2 Chapter 02: I choose you (all)

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Betad by morde24

The Guild of Gamers: The Supervillain

Chapter 02: I choose you (all)

Staring at my options, I stroke my chin as a plan starts to form in the back of my mind. I can see where this is going, each of these potential henchmen are in a position where recruiting them is going to be much easier but the ones I don't pick will move on and become an issue to deal with after the tutorial is over.

Loading up my pc, and thank fuck I have one of those in my office, I start to scour the internet for information on the various henchmen, starting with their names.

Obviously not by their real names, I don't know how secure this connection is, but just by their cape name.

The presence of DC characters in Brockton Bay scares me, because as bullshit as shards can be… it's fucking DC.

Thankfully, the only match for 'Superman' is a particularly egotistical hero who got killed within a week, and he just had superhuman strength, speed and stamina.

Basically the shard equivalent of Captain America from what I can tell.

The Scarecrow does bring up results, more like rumours and myths than actual confirmed intel, mad capes ranting about being given their powers by the Scarecrow, usually doing a suicide by hero within the month.

It's led to people believing he is a trump of sorts, but he's never been seen in the open and the PRT's official word is that they are 'looking into it.'

Squealer comes up with plenty, especially on the Brockton Bay threads. Basically… she's a drug-addled lunatic.

She has a habit of joyriding her creations through the city while high as a kite, usually leaving wanton destruction and casualties in her wake.

She's apparently an amazing driver, and I'm some of the VS threads, other tinkers have suggested that she might be a very high level tinker who is being held back by drugs and poor materials.

What I do know is that she's unreliable, unhinged and so full of drugs that she barely knows where she's going half the time.

She's also the very image of used goods, and while they are taken down from PHO as soon as they are posted, it takes all of five minutes to find her nudes.

Her face is always covered by either a welding mask or some other kind of mask, she doesn't really have a set 'cape uniform', but there's hundreds of pictures and dozens of videos of her out there for the public's viewing pleasure.

She really lives up to the name.

She had the potential to be a true beauty, with some of the biggest breasts I've ever seen, but right now? I think I'd rather stick my dick in the sewer water, it probably has less diseases.

A verified merchant cape named… 'The Grapist' of all things, has spent quite a long time boasting about banging her, and from his words it sounds like Squealer is used as a bribe for successful merchants by Skidmark.

From the other Merchants I can find online, some capes and some unpowered thugs, it seems like the Grapist isn't all talk as he isn't close to the only person that claims to have fucked Squealer.

It's bizarre to me to see so many capes, heroes and villains alike, just posting online, but I suppose capes are people too.

Squealer herself has a very rarely used account, currently banned for sending death threats towards Armsmaster after he trashed one of her rides, and she basically confirms that she's fucked half the gang when she replied to the Grapist and called him a midget with an even smaller dick.

In less polite words.

Squealer was tempting purely due to how… endowed she is, but she's gonna need a lot of work before I'm willing to touch her. Besides, she's also an enemy, so it'd be a rather forceful recruitment.

I'd need a place to store her until she came around, I'd need a garage for her to work in when she has been convinced to see things my way, I'd be bringing a lot of merchant heat on myself and my organisation before I am ready.

Hmm.

The White Rabbit is fairy interesting, a master thief who has pulled off some very impressive robberies, but she's… flighty to say the least.

She's stolen works of art, spent the night running circles around the heroes trying to stop her, only for them to find the painting ditched in an alleyway after they lose her.

She seems to steal purely to get chased.

She's a junkie as well, just a different sort. Her drug is adrenaline, and she seems completely addicted to it.

She has even been posting warnings over what she is going to try and steal on PHO lately, and it doesn't take a genius to realise she is getting bored of how easy she seems to have it.

There's videos, badly shot videos, of her outrunning Armsmaster on his bike, and dancing circles around Velocity.

She's a big black eye on the face of the Brockton Bay Protectorate, because even with her telling them what she's going to steal they haven't managed to catch her.

Recently she even gave them a time and a date of when she was going to steal a jewelled necklace, daring Armsmaster to come and catch her, and the next thing she posted was less than ten minutes after the given time.

It was a simple picture of a very smug white haired girl with big white and pink bunny ears, wearing nothing but a corset, a pink thong (with a fluffy white bunny tail) and a pink domino mask… oh, and a jewelled necklace.

It's unsurprising that she has so many fans, she's sexy and she's badass, seemingly uncatchable and that's made her very popular among the youths of Brockton Bay.

She's extremely active in PHO, but she hasn't posted anything recently. Her last post was another challenge, but the time she gave was ten minutes ago and she's been awfully quiet.

Following the pattern, she'd usually be boasting by now.

But I know something they don't, the PRT finally caught the White Rabbit before she could run off to wonderland.

Which leads to the slight issue of how the hell do I get her out of their grasp before they send her out of my reach?

And finally… Poison Ivy.

Her name doesn't bring anything up, but that doesn't stop me from subtly tracking her down through other matters.

Dr Pamela Isley is a biologist working under a Dr. Jason Woodrue at the Brockton Bay Botanical Gardens.

I found her on LinkedIn.

Which led me to the next thing that really should have been easier to hear about.

The Botanical Gardens is currently overrun with giant angry plants.

You'd think that'd be something that was covered better, but aside from the PRT putting out a warning to avoid the area around it there's no official word why.

Thankfully, the internet loves gossiping and the PRT can't hide the fact that the plants in the botanical gardens have just gotten up and started walking.

Nor can they hide that there are PRT trooper corpses littered around the gardens, Poison Ivy has wasted no time in causing utter chaos and carving out a piece of territory for herself.

