The Owl in the Abyss - Chapter 22 (Patreon)

Eyelids fluttered, he was breathing normally, his body and limbs arranged comfortably.

He felt ensconced in a blanket and the feeling beneath his back told him he was on the leather couch in the main living room of the apartment.

It was not the only thing he was feeling.

He was also feeling the rest of the leather furniture in the room. He knew the texture, the dimensions, the temperature, how far away it was from him - it was all neatly arranged into a mental model that was now suddenly in his head.

‘What is that? What is going on?’ Theo thought hard to himself, trying to remember. ‘How did I get on the couch?’

His stomach and bladder also chose that moment to make themselves known. The urgency of the latter drowned out the thought of anything else and he rolled off the couch.

The instant his hands and feet touched the carpet, he was presented with another snapshot in his mind - despite his eyes being wide open - he knew the exact dimensions of how far this carpet extended, its material composition, there was also a… permeability to it that seemed to scream out to him.

He shook it off as his bladder urgently began sending signals.

He didn’t want to piss in his own pants so he just began running.

Theo burst into the bathroom, hurriedly undoing the top button of his pants and pushing everything below the waist down in his urgency.

Taking just a moment to ensure proper aim…

“Oh boy,” he sighed in relief as his bladder began emptying.

Bliss, his mind emptying of everything.

For a full fifteen seconds he just existed in that state and even when he was done, he just stood there and basked.

Of course, the feeling of the bathroom tiles under his feet shattered it and he was treated to another mental model of every bit of ceramic in the room.

‘Okay Theo, what is going on here?’

It didn’t take long poking that mental model in his head to come to a conclusion that he both dreaded and felt excitement about.

‘Was this a power?’

For the longest time, with… Max… they had been trying to encourage him to Trigger. Putting him through training and nightmare situations that would’ve sent most everyone running for the hills. It was the exact reason he was living with his stepmom and the divorce from Max. They knew that trying to force a Trigger never worked properly, yet they had still tried.

He shook his head to dispel the old memories and pulled up his pants.

A few steps and he was leaning on the sink and staring into the mirror.

The mental model of every bit of ceramic screamed into his head with even more detail - he could even perceive where every bit of molding and joining cement was attached to the concrete underneath. Even the flaws in the ceramic were obvious - there were two tiles above the bath that seemed ready to fall and break with just the tap of a finger.

Thinker then? Theo thought with excitement, but it was quickly tempered with the underwhelming nature of it. ‘Wow, I can tell people exactly how to fix their houses.’

He glared into the mirror, at the face staring back at him. The fifteen year old face, topped with classically blonde short hair, combed into a left parting and slightly pudgy. Theo didn’t consider himself handsome, nor was he ugly, no girls looked at him twice in Arcadia, why would they? He was just the socially awkward guy who only had a few casual friends, made no waves, got middling grades and just coasted through life. Even Justin, aka Crusader, had written him off as nothing special and ‘unlikely to do well’ during the brief time they had trained together. None of the martial arts had stuck and everything felt awkward, clumsy.

Now he had… Triggered and his power was seemingly a reflection of everyone else’s opinion of him - underwhelming.

A flash of hot anger boiled up and Theo clenched his fists - he really wanted to punch that reflection.

He managed to get himself under control in the next moment though and took a deep in-out breath. Breaking a knuckle on the unyielding glass or cracking it, was not a problem he needed now… especially with Aster and Kayden…

His brain screeched to a halt as the memory of that man… Mr Hebert? Fortress something? Visiting the apartment, telling him of Kayden’s arrest…

“Aster,” he murmured and burst out of the bathroom. His heart raced as his legs pumped as hard as he could towards the baby room.

His hand clutched on the handle and he rushed inside…

His panicked thoughts disappeared as he beheld…

A goddess was holding Aster in her arms.

The baby was changed in new clothes, happy, content and being bounced on the shapely nude hip of the tall goddess.

Theo drank in the sight of a pristine left buttock flexing perfectly with each bounce. A perfect hand teasing Aster and tickling the baby on the nose - who let out a delighted gurgle and giggle. Long lustrous dark hair moved and reflected the light from the window, cascading down a sensual sculpted back that showed perfect skin.

“Oh, it looks like your big brother has woken up,” she said to Aster. Her voice was like the sweetest honey and his ears wanted to taste and drink from it forever.

The goddess turned and he was even more spellbound - her breasts scorched his eyes, permanently perked nipples proudly lancing before her. Below, the body and abdomen of even more perfection stretched, of a perfectly sculpted, yet soft, six pack of muscle, ranging down and down forever, until it reached a perfect flower of womanhood that stood starkly and proudly out for all to see.

“Hello Theo, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” He could only listen and those words seemed to etch themselves on his being. It was a pleasure… pleasure… “I’m Escort - I’ve been looking after Aster during your bout of unconsciousness. It’s been almost a full day since your Trigger Event. Do you understand?”

