoAIInfi.jpg]
"So they just appeared?" I asked.
It wasn't every dozens of sets of power armour simply appear inside
your base.
"There was no flash of light, no weird energy bursts they just appeared in the workshop," Cortana told me as she display the footage on a nearby screen "All I know is that Jason Todd is dead and you're not going up against Miranda any more".
The only clue to their origin I could see was a note on one set that called them a reward. The only thing the ROB should be rewarding me for is defeating someone in the PVP, and I suppose in a sense Miranda and I had won by becoming her ally.
That might explain why my reward wasn't very good. I already had a set of armour that was much more advanced. If I had actually defeated Miranda by foiling her plans or outright killing her I might have gotten something better.
"It's a testament to how strange my life is that this stuff just appearing doesn't even unsettle me" I mused.
At least the ROB was rewarding me for playing its games.
"I guess I can give them to some minions if I ever need my own security force" I mused.
Or maybe I could tinker with them and try to learn more about technology.
"You should give a few of them to Miranda" advised my AI "Part of your plan is to advance human technology and get them out into the galaxy. Introducing power armour would help with that".
Power Armor, also referred to as powered combat infantry armour, is a type of powered exoskeleton that appears in the post-apocalyptic Fallout video game franchise.
In the fictional lore of the series, it was developed before the Great War, a devastating nuclear conflict, by a group of United States defence contractors called West Tek.
This and more I learned by reading the manual that came with one of the suits of armour. I would have spent more time studying the tech if not for the fact that Cortana directed my attention to something on the news which resulted in me going back into the command centre of the base.
'Plane hijacked mid-air by 3 terrorists over the Atlantic Ocean' was the headline.
I was sure that this was an event that happened in the show and in season 1, Vought sent Homelander and Queen Maeve to take care of the situation with the intent of saving the hostages. Vought wanted to use this event to convince the public and the US Government that supes are needed in the military.
Homelander and Queen Maeve broke into the plane and successfully killed the hijackers and all seemed to be going well until they went inside the cockpit. One hijacker was still alive holding the pilot at gunpoint, the co-pilot having already been killed.
When Homelander killed the hijacker with his laser eyes in the process he also destroyed the plane's controls and after a while this caused the plane to crash.
Not this mattered to Vought as no one knew the heroes had been there and Homelander used to crash as a way of getting public support for supes joining the military.
"I'm going to go save the plane," I said.
At least I didn't have laser eyes to damage the controls with.
"I want to come with you," insisted Maeve.
That stopped me from leaving.
"I fly faster on my own" I pointed out.
Maeve was only able to survive in space for a short time because I'd let her use my special armour. I'd have to lend it to her again if she wanted to return to her homeworld.
"And if you're seen with me that will be it for you and Vought" I reminded her "You'll be seen as having joined me".
She didn't care about that at all.
"I need to go out and do something" she insisted.
She'd get all pissy with me if I left her here so I decided to take her with me. I could always dump her off somewhere on Earth if she got annoying.
Torn Cape - 12
Supporters get to see what I am working on for the next part of the /post/Yet-another-draft-for-supports-to-read-Z8Z3MP9X9
Torn Cape.
Part 12.
Somewhere Over The Atlantic.
The hero called Queen Maeve had been through some twists and turns during her life, and the last few days had been much wilder than any time before.
She'd been more jaded than others when Invincible first started making the news. He'd hardly be the first hero to make a splash when they appeared only to fall into the pit that Voguht had dug for everyone who tried to make a difference in the world.
Maeve knew this because once upon a time, she had once fallen into that hole which was filled with media attention, sex, drugs and glamour. Once you got stuck in that hole you found it impossible to climb back out again.
So far that hadn't happened to Nolan Grayson. He kept going out and helping people, and while this should have people happy the folks at Vought had not been pleased that there was a hero out there that they couldn't take credit for and make money from.
They'd wanted to control Invincible to drag him down into that pit and he had simply refused to go, she hadn't been so strong when she had been so tempted.
It had been amusing to watch the management at Vought and Homelander getting so frustrated. Invincible's refusal to go down the same path as other heroes seemed to have broken something in their heads and for the first time in a good long while Maeve saw a way out.
Invincible was not Homelander, he was not an overgrown child with the powers of a god who was willing to kill people over some slight offence, he felt no need to use fear to keep people in line. Or at least that was the impression she'd gotten about the man so far.
As soon as she'd been able to confirm that Homelander wasn't the top dog any more, Margaret "Maggie" Shaw had been willing to do whatever it took to get the man's protection as she just had to get away from Homelander.
She'd have been quite happy to have sex with Nolan, only he didn't seem interested, she didn't know if he was gay or if he just didn't find her attractive. It was rather odd to meet a man who had no interest in her sexually or much interest in her at all for that matter.
Maeve hadn't thought much about that since Invincible had taken her to his moon base, and wasn't that place a surprise, now that they were flying to match speeds with a transatlantic fight she needed to keep her focus.
When Invincible opened the door the differences in pressure caused a lot of small items and one frightened terrorist to come flying out of the plane.
Invincible normally liked to hand over the crooks to the police, but he didn't have a choice this time since one arm was holding to her and the other was holding onto the door.
This means of entry was risky since it could have resulted in one or more of the passengers getting sucked out of the plane, however, they couldn't do anything else in this situation.
The passengers, the crew and the aircraft would all be lost if they didn't act. If the plane was purposely crashed into a building then even more lives could be lost.
Invincible pushed her into the plane, and she soon took hold of the terrorist who was just about to grab a hostage, before he could harm anyone she snapped his neck in one smooth motion.
A cold move for sure, yet it was also needed as they had no way of restraining these criminals, and while they could have disabled the terrorists they couldn't risk not taking them down fast as they could endanger the passengers.
Fanatics couldn't be talked down so there was no sense in trying to reason with the man with the boxcutter who was panicking due to the sudden change in the circumstances. As Invincible closed the door she went to deal with the man with the knife.
Grayson was already making his way to the cockpit as she moved towards the back of the plane. There was gunfire and a scream as Mavue dealt with the knife holder as quickly as she had the other terrorist.
Despite her use of brutal force, the passengers cheered for her as she did what she needed to do to protect them. It felt good to hear people cheering for something she'd actually chosen to do.
"They killed the pilot," said Invincible.
That wasn't good. The bastard with the gun must have decided to take down the plane once they realised that they couldn't hold the passengers' hostage or use the plane to destroy some target.
"Can you fly a plane?" Maeve asked.
She's never found the time to learn.
"No, but Cortana can," he said, "Give me the belt".
Grayson had been letting her use some sort of advanced set of armour that could be deployed from a belt. It had allowed her to survive their flights to the moon and back. The suit also kept him connected to the AI and she could indeed fly the plane.
"I guess we now just wait for the plane to land," said Maeve.
That wasn't all they needed to do.
"We should move the bodies and then check the passengers for injuries," said Nolan "There should be a few first aid kits around, and we need to keep people calm until we land".
He really was rather good at this. Maeve figured that she'd made the right choice in abandoning Vought and she hoped that Nolan would keep around. Maybe she should talk to him about forming their own team. It would be something to do while they waited for the plane to land.
Beach House. Private Island.
With a thud, I landed on the sand and set some of the annoying substance flying up into the air. I was starting to wonder if goggles weren't such a bad idea. Maybe I could get some cool shaded ski glasses.
Spoiler
[img: https//download/relaxing-place-for-a-special-summer-holiday-tropical-island-4028x2835.jpg]
My ability to fly had come a long way since I'd crashed into a small part of New York, yet I hadn't quite perfected my landings. I needed to take some more time to practice, I didn't feel like crashing through another building because I lost control.
The area had a nice calming breeze as the sun shined brightly in the blue sky. The tropical island was either covered by sand or a wooded area. It looked like something I might have seen in some movie about castaways.
"This better be the right island," I said to myself.
I was letting Maeve use my Rider Belt because apparently it had hidden features that could be unlocked by the right person so Cortana could only guide me via a comm.
Perhaps she could build me some cool shades with a heads-up display so that she could display information for me. It was something to enquire about later.
Loaning Maeve my Rider Belt wasn't as risky as it might seem since Cortana was the software for the device and therefore she could easily shut down the suit if anyone tried to use it against me.
This island was inhabited, it was actually owned by Miranda Lawson, and she'd sent me an email inviting me to come for a visit.
Since I could fly anywhere I wanted to on Earth without much effort it wasn't any trouble to come here and see what she wanted.
I knocked on the door to the large two-story beachfront house, only to get no response.
"Why invite me over if you're not in" I muttered.
Since I had supersenses it wasn't long before I detected the sounds of a couple of women chatting not too far away. As I followed the noise I found two women laying on fold-out beach chairs next to the ocean. Both of them were pale-skinned and had dark hair.
I began to walk towards the women and right away I knew that one of them was Miranda and the other woman looked like a younger version of her, like a twin sister who had stopped ageing some years ago while the other twin matured.
Oriana Lawson perhaps? I couldn't remember what she looked like in the Mass Effect game, but I didn't think she resembled Miranda so much.
As for their clothing, what little they wore, all Miranda had on was a black bikini and Oriana was in an equally skimpy pink bikini, and their tops barely concealed their busty chests.
"Grayson," said Miranda with a wave "I wanted to thank you for saving that plane. Because of you, CDC is getting all sorts of attention".
It might get more soon.
"Speaking of Cerberus Defence Contracts I have something that might be of interest to your company," I told Miranda.
I showed her the manual that had come with the sets of power armour. Miranda was soon absorbed by what she was reading. This left me with only Oriana to talk to.
"This is a nice place," I said
Bit of an understatement really.
"It is," Oriana replied before she changed the subject "And I'm guessing you're the father of my future niece or nephew. I don't think Miri would have invited anyone else here since she wants to keep me trapped on this island for my own safety".
Miranda put down the manual I'd given her.
"Oh poor baby trapped on a tropical island, forced to live in a beach house, are the hundreds of satellite channels and game room not simulating enough for you" teased the older Lawson sister.
I had some questions about all of this.
"How did your sister end up here?" I asked.
Miranda shifted in her seat.
"The entity running all of this promised me a reward for taking part in the madness" she explained "Reunting with my sister was my reward. I'm guessing you got a suit of power armour that you want CDC to take a look at".
That was the plan.
"More than one suit," I said "And yes I think the technology is something that CDC can use".
That was something we could discuss in detail later.
"I was on the Citadel when it was getting overrun with Reaper forces so I can't really complain about ending up here" Oriana was now saying "I just wish Miri would let me get involved with her work".
Miranda sighed.
"It's not simple" she argued "CDC is going to make a lot of enemies, Vought isn't above kidnapping people and unlike me, you don't have the training to handle that sort of thing".
I doubted that this was the first time they'd debated this issue.
"And I don't have a real-life superhero as sort of a boyfriend" Oriana pointed out.
Miranda looked smug about that.
"Nolan, would you put some sunblock on me?" Miranda said turning onto her stomach.
She was purposely showing her ass because she knew how much I liked it. I went over to her and lightly slapped her backside.
"Aren't you burning up?" Oriana asked me.
The heat didn't bother me, but I took the top of my hero outfit off anyway and then I removed my boots, much to the delight of the younger Lawson sibling. By the time I'd stripped down to my boxers, she wasn't able to do anything other than stare.
For the next ten minutes, I spread the lotion all over Miranda's body. I enjoyed touching her so much that I almost missed the fact that she'd gotten my shield symbol, the one people associated with Invincible tattooed onto her back. That was rather sweet of her. I didn't embarrass her by mentioning it.
I made sure to cover every part of her and to rub everything before offering to do the same for her sister just to see the older Lawson pretend not to be jealous when her sibling started to enjoy me touching her.
"It's not a great life," Oriana said. "You're always going to have to live in fear of being captured by Vought because they won't tolerate any rivals. Why don't you just have EDI destroy that company".
Cortana and I had discussed that. It wouldn't be much work for one of the AI to topple that business.
"Vought employs a lot of people and it keeps the superhumans busy doing meaningless rubbish" I explained "If we destroyed Vought outright it would cause economic chaos and lots of superhumans would turn to crime to support their expensive habits".
There was a bit more to all of this than that.
"Your sister and I both have plans to guide this world over the next few centuries and for our plans to work we can't let things get shaken up this soon," I told Oriana.
She knew that my words made sense, but she wasn't happy about not being able to play some sort of role.
"I'm about ready to head back inside," Miranda said "It's getting too hot out here".
She grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her waist as she got up, she then began walking towards the beach house.
"Good idea, I'm cooking out here!" Oriana said, soon following her big sister.
Not having anything else to do I got up and followed them into the house.
Spoiler
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I headed up to Miranda's bedroom as Oriana loudly informed me that she going to take a shower. When I opened the door that was only partly closed I saw a topless Miranda pulling down the thong of her bikini.
"Hey," she said, seemingly unphased by my presence
Given that I'd knocked her up and fucked her ass she had nothing to hide from me so she pulled the thong off and walked to the end of her room so that she could go look out of the open window.
She didn't care at all that I was staring at her ass. If anything she wanted the attention I was giving her.
"My sister has only been here on this island for a few days and she's already unhappy about me planning to leave her here" I was told.
I walked up behind Miranda, taking in the beauty of her nude body as I looked at her. When I got close enough I grabbed her waist with both hands, and she pushed back so that her ass was grinding into me.
That didn't last nearly long enough as she chose to turn around and I knew that she wanted me to hold her.
"Your sister nearly died and now she's in another universe, you're the only familiar thing she has to hold on to" I pointed out "Plus, given your father's attitude to parenting I beat she's already sick of being told she has to do something for her own good".
The mother of my unborn child pushed her head into my chest.
"I guess you're right," Miranda said.
Of course, I was right. I'm a superior form of life.
"Just find a way to keep her involved" I advised.
My hard cock was poking Miranda's stomach and she reached down to feel it.
"Oh dear did I do that" she teased.
She stepped back slowly and knelt down, pulling down my boxers, and this allowed my cock to finally be free. She looked up at me with her a naughty smile on her face and then she began to work her oral magic on me.
Miranda Lawson was a talented cocksucker, I had no idea how you genetically engineered someone for cocksucking if that was what had happened, and if her father had done that, it was easy to understand why Miranda had taken her sister away from him.
"That feels so good," I praised.
She took my cock out of her mouth with a slight pop sound.
"Can I ride your cock, please Daddy" she begged.
Once I was on the bed, Miranda climbed on top of me, and we started fucking cowgirl style. She began to ride me, letting out a few loud moans.
"That feels so good, Daddy!" she called out.
Just then Oriana's voice could be heard. I'd not bothered to shut the door when entering the room.
"Miri?" she said "You call him Daddy?".
The young Lawson sibling was only in her towel, having just gotten out of the shower.
"Uhhh it's not what it looks like!" Miranda said
The younger sister was not at all fooled and she came over to get a closer look at what we were doing.
"Not sure what else this could be" she joked "Do I get a turn".
To be fair there was no mistaking what we were up to.
"Oriana!" Miranda said, "He's not a toy to be shared".
No, I was not. No matter whose home this happened to be I was in charge here.
"I can extend my protection if you agree to both get fucked by me," I said.
Despite her shock, Miranda didn't dismount. She still had my hard dick inside her.
"You want to fuck my sister?" she asked.
There was no harm in adding her to our arrangement.
"If anyone did kidnap either of you I'd come to save you," I promised "You can't ask for better protection than that".
Miranda bit her lower lip.
"Sounds fair to me," said Oriana "It's not like any other man on this planet is good enough for either of us".
Miranda got off me and soon both sisters began to play with my cock.
"I can't believe we are doing this," said the older Lawson sister.
Oriana seemed to think this would be lots of fun.
"I don't want to hide on an island for the rest of my life, so I need Nolan's protection," she pointed out "And he did save all those people. He should get a reward".
Miranda had given up fighting against the tide. She wasn't stupid enough to argue with me and I would protect her sister if I was going to use her as a breeding stock when she was older.
"If you become mine you can't let any other man touch you" I warned the younger Miss Lawson "You'll belong to me".
Oriana waved that concern away.
"Who can compare to you," she stated.
She must be into powerful men and unless there were some gods hanging about there was no more powerful than me in this world.
"Come on, I want to feel you inside of me, Daddy," Oriana said.
She soon got into the doggy-style position, and she waited for me to enter her, which I happily did. As I thrusted into Oriana's tight little cunt, Miranda got onto her knees next to me on the large bed and began to kiss me.
"Please don't knock her up" she begged "She's only eighteen".
That wasn't part of my plan just yet.
"I'll wait a few years" I promised.
Miranda accepted my terms. Not that she had much of a choice in the matter and I focused my efforts on sucking the younger woman into she was nothing more than a limp mess on the bed. This didn't take very long as I was ready to finish yet.
"My turn sis," Miranda said once Oriana had collapsed onto the bed.
I didn't normally get much use out of Sex Driven Perk because so far I had not needed it much. Pleasing Miranda hadn't been important as she was supposed to pleasure. Now things were a bit different.
Soon she was laying on her stomach, wrapping her arms around a pillow at the head of the bed. She whipped her hair back and looked over her shoulder, shaking her ass cheeks at me.
"She doesn't do anal," Miranda said.
The older sister screamed a little when I entered her, but that did not stop me from fucking Miranda, and she didn't protest, she just made a lot of noise. I decided to go easy on the mother of my child and climax quickly. There would be more time for fun later.
"That's a lot of cum!" Oriana said looking at her sister's ass.
I'd pulled out so I make a mess of Miranda's lovely backside.
"You better clean it up" I ordered.
The younger sister looked at me with wide eyes and she realised what I meant for her to do.
"Yes, Daddy," she said as she began to lick her sister's ass.
If Miranda was uncomfortable with this she didn't bother to protest.
Torn Cape - 13
Torn Cape.
Part 13.
Base. The Moon.
"Bloody Vought," I said with a sneer.
The screen in front of me was showing a news report. By reading between the lines, I understood that the superhero company was making itself look good by claiming that it had been involved in the operation that had resulted in Maeve and I saving that transoceanic flight just yesterday.
This was distracting people nicely from the fact that Homelander still hadn't woken up and that Vought's stock had been dropping for weeks. Given that the Seven no longer existed as a team it was hardly a shock that Vought's shareholders had lost a lot of their faith in the company.
"We can't let them take credit for our actions," Margaret Shaw complained "I didn't even renew my contract with Vought".
She'd made a public declaration by coming with me to stop the terrorists. She intended to show the world that she longer had any loyalty to Vought and that she'd sided with me. Only for Vought to twist everything.
"The problem is that they own the identity of Queen Maeve," said Miranda who was in her office at CDC headquarters and talking to us via a secure connection "It's similar to the laws that allow a movie studio to own the rights to a fictional character or a franchise".
Must have something to do with the superhero merchandise that Vought was making millions from.
"Getting into a legal battle with Vought to claim the identity of Queen Maeve would be a long struggle" Cortana informed us.
