Amazon Apocalypse 2: Chapter 76 (Patreon)

Note: Back to the main story. Not much changed in this chapter, just in the last three chapters where Carter is discovering things. Main difference is that Lisette was found chained to a bed post and looked much less suspicious, so if you see a reference to that it isn't an inconsistency. I will try to keep you guys updated on any altered context as we go through the next 12 chapters to the end of the book.

Chapter 76
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Marcus, Kyle, and Lisette were gone. I looked around the prison compound, but they were nowhere to be seen.

“Any of you guys seen Kyle and Marcus?” I asked.

I was greeted by uncertain shrugs. Many of the militia were new, and though most knew the names of their fellow team members, not all of them knew the names of everybody else. I had to give a brief description of what they looked like, but nobody recalled seeing the two men. I didn’t have a breakthrough until I tried giving them Lisette’s description instead.

“What about a beautiful woman, with reddish-hair? She was wearing a costume store slave girl outfit.”

“Yeah, we did see someone like that!” one of the militia said. “She took off that way with two guys. Seemed like they were in a big hurry, too…”

I frowned, following where his hand pointed. He was pointing away from Crownhill.

“Alright, thanks.”

I quickly took off into the wilderness outside the city. A few monsters appeared, trying to bother me, but all of them were low-leveled. Wiping them out actually helped clear my head a bit.

Something was off with Lisette. I couldn’t name what. I’d examined her and found nothing. To everyone else she seemed like just another victim. But there was a feeling deep in my gut that I needed to watch her.

And now Kyle and Marcus had vanished on me. That feeling was growing stronger by the minute.

I shook my head. She’d no doubt been through something awful. I’d examined her, and so far her story checked out. It would be bad for my reputation back in town if I were to press her after what she’d gone through, no matter what my paranoid guts might be implying. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t have people keep an eye on her. For her own safety, of course.

I remembered the smitten looks on Kyle’s and Marcus’ faces when they’d looked at her… fawned over her, actually. And then how strangely Caesar, Knuckles, and all the mindless psychos populating the prison had acted. It was all connected somehow.

And Lisette was at the center of it—of that, I was growing increasingly certain.

The forest outside of Crownhill bore no signs of the passage of three people. I could look further into the woods, but there was so much area to search that I’d have more luck picking a needle out of a haystack. This would bear investigation and research. If I still had access to Myrina, I might be able to pick her brain.

I cursed inwardly at that thought.

Elder Thalassa couldn’t have picked a worse time to spring her little plot. Who knew what she was doing back on Themyscira? Myrina was probably lying low to avoid exposing my business ventures. I wondered when, or even how, I’d get in touch with her again.

I spent several hours outside the city looking for Lisette and my two subordinates. I started to worry about Kyle and Marcus. I’d taken the two young men under my wing. What if something happened to them? Frustrated, I headed back to the settlement. With no luck picking up their trail near the prison, my hopes of finding them as the light started to fade went from slim to none.

Which was why I was surprised to find they’d returned to Crownhill for the victory celebration while I was out looking for them. Side by side with Lisette.

“Yeah, that Lisette woman’s a real looker,” the militia who I asked about them shook his head, letting out a low whistle. “Anyway, Kyle and Marcus said she’d hired them as her private bodyguards. I think I heard someone say they were helping her move her stuff into Kyle’s apartment… over that way.”

“They’re leaving the militia?” I asked worriedly. “I thought we were paying pretty well for shifts on the walls? Flexible hours, and maybe even retirement benefits. What’s not to love?”

The militia man shrugged. “It’s better than the gigs most people have, I’ll give you that, Sir. As for why Marcus and Kyle are leaving? I think that has more to do with the pretty lady they’re caring for. With a smile like that, she could turn any man in the settlement into a drooling simp. Seems like she got her hooks into those poor boys.”

He sighed, scratched his cheek, and then spat to the side. “Ah, well. They will be remembered fondly.”

“What’s the address? I want to talk to them… to Lisette in particular.”

When the militiaman gave me Kyle’s address, I made my way through the city. The closer I got to the obelisk, the more often I had to stop and accept congratulations on a successful mission. Cheers of ‘Carter!’ followed me through the settlement. I tried not to let my troubled thoughts show on my face. The System hadn’t granted me victory yet.

A celebration had broken out in the courtyard—actually, there were two celebrations. One was an open air trial where members of the Three Kings’ people were being publicly tried for their crimes. Margaret served as the judge, while a group of citizens stood nearby as the jury.

