Chapter 50 (Patreon)

“Let. Me. Go. Now! Get me out of these fucking chains! I need- I need to go before they take her away! I need to leave, please, I-”

“‘Prolly shoulda thought about that before becoming a neo-nazi terrorist, you dumb bitch. Now shut your fuckin’ mouth and stay still. Train, get the fuckin’ tape-”

“I will end you! Do you hear me?! I can’t be-”

BANG!

All pandemonium stopped when I walked through the entrance of the Training Hall, the massive gilded doors slamming against the interior walls with a resounding crash. I didn’t even need to hear whatever desperate drivel the red-faced Purity was shouting over at the visibly annoyed Sherrel, and neither did I bother waiting for an explanation from the stone cold Trainwreck watching from the corner. 

I was just about tired of dealing with troublesome neo-nazis.

“Silence.” 

Ulgu had been a shroud around my shoulders like an omnipotent specter since I’d killed those men back at Coil’s hideout, and it hearkened my call as easily as it did back then, a small puff of smoggy gray blackness shooting from my fingertips and crossing the distance between me and the brown-haired woman in an instant. Her voice - hoarse and shrill - croaked out into a choked off gasp, and the dark smoke jetted into her opened mouth and nostrils like she’d inhaled the magic herself.

A soft squeak, not unlike that of a mouse, escaped her quivering lips, and something helpless and feeble passed over her rapidly paling face.

I didn’t bother reading deeper into it.

“You called for me, Overdrive?” I spoke into the stiff, tense silence that pervaded the room after my sudden display of magic. I continued walking forward, my steps long and composed, and Cassie hurried to keep pace with me.

“Hey Boss! Happy to see ya alive and whole, big guy. Never doubted ya after seein’ what you did to ol’ lizard face.” Sherrel’s voice sounded absolutely exhausted. The woman leaned forward on a dining chair, probably pulled from the kitchen, tapping the barrel of her sawed-off shotgun against the side of her white riding boots. 

Bound with zip ties around her wrists, and what appeared to be a tube sock wrapped around her mouth like a ball gag, Tammi glowered sullenly at me from the floor beside Sherrel. The loveseat I’d so graciously given her a day ago was nowhere to be seen, leaving the Training Hall looking barren and overtly spacious.

Trainwreck said nothing, ever the grumpy and brooding mountain of metal, but the way that he was glaring down at Purity made his true emotions abundantly clear. His eyes were rimmed with red, bloodshot from a mixture of frustration and tiredness, and the massive warhammer leaning against his shoulder seemed to warp the air around it with its heat - meaning it was recently activated. It was clear that the man wanted to kill her.

“It wasn’t too bad,” I replied conversationally, as if talking about the weather and not my waging a one-man war against two of the biggest supervillains in Brockton bay. “Coil went down like a bitch, and so did Kaiser after I dropped him and his minions four hundred feet outta the sky. The bastard’s currently hanging by his own tie out in a tree somewhere.”

There was a muffled choking noise.

Purity, her eyes widening at my casual words, stumbled forward on tightly-bound feet. Her entire form was wrapped in heavy duty chains - work done by large, clumsy fingers, but it did its job all the same. She went down hard, the rattling of metal filling the room with an ominous ambience, but no one moved to assist when she began wriggling and writhing on the floor. Desperate and frustrated tears began to bead in her eyes

Tammi looked away.

“Good. That’s it then, huh?” Sherrel whistled, her tired green eyes staring unerringly into my own. She leaned back, resting her shotgun against her lap and crossing one long, voluptuous leg over the other - and smiling minutely when my eyes glanced downwards for the briefest of moments. “Guessin’ kitkat told you ‘bout our little kerfuffle with that bitch and her klansmen.”

Cassie turned away from Purity’s prone form, her skin a shade or two paler than normal. “Y-yeah, I did!” she nodded seriously, crossing her arms beneath her chest. “I told him all about your ‘laser piss’ too, stinky. Stealing other people’s moves is hella lame, Overdeez.”