"And not worth the effort".
"Just set up a new superhero identity" advised Miranda "Then hand that identity over to me so that Cerberus can protect it for you, Miss Shaw".
A rather good idea.
"I never liked the Queen Maeve image" I commented "The armour makes you look like an old shoe".
Margaret acted as if she was offended by my words.
"My image was meant to make people think of me as some sort of warrior queen like Boudica" explained Margaret "I do have Celtic ancestors".
Since I was from a Celtic country I wondered if I should complain about cultural appropriation.
"Whatever you say, Xena" I joked.
She didn't get the reference.
"You're allowed to call me Maggie," she told me.
The sexy woman on the screen who wasn't an AI got our attention.
"This seems like a good time to reinvent yourself" said Miranda who was more focused on the matter at hand than either of us "Cerberus can protect your new image without making a mockery of what it means to be a superhero".
Margaret Shaw thought about that before turning to address me.
"Nolan, if you're going to let me keep the armour then I should change my superhero identity to something more futuristic," said Maggie before she turned to the screen "I'll let Cerberus represent me from now on".
Miranda smiled upon hearing that.
"I can have my media department present this new image to the public" she said "Something about casting off the past and becoming a hero for the future".
That sounded like something the sheeple would eat up.
"We can leave the details to my PR department" Miranda went on to say "Just make sure you wear the science fiction armour and get rid of the old shoe leather stuff".
Margaret frowned.
"It's the armour of a warrior queen" she insisted "It's based on outfits worn by real women warriors of the past".
I very much doubted it.
"No one who ever went to war dressed like that would be taken seriously on the battlefield and I doubt they lived long once the fighting started," I remarked.
Before we could argue about that Miranda spoke again.
"Some of the die-hard Homelander supporters think that Invincible kidnapped Queen Maeve and that he is somehow forcing her to work with him" the CEO of Cerberus Defence Contracts let us know "I have EDI spinning everything, and the actual people on the plane are singing your praises so at least the extremists are being ignored".
That was good news.
"The more radical Islamic groups are denying involvement and they are denouncing the attempted hijacking" Cortana let us know.
Miranda had more to tell us.
"Nolan, I've gotten my R department to start going over the designs for the power armour you gave me" she let us know "I scanned the manual and had EDI transfer the data into a new format to make it look as if it had been developed in this world".
"I'm having different teams work on different parts of the armour so that we can patent every component" she was now saying "I won't be presenting the armour to anyone for a few months at least as I need to make it look as if CDC developed the technology even if we didn't create it".
That made sense as if she just presented the military with functioning power armour people would start to wonder where the technology came from. The fusion batteries alone could be a game changer when it came to advancing humanity's technology.
"Sounds like the tech is in good hands" I praised.
Miranda smirked at me.
"Yes, seducing you with my feminine charms was smart," she admitted.
I couldn't argue with that.
"Pop by and see our progress sometime soon" invited Miranda before she closed the channel.
As soon as he was gone Margaret slapped my arm.
"So you have a girlfriend," she said "I was wondering if you were gay. Not that I would mind if you were".
She was supposed to be bisexual so I could see why she wouldn't have been bothered.
"Miranda isn't my girlfriend" I let Margaret know "We just have an arrangement. In exchange for me working with her I'm the only man she's allowed to be with intimately".
Maggie didn't have anything to say about that.
"Why did you think I might be gay?" I asked.
I wasn't offended by her assumption, I was just curious.
"You have me alone in your moonbase, and I offered you sex, you could have me doing whatever you want while I'm up here," she pointed out "But you never showed any interest".
I had my reasons for keeping my distance.
"My thinking was that you wouldn't want to trade Homelander for another superpowered man who would tell you what to do," I explained
She didn't see it that way.
"You are nothing like Homelander" she assured me "And just so you know if you're interested in a friends-with-benefits deal I'm fine with that. A girl gets lonely on the moon".
I'd never been attracted to Queen Maeve, but Maeve was just a character played by Margaret Shaw, I might be able to have some fun with Maggie.
"Just so you know I am working on putting together a cloaked shuttle so that Nolan doesn't have to play taxi driver for you," Cortana informed Margaret.
I wondered if the armour I'd given to her would unlock its true potential when she wore it. Maybe she would be able to fly to the moon and back on her own.
"Thank you, Cortana," Maggie said.
Perhaps I would sleep with Margaret if she came up with a new superhuman identity, something I was attracted to.
"If I put the armour on I might be tough enough to do some sparring with you" Maggie suggested.
Cortana wanted me to keep expanding the base, but I could do with a change of pace and it would be good to get some pointers on fighting as my brawl with Homelander had proven that I did need to learn to fight.
"Boss, I just got an update for the PVP" Cortana let me know as I began to leave the room "Do you know anyone called Doctor Victor Von Doom".
I swore so loudly that Maggie came running into the room and began looking around as if there was some sort of danger.
"Nolan, what is it?" she asked.
We were in trouble and it would take me some time to explain why. Not that I had much time as soon there was something else I needed to deal with.
Federal Reserve Bank. New York.
Spoiler [img: https/2.bp./-b274OJUgVLs/TtGlgCkSgEI/AAAAAAAABdM/Ehn-LvD2DM8/s1600/Federal_Reserve_Bank_Attraction.jpg]
Grace Mallory, the acting director of the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs, did not like the fact that she was going to have to work with a couple of supes, but given what had happened here she didn't have much choice in the matter.
Besides, she had nothing against Invincible personally or Queen Maeve for that matter, who for some reason had changed her look so that she looked something out of a science fiction movie.
"Mr Grayson, Miss Shaw," she said "Thank you for coming".
If she had to work with them then she was going to use a proper form of address.
"Director Mallory, can you tell us what happened here?" asked Invincible.
Yes, it would be best to get right down to business. What had happened here could affect the entire world so there was no sense beating around the bush.
"At 4.30 am local time this vault was broken into" answered Mallory as she took the two superhumans over the huge hole in the wall "Who or whatever made this hole did so without using any high-tech equipment or explosives, or at least none that we can detect".
One of her aids passed over a tablet which contained a few seconds of footage. The video played and showed the wall collapsing before several small figures could be seen. Then as a large figure appeared, entering the vault the footage degraded before simply ending.
The footage was rewound so that Invincible and Maeve could watch the last few seconds at a slower rate. This allowed them to see that the smaller figures were not human, they might be the size of children, but they were not kids.
As for the larger figure it too was humanoid in form, yet also not human, and while the cameras did not give them a good look at the prominent figure it was possible to make out some of its features. Such that it wore armour best suited to a character in a fantasy novel and carried a scythe.
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"Whoever these people are they carried off billions of dollars worth of gold," Mallory told the two superhumans "This vault housed a little under half a million gold bars of different sizes, with a combined weight of about six thousand tons. Only a fraction was actually taken from the vault and we need to get in back".
Spoiler
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Grace had more information to share.
"None of the gold stored here in the vault belongs to the Federal Reserve System. This place acts as a custodian of the gold on behalf of account holders, which includes a number of foreign governments, other central banks, and a lot of official international organizations" said the acting director "So this is an international incident with ramifications on a global scale".
At least both of the superhumans were looking as if they were taking things seriously.
"The vault is only able to support the weight of so much gold because it rests on the bedrock of Manhattan Island, down here we are 80 feet below street level," she told the superhumans "So someone has been digging down here a lot and there's no trace of explosives or any sign of the kind of equipment you'd need to dig through steel reinforced concrete".
Mallory had only been able to conclude that a small group of superhumans were working together. That was the only reason why she was willing to work with Invincible and whatever Maeve was going to start calling herself now that she'd changed her image.
While the armoured figure looked as if he had horns, and could be some superhuman, there was one super she knew about who had wings so a horned one wasn't so strange, she didn't understand who or what the smaller humanoids could be.
"So far a security team working for the Federal Reserve has gone missing while trying to track the thieves, an entire squad of cops went after them and also went missing, I even authorised a SWAT team, and they managed to report that they were under attack and we heard some gunfire before we lost contact with them".
Mallory took a sip of her cold coffee before she spoke some more.
"My choices now are to entrust you two, to call upon Vought or I can wait, and then send in the National Guard to sweep all of the tunnels," said the Director "Unfortunately getting the National Guard involved is going to take time. Some sort of jurisdiction issue since this is a federal matter not a state one".
She would be able to get the guard here sooner or later, but she had a feeling by then it might be too late.
"What exactly do you want us to do?" asked Maeve.
Mallory was surprised by easy it was to get their cooperation. Perhaps working with Cerberus wouldn't be so bad.
"I want you to go into the tunnels and find the stolen gold" she answered "I can authorise you to use deadly force, but I would like someone to blame this all on, other than I want you to clear the way for my agents. They can recover the gold once it's been located and the tunnels have been secured".
The two superhumans didn't require anything else they just headed off into the tunnels. It was odd to work with superhumans and more so when they acted more like people than overgrown children.
Maybe this job wouldn't be so bad. She'd have to see if they messed up recovering that gold.
Torn Cape - 14
Torn Cape
Part 14
Public Library. New York City.
Victor Von Doom, as a rule, did not play games, and he certainly didn't play them to amuse a bored cosmic being, but what choice had he been given when the prize for this game was his mother's damned soul?
She was the only person that Doctor Doom would have done this for. He would play this silly game for her sake, at least, until he got what he wanted from the cosmic being and then he would see about freeing himself.
He had agreed to come to this world to combat others who had been sent to a version of Earth so as to amuse a being who clearly had far more power than sense. A creature known as The Beyonder had something simpler in his home universe.
His objective wasn't to outright kill them, as if nothing else that would be boring, for now, he simply had to do battle with them. As long as Doom got what was his he didn't much care who he went up against. Anyone he had to fight would fall at a time of his choosing.
Yet even he could not win a game when he could not see all of the board or the pieces on it. That was why once he'd arrived in this world, and found that he had been stripped of his armour while being granted a normal appearance, he had gone in search of the information he required.
Spoiler
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Quickly he had discovered that while the world he had been sent to was much like his own, complete with costumed heroes and incompetent governments, the heroes of this world would have been unworthy to stand beside those who Doom had faced in the past.
This was one of the first things he'd learned when he entered the library and began to discover how this version of Earth differed from the one he'd come close to conquering more than once.
Many people and historical events were the same, there had two world wars and many lesser conflicts taking part with the same leaders rising to the top of society in both recent times and in the distant past.
In other ways, things were very different. There was no organisation such as S.H.I.E.L.D. to protect this world and the countries here were too divided by national borders and religion to unite against a common threat. They would be simple to deal with.
As for the superheroes, if they could be called that, were far more concerned with how the public saw them than with actually doing anything heroic. They would be unable to unite against him any more than the governments of this world.
Doom already despised them, even more than the self-righteous clods that he normally had to deal with. Many of his enemies had been brutes or naive fools, but at least they tried to make the world a better place in their own small ways. The heroes here only saved people in order to look good in the eyes of the public.
Perhaps some of these fools could be spared and made into enforcers as even Doctor Doom needed minions to carry out the less important tasks. Doom already had several ideas about how he could gain control of a few heroes and use them for his own ends.
There was no Reed Richards here to challenge him, no Fantastic Four to get in his way, and no Avengers to bother him when he was trying to work. The closest thing this world had to a proper hero was one man who was clearly up to more than the people realised.
For sure this Invincible put on a good show, but once Doom had hacked into what the FBI and CIA of this dimension, jokingly thought of as online security it was obvious that Invincible had plans for this world. Why else would be building a base on the moon?
This Invincible, or Nolan Greyson as he was also known, had access to technology far beyond that of the rest of the people in this world, and he'd already been here long enough to set himself up as a superhero.
Doom quickly and correctly calculated that Greyson had his own plans for this version of Earth, and if they got in the way of his plan then this Invincible would need to be dealt with.
Already Doctor Doom was aware of another threat. That of something called a Dungeon Keeper, but he had been unable to find out much about this other player despite the great amount of data he'd already amassed.
There had been many disappearances lately among the lower classes, and someone had just robbed the Federal Reserve Bank, but other than he didn't have much idea of what was going on in this PVP that he'd agreed to join for his mother's sake.
He was able to quickly figure out Grayson's connection to Miranda Lawson the head of Cerberus Defence Contracts. Since she was also not from this world it seemed likely that she could be an issue, or perhaps an asset, he would have to study her before deciding upon her fate.
That required time and a place to work from. The latter was easy to arrange when you could hack into any records you wished and alter them. It was child's play to divert funds from one source and place them into an account he could access.
If he bankrupted a few fools in the process then that was just fine with him. The so-called heroes of this world had far more money than they needed and the company they served was going through some interesting time. This made it easy to take some of their resources for himself.
Now all he had to do was find a suitable address, alter some more records and take possession of his new residence. Dealing with the current owners would be a bit of a chore, but between his masteries of magic and science, such self-appointed assignments were easily completed.
After some thought Doom selected an address and left the library. Unknowingly following in the same footsteps as others sent here, and had he known he would have told himself that sometimes he had to sacrifice originality for the sake of expediency.
Doom needed to work quickly if he was going to win this little game and take over this world. Only he had the right to rule this or any other version of Earth, and this time there would be no one would stop him from bringing order to the world.
Tunnels. New York City.
I grabbed the skull of the animated skeleton and smashed it so hard into the wall that the bone shattered, yet that didn't stop the creature from moving so I grabbed its exposed ribcage and tore the monster apart with my gloved hands.
"Since when did our lives become a game of Dungeons and Dragons?" Crimson Edge asked me.
I was surprised that she made such a reference and since my face wasn't covered in a helmet as hers was, she could read my expression of curiosity.
"We had a DM at Godolkin University" she explained.
The Godolkin University School of Crimefighting or God U, is a university founded by Vought International and dedicated to teaching young supes how to be heroes.
Their training leads up to the annual 'Vought Hero Draft' where once a year, the best and brightest young supes compete for Vought International contracts that in theory require them to protect America's major cities.
Since it was important to study your enemies I knew that Godolkin the university once included Queen Maeve, A-Train, and the Deep as students.
"I think we have found ourselves in something similar" I reasoned "And I think we now know that happened to all the homeless people that have been going missing".
Maggie didn't take long to put it together. The evidence of their ghastly fate was all around us.
"So we're dealing with a Necromancer" she realised.
I suspected that somewhere down here there was a powerful and evil magic user would be found.
"Maybe even a dragon" I mused "That would explain the sudden need for lots of gold".
If this was a D situation, we should expect to run into a dragon.
"Hell of a time for me to change my persona," said Maggie "I can see the movie title: Queen Maeve and the Dungeons of the Dead, or something like that".
She hadn't gotten out of the Vought mindset yet. There would be no movie. Although we might still profit from this venture.
"Keep an eye out for magical items," I said "If there is a dark wizard down here with the power to command the dead he or she is bound to have some cool magical stuff".
I'd played enough RPGs to know that the boss always that the best loot.
"Boss I have some news for you," Cortana let me know.
We were somewhat cut off down here because there was nothing for my AI to connect to, but she was still able to get some information.
"Homelander has woken up" I was informed.
That was something I could deal with later.
"According to the chatter I'm picking up from the Vought building he's coming after you" warned Cortana "And he's bringing what's left of the Seven with him".
The robbery couldn't be kept secret for long so I figured that if Homelander wanted to track me down he could.
"We predicted that this might happen," said the AI.
Yes, but our predictions had only accounted for him coming after me directly or that he would go crazy and start lashing out, it had even been possible that he'd commit suicide as Stormfront did in the show.
I had not guessed that he would bully the rest of the Seven into attacking me. Why would he do that when Homelander had little o no respect for them?
"It doesn't matter," said Crimson Edge "They can't hurt you, and we need to focus on the mission".
Homelander was a coward like all bullies. Most likely he'd try to ambush me at my home when he thought I'd have my guard down.
I was so convinced by this and distracted by having to take down even more moving skeletons as we moved deeper underground, that I was unprepared when something hit with some major force and I was knocked into the wall so hard that it cracked.
"It's A-Train!" Maggie called out.
He was capable of running into people with such force they exploded and could do so without doing any harm to himself so it made sense that he could at least knock me about despite how tough I'd become. With enough mass and velocity, he could do me some real harm, assuming he had the stamina to keep going like this.
The sound of an incoming train reached my ears at the same time I felt something hit me hard enough that I was again thrown into the wall of the narrow tunnel.
Crimson Edge was close enough to yell something at me, but she couldn't help me for some reason.
A-Train stopped ramming into me, perhaps because he needed a moment to catch his breath, and I realised what he was doing. It was rather clever for The Seven.
The super fast man knew he could not fight me directly because if he stopped, rather than simply push me as he raced by, I'd kill him, so he was trying to soften me up to wear me down enough for Homelander to come to finish me off.
He was doing a good job on his own. I knew that I would be bruised after this encounter because he was just so fast.
When the sound started, I managed to move just enough that I got spun around and knocked down rather than slammed into anything. Since he A-Train didn't seem to be suffering from any reflected damage I assumed that he wasn't doing enough harm to me for it to register while he was so focused on knocking me about.
As I picked myself up I reached for the Darksaber and I swiped at where I guessed A-Train would come from. By sheer luck if nothing else I got him.
Since the tunnel was narrow he had to run past and then come at me from the other end. Knowing this I waved the Darksaber wildly knowing that waiting for the noise would be pointless as he was faster than sound.
The noise of an oncoming train did reach my ears after A-Train dropped to the ground in two pieces. It was only now that I realised that we were under attack by what I could assume to be goblins of some kind.
So the Dungeon Keeper was more than some Necromancer, he was a full-on Dark Lord with many kinds of evil minions.
That was not good news, and to make matters worse the other members of the Seven were coming after me because they were more afraid of what Homelander would do to them than they were of me.
At least Crimson Edge had no trouble protecting herself. She had The Deep pinned to the tunnel wall at the far end. I saw him when I caught up with her.
"I would kill you" Maggie was saying "But I pity you too much".
She slammed the head of the knock-off Aquaman into the wall hard enough to knock him out, either that he was smart enough to play dead.
"You really did a number on A-Train," said a familiar voice.
I turned to see that Homelander had arrived with Starlight in tow and I wondered where Black Noir had gotten to. The biggest threats were the ones you didn't see.
"We don't have time for this," said the newest member of the Seven "Those monsters are attacking the subway stations".
Cortana soon confirmed this to be true. She was still having trouble accessing information for us down here and I wondered if it was only because we were so far underground.
"Shut up, bitch!" shouted Homelander.
He then turned his attention to me.
"That was a fluke the last time we met," he said directly to me "And after I'm done with you I'm going to make sure to teach Maeve her place".
Ah, so that was how he justified his failure. He'd convinced himself that it had been a bit of misfortune. He was rather skilled at lying to himself.
"No one is stronger than me!", Homelander declared.
There was movement behind me as Black Noir jumped out of the shadows to strike at Crimson Edge who thanks to her new armour hardly even noticed the blow. The sword didn't shatter or anything dramatic there was just a clunk noise.