Worse still, the gardens are in the middle of Empire 88 territory, so now she has both the Empire and the PRT looking her way.

She's definitely the hard mode Henchwoman, very high risk but equally high reward.

That's assuming I can even keep her under control, as Ivy has never been particularly fond of… people.

Aside from Harley, who does exist in this world. Oddly enough, she's in a team with Circus and someone called Punchline, and while I can find references to the Joker it seems he's already been birdcaged.

Which is a slight bit harder to escape from than Arkham, apparently as he hasn't moved from there in the three years since they locked him up and likely threw away the key.

No mention of what his power was, because nobody seems to actually know.

Also, no Batman as far as I can tell. That said, it didn't even say who caught the Joker, which tells me that it wasn't a Protectorate hero because the PRT would have used it for pr, since the Joker is as infamous here as he was in DC.

But I digress, I have a decision to make.

...system, are you able to answer queries?

I am, user.

Ahh, wonderful. My request is simple, I'd like to inquire whether it would be possible for you to give me some additional information on my choices, specifically their current locations and status.

...give me a moment.

Pausing for a moment, I wait patiently as I continue looking over the different capes and groups in Brockton. This place is infested with capes, and most of them are villains.

I'm going to start building files on the different threats around Brockton, information is power after all.

Request accepted. Locations and status of potential henchmen have been added to your map.

Loading my map up, I start to scheme.

Squealer is nearby, very unconscious thanks to a mixture of bad batch drugs and a crashed van, it looks like she tried out some of the drugs she was moving and had a bad reaction.

The Scarecrow, or to be more precise, Johnathan Crane, is hiding out in a cheap apartment building across the city, he's fine and currently looking for a new source of funding, my new intel lets me know he's considering approaching the Empire for their resources.

The White Rabbit is moving, currently in cuffs in the back of a nondescript police car, they don't want to draw cape attention and they know Jaina is basically useless once she's captured. She doesn't have any powers beyond the ability to summon the White Rabbit, and she can't risk that with PRT troopers in the car with her.

Even if the Rabbit escapes, eventually she'd have to dismiss the summon and Jaina herself would still be trapped. The moment she tries anything she'll get blasted with containment foam.

The car is taking a frankly baffling route, but I suspect they know something I don't. They don't want Jaina to end up in the hands of one of the gangs, she was annoying enough as a solo act.

But the system has graciously given me their planned route, and I can definitely work with that.

I just gave you the information you would have gotten if you chose them.

Poison Ivy is in the botanical gardens, as expected, and she's on the defensive after fighting off the PRT.

...if I go there, she'd kill me without even waiting long enough to listen to whatever I had to say.

So my choice is clear, I'll take all of them.

Wait, what?

Grabbing a pen, I start writing on the expensive paper my desk came with, because I'm fairly certain I can pull this off and grab at least three of the four choices, and I can start making progress with the fourth.

It takes me a moment to decide what name I want, but after a few seconds of thought I make my decision. Only one thing has every truly appealed to me, and basing my cape name on it is only logical.

Umm… is he allowed to do that? Shit, the guide didn't mention this.

Calling for two of my minions on the base wide intercom, I watch as the yellow suited men enter my office, quickly standing to attention in front of my desk.

"You, blonde one. Take this to a Dr Johnathan Crane, his address is written on the front. Also, change into something more inconspicuous before you leave the warehouse. You, take this letter to Poison Ivy, in the botanical gardens downtown." I order, making them salute.

"Yes, boss!" Blondie says, making me smile slightly. I missed having underlings, and really is there that much of a difference between being a ceo and being a supervillain?

"Umm, boss… I can see your computer, why did you put homicidal next to Poison Ivy's name?" The other minion asks as he picks up the letter. "...isn't that bad?"

"...I'm sure you'll be fine as long as you don't do anything to provoke her, don't shoot the messenger is a universal concept after all." I say calmly, making him nod firmly as he salutes.

"Understood, boss! I won't fail you."

Yeah, he's probably dead to be honest.

I mean, I didn't realise that they were quite that sentient since they just popped into existence, but I need to work out how aggressive Ivy is.

"I'm sure you'll do great." I praise him, making a small note in my todo list to find out how to replace deceased minions.

You can customise how your minions look from your pc, also what the hell are you doing?!

Should I stop this?

Oh, thank you system.

Finding the option, I change their bright yellow jumpsuits for a more subtle black, with some golden accents and a black face mask.

There's even an option to make my own 'villain' uniform, but most of the options don't suit me at all. I don't like all the extravagant outfits and I certainly don't like how skintight most of the options seem.

I eventually settle for a black suit jacket and slacks with a golden vest and tie, with a white shirt to finish it off, along with a black and gold metal face mask, similar to something out of a masquerade.

It doesn't cover enough to be honest, only covering the upper-half of my face, but that seems to be fairly common around here and I like the style. It's mostly black, but it has golden accents and embroidery around the edges.

Honestly it's all a little gaudy, but I suppose it's all par for the course, villainy and gaudy outfits seem to go hand in hand. Besides, I look far more reasonable than most capes, I even have my underwear on the right side.

Wait, why is that stuff all free? Oh shit, you weren't supposed to know about that until after the tutorial.

...I'm so getting into trouble for this.

System, are you doing okay?

...system?

Jumping slightly as a small flash fills the room, I pause as a young woman teleports into my lair, giving me a dirty look.

"It's the fucking tutorial, why are you already trying to meta game during the fucking tutorial, dude?!" she growls, making me blink as I look her over.