Sherrel’s eyes flashed dangerously, a crooked smirk twitching at the corner of her lips. “I already told ya, kitty, I didn’t fuckin’ steal from... wait. Hell no. What the fuck did you just call me-”

“Now’s not the time,” I frowned, causing both women’s mouths to clack shut on instinct. The minor rebuke didn’t do much to stop the stubborn glares and blown raspberries. “Cassie gave me the rundown. She also told me that Purity was spared, which… I get why you did it. War crimes and ‘allat. It just means another plus one for the PRT to deal with.”

“‘Another?’” Sherrel arched an eyebrow, tilting her head to the side as she stared at me from beneath the bill of her trucker hat. “You took someone else alive?” 

“Somethin’ like that.”

Azyr was low in quantities down here, meters below the earth, but my influence with the Winds meant that I was able to squeeze out every last drop of magic that I could from even the smallest amounts - the Blue Winds blew forward from the open doorway of the Training Hall, the taste of static electricity dulling the tip of my tongue as I channeled the Sapphire Arch for the second time in the past six hours and spoke it into existence.

“Heh… Open Sesame.” 

Ten or so feet behind Sherrel, the crystal blue gate crackled to life in a burst of lightning and electricity, the ragged and beaten form of a beautiful blonde-haired teenager in a torn white dress and eyepatch flying out and crashing against the floor. She had been significantly more damaged when I’d first pulled her out of the wreckage, her entire body broken and pulverized by the car crash with no superpower to break the fall, but I was a potent healer.

Sherrel leaped to her feet immediately, one hand holding up her sawed-off and the other gripping a wide-eyed Tammi by the collar of Cassie’s shirt, while Cassie herself was more preoccupied with gaping, amazed, at the Sapphire Arch.

She stepped closer, cautiously avoiding the unconscious body lying on the floor. “Holy crap… it looks so much bigger in person! What the fuck…”

“I get that a lot,” I smirked, buffing my fingernails over the front of my leather jacket. “Happy to impress, babe.”

“... Huh? S-shut up-!”

“You spared Othala…” Sherrel cut through the banter before it could even fully begin, lowering her gun and dropping Tammi back down to the floor. “Sheesh. Y’know they’re not gonna let a Trump like her just rot in prison, right?”

“I figured,” I shrugged, watching dispassionately as the bound and gagged Tammi staggered to her feet and slowly, carefully, approached Othala. “As long as she’s not helping a buncha neo-nazi freaks hurt minorities, and actually works to become a better person, I don’t really give a shit. Woulda felt kinda… evil, just executing a kid like that. She was unconscious.”

The blonde-haired mechanic snorted, stepping up beside me and rapping her fist against my bicep. “You’re a kid too, dumbass. No matter how mature and powerful you show yourself to be. I understand, though.” Turning her gaze forward again, Sherrel shook her head in bemusement. “Hard choices all around, but I think you made the right one.” 

“... Yeah. Hopefully they do, too. Trainwreck, grab Purity and bring her over to the Archway for me.”

“Eyup.”

It only took a glance, a crook of the finger, and a flex of the Aethyr to yank the tube sock loose of Tammi’s face, leaving behind a light pink imprint around her mouth and cheeks. Why she was bound and gagged in the first place was anyone’s guess, but I sincerely doubted that it was for no reason -  she wasn’t a friend or a comrade, and discretion was the better part of valor when there was even the slightest chance of you getting fucked up. 

Of course, that wasn’t a worry with me here now. I could tell that my mere presence, combined with the things that I’d shown her in my Reality Marble, scared any and all thoughts of rebellion fresh out of her mind.

I needed her capable of speech for what was coming, anyway.

“Othala. Othala! Fuck! Why- Avalon, why isn’t she waking up?” Tammi snapped her head up to me, anger at my supposed treatment of her friend warring with a base, instinctual urge to not piss me off. Though her wrists were still bound in front of her, she used what little leverage she had in an attempt to shake Othala awake.

Another crook of the finger and the zipties broke apart, the plastic pieces scattering across the smooth stone floor. Tammi didn’t even spare them a second glance.