There was only one answer that he could possibly give the goddess. “Yes, mistress.”

“Yesterday, you spoke to Mr Hebert of the Fortress organization. He told you about your stepmother’s arrest. Do you remember?”

“Yes, mistress.”

“Well, I also work for Fortress, which is why I’m here. Mr Hebert had to go into work and I volunteered to continue to look after Aster, until your recovery.” Theo nodded as he fully and dutifully recalled everything. “Good, now that you understand I’m going to let you go.”

Theo felt like he was robbed.

Utterly robbed.

Where there had stood a goddess, now there stood a nude young woman. Yes, she was still hot and he felt like he could still stare at her forever, but now he saw she was just a human being - a cape. A cape with a frightening Master power, holding Aster.

He had heard of Escort, of course. Any follower of cape affairs in the city knew of the ‘working girl’ cape, who didn’t bother with a single stitch of clothing. He even had one of her posters saved on his PC in his hidden folder. The image was a pale imitation, now that he was standing in the presence of the real Escort.

He swallowed hard, trying to rally his thoughts into some semblance of order. There was only one thing he could do at the moment to reassure himself, that he still had some form of minimum control over his own life at the moment and of Aster. If Escort just wanted to straight up take the baby, he knew he couldn’t do a thing to stop her. His freshly triggered underwhelming Thinker power wouldn’t scratch the surface against a strong grab bag cape.

He stepped forward and held out his arms expectantly.

Escort smiled and her single visible eye seemed to say ‘I understand’. She stepped forward and deposited Aster in his arms without hesitation.

The baby started fussing immediately, as if she had greatly enjoyed being held by Escort and was now back with her boring old stepbrother. He gave her a kiss on the forehead to reassure her and himself. She giggled and said “Bah bah bah.”

He heard the sound of iron briefly scraping on wood and now Escort stood there with her signature staff weapon in hand. “Shall we discuss things? I’ll bring you up to speed on everything you missed the last day.”

Theo swallowed nervously, consciously having to remind himself to keep his eyes from straying away from her covered face. “Yes… thank you.”

She led the way out the room and already he failed, his eyes were almost magnetically attracted to the sight of her rear as she walked. Her bare feet slapping on the wooden flooring with each step.

They returned to the living room, where she stood next to the couch, leaning against it with an arched hip.

He took a seat on the lazyboy and perched Aster on his lap, so she faced Escort. “Whaah,” the baby said with a wide toothy smile and clapped at Escort with enthusiasm.

The heroine smiled widely in response, gesturing with twirly fingers. Aster giggled.

“She’s a sweety,” Escort said, her single exposed eye gaining a slight seriousness as she stared at him.

Theo focused hard and met her gaze. “That she is, until nappy time at least.”

“That’s the nature of anything really, we all, no matter the packaging, have a bad side.”

Theo didn’t really feel up to parsing that bit of philosophy. “So what’s been happening?”

Escort visibly paused, clearly thinking about something. “Perhaps it’s best to give you some context first. You know what a cognitohazard is?”

“Yeah, PHO was abuzz about it.”

“Your stepmother was infected as she flew over the area. The PRT and other agencies have been very careful about releasing any info about the Human Tree. Such as what happens to the victims exactly. They’re not killed or anything irreversible. Shortly put, the victims are mesmerized into having sex with the tree itself, which has male and female sexual organs for this purpose.”

It hadn’t been outright said on PHO, but anyone who could read between the lines with a brain between their ears could figure that out. Hearing it confirmed was not doing Theo any favors. His imagination was serving up some very unpleasant images, including Kayden having… No, he was not going there. Escort gave him a sympathetic smile.

“Okay, so she did that. And then?”

“Victims are deposited by the tree safely back on the ground. The problem now becomes the aftermath. They remain asleep for exactly eight hours and nothing will wake them up before that time has elapsed. You could play a rock concert next to them and they’ll just keep snoozing. We theorize this is because the tree wants to minimize risk to achieving its primary goal - procreation.”

Theo choked and coughed on his own saliva. His brain serving up such horrible images of a Kayden giving birth to a small tree, never mind the impossibility or the problematic mechanics of that. “Is she… pregnant?”

Escort shook her head, “Testing indicates your stepmother was on the Pill. Further measures are being taken and assistance given to all the female victims.”

“And naturally, Kayden was arrested afterward,” he said, the words grated up and down his spine.

“Yes, PRT procedure for her involves sedation and a period of confinement in darkness for at least two to three days, so there is unfortunately no speaking to her at the moment.”

“Figures,” Theo muttered. Of course, the damn PRT had a way figured out, with all the Thinkers on their payroll.