"You deal with Noir" I ordered "I'll deal with Homelander. As for you Starlight, why don't you go and help the people who are under attack".
Anne didn't need much encouragement to go off and do the right thing, and more importantly, it would keep her out of the way.
"I'll make this quick and then I'll deal with the traitors" stated Homelander.
He was so wrong. I had no intention of making this quick. I planned to fully enjoy the suffering I would cause him.
The drafts for parts 15 and 16 can be found /post/Draft-For-Part-16-of-Torn-Cape-C0C5MXOW2
Supporters get to read ahead.
Torn Cape - 15
The draft for the next part of the story can be read by my supporters here or here.
Torn Cape.
Part 15.
Tunnels. New York City.
The wall broke apart as Homelander came at me much as A-Train had, and while he didn't have the sheer speed of the member of the Seven who I had just killed, he had a lot more raw power.
Because of this we through the wall and into a man-made tunnel that was running parallel to the one we'd been in. How deep underground we were I had no idea and I didn't have time to find out from Cortana since I had Homelander to deal with.
While this city wasn't that old, at least when compared to major ones over in Europe, it was aged enough to have developed a network of passages. They were thankfully empty of any innocent bystanders such as maintenance workers. This was good as Invincible had a reputation for limiting damage to public property and safeguarding human lives when possible.
"After I'm done with you I'm going to burn that traitor bitch to ashes," promised Homelander as his eyes began to glow "Then I'd find that hot piece of Australian ass you are fucking and I'll…".
As it turned out I cared more about Maggie and Miranda than I'd realised as that unfinished declaration made me very mad and his somewhat handsome mug suffered because of it. I punched him hard in the face before he could tell me what he planned to do my baby mama. In fact, I struck him with such force that my knuckles hurt.
"You won't be harming anyone, ever again" I stated.
That sounded like something a cheesy action hero would say. I wasn't playing for the cameras here and there were no witnesses to impress. I should just get on with killing this jerk.
Due to the visor that Cortana had made for me, I could see Homelander just fine and I assumed that he had some supervision that allowed him to see me, because he could still block a punch despite the sheer darkness here.
Sadly for him, he didn't defend himself so successfully against the fist of my left hand and this allowed me to land a blow strong enough that it cracked at least one rib. The blow made a very satisfying sound.
"Son of a whore!" Homelander called out.
Understandably, I did not take that insult very well, which had been directed at my mother, and I began punching Homelander so hard that for a moment it looked as if the man-made passage would collapse upon us.
Then I threw him to the cold concrete floor that made up this tunnel.
"You know everywhere on this Earth they speak your name," I said "It's Homelander this and Homelander that, but in reality, you're just not that cool".
I began stamping on his chest and I was unsure if the sound I heard was his bones breaking or the concrete shattering beneath us. As it turned out it could have been both as there was a snapping noise as the floor gave way.
In the past, before I became super awesome, I had played games that involved fighting monsters in a dungeon and in my experience they tend to be rather 2D. Meaning that once you are underground you stay at the same level. There aren't normally any means of going up or down until you reach an exit or at least enter a different section of the dungeon.
Real life isn't so well set out so when Homelander and I went through the concrete floor we ended up in a deep part of the dungeon that something had either created down here or was at least using in some way, and we fell into some sort of underground lake.
Both Homelander and I could swim and as we began to climb out, we found out what happened to all the stolen gold.
It seemed safe to assume had something to do with the massive dragon.
Spoiler
[img: https/i./vi/IkUeDVeZSCQ/maxresdefault.jpg]
Some sort of ugly dwarf creatures that I'd seen in the recording were piling bars of gold at the feet of the massive dragon to go with the treasure already here. How the Dungeon Keeper had amassed this much wealth I had no idea and the amount of skeletons down here was worrying.
This dragon was not one of those beasts you see in Game of Thrones or Harry Potter. This was a real dragon, massive, blood red in colour, it had four legs and cruel intelligence in its eyes.
"Who dares intrude upon the lair of Kalzeruth!" the huge creature demanded to know.
Before anyone could answer it the creature breathed fire and I ducked myself back into the water I'd been trying to win out of just moments ago.
Since Homelander was slower than me due to his injuries if nothing else, he screamed as he burned alive. I didn't know if that would kill him and it hardly mattered right now as I had a dragon to deal with.
Also, I was supposed to be recovering that gold, I'd not forgotten about that. Someone would come to recover the wealth, so I just needed to deal with the monster that had taken ownership of it.
When the creatures stopped breathing fire, and even under the surface of the cold lake I could feel the heat of the flames, I flew out of the lake and into the air. It was a large underground cavern so I had plenty of room to move around in.
Now that I could get a better look at the dragon I saw that it was Smaug shaped and about the same size, so I had some idea of what I was going up against. However, since I didn't see any damaged scales, as such I'd have to deal with this creature in a rather brutal way rather than exploit a weak spot.
I did not attack right away, rather I floated there in surprise as Kalzeruth leaned down and popped the charmed remains of Homelander in his mouth before chewing and swallowing rather noisily.
Given how tough Homelander was I knew that Kalzeruth's teeth were something that I needed to avoid at all costs because they might be able to break me into meaty chunks as well.
Yet despite the horror of what I'd just seen and the fact that I was in danger, I couldn't help laughing.
"Why does your friend's death amuse you so?" asked Kalzeruth.
Hearing that was also funny.
"He wasn't my friend" I answered "He was an enemy and a well-loved hero, and now he's going to end up as dragon shit".
It was a fitting fate for Homelander that I found extremely comical, yet Kalzeruth did not find the situation humorous at all. Rather he took offence and tried to roast me, perhaps he was still hungry, and I avoided the fire by flying around the dragon.
Since I know that the hero sometimes needs a special sword to slay the beast I reached for the darksaber and ignited the weapon as I got behind Kalzeruth. The dragon had trouble twisting its body around and so I was able to slash at its back.
"My scales are stronger than steel plate," boasted the fire-breathing monster.
A lightsaber could defeat such defences, even if they were boosted by some sort of magic as this dragon's scales seemed to be, but I would need to either keep attacking the same part of the body so I could melt through the scales, be able to focus on one spot for more than a second or find a vulnerable part to attack. I decided to go with the latter and I went for the eyes.
Only I had to stop my assault because Kalzeruth breathed fire once more, as I again lamented my lack of any kind of ranged attack. Not that there was any sort of gun I could acquire that could equal the sheer power of my physical strikes.
At least I had speed and agility on my side as the dragon simply didn't move very fast when compared to me. This was how I was able to avoid Kalzeruth's spiked tail, which the dragon was using to try to knock me out of the air.
My hopefully superior intelligence allowed me to come up with an idea. I landed on the ground and began swiping at the gold with the darksaber.
As I'd suspected that it would, messing with the dragon's treasure made it very mad and it tried to burn me yet again. Only this time I was ready for it. I went up the ceiling and then down as the dragon breathed fire at where I had been standing mere seconds ago.
My next attack worked wonders. The darksaber was driven into one of the eyes of the dragon and the energy blade was driven into what passed for its brain. Magical creature or not it was still an organic being and without its grey matter, it died like any other mortal creature.
It dropped to the ground as it died and I pushed the blade of the exotic weapon into its head as deep as I could. That much dragon slamming into the ground shook the entire cavern for a moment.
"Well that was fun," commented Cortana.
I did feel a certain amount of satisfaction from defeating this dragon. It had been my toughest foe so far. With that in mind, I cut off one of Kalzeruth's smallest horns so that I could take it as a trophy and I stored it in a pouch I kept at my side.
"They aren't going to be able to pass this thing off as a super terrorist" commented Crimson Edge when she dropped down the hole I'd made.
No doubt Vought was already spinning some tale about the remaining members of The Seven going off to fight super terrorists who had set up under the streets of New York. I wondered how they would spin Homelander's death.
"The government will put this thing into a massive packing crate and store it with the bodies of the Rosewell aliens and the Ark of the Covenant" I muttered "They'll stage a massive coverup, that's what governments do".
Once Maggie was done inspecting the creature, something she would have spent much more time doing if our attention wasn't needed elsewhere, she turned to speak to me.
"Noir is gone" she told me "He's not dead, but he'll be out of action for a while".
If needs be I would throw that guy into space. He was somewhat like Deadpool or maybe Deathstroke, so short of utterly destroying his body it might not be possible for me to kill him.
"Hold on. Invincible. What happened to Homelander?" she asked.
I pointed at the mouth of the dragon.
"As I was beating him to a pulp we fell into this cavern and he got turned into burnt meat by that monster," I told her "It chewed him before it swallowed. So I guess he's somewhere in the dragon's digestive system".
Maggie Shaw needed a moment to process that.
"So he's dead," she said with a sigh.
The method of his death made me wonder if all of Vought's manufactured superheroes were vulnerable to magic. Since this world lacked magic, or at least any magic the locals could use, until the Dungeon Keeper appeared, it wasn't something they would have needed to worry about.
Since I could also be vulnerable to magic, or at least some types of magic, we would both need to be careful. This was something I pointed out to Crimson Edge.
"Do you really think this is magic?" she asked "Maybe the skeletons were some kind of robotics or maybe some super has the power to animate bone and make them like puppets, I've seen some messed up stuff when working for Vought".
I pointed at the cooling body of the dragon. There was no way something like that could exist without magic or maybe some really advanced cybernetic technology mixed with genetic engineering that was way beyond anything we had access to, but there was no evidence that technology had been involved.
"Okay, so magic is now a thing" agreed Maggie.
"Or maybe it always was and it's just been dormant" I mused.
To be fair this was all a lot to take in, but she would have to process everything later as we still had a job to do. I needed to deal with the Dungeon Keeper quickly so that I could focus on Doctor Doom.
I figured that my only chance to deal with Doctor Doom was to kill him before he had any time to plan and then throw him into space, on course for the sun. As such I could not afford to delay.
"We need to find this Dungeon Keeper" I was now saying "That's the only way to end this. If we don't take them down they'll begin again, and if he or she any sense when they start over they'll do somewhere remote".
This Keeper doesn't need dead people to build their army. We'd seen what I assumed to be goblins and some kind of very ugly dwarf so if this Dungeon Keeper managed to escape he or she could go out into the middle of nowhere and hide out until they had an army big enough to threaten all of civilization.
If the Keeper could bring a dragon into this world then the ROB only knows what else they could ally with.
The Keeper's forces were already a threat to the people of New York. Cortana had been able to show me a few images on my fancy new visor that showed that the subway system was being evacuated and the police were trying to keep the monsters contained. Even Starlight could only help them so much.
"Any idea where we can find this Keeper?" questioned Maeve.
I didn't need to give it much though.
"If they are like any of the other big baddies in this sort of situation then they will have a grand throne room and a fancy seat to sit upon" I mused "They'll make a speech about how awesome they are, and tell us all about their plans for the future before ordering our deaths. Then they will act all surprised when we easily survive whatever death trap they have set up for us".
That was normally how these things worked. Only that wouldn't be the case this time.
"Or maybe I'll attack you right now with my strongest minions at my side," said a male-sounding person who wore a black robe that covered their entire body and face "Less of cliche that way".
I hated it when the bad guys were smart. The Keeper was supposed to send his minions after us first and then we could have the boss fight. They weren't supposed to attack all at once. This could get very messy.
Torn Cape - 16
Torn Cape.
Part 16.
Keepers Dungeon. New York City.
"Is this one of yours?" asked the robed figure.
The head of the superhero known as The Deep was thrown at us and it came to rest near our feet. Neither Maggie nor I reacted much to the sight. Compared to what else we'd seen today getting shown the head of someone we didn't even like was a bit dull, to be honest.
"Didn't really care for him" I admitted.
"I don't normally use terms like toxic masculinity," said Crimson Edge "But Deep was a toxic guy".
He was the kind of bloke that feminists could point to and then lecture people about fish not needing bicycles.
"Oh," said the Keeper, who sounded a bit discouraged "I was expecting that to have more of an impact. Ah well".
The hooded figure paused for a moment before giving an order.
"Kill them" the big bad commanded.
Before I could leap forward and take the fight to them, Frenchie stepped up from behind the Keeper and fired a grenade launcher that hit me with something that caused me to stagger back.
Whatever he had loaded in those things cracked my visor so I had to take it off and fight in the dark. My enhanced senses could only do much for me, but they would be enough.
"I hate it when people fire grenades at me!" I yelled.
Whatever was in those things they made me feel dizzy if only for a few moments, and if Cortana had been able to speak with me I felt sure she would have told me she was sorry for not having finished the personal shield she'd promised me.
In her defence, she had a lot of other things to do, and it wasn't as if I had ever made it seem important.
Once the grenades had stopped blowing up in my face, I found myself getting struck by bolts of lightning and while those blasts didn't harm they were very distracting.
"The ROB gave you a lot of power too" commented the Keeper
"More than I imagined".
I got the impression that I wasn't dealing with a fictional character but rather someone who had once been normal like me. Although I could be wrong about that.
Not that I had time to dwell on this as I saw that Crimson Edge was fighting some sort of demon in armour who carried a scythe, the same creature that broke into the bank I was sure.
Maggie would have done more than hold on her own if not for the fact that a gang of leather-clad dominatrixes with whips were keeping her from moving much.
I wasn't sure if they were meant to be a threat or if this was a kink thing. If it was the latter I wasn't going to judge.
Spoiler
[img: https/thegeek.games/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/ps4pro-dungeon-keeper-2.jpg]
"The ROB rewarded me for killing Jason Todd. Now I have my own lightsaber," said the Keeper.
I ignited mine. I had turned my weapon off and returned to my belt after I slew the dragon, which was something I was still a bit giddy about, and then I was ready to duel. Only I had to wait to face the boss as monsters were now pouring into the underground cavern.
Creatures that had to be vampires flew above the others and reached me first. One of them wore a red helmet and dressed like a modern biker. This must be what happened to Red Hood.
Apparently becoming a vampire meant that he wasn't back in the PVP either because he was still dead or because he was under the Keeper's control.
Not that it matters much as the Darksaber still worked, it sure was a durable bit of tech, and I used to slice the vampires into pieces, they turned to dust and that annoyed me more than their attack because the sheer amount of ash I made clouded my vision for a moment.
After that, there were more skeletons for me to crush, and goblins for me to cut down as well as some other things, that could have demons that needed to die as well.
I soon had to deal with what I guessed to be a troll because it looked like the one out of the first Harry Potter movie. Only this troll was wearing armour and it carried a weapon that was more than some crude club.
The massive creature came running at me while swinging around a spiked mace, that looked as if someone much more intelligent had made it, and that weapon did much more damage to the Keeper's forces than it could ever do to me.
For fun, I put the Darksaber away, and I caught the mace with my bare hands when the troll tried to use it to crush my skull, and I managed to yank it free of the surprised creature's hands.
"It's clobbering time!" I yelled.
This was the wrong superhero world for those words, but it was fun to say and I began to clobber, or rather I tried to as the massive mace was really too big for me to handle with any skill.
All I could do was swing it around to clear a space around me, and once I'd built up enough speed I let go of the weapon. It should have reduced the Keeper to a bleeding mess only the cloaked figure was able to teleport out of the way.
"I have an army" the cloaked figure declared "Every monster under my command is coming here to kill you".
Ah, the old Zerg rush tactic. I could respect that, and if I had chosen a weaker power set when I took the ROBs deal this plan might have worked.
While the remaining monsters got their act together the kinky chicks who had been bothering Maggie came at me, but rather than charge, they moved more seductively as they expected me to lower my guard around known enemies.
None of them spoke as they moved around me, yet they made noises, the kind of sounds an aroused woman might make, even if only when starring in porn.
Then without any warning, one of them struck out at me with a branding iron of all things its tip glowing red hot as the bitch tried to stab my face.
I grabbed the very hot end of the branding iron and it sizzled as the metal burned the material that made up my hero outfit, yet I didn't call in pain or even flinch. This was much to the surprise of the dominatrix, who watched open mouth as I bent the rod.
A whip struck me and wrapped around my arm. Much the delight of the woman around me if the noises they were making were anything to go buy. Those noises turned to ones of fear when I yanked on the whip and dragged the dominatrix towards me.
I let go of the whip and then grabbed her neck, as Maggie had done not so long ago with a terrorist, I snapped the neck of the kinky woman, and let her body drop to the ground. While they moaned in dismay and backed up I smiled at them.
"No disrespect meant," I told these scary ladies "But I like my girls more submissive and gentle. I'm a bit old-fashioned that way".
I just wanted to make it clear that I wasn't going to kill them because I felt threatened by strong women in any way. I was about to kill them because they were my enemy.
To that end I moved with great speed and grabbed one of the four remaining leather-clad torturers before she could do more than scream in a way that was not at all sexy I had her head in my hands and I squeezed until it cracked much like a hard-boiled egg.
Their cries of dismay were music to my ears as I began to enjoy this fight as I had when battling the dragon. Sure I could have ended this fight sooner, but where was the fun in that?
These women couldn't hurt me, or at least they had been able to so far, and I liked that I could make those who were used to harming others realise what it was like to be the victim.
After she died another of the scary women, one who preferred latex or rubber over leather, came at me with Freddy Kruger-type claws on her hands.
Spoiler
[img: https/pictures./k/Kaihlan/114332/Kaihlan-114332-Dungeon_Keepers_Dark_Mistress.jpg]
She went for my eyes and I grabbed both of her arms before she could try to cut my face. I squeezed hard and then pulled her arms out of her sockets. This made quite a lot of mess.
The third scary lady I killed had more power than the others she was able to electrify her whip despite it not being made of metal and it tickled when she whipped me.
I actually laughed and that freaked her out. Then she got really scared as I began to strangle with her own weapon as it electrified her. The smell generated was not at all pleasant.
As for the last dominatrix she tried to run only to be cut down by the Dugoen Keeper.
"Either die to him or die to me!" shouted the big bad.
At least the boss tried to fight me. The big bad used some sort of magic and I began to weaken as I'd suddenly gotten the flu, only for the Keeper to suddenly end the spell as they staggered backwards.
I recovered quickly and I wondered what sort of spell that had been to weaken someone as powerful as me it couldn't be some low-level cantrip.
"You can reflect damage too," the cloaked figure said "OP plz nerf".
That settled it I was for sure fighting someone I could once have chatted with on sci-fi and fantasy form. But this was no time to enquire about that as I had a battle to win. I activated the Darksaber and waded into the fight as I cut down monsters that the Keeper had summoned to this cavern. They didn't last long.
Then I faced the Keeper himself. Now that I was closer I could tell that the form was male and that the person had glowing eyes as if possessed by something unnatural.
We trade blows with our weapons and right away it became clear that Keeper was better with weapons than me as he managed to strike me and the strike on my arm actually hurt me if only for a moment.