“Shock, trauma, fear - take your pick. I healed her body, but fallin’ to your death with a bunch of evil assholes screaming at you to save their lives over your own… she probably don’t wanna wake up right now.” I responded calmly, watching as Trainwreck’s hulking form ambled in front of the fearful girl. 

Unceremoniously, he dropped the silently wheezing Purity onto the ground right beside Othala, the chains surrounding her body clanging violently all the while.

“Shit. I-... Nessa, I’m so fucking sorry I wasn’t there. Trying to run was stupid. Kaiser was fucking stupid…” Tammi’s voice dwindled down into quiet mutterings, both hands gripping Othala’s limp one as she kneeled beside the girl’s body. 

As Trainwreck backed up, still scowling down at the woman, I willed Ulgu away from her head, canceling the unnamed Silence spell with nothing more than a mental yank. It was almost… unsettling, the way the shadowy Wind expunged itself from Purity’s orifices like a noxious gas leak, where it dissipated peacefully into the thin air above us. 

GASP.

“Avalon!” Purity croaked from the floor, her voice hoarse and ragged from her silent screams and pleas. “Max- he’s dead, and I’m the last guardian of our children. Please, you have to understand… if I go with the PRT, they will… they will take my baby. I can’t let that happen. I won’t. You have to let me be a mother.”

“That’s actually what I wanted to talk to y’all about.”

In a woosh of air, I was seated, backwards, on the dining chair that Sherrel had just been sitting on, my arms folded over the back as I leaned forward and stared at the small trio of women. Purity’s moist eyes followed me the entire time, a desperate gleam shining in her irises, whilst Tammi only half paid attention. 

That was fine; she’d understand soon enough.

“All three of you,” I began, gesturing with a nod of my head, “Have been spared. Whether or not I’d come to regret that decision remains to be seen, but for now… it is what it is. However, Invictus - we’re not a charity case, or a fuckin’ mental asylum, and I have too much shit on my timetable to deal with than trying to teach people my age and older how to be decent human beings-”

“Yeah, like teaching me badass magic spells!” Cassie threw in aggressively, punching her fist into her palm with a loud, meaty ‘smack’. “... Ouch.”

“So,” I continued without missing a beat, “Here’s what we’re gonna do. Purity, Overdrive’s gonna stand you up and take those chains off of you. If I see even a glimmer of light, I can assure you… things will get really scary really fast.”

Sherrel glanced at me oddly from my side opposite of Cassie, but said nothing to go against my impromptu directive. Instead, she nodded tightly and made her way around my chair, pulling a small silver key out from between the marshmallowy depths of her cleavage as she did so. Trainwreck went to assist her with picking Purity up, but she waved him off, grabbed the woman by the topmost chain link, and with a guttural grunt and surprisingly good squat form…

Yanked her bodily up onto her feet.

Cassie let out an audible gulp from beside me. “... Meow.”

“Soon,” I murmured out the corner of my mouth, a roguish grin curling my lips at the surprised stare she shot my way. I didn’t say anything more, returning my attention to Sherrel and Purity just in time to watch the chains clamor and fall to the ground around the brunette’s feet. 

“Thank you,” Purity whispered, rubbing feelings back into her pale and swollen arms. “Thank you for amnesty, but-”

“Nah, this ain’t amnesty.” I cut her off, watching dispassionately as her head snapped up towards me. “I wasn’t finished. You, Purity, are goin’ to the Birdcage. That isn’t even a question at this point - I’m flying you there if I have to, but I’m not letting someone like you go free. Being a mother has shit all to do with being damn near the Grand Wizard of a neo-nazi hate party.”

“Told ya,” Cassie whispered to Sherrel, who’d returned back to her spot beside me. The blonde woman gave her a bored look.

“Othala and Tammi, they’ll probably go on probation out of state for a while, get put through hundreds of hours of therapy and remedial training, and after that bullshit’s gone… maybe they get a second chance. Or maybe they get sent to prison. That’s up to them and how much they wanna change… but you?”