The prisoners looked particularly nervous as they glanced to their left where Frank and Rick were in the middle of erecting a large guillotine.

The other half of the celebration was welcoming Knuckles’ and Caesar’s former captives. They would join the people we’d freed from Cromwell the week before. Most of them were women, but there were a few children, too. There were even a few tearful reunions, as people who’d been caught at home by the integration ran into loved ones who’d been stuck at work during the apocalypse.

I made my way to Kyle’s apartment. It was in one of the nicer areas of the growing city. I wasn’t sure when he’d moved in, but Kyle had good tastes for a bachelor. When I was young and single like him, I’d been content with a mattress, a folding stool, and a microwave.

Kyle’s place was the penthouse suite of what had formerly been a classy apartment complex. When I entered, I was even greeted by building maintenance and room service.

“Hello there! Are you looking to purchase an apartment or placing a pre-integration items claim?” a woman asked.

I was impressed. Looking at her and at the desk she was sitting behind, alongside the functional cellphone she’d been holding a moment ago, I might have thought the integration had never happened.

“Actually, I’m here to visit someone.”

“Oh?” The woman perked up. “Who?”

“Kyle.”

“Mister Kyle? Well, if it was anyone else, you’d need an appointment. For you, though, I can make an exception. Still… I should probably buzz him and let him know you’re on your way up.” She reached over her counter to activate a microphone, but I stopped her hand.

“That’s alright. This is more of a surprise visit. Just let me drop in on him unannounced, alright?”

She seemed hesitant, but when I smiled at her, she relented. “Oh, alright… I suppose if anyone is trustworthy in this town anymore, it’s you, Sir.”

The woman went back to fiddling with her cellphone, and soon I was on the elevator headed upward. I was surprised they’d gotten this thing working again. We may have restored power, but power wasn’t cheap.

Come to think of it, the streetlights had been on when I’d entered this part of the city. Someone must have figured out how to get some power out of the old power plant and fixed the breaks in the lines leading from there to here.

That would have been a tough job to pull off. Especially with scavengers out stripping copper wire for me anywhere they could find it. I’d have to warn them not to steal anything with voltage running through it.

The elevator took me to the top floor. There was only one suite up here, anyway, so Kyle’s door wasn’t hard to find. I rapped on it twice and waited for an answer.

“Who is it?” a woman’s voice asked—Lisette’s voice, not Kyle’s.

Good. I was hoping I’d find her here. “Kyle? Marcus?” I called out. “Are you two in there?”

“I asked who it was!” Lisette on the other side of the door shouted back at me.

“It’s Carter. Open up, please. I need to talk to Kyle and Marcus... And you as well, Lisette.”

I heard her swearing faintly on the other side of the door. Her muttered curses were followed by a lot of scrambling, as well as the sound of Lisette clearing her throat and sitting down. I stood before the closed door for a while, listening to them not-so-silently scrambling to do… something. Cloth ruffled and metal clinked.

They were taking long enough that I tested the lock. The knob was, unfortunately, locked. But I knew I could force it open with an Eldritch Blast. It would wreck the lock, but it should be easy enough for Kyle to replace. Just when I’d decided to break the lock, the door swung open.

Marcus was on the other side.

“Marcus, there you are. I was looking for you and Kyle, you know. You really shouldn’t have run off on me like that,” I told him.

Marcus said nothing in reply. He was silent and then went still as a statue after he backed up to where Kyle was already standing on the other side of a large couch. I turned my attention to Kyle, who now wielded a familiar-looking spear—a bar of sharpened metal ground down to a point. I’d seen this very spear sitting in the corner of the room he and Marcus had been supposed to guard Lisette in.

“Kyle. I see you got some loot from our recent adventure. Is that spear better than your old one? It looks damn heavy. I imagine the blacksmiths in town could craft you something better.”

Kyle stared back at me, his face blank and his eyes distant.

“Guys?” I glanced between Marcus and Kyle, both standing behind and to either side of Lisette with expressionless faces.

The two of them weren’t acting normally. And I was starting to think I should trust my gut a little more often in the future.

Lisette cleared her throat to catch my attention. She was lounging across the couch lighting a stick of what looked to be homemade incense. The smell that flooded the room was sickly sweet enough to make me cough—it smelled more like medicine than anything burned for its scent or ambiance.

She lay back on the plush couch, relaxing as she lounged propped up on one elbow. She was wearing some thin undergarments now—something that looked to have come from Frederick’s of Hollywood. Her hair was still wet from a recent shower.