She's… not exactly modestly dressed, wearing nothing but a tiny white tank top that doesn't even cover her midriff along with a very short pair of black jean shorts as she glares down at me with almost glowing purple eyes, long black hair tied up in a ponytail she's also quite clearly not wearing a bra, and I can see the outline of her nipple piercing as she stared back at me.

"I take it you are from the guild? Have I broken a rule, I'm afraid Lucille was rather sparse on the details." I reply, making her groan.

"That's because Lucille is a lazy slut, and everyone else is left picking up the pieces after she fucks up again. But yeah, dude, I'm from the Guild, I'm the administrator for your system, literally my first day on the job as an admin and I have to deal with a metagamer." she whines, making me stare at her blankly.

"Anyway, I'm Neith, might as well get it out of the way since we're gonna be dealing with each other for a few years at least… unless you die, which would be bad since if you die too early it means I fucked up as the admin." Neith admits.

"Well then, Neith… I look forward to working with you?" I half state and half ask, I'm still not quite sure about the proper etiquette with the guild members, but I have no reason to be impolite to the person running my system. "I was under the impression that Lucille was assigned to handle my case?"

"Please, Lucille is a glorified secretary. The big bosses don't trust her with any actual power since she tried to blackmail my dad into fighting her dad, and then killed him when dad told her to go fuck herself. Of course, dying doesn't really mean much for Gamers, but the point still stands. She's been 'grounded' for literal millenia because of it, so she isn't allowed to actually run a system." Neith explains as she sighs, moving around my desk and hopping up onto it, sitting on the edge in front of me. "And no, you haven't technically broken any rules, but I fucked up. Like I said, I'm new to this shit. You weren't supposed to go for all the options, and I need to make sure I'm not gonna get into trouble because of it. My mum makes this system shit look way easier than it is, but she's been running my dad's system for thousands of years." Neith admits, making me pause as she pulls out a phone, making a call.

After a moment she hops off the desk and starts to pace.

I realise I should focus on the potential trouble I'm in, but god damn does this girl have an amazing ass, her breasts are rather average in size, not that it detracts from her beauty, but her ass is fucking massive.

"Dad? Yeah, I wanted to ask you about the Supervillain system. So, if the user managed to get all four of the potential henchmen in the tutorial, would that fuck things up?" Neith asks as she paces around the room, frowning slightly. "...the fuck do you mean you don't know? You made the thing- okay, tell mom to stop sucking your dick and pass her the phone."

...her father seems like an interesting man.

"So it won't break anyth- ugh, please tell dad to wait two minutes before you two start fucking again, this is serious." Neith groans as she walks close enough to me for me to hear the other end of the call.

"You know how he get- Mhmm, how your dad gets… oh fuck, faster~ but it should be fine honey, me and the other Isis spent a long time patching out the bugs from the system before we released it. If anythi- Mhmm~ if anything, it means you probably got a pretty good user, it's the ambitious ones that go the furthest you know?" a sweet female voice says over the line, with the sounds of flesh slapping together being picked up by the phone as she moans.

"So I won't get into trouble just because he decided to start metagaming before he even got out of the tutorial?" Neith asks, barely phased by her parents having sex on the other end of the phone.

"No, honey, it's fine. Besides, his success is your success, system administrators and users should both want the other to succeed, it makes the relationship so much more enjoyable~" her mother says, moaning lewdly as Neith rolls her eyes.

"Okay, thanks mom. Love you… love you too dad, even if you are completely unhelpful." Neith grumbles, a male chuckle coming over the line.

Ending the call, she sighs as she leans against the desk, rolling her eyes.

"Your parents seem… interesting, I take it that was one of the Lord Kuro's that Lucille mentioned?" I ask, making her mod.

"Lord Kuro Tepes, the second gamer to actually survive long enough to matter, and my dad. My mother is called Isis, she used to be an incorporeal omnipotent being, but she was horny for dad since basically day one and she made herself a body so she could ride his mythical dick. That's dad for you, just because the girl doesn't have a body doesn't mean he can't knock them up. There's a reason I have an endless number of sisters, and most of them are fucking him too." Neith admits with a shrug. "It's good to be the immortal ruler of an entire Multiverse I guess, you get what you want and what dad wants is pussy."

"Impressive, and here I am trying to take over a single city." I say, making her laugh.

"Ehh, don't worry about it dude, all gamers have to start somewhere." Neith says, pushing my shoulder playfully. "But mom is right, I kinda need you to succeed because me and Lucille both get rated on how well our gamer does, can't believe I have to share a user with that bitch." she says as she sits on the edge of my desk.

"So, back on subject… I can continue with my plans to recruit the henchmen?" I ask, making her pause as she checks her phone.

"Well, dad just texted me and his exact words were 'do what you want, you're the admin', typical dad passing responsibility to other people, so yeah, I guess so." Neith admits. "I just wanted to make sure I wasn't giving that ice slut a reason to look down on me."

"I see, my thanks." I say calmly, making her shrug.

"It's my job, your success is my success and all that shit. You're right by the way, Squealer has more STDs than a truck-stop hooker, if you wanna put that big-tiddy bimbo to use you better get her cleaned up since you don't have Gamers Body for disease immunity yet. You need to prove you deserve the full Gamer skill set before it unlocks." Neith warns, making me nod thankfully.

"That was the plan, besides I need to actually get her under control first." I point out making her scoff.

"Please, she's a junkie, just lock her up and dangle some drugs in front of her after she starts to get withdrawal symptoms and she'd suck every dick in the Trainyard for a hit. Besides, once you've got her in the base, consent isn't really an issue." Neith says with a shrug, making me stare at her in slight shock. "What? If you were the sort of person to have those kinds of morals, you wouldn't have been offered the Supervillain system. You want something, you take it and fuck up anyone who gets in your way. I've seen your last life, blackmail and veiled threats were a daily thing for you, you made your business flourish at the cost of your rivals and your workers."

