System Supervillain, Chapter 88 (Patreon)

Chapter 88 – Opening Moves

“Ah, Iceblade, so good of you to come,” Stepford said, as we approached, and reached out to shake my hand. “Especially with such an elite group of companions. I expect things will be quite interesting before the end of the night.”

Stepford was an average-looking man. As in, profoundly average looking. Average height, weight, and build. Black hair and brown eyes, with skin that was not tanned, but colorful enough to show that he wasn’t an albino or someone who hid inside all day. Going right down the line, everything about him was unremarkable, save for the slight limp on his right side, causing him to walk with a cane.

His costume, such as it was, consisted of a suit and tie, with a half-mask covering his eyes, and a top hat on his head. I could see the hint of a weapon in a shoulder holster, likely his ‘Brain Blaster’, which could be used to either sap someone’s will, or batter their mind into unconsciousness, according to reports. The belt around his waist looked like a normal belt, with a fancy buckle, but it provided him with an invisible suit of armor. And on his wrist was what looked like a smart watch, but was actually the key to his success, the ‘Wifemaker’. Well, it also told the time, but that wasn’t all it did, according to the files Web Mistress dug up.

According to her, the Wifemaker had three functions. The first two were separate nanite injectors located in the watch. One set of nanites transformed the target’s body, adjusting them to his specifications. The second altered her mind, transforming her into the perfect obedient servant, and installed a device in her head which would allow her new owner to edit her emotions and memories through an app on their phone. The third function of the Wifemaker was an override protocol that allowed Stepford to take control of one of the Wives he made, even if she had been transferred to a new owner.

Now that I was closer, I saw clear shades of envy in his eyes as he looked over my ‘companions’, as he called them. Well, not that I could blame him. All my girls were beautiful. Even Tammy, the only one who was a ‘normal’ human out of the bunch, still had that ‘girl next door’ look to her.

“Well, when I got the invitation, I knew that this party was going to be fun. A gathering of mind controllers is rare enough, since we all tend to be a bit sensitive of others who use some of our tricks. I’m looking forward to seeing how the evening progresses.”

“Indeed,” Stepford said with a chuckle. “I know the staff have a pool going to suggest who will be the first to cause problems. Oh, and I’ve arranged some of the normal ‘life support’ functions in this space, so you don’t need to worry about passive scent abilities, or the like.”

I raised an eyebrow under my mask as he said that. As far as I knew, the other guests didn’t have any pheromone or scent-based powers. It was possible that some of their toys had them, of course, but it looked as though I was the only one who brought actual supers as companions. So, this was obviously some ploy or precaution against me, personally. Probably got the idea from reading some of my interactions on the forums with the New York Knights following my taming of Electra.

Still, I wasn’t worried. Something like that would ONLY affect one part of my ring’s powers, and wouldn’t free anyone from my control. And it wasn’t like it lowered my own defenses any, or made it so that I couldn’t just murder anyone who tried something with me. Out of everyone on the guest list, I was the only one who was an actual fighter. The rest liked to let their minions do the work for them.

“That’s probably for the best,” I nodded. “Wouldn’t want anyone suggesting that I was breaking the rules, and using that as an excuse to try and take what was mine. Which is part of the reason I didn’t bring some of my converted heroines along.”

Stepford made a show of sighing, as if disappointed. “Yes, I was hoping to see the former Lady Victory and the other members of the Squadron Supreme. Those were some of the most lucrative contracts for designer wives that I knew of, and you took them all off the market. Some would say you are just being greedy, you know.”

“Well, I thought about bringing them, but, unfortunately, their costumes aren’t fitting terribly well right now, since they’re moving into their second trimester, and are starting to show.” I sighed, shaking my head. “It is fortunate that I am fairly wealthy, otherwise it would have to take a lot more jobs just to support all the kids I’ve gotten in the last couple years.”

Stepford just shook his head. “Well, I would be upset without keeping so many prime targets for yourself, but you’re the only one who could pull off not only capturing the targets, but keeping their allies from descending upon you and forcing you to give them back. I am man enough to admit that I wouldn’t be able to do that with my skills.”

My respect for Stepford went up a bit. Too many villains refused to learn, or accept, their own limits. They often thought that, because they had power, they couldn’t be stopped. That usually meant they eventually ended up going to jail, or the morgue. Even successful supervillains tended to forget that they weren’t all-powerful sometimes.

I nodded slightly, and said, “Then that makes you a better villain than many, Stepford. Which is why you don’t have teams like the former Squadron Supreme hunting you. Knowing how to restrict your targets to the ones that you can safely manage is important in having a long and healthy life.”

He chuckled. “And how did you get powerful enough to command such impressive pawns? It can’t just be the way this System has changed things, since you were doing stuff like this long before it came on.”

“Well, the simple answer is that I focus primarily on flexibility and adaptability. Not just in how I use my powers, but also in the power sources, and so on. Most mind controllers, if they come across someone who can shrug off their attempts at control, they’re virtually helpless. With me, I have a multitude of tricks that I can fall back on. Plus, I cheat.”

“Hah! Of course you do. What’s that saying you like to post on the forums sometimes? If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying?”

