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A Novel Approach (Worm Libriomancer system- Gamer lite OC) by MalcolmTent6730

Books » Worm Rated: M, English, OC, Words: 232k+, Favs: 743, Follows: 884, Published: Jul 25, 2024 Updated: 3h ago

223Chapter 3

January 8th, 2011 Merchant Stash house, Brockton Bay, New Hampshire, 8:00 PM EST -SP:1300

Fun fact about gangbangers. They're shockingly resistant to…well, shock. Despite the sudden attack, me fucking FLYING across the room, the blast of green light, and Kim coming through the window to engage the big guy, the woman with the gun regained her composure pretty fucking fast.

Rather than trying to finish putting the gun together like most people would have, she grabbed the barrel and swung it at me like a bat. With my reflexes, catching it was simple, and I grinned behind my mask in smugness when I wrapped my hands around it and held it immobile…right up until she stomp kicked me in nuts.

When the blow landed, she grabbed the table she'd been sitting at (I'd angled my attack so I could engage better so I was sort of caddy corner to the thing) and swung the flat folding metal at me one handed as I stumbled back, cursing in pain.

The table smashed into my back since I was doubled over, and as such did nothing as it glanced off my mythril mail, thank the gods.

I was hurting, pissed, and out for blood, and I barely considered what to do as I planted my hands on the ground and pushed off. My feet came up and over, clamping on either side of her head as I yanked her forward, flipping her over my back and sending her flying across the room with every ounce of power and agility in my low Brute rated body.

There was a crash and I turned to see that she'd hit the TV, back first, and had gone through the screen and partly collapsed the table it had been sitting on.

This wasn't going as well as I'd hoped it would, honestly, but despite the ache from being sack tapped by a combat boot, I was definitely at an advantage. Coming back to my feet, I noticed the rat faced guy coming at me as I'd hoped. I leaned down and grabbed the gun (still not functioning and covered in blood from the broken nose of the woman) and spun, swinging it up and around, bringing it down like a hammer in the bastard's collar bone.

A sharp crack sounded, and NOT from the gun, and he dropped, howling in pain and clutching his shoulder. I tossed the gun aside, putting my hands on my knees and wheezing through the still throbbing pain in my nuts.

"You alright?" Asked Kim as she stepped into view. The biggest guy was out like a light, and she'd tied him up with zip ties, which I hadn't even thought to bring.

I nodded jerkily. "Fine." I grunted. "I've just come to two important realizations." I forced myself to stand, limping over to the rat faced guy and leaning down to jerk his arms behind him. He howled, but I wasn't feeling merciful. I just grabbed one of the controllers from his game and tied his hands and feet all into one big tangle with the chord. "Firstly, I might need more training." I yanked the knot to make sure it was tight, and then staggered to my feet. "And secondly, I might need some supplies. For instance, I think I'm going to start wearing a cup."

She chuckled a bit, and when I glared at her she looked away and ACTUALLY whistled. I just rolled my eyes, gesturing to the woman laying in the remains of the TV.

Walking over, Kim whistled as she pulled her out of the wreckage. "That's rough." She said worriedly. Feeling around, she nodded in relief. "A few broken bones maybe, but her pulse is steady and her breathing isn't too shallow. She's going to be ok."

"Good to know." I said with a nod. "She caught me off guard and I just reacted. Gather the stuff for me. I need to leave my calling card."

She cocked her head at me, but I wasn't in an explaining mood. I walked over to a wall, shoving aside some furniture, and then pulled out a small bottle of spray pain, popping the cap, I began to write out my first verse.

Nightfall smiles and death's axe falls, he opens wide and swallows all. Lives and silver, maids in bow, darkness comes where Nightfall goes.

I stepped back, studying my work. "Not bad." I said after a moment. "Hey, what do you think about this…" I trailed off. We hadn't picked a code name for Kim. I glanced at her outfit and then just shrugged and said "Lenore." She turned and glared at me, and I shrugged. It wasn't like I could use her name in front of these random assholes.

"Lenore?" She demanded. "As in 'the sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore'? Are you TRYING to get us labeled as villains? Between your little calling card and naming me after an Edgar Allen Poe character you might as well just wear a name tag that says 'Hello, my name is Supervillain'."

I just shrugged. "We're rogues." I said carelessly. "It's way less strict for us. Now what did you find?"

She sighed, walking over and dumping a duffel bag onto the table the woman had smashed me over the back with. Kim had tipped it back up and I guessed bent the dents out, because it was upright if not pretty.

On the table were quite a few interesting things. First, guns. Less of them than I'd expected, but still a decent haul. Three handguns, an AR, and a shotgun, sawed off. Next to that were about ten square packages of white powder I assumed was some kind of drug, and next to THAT were a few wads of cash, packed tight and wrapped with rubber bands.

"Damn." I said with a whistle. "How much money is that?" I'd expected this to be lucrative, but not THIS lucrative.

She shook her head. "Not as much as you might think. Lots of singles and fives in there. Couple grand at least though. I don't…" She trailed off. "I'm not sure we should be taking this S- Nightfall. This feels wrong."

"Well, if we leave it here, their friends are just going to pick it up." I shrugged. "And given this is Brockton, chances are good if we call the cops they'll just steal and resell it."

Her shoulders slumped. "This doesn't feel like I thought it would." She admitted. "I wanted to help people, but this just feels like stealing. We just beat up and robbed a bunch of drug addicts, and that doesnt feel very heroic."

"I mean, all the people who aren't going to die of overdoses from these drugs might disagree." I said cheerfully. "Come on, this is just a trial run. We're testing things out in a safe environment. Did you think we were going to ambush Lung on night one?" I needed Kim on board for this. I didn't mind doing some hero shit sometimes, but more than a hero, I needed to be a legend. I needed to do story worthy shit, and I didn't have the training to do it alone.