"Hm, is that a problem?" I ask, making her laugh. She's not wrong, I destroyed entire businesses, sent families into inescapable debt and crushed anyone who got in my way, all so I could benefit.

"Dude, you could have been a genocidal warlord and you still wouldn't have been the evilest recruit to the Guild. The Guild is a place where people who are willing to do anything to get what they want flourish, if anything that ruthlessness is probably why you got recruited in the first place." Neith explains. "We literally have serial killers, warlords and cannibals as users, a corrupt businessman is nothing."

"...cannibals?" I ask despite myself.

"All I'm saying is if you meet someone who has the Glutton system, fucking run dude. Bitches be crazy." Neith warns. "Actually, just assume every other Gamer is legitimately insane or just generally an asshole, you'll be right a lot more than you'll be wrong." Neith says with a shrug, making me sigh.

Nice to know what kind of Guild I've… 'joined'.

"Ahh, don't be like that, I mean if you play your cards right you could literally rule this world, or even dozens of worlds, unless you need the Guild's services you probably won't even seen any of the others, and on Guild grounds there are rules against fighting or attacking other Gamers, and you don't want to break the rules, Lord Grayson is a stickler for them and he kinda devours the souls of people who break them too many times."

"Don't break the rules if I don't want my soul to be eaten, understood." I say after a moment, taking a deep breath.

"Really, as long as you don't break the Guild rules, and I'll tell you them all before you ever step foot on guild grounds, and you finish your contractual obligations you can do whatever the hell you want. This world is your playground, and the Guild doesn't care what you do to it." Neith says, hopping off the desk, incidentally making her breasts bounce quite a lot, drawing my eyes despite my best attempts to avoid staring. "Dude, eyes are up here." Neith says with a deadpan tone, staring at me blankly for a moment as I go to apologise before she bursts out laughing. "I'm just fucking with ya, I don't care. If I didn't want people staring at me, I'd wear more, besides I know I'm sexy, got some of the best genes imaginable."

"My apologies, I shouldn't be staring at my… supervisor? Coworker? Boss's daughter?" I say, frowning in confusion.

"Eh, coworkers works I guess, we both work for the Guild, just in different areas. But seriously dude, stare all you like, I don't care. Girls don't get piercings if they don't want to show them off." Neith says casually, reaching up and squeezing the tit that has the piercing slightly, making my trousers grow slightly uncomfortable. "Heh, don't tell me it's that easy to get to you, been on a bit of a dry streak? Here, have a freebie." Neith says with a mischievous smile as she grips the bottom of her tiny top and lifts it, her breasts bursting free almost immediately as my cock grows rock hard.

She might not have the biggest breasts, but they are perfectly formed and deliciously pale with tiny pink nipples topping them, one of them having a small silver bar piercing.

Covering herself again, she gives me a smirk and glances down at the tent in my pants.

"Guess it's been a while if it's so easy to get you going, my advice? Grab the White Rabbit, Jaina is kinda a cold bitch but the Rabbit is a nympho, you clearly need to get your dick wet. Anyway, I need to get back to work, keeping this world running is more work than you'd think. Good luck with your meta-gaming, but don't expect me to give you any more freebies… game-wise or the fun kind. You want any more, you're gonna have to work for it." Neith teases, making me chuckle.

"You'll find I've never been afraid of a little hard work or hesitant to put in the effort to get what I want." I reply calmly, making her laugh back.

I can definitely work with this.

Neith -

Heading back to her office (that was just her bedroom, trust her father to make a system that could be run from her bed), she dropped down onto the bed with a slight frown.

Fucking Lucille.

Fuck she hated that bitch.

Jin was probably gonna be one to keep an eye on, if he was trying to get the absolute most out of the fucking tutorial of all places, but while it probably meant more work for her, now that she was sure she wasn't going to get into shit for it, she was starting to see the benefits.

The Guild was a very competitive place, and dozens of her sisters, along with Shiro's, Grayson's and the other Kuro's daughters were all in the same position she was in, administrating for a user.

Every user had two guild staff assigned to them, an admin and a manager, her and Lucille, and the better the user did the more the staff members were rewarded.

Jin's success was her success, and unfortunately also Lucille's success, but Lucille was buried in so much shit it'd take an industrial digger to get her out of it, so that wasn't really a problem.

Still, Jin was kinda cute…

Heh.

Oh well, she couldn't be too nice to him, since it'd look bad on both her end of period review and Jin's, but if Jin succeeded?

Well, Gamers did make the best lovers and that was one way to spite Lucille by making their shared user like her a hell of a lot more.

Not that being more likable than Lucille was particularly difficult.

Pausing as she rolled the random event generator, she paused as she looked at what came out, and then promptly rolled it again.

She was going to have words with her father, because day one Endbringer attacks didn't exactly make good game design.

As it came up with a second event, she paused for a moment and shrugged, lining it up for after the tutorial.

Honestly, she could have gotten a far worse user, since one of her sisters had a user who deliberately stayed in the tutorial for years to abuse its features.

She eventually got bored enough to start an apocalyptic event, then sat back and watched the world burn. A bored admin is a dangerous admin, a bored and annoyed admin is far more so.

It was why someone like Lucille wouldn't ever be trusted with any real power, she'd blow up the world within an hour because she didn't like something the user did.

Jin -

Changing into my new outfit, I place the masquerade mask on my face with a slight frown, I've never liked things covering my face but needs must I suppose.

Meeting my eight minions at the entrance to my underground lair, I check Squealers destination one last time before I nod to myself.

