Supervillains 2 Chapter 18 (Patreon)

"Oh hey, deputy." Victor was washing his hands in the men's room. The room saw pretty low traffic. I’d had Rachel hunt for Victor so I could get his attention and change his patrol today. He just happened to be here.

"Morning Victor. Actually, I wanted to talk to you today. We are switching up patrol routes." I tried to keep it casual, saying it in an offhand manner. I didn’t want him to get suspicious.

Who knew what his potential involvement might be? If the crime was occurring on his regular patrol, he could be involved.

I figured he’d play it cool in return, muttering some affirmative. But instead, he jumped back from the sink, his hands still wet and splattering water on me. "You can't."

"Well, as Deputy Director, I most certainly can. But I think it will be good. The public needs to see fresh faces every so often."

"No!" Victor shouted. "They need the same faces. Plus, Point has the place mapped out for photo ops. If you make her change suddenly, then she's not going to know where to pose for photos."

A sigh ripped its way out of my throat, and I held my forehead with my fingers. "Victor. You have to be fucking kidding me. She could, and this is a novel idea, save people first and take photos later."

"No." He crossed his arms. "We won't change our patrol."

"Victor, you don't have an option." I stepped up in front of him. The man was a blocky sort. I wondered if he’d been some sort of hero in his prime, but he was far past it. His temples were graying and bleeding into his sides, and his hairline was most certainly the result of a wonderful plastic surgeon.

He glared back at me. "Just because you are sleeping with Kim doesn't mean that you're my boss."

I stepped back and blinked, mostly in surprise. "Wait, what?"

"You heard me. The whole bureau knows about you and Kim. Why else would some chump from our PR firm get fast tracked to, Deputy?"

I paused for just a moment before making my decision. "Yeah, I'm going to hit you for that." I said calmly.

Something like that needed a swift and decisive answer. I just happened to lean towards violence.

Victor didn't react fast enough, staring at me blankly as my first buried itself in his gut and bent him over.

I may have used just a touch of my power in that hit to prove a point.

I wanted to catch Antiope, and apparently based on Lachesis’ prediction, Victor’s patrol was the best option to get a lead into Libertech's drug. At least that’s what I told myself before I made it personal.

"Okay, three things. And I have little time, so I’ll go through them quickly. First, there's nothing between me and Kim. Second, don't be a dick. Third, your patrol is mine today. I will have Stella give you the same conversation if you make it a problem. She's much less gentle than I am." I patted Victor's back.

He strained, and his hand became hard and jagged like stone. "You fucking punk."

As he came at me, I stepped to the side. I grabbed his wrist, twisting and sending him careening into the stall. He had changed slightly. His skin had taken on a harder, craggy appearance as he knocked the stall door off its hinges.

From the brief contact, it had felt like I was holding something made of stone rather than flesh.

"Don't do this." I warned him as he recovered 

"You are only enhanced. I should be the one to warn you." Victor straightened his jacket.

I lifted my hands, ready to fight, and curled my fingers. "Come and get it." I couldn't use my powers overtly, but redirecting punches with my hands and controlling the kinetic energy to go with it went a long way to a fistfight.

I’d had my fair share of scuffles during my time with Emma. She tended to hang out in the seedier establishments, where a bunch of the patrons were just looking for a fight.

Victor threw a stiff punch, and I bobbed out of the way, not even bothering to throw a punch in return. And part of that was because I didn't want to punch his rock hard body and find out just how much it would hurt my knuckles.

"Come on, fight me." He jabbed again, but he held his weight back. He knew how to fight with his power.

Victor wasn't going to go all in where I could use his weight against him.

"I'm just enhanced. Why are you holding back?" I mocked him, letting my guard down for a moment.

He took it, coming in hard, but not hard enough.

I was going to have to take one hit for this.

Victor's fist was like being hit with a sack of bricks. Thankfully, it was to the chest, and I had no issues stumbling back as he came in harder than before.

Using my power to stop my stumble, I got my arms up and grabbed his arm, planting myself and throwing him over my hip and to the floor, which cracked under his hard body.

Do you need help, my love? Venus broke through. Stella and I are outside the bathroom.

I twisted over him, applying pressure to his arm. "Do you yield, or do we have to make this harder?"

"Fuck you."

"Fine, be that way." I didn't even have to put my thoughts to words as Stella and Venus barged into the bathroom.

Victor struggled under me as Stella came up and grabbed both of his shoulders, rooting him to the ground. "My master said we are taking your patrol. I don't know why you are struggling."