She sighed, nodding slowly. "Alright. I'll look around for anything we missed. I'll pack everything up." By which I meant I was going to dump these drugs for points. I could tell she was still rattled, because she wandered off on her own while I attended to my haul.

Kim was definitely useful here, but I had the feeling she was going to have an issue with more of the things I had planned going forward. I idly played with the chain around my neck, fingers rubbing the vial containing the Jeckyll serum.

I wasn't going to USE it of course, but…maybe Kim would find some benefit from it. I mean, she was already kind of a goody-goody. The perfect half of her personality would probably be pretty much the same, but the portion who was all id? That sounded like a partner who would really help push my story along.

D-class story element 'minorly tinker-enhanced cocaine' incorporated. One hundred Silvertongue points gained.

D-class story element 'minorly tinker-enhanced cocaine' incorporated. One hundred Silvertongue points gained.

D-class story element 'minorly tinker-enhanced cocaine' incorporated. One hundred Silvertongue points gained.

I dropped all ten of them into my book, marveling at the insanity that was a thousand points for just one night's work.

It was so impressive I kind of wanted to stash some of the guns, but I knew they weren't high quality or anything, and I'd get ten points a piece for them tops. Not worth alienating Kim, especially if I was going to enact my new plan.

Stashing them all in the bags we'd brought, I was waiting when she came back, holding yet another gun, which she handed to me quickly, almost as if she was grossed out touching it.

"Alright, so we call the cops." I said hesitantly. I really didn't want to stay and wait for the police, but capes had enough pull in Brockton that I was reasonably sure they wouldn't try to hassle a pair of new rogues. As long as we got out of here before the PRT showed up we'd be fine.

Kim beamed at me, and I could almost see her enthusiasm through her mask. Yeah, I was going to need to give her the serum.

It wasn't that I was completely against heroism, it was just that I had shit to do, and she was clearly going to make things hard, and not in the fun way. Also, I was pretty sure nega-Kim would be down to fuck, which was definitely an upside. She wouldn't be stuck like that or anything, she'd turn back intermittently, and I'd humor her with heroic nonsense like this during her good girl phases.

Unaware of my plans, Kim fished out her phone and dialed nine one one, giving the address and a brief description of the events before telling them who we were.

"We should head outside for now." I said once she hung up. "Meeting them there seems like a better idea." Plus I would prefer to avoid questions about my admittedly melodramatic signature.

Happily agreeing, we headed out, and when the cops arrived, I handed over the guns. As I'd suggested, we kept the money, and getting rid of the weapons seemed to be enough to appease Kim, because she was still obviously upbeat when we got back to my place.

When we arrived, we snuck up to my window and I pocketed my costume. Kim put her mask in her pocket and gave me a shy look. "That was…that was really fun, Simon." She finally said. Then she leaned forward and kissed me softly for a moment before turning and dropping off the rooftop and vanishing into the dark.

Smiling, I climbed back into my room, flopping down on my bed as I fished out my book. Checking my balance, I grinned. Once I got to the end of this little caper I'd be up to thirty five thousand words, plenty of points to afford a few upgrades, or close to halfway to the next level of item.

I snapped the book shut, considering my options, and I couldn't settle on any one direction to take with my new windfall. I just knew that I'd barely scratched the surface of what I could do in this town.

One thing was certain though, I wasn't going to limit myself to being a hero. Maybe with this particular costume I could work with Kim until I convinced her to take the serum, but until then, I either needed to go out on my own or find a new partner. I decided to poke around a bit to see if there were any interesting criminal rogues I could partner up with in another identity. Hopefully they'd be as cute as my current coconspirator. I had an image to maintain.

January 9th, 2011 Brockton Bay, New Hampshire, 6:00 PM EST -SP:3500

Kim and I agreed to meet up and talk after school Monday, which meant the next day was all me, and I could finally take a second to consider my possible approaches to my newest career. Heroics had been…limited. Sure, I'd gotten some drugs to turn into points, but I'd had to leave behind a bunch of money for the cops, and I wasn't thrilled about that.

While Kim was sweet, and pretty sexy, she was also VERY by the book. Working with her part time was fine, but unless I was willing to slip her the Hyde formula (which on closer examination of my feelings I realized I wasn't) I needed to find someone else to work with, or go it alone.

Solo work didn't appeal to me. I didn't love being a target, and the fight at the stash house had shown me that I was far from invincible. I decided that if I was going to look around for a new partner, and I needed a new costume, I was going to splurge and drop a thousand points to pick up a set of C-class gear.

With that in mind, when I woke up the next morning, I started sifting through my library, trying to find something that would hide my identity AND give me a boost while I was wearing it. C-class affected a large group of people, or one person on an intense way, so I was betting I could get some seriously impressive armor, even it was only useful to me while I was actually wearing it, I just had to find the right suit.

Sadly, some of my go-to's were non starters. The Drood Torcs from 'The Secret Histories' were considered A-class, since they became a part of you and were basically city level threats anyway, and the suit from Ian Banks's 'The Culture' was so cutting edge tech wise there was no way I'd get it for C-rank prices.

I spent pretty much the entire day sifting through my books, desperately searching for anything I could use that would fit my requirements.

In the end, I decided not to go with power armor at all. I couldn't find anything useful at the right level, so I ditched the idea of tech completely and decided magic would work better. In fact, I couldn't find almost any C-class armor, and just ended up defaulting back to D-class.

A quick scan of one of my favorite series and I picked up something even better. A enchanted leather duster used by a certain Chicago Wizard in the 'The Dresden Files' which was enchanted to be proof against guns and knives and spread impact across the entire body when used. For my head I snagged a garden variety hockey mask, and a golden hat from the wizard of oz that could summon flying monkeys.

I looked like a fucking crazy person, but I did NOT look like the badass Nightfall identity I'd already created. In fact, the two capers couldn't BE any less alike.

Sufficient point total! D-Class enchanted coat. Harry Dresden's Duster: A magically reinforced leather trench coat, designed to prevent armor penetration and evenly distribute impact.