“However, the Protectorate has decided that they want to work with her in the future. As a first step they approached me and consequently, Fortress, with regard to custody of you and Aster in the interim, instead of CWS.”

Theo nodded, seeing the game that was being played. “So Mr Hebert would then be our legal guardian?”

“Yes, should you agree, you’ll both be living with him.”

Theo snorted, “Not really much of a choice, is there?”

“You are a minor, Theo. I personally hate the idea of anyone not having a choice in these things, no matter what your age is. Look, it sucks, but you have my word that Mr Hebert will do right by you.”

“Besides that you work for him in a hero organization I’ve never heard about, how sure are you about that?”

Escort smiled, then reached up to the curtain of hair that mostly shielded her face and served as her version of a mask. She pulled it aside and used both hands to gather the hair into a rough ponytail. His treacherous eyes locked onto the pleasing sight; as her raised arms caused her breasts to practically prance forward and slightly jiggle. He wrenched his eyes back up to her face.

‘Oh,’ the family resemblance was now obvious. She let go of her hair, stepped forward and held out a hand, “Taylor Hebert, nice to meet you.”

“Theo Anders,” he said softly, then after a few moments shook the offered hand lightly. He tried to focus his eyes on their joined hands only, but it was very difficult when the sight beyond it was so… Damn Theo, focus, he remonstrated himself.

“There’s a free bedroom at home that’s all yours.”

Theo let Aster play and fumble about with his left hand, as she began fussing on his lap, clearly now bored of grown-up talk.

“When do we leave?”

“As soon as you gather everything you need, a car from Fortress will be taking us.”

“How have I not heard of Fortress? If you have all that?”

“The company was previously just into construction management, now it’s diversified into the cape business as well.”

“Oh,” Theo said, then his mind finally seemed to catch itself into some sort of gear. “Any paperwork for me in all this?”

Escort- Taylor nodded, “On the kitchen table, you can take as long as you want to read, review and so on. I’ll take care of Aster while you’re busy.”

Theo stared down at his sister for a moment, then hugged her tight, “It’s going to be alright, we’re gonna get through this, Aster.”

He knew he was saying this more for himself but he liked to imagine that she understood.

88888888888888888888888888888888888

The paperwork was an inch thick stack of documents filled with enough legalese to bore anyone who wasn’t a lawyer into a complete stupor. He knew just enough to check for authenticity in a rudimentary way. It was definitely official Massachusetts court documents and just how quickly they had been gathered spoke loudly about how serious the Protectorate was.

Much more satisfied that he was doing the right thing by going along with this, Theo spent the next half hour packing. He got a week’s worth of clothes into a large suitcase and all of Aster’s things in another. His power was also making things take longer, as he discovered that there were practically no limits to the materials he could perceive, so long as he was in contact with an example of it.

Touch a piece of PVC, he could then see every bit of PVC used through the apartment and even beyond. It seemed to be limited to a range of a few hundred feet in every direction; a full sphere of awareness.

He put down a backpack full of Aster’s clean nappies in the entrance hallway, just as he spied his sister grabbing a decent handful of Taylor’s left breast.

Far from being angry or even annoyed, the heroine just laughed and gently pulled the infant’s hand off. “Sorry Aster, got no brunch in there to give you.”

Theo coughed uncomfortably, “There should be some-”

“Relax Theo, you were out of it for a full day, my dad found the milk in the kitchen fridge and he bought some formula later, when we saw you were running low. Keep packing, I’ll handle it.”

He nodded and when he returned it was to see Taylor with a bottle, gently feeding Aster. The sight seemed to awaken something primal in his brain, a sense of satisfaction? Rightness? This wasn’t anything erotic or pervy, just, it was incredibly beautiful to see in his eyes.

She looked up and smiled softly, “All done?”

Theo grabbed a full set of keys for the apartment, “Now I am, yes.”

She handed Aster over to him, then slung the backpack over a shoulder. “Don’t forget the paperwork.”

They managed to find a spot for it in one of the suitcases. She even threaded her staff through the handles of the suitcases to manage that too. Then she picked up both heavy cases easily. “Gonna vanish now, but I’ll be going downstairs directly to put the luggage in the car. Just look for the blue car with the word Fortress in yellow on the doors.”

Taylor and all luggage disappeared with a slightly red fogginess.

It took him a few moments to overcome the astonishment at how smooth and silent her invisibility and/or teleportation was. PHO was still divided on whether it was one or the other. He took a fortifying breath and looked at his sister, “Let’s be off, Aster.” She just smiled at him in response, eyes twinkling, her mouth still occupied with the plastic teat of the bottle.

After locking everything and enabling the alarm, a quick ride down with the lift, they emerged from the building into a sunny, yet breezy day.

He searched for the car and found a nice blue sedan parked a dozen feet away.

