Saving Supervillains 1 Chapter 34 (Patreon)

Venus met us at the Bureau. Her head hung down as she stood there, barely covered by the scraps left in her outfit. Her outfit was completely shredded within an inch of its life, yet somehow it still managed to cover the important bits.

Underneath, bruises were forming in the patches that didn’t have a cut. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that she had put up a fight.

“I’m sorry. I failed.” She couldn’t look up and meet my eyes.

I had to admit part of me had wondered if she’d given it her all, but the dejected look on her face told me that she truly had tried.

“We’ll fix this. Get a new suit, get cleaned up, and be ready.” I wasn’t about to accept her apology until I had Melody back in my arms unhurt.

My anger was simmering just below the surface, and I was working hard to make sure I didn’t start pulverizing items around me at the Bureau.

“Come on.” Stella grabbed my arm, pulling me away. “You did your best, Venus,” she called over her shoulder.

Kim was waiting for me at the top of the steps with a sympathetic smile. “We’ll find her. No one takes one of our own and gets away with it,” she reassured me.

I nodded, ignoring her and staring at the screens, waiting to see intelligence that would point to Melody’s location.

“What have you found?”

“Straight to business.” She ran her fingers through her fiery mane. “We have eyes on her entering the sewer system. By the time it was clear to get Overwatch in the area, there were no traces.”

I glared at Kim, feeling like she had just wasted my time.

But she continued. “This is an organized group of villains. Something like that makes a huge splash. They won’t stay hidden for long, not with the resources we are pulling into this. I already called in favors from Coast City, using our recent help with the titan. Forty-eight heroes, including six S class heroes, are coming into town to bolster this.”

That sort of change made my mind swirl. It was unlike the BSH to move heroes for just villains, even when small groups popped up.

“You think this is more?” I realized.

Kim winked. “We’ve spotted at least three S class villains from other cities, including Coast and North City.”

It wasn’t uncommon for villains to flee between cities. I’d done it myself once upon a time, but to have them flee to the same place was unusual. “You are concerned there’s a convergence here. That this is only going to get bigger.”

“Yeah.” Kim nodded. “It’s already too big. For some messed up reason, they are all working together, which means this has a chance of snowballing out of our control if they think they have enough power to oppose us directly.”

“It’s almost like they drew in every villain in the city,” I agreed. It also fit with the crime rate dropping to zero before the spree.

Every villain…

I remembered Mindfuck saying someone had come to her with a crazy proposal, and my mind began swirling. They were likely trying to get her in on whatever was happening. I needed to get any intel she may have.

“Yeah, this is a cluster fuck.” Kim shook her head and motioned for me to join her in The Spine.

“Actually, mind if I take a break? I suddenly feel like I need to sit down.” I grabbed Stella’s arm for support.

Kim nodded slowly. “It’s been a tough day. I’ll call you the moment we know something. Stella, keep an eye on him.”

Stella wrapped me in a hug. “Won’t let him out of my sight.”

Kim turned back around, walking into The Spine.

“So, what stupid sort of thing are we going to do?” Stella asked.

“Nothing, come on. I could use a rest back home.” There were cameras in here and I didn’t want to speak aloud.

Stella’s brow furrowed, but she nodded and supported me until we were out. I turned off our comms and the tablet before pulling out my phone.

“Angelina, how are you?”

“Miles, is there anything I can do?” She sounded confused.

I cleared my throat. “Yeah, there is. I need to talk to you. Something you said earlier might be related to a case.”

“Sure, I was just wrapping up for the day. Meet me at my apartment?” There was the rustling of papers, like she was in a hurry to meet me.

“Sounds good. Stella is flying me over.” I hung up, not wanting to talk more on the phone.

Stella cocked her head. “What does Mindfuck have to do with this?”

“She said she got a strange offer yesterday. I think she got an invitation to this supervillain organization.”