Sufficient point total! D-class enchanted hat. The Golden Cap: A mystical piece of headwear that allows the wearer to summon the Winged Monkeys of Oz, who will be compelled to accomplish any task put to them. May be used three times.

The golden cap was…weird. It looked kind of like a gold mesh ushanka with the rim being studded with gems. It was frankly hideous, and with the coat it made look like a belonged in a mental asylum…which kind of worked for me. Nightfall's costume was cohesive and terrifying, so the less like that this new outfit was, the less likely they were to be connected.

The Nightfall suit also distorted my height somewhat, with the bat cloak and all, while this duster made it much more pronounced. Combined with this being Brockton and capes popping up here all the time, I doubted I would be recognized, especially given the very different themes.

With my costume out of the way though, I still needed a weapon. More than that, I needed a gimmick that would differentiate me from Nightfall. I considered all sorts of possibilities, but given the monkey summoning cap, I decided that my new identity would use minions.

Masters didn't have the BEST rep, but they were pretty damned intimidating, and as long as I stuck with animals it would probably be fine. There was a dog controlling cape around the Bay and no one seemed to give a shit about that. I considered going with a monkey king kind of theme, but I had zero staff training, and that staff would be expensive as hell anyway.

Since I didn't exactly have any monkeys I could think of to steal, I would need some other animal.

I spent the next hour skimming through books, brushing up on half remembered stories, until I finally came to one I thought might work. A story about a guy who became a mech designer with a system in a science fiction universe. The Mech Touch included an animal companion, specifically, a hyper advanced cat robot named Lucky.

Lucky could fly, pass through objects, and had laser claws. He was also completely mechanical, and hopefully wouldn't count as a living creature.

Sufficient point total! C-class cat automaton. Lucky the Gem Cat: A special mechanical pet that can consume obscure and unusual minerals and metals to produce special gems with mystical properties.

There was a shimmer, and a form emerged from the book, sliding sinuously through the air. Blinking his emerald (not a euphemism, they were literal chips of stone) eyes at me as he floated lazily in front of me.

"Meow." He said dismissively. Weirdly, as soon as he manifested, I felt a sort of connection fit into place. I could immediately tell this wasn't a function of the Silvertongue System, but something Lucky had already had in his native world and required to function. The connection had latched onto me as he came through.

Part of that, apparently, was the ability to understand the gem cat. I glared at the sarcastic animal as I processed its insult. "Well you aren't exactly low key yourself. You're made of solid metal. If you didn't have stealth abilities I wouldn't even be able to take you out of the house."

He looked away dismissively, turning his head. "Meow."

"No, you do NOT get a vote. I don't care if you're embarrassed to be seen with me. You're a cat. You'll get over it."

Stalking past him, I climbed out the window, dropping off the roof soundlessly thanks to my boots. Lucky floated down beside me, cocking his head and letting out another meow. "We're going to the trainyard." I said. "You can make gems by eating metal, so I want to feed you a bunch."

Pausing for a minute, the cat eventually gave an imperious nod, before verbalizing his acceptance.

"Glad you're ok with the free food, your majesty." I muttered as I leapt the fence. The trees behind the house provided not just cover, but footholds. I leapt up onto a branch, then proceeded along the treetops, luxuriating in my fantastic boots.

We made good time to the trainyard, but when we got there, I stopped outside the fence. "Alright." I said to Lucky. "Time to try out those spying skills. Turn invisible and phase through the gate. Scout the place out with those high end sensors of yours."

This was early Lucky, who hadn't been upgraded with all the elite jamming tech he would get later in the book, but he was still Lucky. The cat had amazing detection abilities.

To my surprise, he didn't bitch, just nodding and phasing through the gate. I waited for a few minutes, and he finally came back. He gave a single meow, but I was able to infer his meaning as easily as all the other times.

"Villains?" I asked in confusion. "Who?" The response surprised me. "Squealer and Trainwreck? That's unexpected."

I considered what I should do. We could leave, hit the boat graveyard and let Lucky snack there…but if I was going to be a villain in this identity, it would make sense to make some cape friends. Or at least contacts.

The Merchants weren't GREAT people, but they weren't human traffickers or nazis, so they nominally ended up being the least objectionable gang in town. Guess they won the prize.

I hopped the fence (literally, it was barely an effort to clear it vertically) and landed inside, following the sound of rummaging and nagging. "Honestly. I don't know why I even brought you. Skiddy just wanted me to pick up supplies. I don't need a chaperone. Especially not one ogling my melons all night."

The voice was too high and pretty annoying, but when I turned the corner, I had to admit that the picture kind of made up for it.

If I'd assumed Squealer was being alarmist before about Trainwreck "Ogling her melons." I had probably been wrong. Mostly because it was impossible NOT to ogle them. Her mammoth mammaries jutted like a continental shelf, wobbling proudly as they stretched her skimpy, dirty tank top to obscene proportions, jiggly expanses of ivory cleavage almost spilling out the front.

The rest of her was…alright. She was probably pretty under all the make up, or had once been. She had a slight case of meth mouth, and her eyes were a little bloodshot, but I'd certainly seen worse.

"He was probably just worried you'd be attacked." I said casually, stepping out from behind a car. I had my arms crossed, jacket poised to tank any damage that came my way. I even had my mithril shirt on under my regular clothes beneath the jacket, and the combo SHOULD make me almost impossible to kill in a single blow.

Her head whipped around (even THAT motion made her tits bounce) and she glared at me. "Who the hell are you supposed to be?" She demanded. "You look like an extra from an ancient egyptian bum fight."

"Firstly, ow." I said, genuinely offended. That was actually a pretty good burn, but still. "Secondly, I'm new in town. My name is Vagabond. I had a run in with some creepy fuck in black and managed to jack him for a bunch of drugs. Heard you might be looking for them, and I thought it would be a good excuse to make some new friends."

