Supervillains 2 Chapter 8 (Patreon)

Checking out the villains in the lab hadn't taken too much time. I pulled out my tablet, scrolling through, and I saw I had a guest at the front desk.

Odd.

I thought through possibilities, but I couldn’t figure out who would visit me at the BSH.

I walked down to the front desk and asked the security guard. "Hey Tammy, I got a message that I had a guest?"

"Right over there." Tammy pointed.

The woman in question stood as Tammy pointed at her. Her emerald green eyes stood out, but that was intentional. Emma always wore jewelry to accent them.

My mentor in crime stood in the middle of the BSH lobby, waiting for me with a smile that hid a joke that only she knew.

"Thanks Tammy." I said distractedly.

I had planned to go observe the end of my heroes’ practice, but that was going to have to wait. A much larger problem had just walked in.

"Miles, Miles, Miles." She chided me while shaking her head. "Here, I thought you might have been waiting for me when I got out."

"Let's go." I turned to leave the bureau. I did not want to have this conversation with her at the bureau headquarters. "I'll buy you lunch."

"Perfect. I always love it when you treat me." Emma purred as she wrapped her arm around my own and pressed herself against me. Her head leaned in a way that made the cat ears sticking out of her hair brush my cheek and twitch.

She was dressed in an off-white blouse and a starchy black skirt, but the plain colors were hardly noticeable compared to her ruby red hair and the decadent jewelry that decorated her collar.

"You left two days early." I said.

"Because I was eager to see you." She shrugged as if that was my problem, not hers. "Then I tracked you down to Point City and found your little stash. Imagine how surprised I was to find that you were working for the BSH."

"You always avoided Point City before."

She shook her head, though, brushing her cat ear against me again. "No, my dear, you avoided Point City, and I never cared before. Now I get it. You kept yourself clean in the city so you could hide here one day. My getting arrested spooked you?"

"No. I retired."

Emma let out a peel of musical laughter. "That's funny. Retire? Why? You could have anything you wanted."

"Because I had enough. There was no reason to keep... going." I looked around cautiously to see if anyone was listening. Then I veered us down a less reputable street and away from the BSH office worker's normal haunts.

"Taking me somewhere dangerous?" Emma purred, her hands getting a little more bold as they felt me up. "I was locked up for a long time. They don't let men in the prison with us anymore, you know. I missed you."

Emma’s fingers ran along my arm as she whispered. She had always had a way with me. She was my first; just her touch was bringing back memories.

The way I had tied up Obsidian, I had learned from Emma, she... liked to experiment.

"Good for the men. I don't think they'd survive long with you or the others. Doesn't look like you are hurting from you time though." I stared at the necklace fashioned like a collar. It had an enormous emerald hanging down, drawing attention to her chest. And strands of diamonds swept around the emerald.

I scanned the rest of her, noting that on her wrist was an onyx watch with what looked like a mother's charms carrying a small variety of stones.

It hadn't taken her long to reequip.

"A girl has to have a passion, and I just happen to have one for jewels." Her hand splayed across my chest.

I snorted. "No need to lie. I know you better than that. You are preparing for something; you don't have to hide your power from me."

Emma sighed and leaned heavily on me. "A girl has to keep at least a little mystery or a guy will just walk away. Besides, you haven't told me what you are planning, working at the BSH."

Pausing in the middle of the street, I pulled her to face me. "I'm actually working at the BSH. But I'm making a real difference, working with convicts and trying to set them straight."

She threw her head back with laughter so hard that tears dotted the edge of her eyes. "No really, what's the con?" She wiped her eyes.

"Really. I have three girlfriends and two of them were former villains, now also working for the BSH."

A glint of rage passed through Emma's eyes. "Miles. Heroes are a poison on society. You've said so yourself many times."

"Yes, they can be, but they don’t have to be. I'm working to solve it from the inside. I have a chance to actually help villains, not just lock them up. And I’ve been working with Kim to clean up the heroes that were corrupt." Even as I spoke, I realized how much I’d changed in the years since I’d seen Emma.

Her eyes searched mine. "You aren't joking. You actually think you are doing good by working with them?"

I grabbed her arm before she ran. "Emma." I warned. "It's real good, not the fake kind that plagued me as a teenager."

"Good thing I got out. Someone needs to set you straight. But this changes things. I was hoping to get back to our good old days right here in the alley. You know I like it a little kinky and the chance of somebody stumbling in sounds fun.” Her eyes sparkled before they shifted to disappointment. “But it looks like I’ll need to bring back the Miles I loved first. Void." She spat out my alter ego's name and grinned before she disappeared.