Stella’s eyes went wide as a grin spread across her face. “Perfect!” She snatched me off the pavement, taking to the air. “We’ll find her, Miles.”

“Damn right we will,” I replied, boosting Stella so she could fly faster.

***

We landed outside Angelina’s place, which was simple but nice.

Angelina herself was just hurrying to her apartment as we waited outside the door.

“Miles.” She was breathing hard, her chest bouncing as she bounded up the steps.

“There you are. Let’s talk inside.” I nodded at the door.

She fished out a key and opened it, stepping to the side to let me enter.

“So, what’s the big deal?” she asked, staring at me again with those awe filled eyes.

I scanned her place and found no listening devices, but I put up a barrier just to be safe. “You said you got an odd offer today. Have you seen the news?”

“No…” She placed her stuff on the counter. “Been busy all day.”

Stella closed the door behind us. “There’s an organized crime spree every few hours and no crime in between. Does that sound familiar?”

“Shit,” Angelina spat. “They actually did it?”

I put my hands on her shoulder and looked into her eyes. “Angelina, a super named Obsidian kidnapped Melody during the latest spree.”

Her eyes went as wide as saucers. “Your Melody?”

“Yes, my Melody.” My voice dipped into a low growl.

“Obsidian… goth girl in black leather?” She confirmed with just a look at my face. “Yeah, she’s all sorts of fucked up in the head, but she isn’t even self-sufficient.”

I pulled away from her. “Sit down. We need to know everything. Quickly.”

Angelina pulled out a chair and plopped down. “I’ll tell you everything, and I’ll do you one better. I’m coming with you to help.”

“You sure?” I wasn’t crazy. She could be useful both in a fight and in terms of helping predict a villain’s next move. She knew the landscape of villains better than most.

“You promised me I’d work for you when this is done. I don’t see any reason not to start helping now.” Angelina crossed her arms under her chest.

Stella gave me a broad grin. “He did?”

There was a worried look that flitted across Angelina’s face, but it disappeared after a moment.

“Yes, he did.” She pushed forward. “Now, you said it was Obsidian that took her. Her mind is a bit warped, but she remembers the experiences her clones have, including their deaths. It’s enough to mess a person up.” Angelina got right to it.

“I can see how that happens.” Experiencing near death was life changing for many. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to feel death time and time again.

“It has made her codependent on someone else to stay grounded. Last I heard, she was working with a mad scientist who goes by Liberator.” She spread her hands along the table, looking at them. “He had some odd rumors going around him.”

Liberator was an odd name for a villain mad scientist, but I pushed past that. “What rumors?”

“That he was enhancing people’s powers. Liberating them from their limits.” The second sentence sounded like she was repeating something she’d heard in the past.

“Any truth to it?” That was a bold claim.

Angelina shrugged. “I haven’t seen anything. But I don’t exactly function the way most people do. He was making monsters; that much I do know.”

Thinking back to the distractions that were occurring during the crime spree, I realized those must have been his creations. Damn mad scientists. They might be the worst type of villain out there; oftentimes brilliance wanted to push the bounds of what was possible, consequence be damned.

I repeated back what we knew so far, working to process it into a clearer picture. “So he’s making monsters, giant robots, and promising increased power. He’s got Obsidian reliant on him. What else can you tell me?”

If this guy was leading all the villains in the city, he had to have some ace up his sleeve.

“When I was approached, they said they were going to coordinate crime. They stayed pretty vague, so I don’t know all the details beyond that. I’m sorry.” She bit her lip and reached into her purse. “They gave me this.”

She laid a small black card on the table with a red border. It had a single phone number on it with red text. “They said to call them to join.”

I drummed my fingers on the table. “Can you call them? Maybe you could be our mole. Help us find Melody.”

“If that’s what you want. I’m going to need to ditch the ankle monitor, though, to do that.” She let it sink partially out of her arm.

With everything else going on in the city, it would be a while before anyone came to check on an offline ankle monitor. That was so far down on the list of priorities right now, they might not get to it for a few days.

