In the Midst of Callousness 7 (Patreon)

In the Midst of Callousness
Chapter 7

-VB-

I lost my anti-power bat and the Butcher got away from me on top of that.

It was the only one of its kind and I couldn’t find it. To say that I was frustrated as hell would be an understatement.

Well, at least the Teeth was leaving the bay. The Butcher got scared of my bat, even though I no longer had it but could certainly make another one at the cost of three clone lives, and left the bay with the rest of the Teeth.

Things were happening quickly in the bay now ever since I took out the Nine.

The Empire had their succession. The Teeth was leaving. The Nine were dead. Hell, the only ones barely affected by all of these development was the Marquis, the semi-isolationist villain who always minded his own business and territory, and the Parahuman Response Team/Protectorate ENE, who responded too late to everything.

This was, in my opinion, the best time for me to relax.

And relax I did by being bold.

I asked my love out for a date.

She didn’t love me. From the times that I met and conversed with her, I already got the feeling that she wasn’t interested in me like that. I might be a good friend?

But she didn’t love me. I did, though, and it kind of hurt.

That’s love, though. It hurts more than it felt good.

The current love of my life looked down at me with wide eyes and a flabbergasted blush on her face.

“I…” she hesitated.

I’ve known her for a year now. We’ve talked quite a bit, and I did manage to make her laugh a lot.

I also knew that she was having trouble. Recently divorced with a kid, she wasn’t doing well. I knew that she was looking for help, and I could provide that help.

What I was asking for was just a chance for us to get to know each other better and deeper.

Shelly bit her lower lip, which only made her concerned face beautiful in her own way.

“Okay.”

I grinned giddily.

She smiled this time as she spoke again. “Okay. I’ll try it out. You’re my boyfriend now, alright?”

“Yes, ma’am~!” I chuckled as I stood up.

She looked up to me a little nervously.

“... Damn, you’re tall.”

Later when I delivered the news to the clones, we threw a party for ourselves.

Then, without telling people what it was about, we held the same party across all hidden branches of the Cult of Inner Spirit.

It was a great day!

-VB-

In the end, however, this was Earth Bet. Nothing good lasts forever.

Oh no, I was referring to Brockton Bay in general.

With the Empire crippled, other villains thought that there was enough room in the city for them to barge in and settle. Already, three villains had announced themselves by attacking patrolling Brockton Bay Brigade and wounded E88 capes.

The behaviors of the villains reminded me of nomadic tribes. Just like how the Germanic, Turkic, and Mongolian tribes roamed before finally settling down, villains roamed for a place to call …

I wouldn’t say home.

No, the villains looked for places where they could express themselves. The reason why villains and heroes alike gathered at Brockton Bay was how easily they could get away from consequences.

Brockton Bay was not Los Angeles Metropolitan, New York Metropolitan, Washington D.C., or the Texas Triangle; each of those regions hosted a member of the Four Protectorates: Alexandria, Legend, Hero, and Eidolon, respectively. This city wasn’t even like Chicago and Detroit, where some of the most violent “heroes” exercised their “duty to protect” to “accidentally” leave villains dead. It wouldn’t be until Myrddin appeared in the future that those two cities would change; there was a reason why people respected Myrddin deeply, despite the man’s obvious eccentricity. It wasn’t even like San Francisco, Portland (Oregon), and Seattle; they were the hubs of the newly established yet not yet unveiled Elite, and were far more ruthless than their predecessors of the Uppermost, a disbanded for-profit rogue organization formerly based in San Francisco but had been dissolved by the passing of NEPEA-5.

Brockton Bay had freedom that other cities did not have. It was where villains could put themselves against heroes and other villains. It was where they could stake their claims of territory without the very people rising up in revolt.

That’s what happened in Savannah, Georgia. A villain pushed the city too far, and an enraged mob killed him, his entire normal gang members, their families, and burned a tenth of the city in the process.

Remember, kids! Never practice public raping ceremonies! It’s very immortal! You also never know how many Trigger Events you’re going to cause like that!

It’s sad that it was a Group Trigger, and all nine members was on the kill side of Kiss/Kill mechanic. That’s how tenth of the city burned in the ensuing aftermath of irrational superpowered traumatized villains(?) fought for survival and control.

Yeah, the PRT had to deploy both Eidolon and Legend for that fiasco.

I digressed.

Villains intended to move into my city just after I got rid of one nomadic horde and downsized the local parasites.

No, no, no. That won’t do. It’ll put Shelly in danger.

No.

I wasn’t going to let new villains survive.