I wasn’t surprised she had put two and two together, connecting me to my new alter ego.

My abilities were more honed now than they were before. The faint flicker of ki between her and the charm bracelet on her wrist didn't escape my notice.

Emma's powers were varied. She had always said that it was the gems that gave her power, but from what I'd just seen, it was the other way around. She briefly gave the gem a power that then spread through her body.

There must have been an amethyst on that bracelet to let her teleport.

Her ki was nowhere near as strong as mine, but her power was so varied that she could handle almost any situation if she had the right gemstones for it.

All the diamonds across her throat weren't just for show; she could survive almost anything with that string of diamonds. The emeralds let her even recover from a gunshot wound to the head once.

But now that I had seen her power in a new light, it changed my understanding.

She wasn't drawing power from them; she was creating a temporary enchantment on the gems.

I wondered what I could do with that once I brought Emma to my side once again.

Admittedly, she had been my mentor in my youth, but by the time that she went to prison, I had been her partner in crime.

I sighed, seeing a small local Chinese restaurant sitting in the back alley. That moment felt like the perfect time to punish my stomach with oily goodness.

Fuck, Emma just had a way with me.

I entered, sitting down at a table and putting my head in my hands. The discussion with Emma hadn't gone as well as I'd hoped, but not as bad as it could have gone. She made it through prison in one piece. In her early days, I’d snuck an emerald or two in there for her.

Prison for supers was a dangerous place. Since they couldn’t remove their powers, they kept them in line with force.

For as long as we’d worked together, I’d found myself drawn back into crime. I blamed Emma for that.

She had a way of gaining favor wherever she went and using the power to her advantage. She was beautiful and compelling, and as she took control of the prison from the inside, I found myself pulled along like a magnet. I’d eventually stopped going, wanting to separate myself and live a more normal life.

But now that she was out, I felt the magnetism starting again. But this time, I wasn’t the same. I had Stella, Angelina, and Melody. I had an opportunity to make a difference and a role that let me do that.

Emma just needed to see the other side of things, of what I was creating.

"What would you like?" The server asked me, she’d come quick with the restaurant being nearly empty.

In my thoughts, I had sat down and picked up a menu, but looked at nothing. I just threw out a common Chinese dish on reflex. "Orange chicken and water?"

"Yes, sir." The woman took the menu and hurried away.

Sitting at the table, my thoughts lingered on Emma. I was struggling to come up with a plan to bring her out of crime, and I was growing frustrated, so I switched gears.

Emma was complex, and there wouldn’t be any one quick way to bring her out of villainy. It would take time, and I had other problems that needed my attention.

Deciding to tackle one I could do without my team, I reached out towards the BSH, feeling for Venus. She was right about some sort of connection between us. For whatever reason, it was easy to find her.

After talking with Angelina, I was trying to do better at looking at our connection from Venus’ perspective. I knew how my power boosting worked, but I didn’t know how it felt on the other side. Between that and her mental abilities, maybe we had some sort of deeper connection forming I just hadn’t realized.

Reaching out, I boosted her power slightly.

A mental connection snapped into place as she screamed out in her mind, and a thousand mental tether hooks tried to pierce my mind.

But before they could cross the great distance between us, she restrained them.

I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do that. Please don't leave.

It certainly had not been the welcome I had wanted, but given that I had surprised her and she had managed to pull them back, I gave her the benefit of the doubt.

What was that?

I could feel her blush across the mental connection. I got a little too excited when you connected to me. It's been a few days, and I missed you.

The vulnerability in her voice made it harder than expected. I didn’t want her to feel like I had toyed with her if she ever did figure out my identity. I responded carefully.

I know. I just have a lot of secrets, so I stay hidden.

Then why contact me?

I let a sigh drift through the connection. Her telepathy was floating just outside my mind. I could tell she was debating pushing into my defenses, but for the moment, she let me keep my secrets.

Because I've had a hard day, and I cannot talk candidly with many people. I thought maybe you’d be willing to listen.

Yeah? What was so bad?

An ex-girlfriend showed back up, and it didn't go quite to plan.

An ex? Are you two...

I am trying to help her, and the help she needs I am uniquely suited to give. And if I’m honest, I do still feel a draw to her. I’ve helped my other women as well. 

There was a long pause from Venus before she spoke again. You have other women?

Yes, I do. And I care for each of them.

I guess it makes sense. She sounded completely defeated. Your power would make women flock to you.