Having already deposited the drugs, I should be able to take them out. I wasn't going to use them, so I might as well pretend I stole them from myself and hit two birds with one stone. I reached into my pocked, withdrawing a brick of the drugs I'd stashed in the book back at the stash house.

She sneered at me. "New friends huh? You in the market for some tinker pussy stud? You've been eyeing the goods. You expecting me to throw that ass for your stash?" She put a hand on hip, cocking it as she did so.

"Hard not to at least look when you're toting bowling balls like that." I said with a shrug. "But no thanks. I was thinking more of a…business arrangement. Seeing if you all needed any jobs done." Besides I wasn't letting that girl anywhere near my dick until I watched her take a bath in extra strength bleach…ok, maybe a tit job.

She glared suspiciously, then rolled her eyes, turning to stalk away. I admired the back view. Ok, maybe a regular bath would be enough. Stopping, she looked over her shoulder. "Well? You coming? I have shopping to do. If you help me carry my stuff I'll introduce you to Skiddy. And I guess you can keep looking if you want, big boy. As long as you keep your hands to yourself." Apparently, I'd earned an audition. Yay me.

January 9th, 2011 Brockton Bay, New Hampshire, 7:00 PM EST -SP:2500

Squealer's voice was unpleasant, but her butt was pretty fantastic, which kind of helped. I didn't pay much attention to her rambling, just watched the caboose chugging along as I mentally kept track of Lucky.

My gem cat wasn't stupid. Once I'd made contact, he'd slipped around us and was making his way through the trainyard. I couldn't exactly communicate in words with him, but as I got more used to the connection, I was able to send and receive general impressions and even some images.

My first discovery about my new cat was that he had a hell of a nose. He was sniffing out circuitry and switches, and collecting delicious (in his opinion) metals like gold, platinum, palladium, and even some small amounts of Rhodium.

That was the good news. The bad was that according to Lucky, while the metals were of functional quality, he'd still need hundreds of pounds of them to make a single gem.

Granted, it was better than eating run of the mill steel or iron, which would require amounts in the TONS to refine into a proper gem. The effects would also be lackluster unless he found and ate something a little more exotic to give it some flavor.

"Are you listening to me?" A voice snapped, interrupting my thoughts.

"Not really." I said cheerfully. "I was mostly watching your cheeks wobble. You did say I could keep looking."

She snorted. "At least you're honest. But I don't put out for anyone but Skiddy." She folded her arms under her bust, the action seemingly unconsciously presenting her titanic trailer trash titties. A rack like that deserved alliteration. "So why join up anyway? We usually get castoffs that nobody wants. Why the merchants?"

"Because I'm not a nazi or a sex trafficker." I also wasn't asian, but I didn't want to give her any details about myself that I didn't have to.

That made her face soften a bit. "Yeah. Shame about those girls." She said quietly. "Even criminals ought to have standards. Some of those brothels…well lets say some clients like them young. I've tried to get Skiddy to hit some of them, but he says it's not a good idea to stir up the bigger gangs."

I raised a brow at her. "I mean, he's right, but it speaks well of you that you want to try."

"Yeah well, growing up with a body like mine lots of men take an interest. Even when you don't want them to." She smiled unpleasantly. "Or did you think I do my makeup like this by accident? I don't exactly deal with the cream of humanity's crop. Looking like a painted whore keeps most of them away. Men like to whistle and leer, but they're surprisingly precious about what kind of pussy they're willing to get into. Combined with Skiddy's protection…" Her voice had dropped a few octaves, sounding a bit huskier as she stared off into the trainyard.

That was surprising. Though I guess it shouldn't have been. Squealer was a tinker after all. That was a power that usually went to brainy types. Didn't square with her stupid loud persona.

She seemed to realize her slip. Her tone flipped back to the annoying screech. "So look at the titties all you want stud. But they're spoken for. You ain't got a chance with this ass." She smacked a cheek loudly.

I studied her carefully. That was interesting information to have. I imagined the meth mouth wasn't fake, but I could help her with that. She might be cute if she got cleaned up. And a tinker would be useful. I could supply her with parts from books. I made a mental note to keep an eye out for a possible way to recruit her.

"So I'll join up with you all." I said to get things back on track. "Drugs can be fun, and you guys are the least scummy game in town. Except maybe Faultline's crew, but they need me less. Merchants are spread thing, cape wise. It's an easy sell, and I can get my hands on some money and drugs."

Both of which I could burn for points. We stopped in front of a train car. Squealer climbed up, walking over to the panel on the side and popped it open with a screw driver she pulled from her cleavage. She studied the internals, then pulled out a bag and started yanking out chips and pieces. She tossed me the bag, and I put it in one of my many coat pockets.

Rinse and repeat. Sometimes I carried the goods, sometimes Trainwreck did. He didn't talk much, just kind of shuffled after us. I didn't trust him, but then, I didn't trust any of these people.

The Merchants were a means to an end. My time out with Kim had taught me that being on the right side of the law could limit me, but this little escapade showed me there were benefits to be had playing both sides. Vagabond and Nightfall could work synergistically, assuming I could make a place for myself as a villain.

It would be easiest to get in with The Merchants, and I could maybe try to clean things up a bit so they weren't so grungy. I wasn't morally opposed to drugs anyway. People had the right to do whatever they wanted with their bodies, even dumb shit that would probably kill them.

Once Lucky finished his feast (he didn't get everything, since there was some overlap between what he and Squealer wanted) I had him tail us from the shadows. He would be ready to fuck shit up if I needed a quick exit.

Squealer had gotten quiet after her little accidental slip up, and we mostly just walked in silence until she declared she was done, then told me we were heading back.

We carried her haul to a giant monster truck lined with corrugated steel and pipes. The top had a massive tri barrel cannon on it, and as we approached, it adjusted to point at me. I whistled as it started to spin up loudly.