Thankfully it hurt both of us thanks to the ROB not having nerfed me. No doubt it found this entire fight to be amusing even and it wasn't totally one-sided as magic could harm me, and so could lightsabers apparently.
Like my weapon, it must have been granted by the ROB and perhaps that being had made the more powerful than the real thing. I checked the wound and found that the small burn was already fading away. My hero outfit was however going to need some repair work.
Before I could try to attack again the Keeper held out a hand and I felt magic affect me once again. This time it was my mind that came under attack.
"Kill the woman who came here with you" he ordered.
I turned to see that Crimson Edge had just decapitated the big demon guy with his own scythe, and I felt the urge to cut her down. Only I resisted the mental command. A wave of primal anger came to the surface, I felt as if the attempt to control me had awoken something, and I launched myself at the Keeper.
Much like Luke on the second Death Star, I brought my sabre crashing down again and again until I took off the Keeper's hand. He screamed and then I got myself under control.
I reached down and picked up the Kylo Ren sabre. It was a silly design, but the technology behind it was advanced and I might need it for spare parts if the Darksaber ever broke.
"I don't want to exist as a sentient crystal" complained the Keeper.
A person would think he'd be more upset about what I was going to do to him, but the Keeper only seemed annoyed as I removed his head much like how Anakin took off Count Dooku's head in The Revenge of the Sith.
"There can be only one!" I called out.
Maggie had to ruin the moment.
"What about the Doom guy you were freaking out about?" she asked.
For a few moments, I had forgotten about him.
"Is that it?" wondered Maggie.
I had no idea. Nothing seemed to have changed as far as I could tell.
"What does Cortana say" I questioned.
The armour that Crimson Edge wore actually contained Cortana, as much as anything did since she was made up of information.
"She has no new information other than the monster attacks have stopped" I was told.
That meant this wasn't over.
"He mentioned something about a sentient crystal" I mentioned "Might the source of his power".
Before we could discuss it further the roof began to collapse in on us. I'd made a hole in already and the cavern had taken some damage during the short battle, but I didn't think it was caving in naturally.
"Run!" I shouted.
Maggie didn't need any encouragement and we soon legged it out of the cavern. Only we were too slow and the rocks crushed me under the weight.
Torn Cape - 17
Torn Cape.
Part 17.
The Dungeons. Somewhere Under New York.
He was not a happy Keeper. Until now, everything had been progressing slowly and while that could be dull at times, things had at least gone smoothly for him, even from the start, and until now he'd not regretted making his deal with that ROB who offered him power in exchange for taking part in some sort of PVP.
Even when his mind, soul, or essence, whatever it was called, had been trapped within the magical crystal that served as a power source for him and the heart of his underground domain, he had not wanted to go back to the puny man he had once been.
The Keeper of the Dungeon remembered when this had all started. He'd been someone else not so long ago, someone unimportant and best left forgotten. Then he'd become the Keeper and for a time he'd been all alone in the dark. Which hadn't been dull even if it had been worrying for a time.
When he had figured out how to create his first imp, it had been a joyous event, followed by many more happy discoveries. The Imps had dug for him, creating tunnels and rooms deep beneath New York at a rate that should have been impossible.
They even found veins of metal down here. Not much gold, or at least not enough, but the imps had the uncanny ability to find metals and mine them effectively so that their master had materials to work with.
As the imps worked, the Keeper discovered that many kinds of rooms could be made and that he could shape mana, magical energy, to make himself a physical body, and over time he'd learned how to use that power in the form of many different spells.
Then the portals had been found and with them, creatures from other worlds had come to serve. Goblins, trolls, and the Dark Mistresses came to him. He'd created vast lairs for them, training rooms, underground farms, and workshops.
The Dark Mistresses had always been fun. They were as eager to be hurt as they were to do harm and quite willing to let their master include his desire to dominate in any way he desired.
Later others appeared, the warlocks who aided him in learning magical spells in libraries they'd helped him to create, and by unlocking new knowledge he had been able to create even more for his growing kingdom.
Over time his imps dug further from the crystal that was the source of his power. They found the underground tunnels of New York City and they began to claim them for their master. They also found people, who were to the Keeper nothing more than a useful resource.
He'd not been greedy or reckless back then, so he'd sent out just a few of his creatures to grab those who would not be missed. Plenty of homeless people were brought down into his dungeon, some were left to die in the cells and death was no escape for them as they served him as undead.
The Dark Mistresses broke some and they served him as well and some who died were sent to the graveyard to bring vampires into this world. They were useful servants and thanks to them he'd defeated Jason Todd.
Perhaps the ease of that victory had made the Keeper too confident. Looking back now it was clear that he shouldn't have gone after that gold. He should have stayed hidden for longer and only gone to the gold when he was sure was ready and he had a much larger army.
Even now despite recent events, he still didn't wish to go back to the life he had, but he recognised that he was in big trouble. Taking on Invincible and whoever was in that armour had cost him many of his forces, including the dragon he'd coaxed into his service with a great deal of gold, his lightsaber, and his physical body.
He'd lost so much that the Keeper didn't think that he would be able to fight off another enemy in a round of PVP and there were the locals to consider. Sooner or later they would organise and send in the army, or at least the National Guard, and they would flood his tunnels with soldiers.
Of course, the Keeper had known that would happen soon after he'd sent out the raiding party to take all that gold, but he'd needed it to bring a dragon into his service and if the beast still lived he wouldn't have been so worried as dragons could take on whole armies.
Maybe if he had the imps build more tunnels for the soldiers to get lost in then he could keep the soldiers away from the Dungeon Heart long enough to form some sort of cohesive defence.
He had the workshops as well as the training rooms, and already new monsters were entering his kingdom to take up service, so they could build traps and if he killed enough invaders he could send their corpses to the graveyards to make more vampires.
As for the vampires he had plenty of them as they had respawned by now, so he would send them against the soldiers to buy himself some time. Yes, he could do this, he would survive and rebuild.
The humans of this world would have to destroy one of their greatest cities to get at him. He could make it a bloody affair and perhaps force some sort of stalemate
The Keeper, or the Master as he was known to his servants, moved into the armoury that he had created for his own needs. Imps moved to remove the black cloak he wore to show a surprisingly normal-looking body that was soon covered
in armour forged in the workshops and enchanted by the warlocks.
He'd decided not to wear this armour when going up against Invincible, as he didn't think it would have helped, and the robed look went better with the lightsaber.
The Keeper had thought that his magic would be the only weapon worthwhile against the person that the Keeper had mistakenly thought of as a Kryptonian. One of those aliens could have been killed by magic and he had plenty of that.
That he'd been wrong about that no longer mattered. Invincible was gone, and he knew that the other heroes who had come down here were also dead. That would demoralise his enemies the Keeper considered as he picked up the mace that the trolls had forged for him.
Spoiler
[img: https/i./originals/d7/08/dd/d708dd591067793ef78d8216c334cb55.jpg]
It was a shame that Frenchie was dead having been crushed along with the invaders. That human had been useful due to his knowledge of modern weaponry. The Keeper had been hoping to equip his monsters with more advanced weapons once they had access to the surface world. He would have to find someone new to aid him in that endeavour.
As the Keeper returned to the main chamber and approached the dungeon heart, which was surrounded by offerings of treasures, skulls and weapons, the Keeper got the sense that something was wrong.
He wondered if the National Guard had already arrived. If so then he needed to finish gathering his forces and prepare for a siege. He connected to the Dungeon Heart and found his attention drawn to the cavern he had collapsed upon on Invincible and the woman in the science fiction armour.
"That's not possible!" the Keeper yelled.
Via the Dungeon Heart, he watched as his strongest enemy managed to drag himself and the armoured woman out of the rubble and into one of the tunnels that made up his dungeon.
Thinking about it the master of this place should have realised that Invincible wasn't dead. He would have somehow known and some sort of reward would have appeared. He'd been foolish to start planning ahead without making sure the current threat had been fully dealt with.
"How did he survive?" wondered the Keeper.
They both should have been crushed under tons of rubble. He'd used a lot of mana to make sure that part of the dungeon completely crumpled and it had been a risk since he could have ended up causing more of his kingdom to collapse with it.
The woman had survived as well. What kind of armour was she wearing? Granted she wasn't moving, and that meant she was likely out of action, but the Keeper still had to find some way of dealing with Invincible.
But what could he do? What would kill that bastard? The dragon hadn't been able to. His minions had been slaughtered and even he hadn't been able to harm the hero without doing damage to himself.
The Keeper considered collapsing more of the dungeon, regardless of how that might affect the city above and his own kingdom, but he dismissed the idea, he'd be burning the village to save it and it wasn't as if it had done more than slow down the hero the first time.
It didn't take long for the Keeper to realise that he couldn't win and he wasn't meant to. He knew about the new other people taking part in the PVP and he realised that the ROB had clearly favoured Invincible.
Then there was Doctor Doom who was also out there somewhere, for Doom and Invincible, he was just a challenge to overcome, something to amuse the ROB before the real conflict began.
The Keeper felt betrayed, and there was nothing he could do about it, even summoning the Horned Reaper wouldn't help, although he could do that and would because the Reaper might at least buy him some time if he did manage to come up with a plan.
He couldn't even run because he didn't know how to move the Dungeon Heart. Maybe the imps could remove it from this chamber and carry it to the nearest portal and he could leave this world. He had no idea if that would work, but it was worth trying and maybe he could destroy the portal so he couldn't be followed.
With his power, he summoned every creature to his location. Every vampire, dark mistress, troll, overgrown bug, goblin, skeleton, and imp would soon be here. They would guard the Dungeon Heart as he attempted to relocate, giving their lives for him as they should.
The Dungeons. Somewhere Under New York.
Digging myself out of that cavern had been unpleasant and it was a good thing that Crimson Edge had been with me so close to the exit, or I could have lost her in the rubble.
As it was she might not make it as I couldn't wake her up and her armour was damaged. She'd be of no help to me and she might be spending some time in a coma as Homelander had done.
Leaving her here was risky, but I didn't even know the way out of this place because the cavern I'd fallen into no longer existed as such I wouldn't be able to fly up through the hole and reenter the tunnel network.
I couldn't help wondering what that collapse might have done to the city above, had some section of it collapsed as well? On the plus side, if all the bodies of the people and creatures whose lives I'd ended recently had been crushed then there would be no forensic evidence linking the deaths to others I'd slain with the darksaber.
That was something else to be concerned about later as right now I needed to end this fight and maybe get Maggie some medical attention if there was anyone out there who knew how to treat her or if they could be trusted to care for her.
I needed to find a way out of here and I also had a need to finish off the Dungeon Keeper because I just knew he wasn't dead. I could not accomplish either of those goals if I stood here and guarded Crimson Edge. With that in mind, I headed out to look for something to kill.
Rather than walk I lifted myself a little into the air and then flew down the passageway. I bashed my way through doors made of wood and metal. I ignored the traps in my way, paying no attention to the darts, the spikes and going right over the traps built into the floors.
With my enchanted senses, I was able to hear the sound of movement in the distance and I got the impression that a great many living things were moving towards one spot.
This made sense if the Keeper did have some sort of crystal that was the source of his power. He must be preparing for a last stand in some foolish hope that he would be able to protect it.
It wouldn't matter if he had an army because I was not playing around anymore. By collapsing that cavern, which was something that could have trapped me, the Keeper had proven himself to be a real threat.
I soon found the creatures who were under the Keeper's command and they charged at me. Intent on overwhelming me with sheer numbers since they saw it as their only chance of defeating me.
While I'd managed to hold on to my weapons, the darksaber and the lightsaber I'd taken from the Keeper, I didn't bother to use them. Instead, I kicked and punched by way through the enemy who had been foolish enough to charge me.
I simply broke them and then some of the smarter enemy tried to take me down with magic since they weren't close combat types. The magic users sent fireballs at me and magically created spikes of ice, all of which did nothing as spells meant to damage the body weren't effective against me.
There were a few of the kinky ladies left, but they didn't do any better this time as I grabbed one and used her to beat a few others of her kind to death. Oddly the women didn't seem to mind that much.
The demon, who I was sure Maggie had killed, made another appearance and I didn't let that monster get close in case his scythe was enchanted in some way that might allow it to hurt me.
To deal with that guy I picked up a bit of the wall that broke loose during the fight and threw it hard enough that the head of the monster seemed to explode. Not much, but I'd had a long day and I wanted to get this over with.
"No, this isn't fair!" someone shouted.
I assumed that this person was the Keeper and that they had some way of either possessing someone or making a physical body for themselves, and this one looked like Sauron's armoured form for some reason.
"What's the point of a game that I could never win!" he yelled.
I'd just assumed that the ROB was an unfair jerk. I didn't complain because the unfairness was in my favour.
"Are you crying?" I questioned.
He was weeping like a big kid. Today must have been hard on the guy. But I had to end this so I picked up the scythe that I had last seen in the hands of Crimson Edge, and she should have her trophy back, and then I dashed forward so fast that the Keeper could do nothing before I cut his new body in half.
Given that the room was lit up by a crystal that glowed and then dimmed it wasn't hard to figure out what the Dungeon Heart could be found.
"Hulk Smash" I yelled.
I put the scythe down for a few moments so I could focus on breaking the crystal with my fists, and once that was done everything went quiet. I knew right away that I'd won, however, I didn't know if this dungeon would remain stable with its source of power.
As such I didn't hang around. I grabbed Maggie's trophy and then flew back to where I'd left her. There must be a way out of here and if there wasn't then I'd make one.
Torn Cape - 18
Torn Cape.
Part 18.
Penthouse. Manhattan.
"As horrible as it might sound, we can take advantage of this," said Miranda Lawson.
Her beautiful face was on my laptop's screen as we took part in a secure conference call as our AI exchanged information.
I'd only just managed to find a way out of the underground and already Miranda was working on spinning the situation to advance our own agendas. EDI and Cortana would be able to control what information was shared on social media so as to help me look like the true hero of this disaster.
Even with the gold having been recovered the Keeper had done a lot of harm to this city. No one kicked up much fuss about all the dead homeless, it was the people killed in the subway attacks that were the focus of attention.
Add to that, the destruction of the underground cavern had in turn collapsed service tunnels and brought down some of the city's services in a poor part of New York.
Many homes had lost power and water, a few were simply too unsafe for anyone to live in because the ground they were built on no longer had firm foundations.
"There are disaster relief organisations on the way and on your behalf I made a generous donation to the charities than fund them" Cortana let me know.
That was fine with me as if I ever needed more money there were plenty of bad guys for me to steal it from.
While Maggie wasn't in bad shape considering all that had happened she badly needed to get cleaned up so I was letting her use the bathroom of my penthouse before I got myself sorted.
"I plan to use this to get CDC a lot of funding" declared Miranda.
Another person might berate Miranda for thinking of ways to take advantage of what had recently befallen New York, I was not one of them as like her I had decided to guide humanity over the next few centuries, something that would involve making some hard choices.
"How?" I asked.
I kept an eye on the door to the bathroom and the volume low in case Crimson Edge was listening. My own enhanced senses let me know that she was in the shower so she shouldn't overhear anything.
"People are scared and the government is desperate" Miranda stated.
I didn't need her to tell me that. Cortana was already putting together files full of information about recent events and how the world was reacting to them.
If it became public knowledge that the disaster wasn't the work of a terrorist cell made of supes that there were supernatural elements involved then people would panic more than they currently were.
"As far as the public knows, only you and Edge managed to make it out of the underground" Miranda was now saying "They don't know that Margret is already back on her feet and even if you are fine you sure didn't look it when you got back to the surface".
The mother of my unborn child showed me an image that had been taken of me back when I'd managed to make my way back to civilization. I looked bad even if I hadn't taken more than some superficial damage during the mission.
"Starlight is the only member of the Seven accounted for," Miranda said "She's being praised for defending civilian lives, but Homelander, Black Noir, The Deep and A-Train are all MIA".
That last part wasn't true.
"Only Noir made it out alive," I informed the head of Cerberus Defence Contracts "I killed A-Train, the Dungeon Keeper got The Deep and Homelander was roasted before getting eaten by a dragon. After I tenderised his meat for the beast".
Miranda took a moment to think about what I had just told her.
"Nolan, we are going to need to sit down and talk about what happened," she insisted "But business first".
She showed me an image of The T-45-powered combat infantry armour.
Spoiler
[img: https/vignette.wikia./fallout/images/7/7f/FO76_T-45_power_armor.png]
In the Fallout world, it was pressed into service in the Sino-American War, with its first deployments taking place on the Alaskan Front to counter the Chinese offensive.
This world needed power armour so that normal men and women could fight in a different kind of conflict.
"I wanted to take this slower and leave more of a paper trail" Miranda let me know "However, given recent events I've decided to speed up my timetable and we can do more to cover up the fact that this technology wasn't developed by anyone".
You couldn't have brand new tech such as power armour simply appear and expect people to simply accept it. Some government agencies would look into its background so Miss Lawson would need to derail any kind of investigation. Not that hard to do when you had AI allies, it just meant more work.
"So you're going to introduce the power armour sooner than expected," I said.
I didn't need to enquire as to how, as she soon shared that information.
"Robert Singer, the Defence Secretary, has been wanting to meet with me for," Miranda shared "He'll want me to provide some off-the-books funding for the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs, which is going to need to majorly expand given recent events".
I wouldn't be surprised if the UN set up something like Doctor Who's UNIT so as to try to deal with all the strangeness.
"If he likes the power armour then I can get CDC a nice defence contract worth billions," Miranda said with a smile.
Defence contracts are awarded to individuals or companies by the federal government. The contracts are an agreement to produce material or perform services related to national defence for the United States.
"Then I'll be expected to provide even more off-the-books funding taken from that money," Miranda said, "That's how we funded Cerberus back home".
Politics, business, making under-the-table deals. These were things best left to her.
"What about the fusion core?" I wondered.
They could be a real game changer. In the Fallout world, they were long-term nuclear batteries used by civilians to power a multitude of devices, from automobiles to generators and many other things. military instead used them for warfare, mostly by having them supply energy to sets of power armour.
Without the cores, it wasn't possible to keep a set of power armour moving outside of a controlled setting because they required a lot of power.
"As planned I had EDI design a power core for the armour that is as basic as possible" Miranda let me know "I patented the core and I will have CDC introduce upgraded versions of the core over time to minimise the impact".
Having that kind of battery for sale could upset the global market if it wasn't handled carefully.
"Do you need anything from me?" I asked.
I might be the most powerful man on the planet, not counting Victor Von Doom, who was doing a very good job of hiding if Cortana couldn't find him, but since I couldn't be in two places at once and because the danger was growing, it would be a good idea to give the military an upgrade.
"Maybe an endorsement for the armour when it goes public" answered Miranda "In the long run, EDI predicts that Robert Singer will make a play for the big chair in Oval Office within the next few years. If we can get him on our side it might not be such a bad idea for Invincible to publicly support him. We'll have time to make him dependant on us to get into and to stay in office".
I would leave the politics to her.
