SSV3 Chapter 26 (Patreon)

“You can’t!” Kim threw her arms up in the air. She had a late night visitor to the Bureau, and she was ready for him to leave. “Do you understand how monumentally stupid of an idea that is?” Pratt was a general damnit, he should see how stupid of an idea this is.

General Pratt shrugged his shoulders. “Hendricks is on her way. We have eyes on Void. He’s unprepared. If there was ever a time to strike, it is now. Besides, he’s clearly in league with the villains now.”

Kim struggled because she was fairly sure he wasn’t in league with the villains. She bit the inside of her lip. “He’s working with Melody on her villain project. Void had an interest in going to Cerberus’ city.”

“And you have that in writing?” Pratt smiled, knowing full well that she didn’t.

“General. This better be good.” Hendricks stormed in. She was wearing a formal gown from some wealthy donor event or another. “Lay it down quickly.”

“We have—“ Pratt started

“There’s a—“ Kim spoke at the same time and they both paused, glaring at each other before Kim gave Pratt the floor.

He was going to fuck it up, but she’d just have to do what she could.

“We have eyes on Void, in the city. We have confirmation of at least two kills so far. I’m preparing a tactical strike with several special teams.” Pratt grinned from ear to ear. “We can take him out tonight, Hendricks. I just need you to be on board with it.”

“Bullshit.” Kim spat. “Void will grind anything you send at him into dust. He’s killed two VILLAINS tonight and is actively working with the BSH on project Velody. He’s interested in going to Cerberus’ new city, and I’m pretty sure that’s why he is out making himself known at the moment.”

“Is it under contract?” Hendricks asked.

Kim wanted to scream. Her and her stupid obsession with having it in writing. “With respect, Void isn’t going to sign anything, and it certainly wouldn’t be binding if he did.”

Hendricks clicked her tongue. “Without something in writing, I don’t know how we can trust him.”

Pratt had to go and make it worse. “For all we know, he wants to go to Cerberus and discuss an alliance between the two of them. He’s a complete unknown, able to throw a wrench into our plans at any moment. I say we take the chance to remove the unknown variable from the board. His power needs him to be aware of the danger. We have the shot.”

Kim’s hair sparked a little. She knew it was a bad look, but she couldn’t contain it. “Even assuming you can kill him, do you really think you can do it without any damage to the city? There’s a good chance at least Melody gets caught up in whatever you start.”

“He has a power that he needs to activate. Hitting him by surprise is extremely viable. He’s never been out in public before. Besides, Melody is completely replaceable. We could spin up another fake villain to send out there in two weeks. It isn’t ideal, but it won’t cause much of a delay.”

Kim wanted to strangle the man. The military had always treated supers like tools, disposable ones at that.

Even after all the BSH had done, all the work Kim had put in, Pratt still viewed them as a resource.

But this was unforgivable. Pratt was going to go after HER man. Miles Matherson was her white whale. She wanted to fix her mistakes in the past and bring him closer. She just knew he had the potential to be the world's next great hero, and she hoped one day he might even let her in fully.

Kim eyed Hendricks, who seemed to be genuinely considering the idea.

Hendricks spoke next. “Can you strike such that he never knows it was coming from us? Men have a mean streak a mile long if you scorn them.”

Kim cursed. She did not like the way this conversation was going.

“No problem. They’ll attack in civilian wear. Nothing will tie them back to Point City military.” Pratt responded evenly.

Kim couldn’t help it, she scoffed. “Like that will matter. He could just blast half the city to smithereens in a fit of rage.” She needed Hendricks to understand just how dangerous this was. Void wasn’t your average villain.

“Sounds like all the more reason that we strike while we have the opportunity if he is such a wild card.” Hendricks’ tone was firm. She was going to approve the strike.

Kim knew the look from the mayor. “Fine. Let me get some people spun up and ready to react should things hit the fan.”

“No, we can’t give any notice that we know about this.” Hendricks was firm. She was also scared shitless of Void.

The mayor was the most powerful person in Point City in connections and authority, but she was easily threatened by men who began to rise up and claim power. Kim was willing to bet that a man having such a strong super power made the mayor crazy.

“Things will get bad regardless of if this is successful.” Kim was relatively certain Stella would go on a rampage the second Miles was attacked, but she couldn’t warn the general or mayor without giving up his secret. She shuddered to think of the damage that Stella would do to the city if Pratt actually managed to kill Miles.