The driver side opened and a tall, very buff, blonde haired man in a suit stepped out and locked eyes with Theo. He was also definitely carrying a concealed weapon under that formal jacket.

Theo was about to turn and run, when the rear window wound down and Taylor stuck her head out of it and beckoned him closer with an expression that said ‘It’s ok, relax’.

He took a deep breath and walked to the car.

“Sorry about that Theo,” she said with an apologetic smile, as he sat down on the right hand seat. “Myers struggles to turn off his military vibes. He works for Fortress in security.”

“Home, mistress?”

“Yes, please, but first we have a baby on board now, so let’s get her settled. We didn’t get this seat for our health.” Taylor patted the baby seat securely fastened in the middle of the rear seating.

Theo felt like slapping himself. He was so self-absorbed in his own pity party and the distraction of his constantly-on powers that he hadn’t even thought about how Aster would ride safely in a car.

When she was safely tucked in and secured with the three point harness, Myers wasted no time in switching on the engine and beginning the journey.

Theo found distraction when his hand brushed the leather of the door interior. In his mind, similar leather present in nearly a dozen different cars that surrounded them blossomed into his awareness. He followed them as they moved through his power’s range. When they were stopped at traffic lights he had a sum total of more than thirty-three cars in his perception.

He moved his hand to touch the glass of the car window and his perception changed to all the glass used in the surrounding cars. Curiously, the glass used in the buildings wasn’t there, but clearly his power was making exact distinctions on material composition. Glass had dozens of different formulations and strengths, used in different applications.

His fingers found a sliver of the steel between the car upholstery and the window. The various cars’ chassis was now in his mind’s eye and he studied the varied shapes with fascination. He could see how everything fit together - a fact that had never really occurred to him in the past. The gaps and empty spaces in his perception were clearly because of the different kinds of metal used in a car.

What could this power do?

It had to do something or was he relegated to be a Thinker? Sitting in the back, blending in the background. What use was it being aware of all the materials in a defined radius, which he had to be in physical contact with?

As the trip continued, he noted they were moving out of the Downtown area and headed north, skirting the area generally considered the Docks.

“Mistress,” Myers said suddenly. “We’re being followed.”

Theo frowned in confusion, even as a slither of alarm went up and down his spine at the tone of the man.

He was just about to begin looking around to try to spot what Myers had seen when he felt a warm hand on his leg.

The goddess was back and looking at him.

“Keep looking forward, Theo. If we’re being followed, the last thing we must do is let them know we know they’re there in the first place.”

She looked at her underling. “Myers, describe it for me.”

“Black, GMC Sierra, double cab, plate number eight, four, five, India, Lima, Foxtrot.”

“Thank you, keep driving to the destination. No sudden moves from us.”

She casually sat back in her seat, as if she was going to take a nap, then started to slowly slide down until her head was below the top edge of the rear seat.

The goddess vanished.

Theo reeled in his head as he felt Taylor’s mastery fade. She was just Taylor again in his mind now.

“Do you ever get used to that?” Theo asked the bodyguard? Security guy?

“Yes,” was the only answer Myers had, a slight grin on his face, but his eyes were all business. “Keep your head and eyes forward, Mr Anders.”

Theo nodded, but he had another set of eyes, didn’t he?

He glided his hand over the various materials of the door next to him, trying to find the pickup truck that was following them.

There were two possible candidates about sixty feet behind them. Who came to a stop at the next intersection. When lights turned green, the truck on his left turned away and only one other followed. With his sights set, he began exploring it as much as possible with his newfound senses.

If only there was a way to see how many were inside.

In experimentation, Theo touched his own knee, making contact with the bare skin there.

Figured that, he thought. His power was Manton limited it seemed, only non-organic stuff. He moved his fingers to his shorts and got a wildly unreliable mess. Only seeing that half a dozen people in his range were wearing clothing that had a similar formulation of fibers.

Back to the metal, he found the pickup again with little trouble. It was keeping pace with them roughly and after another few minutes of observing its movements, found he could find nothing really suspicious about those movements. What had Myers seen that had clued him in? Theo could only imagine that this just boiled down to the experience and training of someone who was former military.

The question was then who was following them? Why? Was it someone who had traced the car? Someone spying on Fortress?

“What is Escort going to do?”

Myers didn’t answer at first, simply switching on indicators and turning left at the intersection. “She will Master and interrogate them. Get to the bottom of everything.”

“Right in their car, whilst they’re following us?”

“Correct. The Mistress is very versatile.”

The way he said it so matter-of-factly was rather unnerving and his eyes seemed to efficiently scan everything, moving from right to left as he drove.

A ringtone startled Theo and Myers' only reaction was to touch the screen of a smartphone slotted into the dashboard, then he tapped an earpiece. “Yes, mistress?” He listened carefully for a while, “Understood, mistress.” Then simply ended the call.