“Not a problem.” I grabbed it, using a tight blast of electromagnetic energy. It made a small whine as the light dimmed. “Done. Now, make that call. I’ll come with you. Stella will hang back as backup.”

“No, Stella won’t,” Stella replied, crossing her arms. She wanted to save Melody as much as I did.

“You are too recognizable.” I tapped my head where her horns curled over her hairline. “They’d make you in an instant. Especially with how much press you’ve been getting lately.”

She wrinkled her nose but didn’t fight me on it. We both knew it was true.

Angelina’s phone was ringing as she put it on speaker and put it down on the table.

It crackled and a recorded male voice spoke, “Hello, welcome to Libertech. If you know your party’s extension number, hit one. Please listen and choose one of the following options. Please note that our option numbers have changed recently. If you are an existing shareholder, hit two. If you are a new shareholder, press three.”

It was so different from what I’d expected. It sounded so much like any other corporate phone system.

Angelina hit three, and we all waited for the next option.

“Please wait for an available service representative. Approximate wait time is less than two minutes.”

I hit the mute button on her phone. “What the fuck! Is this really what you were given to join?”

She showed the card. It matched the number she dialed. “I mean, what’s more evil than a corporation?”

Stella giggled while I just gave a grunt of acknowledgement.

“Hello, this is Jon, and I’ll be guiding you through the process to set up your account! First, can I have your name?” He sounded like an overly excited intern.

Angelina unmuted her phone, and we were all quiet. “Uh, hi. I’m Angelina, known as Mindfuck? I got this black card with the number in red. I was calling to join.”

“Oh. One of our elite members! Yes, let’s get you set up.”

It was one of the oddest things to watch as Angelina signed up for Libertech. It was just like any other club membership sign up. She was even given an account number and a login for their site.

It all felt eerily normal, except for when she was offered onsite access to their building.

When Angelina hung up, she glanced over at me. “This is too well organized.”

“I know.” Holding up my phone, I showed her that Libertech was a publicly traded company. “Either they took over this company, or they’ve literally been hiding out in plain sight.”

She nodded. “Given the symmetry with his name, I’m guessing the mad scientist made the company. What do they even do?”

Reading through the front page of the website, I shrugged. “Some vague BS about research into making people’s lives better.”

“Time to visit the office? Or report it to the Bureau?” Stella asked.

“We are headed to the office. We have complete access to their base now, and chances are, that’s where they are holding Melody.” I stood up with a grin on my face. “The best chance she has is if I get involved personally.”

Stella leaned forward with a savage grin. “Then let’s go.”

“I’m coming too.” Angelina put her things away in a drawer. “After all, you’ll need me to get in. I’ll leave it to you to get us out.”

As much as I wanted to wreck my way in, she was probably right. It would be easier to go undercover and then rip Melody out.

“Let’s go.” I lifted both of them with my kinetic powers, warping light around us, then trying the new phasing power I had mimicked. I sent all three of us out of Angelina’s apartment.

We left our devices at her apartment, powered off.

What was about to happen was going to be loud. I knew there would be questions after, but I wasn’t about to risk Melody’s life by doing it by the book. It was times like this that the law didn’t work.

We hurtled across the city, late into the afternoon.

“We are invisible, phasing through walls, and flying. Just what can’t you do?” Angelina looked at me with awe bordering on reverence.

“Cook without his powers,” Stella laughed. “Oh, and deal with his past traumas.”

I narrowed my eyes at Stella. “I’m doing better.”

She just whistled innocently.

“You realize I could help with that,” Angelina said, slowly probing my reaction.

“Do not start picking me apart. I’ve done some serious shit, but that’s in the past.” I was fine.

“Not to your mind. Up there, it is still a tangled mess.”

I glared at both of them. “Oh look, we are here.” I smiled smugly, letting the conversation die. Both of them were aware enough that now wasn’t the time to continue this conversation.