She was rooting for Miles. No one wanted to deal with that aftermath.

“I will only contact my deputy director and my head analyst to prepare for the worst-case scenario.” Kim tried to find a way to manage the situation.

Pratt was wise enough to keep his trap shut. Even if he thought he had it under control, contingencies were always welcome. He was a blustering old man wanting to relive the glory days, not a complete idiot.

Whatever his plans were, he was going to fail. And she was going to have to deal with the fallout.

“Okay, if Pratt isn’t against it, then go right ahead. I’m going to get back to the event and pretend that I never had this meeting. Get it done, and don’t fucking destroy my city.” Hendricks turned sharply and clicked off in her overly high heels.

“The mission and the time frame are going to be locked up tight. I don’t risk having a leak if nobody knows.” Pratt gave me a small ‘I win’ smile and nodded sharply before turning and marching out of the office.

Kim waited an appropriate amount of time before she started swearing up a storm. Grabbing the whiskey bottle, she took a big swig as she called Beatrix.

She was gambling on what she believed was true, but she had to make sure that Void stayed safe.

“Director.” Beatrix blinked into focus. Her background was a familiar super bouncing on the bed.

“Is that Demoness?” Kim could have shouted for joy, but contained herself.

“Yeah. Need me to kick her out for this conversation?” Beatrix squinted over at the super. “Are you going home?”

Stella tilted her head like a confused kitten. “No, we’re having a girl’s sleepover. Miles is out on a date and won’t be home tonight. Tell me all your juicy gossip, but no touching. That’s for Miles. And without Miles here, there’s a chance I accidentally kill you.” Stella continued to bop around, grabbing a pillow and beginning to swing it, only to pause when Beatrix flinched. Stella smacked the mattress instead, the bed bouncing intensely as Stella smiled sheepishly at her super strength.

Kim wanted to strangle her head analyst; somehow the woman had found herself in the position Kim wanted most. Kim’s hair sparked as she spoke. “I see your date must have gone absolutely wonderfully. Stella can stay; she has the clearance for this.”

Kim knew the general hadn’t given approval for Stella knowing, but it was her best chance of managing fallout, anyway. For this, she wanted Miles to know that she had helped him. Maybe that would spare her budding relationship with him any damage.

“I was hoping to get a hold of Miles after I updated Beatrix. Is he going to answer if I call, Stella?”

“Nope! No can do.” Stella grinned. “He doesn’t have his tablet. Mona has it; she has a lot of his things right now. She’s taking one of her nights off. Girl isn’t very good at sharing and needs some… uh… alone time every now and then.”

Kim noted she was right. Mona and Miles were together, and there was no chance Mona would be with anybody except her augmentor.

And that meant he was able to evade detection and kill a team of three super villains without leaving a trace.

She knew he had to be Void, but she couldn’t rush it. He’d bolt, and she’d never see him again, even though she was immortal. In all her long life, he’d be gone if she messed this up.

So instead of blurting anything out, Kim held her tongue and gave the two girls a stiff smile. She knew that if she gave them enough, they could prepare Miles. “That’s a shame. I was hoping to have his help with a big operation about to go down. General Pratt is preparing a strike team to hit Void. Hendricks just signed off on it, but I think it’s going to go to shit, and we need our teams on standby.”

Stella’s playful attitude disappeared instantly. Her face entered the frame of the phone, fire in her eyes. “Say that one more time.”

“Is my connection breaking up? Pratt is going after Void tonight. He’s in the city and left himself vulnerable.” Kim didn’t like to repeat herself.

Stella and Beatrix were clearly in shock, and based on their reactions, they were confirming Kim’s theory once more.

“We need to get a hold of Miles somehow.” Beatrix turned to Stella.

“No. We can’t interrupt his date.” Stella groaned. “We have to get to Mona, but she’s having one of her nights. Fuck. Okay, you can do this, Stella, just go get Mona.” Stella smacked her cheeks and wiggled her shoulders to psych herself up.

Kim wasn’t sure why it would be a problem to go to Mona or why Stella needed her to get to Miles. But she could imagine why Stella couldn’t just walk into a club owned by Mickey Hills. It was for villains, and she was one of the most popular heroes of the moment.

“We’ll get Miles. Just a minute, Kim.” Beatrix smiled.

