The Bargainer 7 (Patreon)

The Bargainer
Chapter 7

-VB-

Two dozen new parahumans now led Saath in my name, and my orders to them had been as clear as I could make it.

‘Make a city that can house a million souls.’

After I gave that order, I left Planetos and returned to Cauldron’s base. I made my way to Doctor Mother’s office and walked in after knocking and getting her permission to enter.

“You’re back,” she commented with the same monotone one might talk about the same clouds, skies, and winds after however many decades of the same stuff.

“I am,” I replied. “I might go visit other worlds to discern their usefulness, though. Have anything you need from me?”

“Yes… Eidolon requested to spar with you.”

I nodded slowly. “Will it be a public event?”

“Alexandria wants to make it one. She also wants to induct you into the Protectorate.”

I raised an eyebrow. “I am already working on making backup world for humanity.”

“She argued that there was no way that you would be completely indisposed of while doing that work. At the same time, Earth Bet could use some reassurance with the death of Hero.”

I hummed. “So you want me to work both the face and the behind the scenes of things?”

“We do.”

“That’s a lot of work.”

“We know.”

“‘We,’ huh?”

She didn’t reply, continuing to compile whatever it was that Cauldron and its employees worked on.

“I won’t be an ever present face, you realize.”

“You don’t have to be. Alexandria even postulated that there was a possibility of publicly assigning you to ‘defense against extraterrestrials.’ I’m sure you could provide the evidence that you want.”

That … sounded about right. Very few things could mess with a Battle Wolf, which was quickly becoming my go-to shapeshift form. If I went over to Warhammer 40k or something and filmed myself destroying millions of Tyranids… Yeah, I could make it work.

“I have a feeling, though,” I added. “That you don’t want me to release the fact that I am a king.”

“No,” a new voice said as someone else walked in. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Alexandria. “It would cause dissent among the Protectorate to have a foreign dictator, or would be god, as a member of the Protectorate.” There was significant emphasis on the “would be god” portion of the statement. “Since your joining is meant to create more stability across the whole of the nation, releasing your non-Bet origin wouldn’t help.”

“Then what exactly will I be doing beyond this public show of power?” I asked her, swinging an arm over the back of the chair I sat on.

“Ideally, I would have you lead a branch in either the Great Lakes or the Midwest branch of the Protectorate. Realistically, we will need you to work and show your power, skills, and leadership before we can assign you any such position,” she added.

“That’s perfect then.”

I felt Alexandria’s confusion, though I didn’t see it on her facial or body language.

“How so?”

“Doctor Mother here suggested that I should take up the role of a ‘defender of extraterrestrial’ as you suggested.”

“Yes-”

“Then I’ll go fight a threat so terrible that people will have no choice but to accept me.”

“You have a target in mind?” she asked.

I smirked.

-VB-

“A new parahuman cape to join the ranks of the Protectorate. That happens everyday. What’s the special about this one that had five regional directors and twelve prominent Protectorate branch leaders gathered to witness it?” Director Cayleb Shaw of the PRT ENE asked as he sat left of Director Fredricka Almondshire of the PRT 46-Minneapolis and right of Director John Xin of PRT 62-Pittsburgh.

All of them sat in a dim meeting room big enough to comfortably house the meeting for nearly two dozen people, and the building it sat in was a nondescript near-bunker like building in the middle of Arizona on federal property.

Shaw was sure that there were more than a few mines within a mile of him. This place just had that kind of feel, and the name of the location was “classified.”

Classified to a member of the PRT who had clearance to view quite the load of shit his country liked to haul around.

Standing across from them and the Protectorate branch leaders sitting next to and behind them was Chief Director Rebecca Costa-Brown, a formidable woman of iron will and cold logic.

“It is because of what I intend to have him do,” she began. Pulling out a mundane clicker, she pressed the on button and an image of a plain domino-masked man came up with some mundane information.

“This is the new parahuman cape you are talking about. Cape Name: Beast. Age: 28*. Previous OCcupation: Mercenary.”

There were some grumbles, and Shaw could understand the dissent already mounting in all of them. A mercenary? That was .. ridiculous. It was one thing to have a patriot of the state join them but a mercenary being given this kind of treatment?

“He is also on par with the … now re-named Triumvirate. Alexandria confirms this.”

Then she clicked again, and a video feed came up.

“This is a live feed.”

On the screen, Shaw and the rest of the occupants of the room saw two men. The one on the left was obviously Eidolon.

The one on the right had to be Beast, though he wore an outfit more like some sort of a magic fantasy traveler.

“Oooh, I sense a profound well of magic within that man!” Myrrdin spoke up from the back.

Of course, Shaw knew what “magic” was because they had one among their ranks here.

“Currently, Eidolon and Beast are five miles west of this bunker.”

So it was a bunker.

Wait, why did they have to be in a bunker for what seemed like a power demonstration.

Abruptly, Beast changed. In one moment, he was a man, and then winds swept and obscured him for a moment … and then he was a beast.

Shaw felt his jaw drop. Taller than any of the Endbringers and even taller than most buildings, a ferocious looking wolf stood in the place of the soon-to-be Protectorate hero.

Eidolon, on the other hand, took off from the ground, flying high.

“This is a sparring match between Eidolon and Beast. You may begin,” the chief director announced.

Almost immediately, the wolf took off. It blurred as it jumped up to catch Eidolon in its jaws. In that single jump, it cratered the ground where it launched off from.

“Brute 6, Mover 6,” someone muttered as the camera quickly zoomed out and followed the two.

The Beast, the name was aptly chosen, bit down, but Eidolon countered with some sort of a shield… that broke. The hero teleported away, but the wolf was always close, chomping down and clawing whenever he got near Eidolon. Earth broke and shattered not unlike how Endbringers shattered buildings.

“A-Are we sure he’s not an Endbringer…?” someone asked.

It was rude, especially to someone with a “monstrous cape” appearance, but Shaw didn’t fault them for the question.

Because Eidolon was losing.

Eidolon began pulling out the big guns.

Shaw’s eyes widened when he saw what looked like black hole come into existence for a moment, twisting space and light, before erupting. Dust clouds and black smoke exploded out from the spot… but then the camera shifted up.

Eidolon was now fighting the Beast high in the air.

“Their current altitude is three thousand meters above sea level. Two thousand meters above where they originally began the fight.”

And then the Beast changed. His canine form blackened and morphed. In the place of a wolf was a jet black raven as big as a semi-truck.

And zap.

Eidolon got hit with a move too fast for anyone to discern. No, the camera couldn’t see it.

Eidolon changed out his powers, and took to fighting the now raven Beast. They engaged in high speed dogfighting, Eidolon shootings lasers as he chased the raven while the Beast returned fire with its jet black feathers at the hero.

A separate video showed wherever those feathers landed, they sunk into the earth with their sharpness.

They climbed higher and higher, egging each other on. While the rest of the room watched the fight with rapt attention, Shaw found himself focusing on a different aspect of the fight: the environment.

Clouds were forming.

And rings began to form with Eidolon and Beast at the center. More rings formed. Concentric rings of dark clouds formed and grew in size, and now, no one could ignore it.

The clouds just screamed power. That there were those with power fighting and warned the world of the danger.

Shaw realized that the death of Hero, a friend, wasn’t the herald of new age of violence and the rise of villains.

No, it was the herald of a new age of masked individuals with enough power to level cities. Of Endbringers. Of Triumvirate. Of Beast. Of others like them.

The future looked grim for him.

-VB-

*Not my actual age.