Opening the 'base building' mode again, I look at some of the options I didn't think were that important before. In the second underground floor, which currently only had my inner sanctum, I've added a small prison room and a single holding cell. I'll need to check out the research section for more unlocks later, but for now I have work to do.

"Right, you and you, stay behind and build the room I just planned out, the rest of you follow me." I order, setting off out of the building as I shake my head, stilling my nerves.

I'd rather sit at a desk and tell them all what to do, but I don't have the manpower or anyone talented enough to guarantee success without me being there to lead this operation in person.

I'll need to add a secret exit to my lair in the future, but it's late enough that nobody is lurking around to watch us leave, and once we are out of the warehouse and onto the streets, none of the few bums sleeping on the street are dumb enough to get in the way of seven masked men and women as we head through the streets.

Maybe the merchants will hear about us and come to investigate, but I intend to be back in the lair before those junkies can react.

Following the route I planned out, it only took us ten minutes to reach our destination and after taking a moment to stare, I have to wonder…

How in hell did Squealer manage this?

Looking at the vehicle currently embedded in the wall of a run-down building, I nod at my minions and watch as they move towards it slowly.

Also, how didn't the merchants hear this?

Skidmark is throwing a party, he hasn't even noticed Squealer hasn't returned yet. Squealer was already high when she was sent to get more drugs, and she took a load more before setting off back to base.

Ahh, thanks Neith.

"Boss! You were right, she's in the driver's seat." One of the minions shouts making me smile as I head closer myself, cautiously as I peer through the driver-side window.

Squealer is passed out against the wheel of the van, blood pouring from a gash in her forehead, and as I have a minion test the door handle, the door opens easily. She didn't even lock the doors?

"Pull her out." I order, watching one of my minions reach in and grab Squealer, holding her in a fireman's carry as he pulls her free from the van, no seatbelt of course.

While he does that, I do notice something interesting… Despite the crash, the van is in one piece, it didn't even damage the windscreen despite having smashed into a building.

The building definitely ended up worse for wear out of the two, and the keys are still in the ignition.

...is that button labelled 'cannon'?

Well, freeing White Rabbit just became a lot easier.

Huntress -

Watching as the new cape had his minions reverse the ugly tinker tech van from the building, she reached for her crossbow before she shook her head.

If there was one thing every cape should know, it was that you never attacked a cape if you didn't know what they could do.

It was what got so many independent capes killed, the lack of information. If she fired at him, she would give away her position and without knowing what the black and gold themed cape was capable of, that could be a death sentence.

She was fairly certain the men in jumpsuits were just uniformed thugs, which meant that this was a new gang since the ABB didn't dress their foot soldiers like that, and she was fairly certain the suited man was the Asian man she had come looking for.

As much as she hated it, as she watched them pile into the of the van, throwing Squealer into the back, she disengaged and reached for her phone instead.

First came the intelligence gathering stage, she could act on it when she knew more about what she was dealing with.

Even if that meant watching a new cape kidnap Squealer.

"Huntress, you have something for me?" the calm voice on the other end of the line asked as she watched the van drive away, in the opposite direction from the warehouse they came from.

"I do, Oracle. A new gang has moved into Merchant territory, and they've already made a move. Just watched them drive off with Squealer unconscious in the back of her own van." Huntress reported. "Looks like they've taken over a warehouse in the Docks. No idea what the leader's power is, but he wears a black and gold suit and an elaborate masquerade mask."

She didn't work for Oracle, but if you were an independent hero in Brockton, Oracle was your best source of information.

She'd never even met the clearly young girl, but Oracle's information had kept her safe on multiple occasions.

"Odd, this is the first time I've heard of any new gangs moving in, and it's not a good sign if they are already trying to claim territory… I'll look into it, call my sources and get back to you. Thanks for the tip, Huntress."

Ending the call, she shook off the guilt she felt at just letting Squealer get taken away. The Tinker was a villain and she couldn't risk picking a fight with an unknown cape, not when her own power wasn't exactly impressive.

Checking her messages, she smiled slightly as she spotted a new one.

'Got a patrol without a babysitter for once, wanna bust some ABB heads? SS'

Having a ward idolise her made her feel a little better, and busting some petty criminals sounded like a wonderful idea right now.

She knew the Protectorate knew about Shadow Stalker occasionally teaming-up with her, but they hadn't said anything about it so she wasn't going to either.

Even if it was technically against protocol to work with independent capes without permission.

But when had she ever given a fuck about PRT protocol?

Jin -

My minions can drive, good to know.

Sitting in the back of the van, I calmly wait for us to reach our second destination as I keep an eye on the unconscious Squealer.

Her welding mask came off during the crash, and seeing her this up close I have to say it's a damn shame she let her looks go to waste.

She was clearly beautiful, once, but even if you cleaned the dirt, blood and grease stains off her, she's a shadow of her former self.

Needle marks, scars, bloodshot eyes, and a dozen of other signs of excessive drug use have ruined what beauty she had, and I'm fairly certain I can see the telltale signs of a dozen STDs after I peek through her clothes out of curiosity.

Also, the tattoo above her crotch saying 'Squealers Garage' with an arrow pointing to her pussy isn't exactly appealing.

Still… holy shit look at the size of those tits, what the fuck does Skidmark feed her?

You know, when you get out of the tutorial you'll have access to the guild services, our healers can fix her up… for a price.

Somehow I doubt they take dollars.

Hah, no.

They take guild credits, which you get by doing your guild obligations. They'll start appearing when you get out of the tutorial.

Or, you can go into the base research and rush to the advanced medbay, that would work as well.