“Beatrix, tomorrow you will be giving me a full debriefing.” Kim tried to keep the heat out of her tone.

Beatrix just gave her a stiff smile and ended the call.

Now alone and off the call, Kim couldn’t hold back. Her hair lit up like a bonfire. The ceiling tiles became scorched, but she’d had them custom made. They didn’t light or cause any smoke. 

“That bitch! She knows, and he let HER in.” Kim screamed and smacked her hands on the desk.

“I knew it!” Her fire only blossomed more, peeling some of the paint off the back wall.

She tried to take a deep breath and calm the flames, but she was seriously struggling.

She’d always wanted to make amends with Void, but that was before she’d met him. Now she wanted something more, something she wasn’t sure she could hope to have.

And Beatrix had walked in and claimed that prize without her. 

The flames started spiking again, and she took another deep breath, working to calm herself down.

Miles needed her to be calm and rational. Pratt was going after him, and she’d be damned if Pratt would be successful.

As her mind moved more tactically, Kim felt her control returning.

Her fire dimmed, but without needing to even turn around, she knew she’d have to call maintenance to fix the wall behind her desk. She hadn’t gotten that worked up in a while.

Kim took another swig of her whiskey right out of the bottle. It was going to be a fucked up night.

***

I sat with Melody and Obsidian, enjoying the cocktails the bartender had most recently made for us. 

After I had put Mickey Hill’s enforcers in their place, it had been calmer. Viper was the first of a few other villains who greeted me far more politely. Although I noticed I seemed to have risen far above the other men in the club, with many villain women eyeing me.

“I have to say, this is quite the experience of being a villain with you.” Melody put down her drink that was now empty. “They are groveling before you.”

Shrugging, I lifted my hand and reached down to the bar for the next drink I had already ordered for Melody. I’d noticed hers was running low.

“Thank you. Even if you make them all brush their fucking noses against the ground when they bow, you still treat us right.” Melody lifted her glass in a small cheers motion before taking a sip.

Before we could talk more, a short woman crested the stairs. She couldn’t have been taller than four feet tall, with a mane of pink hair. She spotted us and headed straight for us.

Villains got out of her way, and I was reminded of how Melody had described Daeva’s agent.

This had to be her.

“Ah. Shorty.” Melody teased the woman as she stepped within our bubble.

While short, the super was clearly a woman based on her curves.

“Ha.” She rolled her eyes as if she’d heard that one too many times to care. Then she focused on me. “Void, I presume?”

“The one and only. Rumor is you represent a recent acquaintance.” I leaned back and summoned another drink from the bar.

“Pix. Nice to meet you.” She sat down next to me, squeezing between Obsidian and me. “To be honest, I came for Darkstar, but Daeva would be very interested in you as well.”

I had to school my expression not to react to Melody’s supervillain name. Darkstar, how appropriate.

“I’d love another rematch.” Leaning back, I looked around my side at her. It was awkward having someone so short.

“Yeah? I heard the rumors, but pardon me if I think you are absolutely batshit insane. Like completely off your rocker insane. Loony bin material if you want to fucking fight Daeva.”

I smiled genuinely. Pix didn’t hold back.

“Could be. But we all know Daeva is a little off her rocker as well. So maybe that’s what she needs.” I took another sip of my drink, causing PIx to look around. 

“Where’s my drink?” She asked.

“What do you want?”

“Beer, darker the better.” Pix stuck her chin out like she had a chip on her shoulder.

Reaching down to the bar below with my power, I got her a drink.

“So. Want to tell me about how crazy Daeva is? Or better yet, how we get an invitation to the city?” I asked as I handed her the drink.

“Neat trick.” Pix took the beer with two hands and guzzled it before pausing and wiping her mouth with the back of her arm. “I’m not some secret underground train conductor. I’m just a messenger. When Daeva says you are good, then you can go anytime you want. No tricks, just waltz right up there.”

I took another sip, trying to appear relaxed. But I was excited. That was easy enough.

But it also meant Daeva had to have some way to track people entering her city. Somehow she’d picked up on the ones that Pratt had sent easily.

“Then, we’ll celebrate the invitation tonight, Pix.” I raised my glass and summoned another dark ale from down below for her to clink against mine before she downed it, too.