A smile, different from my usual charming smirks and grins, formed on my face. It was cold, mirthless, and utterly unrepentant, and I didn’t blink once as I stared directly into Purity’s horror-stricken face. “You’re eatin’ prison food for the rest of your life, hag. Walk into the fuckin’ portal.”

Maybe I wasn’t completely over my anger issues. I knew, at the core of my being, that I was picking words with the intention of pissing the nazi bitch off. I knew that I could have handled this a lot better, edging around the grim reality of her situation by hinting at ‘chances of change’ and pushing in the fact that, for a couple years, she was actually trying to be a hero - a racist hero who targeted minorities, sure, but her definition of a ‘hero’ - but I simply didn’t want to. I was baiting her, using the little minute cues Hidden Intuition was passively dripping into the back of my mind to hit at her weak spots…

Maybe I wasn’t all good. Sue me.

Purity is furious. Purity is disgusted. Purity is about to crash out.

Since when did my powers start using my terminology?

“I can’t. I fucking- NO! Avalon, you may not know the love of a good, caring, and present mother, but I refuse to leave my baby girl alone in this disgusting world.” Her voice bordering on outright snarling, Purity clenched her fists and took a step backwards. She looked from me, to Cassie, to Sherrel, and I could see the way her brain was working through ways to get out of this situation. To escape from me.

There was motion in the corner of my vision - Trainwreck pushing himself off the wall and moving closer, and 84 hovering calmly in the background - but a single raised hand stopped them from reacting any further.

“Tammi,” I said coolly, never turning my lidded gaze away from Purity, “You cool with my terms?”

The girl had been silent during the entire discussion, absorbing my words and allowing them to ruminate in her mind before actually speaking up, and I only needed a taste of the very tiny waves of Red Wind radiating from her form to know that she wasn’t in any state to rebel or refuse my demands. There was anger and sadness thick in her hoarse voice when she responded to me, but there was also understanding. “... Does it even matter? It’s either that or death, right?”

I didn’t say anything. I didn’t need to.

With a sigh, Tammi tiredly slid her finger around Othala’s unconscious body, starting from her head and ending at her feet. Grooves, not unlike what would’ve happened if she’d possessed some sort of stone-carving ability, followed in the wake of her finger - only to glow with a dull green light as the hopefully former neo-nazi pulled her hand back. The ground shook beneath our feet as a roughly five and a half foot length of smooth, polished stone pried its way from beneath Othala’s body and floated into the air.

Tammi stood at the same time, letting out a groan as her knees and back popped.

“Ain’t lookin’ too good if you’re feelin’ those aches at your young age, darlin’.” Sherrel chortled, eyeing the hovering stone platform with a critical gaze.

“Better than crow’s feet and saggy tits,” she shot back, though there was no real heat in the words - just plain old exhaustion. Tammi didn’t bother saying anything more to me, Cassie, or Purity. With her shoulders squared and Othala floating beside her, she began making her way back towards the glowing, crystallized structure of the Sapphire Arch.

Her former co-leader stared at her, eyes wide with anger and betrayal, as she walked past. “Rune! You’re not giving up so easily, are you?! We can-”

“You don’t give a shit about me or Othala, Purity. Fuck off,” Tammi glowered, pausing to stare unflinchingly into Purity’s muddy brown glare. “It’s over. Avalon won, he’s more powerful than any of us, and honestly… This world is fucking fucked, and it needs him. Trust me on that. Or don’t, and get killed like everyone else we knew. Me, though?”

She returned her gaze forward, looking at the warped, electrifying glow of the Archway. 

“I at least wanna try to live.”

“But-”

Othala was sent through first, flying forward in a burst of speed, and before Purity could even reach out, Tammi followed right after. The loud, cracking ‘zip’ of them disappearing into my magical pocket dimension was polarizing, leaving behind a bewildered and tunnel-visioned Purity that could do nothing but stare unblinkingly at the space her last ally previously occupied. 

Slowly, almost painstakingly, she turned back towards us - the peanut gallery. 