I'll keep that in mind, my thanks Neith.

No problem, dude.

You're right after all, she'll be hot as fuck when she's fixed up, it's a crime against horniness that she looks like that.

Hell, you know what? Fuck it. Dad's right, I'm the admin and I can do what I want.

Guild Obligation received

Objective: Fix Squealer's fucked up body, then make her squeal

Reward: 50 Guild Credits

Time limit: 1 Week

Seriously?

Hell yeah.

Tell you what, get it done in… three days and I'll give you a secret bonus reward.

You'll love it, dude.

I'll keep that in mind, though how exactly I'm going to get her fixed in such a short amount of…

Never mind, I have a plan but I'll need to work out the kinks.

I can remember a few things from Worm, and I have a plan to get Squealer all healed up. I just need to find a way to get in contact with a certain healer.

Ooh, I like where you're going with this.

But for now, let's free a rabbit from the trap she stepped in.

Jaina Hudson -

With her hands cuffed, she sat in the back of the car with two PRT agents wearing civilian clothes sitting on either side of her.

She'd messed up, or to be more precise the White Rabbit had messed up and left enough evidence to lead the PRT to Jaina, that was the problem with having an alter ego that came with its own body that she couldn't control.

She couldn't just not summon her either, eventually the White Rabbit would summon herself if she was denied far too long, and sometimes she showed up at… incredibly problematic moments.

The Rabbit did what she wanted to do, and unfortunately she decided to steal Armsmaster's helmet… from his civilian home.

This meant all bets were off, and instead of wasting their time chasing the Rabbit, they just showed up at her home and cuffed her, forcing her to dismiss the Rabbit mid-heist as they took her back to the Rig.

She was fairly certain she was going to be forcibly recruited into the Protectorate, likely shipped off to some city a long way from here where people hadn't heard of the White Rabbit, or sent to jail if she refused.

And Jaina Hudson had no powers, she didn't have the Rabbits speed or agility. Neither of those options exactly thrilled her, but she was practical enough to know when she was caught.

Sighing to herself, she looked out of the window for a moment before her eyes widened in shock, a hideously ugly van driving towards them at the intersection at incredible speeds, the PRT troopers shouting something as the van drove right in front of them, forcing the driver to swerve desperately, the side of their car hitting the van, throwing them all around.

As the shock wore off, she watched the van pull back, and the hood open up as a massive fucking gun slid out, aiming at their car.

The back of the van opened up, and a well dressed man in a fancy masquerade mask walked out, a smirk on his exposed lower face as he walked towards them calmly.

"Good evening, gentlemen. Now, I have no quarrels with you all, but I'm afraid you've got something I want… well, someone. Uncuff Miss Hudson and let her out of the car, and we won't have any issues." The man said, his voice cultured as he stared them down. "If you don't comply… well, I am curious just how powerful this little thing really is." He continued patting the gun. "Tick tock, gentlemen… I'm on a bit of a schedule, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist you decide quickly."

Watching the troopers quietly argue, she jumped as the gun fired a short burst, hitting the ground next to the car as the troopers all flinched, one of them nodding as the other grabbed the keys for her cuffs and released her, opening the car door and stepping out so she could leave the car.

"Excellent, I'm glad we could come to an agreement. Now, Miss Hudson, if you'd like to join me." the masked man said, making her hesitate before she moved over to him.

She didn't want to test the man with the big gun. The Rabbit loved the danger, she certainly did not.

"Gentlemen, please leave the car in an orderly fashion." he ordered, watching them climb out of the car slowly before he nodded to the van, the turret firing a dozen rounds into the car engine as he turned to her. "I believe we need to talk, Miss Hudson, but let's vacate the area before their friends show up."

As he spoke, he offered her his hand and after a moment she took it, following him as they climbed into the back of the van.

It was unnerving to be surrounded by so many masked people, and an unconscious woman, but as she sat down in the back of the van the main masked man smiled at her.

"Now then, allow me to introduce myself. I am Midas, a new cape in Brockton Bay, and I'd like you to join my new organisation. Your reputation precedes you, White Rabbit, and it'd be a waste to see you thrown into prison or forced to play hero." Midas said, before frowning. "I apologise for the… state of my transport, it's newly acquired from the merchants, I intend to have Squealer here make me something more suitable once she comes around."

"...I take it I don't have a choice?" Jaina asked, making him chuckle. The fact that the blonde was Squealer set her at ease a bit, because who gave a shit about what happened to Merchants? It also meant Midas wasn't a Merchant himself,

"Of course you do, say the word and I'll pull over and let you out. You'll owe me for breaking you out… but tell me, what's going to stop the PRT from going after your civilian identity again?" Midas said, his tone confident as he stared her down.

"Nothing." Jaina agreed, sighing. She didn't want to go to prison, and she wanted to join the PRT even less. "Fine, let's talk."

She didn't know if he'd actually let her leave if she didn't like his responses, but with her hands unbound and the PRT left in their dust, she certainly felt slightly more hopeful than she did five minutes ago.

"Excellent, it's so nice to meet someone capable of intelligent discussion. I somehow doubt Squealer will be quite so reasonable." Midas said happily, clapping his hands together.

"The Rabbit stole her bike once, trust me, reasonable isn't how I'd describe her." Jaina admitted, smirking slightly.

Hookwolf -

Lunging forwards, he easily shredded his way through the walking plants, their size meaning fuck all when put against his blades.

The entire gardens groaned as he did so, the vines flailing as he smirked, they couldn't talk but if they could they'd be screaming, he knew pain when he saw it.

He was hurting the fucker who came and set up shop in the middle of Empire turf, and the lashing vines barely even stung as he tore them apart.