It looked like she’d taken the time to put on some lipstick, though. Otherwise, she lacked the makeup I’d seen her wearing before. Though, to be honest, the flawless clarity of her skin meant she hardly needed any to begin with.

“Hi.” She smiled at me, showing off a row of perfect white teeth. She had a slightly shy and nervous flush to her face. She looked like a perfectly cute and innocent young woman—which, given her skimpy lingerie, was incredibly provocative.

“We didn’t meet under the best circumstances before. Let me reintroduce myself. I’m Lisette. Kyle and Marcus have told me so much about you.”

I scanned the room. Kyle’s apartment still bore the traces of the luxury residence it had been before the integration, but someone had worked awfully hard to give it a custom, homey touch… someone with a penchant for pink curtains.

“Have they?” I took a step forward.

Kyle and Marcus reacted immediately. The two of them stepped around the ends of the couch, placing themselves between me and Lisette.

“No, no! Down, both of you!” Lisette swung her legs around to sit on the edge of the couch, breaking away from her seductive lounging pose she’d been holding since I’d entered the room.

Kyle and Marcus took a step back and relaxed a bit, but I could tell from their postures that they’d step forward again if I came any closer.

“I’m sorry,” Lisette apologized. “Men tend to get protective around me. It’s not something I can help.”

I hit Lisette with Examine again, this time with suspicions firm in my mind.

Lisette (Courtesan – Level 52)

Then something happened I’d never seen before. My stat screen blurred and fuzzed for a moment before settling down. When it did, something entirely different showed up.

Lisette (Entertainer – Level 8)

The original class and level were gone, but I’d seen them clear as day. Was this how it felt like when I blocked someone else’s Examine? No, this was something more than that.

Lisette wasn’t just blocking me; she was actively fooling me. But she probably didn’t expect me to have such high proficiencies in the same proficiency. That was probably the only reason I’d caught a brief glimpse of her true Class and level.

But what was a Courtesan? I added the question to the list I wanted to ask Myrina when I finally got back to her.

Lisette frowned at the open air, presumably receiving a notification of her own. She glanced at the incense stick next to her. Apparently, it wasn’t spewing enough foul-smelling smoke for her liking, because she quickly lit another one.

I scowled as I stared back at Kyle’s and Marcus’ faces. “Whatever you’ve done, release them.”

“I haven’t done anything!” Lisette insisted. “Well, nothing other than being myself.”

Lisette shrugged her bare shoulders, inching closer to me. She sat straighter now, placing her arms on her elbows as she stared up at me through her long lashes.

Unlike when I’d stepped closer to her, this time Kyle and Marcus didn’t move.

“Care for some wine?”

She waved to Kyle, who turned and grabbed a bottle before swiftly pouring two glasses. Kyle silently handed her one of the glasses and Lisette shot him a smile. When he held the other glass out to me, she glanced at me expectantly.

I held up a hand. “I recently decided to give up drinking. Now, however you’re controlling the two of them, I want you to undo it.”

Lisette sighed. “I told you, I’m not doing anything. Whatever they’re doing now is their own idea. I just sit here and hope they listen to me.”

“Bullshit. Why aren’t they talking? This is just like the people back at the prison.” I scowled at Kyle and Marcus.

Lisette gave me a noncommittal shrug. “I don’t know. Maybe they all think I have a thing for the strong and silent type.”

I crossed my arms. “I came here to ask you some questions about Knuckles, Caesar, and the prison. I’m starting to find some answers, and I don’t like what they are. Here’s the deal… the way I see it, you’re already in deep trouble.”

She jerked back in surprise.

I waved my hand at Kyle’s apartment. “This isn’t right, and I’m arresting you and bringing you up on charges. You’ll stand trial alongside Knuckles and everyone else from the prison unless you explain what’s happening and how to undo it, right now.”

Lisette stood, dropping her innocent girl act. “I’ve been locked away by strange men enough for one lifetime, thank you very much!” she snapped. “You want these two minions of yours back? Fine, if you can convince them to come with you, they’re yours.”

She smirked, eyeing Kyle’s and Marcus’ blank faces. Her meaning was clear—she was certain they’d rather stay with her than leave with me. Whatever spell or ability she’d cast over them wasn’t something I’d be able to break.

“What—exactly—have you done to them? This is your one and only chance to come clean.”

