Amazon Apocalypse 2: Chapter 83 (Patreon)

Killing Lisette was a decent, if not the preferred outcome. She wouldn't be able to do what she did to any more of my people. But there was no guarantee that Doctor Roswell, Myrina, or anyone else could find a cure to undo what she had done to the others. There was a chance that the only one who could fix them was the woman who'd done whatever it was to them in the first place.

For that reason, I wanted to capture Lisette alive—if possible. Before, I'd dismissed the idea as beyond my abilities. But now? Maybe it wasn't such a far-fetched idea.

I feigned exhaustion when in truth more power flowed through me than ever. I staggered forward on clumsy feet, and Lisette took up a defensive pose by Frank’s side. She must have thought she could take me with Frank’s help after her minions softened me up.

After I sensed her growing confident, I decided it was time to hit her with my own surprise.

"Wait!" I held up my hand. "You asked to parley… said you wanted to talk?"

Lisette smiled like a cat who'd spotted a mouse to play with. "Yes, I did. Dears, put your weapons down. Carter is finally ready to chat. I take it my newest warrior here finally knocked some sense into you?”

She trailed her fingers down Frank’s chest, and he didn’t even twitch. “He's nearly as high leveled as you, you know. You can't possibly fight him, me, and the rest of my minions at once!"

I nodded. Frank had gotten quite strong lately; his level was in the mid-forties. If he were from the Crownhill County Prison, he'd have been one of the Three Kings.

"What was your previous offer? I want to hear it again." I sheathed my sword as I eyed the armed psychos around me warily.

Lisette laughed. "Oh, no… you don't get that deal anymore. You had your chance and missed it. I have an alternative bargain for you, now."

"And what kind of bargain is that?" I didn't fight to keep the unhappiness out of my voice.

"Think of it this way. If Crownhill were a company, I would be the venture capitalist swooping in and claiming the majority share. You'd still have a piece of the action, but the final say on any big ideas would be mine.”

Her grin twisted into a sneer. “I won't wave that power around, and to everyone else you'll still be the founder—the guy who has to look good for all the press statements and make sad speeches over a video call before we lay people off.”

She fluffed her hair. “I'll be a distant figure sitting comfortably in her penthouse suite, but at the end of the day, you’ll come home to me and tell me all about the city and its progress."

"Basically, I would do all the work, and you would reap all the rewards?" I raised an eyebrow.

Shamelessly, Lisette nodded. "Yes, exactly that! Besides, being the beloved, darling wife of the city's reigning Lord seems much better than being the city lord myself—that just seems like too much work.”

She tapped a pink nail on her cheek, then shook her head. “No forcing people to respect you, or having to deal with their stress and baggage every day… just planning the occasional party while tending to a few spoiled and overly pampered children. Ahhh, that will be the life for me!"

Lisette seemed increasingly certain of her victory the more she spoke. Her bright eyes and red lips were intoxicating to watch, and any man who didn't already have two wonderful women of his own would surely be smitten by them. Fortunately, I wasn’t one of those men. I wasn't sure I could have resisted, had Bridget and Sakura not been fresh in my mind.

The image of the two of them swept away any dreams of a future family coaxed forth by Lisette’s powers. No. If I was going to have a family in the future, I knew who my children’s mothers would be.

"I don't like it…" I began, "but if you promise to release my friends, then I'll agree." I let my shoulders sag, as if in defeat.

"Release them?"

Lisette ran her fingers through her hair. She wore a frown, and I could tell she didn't like the idea. But she hadn't said it was impossible.

That lit a beacon of hope in my heart. “It's possible, right?" I took another step forward. "If it isn't, then there's little point in us talking anymore."

Lisette sighed. "I suppose you're more valuable to me than any of them. Yes, I can release your friends… undoing what I've done to them. I've gone back and forth about building a little harem for myself, but men seem like a lot of work. Perhaps if those two cute little things of yours come in a package deal with you, I'll be happier with them—and the idea of free babysitters when the time comes is appealing."

"Fix Frank first," I demanded.

Lisette waggled her finger. "Not so fast. I need a show of trust from you before I lift a finger."

"I'm a man of my word,” I growled. “I'm sure you've asked around. I keep all the promises I give." I made no mention of the fact that I'd promised Lisette nothing.

"I think I'd much rather have a kiss." Lisette smiled seductively at me. "Yes. A kiss, and then you put on this nice little hat. It’s the same one I had the various Caesar’s wear. After the kiss, I think you'll be feeling much better about any bargains we make. Come on now, stop looking so grumpy and tense. It's just a smooch.”