Kaiser didn't like independent capes on Empire turf, he liked a new cape claiming even a single building in their turf even less, and while this new bitch had sent the PRT running, they were pussies.

Personally he'd just like to tear the green bitch in two, but Kaiser was a long-term kinda guy and he saw the potential in her power of control plants and he wanted her on their side, especially with how many capes the chinks had been grabbing lately, and since she went and set up shop in their territory it meant that they weren't going for the soft-sell.

The flower bitch was joining, if she was smart she'd fold and come along quietly after he tore his way through her pathetic defences, but he was kinda hoping she'd be dumb.

As long as she was in mostly one piece when he took her back, Kaiser wouldn't care. They had ways to make sure their 'recruits' stayed loyal, even if they had to rely on the Gesellschaft for a lot of it. They didn't have any Masters, but their allies across the ocean did.

If the green bitch was stupid enough to think she could take him on, he'd enjoy putting her in her place.

Working through the thick jungle of vines and plant creatures, he quickly found his way to the very centre, glaring at the large flower as it started to open, the giant petals parting as his target strutted out of it, green skin on display as only a leotard made of leaves covered her body.

Green eyes glared down at him from her elevated position, a mane of fiery red hair the only thing on her that wasn't a shade of green.

"Another intruder? You aren't PRT, but I know you… Hookwolf." she drawled, staring down at him.

Slowly shifting from back to his regular form, he stared up at her with a smirk hidden behind his metal mask. Oh, he really hoped she made this a fight.

He'd never fucked a green bitch before, and she had one fucking sexy body. Plus, she didn't look foreign, despite the green skin.

"Yeah, that's right bitch. This is Empire turf, you thought you could just walk in here and claim it for yourself?" Brad said with a sneer, making her raise an eyebrow.

"Empire turf? I think not, this place belongs to the plants, not man or beast. Certainly not scum like you, who manage to be both." she sneered back, making his smirk grow.

"I'll give you one chance, Kaiser has sent me to bring you into the fold. You're Empire now, bitch, whether you like it or not. So… you gonna- gonna…" Brad said, her sneer growing into a smirk as his words slurred.

He… he needed to…

What was he doing?

"This is the infamous Hookwolf? Pathetic." she said as he stared up at her, she was displeased with him? What had he done, her disapproval stung deeply and as the petal she was standing on lowered her to the ground and she strutted towards him, he could only watch in awe. "Kneel."

Unwilling or unable to displease her anymore than he already had, he dropped to his knees before her and stared up at her in adoration.

Something about this didn't seem right, but with his mistress right here how could anything be wrong?

Pamela Isley -

Staring down at the Nazi Cape in disgust, she considered just having him end his life here and now, but instead she paused.

She didn't pay attention to the cape scene when she was just… Pamela, so she didn't realise that the gardens she loved so much had been in Empire territory.

But even if they were, she wasn't moving. This was the only place in all of Brockton that called to her, the exotic plants and mistreated trees whispering to her, begging for her help.

She hadn't meant to kill the PRT troopers, but she was set on this path now, she'd woken up to the feeling of them burning the plants that covered his lab, and as the plants burnt so did she, she felt everything they felt, just as she had when Hookwolf tore his way through her babies.

If her killing PRT troops hadn't doomed her to villainy, her secondary power certainly had as she mastered Assault and made him turn on Battery, attempting to kill Battery for attacking her.

She used the distraction to flee as they struggled to get him with the containment foam, and once she had calmed down she realised exactly what she'd done.

She gave off pheromones that made those who breathed them in… adore her, and right now the Empire had just gifted her a protector for her gardens.

The Nazi gang wouldn't leave her alone, neither would the PRT, and she wasn arrogant enough to think that her pheromones wouldn't be countered quickly enough.

They'd be better prepared next time, and as much as common sense screamed at her to flee Brockton, head into the wilds away from all this… lifeless concrete, she couldn't bring herself to leave the gardens.

To make it worse, she was sure the PRT knew her real name, it wouldn't be hard to work out who she was since she'd worked at the lab where she triggered for months.

As her plants detected more movement, she paused as she looked through the 'eyes' of one of her babies, watching a man in a black jumpsuit and mask enter the gardens cautiously.

"Hello? I have a message for your creator? Please don't eat me." He said calmly, pulling out a seal envelope as she stared in bemusement.

Who the hell would send her a letter after all this?

As much as she wanted to just crush the newest invader, curiosity got the better of her and she made her creations step aside, the already regrown overgrowth parting to allow the man to pass through, watching as he calmly made his way towards her, letter in hand.

"If this new man tried anything, rip him in two." Pamela said calmly, sitting on a vine as Hookwolf readied himself, her new protector already showing his worth.

Just because this man looked relatively harmless, didn't mean he actually was, and she wasn't going to take any chances.

Hookwolf didn't exactly look intimidating in his human form, and he could have torn her apart if he hadn't stopped to talk.

"Umm, hello?" the man said as he moved forwards, immediately breathing in her pheromones without realising it as she smirked, hopping off her vime.

"You had a message for me?" she drawled, walking towards him with a sway to her hips. Her pheromones seemed more effective on men, and there was no denying that it made them want her, so why not play it up.

"Yes, ma'am. My boss asked me to deliver this to you." he said, his tone clear and his gaze not wandering at all as he offered her the letter.

Wait, why wasn't this working? She could feel her pheromones moving through his body, but they weren't having any actual effect.

"And who is your boss?" Pamela asked coldly, taking a defensive stance as she stared at the man in confusion and worry.

How did this 'boss' already find a way to counter her powers? She'd only used them three times, and she'd already found someone who could stop them.