Trainwreck stood, lurking in the shadows beside Pod 084, his Cassie-labeled ‘Rocket Hammer’ held in his massive steel hands like it weighed nothing. His face, as ugly and pockmarked as it was, belied no emotion other than pure, unadulterated aggression - it was clear that he was almost looking for a reason to crush her like a juicy bug.

Sherrel’s shotgun made a return appearance, angled non too subtly in the direction of the neo-nazi as she watched from my side. I wasn’t sure when, exactly, she became someone capable and trusted enough to keep things in check for me when I wasn’t around, but I found myself not minding relying on the former Merchant as much as I thought I would. It was obvious that she found absolutely no moral quandaries about filling Purity with lead at the drop of a dime, and I knew, intrinsically, that she would do a lot worse for the team. 

And Cassie…

Well, she was busy texting on her phone. The worried look on her face was, well, worrying, but I couldn’t do everything at once.

It just meant I needed to finish this up. 

“Walk through peacefully, Purity.” I broke the heavy silence, resting my chin on my arms as I stared at the twitching woman. “Either you go through it of your own volition, or I break your sternum and knock you in.” I didn’t bother repeating what would happen if she decided to attack me instead.

“Do you have no shame? Would you really leave my children as orphans? In Brockton Bay?!”

“Your ex said the same shit to me before I hit him with a spell that made his testicles flip inside out. You don’t have balls, so I can’t do the same shit here… but yes, yes I would. Walk. Through.” I considered myself a man of great patience, but there was a very fine line I could approach before even I started getting pissed the fuck off.

And this back and forth was making me approach it at an expedited pace.

“I-”

“Um, excuse me, racist bitch,” Cassie cut in, her face stormy with annoyance as she glared hatefully at Purity. “Our future GF is currently in need of prime text-roleplay cuddles right now and you’re wasting our frickin’ time. Don’t make me break your knee caps!”

“... Kitkat, that’s not- she would kill you.” Sherrel blanched, stepping forward and lightly pushing Cassie back with her free hand. “Lemme do it.”

“Hello? You’re just a Tinker too!”

“Yeah, but I can squat 315. What’s your max, fluffcakes?”

“F-fuck you, that’s what!”

With a sigh, I stood from the backwards dining chair, took a step back, and kicked it forward. All conversation ceased at the loud crumple of wood and metal as it skidded forward fast and hard enough to gouge thin grooves against the stone floor - much faster than Purity, in her non-Breaker form and lacking any kinetic light, could actively react to. She released a pained yelp as the blurring chair slammed against her lower body with a debilitating ‘crack’, folding her over the top of it and granting her a free, furniture-empowered ride directly into the Sapphire Arch.

It crackled and popped satisfactorily for a moment, as if burping after a particularly tasty meal, before fading away into shards of quickly dissipating magic.

“Was tryna give her more grace than that, so she didn’t appear in the PRT HQ as a broken and crying mess… but I was starting to get impatient,” I sighed, turning away from the ruined flooring.

“Better you than me, I guess.” Sherrel shrugged callously, sliding her sawed-off back into its leather holster. “What’s next, boss man? You take ‘em to the suits, get ‘em all strung up, and…”

I opened my mouth to respond, the next course of action already fresh and prepared in the front of my mind, when I felt the Grimoire pulsate and warm within my chest. The mote of light swam its way towards my sea of magic, cautiously offering itself up to me, and I allowed my inner awareness to brush ever so slightly against it so that I could see what, exactly, it would give me…

Mystic Dojo (Marvel Cinematic Universe - Volume 2 - 400 CP): For the Masters of the Mystic Arts, the grounds of Kamar-Taj is their sanctuary, their fortress, and their school all in one. It is a place where they can open their mind, and truly ascend to new heights in awareness as they explore Creation itself. Alas... even they knew not to focus everything in one place, and it is with that in mind that I offer you this. 

Whether you wish to place this in a mountain range so that it is hidden away from the eyes of most, or have it as a Warehouse attachment, this ancient site contains everything one needs to build an order. Rooms for monks to stay in, a great library to fill with many books, a courtyard to practice, an armory for magical items you may possess, and even a storage unit that supplies as much mundane food, water, and tea to sate those who follow the Mystic Arts. 