"Because it has--" His hard head bounced off the floor.

"Wow, your head bounces! Like a ball!” Stella let out a little chuckle as she grabbed Victor by the neck and lifted him off the ground. "Miles was asking politely, and you were a dick. But you went too far when you attacked my master." Stella's smile chilled me to the bone.

I took Victor from her. "Stella back down. Victor, you are taking our patrol today. That's final."

He straightened his jacket, but he knew when he was beaten. "This isn't over." He marched out of the bathroom.

"You should have just let me kill him. He attacked you, and he was ready to hurt you. That man doesn’t deserve to be walking." Stella pouted. “Besides, his head bounced wonderfully.”

I rubbed at my forehead. If she had killed him, it would have been a colossal mess. We were in the middle of the bureau, for heaven's sake. I didn’t think he meant to seriously harm me; it was just a tussle.

"You two didn't have to come." I commented, knowing they both knew I could defend myself if needed.

"But you needed help. You were fighting at a handicap." Venus replied.

"Sometimes, even if I need help, I can manage it. Anyway, what is done is done. Let’s go get you two back to working out. I need to go head off, Kim."

Because Victor was most assuredly going to go to Kim right now.

I ushered the two girls out of the men's restroom, which was already garnering more attention than I wanted. A few gawkers were watching the men's room for the two heroes that had barged in.

And we’d made a bit of noise when Victor was knocking me around.

As I walked out, I saw the little rat closing the door to Kim’s office behind him.

"Go, get back to the gym." I shooed away my two heroes. "I'll talk with you two later."

I went right up to Kim's office and joined Victor.

He was already waving his hands and shouting. "-ing lunatic. He started a fight."

"Hold up. To be clear, I gave you fair warning before I hit you. That’s more than you were owed, if I’m honest." I closed the door behind me, surprised at his volume when I’d opened it.

The door was clearly built to block the sound pretty well.

"So, who won?" Kim asked, an amused smile on her face.

"I would have kicked his ass if his two heroes didn't come barging in." Victor told a blatant lie.

"Okay, so if you had the upper hand, why did you keep fighting? He's just enhanced. With your power, you could have just walked away, Victor." Kim said it calmly, though it was clear to me that she was more like a volcano about to erupt.

He clearly couldn’t see it, or he’d shut up and leave.

Victor snorted. "Of course you'd defend your little bed toy. I'm not even sure why I came in here to talk to you." Seeing that he was going to lose the argument, he went to leave.

Small bits of hellfire rolled off of Kim as fire lit in her eyes and blocked him from leaving. "Cut the shit Victor." She turned to me. "What is this all about, Miles?"

"I want to change his patrol route today. He doesn't respect me and said something that deserved a punch." I replied.

"If Miles says your patrol route is changed, then it is changed. It's just a fucking route." Kim mediated brashly.

"But--"

"I see why Miles hit you." Kim cut him off. "I know the rumors like to swirl, but don't be an idiot. Besides, you don't understand why Miles has the job he does."

Victor's temple twitched with irritation. "And why is that? I'm the senior most manager."

I froze, the picture finally becoming clearer. Victor thought I’d taken the job he should have.

"Because Miles controls the strongest hero in the city." Kim replied, rolling her eyes.

For a moment, I thought she was talking about Void. But then I belatedly realized that Stella might actually be the toughest super in the city.

Sometimes, with everything else going on, I forgot Stella’s power.

"Demoness?" Victor asked. "But she's got terrible PR, and you could have put her on any team. You clearly favor him."

Kim turned to me, bored. "Do you want to tell him?"

"That Stella pretends that I'm her warlock, and she's my little succubus?" I had a little smile fighting to show on my lips.

"Something like that." Kim laughed. "See, Victor, Demoness won't let anyone else manage her."

"You'd probably be a smear on the pavement if you tried to boss her around." I commented offhandedly. "Is that really the only reason?"

Kim shrugged. "You also were the epitome of a hero when you went and saved her from that manor. Then you proved that you won't roll over when I debated with you. So you've got a hero's spirit, guts and the most powerful super in the city. All you need is experience. You'll get that in time."

"Experience is the most important part." Victor threw his hands wide. "You could give me powerful hero teams. I have guts and spirit."

Kim had fire rolling down her hair, a telltale sign she was getting annoyed. "You have experience saving kittens from trees. The last two years you've been teamed up with Miss Point City, who is a great mix for your PR mind, but you don't have a hero's spirit anymore, Victor."

