Chronos - Chapter 9 (Patreon)

So, a quick word before the chapter. Some were wondering why only 1 XP? The simple answer is that, in M&M 2e, which is the system I'm running this as, 15 xp bumps you up 1 power level (PL), on average. A bystander with no notable abilities is PL 0. A Cultist is PL 2. Crime lord is PL 4. SWAT officer is PL 6. Street level heroes like Punisher are PL 8. 'Normal' superheroes like Cyclops or Jubilee are PL 10. Powerful heroes like Captain America or Wolverine are PL 12. High-powered heroes like Storm are PL 14. PL 16+ is Justice League territory, where you go facing global or cosmic level threats.

So, the game is designed around getting 1, maybe 2 XP each major fight or plot arc. Of course, 1 or 2 XP can be used in a LOT of different ways to give significant boosts to your character, depending on what you're doing. So, there's that. Now, on to the story.

Chapter 9 – Morning After

We had only reserved two hours in the karaoke room, but no one was really wanting to end the fun. So, I invited the five ladies back to my home, for drinks. Susan and Janice begged off, saying that they had to get back home to their husbands, and Linda needed to be up early to open the library tomorrow, so she also declined.

Tracy and Bethany were shocked when they learned that I lived in a mansion, with live-in maids and all. Not shocked enough that they wanted to go home, of course. And definitely not shocked enough to object when Yasmeen joined us to make our threesome a foursome.

Normally, I wasn’t that charming, of course. I didn’t usually go out partying, as a rule, because dancing was difficult with a bum leg, and I did not enjoy pity stares. Also, most of the clubs tended to have younger and younger crowds, and I was resolute in not getting a reputation as the creepy middle-aged man who hung out at college bars hoping to pick up co-eds to show how I still had it. Not happening.

Drinks with coworkers, however, was a different story. And while I wasn’t a lothario by any means, I knew I wasn’t terrible looking, and I could be persuasive, when I wanted to. And I really wanted to last night, after my decisive win over Paradoxical.

“Oh, that’s hot!”

I woke up to whispered voices and a warm wetness around my shaft. Opening my eyes, I saw Yasmeen kneeling at the edge of the bed, her mouth slowly moving up and down as she gave me my customary morning blowjob, as was expected of whoever came to bed with me. Beat the hell out of your normal alarm clock, that was for sure.

Naked flesh pressed against me on either side as Tracy and Bethany watched my head maid go to work worshipping my cock. The two girls yelped in surprise as I slid a finger to toy with their back doors. “Enjoying the show, my pretties?”

“Oh!” Tracy exclaimed and looked me in the eye, blushing. “Um, good morning! And, yes, the show is hot! Do you do this every morning?”

I smiled at her. “You mean, wake up to a blowjob from a beautiful woman? Every chance I can get. The girls have a rotation for the duty, and they’re quite enthusiastic, as you can see.”

“And this is normal for you?”

“Why wouldn’t it be? I have enough money that I can afford this lifestyle, and the girls are well compensated for their time. By the time Yasmeen leaves me at the end of her contract, she will be a US citizen, a college education, no debt, and enough money that she can live comfortably as she looks for a job. Same with the other girls.”

Bethany nodded slowly. “It is just so… well, you hear stories, but those are mostly only things on seedy internet sites or romance novels. You don’t normally hear about them in real life.”

I groaned in pleasure as I released into Yasmeen’s mouth. “Thank you, Yasmeen. We’ll be down for breakfast shortly.” As the Egyptian girl smiled, and turned to walk out of the room, I looked at the other two, and said, “So, how about shower sex before breakfast?”

Tracy laughed, shaking her head as she got out of bed. “You like living dangerously, Remy.” Looking back at me, the blonde girl sighed. “I was too drunk and horny to think straight last night, but you didn’t use condoms with any of us! What about STDs? And you didn’t even ask about birth control!”

It was my turn to laugh, as I got up out of the bed. “Those charms I give out each year, before cold and flu season? They protect against all diseases. While you wear them, you cannot get any STDs, even if you slept with half the residents of the worst parts of Liberty City. And I have a similar charm, myself, as do my maids.”

“But what about pregnancy?”

I smiled at Tracy, as I looped one arm around Bethany’s waist, pulling the redhead in close. “Well, there’s always the morning after pill, if you’re worried. But don’t tell me there isn’t a part of you that is thinking how exciting the risk is. Makes it all the more enticing.”

She shuddered, but didn’t respond. She might have been too much in shock to really process what I was saying. But I decided to give her something more to think on. “If you don’t want to join in, that’s fine. You can watch through the shower door.”

Tracy watched as I pulled Bethany towards the bathroom, and the shower. She squirmed as I turned on the water, and let it start cascading down Bethany’s skin. When I started lathering her up, her composure broke, and she joined in.

(Later)

“Oh, my goodness, Bethany! Did you hear?”

The moment we entered the library’s front door, Susan greeted us with an unusual amount of energy. From the look of her, this wasn’t the normal gossip. Which meant it could be only one thing.

Bethany, however, didn’t know what I did, and so she just cocked her head to the side, asking, “What is it, Susan?”

“It was in the papers this morning! Paradoxical has been captured! Right outside the bar while we were eating! That’s why the police were there last night!”

“WHAT! But, but—” Bethany faltered for a moment, staggering backwards. I steadied her with my hand, and she looked up at me. “Did this mean that the protection worked?”

“I did notice pulses of magic as the protection activated throughout the night. The villain apparently tried to cause several accidents around us, probably to try and separate you from the group. Fortunately, the protection did work, but I do not think that is what caused him to be captured. My spell was purely a defensive one, after all.”