Theo was increasingly feeling out of his depth, he looked at Aster and worry started to coil in his stomach like a snake. He knew how capes fought, had seen it and the thought of being stuck in a car with his baby sister while a potential fight was brewing…

“What did she say?” It also then occurred to him, how had Taylor been able to make a call in the first place? She didn’t wear a stitch… Oh yeah, her staff had a phone strapped to it.

“She instructed me to drive around a bit, she needed more time for the interrogation.”

Theo returned focus to his sense of the ‘enemy’ pickup truck, wishing he could think of something more to do.

They were now heading in the direction of Captain’s Hill and traffic began to thin somewhat.

Finally, after almost twenty minutes of riding around in large circles, Taylor just appeared out of thin air, perfectly seated with crossed legs and she put down her staff against the left door. “You can turn around now, Myers, head for home.”

“Yes, mistress.”

“Who were they?” Theo asked curiously, feeling relief that everything seemed to be okay now.

She seemed to think about her answer, then turned serious eyes to him, “They are E88.”

Theo felt his stomach sink. He wished he could be more surprised that Max had lied. That he would not have them followed or watched. He also saw that Taylor definitely knew. In just the way she was looking at him now. If she had mastered any E88 flunkies in the pickup, then they surely had sung like canaries for her. If there had been an actual cape there, such as Victor or Cricket, then she’d know even more.

Aster dropped her bottle and was all eyes for Taylor at the moment, stuffing her right fist in her mouth. Theo rescued the bottle from the floor, “Minions or was there a cape?”

“Two minions and Crusader,” she answered.

“You know,” Theo said, meeting her eyes.

“What I know is that there are E88 moles within the PRT. Moles who leaked that Purity was captured and the Protectorate’s efforts to secure custody of her adopted son and infant daughter with my father and the Fortress organization - as a way to encourage Purity to join. Kaiser doesn’t want to see you in CWS care either and is fully prepared to kidnap both of you if such a thing were to happen. He is currently scrambling to find out everything he can about my father and Fortress, to see whether he can tolerate you being under our roof.”

Theo felt a hot anger begin to boil in his gut.

Max just couldn’t leave it alone.

It also wasn’t lost on him that Taylor wasn’t kicking him out of the car, that they were still heading to her home, even as she knew they were still being followed by the Empire. She knew he was Kaiser’s son, she knew Aster was Kaiser’s daughter.

She was a heroine and her father had opened their home to him and Aster.

Now they were on Max Anders’ radar.

His anger reached a flashpoint.

“Damn it! Why can’t he just leave us alone!”

His balled right fist surged against the car door.

In his head, he felt anew the structure of the car around him, a permeability was there now. As if he was actually looking at surfaces of water, instead of solid objects or matter.

His fist and a good portion of his forearm went right through the door upholstery.

He was immediately aware that he hadn’t suddenly become a Brute and made a hole through the door. No, his right arm was now… somewhere else.

Theo stared in amazement at his limb, that just seemed to phase or bend right into the structure of the door. He could still control it and feel with that limb, control every individual finger in the mysterious ‘space’ it now found itself in. He opened that hand, moved the wrist and closed it, trying to feel something… there!

He grabbed something… it was soft, warm and slightly bouncy. He closed his fingers tighter - it was like that old game where you put your hand in a box to identify what was in it - there was a raised surface on the shape - it wasn’t a ball. There was a malleability and he brought his thumb and forefinger together, pinching something on the surface. Was this skin?

Taylor cleared her throat, “Eh hem, Theo, I appreciate that you’ve discovered something new about your power, but I doubt you have the cash on hand to afford my services and I would insist that Aster not be present.”

He turned to face her only to freeze in astonishment.

Jutting out of the door upholstery on Taylor’s side of the car, was a forearm and hand - seemingly made out of the dark upholstery - a hand that was groping and grabbing her left breast.

Theo experimentally moved a finger of his right hand and sure enough the hand of upholstery moved as well.

He let go and pulled his right arm back as if it was scalded in hot water. “Shit! Sorry, I’m so sorry!” He sighed in relief when no resistance was offered and his right hand surged straight back out of the upholstery surface. Then he held it up and frantically checked that nothing was wrong.

When he looked back, Taylor’s eyes were closed, her lips mashed together and cheeks twitching.

She seemingly lost the battle and let out a snort of suppressed laughter.

“How can you laugh? I just groped you!”

“It was clearly an accident, Theo. The whole situation and your face, it all just came together,” she sniggered into her hand.

Aster at this point started to pout, her eyes teary and letting out slight whimpers. She clearly had not liked the explosion of anger from her brother.

“Aww, sorry, I’m so sorry, Aster, it’s okay,” he carefully caressed her light hair and rubbed her tummy as best he could through the harness.

“How far are we, Myers?”

“Four minutes to home, mistress.”