"Do what you think is best" I instructed "I'll pop by for a visit soon".
Maggie's long shower was coming to an end so I closed the laptop before she left the bathroom.
"If there's any hot water left it's all yours" said Crimson Edge.
Due to the fact that I am male, I only needed a fraction of the time and water she did to get cleaned up. My hero outfit had taken too much damage to be useable again. I'd have to go up to my moon base and get Cortana to fabricate a new one.
Unlike Crimson Edge, I had plenty of clean clothes here so I came out of the bathroom wearing more than a robe and towels. I wore a simple black T-shirt and some shorts.
"I'm starving," she said "And you have nothing in".
Ever since the moonbase had come online I hadn't been spending much of my time there and so my cupboards were bare.
"We can order something," I said.
Thanks to the Internet that didn't take long and at least my drinks cabinet was well stocked. Something that Maggie took advantage of before she came and sat next to me on the very comfy couch.
Before long we started making out. I could only assume that today's events had brought Edge to the point that she needed to do something to decompress. Sex was a good way of dealing with stress and she wasn't wearing much so it was easy for me to get access to come bare skin to touch.
"No stop." she insisted.
I did so even if it was tempting to keep going.
"Let's go into the bedroom" she decided "I need to lie down".
It became clear to me that she wished for me to do the work so that she could relax and I was happy to go along with whatever she wanted, at least for a time.
"You can tell me to stop anytime you want," I told her.
She might be the physically toughest woman on the planet, but she'd been through a lot today. At one point we'd been buried alive and even with superhuman durability, I didn't think she'd have survived without the Rider Armour. If nothing else she would have suffocated.
Maggie opened up her bathrobe and exposed her nude form to my eyes. She wasn't as muscular as a person might imagine. This made sense since her strength wasn't from her muscles, but she was very firm and curvy in all the right places.
I spent some time with her breasts. They were a good size and her nipples let me know, even without the big smile on her face, that she was very aroused.
Not that I could have missed this since she was already wet between her legs. Something that I discovered when I got down there, but I kissed around her pussy before going for the sweet spot.
"No, don't lick me there!" Maggie said with a giggle.
Odd that she was so sensitive and a bit ticklish. Her inner thighs were susceptible to my kisses.
"Why not?" I asked.
She chose not to answer that question
"Nolan, don't tease me so much," she said with a groan "Just fuck me already!"
Despite her words, she didn't do anything to stop me from playing with her some more, and I couldn't let her have everything her own way even though I was willing to indulge her desires due to the hard day she'd had.
"All in good time," I said
I drove my tongue into her wet snatch which did have some hair, she'd styled into something of an arrow, as if she was worried that I might get lost down there.
"Oh fuck yeah! Right there baby!" Maggie moaned.
Her moaning turned into screaming of the good kind as I went done on her and drove my tongue deep inside her fuckhole. Her cunt was absolutely drooling at this point and Maggie's hand went through my hair as I ate her out. She very much enjoyed that I had great stamina and that even my tongue was very strong.
"You ready?" I said when it was time to move to the main event.
I looked down at Maggie, as the redhead bit her lip and nodded. I then grabbed my hard dick and jerked off a bit as Crimson Edge watched with a transfixed look on her face.
"Nolan, stop teasing me put it in!" Maggie complained.
I was going to have to train her and make her more sexually submissive in the future. For now, she was going to get her way.
"Oh fuck it's so big!" she called out as I entered her.
At first, I took it slow, I was enjoying how her hot wet pussy felt as if it had wrapped itself around my cock. For the former Queen Maeve, this wasn't enough.
"Yes, fuck me!" Maggie shouted as she wrapped her powerful legs around me "Just wreak me".
I smiled at her and didn't move my hips.
"Say please" I instructed.
She gave in quickly.
"Please, fuck me," she said.
Her cunt felt amazing, and she was really needy. I'd warmed her up nicely with the oral sex and so it wasn't taking much to get her off. Despite her protests, she must have liked that I'd not rushed things.
As for me, I began to pick up the place. I didn't have to be as careful with Maggie as I would with a human woman as she was much more durable than a baseline member of her species. Yet it wasn't much work to fuck her roughly as she desired.
"Yes, I'm cumming!" she yelled.
Soon I could feel her pussy tightening around my cock. It felt as if it wanted to milk every last drop of cum out of me and it worked.
"Fuck. I'm cumming again!" Maggie declared to anyone listening.
Two orgasms in a row left her unable to do anything other than lie there for a time.
"That… that was amazing," Maggie said with a happy smile on her face.
Before I could answer the bed collapsed under us.
"Looks like we're sleeping in the guest room" I commented.
For some reason, Crimson Edge found that to be extremely funny and as if to add to the silliness this was when our food arrived.
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Torn Cape - 19
Torn Cape.
Part 19.
Meeting Room. Vought Tower.
Spoiler
[img: /wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Unknown-1-e1571307484220-1024x536.png]
Annie January, known to most of the world as Starlight, didn't know what to make of any of this. Not so long ago she had thought she'd made it. She'd been chosen to become a member of the Seven, the greatest superhero team in the entire world.
She'd been chosen to replace Lamplighter, who had decided to retire after many years of hard work as a superhero. Given what she'd learned while here at Vought she no longer believed that Lamplighter had simply grown tired of his profession.
While she was still young it had been a long road for her to get this far. Her childhood had been full of beauty pageants, bible camp and other events that her mother, Donna January, had forced her to take part in without bothering to find out what her daughter wanted out of life.
When she'd gotten the call from Vought it was as if all her hard work had finally paid off. Only joining the Seven had not been what she had expected at all. She hadn't helped nearly as many people as she would have liked and none of her new teammates had been at all like she'd imagined.
The Deep had been a big disappointment, to say the least, she had the biggest crush on him as a teenager, and Homelander was, or rather had been, downright terrifying. She hadn't gotten to know Maeve very well before she left and she would never get the chance to learn more about the others.
This was because the other members of the Seven were either gone or dead. The only members of the team left were her and Black Noir, who was at this meeting at least in terms of his body, but it was clear that his mind was elsewhere. If he knew what had happened under the streets then he wasn't going to talk about it with her.
They were the only two active members of the Seven who were confirmed as alive. The feds were still digging through the rubble, but it didn't look promising from what little they'd been able to find out from Black Noir who had written down some of what had happened.
Looking around the room Annie thought back to her first official meeting as part of the Seven and how Translucent had spent most of it going on about the lost revenue caused by people pirating his latest movie.
Annie didn't approve of pirating movies, she just felt that the greatest heroes on Earth should have other priorities, more important ones. A lot was going on in this world, and she'd much rather be out there doing some good than sitting around in
meetings while discussing profits.
Invincible had really shaken things up here at Vought and while it was good that the company had cast off some of its deadweight and streamlined itself so that it could focus more on what mattered, it was only now that things were really going to change.
When Nolan Grayson had put Homelander into intensive care he had altered the way things ran around here for good. Everyone had either loved or feared Homelander because of his power and so when someone came along and knocked him off his pedestal no one had known how to react.
Then as if to make Annie feel worse about her lack of activity, Maeve left and joined Invincible, it was as if she'd known that the Seven was already over as a team and had decided to jump ship. Annie wondered if that was a move she should mimic.
Starlight might have resented her fellow hero leaving if Maeve hadn't gotten out there and actually saved some people. She'd even left her old superhero identity behind, and become a heroine for the future known as Crimson Edge.
Again Annie couldn't help wondering if she'd backed the wrong horse in this race and that maybe she should be looking for a new team to join.
"So it's been decided that you, Starlight will become the temporary leader of the Seven" stated Ashley.
It took a moment for those words to register for Annie. Now she had no thoughts of leaving. Not if the team needed her this much.
"You want me to lead the Seven," she asked.
She wasn't sure she'd heard Ashely say that.
"Officially it would be temporary until Homelander gets back," said the red-headed woman.
People all over the world knew that Homelander was missing as someone from the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs had leaked enough information to get people worried. There were even more candlelight vigils for Homelander than there had been back when he'd been in a coma.
She'd read some of the articles and there were plenty of people out there who thought that Homelander would return from the dead if it had to protect this nation as was God's will. Annie knew better, if some power did cause his return it wouldn't be heavenly in origin.
Annie wondered what people would do if Homelander was confirmed dead or didn't return to the public eye in a few days. Would they lash out? Give in to despair? Or would they find a new figure to rally around? Only time would tell.
"Unofficially the job is yours," stated Ashley "Mr Edgar saw what you did in the subway and thinks you're perfect for the job. He wants a new Seven, a leaner, meaner team that is ready to face the challenges out there".
Annie only knew a little of what had happened in the tunnels under the city, and she'd seen enough to understand that it hadn't been a cell of super terrorists behind all the event madness.
"We've got a big list of superheroes for you to go through once Madalyn is done sorting out the profiles" Ashley was now saying "Mr Edgar wants you to pick the team but he does want to add a woman called Stormfront to The Seven, she's very strong and experienced, I think she'll be an asset".
Annie would look into this Stormfront later.
"How are we going to make the team leaner and meaner?" she asked.
Even before she spoke Starlight knew that Ashley didn't know for certain. Hardly unexpected given how shaken up things had become.
"The new Seven will have a new contract" the red-headed woman explained as best she could "You'll train hard, get new uniforms, and be sent on more rescues so that you can learn to work as a team".
Annie did like the sound of that. In a position of authority, she'd have some real power and she could make some positive changes here at Vought.
"Mr Edgar will get you the support staff you need," Ashley was now saying "But he expects you to decide on a lot of things. The Seven isn't the only superhero team that's going to be seeing some changes".
While Annie had many doubts about Vought she was confident that she could help to change things from within the company.
"Mr Edgar wants you to approach Invincible" mentioned Ashley "If we can't get him to join the Seven, and I know that's extremely unlikely, then we need you to at least appear friendly with him, and you'll need to meet with the head of the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs this week. We'll be working closer with them".
Starlight wasn't sure how she felt about Nolan Greyson, he might have killed Homelander and if he had then he was the most dangerous man in the world. He was not someone to be messed with. On the other hand, what could be the harm in just talking to him?
As for the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs if there were super terrorists out there then the Seven could do with some allies in the government.
"Let him fuck you if that's what it takes, just get him to be seen in public with you," Ashley said as she made her way out of the meeting room "You need Invincible's support if you want to stay as leader of the Seven".
As the redhead left Annie was left feeling shocked and unsure what to do. She was sure that Madelyn Stillwell was up to something behind the scenes and that she had only been chosen to lead the Seven because everyone else was dead or gone, other than Noir who couldn't lead a team since he either couldn't or wouldn't talk.
Annie was brought out of her reflections by one of the monitors going off mute as Black Noir caught something that needed their attention.
According to this report, another super terrorist was attacking the innocent people of the city and she was able to say that the two of them should head down there when the report mentioned that Invincible was already on the scene.
This didn't shock Starlight as she knew Invincible was a real hero. She wouldn't sleep with him for Vought's shake, but perhaps she could spend some time with the man and get to know him.
Downtown. New York.
While I hadn't even collected my reward for defeating the Dungeon Keeper, I already had a new enemy to deal with in the PVP. This was a bit of a shock because I had thought that the ROB would give me a bit of downtime or that I'd at least get some warning before I had to go back into action.
I was not equipped or dressed for dealing with this as I'd only popped out to fetch some coffee and bagels as my cupboards were indeed rather bare. Perhaps I should convince Maggie to do a bit of shopping for me?
My intention had been to fly out, grab breakfast, and then return to the penthouse to surprise Maggie with breakfast in bed. In my experience, women tended to enjoy these small thoughtful gestures and I wanted her in a good mood when we discussed how things were going to work between us.
Breakfast was going to be late as I would be facing a Primaris Librarian from some Space Marine Chapter that I'd never heard about, at least according to Cortana who had called me on my laptop to warn me.
When I got to the scene of carnage I could see that the Astartes was armed with a fancy-looking sword. Should all go well that blade was so going to end up on display in my base.
Spoiler
[img: https/64.media./cbe14d303bfae050ed1ec2527e173d7b/tumblr_pijumh4QNY1vjjcaco1_1280.jpg]
Given he was channelling the powers of the warp against a SWAT team. The mere mortals were not doing so well and the regular police would not be able to contain this situation.
The presence of a person from the universe of Warhammer 40k unnerved me because if a Space Marine could be sent here, then perhaps something else from that universe could be.
While worrying that was a concern for the future. Knowing that I had to work fast, I landed next to a cop who was standing at a street corner and I handed him the breakfast tray.
"Guard these with your life" I ordered.
Before he could say anything about that I was moving so fast that I'd appear to be a blur as I headed down the street.
The abhuman in the power armour had just used the power of the warp to throw a car at the SWAT team and it would have hit them if I hadn't taken to the air, grabbed the car and then thrown it back at the Space Marine.
The Emperor's Avenging Angel stood his ground and the car struck the ground after impacting against some sort of energy barrier. Either this Space Marine could create psychic shields or he had some sort of personal shield generator.
"Of course, he has a shield" I muttered to myself "Why make this easy for me?".
I spotted a bolter of some kind on the ground. The Space Marine must have run out of ammo for the weapon, and that would explain the mess around here, but he was far from helpless, he was armed with a fancy-looking sword and a plasma pistol, the latter of which he fired at me before I even realised he'd opened fire.
When I was hit I felt a great deal of heat pass over me and the smell of burning hair filled my senses just before I flew right at the Space Marine and struck the barrier with my fist. It collapsed despite the fact that hitting it made my arm go all numb.
"FOR THE EMPEROR!" the warrior yelled.
The Astartes leapt forward and tried to cut me down with its awesome sword, and I went up into the air after I tried to block the blow with my arm and felt real pain. That had been much worse than when I'd been struck by a lightsaber.
Somehow the Space Marine's fancy weapon had been able to draw my blood and I was sure that I'd have suffered more if the reflected damage perk of mine didn't affect the marine and cause him to cease his attack.
"FOUL XENOS!" shouted the man in power armour.
For a moment, I wondered how it knew I was an alien. Some sensor in its helmet? Or was it the flying that gave me away?
Not that it mattered. What I needed to focus on was ending this fight. To that end, I put some distance between myself and the Space Marine before I flew right at him. I had to pass through another shield and that stung my entire body as I'd been electrified.
When I hit the armoured warrior we both ended up going down the street and I managed to get my flight under control while the Imperial did not. He rolled and then came to a stop.
Before he could recover I was punching the warrior, making dents in his armour, the high-tech suit was not easy to break and the warrior within the metal was tough as well, but he couldn't stop me, and I was just strong for him.
Psychic powers take focus to use and the warrior dropped his sword at some point. His efforts to shoot me with his plasma pistol were for nought as I didn't allow the warrior any time to aim, and as we wrestled I crushed the arm holding the gun. That took some effort by me to do.
When he let go of the pistol I grabbed it and I shot him in the head at point-blank range. The fool hadn't been wearing his helmet and even Space Marines can't take that kind of punishment so the fight was over.
That Space Marine had in a very short amount of time done far more harm to me than the Dungeon Keeper and all his forces. The ROB was introducing stronger foes as time passed. So at least I wouldn't be getting bored.
As I caught my breath I looked around and saw something odd. I sped through the air and grabbed the strange object which had gotten my attention by looking very much out of place despite its efforts to keep its presence hidden.
Spoiler
[img: https/vignette.wikia./marvelmovies/images/1/14/Stark_Drone.png]
I couldn't know for sure, however, I got the impression that this odd machine had been watching my short fight with the Space Marine Psyker.
The probe exploded before I could do more than give the device the briefest of examinations, so it was good that I didn't need to see much of it to figure out where it had come from. Only three people in this world had the technology to make something like that, myself, Miranda and Victor Von Doom.
Perhaps it was a good thing that the probe had blown itself up or been remotely made to as I would have taken it to my base to be examined and that would resulting in Doom learning at least a little about my base before Cortana secured the probe.
Despite how intense this morning had been I knew that I needed to grab the Space Marines' weapons. That sword had messed up my arm and could have done worse so I could not let anyone else have it. Although if it was a psyker weapon it might not be useable by anyone in this world.
When I'd seen my reflection in that probe's eye I'd seen that my face had been burned even though most of the damage had been done to my beard. I would need to be careful if anyone managed to build any large-scale plasma weapons.
I considered securing the body and the armour, but that wasn't a direct threat given how much technology went behind the creation of a Space Marine. No one would be back-engineering that technology for a very long time.
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Torn Cape - 20
Torn Cape.
Part 20.
Base. The Moon.
"So this is my reward," I said with disappointment clear in my voice "A funny-looking wooden ship".
The strange vessel was sitting in the newly built hanger bay, one that I'd dug out of the rock, and according to the note on the side, this was a reward for winning two rounds of PVP.
Spoiler
[img: https/i0./wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Spelljamming-Ship.jpg]
I had indeed recently defeated two dangerous enemies and all I got for my trouble was a fancy sailing vessel. Who was choosing these prices? Was there a drunken monkey throwing knives at a big list?
Okay, so part of my bad mood had to do with my messing up my arm while fighting that Space Marine rather than because I had expected my reward to have great value to me.
Still, between that and the loss of my manly beard, I felt that I had a right to complain.
"It's a nice boat," commented Crimson Edge as we walked around the vessel "If you could move it down to Earth then maybe we can go sailing".
Her effort to lift my mood failed. My AI was more successful.
"If the files I've received are anything to go by this is a type of ship known as a spelljammer," Cortana let me know as she made her sexy holographic avatar appear before us "So it is much more than a sailing vessel".
Now I was much less disappointed, if anything I was pleased because if this craft was indeed a spelljammer then I'd been given a sort of spaceship.
"Really?" I asked Cortana "This is a spelljammer?".
Unlike the more well-known kind of wooden vessels with sails, Spelljammers had their own fields of gravity and atmosphere, despite the ships having open decks. They tend not to resemble the spaceships seen in science fiction rather they look like sailing vessels.
Well the human spelljammers do, the ones crewed by non-humans can look like huge animals, birds, and fish or even appear in more wildly fantastic shapes.
I knew that The Spelljammer setting had been designed to allow the usual sword and sorcery adventures of Dungeons & Dragons to take place within a star system.
In Spelljammer the fictional setting you have flying ships travel through the vast expanses of interplanetary space, visiting moons and planets and other stellar objects.
I had no idea how this would work in this universe, which had different rules, and I found myself eager to find out.
"According to the files this ship can take you anywhere in the system," said Cortana as Crimson Edge and I flew onto the deck of the spelljammer with my arm around Edge, "Even further than that if I'm reading the files right".
Maggie was understandably confused so I did my best to explain.
"A spelljammer is a type of vessel powered by magic that can travel through space," I told her "They have artificial gravity and a way of keeping the air from getting sucked off into space. Each ship has a magical helm that allows a suitably powerful mage to pilot the ship. Some spelljammers are capable of travelling to other planes of existence".
That gave me some food for thought.