“No, it wasn’t a protective spell that took down Paradoxical at all.”

We all turned at the sound of Skytalon’s voice. She was in costume, this time, meaning that this was a more official visit than the last. It had been a while since I’d seen her stylized bodysuit with the wings and the clawed hands and feet, making her look like some kind of harpy out of myths.

And next to her was a woman in a stage magician’s outfit, with a white shirt and corset with a black bow-tie, a black tailcoat, and a top hat. On her lower half, she wore a pair of tight bloomers fishnet tights, and knee-high boots. Her name was Miss Mysterious, and she was the main magic-user for the Liberty Belles.

I nodded at the two of them, and said, “Skytalon and Miss Mysterious, a pleasure to meet you.”

Skytalon nodded. “Thank you, Doctor. Might we have a moment of your time? It is about the capture of Paradoxical last night.”

“Of course, of course.” I looked back at the girls, and said, “I told you I was asked to consult on some arcane matters, so this likely has to do with that. I’ll just show them down to the Mystic Arts section so we can talk.”

Susan nodded. “All right, Remy. And I just want to say that we are all thankful for how you helped Bethany!”

Tracy grinned as she looked at the other librarians. “And while he is talking with these superheroines, we can tell you all about what happened after you went home!”

I chuckled as the girls broke into gossip mode, and waved for the two heroines to follow me to the elevator. Once the doors closed, I said, “Please do not get out of the elevator until I have had a chance to disarm the wards. They are nonlethal, but I do not doubt that you would find them highly unpleasant.”

Miss Mysterious staggered as we crossed the wards, confirming that she could, in fact, see them. “By the gods! I have seen sanctums with less protections on them!”

I simply shrugged, and said, “Wards are simple. Just a function of knowledge and time. The purpose of wards is to drive off attackers who know better, and to slow down those who do not, until a response can be put together. Unfortunately, I am no combatant, so I must use tricks in order to succeed. So, I make my wards stronger, so that they cannot be brushed aside so easily.”

Miss Mysterious just turned to look at Skytalon as the elevator reached the bottom. “The wards on this floor are strong enough that even Black Hat would have had trouble getting through them. And he was a master of wardcracking.”

“Yes, he tried visiting the library one night to do research without anyone knowing. He did manage to avoid six of the twelve curses, but the Petrification curse got him, and turned him to stone until I was able to release him in the morning. He was a good sport about it, and promised to come during business hours the next time.”

“When was this?” Skytalon asked.

“Oh, a month after the Pulse. He was looking for some text that might explain what had happened, or whether the Pulse’s effects could be reversed. Unfortunately, the cause of the pulse is unknown, even to this day.”

I stepped out of the elevator, and quickly went over to the wardstone that allowed me to adjust the setting of the wards. It was a little like putting in the combination of a mundane security system, but something only one with arcane power could attempt. Once I had finished, however, the wards backed down to the ‘business hours’ setting, and the two heroines stepped out of the elevator.

I left my briefcase on my desk, and led the way to the conference room we’d used the last time Skytalon was here. As I collapsed into one of the chairs, I sighed, and looked up at them. “I take it the two of you are here to discuss the burst of magic that I’m sure everyone who could sense the arcane felt?”

Miss Mysterious nodded. “Yes, I’m more of a combat mage than a researcher, but even I could tell that whatever caused the pulse was a powerful magical artifact. You were at the bar where Paradoxical was apprehended, right? Do you have any idea what it was?”

“Unfortunately, I had just gone to the restroom when the pulse went off. I hurried and took care of my business, and then went back to the girls. What happened?”

Skytalon took a breath. “From what we can determine, the supervillain Paradoxical was attempting to get some misguided revenge on his ex-girlfriend. However, he complained to interrogators after his capture that something had been interfering with his abilities. I take it that was your doing?”

“Yes, I put a protective ward on my coworker, making her immune to Paradoxical’s powers.”

“Right, then things get complicated. Paradoxical claims that someone just ‘appeared’ in front of him, and put some sort of talisman on his forehead, that burned away immediately after. Except, it left some sort of mark on him.”

“It was a curse mark,” Miss Mysterious said. “From what I could tell, the curse essentially makes it so that Paradoxical now needs to use knowledge of the arcane to ‘unlock’ his powers each time he wants to use them. That is a problem for him, since he’s utterly ignorant of the arcane. Not that I’m complaining, of course.”

Skytalon grunted. “Yes, though his misfortune aside, I’m fairly concerned with the ramifications of a curse like that. If it can be used against Paradoxical, it can be used against others, and it might not always require arcane knowledge to overcome.”

I nodded knowingly. “Curses are a fairly common way of hindering foes in the magical community, I’m afraid. Permanent curses that brand their target afterwards are less common, but definitely not unheard of. Fortunately, the rituals to dispel curses are equally common. That may leave one vulnerable during a single battle, but if you can get away, a cure is not likely to be an issue, though it will need to be powerful enough to counter the original caster’s power.”

“I’ll take that into consideration, then. At any rate, this figure produced a sword in a flash of light, and severely wounded Paradoxical, without even offering his name. Paradoxical found himself unable to do more than complain about his treatment, before the figure hit him again, with the flat of the blade. By the time the police arrived, the figure was long gone, and Paradoxical was still unconscious.”

“Fascinating. Did Paradoxical remember anything else?”

“Yes,” Skytalon leaned in. “He said that the guy said something about Paradoxical hunting on his turf. And he called himself the God of Time.”