“What are you going to do?” Theo asked anxiously.

“The correct question would be what have I done,” Taylor smiled softly, tickling Aster on her nose. The infant seemed to calm down somewhat at the combined positive attention she was receiving. “I let them go. They’ll keep following us to confirm where my house is, then keep on driving to report back to Kaiser. They’ll have no memory of being questioned.”

He gulped, “You can erase memories?”

“Suppress would be a more accurate term.”

This was nuts. Grab Bag Cape didn’t begin to cover what Taylor was.

“Why do this? Why endanger yourself and your family like this?”

“Your stepmother was caught up in something we have undertaken to protect the world from, Theo. She’s a victim and when we eventually realized that she had dependents, that she would be arrested, my father didn’t hesitate to make the offer. Yes, from a pragmatic point of view, we’d prefer your mother as a white hat, taking good care of you is a way to make that happen. On the other hand, you and Aster are now under our roof and protection. We also want nothing more than to see you happy, whole, fed and maybe one day you can even return to your stepmother’s care if that’s what you want or when you turn eighteen, you can take care of Aster.”

Theo didn’t know it was possible to feel like he did at that moment. The thought of having to be totally responsible for Aster, providing a roof, clothing, everything. It was like a mountain that was hovering over his head, a burden that he would have to shoulder. He could barely take care of himself at the moment. He’d need a steady, well paying job firstly.

He put that line of thought firmly away.

“Thank- Thank you, Taylor, but what will you do if they come anyway?”

She smiled in a way that sent shivers down his spine. “I think that between my father and me, they’ll quickly come to regret even thinking of assaulting our house.”

8888888888888888888888

“Well?”

He removed his helmet, tucking it underneath his arm so that Kaiser could see his face.

“Followed them all the way, we weren’t spotted. It’s definitely the place,” Justin confirmed.

Kaiser, currently looking like any CEO in the country, suit, tie, shiny shoes and lavish office, seated in his high backed chair, gazed at his subordinate with an evaluating stare. His eyes ranged over many photos spread across his desk from a rather thick file. A number of those images drew Justin’s eyes like magnets, but he managed to keep an admirable focus on his boss, despite the subject of those photos.

“Rather a humble abode for someone of such means,” Max Anders said, as he shuffled a few photos showing the low-end middle class home in question, including a photo of the unassuming and unimpressive owner. Someone who had risen meteorically in relative net-worth.

From blue-collar head of hiring at the ossified relic of the Dockworker’s Union, to CEO of one of the largest construction firms in the city.

It was suspicious and circumstances were murky, yet everything that both Justin and Max could find indicated that everything was above the board. Not a single irregularity in the technical and procedural paperwork. The ownership transfer hadn’t even tripped any red flags by the FTC or IRS.

Kaiser opened another file, everything that could be found on the former owner of Fortress Construction. Here as well, things were murky and even redacted, their contacts in the PRT had enough clearance to gain a good picture of Thomas Calvert. Nothing obvious indicated that the man at the head of that construction firm, former PRT officer and consultant, would just decide to retire on a nest egg and hand over his company to Daniel Hebert. Yet, it happened.

The last file on the desk was the thickest, but only because there was a dearth of material available online on Brockton Bay’s latest hero.

Kaiser sighed and gathered the printed images and photos together, putting them into the file and out of sight.

Justin couldn’t help but feel annoyed. Clearly Kaiser wanted his full attention.

“Your opinion?”

“It’s obvious. If Hebert has Escort in his pocket, then that neatly answers the question why and how the company suddenly changed hands so smoothly.”

Kaiser nodded, stroking a finger along his desk in thought, “We’ll need to adopt some of the tools of the enemy it seems. Begin implementing full MS protocols across all levels of the Empire.”

“I’ll get it done,” Justin nodded.

“Use Victor as well, to cross check the work.” It was a rather novel thing to see. Masters by their nature were almost never on the hero side of the equation, yet it seemed Brockton Bay saw fit to churn the pond in ever new and surprising ways lately. Generally, the Empire already had procedures and security against Masters, but it was nebulous and unfocused, a wide net. Now with a cape like Escort in play, it was time to change that.

“Doubt it’s really gonna work at the lowest rank and file though, boss.”

“No, but it should give them at least the pretense that they can achieve something against her.”

Justin really didn’t want to bring it up, but he had to know. “Are we going after her?”

Kaiser stood up from his chair and walked over to the floor to ceiling length window that overlooked Downtown. “No, not specifically. Despite her role in Alabaster’s apprehension, the plan is in place to liberate him. She has no reason to specifically target us beyond street level crimes she happens upon in her patrols. The only way to target her would be through the Red Light and that will rouse Lung.”

“Think Lung has her on the payroll, boss?”