"What kind of helm does this vessel have?" I asked.
Maggie gave me another quizzical look.
"It runs on a Furnace Helm" Cortana let me know.
That wasn't such bad news.
"The ship needs magical energy to run," I told Crimson Edge "That means either someone who can cast spells has to move the ship or you have to sacrifice magical items. neither of which we have".
Doctor Doom was a spell caster, but I couldn't go and ask him for help even if we hadn't been enemies.
"Didn't you mention that the Dungeon Keeper was magical?" said Crimson Edge.
I gave the matter some thought and I realised that I did in fact know about something magical I could throw into the furnace.
"Cortana can you find out for me what happened to the materials the recovery teams took out of the underground?" I asked, "I need to recover the shards of crystal that are all that remains of the Keeper's power source".
The Feds had been working to recover all the stolen gold and clean up the bodies so it was likely that they had cleared up what remained of the Keeper's source of power.
"I'll get the information for you" Cortana promised "For now, Boss, you should know that Miranda Lawson urgently wants a word with you".
More than likely this was about the fight I had with the space marine just this morning. My baby mama would want to know what happened and to figure out if there was any way she could take advantage of the situation.
"Fine, I'll talk to her soon," I said.
Perhaps I would soon pop by her home for some more sister-on-sister action. For now, I had something else on my mind.
"I wonder if there are any magic users around," I mused.
Magic was most certainly an active force in this universe. The existence of the Dungeon Keeper proved that so perhaps somewhere on Earth there were now people with magical abilities.
"We need a magic user to pilot this ship even if we find something to fuel it with," I said.
I turned to face the third person who was on this ship before they announced themself.
Spoiler
[img: https/s3./prod-media./styles/full/s3/2018/06/21/f037bae8/kops_skyrim_female_dragonborn_statue_alt1.jpg]
Unless I was very much mistaken this person was a female human dragonborn.
"Who the hell are you?" Edge demanded to know.
While I had told her all about the ROB and the rewards, and about how things were going to get even stranger for her world, she had no idea who this person was.
"I'm Elayne of High Rock" she said "And I'm your pilot".
Well, wasn't this turning out to be an interesting day? I very much wanted to know why a female Breton Dragonborn was dressed as a Nord Warrior, so I was just going to have to ask her about it.
Headquarters of Cerberus Defence Contracts. New York.Defence Secretary Robert Singer knew that the world was changing and that the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs wasn't going to be enough to keep the super terrorists, as the public called them, from destroying the nation he was supposed to protect.
Hence why he was looking for some off-the-books funding and extra resources that could be used to combat the 'super terrorists' which is why he was eager to see what Miranda Lawson had to offer. So far he was impressed by the setup.
It was clear, that the Australian businesswoman had access to some of the best technology on the planet, and that her people were working on improving what she had. But what really mattered was what kind of support he could get for his work.
"The Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs was a good start," said Miranda as they headed down into the testing area so that she could show off some tech "But the break-in at the gold depository, and the incident with that armoured man just the next day, proves that this has gone beyond a matter of law enforcement and investigation the USA needs more than the Bureau to handle what is happening".
Robert Singer suppressed a sigh before speaking.
Spoiler
[img: https/static./uploads/images/medium_portrait/206/515960.jpg]
"So far the President hasn't seen fit to authorise the armed forces becoming involved in these super terrorist attacks, and he's made his position about supes in the military quite clear," said Mr Singer.
Despite all that had happened Vought was still pushing to have some of its talent placed in the armed forces and given recent events they might get their way. People were scared and so some action had to be taken to reassure them. Mr Singer was working on that.
"He has authorised the creation of the Advanced Research Group Uniting Super-Humans, or A.R.G.U.S" reported Mr Singer.
That had been just one of the ideas thrown around the Oval Office and the President had gone with it if only so he'd been shown to be doing something about what was happening in New York.
"This is a new group that I intended to see put together soon despite the team not coming under my jurisdiction," he told Lawson.
Singer had been sent to convince Grace Mallory to lead the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs because he knew Mallory and because he'd hoped that setting up the Bureau would keep the supes out of the armed forces.
"Isn't that the kind of you're trying to prevent from happening?" she asked.
Miranda thought that this A.R.G.U.S. could be a stepping stone to getting supes until the military.
"The A.R.G.U.S. team will be working for the Department of Homeland Security" Singer explained "They will have some military personnel seconded to them and officially that is why I am involved".
Which meant there were also unofficial reasons.
"While the Department of Defence will provide this new group with resources, and military personnel will oversee some parts of the training of their people, A.R.G.U.S. will be a civilian-led organisation and not part of the armed forces" stated Mr Singer.
Miranda was pleased to hear that. It suited her long-term plans to keep supes out of the military.
"And I assume you are looking for funding?" she asked.
She already knew the answer to that question,
"For both A.R.G.U.S. and the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs," said Singer "The Bureau needs to expand if it means to help to handle what's going on in New York and with Vought having let so many supes go. It's only a matter of time before one of them tries to become a crime lord".
That was not the only concern.
"A.R.G.U.S needs every cent it can get if it's going to have a chance in hell in dealing with the threats to this country" Singer was now saying "These super terrorists can't be handled by normal law enforcement and we can't depend on Invincible showing up even if he has been helpful in the past".
Miranda had already decided to fund the Bureau and that she would support Singer when he ran for President. Funding another group wouldn't be much trouble if she got the defence contract she desired.
"Who did you get for the team?" the head of CDC wondered.
Singer passed her a folder that she knew that she wouldn't be able to keep so if she could the chance she would scan its contents with her omni-tool when her guest wasn't looking.
"So far we've got Behemoth," said Singer "He's a hot head, but if A.R.G.U.S. can keep him under control he can be a good weapon against rogue superhumans. We also have Cold Snap, who will work for anyone willing to pay for his whores".
Miranda looked amused by one of the names.
"Eagle the Archer" she read out "Didn't he fuck up a hostage situation?"
Singer sighed having failed to suppress it this time.
"We don't have a lot of options and A.R.G.U.S. is hoping we can equip him with some arrows meant for taking down rogue superhumans. Trick arrows, explosive arrowheads, that sort of thing" he said "A.R.G.U.S. isn't Vought, but it will have to worry about its public image and Eagle's presence is being passed off a chance for the man to redeem himself. Aside from that, we needed someone to take the spot for the superhero team that will be the public face of A.R.G.U.S.".
Miranda was pleased that this new group was desperate as it would make her job easier.
"So this A.R.G.U.S. is going to need some top-of-the-line equipment if its members are going to be able to keep up with the supes you've managed to convince to work for Homeland Security," reasoned Miranda.
This seemed as good a time as any to show Singer what her company had been working on. With a gesture one of the techs removed the heavy sheet that had been covering up the prototype power armour that while based on the technology shared by Nolan was made from local materials and had been put together by the technology of this world.
"Mr Singer may I present the T-45a model of power armour," said Miranda Lawson "This prototype exists to demonstrate the technologies involved and the reliability of the manufacturing techniques that we are using. While the T-45a is rather crude, it is a fully functional set of power armour and now we know it works we can start to make improvements".
The Secretary of Defence had not been expecting this and it took him a little while to get over the shock.
"Why bring supes into the military when you can make a soldier a walking tank," said Miranda.
One of the techs was helped into the armour by his collages. When he was ready he began to slowly move around.
"This thing works?" Singer asked as he was allowed to look over the blueprints "Outside of the lab I mean?".
Spoiler
[img: https/i./originals/2f/7b/3a/2f7b3a1a926785a1a6900e7e56abe98d.jpg]
If so then he could see the implications. One of his teams had managed to get their hands on the suit of armour that the super terrorist had worn when shooting up cops in downtown New York, but the R team hadn't even begun trying to figure out how it worked.
Sure this T-45a armour didn't look as impressive, but if it was something that could start using soon then it needed to be in the hands of the US military.
"It does" Miss Lawson confirmed "We've recently created a power source that can be used to provide energy for the power armour, and that is what makes the T-45a more than just a showpiece. Although realistically we'll have a few more prototypes made before we find a model suitable for mass production".
She had more to say on this matter.
"The power source has exciting applications for civilian use, but CDC is a military supplier so that's focus on the military applications for the T-45a" said Miss Lawson "Although it could be used by law enforcement as well".
Her VIP guest found that hard to believe.
"You want to sell these things to the Department of Justice?" was Singer's next question.
He could imagine crooks surrendering rather than having to face someone in the armour.
"While the armour does greatly enhance the strength of the wearer and offer a great deal of protection, it has no inbuilt weapons" Miranda explained "You can arm the wearer with anything you want, including weapons for non-lethal takedowns".
Mr Singer was impressed, however, he still had some doubts.
"Even if this armour does turn a soldier into a walking tank we don't have the firepower to take supes down and there are going to be more freaks popping up" he said.
Miss Lawson had something to say about that.
"We did recently acquire a weapon from Invincible that he took from the super terrorist," she said "He dropped off what he calls a bolter. It is a powerful assault weapon that fires explosive kinetic rounds referred to as bolts".
Miranda had needed to beg before Invincible had agreed to let her R people take the bolter apart.
"I have people working on back-engineering the weapon so that we can build our own" the former Cerberus Operative was now saying. "Our version will be crude, but imagine a squad of power-armoured soldiers with a mixture of heavy weapons. They might have been able to deal with that armoured super terrorist without any help".
Robert Singer had been impressed by the firepower shown by the super terrorist in the recordings he'd seen. He would have liked to have claimed all of the armoured figure's weapons, but not one had been willing to stop Invincible from flying off with them. The Feds had claimed the body, and his people had gotten the armour.
"So what do you think?" asked Miranda "Is this something the USA armed forces would like to invest in".
There would be a lot of paperwork involved, but Robert Singer figured that he could sort out funding for a defence contract that led to soldiers wearing power armour and carrying weapons that should even the odds when they had to face a super terrorist.
"I think we can do business," said Robert Singer.
With the right weapons, these suits could help to keep American soldiers alive the next time they went up against a super terrorist, and so he would secure them for the armed forces of his country.
Torn Cape - 21
If you have a good name for the Spelljammer ship then let me know.
Torn Cape.
Part 21.
Asteroid Belt. Sol System.
Contrary to the popular imagery you get from science fiction, an asteroid belt, such as the one between Mars and Jupiter is mostly empty and it is rather a sedate place.
The big lumps of rock are spread out over such a large volume of empty space that reaching an asteroid without carefully aiming your vessel at one would be highly improbable.
Asteroids can and do collide with each other, and you don't want to be around when that happens, but it takes such a long to get anywhere in space that if a collision does happen then you have plenty of time to get out of the way.
This meant that Elayne of High Rock was able to fly to the part of the belt that we needed to reach for this mission without us ramming into anything.
As to why we were out here, that was because the belt contained fortunes worth of rare metals that would be easy to get at since I could break them apart with my fists.
Unlike on Earth, when out here you didn't have to worry about mining rights or damaging the environment. So there was no paperwork to fill out or environmentalists trying to get in my way.
Since the top speed of a Spelljammer is 100 million miles in 24 hours and the belt was 111.5 million miles from Earth it should have taken us a little over a day to fly to the belt. However, Elayne needed to take breaks so it actually took us three days to get there and it would take us that long to get back.
Add in a day to do the mining, which wouldn't take long due to the speeds I can fly at and how easy it is for me to break rock, and we'd be gone from Earth for a week.
While this might seem like an issue if there was any trouble on Earth if needs be I could fly back on my own. Assuming that I cared enough to go deal with the issue.
The only reason I didn't fly out here by myself was because we needed to bring out some special equipment and because there was only so much mineral wealth that I could carry.
It made more sense to bring the Spelljammer out here and to do my outer space mining while using the special ship as a base. If nothing else it was a good test flight to see if the Dragonborn could actually fly the ship in space.
Sure I can mine on the moon, but according to Cortana, there were rare minerals we needed out here, and she knew exactly where we should go to get them.
For example, iridium is found in some asteroids, as well as metals like platinum, osmium, ruthenium, rhodium, and palladium. All of which had uses when you are making Mass Effect and Halo technology.
There were companies on Earth that are considering mining asteroids for platinum and other metals so if I ever needed some extra income then I could gather some more ore.
By now the Spelljammer had come to a stop, more or less. Elayne was able to halt the ship's motion despite there not being any breaks on this vessel. The spelljammer was a strange craft that seemed to be able to laugh at physics.
"What are you doing, my Jarl?" asked Elayne.
Despite being a Breton by birth the Dragonborn had a Nord father and had spent enough time in Skyrim to become a Thane. In her mind, Thanes served their Jarl, a Nord term of address for a lord, and since she served me I must be a Jarl.
I did have my own kingdom. I could claim to rule the entirety of the moon as there wasn't anyone who could argue against it, at least not effectively.
"Cortana is scanning the astroids to find us ones worth going after," I said.
I'd only just finished setting up the required equipment on the deck of the Spelljammer and already we were getting a lot of data.
The idea was that once the AI had found a suitable target, a metal-rich asteroid, I would fly out and break it apart, and then I would use a scanner to identify which of the fragments were worth collecting. Once we got back to the base the collected materials could be purified.
"And then you will start mining," said Elayne.
Maggie was here too having helped me to set up. She was treating this as a vacation and spending a lot of time simply relaxing. It had been an odd sight to see her sunbathing on the deck while wearing only a swimsuit.
It wasn't as if she could get a tan because the ship was protected against all forms of radiation, at least as long we didn't get close to the sun or nuclear reactor on meltdown.
"Once Cortana has the data she needs," I told the mage.
Elayne nodded as if she understood what was going on as Maggie came over to join us.
"I trust you are pleased with my work so far," said the Dragonborn.
Having my own mage had so far proven to be good. As it turned out we didn't need to worry about acquiring magical items for the Spelljammer as this version of Dovahkiin had been defeated in her final match with Miraak.
Before she'd gotten that far she'd learned the spell that summoned a Dremora Merchant who would we could buy magical items in exchange for what was basically junk in this universe.
It would take some time for the merchant to get what was needed, but he should be able to supply the Dovahkinn with what she needed to set up a proper workspace for a mage.
During the trip here she'd told me about she'd been strong enough to get to Miraak, just not strong enough to defeat him and how she'd gotten trapped in Hermaeus Mora's realm while the FIrst Dragonborn went free.
The ROB had given her the option of serving me or staying in a realm of Oblivion as the plaything of a Daedric Prince. I could see why she'd chosen to serve
While it had been a little strange for her to kneel before me and swear loyalty to me, I'd kind of liked it.
As for the rest of her story, I'd played the game so I had a good idea of what the Dragonborn got up to before she met me, and I would no doubt hear more once we returned to my moonbase.
"Nolan," said Cortana "I've found a few targets for you".
The scans had already exposed to us the existence of several metal-rich asteroids that contained the minerals both my group and Miranda's business had some need for.
"Led the way," I told the AI as I placed my special visor over my face.
With a quick wave, I jumped off the deck and flew into the cold vacuum of space. By now it was all natural to me and the lack of any air was no concern.
Asteroid Belt. Sol System.
As her new Jarl flew off into the airless void that surrounded them with no need for any protection, Elayne of High Rock, couldn't help thinking about her lord, the man she'd chosen to serve rather than live as the plaything of Hermaeus Mora.
Had she stayed in the realm of Apocrypha she had no doubt that she would have become like Miraak in time. She would have been willing to enslave and destroy all in her path in order to escape. Only after her, there would be no more Dragonborn to take her place in Apocrypha.
So when the god who was known as ROB, which was an odd name for a deity, offered her an alternative she jumped at the chance despite not fully knowing what it would involve. Anything had to be better than Apocrypha, those tentacles were very unsettling.
There was something about having become the Dragonborn that kept driving her to take risks. She'd been called Doom-Driven once and so she was glad that she would have someone else making choices for her. She'd never been much of a leader, she would have preferred a life of study and experimenting with magic.
She'd been heading for the Collage of Winterhold when she'd had the misfortune to get caught between a Stormcloak warband and an Imperial patrol. The damn Imperials hadn't cared and they'd been willing to take her head off as if she was some rebel and not a loyal subject of the empire.
Elayne had made it to Winterhold while looking for an Elder Scroll and looking back she shouldn't have let herself get distracted, first by the college and then those bloody cultists.
In retrospect, it would have been wiser to deal with the World-Eater first and then worry about those killers in the freaky masks, but at the time she'd thought Miraak to be some pretender she could easily deal with.
As for Alduin, he was Miraak's problem now, the First Dragonborn would have to deal with the World-Eater or be consumed as well. She had a new life here in a strange universe, and it was nice that someone else was dealing with the fate of the world.
All she had to do was fly a magic ship and study anything that the Jarl wished her to while offering aid with her magical powers. She was his court mage even if he didn't have a court.
This was much better than the last time she'd started working for a Jarl. Balgruuf had been generous, but he'd tried to force her into a role of a warrior, even going as far as to equip her with Nord-made armour.
"Margaret" she called out "Are you Jarl Nolan's Housecarl, like Irileth is to Jarl Balgruuf".
The redhead, who was also known as Crimson Edge just as Jarl Nolan was called Invincible, had spent most of this trip with their Jarl when not relaxing on her own, and while she and Margaret had spoken before the two women were still having trouble understanding each other.
"Who is Irileth?" questioned Maggie.
That didn't take too long to explain what role Irileth had served.
"I don't think I'm his servant" said Crimson Edge "But I'm not his wife or girlfriend either".
From what the mage understood Margaret and Nolan had recently gone into battle together to save a city called New York and they become strong allies.
The Dragonborn wondered what sad fate had befallen Old York.
"I was under the impression that Miranda was his lady wife" admitted Elayne.
She was uncertain because she'd never gotten to meet that woman.
"They aren't married" explained Crimson Edge "Miranda Lawson wants to be a queen in her own right, but Nolan is the father of the baby she will have. They used to be enemies and Miranda surrendered to Nolan and is having his child to ensure the peace between them, she's Nolan's lover I guess. It's rather complicated".
Elayne of High Rock was no stranger to complicated situations.
"So you are his Thane," reasoned Elayne "You are more than a servant because you fight with him. Do you advise him as well?".
It was clear to the Breton that Nolan ruled over the moon and everyone who lived in his fortresses. Maggie seemed to see things differently.
"What exactly is a Thane?" asked the other woman "From what you told me before it sounds like you were knighted for slaying that dragon you mentioned".
Elayne knew about knights and about the dragon that Nolan had slain. That he had done so without the help of the town guards or a housecarl was proof that he was a worthy lord.
"They are similar" she replied "Knights fight for personal glory and honour, usually in service to a lord. A Thane can do that as well".
There was a pause in the conversation.
"I was wondering if you had made any kind of formal vow of loyalty to our lord?" asked the Dragonborn.
Elayne had only made a quick one and she was wondering if she should do something more official so as to secure her place as Nolan's court mage.