"But--"

"You chose prominence over effectiveness and it shows." Kim glared at him before turning to me. "This has to do with Lach's predictions she gave you?"

"Yes." I should have known that she'd see through 

She nodded with pursed lips. "You had yet to really throw your weight around; I figured this had to be for something Lach said. She can be such a bitch. There had to be something less problematic than this." She grumbled, tossing the little ball of fire in her hand and smothering it. The fire in front of the door went out with it.

"So, what are you after?" she asked me.

I eyed Victor, but decided to say it out loud, anyway. "Antiope. I am assuming she's leading the remainder of Libertech's group."

"Got it. Get the fuck out of my office, Victor. You'll start helping pass along your experience to the low grade new heroes if you pull shit with Miles again. That's just to protect you from Demoness. I already know about her barging into the bathroom. You are lucky she didn't turn you into a pancake."

"She does love pancakes." I added, smiling at Victor.

Victor glared at me as if I'd wounded him and left the door, slamming it behind him.

Kim sighed, turning to me. "Really, a fucking fight in the bathroom?"

"Hey, he accused me of getting this job because we are sleeping together." I threw my hands up in the air.

"That idea makes you so upset you hit him? Damn, I've really lost my game." Kim murmured the last part to herself patting her face to see if it was sagging.

I gave an exasperated sigh. "Kim, you know that sort of rumor is damaging."

Women didn’t see those kinds of rumors as being as bad, because men were more often in that position. Women had become much more aggressive as the ratios diminished.

"Miles, it's fine. That sort of rumor would just die out on its own after some time."

Of course, she didn't see it as any big deal.

"Well, to me, it's a big deal. So, please help me dissuade the bureau from the thought." I put as much sincerity into my tone as I could.

"Sure. As long as you promise to stop fighting in the bathrooms. I mean, what were you thinking? You aren't even super."

I smiled. "But I totally had him before Stella and Venus burst into the room."

Kim sighed. "Can you handle this going forward? I do not want to be playing referee."

I knew dealing with nonsense like this was part of my job now that I was in management. And I certainly wasn't about to come running to her for help all the time.

If this had occurred outside of the bureau, it would have been so much easier. He wouldn’t have been able to complain, because that required a working jaw and brain.

"Oh yeah. I’ve got this. Besides, I'm more interested in getting to Antiope and the last of Libertech's people. Getting one of these drugs off the street is vital."

"You went this angle rather than the monster fruit... why?" Kim doubted me.

"Because this one would be easier and might lead to the other. The teleporting lizardman might be too hard to pin down even if I could find him." And because I wanted to dose myself with Libertech's drug. Although it seemed best to leave that out.

I also left out that Antiope knew a secret I’d rather she didn’t.

Kim nodded along with my reasoning, even though it looked like she didn't particularly agree. "So, how were the newbies?"

"Full of themselves." I pulled the seat at her desk back. "But there's a lot of talent in there."

Kim grinned, knowing she had me hooked. "You had an impressive record with new hires at Candice's firm. I knew you'd like new recruits. Here, soon I want you to get some managers under you and additional teams. You are the deputy, and it is time we elevate you above just being a manager."

I leaned back, thinking about what Victor had said. I wasn't sure I wanted the complication. "Are you sure this isn't too sudden?"

"Don't let his words get to you. I want you to get a pyramid of teams under you, be a real force to be reckoned with at the Bureau. Carve out your own organization." She grinned. "Come on, I'll even let you save a few more villains while we are at it."

"Save a few more?" I frowned, wondering what exactly she was referring to.

"Angelina, Stella… I have no doubt you probably have a few more projects on the side. I've even had a few villains apply for a job in return for amnesty after some rumors circulated about your two." Kim shot a finger gun at me that a little puff of fire came out from. "What you are doing is working. So do your patrol and bring me Antiope. From your report and our records, she's a tough one. Demoness and Rocksolid are the only two I want going after her. Given Lach's prediction, I'm putting Rocksolid and his team on standby near the patrol area."

I rubbed my chin. On standby was okay. I'd still be able to help my girls if needed, but if things really got hairy, I could call them in.

Rocksolid was a fantastic hero. As far as I could tell, he was the real deal. He was maybe a little dull in the head, but he was a genuinely good guy. "Okay, keep them out of the area. I don't want to spook Antiope by massively increasing our presence with two S grade supers in the area."