She reached into her pocket and withdrew a golden circlet. I’d seen something much like it on Caesar’s brow both times I’d fought him. I didn’t have to be an Artificer to know that putting that thing on would be very bad. It was likely some sort of willpower suppression item that would turn any man, no matter how strong willed, into Lisette’s puppet.

She batted long eyelashes at me. “I promise I don't have cooties."

I shot a glance at Frank. He seemed blank faced and unmoving, just as before. Though when Lisette took a step forward, he did too.

Lisette didn't seem to notice.

I was laying my cards on the table here. Was Frank really on my side? I had no idea what Lisette could do with a kiss, but given what she'd done to my friends, I figured it wouldn't end well for me. If I hadn’t seen [C1] that wink earlier, I would think he was under Lisette's spell—despite my talisman.

I could be sealing my own fate, stepping so close to this dangerously seductive woman. But I trusted Frank. I'd known him longer than just about anybody else in this town. And, most importantly, he was my friend.

So, I slowly approached and did as Lisette demanded. She reached out and took both my hands in hers. Looking up into my eyes, she leaned forward for a kiss.

I held my breath.

“There you are…” Lisette cooed. She held her hands out toward me and closed her eyes.

Then, just before her lips touched mine, Frank's hands came out of his pocket holding open a plain white trash bag—which he promptly pulled over her head.

"Ha! Got her!" Frank yelled.

Lisette tried to pull her hands away to tear the bag off her head, but she'd forgotten she'd placed her hands in mine—and I wasn't about to let go of her.

"What?! How!" she yelped.

I chuckled as I tore the laurel circlet out of her hands and snapped it in half. In the same motion, I activated Arcane Blade and cut one of her level twenty fives in half. Frank took care of another one, and the third died to a barrage of spell from my palm. Supporting Frank, they would have been a pain in my ass. But with Frank on my side and them caught off guard, they were nothing.

"Well done, Frank. We should probably gag her. Hiding her pretty face might not be enough."

I popped a small hole in the bag for her nose and then, with Frank pinning her arms, I reached up under the bag and stuffed one of my socks in her mouth as an improvised gag. A bit of duct tape later over her mouth, and we had ourselves a prisoner.

She tried to shove me a few times, but I had a feel for that ability now. She couldn’t activate it when her hands were bound behind her back.

Lisette had been perhaps the toughest of all the foes I’d faced. And yet now she was helpless in my grasp.

After fighting ferocious upright wolves, ogres, trolls, and Amazonians, it was strange to face a clever human foe. She’d been perhaps my most terrifying opponent ever, not thanks to her stats, but thanks to her intelligence. She’d schemed better than anyone else I’d met.

But now I’d beaten her. Just as her surprise attack had spoiled my trap, my plans had ruined her final trick. She thought claiming Frank would give her what she needed to defeat me, but in the end it sealed her fate.

Restraining Lisette went a lot faster when someone else arrived. She wasn’t shy about getting in close, since she wasn’t worried about Lisette being able to give us a magic kiss with more than just her lips.

"You boys sure took your time," Kerrie said as she emerged from the shadows. "For a second there I thought she'd really gotten to the both of you. I was ready to put an arrow into her."

"Kerrie was plan B." Frank nodded at the archer, who was redoing my crude knots so that Lisette’s wrists couldn’t so much as twitch. "If things started to go south, she had orders to open fire."

I turned to her. "Well, I appreciate your efforts. Thankfully, they weren't needed today."

***

Bridget met up with us on the walk back and we showed off our captive to her. With all four of us watching Lisette, I felt a lot more secure. She wasn’t escaping alive on my watch, but now I didn’t think she was escaping at all.

Kerrie waved down a few of her recruits and had them fetch a couple of handcuffs. We used them on both Lisette's wrists and ankles, making doubly sure to keep her secure. This squad of guards was also all women. We’d learned our lesson on that front all too well.

I tossed the troublesome tramp over Frank’s shoulder and walked back with him to camp, surrounded by a full guard the entire time.

Sakura joined us, looking tired and worn. "You grabbed her already?" Sakura wiped sweat from her brow. "Damn. Wrestling Rick into handcuffs slowed me down. I wanted to get another hit in."

Lisette must have sensed the presence of the woman who'd thrown her out a window and started squirming. I held her firmly in place on Frank’s shoulder.