“Doubt it, he has little use for subtle gambits and spies. His arrogance makes him believe he is above such nuanced plays. He undoubtedly knows about her by now, but she is making him more money in effect. Reports out of Red Light show a significant uptick in customers due to her growing rep online and in the street.”

“So he lets her play hero and hooker on his turf. Anyone who attacks Red Light now will have Escort to deal with.”

“Precisely. In effect, she’s actually a new cape for the ABB.”

“So to summarize, Theo and Aster are now under the roof of Brockton’s newest financial high flier, a former dockworker, who just so happens to have a hero hooker and a Grab Bag Master at his beck and call.”

Kaiser just nodded and Justin could see the situation didn’t sit right with his boss. “We must make subtle enquiries, perhaps within a week or two, whether Theo is… happy under this man’s roof. See to it.”

“Will do, boss.”

“When we can draw a proper conclusion there, then this conversation can be revisited.”

Justin nodded, sensing that his boss wanted to be alone now. “Anything else?”

“No, thank you.”

Justin put on his helmet and strode out of the office. A private elevator ride down to the ‘Empire only’ floor of the building, brought him to the changing room where he could hang up and store his armor safely.

Back in full civvies, he took another ride down into the basement parking lot.

A few minutes later he was behind the wheel of his pride and joy, a Shelby Mustang, powering the car out of the lot and leaving the Medhall building behind. The early evening rush hour had passed and so he could afford to let his baby have a bit of fun between the lights. He was careful to keep it to the speed limit though and his scanner would warn him of any speed traps.

The journey home took him through Downtown south and the main commercial district, until he turned into a sleepy suburb on the city’s outskirts.

Here he was just Justin Woods to his neighbors. The owner of a reasonably sized house despite being a thirty something, bachelor executive. That according to society had to be living in some pigsty loft or fancy apartment in the city center. They knew he worked for Medhall and didn’t throw crazy parties in the middle of the night. He put out his garbage on time, got the paper, and would say politely hello to his neighbors whenever he passed. He would put on a barbeque for work colleagues occasionally and even just by his lonesome sometimes. American football could be heard blaring out of his living room often and he visited a local bar to watch the occasional game in a social setting.

Everything to make Justin Woods appear a perfectly normal, red blooded American, who also occasionally brought home a lady friend.

He pulled into his driveway, thumbing the remote control for the garage door.

Once parked, he switched off the car and got his suitcase out the boot, and walked directly into his kitchen from an adjoining door.

His shoulders relaxed as he let go of all pretenses and roles.

He got himself a beer out of the fridge and collapsed onto the couch of his living room, thumbing the TV remote.

Justin grinned as he saw the reruns of the Patriots’ latest game against the Dolphins. That had been a good one, but the score didn’t really reflect the pasting that those posers from Miami should’ve gotten.

He felt a finger touch his right shoulder, which then began to caress its way across his upper back.

Justin shuddered.

“Everything went well?” said the husky voice of Venus herself.

The finger snaked its way to his ear, and played with the lobe.

“Yes, mistress.”

Her hand now touched his shoulder and in the next instant, Justin found himself nude on the couch.

He blinked and suddenly Escort herself appeared directly on him, already straddling his lap.

Her heavenly smile enveloped his attention, whilst her hands gathered his own to bring them up and cup her perfect breasts.

Justin savored the feel and began slowly massaging them in a way he knew from experience that quite a lot of women liked.

Escort bit her lip then her right hand moved down, grabbing him.

The burning contact provided the final impetus for his full erection. Usually a few pumps were needed, but she just needed a touch.

She brought her left hand around his back for some stabilization, lined him up with her core and sank down, spearing herself completely on him, taking everything. The feeling of her around his penis was perfection - hot, smooth, wet, making every nerve fire with pleasure.

Justin couldn’t help but let out a groan of satisfaction at the union.

Her smile turned even more smoldering and seductive. “That’s better. Now, focus and tell me.”

He nodded, even though it was hard to think, and began a detailed retelling of the meeting with Kaiser.

When he was done, she smirked and twisted her hips. He felt her pussy literally contract and move around him, in a way that shouldn’t have been possible. The pressure to blow his load right there was extreme - lancing straight into his brain and back down again, but amazingly he managed to resist. He gasped lungfulls of air at the effort.

His eyes locked onto Escort’s single exposed eye from behind the lustrous curtain of hair - there was seemingly a universe in there to explore. He barely remembered to keep his hands moving on her breasts, his fingers playing with the nipples softly.

“A little reward for being truthful,” she grinned, her own breathing now hastened. “Let’s talk about these MS Protocols. I know how the PRT applies them, you can’t simply copy them. There isn’t enough discipline or training among your street presence, so how are you going to adapt to that?”

“Cell compartmentalization, linked to a central network. Unique passphrases to each cell sourced from the book library arrangement in Kaiser’s office.”

“Ah of course, what about the capes?”