Even better, those who practice here will find their minds opening more quickly than usual, having an accelerated effect that will leave training of the body and mystical practices half again as effective. ...oh, and there’s a wifi router installed.

A fucking Kamar-Taj expy? With wifi?!

‘Hold on, Grimmy may be onto something here…’

Yoink.

It settled in deep, right beside Sanctum.

“Ooh, he just got another power! What’d you get, Jay?” Cassie ambled over, her phone still held firmly in her grasp as she peered up at me with a pure, excited curiosity. 

“Huh. That’s how it works, then? Kinda busted.” Sherrel huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. Even then, she didn’t even try to hide the fact that she was curious as Hell, too.

I glanced over to the sullenly observing Trainwreck, however. The big guy wasn’t one for speaking, but I knew that he still felt things - he was a very unique blend of pride, self-disgust, and dogged loyalty, all wrapped up into one warped and fucked up blob of a man. He didn’t want to live inside of a fucking cargo container. Hell, no one did. And while I had the funds to purchase him multiple properties at this point, living around normal civilians as a Case 53 would always be an avenue for disgust and negativity for him.

Unfortunately, being what he was… without very specific magic, he would forever be an eyesore in the mundane public’s mind.

With Mystical Dojo, however…

“I got something pretty fuckin’ good. Get some rest tonight, guys.” I grinned crookedly, rubbing my hands together like a cricket. “You asked about our next move, right Sherr?”

“... Yeah?” she replied hesitantly, glancing down at a deadpanning Cassie. “Is he, uh… good?”

“No,” my oh so faithful girlfriend sighed, shaking her head ‘sadly’. “He’s got that look in his eyes. We’re about to work without pay for another frickin’ week.”

“Grab a big ass handful outta the duffel we took from the Merchants,” I waved her off dismissively, my eyes roaming away as plans began forming in my head. “I also stole Coil’s PC setup and banking info, so we’re like… ninety million dollars richer now. Even more, if my hunch is correct and he has accounts set up with Number Man.”

“... What. When were you gonna-”

I clicked my tongue, covering Cassie’s entire face with one large hand. “Unimportant right now, babe - I’ll drop his computer off in your office. Now: Our next move will be… Can I get a drum roll, please?”

A full body shiver ran down my spine as Cassie shamelessly licked the full length of my palm, but I ignored her antics in favor of finger-gunning at an unamused Trainwreck - who proceeded to sigh, grumble something beneath his breath, and start drumming his large metal fingers against his armored chest.

Clunky and off-beat, but usable.

“Don’t say somethin’ stupid, boss man. My poor, fragile heart can’t take anymore bullshit tonight,” Sherrel lamented, running a hand through her wild tangle of short, silky blonde locks.

“Hesh gonna shay shomethin’ shtoopid.” Cass giggled through my palm-flesh.

I ignored their hater tendencies with a smooth and seamless ease that came from years of doing the exact same shit to former friends and colleagues. “Ahem! We, that is, Invictus, will officially be… establishing our Base of Operations here, in Brockton Bay, starting tomorrow! In the, uh… Boat Graveyard. After clearing it out entirely. And… beating up the rest of the ABB and E88 muggles.”

“Told yew!”

“Boss, that’s the stupidest fuckin’ thing you coulda said. What the fuck?”

“... I ain’t doin’ it.”

“Wait!” I raised a hand - the saliva-coated hand that was just on Cassie’s face - to accentuate my point, “I have mystical and overpowered methods of gettin’ it done efficiently. I mainly need y’all to patrol the city and help stamp down on the gangs now that their capes and leadership are taken out. You said we got a new member, right? ‘Imp’?”

“Well,” Sherrel frowned thoughtfully, rubbing her tired eyes. “She killed for us. Slit Night’s fuckin’ throat like a cold-dead killer. And she said to ‘hit her up so she could meet Avalon’. So I guess she’d be an official member when you, uh… knight her? Ain’t that the nerdy terminology nerds like you use?”