“Stella, that building over there is your backup position; wait until you get a signal.” I pointed to a nearby skyscraper.

“What’s the signal?” she asked.

“When everything goes to shit, you’ll know. Or if the Bureau shows up, join them.” Without our comms or devices, I had no way of getting a message out to her.

“Be careful.” Her hand lingered on my arm for a moment before she parted ways.

Angelina stared at me for a long moment as we landed, and I stopped warping light around us.

“She’s good for you,” she said.

“Why do you say that?” I asked, genuinely curious.

“Because you are a stubborn man that needs some companionship, and she just might be the only person more stubborn than you.”

I chuckled in acknowledgement, but I also wasn’t dense enough that I’d missed that I was changing, too. Stella had pulled me out of my fortified solitude, and it was starting to echo all around me.

“Let’s get this done. You can psychoanalyze me later.” Pulling Angelina along, we walked in the front door.

She fit right in as she pretended to be human. And she was still wearing her white lab coat. There were plenty of other people strolling around in lab coats of their own.

Security stopped us and Angelina pulled out the email verification she had received. They scanned a QR code before letting the two of us inside.

“That was easy,” I commented.

“Don’t be too cozy; it is still a lair of villains,” she commented as her eyes scanned the place. She was nervous, and we needed to fit in. She had to calm down.

“So, since you got to pick at my brain, what about you? What caused you to make the switch?” I gave her something to talk about.

We walked down a hall, following some lab coats like we belonged. I was keeping my eyes out for some sign to say this place belonged to an extensive team of villains, but so far, it seemed oddly normal.

“The villain that threw me in the chemical vat…” She let out a heavy sigh. “I had cleared them for release the week before.”

I cringed, recognizing how much that could have affected her. “Easy to doubt your instincts after that.”

“It wasn’t just that. It was the maniacal glee with which they did it. They weren’t better; they had just buried themselves from the moment I first met them.” She looked up at the fluorescent lights overhead in thought.

“I realized that I wasn’t doing anything. The limited sessions I had weren’t improving them at all, and half the time, they were just put right back in the sort of stimuli that made them a villain in the first place.”

Looking at her, I raised an eyebrow for her to continue.

“Abuse. So many, especially the men, were being abused by the prison guards.”

“Any problem with that right now?” I was concerned about her ongoing project.

“None. Apparently, being sponsored by the mysterious Deputy Director of the BSH not only gives me a shield of protection, but it also gives it to my patients. They don’t want to be the ones to mess up your project.” She gave me a smile. “For once, I might make a real difference.”

I snorted. “You’ve made a difference already.” I gestured around us. “You are helping me with this. Besides, I don’t deserve much credit. All I did was show normal human empathy to criminals.”

Angelina grabbed my hand, squeezing it tight. “You’d be surprised how rare that is.” She looked at me with a small bit of devotion.

I realized just how deep her wounds were. I was not only her patron, helping her make a difference with her practice, but she was leaning on me for far more. My strength both in the Bureau and my powers had become something for her to rely on.

We reached the end of the current wing of the building, and I couldn’t help myself. I felt so connected to her in that moment, after she’d confided in me.

I leaned over, brushing my lips against hers for a moment. Her elastic lips molded against mine, and I sank into the sticky sweetness.

When I pulled away, a little strand of her slime tried to hang on. “You are doing great, and I still want you to work for me after you get your sentence commuted.”

She nodded, suddenly becoming shy again.

“Let’s circle back and check another wing.”

We walked past several more conference rooms. As we passed one of the doors, a woman stepped out. She wore a long, sleek, black bodysuit with a lab coat over top. Somehow, the lab coat overruled the otherwise risqué outfit and made her seem professional.

There was a look of recognition in her eyes as her painted black lips curled up into a smile.

This time, she wasn’t wearing a mask, just a set of glasses.

My power snapped into place, locking Obsidian down.

“Hello again.” She smiled. “I so enjoyed our last encounter, handsome.”