System Supervillain, Chapter 61 (Patreon)

Chapter 61 – Time Skip

Things fell back into their familiar pattern after I dealt with the Dark Cabal. The System may have turned on all of a sudden, but that didn’t mean that people had suddenly changed. Heroes were still heroes, villains were still villains, and normal folk were still normal folk, just trying to get by without getting caught up in the crossfire. While the chaos of the System’s emergence had thrown everything up in the air for a while, but by the two-year anniversary of the System being implemented, a new status quo had established itself.

Of course, some things continued to shake up the status quo, at least for me. The last of my small-scale baby boom was Electra’s child, Uriel, but she was the fifteenth of my kids born, sixteenth if you included Starsinger’s child. Yes, sixteen kids from fourteen mothers was quite a haul. Fortunately, Huinnalge and Bulkkoch would forgive me, eventually, for saddling them with twins, each. After all, I’d already made it so that they didn’t need to return to being heroines, so they didn’t need to worry about getting back into fighting shape while dealing with the kids.

Of course, they couldn’t hide forever, looking as they did. Eventually, one of the delivery drivers caught sight of Huinnalge in the yard with Kyong-Ja and Hyo-Rin, her daughters, as they were bringing a delivery of groceries. While most people didn’t recognize her face out of costume, the white wings sprouting from her back were a dead giveaway. When Bulkkoch answered the door with her boys, Sun-Woo and Il-Song, that made things stand out even more for him. The next day, the paparazzi had descended upon the house that they’d bought with my money, and I’d been forced to cause a few ‘disappearances’ to ensure that no one harassed them at home.

Honestly, out of everyone, the Tokyo Rangers and the Red Ranger’s sister had it the worst. They were all in school, after all, even if they weren’t high school kids, so it caused no small bit of embarrassment for them, and their families. Continuing with their studies before and after the kids were born was a struggle, but they had their families with them to help, so that made it easier.

I hadn’t been in contact with Starsinger since that meeting at the hospital, and she hadn’t tried reaching out to me, so I assumed she was handling things on her end. The Elementals were not really a group that I needed to concern myself with, given their focus, but I did have alerts set to inform me if any scandalous news reports came out about them. So far, nothing, so I didn’t have any reason to insert myself in their affairs.

The situation around the lair was… busy. Three pregnant ladies had led to three new mothers and three kids, all demanding attention. And being a supervillain with a secret identity and a hidden lair definitely put up barriers when it came to hiring a babysitter, or anything else to do with child care. It wasn’t like I could just hire any random schoolkid for the job.

By comparison, Electra had it fairly easy. Sure, she was a single mother, on paper, but between her team and everything else, Uriel wasn’t lacking for anything, even without my secret contributions. Her reputation had taken a hit, sure, and she’d spent several months under observation, to ensure that I wasn’t giving her any commands, or controlling her directly. Too bad (for them) that the scanners that Silver Knight and Mechana came up with didn’t actually show the changes that had already set. They probably would have detected active mind control or similar effects, but a ‘set’ effect that was a permanent change? Didn’t seem like it.

However, that didn’t mean the Knights had stopped the surveillance of Electra, whenever she went out and about. It just meant that the surveillance changed from having an escort (including at least one super) with her at all times, ready to intervene if she went rogue, to more passive surveillance. Like the agent who was doing a credible job of not arousing suspicion and looking like he belonged, as he trailed Electra while she went about her daily life.

All the agents who had been assigned to observing Electra, and keeping tabs on her, were men. And that was due entirely to my powers. I didn’t have to guess or reason that, because Crystal hacked their computers and literally read their mail, as they sent it back and forth. They didn’t trust me not to seduce and corrupt any women who were assigned to watch Electra.

It was a positive change, really. While still annoying to deal with, especially without arousing any suspicion or causing bodies to start stacking up, it was, at least, possible to get in touch with her, now. A big change, considering that, before, I had to move separately to the Tailor shop so we could go to her checkups with the Physicians together. Even then, the only reason they didn’t have someone with her was because they didn’t want to run afoul of the Guild.

It was an annoyance, but I hadn’t made it as far as I had by jumping at obvious bait. They hadn’t harmed Electra or Uriel in any way, which meant I didn’t need to destroy them. It was just a bother, and meant she needed to work a bit to slip her leash. So far, though, ‘good behavior’ had convinced the Knights that I was letting her be.

It wasn’t like I didn’t have distractions of my own. Tammy’s kid, Sophie, was the loudest of the bunch, always talking. Min-yuè’s boy, Zedong, was turning out to be very much a momma’s boy, and stayed close to her, or his other mothers, as much as possible. Isobel, Crystal’s daughter, was the other way. She loved her daddy, and wanted me to spend time with her, whenever possible.

I tried to spend time with all my kids, but with circumstances as they were, there was only so much I could do. Fridays, I dropped in on Electra and Uriel, after evading her minders. Saturdays were when I spent time with the kids in Japan. Sunday, I went over to Korea, and spent the day with the girls and their kids. Sometimes, I managed to get over for more, but I couldn’t be everywhere all at once, so I still ended up seeing the kids in the lair more than the others.