"I have a contract with CRD" answered Maggie "But that's something you need to talk to Nolan about later. To answer your question I haven't made any vows. Do you think I should?".
Despite having gone by the name Queen Maeve she had never thought much about what the title might mean if it were true.
"Without formal oaths, our lord could replace you" warned Elayne "And he has no obligations to you. He has not awarded you lands or the right to purchase a home of your own in his domain".
Maggie gave the matter some thought.
"Maybe we should sit down and talk to Nolan about what exactly we will do for him, and what he expects from us" decided Crimson Edge.
Elayne was glad that her new friend had seen the wisdom of her words. It would be nice to secure their positions and while money wasn't a concern as she knew the spells Transmute: Silver Ore and Transmute: Gold Ore having a protected place with Jarl Nolan was worth more than any amount of currency.
Torn Cape - 22
Torn Cape.
Part 22.
Graveyard. New York City.
Annie January AKA Starlight had been intending for some time to make contact with Nolan Grayson, the man known all over the world simply as Invincible.
She was certainly getting pressured into doing so at work, but she'd been putting it off because she had no idea how to get the world's most powerful hero to agree to do anything for her.
If the right man came along she might be willing to have premarital sex despite her faith, but she wasn't the kind of woman who would spread her legs simply to advance her career, at least not anymore.
The last time she'd done anything sexual for such reasons it had made her ill and the only reason she still didn't loathe herself about what happened when she met The Deep was because he was dead.
Given that it seemed as if she would have to try to get close to the man known as Invincible in order to stay captain of The Seven then she was going to have to do something to get his attention.
Perhaps they could form a friendship or at least a professional working relationship, and she certainly wasn't against the idea of getting romantically involved with Nolan Greyson.
She and a few other million women certainly wouldn't mind, the others just weren't under pressure from Vought to make a connection.
At the very least she would need to go and introduce herself while she had the chance, as the new leader of The Seven even if there weren't actually seven of them these days.
Her team was made up of herself, Black Noir, Stormfront, who was having worrying thoughts about, Supersonic, who she used to date, and Shockwave, who was trying to replace A-Train as the world's fastest man and even take his title.
Having Supersonic around would make any attempt of hers to get close to Invincible a little awkward. Their romantic relationship had ended a long time ago, but since they were both single and would be working together it wasn't unreasonable to think that the old flame could be rekindled.
There was also talk of getting another woman on the team and going with a girl power marketing campaign that would distract the public from what had happened to the Seven when they went underground, but that was something she could think more about later.
Annie forced herself to pay attention to her surroundings as something hit the ground just outside of the graveyard, much to the joy of the crowd as while this was a crime scene, it had drawn attention from the media and some of the public.
Starlight was the only member of the Seven who had been invited to aid in the investigation, Annie was rather popular so her presence here had drawn a crowd.
Now that Invincible had landed she had no doubt that the police would have to call in more officers to help keep the people here from getting out of hand.
Annie wondered why the man had arrived after her given that he could fly. Perhaps he'd been busy saving someone, or maybe he'd been with someone special.
There were rumours online that Grayson was involved with the CEO of Cerberus Defence Contracts, who was a very attractive woman not known for dating, or perhaps he and the hero formally known as Queen Maeve were a couple as some online articles suggested.
"Starlight, Invincible," said Grace Mallory the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs "Thank you for coming".
Annie knew that Grace Mallory did not like superhumans, that was clear as soon as they met as Mallory's body language and tone of voice were not friendly.
As such she wouldn't have called both the leader of The Seven and Invincible here unless she desperately needed their help or at the very least she needed to appear as if she getting outside help. Appearances mattered more than results these days.
Oddly she and Nolan were not the only superhumans here, there were a few that Vought had let go and they seemed to be part of one of the law enforcement agencies that had been called in.
"Glad to be of help, Director Mallory," said Grayson.
Starlight smiled, unsure of what to say, as Invincible had just grinned at her and he had totally checked her out. She was so glad to be back in her proper uniform as she felt it was sexy without making her come off as a total slut.
She wondered how other people were able to be so calm around the man who had defeated Homelander. Grayson was the single most powerful man on the planet, and here he was looking at her. If they weren't standing around in a graveyard she might have enjoyed the attention a lot more.
Spoiler
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"What happened here?" Annie was able to ask.
Mallory sighed before speaking.
"It's best that you talk to the witness" she said "It might sound less crazy if someone else says it first".
They didn't travel far and soon the two heroes met with a man who wore gloves and overalls suited for wearing while working outdoors.
"This is Mr Andrews Smith," explained Director Mallory "He's the groundskeeper".
She then turned to the middle-aged man.
"Mr Smith, I need you to tell us what you told the police officers" she instructed.
The man soon did so.
"I was here just before dawn" he began by saying "I normally do my work early in the morning to make sure that the grounds are in order before anyone comes to visit one of the graves".
The man took a deep breath as if he needed to calm himself.
"Someone times kids will come here to hang out with their friends and they can make a mess, and we'd had a few vandals over the years, but nothing serious until this morning" he then said.
Annie didn't like the idea that someone had been messing about in a graveyard, it was creepy.
"It was just before dawn that I saw them" the man was now saying "At first I thought they might be graverobbers, as they had shovels, but they weren't digging up graves they were burying people, a lot of them in a mass grave".
Now that was shocking to hear. Annie felt a bit ill.
"Did they see you?" questioned Invincible.
The groundskeeper nodded.
"They did, and it was still fairly dark so I know that I must be mistaken, but they didn't seem normal" the groundskeeper was now saying "They were ghostly pale, all of them were hairless, and I swear when one looked at me his eyes glowed".
Annie didn't think this man was lying.
"Did they do anything to do you?" Starlight asked.
The man seemed fine, at least physically.
"No, the sun started to come up and they ran away," said the groundskeeper "That was when I called the cops".
Mallory took them over to the now empty mass grave.
"Every victim had puncture wounds on their necks and their bodies had been drained of blood according to the few autopsies that have gotten done so far," said the director.
Annie had never imagined that she'd be involved in something like this. She'd fought muggers and other criminals when acting as Starlight, but this was something else.
She had the feeling that the monsters she'd thought in the subway weren't going to be the only odd creatures she'd fight during her superhero career.
"How many bodies were there?" Grayson.
"Ten at each site" Mallory answered.
While Annie was shocked, Invincible seemed to be taking the news in his stride.
"Ten at each site, and we've found three such sites just this week" she said "This had happened at other graveyards, but we've managed to keep that hidden from the public to avoid a panic".
They were shown a map and it looked as if half a dozen sites had been found containing mass graves.
"All of the bodies recovered are those of people who won't be missed," Mallory was now saying "Vagabonds, prostitutes and people who live in low-income neighbourhoods. They were all killed by blood loss and buried in sites like this".
Starlight didn't know what to make of this.
"There may be more that we don't know about because the NYPD is spread thin due to recent losses and the mess with the underground, and my own people only do so much" the Director added.
Annie wondered what Mallory expected her to do about this and she asked as much.
"As much as I don't like the idea of superhumans doing policework we don't have a choice," said the Director "I need heroes keeping an eye on as many graveyards as possible so we can catch the sick bastards behind all of this".
Starlight figured that the Seven could stake out a graveyard that hadn't been disturbed.
"I can certainly fly over the graveyards near dawn and see if I spot anyone" offered Invincible.
That seemed to satisfy Mallory, who didn't really want them involved anyway, and she soon made an excuse to leave.
"What do you think this is about?" Annie questioned Nolan.
Despite being a bit star-struck by the man she'd found that she could talk to him.
"Vampires," he answered.
Annie just stood there for a moment.
"Vampires," she said, "You think vampires are real?".
It was hard to accept.
"You saw what came out of the underground and attacked people in the subway" stated Nolan "Don't pretend that they were super-terrorists".
She found it hard to accept that those creatures had ever been human. It was something that had kept her up a night more than once.
"Can we go somewhere and talk about this" requested Annie.
Before long, Starlight was up in the air and getting flown across the city. It was certainly one way to have people see them together.
Penthouse. Manhatten.
After meeting with Grace Mallory, who was not a fan of mine despite the aid I'd given her in the past, I'd come to the penthouse with Starlight who had asked to be able to talk with me.
Currently, she was making a phone call of her own in another room while I video-chatted with Cortana.
"Maybe it's some sort of cult" suggested the AI "Since magic is a real thing in this world, or at least has become real, then there could be some sort of ritual magic going on".
I had considered that and it was impossible to deny the existence of magic in this world since I had my own Spelljammer and a Breton Mage helping me out.
"There were vampires in service to the Keeper," I said "And the drained corpses along with the graveyard all say vampires to me".
Cortana came from a universe that worked on logical rules so it wasn't odd that she didn't jump to that conclusion.
"You do have the tooth of a dragon in the trophy room" said the AI "So why not have vampires?".
Compared to fighting a dragon having to deal with a few vampires should be no big deal.
"I need to know if there was anything special about the graveyards the vampires were using to bury their victims," I said to Cortana "What makes those sites different than any other graveyard".
Cortana soon had some information for me.
"The only thing that makes them different from a dozen other burial grounds is that the ones the vampires visited are cemeteries made available for people with irregular denominations or who aren't part of any religious organisation," she told me.
It took me a few moments to figure out why that would matter. Cortana knew better than to spell it out for me.
"So they didn't go to any graveyards that are part of any church or temple" I reasoned.
I was on the right track, just not there yet.
"They are avoiding holy sites" I stated.
There was a bit more to it than that.
"Some cemeteries are made up of both consecrated and non-consecrated land" the AI told me "And according to some vampire lore I'm looking at a vampire can't rise from a grave if they are given a Christian burial".
I needed to look through that material as well.
"The vampires didn't visit any graveyards devoted to any of the other major faiths either, so it might not just be Christianity they don't like" Cortana informed.
This was useful to know.
"So the vampires aren't just getting rid of the bodies of their victims they are trying to make new vampires" I mused "They might need to plant them in a burial site but they won't go near consecrated grounds because either it does something to mess up the process or at least they think it will".
I gave the matter some more thought.
"Cortana, is there anything in the autopsy reports that seems odd?" I asked.
Of course, she'd gotten copies of them for me.
"Aside from the fact that they were drained of blood and had neck wounds the only oddity is that they had traces of blood in their mouths," said the AI "But it's not human blood according to the tests".
Yeah, that sounded like some effort to make vampires to me.
"What I don't understand is why they are digging mass graves," said Cortana "That's just drawing attention to them. It would be a lot easier to hide a single body".
I had no idea and the only way for me to find out would be to question a vampire.
"If I find out I'll let you know" I promised "For now, I want a list of every burial site that has unconsecrated grounds in and around New York".
That was easily done.
"Do you think Doom has anything to do with this?" questioned Cortana.
I highly doubted it.
"Doom would consider himself above such creatures," I answered.
Cortana was right to ask because my new Dragonborn companion, who along with Crimson Edge had recently sworn formal oaths of service to me, had prophetic dreams and she'd foreseen my moon fortress come under attack by metal men. Which to me suggested that Doom was planning an attack.
I didn't know if the Dragonborn normally had dreams about future events, but given that they got their power from Akatosh, the dragon god of time, it wasn't unreasonable to think that the Breton Mage could get glimpses of possible futures.
"Then I'll keep doing what I can to improve the base's defences while you go be Van Helsing," said Cortana.
There was a pause in the conversation.
"Should we inform the public?" wondered Cortana "The government won't want people to know in case it leads to panic and witch hunts, but the public would believe you if you warned them".
I thought about it and decided not to let people know. Some idiots would try to Buffy or Blade and get themselves killed trying to slay vampires, and most likely end up killing some goth kids, and it wasn't as if I cared about the civilian population.
"Say nothing for now" I ordered "They'll be no need if I can deal with the vampires".
With my enhanced senses. I heard Starlight end her call, so I terminated my own.
"They are going to send a car for me soon," my guest let me know.
I wondered if her masters were pleased that we'd flown off together.
"So you really think that there are vampires out there?" Anne January asked me.
I'd flown us to my place and invited her to chat as she needed to be seen spending time with me to appease her bosses as it turned out, and I wouldn't mind having sex with Starlight as she is cute. I didn't think seducing her would be a simple task. I would have to put some effort into it.
"Yes," I said "It all fits together. Bodies drained of blood have been turning up for a while and there were strange creatures in the underground. I think some of them got out and now they are attacking people".
I decided not to mention that the vamps might be trying to increase their numbers. They didn't seem to be doing a good job of it.
"We shouldn't rule out some superhuman with a taste for blood," said Starlight "Maybe he or she even thinks they are a vampire, and they might have followers. The world is full of crazy people".
That wasn't outside the realms of possibility. Compound V could do strange things to people.
"Why don't you look into that and I'll investigate the possibility of vampires" I presented "If there is a superhuman with a taste for blood then he or she might have worked for Vought at some point".
Annie accepted that suggestion.
"Makes sense," she said.
I decided to change the subject.
"So why do your bosses so badly want you to be seen with me?" I asked.
I assumed it had something to do with publicity. She hadn't yet had time to fully explain it to me.
"Well, you are popular" Annie said "And if I'm going to be taken seriously as captain of the Seven then I need to be seen as someone on your level".
There was no one on my level.
"I was basically ordered to do whatever it took to get you to be seen with me in public" she admitted.
Since I liked Starlight I was willing to help her out and I wouldn't mind getting to fuck her so I figured that I could try to date her. My followers were okay with me having sex with other women as long as they could too.
I knew that Maggie was bisexual so perhaps she'd hook up with the Dragonborn who she got on with very well. I didn't think Miranda had any interest in romance due to her work and the need to take care of her family.
"How tough are you?" I questioned.
It was a rather random inquiry.
"What?" asked Annie.
I smiled in what should be a reassuring way.
"Flying over the Atlantic is easy for me so I was thinking about shopping in London or having dinner in Paris" I explained "But an ordinary human can't fly at the speeds I can without suffering ill effects from g-forces".
Maggie could withstand the speeds I flew at even without her special armour, but she was a tough cookie and had flown with Homelander enough to get used to it.
"Oh," said Annie "Yeah, Vought put me in one of those spinning things they use to train astronauts with I can handle supersonic speeds".
I was pleased to hear this.
"Then I'd like to date you" I told Starlight "Both for your public image and to get to know the real you. So how about we go across the pond and do some shopping".
I so wanted to see what she looked like while naked.
"Yeah we can do that" she agreed "Shopping in London sounds great".
Hopefully, the PVP would remain quiet until the date was over. As for my next trip on the Starchaser that could wait a few more days as there were things going on in this world that needed my attention.
Torn Cape - 23
Torn Cape.
Part 23.
Coffee Shop. London.
Again it amazed me how easy it was to pass as a normal person once I took off the hero outfit that identified me as the most powerful hero on the planet.
After putting on some causal clothing and a pair of sunglasses, which were a way for me to stay connected to Cortana, no one saw me as Invincible despite any video of me in action online almost instantly going viral.
It worked for Annie January as well, she had dressed in street clothes and took a little time to tie her hair back, and then suddenly she was a totally different person as far as anyone was concerned. Even if she was still rather attractive.
I was amused because Starlight had tens of millions of Instagram followers, and yet no one recognised her even though she had plenty of followers here in this country.
As someone who read comics as a kid and watched the adventures of superheroes on TV, I'd always found it a bit odd that no one sees the heroes under the masks, but having a secret identity somehow does work even in an age where nearly everyone has a camera/computer/phone in their pocket.
There were no doubt some interesting psychological reasons for this that some doctor of psychology could inform me about should I ever care to go find out.
Since my image was owned by Cerberus Defence Contracts, just as Vought owned the right to use the name of its heroes, that meant no one could use me to sell anything, at least not legally.
Yet that didn't stop people from selling posters of me and t-shirts that had my shield symbol on them. I wasn't sure if I should be flattered or insulted that people were profiting from me without my permission or knowledge.
"We came across an ocean and now we're sitting in a Starbucks," said Annie with a tone of amusement in her voice "We might as well have stayed in New York".
Starlight and I had been moving around London all afternoon, visiting some shops, and she'd commented about how it wasn't that much different than shopping in New York.
London didn't have anywhere near as many Vought products shown as advertisements. This meant that Annie wasn't seeing her own face plastered on a lot of surfaces.
"Both New York and London are very culturally diverse cities with a mostly English-speaking population so it's not surprising you find them similar" I pointed out.
This might have led to an interesting discussion that proved that Annie was a stereotypical blonde, not that I thought she was, only something exploded outside, and then some more explosions happened. They were rather distracting.
"Cortana, what is going on?" I asked.
Even an AI couldn't keep track of everything so it took her a moment to get the information I desired.
"An unknown superterrorist is flying over London and firing energy bolts" she reported "No one knows who she is or why's she doing this. But I just got her file, she'd part of the PVP, her name is Blackfire and she's a Tamaranean".
I knew Blackfire to be the older and normally evil sister of the Teen Titans member called Starfire. While Tamaraneans were not as powerful as Viltrumites or Kryptonians, Blackfire could be a threat.
At the very least she knew I was here and she wasn't at all shy about getting my attention.
"Excuse me," I said to Annie "I better go deal with this".
I raced into the men's toilets and changed while everyone else ran off or tried to get a better view of the action, depending on their level of stupidity.
Lucky for me, I had my hero outfit in the pouch of holding that my Dragonborn companion had been able to provide, so I could easily carry my outfit with me.
Once I'd gone out of the back of the coffee shop I took to the air and quickly I found Blackfire as she wanted me to find her.
I got up here just in time to watch her blast a news helicopter. It didn't explode and I realised that to maintain my reputation I was going to have to try to save the fools inside. I still needed to be seen as the greatest hero in the world by the masses.
With great speed, I flew over the helicopter and caught it before the out-of-control vehicle hit the ground. Fortunately for the occupants, they were well strapped in or the sudden loss of momentum would have resulted in them going flying.
I very quickly put the copter down in a park its recovery could be handled by others.
When I got back up into the sky I could see the alien princess smirking at me.
"I knew that attacking these primitives would draw you out" she gloated "Once I've defeated you they will lose all hope and they will bow to me as their new queen".
Hearing that amused me.
"I'm not the only person who defends this world" I pointed out.
Blackfire kept smirking.
"You're the only one who matters," she stated.
Well, she wasn't wrong about that. Compared to me the others were only just above baseline humans in terms of power, but it sounded like the heroic thing to say, and perhaps with her special armour Maggie could at least stand up to Princess Blackfire. Not that I would let that ever happen.
"After I'm done with you I'll receive my reward and I'll have all the power I need to rule this world".
So she was on a standard supervillain path of power. She wanted to rule the world, to have its riches laid at her feet, and its people enslaved to her whims. Since that would include me and the child growing inside Miranda I would have needed to fight Blackfire even without the PVP.
I'd considered going down that route, but I didn't want humanity to become dependent on me and ruling as an emperor would be a lot of work. I didn't think people like Blackfire ever gave much thought to what ruling would involve.