Sometimes. But I like to think my charm makes them stay. I smirked, laughing at my own joke.

Will you tell me anything about yourself? She asked.

I thought for a moment before responding. I know your hero name, so it’s only fair I tell you my villain name—

Villain! Venus' power brushed up against my defenses, her interest clearly piqued. She barely restrained herself from barging straight into my mind.

You know me by the name Void.

There was an abrupt silence on the other end. I had to check if the connection was still in place.

The server approached the table with a steaming hot plate of sweet glazed chicken over rice. I started eating and got halfway through the plate before Venus spoke up again.

Can you connect back to me tomorrow? I have a lot to think about.

With that, she severed the connection. I could feel the connection still floating. If I wanted to, I could pull it back and connect, but I didn’t want to push her.

I’d tried to give her enough truths that she could stop having the soul mate fantasies and be prepared for reality.

I’d keep a closer eye on her throughout the day to see how she was doing.

With the connection severed, I stopped powering her and went back to eating my orange chicken.

It was only lunchtime, and the day had already been a doozy. Obsidian continued to add complexity to my breakfasts, and then Emma had shown up at BSH.

I didn’t really want to know what would get thrown at me by dinner. But if nothing happened, I probably owed Kim a conversation with Void.

I leaned back with an old man sigh. Everything was getting more complex, but it also came with the territory. If I wanted to reshape the dynamic of heroes and villains, it was going to be a lot of work.

I checked the clock on my tablet. The girls still had half an hour of practice and then they would rest and recover for two hours before we went on patrol.

I drummed my fingers. Angelina might have a lunch break I could use. Opening a private tab on my browser, I looked up at the cemetery where my parents were buried.

As weird as it was, I suddenly needed to confirm they were still there.

I felt tension seep out of me as I confirmed the cemetery was the same, but I also lost my hunger. Staring down at all the food remaining, I left it.

Laying more than enough cash to cover the bill, I got up and left.

As I stepped outside, the air shimmered around me as I pushed the light around, wrapping it and reflecting so that I’d become invisible.

A few seconds later, I was lifting into the air and flying over the city using kinetic force to push myself along. I kept myself under the sound barrier, breaking that ruined the stealth aspect of my flying.

Landing outside North Point Prison, I straightened my clothes and walked into the building as I dropped my invisibility.

A guard looked up at me as I walked through the door. "Hold up."

I showed my tablet in response, and he saluted me wordlessly and buzzed me through the office door.

Slipping through, I made my way to Angelina's office.

Her office was separated from the rest; they’d objected to putting a former villain right next to all the other offices. But she hadn’t minded. She said the privacy was good for her patients.

The nameplate on her door hung lopsided, but at least someone had put scotch tape on it to keep it from tilting further.

I knocked.

"Come in." Angelina sounded distracted.

When I stepped in, she looked up from her workstation, suddenly flustered. "You can't just come check on me all the time." Angelina rapidly tried to organize her desk.

"It was a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing. Do you have a lunch break?" I came and sat down on the edge of her desk.

"Well... yeah."

"Are you using it to eat?" I asked remembering that she didn’t really need to eat.

"No, I'm organizing some of my documents. I don't need to eat that much." She finished shuffling everything into the plastic trays on her desk, and that appeared to be neat enough for her.

"Didn't I ask them to digitize some of this?" I scowled at the paperwork, remembering the order I'd put in.

Angelina held up her hands. "They are. It takes a little time, but they are working on it. Until then, there is an assistant that comes and types a bunch for me so I can focus on the more important parts of this role."

"Good. Then come to lunch with me. I have this perfect cemetery that I wanted to see." I pulled her up by her arm.

She was confused for a moment before understanding dawned on her face. "Shit, Miles, are you sure this is the best time?"

"I have time, and I want to get this over with."

Sighing, Angelina put her tablet away in her desk before waiting for me. "Put yours away, too. We'll get them back after we are done. This is too important to let get broken up by distractions."

I rolled my eyes, but complied. "Come on. While we are on the way, I can tell you about my meeting with Emma and my telepathic talk with Venus." I smiled, knowing those two tidbits would surprise her.

"You did both today?" Angelina gasped, hurrying to catch up with me. “You shouldn’t push so quickly.”

"Yup. Neither went perfectly, but I think they are manageable." I moved normally through the prison but wrapped light around both of us as soon as I left the camera range. Then we shot into the air, heading towards Jefferson Cemetery.

"So, Emma?" Angelina asked as soon as we were in the air.

"Came right into the BSH." I sighed. "Asked for me directly...”