"That's my baby." Squealer said smugly. "You so much as look at me funny and my big boy will ventilate your ass."

"Noted." I said with a laugh. "He got as much trunk as his mama?"

She smirked, then snapped her fingers. A hatch opened in the back of the truck and we were able to load it all in with room to spare. Another snapped closed it, and she climbed up a small metal ladder on the drivers side to reach the wheel. "Get in and hold on." She said with a wolfish grin. "Speed limits are for pussies."

With a squeal of joy that made her name much more understandable, she slammed down her foot and the truck peeled out of the empty lot. I felt a surge of indignance from Lucky, but my cat had managed to slip into the trunk after I'd closed it, so it was mostly just from being tossed around a bunch.

Meanwhile, I was holding onto the oh shit bar in the front seat for dear life as the truck went up on two wheels rounding a corner. "Shit, woman!" I shouted over the shrieks of traffic and horns. "Where did you learn to drive?"

"Part of my power!" She yelled back, face split with a manic grin. "I can build anything with wheels and anything that you can drive is my bitch!"

We took another corner, barely getting back to four wheels before going up on two in the other direction. I was even more disturbed when we turned off into an alley, the wheels touching the wall as we drove damn near fully horizontal along the brick.

FInally, we came to a relieving stop outside of an unremarkable warehouse. "Whoo!" Shouted Squealer joyfully. "Fuck that was hot! I love a good drive. My panties would be soaked if I was wearing any!" She wiggled like a happy puppy, her tits bouncing around pleasantly, and Trainwreck and I both stared.

She winked and opened her door, wiggling her ass a bit before dismounting. I sighed and opened my own, dropping to the ground casually without any difficulty.

She led us inside, waving off the guards, and then strutted into an open room where a thin, dark skinned guy with meth mouth and a half mask was leaning over a table. "Honey, I'm home!" She said cheerfully.

Skidmark looked over his shoulder. "About fucking time. I got so bored I had this little slut get on her knees." He slapped the head I could now see between his legs. "Hurry up bitch. Get my nut and get lost, I have fuckin' business to conduct."

Squealer's eyes flashed with annoyance. "No worries. I can wait."

The gang leader grunted, fisting her hand in the short red hair of the dazed looking club bunny he was face fucking. "Fuck yeah. Swallow it whore." He pulled out, buttoned up and shoved her away. "Trainwreck, go get this slut some coke. She earned it." The club bunny stood and squeaked as he slapped her barely covered ass before scurrying away. "Not a brain cell in her head but that bitch could suck the chrome off a trailer hitch. Now who the fuck are you?"

I glanced at the tyrannical gang leader and was…unimpressed. Short (to me at least) thin and pathetic. But he was ostensibly the boss, so I played it up a bit. "I'm Vagabond." I said cooly. "Brought back some drugs you lost. I'm a cape and was hoping to join up."

"Well la-di fuckin' da for you." He sneered. "That doesn't sound like a me problem."

I shrugged. "Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Squealer talked to me a bit about your situation. How the ABB and the Empire are holding each other down and you guys just get table scraps. That doesn't seem right to me. I mean, everyone knows how badass Skidmark is. Your name is just as feared as Lung or Kaiser. All you lack is the right muscle. The right backup to make things happen."

"And you think that's you?" He said skeptically. "Some hobo dressed motherfucker with a stupid gold hat. That hat looks awfully expensive by the way. Maybe I want it as a gift."

"I wouldn't." I said warningly. "It's tinkertech. Only works for me. Someone else tries it on they could die. Besides, I'm planning to make you way more money than just a stupid gold hat's worth. I want to turn the Merchants into the force they're supposed to be. Your crew is good, but they're all druggies and hedonists. You need someone with their eye one the prize. Every king needs a kingmaker."

Skidmark considered me. I had his measure five seconds after meeting him. Egotistical short sighted idiot. Not stupid but way too impulsive. He wanted to be king shit, but didn't have the self control to be more than a street level boss. Drugs guns and pussy had convinced him he was a boss, and acknowledging that was the key to his approval.

"Maybe you're not such a fuckin' idiot after all." He said with interest. "But you got a lot to say and not much to show, bitch. Maybe you put your money where your fuckin' mouth is and I'll let you run with us. Gotta fuckin' prove yourself fuckstick. I don't even know what your fuckin' power is. What can you even do?"

I shrugged. "I kind of assumed. I'm a grab bag. Lots of weird little tricks. Too many to explain really. Easier to just show what I've got. I assume you have a test in mind?"

He grinned, exposing rotten, meth eroded teeth. "Fuck yes I do, bitch. You seem to be good at recovering product, so I'll have you do more of that. One of our stashouses got hit by the Empire. I want you to rob those racist fucks. Make me my fuckin' money back. You pull that off, and I might have a place for you on my crew." I grinned behind my mask. I'd been hoping he'd say something like that.

January 9th, 2011 Brockton Bay, New Hampshire, 9:00 PM EST -SP:2700

After my meeting with Skidmark, I went off on my own. I wanted to make a splash, but I wasn't stupid enough to raid the Empire half cocked. Plus I had to do some research into WHO in the Empire I'd be raiding. They didn't exactly keep convenient stashouses like the Merchants. I had no clue how their forces were arrayed, or where I would be able to get the most bang for my buck.

The problem was, I didn't really have any sources in the Bay. I was new on the scene. I couldn't ask Kim for obvious reasons, and Vagabond was only a night old. The Merchants might have information, but I couldn't trust it. I got the impression that Skidmark would be as happy to see me fail as succeed. This assignment was as much entertainment to him as a test, and any info I got would need to be heavily vetted.

Speaking of vets, I felt Lucky approaching as I disappeared down an alley, and as he phased through the side of a building, I grinned at my cat. "Have a good snack?" I asked in amusement.

A meow of agreement told me that he'd apparently eaten all the catalytic converters from the cars in Squealers workshop. I doubted it would be too big of an imposition to her tinker bullshit, but it would probably smart all the same.