"You have to defeat me first," I said.
Rather than reply verbally she blasted me with some sort of energy and I actually felt it. I also felt the punch she hit me before the shock of getting blasted wore off.
That hurt too and Blackfire showed no sign of suffering due to taking some of the harm she'd caused getting reflected back at her. Either that or was enjoying the pain.
We traded blows for a time, as she threw energy bolts at me, and hit me with glowing fists. Every time I struck her it seemed to do no damage at all.
I might have to do something drastic like see how well she could handle the vacuum of space or if a bath in some magma would do her some harm. If needs be we could take this fight to another planet.
As we fought in the skies I could hear sirens and people screaming below as the energy blasts that didn't hit me either went flying off into the sky or hit something, such as a building, street or even a person. I hoped Annie was okay.
Blackfire blasted me so hard that I hit a massive office block and before she could follow up on that attack I flew at her as fast as I could to tackle her. She was able to avoid that move despite her being much slower than me.
I used my super speed to land some blows, but she just took them and kept going, as if nothing I did could hurt her. Even when she hurt me and some of the damage should have been reflected she didn't seem at all phased.
While fighting Blackfire and I went through the roof of what I took to be some sort of business involving fashion given all the fancy fabrics scattered about, we both decided not to attack for a moment.
"You can't win for I have the Jewel of Charta" she bragged "It enhances the power of any Tamaranean who wears it.
Spoiler
[img: https/static.wikia./teentitans/images/a/a3/Power.jpg]
It wasn't hard to guess what she meant by Jewel of Charta. She'd made no effort to hide or protect the source of her power.
"You villains can always be depended upon to make such outlandish mistakes," I said.
In a blur of speed, I raced forward in a blur and yanked on the jewel, I broke the flimsy chain and now I held the jewel in my hand.
What a foolish girl. Had she kept her mouth shut and this pretty thing hidden under armour she might have been able to beat me since she seemed to be invulnerable. Now she was just another superpowered fool in a world filled with them.
"No, give that back!" she called out.
Her arms weren't long enough to grab it.
"Now your power is mine," I stated
I didn't feel any different while holding it, but my enemy was certainly weakened.
"It only works for a Tamaranean," Blackfire told me as she tried to recover her property "Now give it!".
I didn't think she was lying, and I had other ways to increase my own power and that of my followers, such as making use of enchanted items created by my Breton Mage and developing advanced technology, and I felt sure I'd win more prizes from the ROB. So I didn't need this bauble.
"If you had a future I'd advise you not to go around sharing information that can be used against you," I said to Blackfire as I crushed the jewel "But you don't have a future".
With little effort I threw her across the room, denting the wall, but that didn't do much harm to the alien princess, who tried to blast me, only for me to dodge the attack and do more damage to the building.
I then once again moved using great speed and hit Blackfire so hard she went through the damaged wall. She hit the next building and dropped into an alleyway that was out of sight of the public.
Soon I joined her as the alien princess got back up. Then to my surprise, Blackfire dropped to the ground as if bowing before me.
"Please don't kill me" she begged "I'll do anything you want. I'll be your slave. Please spare me, master!".
I was tempted to simply crush her skull as she couldn't be trusted, but I also knew that Blackfire was someone who was controlled by her desires, including a desire for power, I'd proven that I was the one with the power, so naturally she wanted to cosy up to me.
Perhaps I could use her to provide me with some strong children, or maybe her skull should decorate my trophy room, or I could peel off her amour and put it on display as that might be more tasteful.
I knew that Blackfire was dangerous and she could be cunning, but she was a fool, and I would see her through her attempts to manipulate me very easily.
"What to do?" I asked myself.
Military Facility. Russia.
While Victor Von Doom was not here in person he saw the base via the eyes of the robot he was controlling remotely from the underground rooms of his home far away.
Had he more in the way of resources he would have sent an army to recover the target or perhaps a skilled underling who could be trusted to carry out such errands, but his resources were limited so he had come in person even if he wasn't here in the flesh.
Doom's body was secure in a chamber beneath his home just outside of New York City. His awareness was in Russia thanks to the machine he'd created that allowed him to control what some might call a Doombot from hundreds of miles away.
Even though he had a limited amount of materials to work with the device hadn't been too complex for him to create and the technology of this world was advanced enough for him to work with.
The timing of this operation had to be precise because right now the world's attention was an event taking place in London and this site was a remote one so it would take a large duration of time for anyone to respond to this raid even if the base had officially existed.
Because this Soviet-era base didn't exist the Russians wouldn't be able to kick much of a fuss about the attack even if they were willing to admit that anything had ever happened at this location.
Doom was here for two reasons, the first was to test out his technology, lacking the materials he'd had access to in the past meant that he'd needed to improvise while creating the Doombot and the means of remotely controlling it, as he was not yet ready to show himself to the world.
So far, he was pleased with the technology. The crude assault weapons of the guard were no threat to the Doombot and the robot's inbuilt weapons were more than enough to destroy the troops who were making a pitiful effort to defend the base.
None of them had thought to try to use explosives or to bring heavier weapons, assuming they even had access to such things. The soldiers here had not been prepared for an attack.
Energy blasts left the open hand of the Doombot as he killed a Russian who didn't seem to comprehend that staying here to fight was a very bad idea.
Once he'd killed all those foolish enough to stand against Doom the future Master of Mankind used his avatar to directly connect to the computer systems here. The system here was a closed one so he needed to directly content a computer here.
The information stored on these machines included many recordings and notes about experiments performed on a superhuman known as a Soldier Boy.
Doom desired to have this data and that no one else possess it so once he had taken what he needed the systems were wiped clean. This knowledge now belonged only to him.
Soon the chest of the robot opened and Doom placed a powerful explosive device on the ground. It would be remotely detonated once he had left this place with his prize. Which he was now going to collect.
Soldier Boy, who was a mockery of his world's Captain America, would prove to be to an asset for Doom. Once under the control of Doctor Doom, he might have been useful as a mere enforcer, but the future ruler of the world had grander plans for this man.
Many improvements would need to be made and this sorry excuse for a hero would need to be educated for his new role. This would be simple enough as none could resist the will of Doom.
Doom did not bother waking up the sleeping superhuman, the robot simply took the device that was keeping Soldier Boy sedated and once clear the entire base was wiped off the map or would have been if it had ever appeared on any maps.
Torn Cape - 24
You voted for her so now she's part of the story.
Torn Cape.
Part 24.
Base. The Moon.
"So this is what you have been up to," said Elayne of High Rock as she entered my throne room "Now you look like a true Jarl",
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This throneroom looked more like something from Star Wars than say ASOIAF. I even had control stations in here that would allow me to monitor the base and go over the information that Cortana kept gathering.
When Blackfire came over to me and handed me a chain the Dragonborn couldn't help looking shocked. Even more so when I attached the chain to the throne.
Spoiler
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"Not that any of them had a slave girl they got to chain to their thrones" she added.
I'd refer to her as a concubine rather than a slave as she'd agreed to serve me in exchange for accepting her surrender, shelter and protection.
After that, I decided to build myself a throne room as it was time for me to live more like a king now that I controlled the moon and had an alien princess to make babies with.
So I had indeed been busy over the last couple of days. Even for me, it takes quite some to dig through solid rock and to set things up according to a design, but it was well worth the effort.
Even if the throne room was rather empty for now the window did provide a lovely view of the moon's surface and Earth could be seen in the right-hand corner of the window.
While the throneroom was lacking in decoration, I did have Blackfire's armour on display as a reminder to her that she had submitted to me. I felt sure that given enough time I would have more trophies to display.
The Force sword that I had claimed from that psyker Space Marine did look good up on the wall and I hoped that soon I would have other weapons up there.
Maggie was a little more focused on Blackfire, who to be fair had chained herself to the throne willingly and could get free easily given her great strength.
So her situation was not as debasing as it looked, although the skimpy outfit she was wearing did create the impression that she was a slave even if she'd happily put it on.
"Slavery is illegal and immortal" Crimson Edge pointed out.
Before I could answer the alien princess spoke.
"I'm a concubine, not a slave," said Blackfire "Ignorant Grimplork, no wonder he isn't using you for breeding".
During my breaks from digging, I'd talked with Komand'r and she'd begun to teach me her people's main method of speech.
She might be able to learn a language by kissing someone, but sadly it didn't work the other way around so I had to study her language.
"What did she just call me?" questioned Edge.
There was no direct translation, but the word could be used as an insult against a perceived romantic rival. Given the current situation, I figured that Blackfire was using it in this context.
"I think it means she called you a slut" I said.
Maggie looked ready to throw a punch.
"Don't get mad at me" said Blackfire "You two Glubnorbs have been fucking behind his back".
I wasn't shocked by this news. Both Elayne and Margret were bisexual women who'd been spending a lot of time together. I was their lord, not their boyfriend so it was only natural that they would seek emotional support and companionship elsewhere.
"Crimson Edge and the Dragonborn are my vassals," I explained to Blackfire "That means they outrank you".
I then turned to my two followers.
"Blackfire surrendered her freedom to me instead of fighting to the death" I informed them "She's too powerful to be contained in a prison on Earth, so I decided to accept her service for the next twenty years and then she goes free".
Her race's lifespan could be measured in centuries and she was only just out of childhood, at least by the standards of her race so spending a couple of decades raising a child for me was a good deal.
Aside from that she just wanted some luxuries and attention. If she was more aloof I would think of something akin to a pet cat.
"So like Miranda?" Maggie asked, "Just without any freedom".
That was more or less the case.
"Miranda never tried to kill me and she didn't blow up parts of London," I said "Besides, Miranda doesn't wish to rule over anything other than a business empire".
Without her fancy crystal, Blackfire simply wasn't strong enough to go against me. At least not on her own and she wasn't that smart considering that she came from an advanced species.
She was also a hedonist and egotistical so I figured if I gave her plenty of presents along with some flattery she'd be docile for me.
"So what's this about you two hooking up?" I asked.
I wasn't mad about this. Although if they broke up it could cause some issues.
"You did say that we could have sex with other women," said Maggie "I took Elayne to Earth on the shuttle and we've been spending some time together".
Cortana had used this base's facilities to produce a small shuttle that could move between the Moon and Earth without getting detected by the humans of this world. It made use of ONI stealth tech from what I understood.
"And you are developing feelings for each other," I stated.
It wasn't hard to tell given the quick looks they were giving each other. I assumed that Blackfire could smell them on each other or that she had just picked up on the subtext before I had.
"As long as you remember who is in charge around here I don't mind if you date," I told them "You deserve some happiness".
Both of the young women nodded.
"Maybe you'll join us sometime," said Elayne with a smile.
Blackfire was sitting by my leg and I could well believe that her species had been involved from a feline as she looked as if she'd soon start rubbing against my leg.
"So you're not going to breed them?" she asked.
I would not.
"Crimson Edge and the Dragonborn, to use their hero names, are warriors in my service," I told her "Elayne, the Dragonborn as she is known by her people, is a powerful mage as well as a fighter. Crimson Edge is a warrior, she prefers to use her talents to save people".
With the Rider Armour, she was quite capable of flying to Earth and Cortana aided her mission to fly around while helping people.
"And good service should be rewarded," I said "Princess, bring me the box".
Blackfire picked up the small box that contained the small prize that the ROB had given me for defeating Blackfire, who I would soon impregnate, had I killed her or drawn out the fight, I felt sure I would have gotten something much more powerful.
The magic wand in the box looked like one that could be used by a Harry Potter-style witch or wizard, but it was different.
As soon as I'd picked it up I'd known that even a non-magic user such as myself could cast some spells with it, but in the hands of a true mage it would be much more powerful and it didn't seem to mind who used it.
"It's a magical focus of some kind, and I can feel the spells it can allow me to cast," said the Dragonborn as she inspected the tool "Thank you, my Jarl. I can use this in my work as your court mage".
Cortana displayed her hologram before anything more could be spoken about on that subject.
"Boss, I have some news," she told me.
While she was addressing me everyone paid attention as everything Cortan had to say was worth hearing.
"Is this about the vampires?" I asked.
While they were a concern they weren't my biggest one or a real threat to me. Still, it was best to keep tabs on them.
"According to the police reports, I've gone over" she began by saying "Last night thirty members of a small gang who were using an abandoned store as a base were either killed or abducted".
Taking out an entire gang in one night was not something another gang would be able to do without drawing a lot of attention to themselves and taking their own losses.
"Twenty died, some looked to have died of bloodloss others look as if the life was drained right out of them, and ten are missing" reported Cortana "Judging by the crime scene report the gang fired off a lot of rounds when defending themselves, but there are no bodies of their attackers at the scene despite how quickly the police got there when someone called 911".
So the gang had been attacked by vampires.
"A witness statement says that a man with a red helmet was seen leaving the gang hideout" Cortana let me know "But there are not photos or video footage to confirm any of this".
That witness report had given me a big clue as to what was going on.
"It's Jason Todd," I said, "It fits his MO. He'll be killing anyone he can't recruit so as to expand his influence and resources".
He wasn't part of the PVP any more so he wasn't my concern, but he could cause me problems and destabilise things in New York.
"Law Enforcement agencies are downplaying the event, claiming that it's gang violence" the AI stated.
Blackfire was confused. She knew all about the PVP as she'd been part of it, but Jason had been out of that for a while.
"I'll explain later" I promised.
Before long I would need to meet with Starlight and make sure she didn't get herself killed taking on so many vampires.
"Try to track them down" I ordered "Vampires always nest somewhere and I might need to stake them in their coffins so as to get rid of them".
The Dragonborn stepped forward.
"I've dealt with vampires before, let me help you" she offered.
Perhaps I should let her and Edge deal with the vamps as I might have better things to do.
"I have good news as well" mentioned Cortana "The British Monarch, has declared that she's going to award you a British Empire Medal for your service. Apparently, this award is given to someone who has served a community. In this case, that community was London and you are getting the award for stopping a super terrorist attack".
Nice to be recognized for my efforts even if Blackfire attacking the city had been partly my fault since I had agreed to play the ROBs game.
"It's not one of the best medals you can get from the Queen, but no other superhero has been given this award," said Cortana.
"Not many governments would ever do something like this," said Maggie "They don't like to admit that they needed a superhero to handle a situation for them. At least not when you're dealing with the people high up".
That made sense, they wouldn't want to look as if they couldn't handle any situation that came up.
"It's a result of public demand" Cortana told us "EDI and I didn't need to do anything this time there was a demand by the public".
I gave the matter some thought.
"Miranda must already know about this," I said "I'll let her make the arrangements and accept the medal. No sense in offending the monarchy".
That wasn't all the news.
"When the people of New York found out about the medal the British want to give you they decided to get in on the action" Cortana was now saying "I suspect that the Major of New York will be offering you the Bronze Medallion soon".
Maggie explained what that was.
"It's the highest award conferred upon civilians by New York City," Crimson Edge told us "The medal is presented by the Mayor to those individuals who have demonstrated, 'exceptional citizenship and outstanding achievement'. Homelander has, or rather had one".
Well, I did need to decorate my base. So the more shinies the better.
Base. The Moon.
"Thank you for letting me get on top, Master," Blackfire said as she mounted my naked body "I promise to make it worth your while".
Currently, I was lying on the fancy and very secure bed that I'd built for her.
"I've always felt more comfortable when I'm on top" she let me know "And I want to cum real good when you breed me".
She began by rocking her hips back and forth, rubbing her pussy lips against my cock that she had not yet let inside her.
This allowed me to tell how wet she already was and she took some time to use this as foreplay. Only making me more eager to get my cock inside her for the first time.
I was not a naive fool. I knew that Blackfire would use all the tools at her disposal to try to influence me and secure her own position within what passed for my organisation.
She might be the lowest in rank out of all those in my service at this time, but if she was smart she would have chances to rise up and if I did acquire more concubines I would need someone powerful to help keep them in line.
"No problem," I said as I took told of her hips.
It hadn't been a great surprise to me when she requested that she be allowed to get on top, and I hadn't seen any issue with letting her have her way as long as she didn't push her luck.
Since she was the one who would be impregnated I was willing to cut her some more slack, as this was a special event for her.
"I'm going to put it in now," she declared.
At this point, I was more than ready to get my cock inside of her, and she also seemed eager to start fucking.
The alien princess lifted her hips up off me momentarily so that she could grab my cock. She held it still and faced it straight up as she sank back down.
She was now filling her tight cunt with my dick, and it was a very pleasurable experience for me.
Until she relaxed a little she was almost painfully tight and her cunt was hot, noticeably more so than any human woman I'd been with.
Once she got used to having me inside her pussy it cooled a little and stopped gripping me so tightly. Not that I hadn't been enjoying the feeling.
She began to move, slowly rocking her hips back and forth, she went slow to start with, either because she wanted this to last or to increase her enjoyment. It could even be because she wanted to delay getting pregnant for a little while longer.
Not that it mattered I would soon fill her with his seed and impregnate her as we had agreed. This was the price for my mercy and protection.
The idea of spending the next couple of decades raising a powerful child for me was bound to be something that would make her hesitate or maybe she was really into the idea and desired to enjoy this moment.
If she wanted to take it slow at first and have some fun then that was fine with me as long as she performed her duty.
Besides, her fuckhole was tight and very warm, still more so than a human woman's cunt, it must be a Tamaranean thing.
"Does it feel good for you?" she asked.
She was smirking at me playfully and despite the fact that she was alien I could tell that she already knew the answer given the smile she was sending my way.
From what I knew of her life she had certainly never lacked confidence, at least not what little I saw of her in animated series and she was showing it now.
"You feel great," I answered. "You look great too".
Blackfire had the kind of physical form that should only exist in fiction. Her naked body would make even the most attractive woman in this dimension deeply envious.
She smiled even more, and threw her hair back, as she picked up the pace. She started riding me properly.
Blackfire put her hands on my chest and started to move her body she was soon bouncing up and down steadily.
I was impressed at how quickly she was able to reach this pace, and because she was super strong and tough, at least when compared to a human woman, she was able to slam herself down onto me with some force.
Spoiler
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Lucky for both of us I'd learned my lesson when fucking Maggie and I made sure to make the bed as sturdy as possible so that it didn't break.
I needed to breed with some powerful females for my long-term plans and I didn't want to have to stop now due to weak furniture.
"Getting close?" she asked with another smile on her face "No male can last long with me on top".
Her violet eyes were watching me intently as she rode me. She wanted to make me shoot my speed up into her pussy on her terms because this would be the only time she had any power over me. Sadly for her, it wasn't going to be that simple.
"Not yet," I said, "You need to make a real effort".
If not for my superpowers I felt sure that she'd have popped my cork by now.
"We'll see about that," said Blackfire before she gave me a look that was even more sexy, "Please, Master, I need you to impregnate me. Please cum inside me. I need it".
Rather impressively she somehow managed to pick up the place and began moving her hips with even more gusto than before.
As planned I was soon climaxing and because I could control my fertility she would soon be pregnant.