“You play MMOs,” Cassie snorted, narrowing her eyes at the mechanic. “Stop acting like you’re not a nerd too, nerd.”

Sherrel’s cheek twitched. “I’ll show you a ‘nerd’, ya little breedable bit-”

Seeing that the two were about to go in on each other again, I tried something new instead of my usual ‘shut up and focus’ mini-statement. Remembering the sensation of letting my mana loose out of my body, and the way it created a certain pressure in the living room that had Cassie almost tripping over herself to get away, I allowed just a trickle of my magical energy to seep through the pores of my skin, over my arms and shoulders. It was surprisingly easy and painless, and wisps of golden and silver energy - translucent and almost impossible to see - began drifting from my body.

I couldn’t feel what it did to the atmosphere, but everyone around me apparently could.

Trainwreck stiffened, the grumpy expression fading away into a stoic focus that he lasered onto me like a dog locked onto a bone. Sherrel reacted in much the same way, only there was a definite flare of heat - of Aqshy - that emitted from her stomach as she shut her mouth and focused her attention onto me. Her hands shook, body seeming unsure of whether to step away or bow down, but neither inclinations seemed to stop her tongue from darting out and wetting her plump bottom lip.

Cassie’s response was… a bit different. She jerked upright, her mouth falling open in awe and her pupils dilating as she craned her head up to stare directly at me. She seemed less affected in certain ways, but more affected in others, as if her connection to magic gave her a different understanding of just what I was doing.

Not that even I knew what I was doing. Some bastardized, magical form of Conqueror’s Haki? 

Interesting…

“Tonight, we rest and recover, but tomorrow,” I spoke again, my deep voice filling the silence of the room with its warm, authoritative drawl, “Trainwreck and Sherrel, you two collect Imp, take the truck and 84, and put your boots on the neck of every ABB and Empire goon lookin’ to find diamond where there’s only dust. You feel me?”

“Aye aye, Daddy- oops, I mean… Boss. We’ll show ‘em to Hell!” Sherrel grinned shamelessly, giving me a two-fingered salute.

Trainwreck’s head slowly turned, and he gave her the flattest, most uncomfortable sneer I’d ever seen on his face. When he looked back to me, it was gone, replaced by that same stoic line - something that I was beginning to understand was his own look of respect. “Eyup.”

“Don’t kill ‘em,” I snorted, locking eyes with Sherrel. “Fuck ‘em up, call the cops, do what you need to do. Only go for a killshot if you absolutely have to. We don’t wanna show Brockton Bay that we’re just a buncha bloodthirsty murderers.”

“Haaaa. ‘Course not! Don’t know why you’d think I’d just kill ‘em…”

“Uh-huh,” I smirked, looking over to Cassie, who was still staring starry-eyed at me. “You okay, Cass?”

“... I am absolutely staying with you,” she whispered breathlessly, clenching her little fists and placing them beneath her chin like some cutesy anime girl. With her looks, though, she might as well have been one. “You have to teach me magic, Jay! Especially that super badass aura thing you just did! That was, like, some frickin’ alpha male dominant shit. Magical pheromones - is that a thing?! Are you a werewolf?! Ooh, do you have a kno-”

A tug of Aethyr brought her face-first into my chest, and I twisted her around, lightly curling my arm around her neck in a gentle headlock. The slight pressure cut off her rambling at the root, but the wave of Aqshy I felt - and the concurrent sensation of her juicy, bubbly ass, bare outside of a pair of lacy panties, pressing firmly against my crotch - was evidence enough that she wasn’t intimidated or scared by the sudden hold.

… Maybe the rings could wait for tomorrow night. 

My voice came out rougher and deeper than I’d intended, horniness clouding my mind. “Cassie will be comin’ with me - both to the PRT, and to the Boat Graveyard. Just hit us up if you need help, yeah?”

“You ain’t gonna explain that whole ‘magic’ tirade kitkat just had us sit through?” Sherrel squinted suspiciously at the two of us. “That didn’t sound sus, Trainy?”

The tin man shrugged. “Figured it was magic or some shit. Ain’t make sense otherwise.”