It was kind of funny, and I had a rock solid alibi, since I'd been with their leadership the whole time. In the distance I could hear the yells of anger at the discovery, and I scratched Lucky under the neck to praise him for stirring up some trouble. As long as he didn't point that cat pettiness my way I was happy to see him fuck some people over.

I had school tomorrow, so I SHOULD go home…but I didn't want the night to end. This had been lots of fun, and going home at nine PM just felt wrong for a villain. Of course, I could hit two birds with one stone and check out the only place in town I knew of where capes would actively frequent. Palanquin.

Run by Faultline, the city's top mercenary, and her merry band of misfits, Palanquin was one of the top night spots in the city. Everyone loved it there, if only because it was the cool thing to do to hang out where capes might show up.

Some came in costume, some came in their normal identities, but you never knew who at Palanquin was a cape, and it gave every interaction a certain…mystique.

I'd never been (they were good at sniffing out fake IDs), but you can't card a cape. Prying into someone's real age was a breach of the unwritten rules, and as Vagabond, I could easily get past the bouncer and check the place out. If anyone would have information about the Empire it would be someone there, I'd just have to be subtle.

It wasn't even that far. It was two block from Lord Street, which ran through the whole town, specifically near The Market. Once I decided on my destination, I took to the rooftops, putting my boots to good use as I hopped soundlessly between buildings. It felt fucking fantastic.

Before I even noticed, I was coming up on my destination, and I had to drop down into an alley to prevent myself from being too noticeable. Costumes were a dime a dozen, but guys jumping fifty feet between rooves were bound to stand out, and not in a fun way. I legged it the last quarter mile, and arrived at the entrance at around nine thirty.

The bouncer saw me coming, but he didn't react as he sized me up. A bald man of average height, Gregor the Snail was huge in his own way, with pale translucent flesh that revealed shadows of his skeleton and organs, giving him a terrifying look.

"Do you have ID?" He asked lazily, his voice slightly accented. I wasn't sure where it was from, sounded Norwegian or something.

I tapped my mask. "All the ID I need right here, bud. Or are you asking for personal information on another cape?" I'd been playing with voices, nothing crazy or over the top, but I'd settled on a fairly high register of my own voice, with a quick cadence that staggered my speech a little. It sounded nothing like my regular voice, which was the point, even if it wasn't exactly stable sounding.

He glowered at me, then rolled his eyes. "Right. We're not responsible for any harm that comes to you due to intoxication, if you get uppity we'll toss you. Otherwise enjoy your night."

I tipped my ridiculous cap to him and then slipped inside. I was immediately hit in the face with a wave of noise and sensation. Music, booze, sweat, and a dozen other scents swirled together into a cacophony of stimuli that sent even me reeling for a second. I recovered quick enough, and headed for the bar, interested to see what kind of cocktails they had.

Sitting at a stool, I tapped the bar top to get the bartender's attention. An unassuming looking guy with plain features and a serious weightlifter's build, the tan man gleaned at me with a surprising lack of emotion. "What'll you have?"

Glancing behind the bar, I looked over all the bottles. I didn't see anything too interesting. I was almost tempted to read out something REALLY crazy and pass out shots of it, but that would be exposing my real power in public, so I just pointed to a fancy looking whiskey. "I'll have a shot of that." I said confidently. It was fairly pricey, but I wasn't exactly broke. I had some pocket money.

The woman sitting next to me snorted. I glanced over at her with interest. She was…really fucking hot. Dark hair, green eyes, toned body. The only oddity was her light green complexion and dark green lips (though the latter might have just been lipstick). "Something to say?"

"That's two hundred dollar whiskey, kid." Sha said with amusement. "It's for sipping, not shooting. Buying a shot of that is basically pouring it down the drain." She looked at the bartender. "He'll have a shot of Red Dragon, and make it a double. On me. Hell, why don't you get me one too."

I smirked at her from behind my mask. "On you huh?" I looked her over, taking in the incredibly tight and very flattering green and black bodysuit.

Chuckling, she shook her head. "In your dreams kid. I like my men with a little edge. Beat me in a fight and I might throw you some ass. But I wouldn't start that unless you're ready to go down." She winked at me. "I don't hold back. Even for cherry boys."

"Well those are just fightin' words." I said in faux indignance. "Tell you what. Why don't we make the one shot each ten, and we have a little drinking contest."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, what would we be drinking for? Because I can imagine what you would want if you won, but who says you have anything worth betting. I'm a high class lady, I have expensive tastes."

"I'm sure I'd love your taste." I said blithely, "But how about we trade a favor for a favor. I win, I get your help on a job, you win, vice versa. I assume you're a cape, based on your…" I waved at her body.

She put a hand to her chest in mock outrage. "What, just because I'm green I'm automatically a villain? How rude."

"I was mostly talking about the fact that it looks like you could crush a bowling ball with your thighs." I pointed out smugly. "Though now that you mention it I could see how someone might infer power use from your skin tone."

She looked me over again, though she couldn't see much. "Fine." She finally said with an eye roll. "I'm bored, and I won't turn down free drinks. But your 'favor' can't be sexual. I'm not gobbling your knob because you can handle your liquor. Your 'job' had better be legit. Crime or heroics I don't care much." She winked again. "I go both ways."

Pulling out a hundred, I passed it to the bartender. "Ten shots of Red Dragon." I nodded at him to line them up next to the one he'd already poured.

"Ballsy." she said appreciatively. "What's your name cherry boy?"

"Vagabond." I said with an eye roll of my own. "Now you know, so use it instead of that absurd nickname. And yours?"

She batted her lashes at me. "You might be sorry you asked me to stop. I know this great trick where I can tie a cherry in knots with my tongue. Guess you'll never get to see it. I'm Shego. It's nice to meet you. So, how do we do this? You first and then me? What are the win conditions?"