“Exactly. I don’t fight fair, because I know that gives me the worst chance of actually succeeding. I’ll take whatever advantage I can get, and do it shamelessly. But I also avoid issues where my risk is not worth the reward. For instance, I couldn’t do your type of business.”

“Really?” Stepford frowned, looking pointedly at Bloodmoon. “The quality of your collection says otherwise.”

“Oh, it isn’t about my ability to add women to my collection, but, rather, my inability to transfer them to a new owner. My abilities do not work like yours, where you can ‘adjust’ your targets so that they view their new owners as their masters. They are more limited, in that regard, so I could never go into the ’arranged marriage’ trade, as you have.”

That took Stepford back a bit. Then he nodded, and said, “I see. And this is why it is good to speak with other people with powers like yours, I guess. Even if talking with them doesn’t give you any new tips or tricks, there’s always the possibility that they’ll give you some new perspective on things. Assuming you’re willing to listen, I guess.”

Then, he shook his head, and said, “So, I know from the forums that all your companions retain their minds, rather than being meat robots. How would you like them addressed?”

“Call them my pets, or by name, if you wish. And I assume you would like your companions to be called your ‘Wives’?”

“Yes. I know you already know, thanks to Web Mistress over there,” he nodded curtly at my sister, and she smiled back at him, “but that’s mostly for appearances on my part. There are certain… expectations of a man in my position. And if I don’t play the role, then things can become very uncomfortable, very quickly.”

“I understand completely,” I said, nodding slightly. “As with your profession, there are expectations when you take up the mantle of an adventurer, thief, and assassin. Which is part of the reason I have had to be so brutal, in the past. If people believe that you are weak, then they may decide that they can go against you, and not suffer the consequences.”

Stepford breathed a bit easier at my acknowledgement of his situation. After all, people expect the man who makes perfect mail-order brides to be into that kind of thing, himself. If they found out that he was the kind of man who preferred the hunky anime men to the sexy hentai ladies, then that would cause him a great deal of embarrassment and trouble.

“Since you understand, can I hope that your gift, whatever it is, won’t be something that undermines my position?”

I nodded once, and said, “I won’t say more about what the gift is, until it is that time, but if there are any questions about it, I can just blame it on Web Mistress’s personal preferences. And it will not look out of place with someone with funds, who also has several servants already about.”

Stepford nodded, clearly more relaxed than he had been when we first started the conversation. “That is fine, then, thank you.” His gaze flickered over my shoulder, and he said, “It looks as though Mistress Midnight and Maestro are here.”

“Then I will leave you to greet them properly. There are a few people here who I would like to talk to, as well.”

We shook hands once again, and I turned, to mingle a bit with the other guests. But who to talk to first? The Tamer was close at hand, but I didn’t like the way he was eying my pets, especially Web Mistress. It was only natural that someone whose powers centered around capturing and ‘taming’ women did not necessarily understand the idea of not coveting what someone else had, and with his famously short temper, I wasn’t going to light that candle until I had to.

Instead, I made my way over to where Mindtaker was standing with her Thralls. “Mindtaker. Lovely to see you again. It must have been four, no, five years, now, right? I see your stable of Thralls is as striking as ever.”

“Oh, Iceblade, you cad,” she chuckled as I gave her a light hug. “You’re still one of the few people brazen enough to try and seduce me, in the middle of my own heist! And you resisted every attempt of mine to make you one of my thralls. If I had known you were one of this crowd, I would have been more careful.”

“Are you saying you didn’t enjoy our little romp on the rooftop across the street from the charity ball? I recall you taking all those rich celebrities for quite a bit of money, and those Seattle heroes, the Emerald City Knights, were wondering where you had scampered off to. They never looked up, or they would have seen quite a show.”

“Oh, I enjoyed it plenty, as you well know. But you’re just lucky it was a safe day for me, or I would have had to hunt you down and make sure you took responsibility! I still thought about hunting you down, anyways, just for a rematch. Without you using any mental attacks. You know I get cranky when people try to use those against me.”

“Well, you’ll be happy to know that I didn’t use any, that time. You were just a very willing woman, and I was an equally willing man. In the future, though? Who knows? Perhaps you’ll find yourself longing to serve, instead of be served? I know Hypnodomme found out some new things about herself, last time we tangled.”

“Hah!” Mindtaker laughed out loud. “So that’s why she has been trying to burn a hole in your head with her eyes, ever since you walked in. What, exactly, did you do to her?”

“You know me, Mindtaker, I don’t kiss and tell. Well, I do, but only when it suits me. Either way, little miss Hypnodomme did not appreciate me turning her from an S to an M for a night. All I’ll say right now is that I opened up virgin territory that night, and she’s still not forgiven me, it seems.” I shrugged, unconcerned, “But she was the one who tried to capture me, first, so she deserved everything she got and more.”

“Well, one shouldn’t try and make light of a supervillain unless you are certain that you can take them on. But it doesn’t look like she learned that lesson. Watch your back, Iceblade. I’d hate to see you become one of her toys.”

I chuckled. “Same to you, Mindtaker. Not all the villains here are as great a guy as I am.”