“Unique identifiers from one-time pads depending on the day of the week.”

“How old school of you.”

She lifted herself slightly up and down, flexing her impossible pussy.

“Ah, fuuccck,” Justin groaned and hissed as he resisted coming.

“You’re a clever man, Justin. Though not surprising given your education and job, Medhall’s chief biochemical engineer, making medicines by day and then drugs for the street by night, all the while moonlighting as Crusader. If not for the latter and your beliefs, I’d be very attracted to you and offer you a job.” She ran her hand and fingers through his hair, a slightly wan expression on her face. “Tell me next, how is the Empire structured, procedures, income sources, every detail that you can recall. Don’t worry, we have all night.”

Justin nodded and began talking. For nearly twenty-two minutes he spoke, whilst Escort just sat contentedly sheathed on him and listened.

Kaiser at the top, Krieg and Hookwolf as lieutenants. All the other capes reporting to them. Street gangs generally divided by block, though not precisely. Hookwolf’s fighting rings. Drug and weapon trafficking.

“You’re not a lieutenant? For shame,” she tutted.

“Too busy otherwise in Medhall really.”

She gave him another ride, then inched forward for a soft kiss, which quickly turned into a full tongue twisting French kiss.

She broke contact just a few seconds after, “Hmmm. Such a pity that one of the city’s remaining major companies and a huge employer is actually a financial front for the Empire. It’s a rather effective shield to anyone like me who discovers it. If Medhall was publicly traded it wouldn’t be such a major issue.” A gyration of her hips followed and Justin’s mind blanked with pleasure. “So just destroying it is not an option. It was so very tempting to just Master Kaiser right then and there in that office. It’d be him under me and not you. However, there were too many hidden cameras keeping an eye and I need to play the long game here because the Empire has entrenched itself. I can’t just lay waste and luckily for you all, I have a very wise advisor who has educated me on these dynamics. I destroy the Empire today, tomorrow we’ll have another of the city’s gangs gain even more power or even return to fill the vacuum - such as the Teeth.”

Justin hissed as her pussy milked him with another stroke. Deep in his mind he agreed with the sentiment Escort was trying to convey. No one wanted the Teeth to return to Brockton Bay.

The transient gang was centered around the Butcher.

A cape that was actually a possessive power or entity at this point. A Butcher dies, the power and personalities of previous Butchers passes to their killer - inevitably turning the cape who had killed the previous Butcher into an insane, sadistic, murderous villain.

If that wasn’t bad enough, The Teeth as a gang around the Butcher was even worse - attracting the worst of capes with an ethos of almost mindless violence, anarchy and profiteering at any cost. They were actually started in Brockton but were kicked out when the Butcher of the time stupidly hired the Slaughterhouse 9 to kill a number of Protectorate Heroes.

The Slaughterhouse did their job and promptly turned on the Teeth and only the Butcher and a small number of capes had managed to escape.

“What to do? What to do?” Escort sang softly in thought, even as she began a slow rhythm of up and down strokes, alternating with gyrations.

Justin fell into the pleasure, even as he concentrated on his battered brinkmanship.

Escort was merciless though and had also seemingly reached her own limit for putting off her climax. She sped up and the couch began creaking in a primal rhythm, joining the sound of the sports cast in the background.

“Oh grief, that’s… oh yes- yes- yes-” she gasped, then literally growled. Her iron strong hands joined his on her breasts, together they massaged them roughly with each stroke.

It didn’t take much more.

Justin groaned as he climaxed, his hips twitching, then pushing upward instinctively for maximum penetration. The slap of Escort’s buttocks on his legs began resounding throughout the room, as she simply continued riding him through it.

She gasped with delight for some reason and Justin marveled as he stayed hard even after he finished his climax into her.

Her own control seemed to fade more as her voice joined the primal din in the living room.

Gasps and moans escaped her throat as she powered her way forward, striving to reach her own orgasm.

She stilled abruptly and Justin’s stomach was practically bathed by her own heavenly nectar. It somehow smelt exactly like the sweetest cotton candy he had ever eaten as a kid. Her face tilted upward and she released an erotic gasping groan to the ceiling.

A very long few moments passed, they both held that pose before she sank back down. Her single exposed eye was dilated massively and seemed to suck all his attention.

“Let’s get your orders sorted out, Justin. Then after that, I think a little dinner for me is in order, then I’ll say goodbye.”

“Yes, mistress.”

888888888888888888888888888888

A/N: No new SCPs in this chapter. I’ve adjusted Theo’s timeline a bit with regard to his living arrangements. In canon, he didn’t start living with Kayden until after Kaiser’s death to Leviathan. The Trigger inducement attempts in this continuity were worse, causing Theo to practically disown his father and live with Kayden.

Have a great weekend and stay awesome.

88888888888888888888888888888