I smirked. She was confident, but I was too. The serum amplified my reflexes and metabolism through the roof. It would be simple as pie to burn off the liquor, but more importantly, it would keep my coordination intact. "We can play a little game I like to call dime shots."

Gesturing to the line of glasses, I continued. "We each take out eleven dimes. Stand ten feet back, and then flip the dime into the shot glass. Once its in we run to the bar, take the shot and run back. Three seconds. We make a line on the floor to show the mark."

Her eyes sparkled. "This sounds like fun. The further we get the drunker we are and the harder it is to sink the dime. I assume we're supposed to spit them out?"

"Swallow them if you want." I shrugged. "But I would."

She glanced up at the bartender. "Can you set things up for us? Mel owes me one, and I do love a good competition."

He sighed, holding up a finger, then called it up. He spoke quickly, and then nodded to her, pushing everyone back and making a line on the floor in washable marker. He set twenty two dimes on the bar and we each palmed them, walking over to the line. "Ladies first." I said gallantly.

She just rolled her eyes. "Sure." She transferred a dime to her other hand, took aim, and flicked it. She was off as soon as the dime made it halfway, grabbing and pounding the thing and bolting back.

Three seconds, in retrospect, was probably too long when dealing with capes, but it was too late to change it. She shot me a challenging look and I reached up, snapping off the bottom of my hockey mask to show my mouth though leaving the rest intact. I loaded my off hand, flipped the dime, then rushed forward and pounded it, spitting the dime to the side as I sprinted back.

And so it went, one dime at a time. Shego put up a good fight, but her eighth dime bounced off the rim, and mine went in.

Still grinning, she pounded the rest of her shots in succession, then yanked me in for a hard liquor filled kiss. "That was the most fun I've had in a while, cherry boy. Hope your job is as good a second date as this was a first." She winked at me. "You know what happens if you can talk me into a this."

I licked my lips, tasting the flavor of the liquor (cherry, of course), and swallowed hard, still overwhelmed with the adrenaline. "Well that depends quite a lot on you." I took her by the elbow and led her over to and empty booth by the dance floor. "What exactly can you tell me about the Empire Eighty Eight?" Her smile got darker and more excited, and I knew I'd found my future partner. I had a feeling this would be fun.

January 9th, 2011 Winslow High, Brockton Bay, New Hampshire, 7:00 AM EST -SP:2900

It was kind of anti climactic to be back at school. Everything seemed kind of…dull. Oh there were still hot girls in skimpy outfits, beefy jocks being idiots, nerds doing nerdy shit, and a dozen other kinds of people. It was me that had changed. I'd gotten a glimpse at something bigger, and it was hard to care about this shit anymore.

That was not, however, the only new thing about my school life. "Simon!" Squealed a happy voice. I turned just in time to catch the toned redhead sailing through the air as she wrapped her arms around me in a bone crushing hug.

Laughing, I spun her around to bleed off some the momentum. "Whoa there, Kim. A little warning next time."

Her face turned beet red as I set her down, averting her gaze shyly. "Sorry. I just…I've been thinking about seeing you all weekend. Or the rest of the weekend. I can't stop going over what we did together in my head. I've never felt like that before. It was so intense. And you were amazing! And the way I was moving…I didn't know a human body could bend like that."

The more she talked, the more stares turned toward us. Some appraising looks my way from the ladies and a whole lot of jealous glares from the men. I tried not to grin.

She was being smart, keeping things vague since we'd been caping, but I didn't think poor Kimmy had any idea what she was making it sound like we did all weekend. Not that i was complaining.

Too excited by our escapades, she blitzed right past the innuendos. "Can we do it again? I can't stop thinking about it."

Snickering, I grabbed her hand, waving at the people nearby and shooting Tara (one of the cheerleaders and the nicest of Bonnie's clique) a wink as we passed. The sunny blonde blushed, which was nice, and I pulled Kim into and empty classroom.

"Lucky." I said aloud. "Do me a solid and jam the room." Lucky's ECM jammers had a VERY short range, but within like a ten foot area he should pretty much make us signal proof. The field even worked on physical vibrations somehow. Kim looked confused until the robot cat phased into existence beside us, then her eyes went wide with glee.

She leapt forward to grab him in a hug, but phased right through his metal body. She caught herself, then shot me a sheepish grin. "Sorry. He's very cute."

"Don't feed his ego." I said acidly. "He's insufferable already. I don't need him to get cockier. Now, you're saying you want to go out again? We can talk securely here, we won't be overheard. Because the way we left things last time…you didn't seem super psyched with the work we did."

She looked guilty. "I know. And I'm sorry. You did so much for me. Giving me powers, taking me out with you. It was a lot. It felt sort of…shady. But then I was reading on PHO, and I saw all the people we helped. That stashouse was a serious blight on the community. They terrorized that neighborhood. All sorts of people were coming out on the thread, talking about how Nightfall saved them, and how even though your theme is a little dark, they were so grateful."

Her green eyes were wide and shining, and she grabbed me hands as she stared up at me. "I'm so sorry that I judged you like that Simon! Seeing all those innocent people posting their thanks just made me feel so petty. We got drugs off the street and made that neighborhood safe again. I want to go out together again. To do more."

I actually felt a bit bad about the drugs. I'd given them back to Skidmark, and granted, chances were good he'd just do them himself or trade them for sex, it was still a little scummy.

In the end though, needs must. Besides, I was going to be robbing ACTUAL nazis soon. Karmically I couldn't think of much that would balance the scales better than that. Kim must have mistaken my silence for reticence, because her bottom lip stuck out, eyes going somehow wider and shimmering with unshed tears. "Please? I promise I won't question you again."

Her pout was the most staggeringly effective thing I'd ever come across. I could feel my resistance caving in as I looked at her. If I wasn't immune to them, I'd have sworn she was using a master power on me.