Sherrel’s face dropped, and she turned back to glare at him. “What the fuck? And you ain’t say a freakin’ word to me?!”

“All will be explained soon,” I chuckled, sweeping my free arm beneath Cassie’s knees and moving the other one from around her neck. “Just trust me-” 

“Oh!”

“And get some sleep. The couch pulls out into a mattress, Trainwreck, and Sherr… you can sleep in our bed. I’ll make a pallet on the floor or something.”

But as Trainwreck grunted in affirmation, Sherrel sighed and acquiesced, and Cassie, like the pillow princess she absolutely was, snuggled into my bridal carry and began typing on her phone… I inwardly laughed like an evil villain.

I was tired, mentally, physically, and magically… but I was also ridiculously, unnecessarily horny, and- 

I absolutely was not making a pallet on the floor. 

Cassie and Sherrel both wanted it to happen, and I was nothing if not a fucking weak, basic man.

I could only resist temptation for so long.

So as I excused myself and carried my girlfriend up to the bedroom, brushing past a grumbling Trainwreck and Sherrel, who was making pizza pockets in the kitchen…

I made plans. More plans. Plans that were, in that moment, infinitely more important than establishing a base for Invictus and clearing the city of the ABB and Empire Eighty-Eight.

Tonight, before I laid my weary head to sleep, I would enact the ultimate plan.

Plan…

Ultimate Threesome: Mechanic Edition.
________________________________________

Perks Accepted:

Mystic Dojo (Marvel Cinematic Universe - Volume 2 - 400 CP): For the Masters of the Mystic Arts, the grounds of Kamar-Taj is their sanctuary, their fortress, and their school all in one. It is a place where they can open their mind, and truly ascend to new heights in awareness as they explore Creation itself. Alas... even they knew not to focus everything in one place, and it is with that in mind that I offer you this. 

Whether you wish to place this in a mountain range so that it is hidden away from the eyes of most, or have it as a Warehouse attachment, this ancient site contains everything one needs to build an order. Rooms for monks to stay in, a great library to fill with many books, a courtyard to practice, an armory for magical items you may possess, and even a storage unit that supplies as much mundane food, water, and tea to sate those who follow the Mystic Arts. 

Even better, those who practice here will find their minds opening more quickly than usual, having an accelerated effect that will leave training of the body and mystical practices half again as effective. ...oh, and there’s a wifi router installed.

500 CP remaining.

A/N:

Sorry for the lil' wait, guys! Wanted to take the week off to refresh my brain and get my thoughts running again, to avoid burnout. It's not a fun thing to feel like you're squeezing your last IQ points out to write a chapter, and rest can help with that! But we're so back now, and things are about to get... spicy.

Yes, the threesome scene - long awaited and teased - will be happening next chapter. It won't be the only thing happening, of course, but the first part of the chapter will be NSFW. Just a warning for those who want to skip down past that part and get to the SFW stuff.

The perk rolled here worked out perfectly. I was originally going to have Jason go with them to finish clearing out the goons, but after rolling that I rewrote that section and made it so that he's going to clear our the Boat Graveyard. Kamar-Taj is pretty fucking big, so they need a decently sized amount of real-estate to plop the foundation down at. Not to mention, enough space to make an outer defense that can hold up to any future attacks or infiltrations.

I'm not the best at base building, but creating a place where Invictus can train, rest, recover, and generally just shoot the shit together is important. It would be the place that Avalon can come back to once he figures out dimensional travel. It's their place of solace, peace, and safety. Fortunately it doesn't say it's a carbon copy of the Kamar-Taj, so we can have aesthetic and creative say over how it ends up looking.

Sidenote: I edited previous chapters to make it so that Coil's initial documents say he has 90 million in public accounts. The rest will be locked behind his Number Man accounts, and that will be revealed later by Cassie.

Second Sidenote: Is anyone interested in Jason possibly doing a PRT Power Testing? I thought about it, since it would be his first time actually going to their HQ, but I'm not sure if that's something people wanna see. Just let me know here.

Anyways, I'll see you all next time for Chapter 51!