These newfound responsibilities reflected themselves in my Status, as people were starting to call the System screen. I’d picked up a hefty disadvantage from having fifteen kids I was actively trying to be a part of their lives with, worth thirty-five points. That was balanced by the fact that I’d lost the ‘Loner’ disadvantage, since I was definitely no longer running alone, as a rule, as well as the ‘Villain Groupies’ disadvantage, since having a bunch of kids apparently made me less desirable to the fangirls. Not that I minded that, of course, since they could get annoying. But it did leave me with a 20-point gain.

Actually, all the girls got a gain of twenty points, though it wasn’t always due to having a kid to care for. Sometimes, their reputation had changed, or other problems. Either way, the events of the last couple years had given us all points to play with, which was good, since we’d all been keeping out of the limelight as much as possible, which meant that we weren’t pulling in XP as quickly as Crystal and I had been, shortly after the Initialization.

Deciding what to spend the points on was simple. I bumped up my ice control power to an 83-point pool, with a 41-point control. That spent 19 of my points, but I figured I’d save that last one for later. That bump in the pool from 70 to 83 points didn’t really sound like much, on the face of it, but it would allow me to be far more versatile with my abilities.

Which was good, because I had a feeling that I was going to need those abilities, sooner rather than later. Some people just couldn’t leave well enough alone, after all. Here I was, just enjoying my life, and they have to go and try to mess things up. Well, I suppose I shouldn’t be too hard on them. It was their job, after all.

I sighed, and looked up at Crystal. We were sitting in the living room of the lair, enjoying a movie with the kids when she suddenly said something that ruined the mood. “Say that again, Crystal?”

“Sorry, brother, but I checked. Electra has new shadows on her when she goes out, as a civilian. They aren’t on the same comm network as the one the Knights have been using. I’m pretty sure that a new player has entered the game.”

“Well, that’s just great,” I grumbled. “So, I know you have more than that, since you’ve already looked into their comms situation. What do you have?”

“That’s the thing. I think they’re completely analog. They don’t even have digital watches, from what I’m able to scan. Not a single computer chip on their entire person. Do you know how fucking rare that is, in this day and age?

“What comms they are using looks like tech that is at least twenty or thirty years old. The kind of old school, but rugged, stuff you’d use if you were deep in the jungle, or something like that. I’m picking up encrypted radio transmissions, but they are using multiple layers of code, with the smallest transmission times possible, on a rotating frequency pattern. They definitely trying their best to guard against me.”

I paused to think about that. “You’re right. That is suspicious as all hell. This fucking reeks of professionals. But professional what? Spies? Electra’s identity is public, and the cameras are always following her. You don’t need to spy on her, when the public does it for you. Sure, the Knights had a watcher on her, but that was because they were concerned that she was under the influence. These people definitely don’t sound like they’re worried about her health.”

“Then it is obvious that they’re enemies, Master,” Min-yuésaid. “The only question is whether they are your enemies, or Electra’s, and what they intend to do.”

“Have they made contact at all with the Knights’ watchers?”

Crystal shook her head. “No, brother. That’s what tipped me off to their presence. One of the watchers spotted them, and called it in to base, asking who the other team was. They got a picture, but then lost the new watcher. It was enough for me to run image analysis and check cameras for them.”

She waved a hand, and the picture on the TV was replaced by four photos. All four individuals were wearing black, and sticking to shadows, watching from angles that wouldn’t have them in a normal person’s line of sight, usually above, looking down, perched on ledges or rooftops. Either they were the stairmaster champions of New York, or they had other ways of moving around. Which meant supers.

Taking a closer look, I frowned. “Three men, and a woman. Definitely not the Knights, then. Looks to be a containment pattern, so that they can move in, if needed. But for what? Do you have any other pictures?”

“Yes, a few more angles. They are definitely tracking Electra as she goes out for some shopping with Uriel. I think—Wait. I have a fifth possible, not near Electra, but fits the same tech profile.”

A fifth image joined those on the screen, another woman. This one was actually talking into a radio handset. Crystal wasn’t kidding when she said these people were going as low-tech as possible. But something about the building looked funny. “Where is this?”

“Across the street from the New York branch of the Tailors.”

Of course, it was. “There’s no way they’re going to try and spy on the Guild. And I think we can safely rule out Electra being the primary target. Their target is probably me, though we can’t rule out them trying to get to me through Electra, using her as bait. Everyone knows I avenge my own.”

“Hah!” Tammy laughed. “Master, you aren’t just known for avenging your own. You’re known for the literal war crimes you commit in the name of vengeance! Even as a security guard, they told stories about some of the things you’d done, in the past. Never knew whether they were true until I met you in person.”

“Right,” I nodded. “That means whoever this is believes that they are clever enough to not get caught, or they’re strong enough that they can beat me. Either way, that means we’re dealing with big shots. Probably supers.”

“So,” Crystal asked, “How are we going to figure out which it is?”

“That’s simple,” I said, pointing at the fifth image on the screen. “We’re going to have a chat with her.”