Sakura offered to take her, and Frank and I accepted.

While I could overpower Lisette, it wasn't by much. Though Sakura was a much lower level than the Courtesan, she had a far higher base Strength stat. She also didn't have to worry about any tricks from Lisette's class.

I’d been a bit worried about how Frank's talisman was holding up, hanging on to Lisette as he was. She'd tried to squirm out of her clothes more than once, and to press her skin against his, which suggested she thought that would give her an advantage.

"I think people are still having trouble with Kyle." Bridget nodded back toward Crownhill. "Why don't you let us take her in?"

I nodded, then turned to Lisette one final time. "Lisette, make this easy on yourself and fix whatever you did to Kyle. Take away those fire powers of his and I might consider pulling that gag out of your mouth."

Lisette didn't make so much as a peep, which I took for a no.

"Fine then…. the hard way it is. Bridget, Sakura, you have my leave to interrogate her however you see fit." I shook my head and departed.

Sakura smiled wide as she tapped her bat against the woman’s thighs. "Hear that, bitch? Looks like we're going to have a little girls’ time. I wouldn't be looking forward to it if I were you."

***

Chasing down Kyle proved difficult. He was faster than I remembered—and also on fire. No wonder everyone was having a hard time dealing with him. He turned on me the moment I approached, though, which meant he was still trying to follow Lisette's last order to get me.

Unfortunately for him, he'd lost the numerical advantage. I was also no longer dividing my attention between him and Lisette and several other minions. Looking Kyle up and down, I realized he'd done well for himself.

Kyle (Flame Spear Master - Level 39)

His level wasn't quite as high as the two previous Caesars I'd fought, but his class was the same, and he was a considerably higher level than he'd been before. Whatever Lisette did to him had added about ten levels and granted him a new class.

Hopefully it didn't override what he'd been before.

Kyle was just as fast as the previous Flame Spear Masters, leaving a trail of burning road tar in his wake whenever he lunged at me. This meant it might have been an extended fight, if Sharky hadn't returned just as it was starting. Also, I'd killed two Caesars already, so I was pretty familiar with his abilities—long before he had the chance to use them.

Still, I had to grab him and wrestle him to the ground so the people hovering around me could handcuff and disarm him. That was next to impossible to do if he was on fire. But that could be fixed.

I used my staff to fill a few Mana Bolts with water mana, then flung them one after another at Kyle. The flames lining his back, arms, and shoulders slowly sputtered out. Unlike with the Lava Elemental, water worked better than ice—I didn't want to run Kyle through with magical flying icicles like I’d done the Lava Elemental. And as a bonus, the water made a big splash when it landed, which helped smother errant flames.

I discovered working ice into a dash of air worked best, though, especially when Kyle was already cold and wet. He started slowing down—like a snake caught outside on a cold night. Soon, his abilities stopped working entirely.

"Put down the spear, Kyle..." I pointed at the ground.

Kyle didn't listen, but that was normal for teens. And presumably normal for teens who'd been mind-controlled by a woman with supernatural seduction powers. I had to tear the spear from his hands and pin him to the ground. Thanks to my spells, he was as cold as ice; a thin layer of frost covered much of his body.

"Lock him up with the others. But not with Lisette, please. I don't know where Bridget and Sakura are keeping her, so be sure to check who is in the room first. Okay?"

"Yes, Sir! Thank you, Sir! We couldn't have done it without you," a man said.

I didn't recognize him, but he threw me a surprisingly decent salute. I kept an eye on them for a while to make sure Kyle wasn't about to break free, but they seemed to have him well in hand. The fight had gone out of Kyle, especially once I was out of sight.

His orders were to grab me, after all—not to escape a pair of handcuffs and the armed guard surrounding him.

I spent a few minutes shooting a few additional water mana-filled Mana Bolts at the fires around us. That was a big help to the fire brigade who'd been hauling buckets from where the hose stopped. Soon, the fires were under control. While there were still smoldering embers to deal with, none of the nearby structures were in danger of coming down.

What was left would be a lengthy process of finding shelter for the people who'd just lost their homes, as well as providing them with the basic necessities like blankets and clothing. Thankfully, there was still plenty of room in Crownhill and I knew they'd find new apartments quickly. The bureaucratic process wasn't something they needed my help for, though, so I headed back to my own apartment in the city.

Margaret seemed to have things well in hand, so I headed back to my desk. Hopefully Galbatorix was still on the line.