"He hasn't picked a cape name yet… or he has and didn't tell me." the man said easily, making her pause. So it was a 'he' and he was as new to the cape scene as she was.

Taking the letter, she opened it up and started reading.

Dear Dr. Isley

I do hope you'll forgive me for referring to you by your real name, but as neither of us have cape names yet (at least as far as I can tell) I didn't see the point in pretending I don't know who you are. Your trigger event was rather extravagant after all, a dozen PRT troopers dead and a Protectorate Cape mastered, right in your former place of work.

Pausing, she admitted he had a point. His handwriting was incredibly neat, and the paper she was holding felt expensive.

I am a newly triggered cape, a Thinker/Stranger to be exact, and I have ambitions for this city. While my trigger was rather a lot more subtle than yours, it doesn't change the fact that it's only a matter of time before I get the attention of the various gangs, as you already have, and independent capes do not last long in this city, not without allies. Simply put, I'm proposing an alliance between us against the already established powers in Brockton, gangs and PRT alike.

I believe our own goals are rather compatible, as I have no desire to harm what little nature has survived in Brockton.

If an alliance is too much for now, a non-aggression pact will suffice, as we both have bigger things to worry about than the other.

…he already knew way too much about her. She didn't pay attention to the cape scene, but she had heard of Thinkers and it put her on edge. Thinker was a large category, including people who could predict the future, this could have been written before she'd even triggered.

Or maybe she was just being paranoid, and he'd deliberately said he was a thinker to put her on edge.

He wasn't wrong though, she couldn't afford another enemy now that she'd started a war with the Empire and the PRT in one day, but an alliance?

With someone she'd never even seen?

I understand that this isn't something you can decide on the spot, but I wanted to reach out as soon as possible, please take your time and consider my offer.

I'm a patient man.

King Midas

King Midas? That was a… gaudy name, though it did remind her that she really needed to think about her own name.

Still, he wasn't demanding an answer immediately like a 'king' would, and as she sat back down, staring at his minion, she chuckled slightly as she spotted the golden embroidery on his black jumpsuit.

Of course Midas would have a golden theme.

"Leave, tell your master that I will… consider his proposal carefully." Pamela said cooly, making the minion let out a sigh of relief.

He thought she'd kill him, and he marched in her anyway, what did Midas do to garner such loyalty?

Watching him leave, she leaned back in her seat and sighed.

She could already tell dealing with this Thinker would be a headache.

But she had work to do, the Empire wouldn't take this lying down and she needed to prepare for their inevitable assault.

Pamela Isley was dead, now there was only Poison Ivy.

Bonus Scene - Emily Piggot - AN

If she wasn't so composed, she'd be beating her head against the desk as she looked over the reports of what had happened in the past two days.

Only in Brockton Bay.

The realisation that they had an out-of-town villain performing experiments on his lab assistants had sent them into action and as per usual, everything had immediately gone to shit.

The Floronic Man, an incredibly stupid name, had escaped before they even arrived at his lab, but he'd left them a nasty surprise in the form of one of his lab assistants, poisoned and triggered.

From the after action report, Armsmaster theorised that this new plant cape could feel what the plants around her felt, and the usual operating procedure for dealing with the Floronic Man was to burn the plant life around the area to prevent him from weaponising it.

So the new cape probably woke up to the feeling of being burnt alive and immediately lashed out. She'd be understanding if it hadn't resulted in her men being literally torn limb from limb by unnaturally tough vines, with giant plant monsters growing out of the ground and smashing up their vans.

To make everything worse, Assault had tried to get close enough to reason with the screaming green-skinned cape and the moment he reached her, he stopped, turned around and attacked Battery, catching her off guard long enough to break one of her ribs.

And his ability to resist containment foam meant they wasted so much time trying to pin him down that the new cape escaped, rampaging across three blocks to the botanical gardens, which she promptly turned into a living jungle.

A living, angry, jungle.

Then she mastered Hookwolf, just for good measure.

Because of course she did, why not start a war during your first day as a cape, the Empire wouldn't take this lying down and even worse, the ABB were smelling blood in the water.

Hookwolf was one of their most dangerous enforcers, and without him the ABB were already testing the Empire's ability to defend itself

But of course, it wouldn't be Brockton if she only had a gang war and a possibly crazy master/bio-shaker to worry about.

For months, the White Rabbit had humiliated them, stealing from right under their noses and broadcasting their failure to stop her to the world, and when they finally got the smug bitch... someone busted her out before they could even get her to a holding cell.

The car they used to transport her was made to be as nondescript as possible, it shouldn't have even garnered a raised eyebrow. The last thing they needed was one of the gangs having the White Rabbit on their payroll, she was annoying enough on her own.

And the disguise had worked, right up until one of Squealer's vans slammed it off the road, strange men and women in black jumpsuits and masks freeing the thief and holding her men at cannon-point.

Of course, this was after she got reports of Squealer being kidnapped by men in black jumpsuits, and that meant someone somewhere had the White Rabbit and Squealer, and judging by the man in the masquerade mask she had reports of leading the jumpsuit wearing men, she knew exactly what she was dealing with.

A new gang, just what Brockton needed.

She even knew where they were, it wasn't hard to track them back to the abandoned warehouse, but with a gang war about to flare up, she couldn't spare the manpower to go after them.

And even if she could, with no idea what the new cape's power was, they couldn't risk assaulting his hideout yet anyway.

Thankfully, she could count on Skidmark to help them find out what his power was because that lunatic wouldn't waste any time with his Tinker missing, and a war between the Merchants and this new gang was inevitable.

So, two gang wars and a master.