My fated, I have bad news for you. General Pratt has convinced Hendricks to allow him to send a team in to kill you.

The news was a sudden shock. I sputtered in my drink and sat up straight.

Are you fucking kidding me?

I am not. Stella interrupted some of my time, knowing the dire consequences to relay this message. I don’t think it’s a joke, and Beatrix is a terrible liar. She said Kim called her to put senior staff on alert. Mona was not in a joking mood and just relayed the facts.

I frowned, once again curious about what Mona was up to and why there were dire consequences.

Don’t think about it. Sometimes I just like some time for myself.

Is Stella okay?

She will be she’s a sturdy super. What are you going to do about Pratt?

I paused and considered the question. I couldn’t give away that I knew anything, or it would put Kim at risk. Pratt was clearly out for blood. I would have to let him come and give it his best shot. I was confident that I could survive anything he threw at me, especially now that I knew he was coming.

But the fact that he was so interested in taking Void out was news to me. I’d taken down a fucking Titan for him and saved his city from the monster fruit. A tactical team was a shit thank you.

“Miles? You went quiet.” Melody frowned at me.

“We are going to be attacked here. Don’t worry about damage. We defend ourselves and fuck the consequences.” I told her, suddenly conscious of Pix’s presence and preventing myself from saying something I should have.

If Pratt wanted a fight, he’d better be ready to go home limping.

“You can sense them?” Obsidian asked, surprised.

“No. Just some chatter. Apparently, my presence in the city tonight has excited some people. They’re ready to use the opportunity to take a stab at me.”

Obsidian licked her black lips. “We are going to see you really fight?”

“Please. It’ll likely be a few parlor tricks, thinking they can catch me unaware.” I didn’t need to know the plan. There was really only one plan to kill me.

Even with all of my power, I couldn’t do anything if I didn't see the knife or bullet coming. And telepaths could also get to me, but I was fairly certain they didn’t know that. Even if they did, Mona was on my side and would know how to counter them if they tried.

Even as I thought it, there was a cackle from Mona’s telepathic bond somewhere deep in my mind.

Using my ability to scan my surroundings with kinetic force, I overlayed a gray-scale world over my vision, stretching far out and over the surrounding buildings.

“Should we move?” Obsidian asked.

“We are about as safe as we could be.” I leaned back and relaxed, not wanting to set anybody off. “They can’t storm this place. There are no windows to break in through or shoot through, although even if there were, my guess is they’d be bulletproof. This place doesn’t last long as a villain’s lair if it doesn’t have some protections.”

I felt confident in my assessment. “They’ll use stealth, and for that, I’m perfectly prepared.”

Even as I said that, in my gray scale, I could sense someone walking up the steps. Despite knowing somebody was there, my vision picked up nothing.

Pratt had clearly lined up his attack before going to the mayor.

Watching the figure with my power rather than my eyes, I continued to relax on the couch, sipping my drink.

I watched their arm rising, a gun in their hand. They were only about ten feet away. I knew they wouldn’t miss, but I also didn’t want them to.

Pratt wanted to take me down, and I’d give him a show in return. He needed to understand just how futile attacking me would be.

The gun went off, and the bullet flew straight for the middle of my forehead.

I stopped and crumpled it just before it hit my skin; to anybody else, my skin would look extra fortified.

I stood up, keeping the bullet in place and looking in the direction of the gunfire. But I made sure not to look directly at the shooter.

Standing, I encircled the area where the invisible super stood in force and drew it closed like a fisherman’s net. I didn’t want to give away all my secrets.

“What do we have here?” I asked, once again silencing the second floor. Then I squeezed a little on the invisible assassin when they didn’t speak. “I know you are there. Either become visible and talk, or die.”

The woman faded into my vision. The short, sharp cut of her black hair practically screamed ‘I’m Military’. Apparently doing jarhead haircuts like they used to wasn’t great for the ladies, so they adapted to this style that kept it out of the way. That and super powers made more of a difference than being able to grab someone’s hair in combat.

“Let’s talk. Who sent you?” I questioned the invisible woman and noticed she was trying to wiggle a false tooth loose.

I was forced to jerk her mouth open and extract it. “There will be none of that. I have you now, and there is no escape. I’d suggest you get talking.”

AN - I know, bigger is better. But I have editor deadlines I set and I don't want to rush the New Haven story. Just wait until the end here. It's a nice ending.