"Alright fine!" I spat, throwing my hands up. I'd planned to pull double duty anyway. And as Nightfall I could pull some positive jobs to balance the bad shit. Plus it would let me make the best use of my new villain sources. "Just stop making that face. It's a crime how cute it is."

Pumping her fist, she shouted. "Yes!" Throwing her arms around me, she pulled me into a tight hug. As she was pulling away, our eyes caught, and she froze, face inches from mine.

Having just seen her pouty lips in an adorable expression of pleading, not looking at her mouth was tough, and not tasting it was tougher. So I didn't do either. I leaned down and captured her lips in mine.

She gave a cute little squeak and her eyes fluttered. As much as I'd have liked to get handsy, Kim wasn't exactly the 'pull down her pants and fuck her over a desk' type. I pulled back, and she licked her lips, eyes a little fuzzy. "Um." She said blankly.

I grinned at her. "Is that a good or bad um?"

"Um." She repeated dumbly. She blinked a few times like her brain was rebooting. "I…that. Um."

Leaning in, I grabbed her again, hand behind her head, and pulled her lips to mine. She melted against me, and it took all my self control not to palm that peachy ass. When I pulled back this time, she was panting. "Um is good." She said dreamily. "It's a very good um."

"Agreed." I said with a cocky grin. "Maybe we can do it again sometime." She nodded in a daze, but sadly, I had to burst her bubble. "Also, you do realize that by the time we leave this room, everyone is going to be convinced we spent the weekend having sex, right?"

Her dreamy smile vanished. "What? Why would they thing that?"

"Think about what you said in the hallway." I said dryly. "Like…really think about it. Then consider the possible context of that conversation."

Her eyes widened. "Oh! They thought we…that I? It sounded like I let you…" Her face crumpled in horror, and she buried it in her hands. "Oh god. I sounded like a nympho slut. Everyone in school is going to think I'm a total whore."

"Nah." I said, waving it off. "It's just one guy. I like you, you like me. If I'm your boyfriend then you don't need to worry about people judging. I mean maybe they can say you move fast, but who cares what they think?'

She froze, eyes locking on me. "B-boyfriend? My boyfriend? Not like…a friend that's a boy. But like a boyfriend? Like with dates and romance and kisses and…" I covered her mouth.

I burst out laughing. "You seemed a lot less shy when we were sparring."

Blushing, she shook her head. "That's not the same thing. Sparring is just physical. It's natural to get a little worked up. A little flirting lets off steam. That's not like…boyfriend stuff." Her eyes widened. "Not that I don't think of you in a boyfriend way! Or that I do!" She buried her head in her hands again. "Kill me now I sound so stupid."

Reached down, I pulled her against me. She raised her head, looking up at me. "Personally, I can think of much better things to do with you that start with K." I leaned down and kissed her, enjoying the strawberry and watermelon lip balm she was wearing. It must have been heavy duty stuff, because it wasn't coming off.

When I let her go, her eyes were fluttering and she had a big dopey grin on her face. "That WAS much better." She giggled.

"Now." I said with a laugh. "We need to go to class. But maybe we can meet up after school. Hit Fugly Bobs for a burger or something. I believe there was mention of dates." I paused. "I hope you mean the activity. I've never tried the food but they never struck me as delicious."

Rolling her eyes, she pulled away. "That was lame." Despite her statement she was smiling though. She went up on tiptoes and pecked me on the lips. "But that sounds fun. One date, coming up." Winking, she practically skipped out the door. Disney Princess indeed.

Laughing, I turned to head to class, but Lucky made a soft meow. Raising an eyebrow, I followed my cat down a side hall and to a window leading out into a tiny little alcove or something. I opened it like…half an inch, and it didn't make much noise, then, as Lucky suggested, I listened through the crack.

"Do you have it?" An entitled voice I'd often wanted to hear moaning my name demanded. "Because I'm in a bad mood. I need a hit. My sister is home from college and that cunt does NOT shut up." Bonnie. I'd recognize that bitchy tone anywhere.

A voice I recognized less responded, and it took me a second to recognize that Sparky guy that hung out with Veder. "I've got it. But I had to go to the mat with my dealer. I was out and emergency delivery is extra. You gonna make it up to me baby?"

There was a ringing slap. "In your fucking dreams, you little perv. Don't call me baby, and I'm not doing shit for you."

He snarled back. "You'll do SOMETHING if you want my coke. I'm not taking just cash for this. So unless you want to find a new dealer…Well. You're a smart girl. I'm sure you'll think of something. Doesn't have to be anything crazy."

Smirking, I slipped out my phone, angling it out the window and turning on my camera. Bonnie was glaring at Sparky like she wanted to kill him.

Rolling her eyes, she reached down, and methodically reached under her sweater, making a few quick motions and pulling out her bra. She shoved it at him in disgust. "There, you fucking sicko. Jerk off with it or something." She shoved a wad of cash at him. "And if you try to push more, I'm going to tell Brick you stole it and have him beat you to death."

He flinched, shoving the purple bra into his backpack. "Damn baby, be cool. You know Sparky's got what gets you right. I just wanted a little love."

He shoved a baggy of white powder into her hands, She sighed happily, dropping it into her purse. "Good. Now get lost. I have to get to class." He nodded happily, scampering off, and she patted her purse, turning to walk away.

Smiling, I cleared my throat, and Bonnie froze, turning slowly to face me. I smiled and waved from behind my camera. The window was a few feet off the ground, so she hadn't seen me recording, but she could see now. I beamed maliciously. "Hey there Bonnie. How about you and I have a little chat." I wasn't enough of a bastard to try to blackmail her into doing anything too bad, but I did happen to know she was rich. Vagabond could use a flawless heist under his belt, and I could use some cash. It might be fun to have another partner in crime besides Shego. I supposed I'd see what Bonnie had to say about it. Whatever I ended up doing, revenge would be sweet.

As usual pat-reon has the advance chapters at that site /malcolmtent Hope everyone enjoys.

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