Lisette smiled, looking me up and down. Instead of answering my question, she smiled coyly and asked a question of her own. “I’ve heard you’re the strongest man on this shard by far—strong enough to beat everyone else.”

She licked her lips. “I think the two of us would make a great team. You leading in the light, and me supporting you from the shadows. You’d be in charge, of course… I’d just be there to offer advice and support on occasion. I could bring anyone who wasn’t following you in line, that sort of thing…”

She picked up her stick of incense and blew on it, sending out another burst of sickly-sweet smelling smoke. It had been pungent enough to make me gag before, but suddenly it smelled rather good. I wondered what it was.

Lisette shifted closer. “This isn’t how I wanted this to go, but you showing up here before I was ready made this a bit of a rush job…”

She placed a hand on my shoulder, pressing herself against me.

“Come on, I saw you had tons of people back there helping you out. If these two want to spend time with me, why not let them?” she asked. “I can give you anything you want in exchange.”

“Anything?” I raised an eyebrow.

She smiled like a shark as she reached for the clip on her back holding her lingerie top together. She pulled the clip and tossed the bra to the side as she smiled at me while biting her lower lip coyly.

My eyes darted to my notifications.

You have been struck with the skill Seduction!

Thanks to your high Charisma, you have detected and resisted this affliction.

You have been struck with the item effect, Induced Arousal!

Thanks to your Fabulous Phallus skill, you have detected and resisted this status effect.

More notifications followed the first two. I was surprised to see just how many there were. I was growing increasingly certain that this was something like what had happened to Kyle and Marcus.

I let Lisette get a little handsy with me. I needed to see what abilities she had. She was dangerous, but not in a way I’d been prepared for. I’d fought monsters with swords, fangs, teeth, and claws. But never a gentle caress.

She ran her fingers up my thigh as she pressed her perky breasts into my side. When I only blinked at her in response, she sank to her knees, delicate fingers reaching for my belt. Was this what every one of the Caesars had experienced during their last moments of clear thought? Was it what Marcus and Kyle had experienced?

I reached down, having seen enough of Lisette’s plan. It was time to arrest her and end this before one of her skills worked on me for real. I grabbed her hair, with the plan to twist her around and haul her out of here with her wrists behind her back—preferably after putting her clothes back on. Otherwise, it might give the wrong impression to the people in the streets.

Before I could finish the thought, the front door burst open, revealing Sakura. Her horn burned with crimson energy and she wore a furious scowl.

“Carter!”

She hefted her bat over her shoulder, then in one fluid motion leaped across half the room to swat Lisette in the side of her head with her club. The blow knocked Lisette across the room, where she sprawled, nearly naked before one of the floor-to-ceiling windows. Far from finished, Sakura smashed the glass of the window and grabbed Lisette by the hair. Pulling the stunned young woman up by her hair, she threw Lisette bodily out of the window before the beautiful and mostly naked woman could so much as blink in surprise.

I heard a fleshy thud impact the ground a few seconds later.

Still scowling, Sakura turned to me, her arms crossed. “You’ve got some explaining to do, mister!”

“Uh…” I rubbed one hand along the back of my neck.

Of all the times over the past day for Sakura and Bridget to finally come back to Earth, she had to show up at the single worst time imaginable. All I could do was sigh and shrug helplessly.

“Uh… it wasn’t what it looked like? Just ask Marcus and Kyle here.” I waved at the two frozen young men standing off to one side of the room. Both stared back at me with blank expressions.

Sakura glared at them and then turned back to me with fierce eyes.

I looked to the smashed window, where Sakura had just picked up a grown woman and hurled her to the ground below. Mentally, I was very glad I’d cleared Bridget with her first—and that Myrina was strong enough to take care of herself.

<Note>
Thanks for reading! That should hopefully be the last big delay before publication. We're coming up on 6 months since book 1, which is a bit of a magic number in Amazon terms, and I'm secretly hoping to get this out before then. But first, gotta look for new typos again though and hunt down any new consistencies left from this edit.

I normally don't make these kinds of edits this late in the process, since so much stuff has to be redone, but enough people felt like this was a big issue that I think it is worth pushing the release back by a few weeks. It does throw my audio schedule off, but I'll just have to fiddle with things in the background.

I may take some time to work on this full-time again (as of a week ago I transitioned to Spellheart 10 to get a head start on that.) though if I do that there may be a few days with no new Patreon content at some point later this month. Or perhaps just a few weeks of slower-release Spellheart-only content. You'll see what I can swing in a few weeks.