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A Mage's Guide to the Multiverse by Abdursmailbox1
Books » Worm Rated: M, English, Adventure & Humor, Words: 395k+, Favs: 116, Follows: 127, Published: Jul 23, 2025 Updated: Jul 25, 2025
13chapter 34
One minute into the race and I'd already cut what was supposed to be, roughly, a six or seven mile excursion completely in half. The city beneath me, a mish-mash of dilapidated warehouse and large, blocky buildings, moved by in a hazy blur of motion due to mySole Protector-enhanced speed, but the cinnamony-spice ting of Amy's perfume kept me grounded and focused on the task at hand - keeping Glory Girlbehind me.
I could see the Trainyard in the distance - a stretch of overgrown grass and abandoned shipping containers and box cars; the very same place I'd met Trainwreck. Beyond it, to the East, the towering, almost foreboding sight of dozens of beached, rusted-up ships littered the Boat Graveyard, compounding the fact that was already known to most inhabitants of the Bay.
This city was a fucking garbage heap, ready to set itself on fire.
Distantly, as seconds ticked by and I ate up even more distance, I entertained the thought of doing more to help the Bay. I wasn't necessarilybeholdento the city or anything. I had plans to clean it up, but that was mainly because I hated rapists and nazis and they'd already attacked me and my girlfriend. I wasn'treallya hero, just… a powerful mage with heroic tendencies.
'Even then,'I thought, glancing back down towards the blurring buildings, tightening my hold on the awed Amy Dallon in my arms.'... Maybe I'll do more to help. 'Specially if I'm building a base of operations here.'
How hard would it be to remove hundreds of tons of corroded scrap metal from a bea-
Chills suddenly shot down my spine.
"N-NOOOO, STOP! PLEASEEE!"
It was heart-wrenching, the sheer amount of fear and vitriol carried in the woman's hoarse voice, and the suddenness of it all took me right out of the last leg of our little race. I came to a sudden and effective halt, dropping from two hundred miles per hour to zero in the briefest of seconds, and twisted into a smooth somersault to fly back down into the depths of the Docks. We'd been flying over a stretch of what looked like decaying residential buildings, and the screams were coming from one such building lit up by a dim, flickering red LED sign.
The entire block had a very Red Light district vibe. My stomach fell, and it wasn't due to the sudden lurch of gravity.
"Wha- what was that?" Amy was pale in my arms, gripping my coat tightly as she did her best to pierce the darkness of the night with her tired gaze.
"Trouble," I whispered through the rushing wind, my hands beginning to emit a warmth that bordered on hot. We were no longer going two hundred, but the roof of the building - thewhorehouse, my brain helpfully added - was getting closer at a threateningly fast pace.
Amy was starting to panic, and I began murmuring beneath my breath.
"Iknowthat, but- hold on, are we going through thefucking rooftop?!"
"-qasoraq§i Öriak§…"
"Avalon, what are you even saying-"
"-sorag§i avel!"I finished the chant, and the heat - thefirebuilding in my veins pulsed through my hands, finding purchase in Amy's body, her skin, the wavering and flickering spirit within her verysoul. I felt it when it happened, the way that her heart suddenly skipped a beat before thumping with a steady,strongrhythm. Her panicked movement slowly ceased, and though she still breathed harshly, she seemed calmer.
Braver.
We came to an abrupt half a mere twelve inches above the rooftop, the healer's robed form still held easily in my arms. Her head tilted back to look at me, and I saw the confusion in those brown orbs. Befuddlement and fear and maybe a little anger, but beyond all of that there was determination. Flinty and fragile, but infinitely more than what had been there only seconds prior.Hearts of Firedid that to you.
Another scream, this one hoarser and even more shrill, came from the building below us, along with the intermingling sound of sobbing, grunts, and laughter. Now that we were closer, I could also hear music - some sort of Asian pop, loud and obnoxious as if it was attempting to drown out the din of women suffering, but it did a shitty fucking job.
Aqshy was already radiating off of me, buthearingwhat was happening right below me made the Red Wind react like an excitable puppy rearing to get off the leash.
"Panacea," I spoke quietly,Force of Spiritbolstering my usual chocolatey drawl into a dark, commanding baritone.
She flinched, both at my tone and my usage of her full cape name. I knew that she wanted to ask me what I'd done to her - why she was feeling so brave and clear-headed, but she visibly bit back the urge. "... Yeah?"
I smirked, but it was humorless and cold. "You wanted to help, so consider this your first freebie: Trust your fuckin' powers, and don't let 'em get back up."
Her mouth dropped open. "... What-"
I dropped down, going from stationary to two hundred miles per hour in one smooth motion, all amplified by the haze of bright, dense golden mana encasing my boots.
The portion of the roof that we were standing on gave wayimmediately,and with a yelping Amy in my arms, I allowed gravity to take us down into the smoky, disgustingly-sweet smell of the whorehouse.
Turns out I wasn't the biggest fan of sex-trafficking. Who'da thunk it?
Meanwhile, far above us, in the sky, a glowing, ten foot spear of magical energy pointed directly downwards, waiting for a lagging blonde to catch up and put two and two together.
Avalon wasfucking crazy.
Avalon wasfucking crazy, andperfect, andway too good for her, and he did things to her - did things to her fuckingbrainthat no one else had ever done. He made her think, made her fantasize, made herdreamof doing things with her powers because she actuallywantedto, and not because some crippling sense of duty and dread and guiltforcedher to.
Even now, as she was stumbling into an incense-filled garbage dump of a room and and blindly searching for a weapon to possibly defense herself with, Amy's brain - clear, for once, of thoughts of kissing Vicky,touchingVicky, hugging Vicky, loneliness, depression, anxiety,Vicky- was alight with ways to defend herselfwithoutneeding something like a knife or a bat.
GRATATATATA!
Outside of the room she'd shouldered her way into, she heard yelling in Chinese, the sound of automatic gunfire, and what sheknewto be the odd rapport of Avalon's weird goat demon Master construct firing its ridiculous laser beams. He was a fuckingdynamoof human excellence - hell, he wasmorethan human.
More than parahuman. God, she wanted nothing more than to get more of a feel of his cells at its core, get a complete and total reading of his entire genome sequence and coax it even further into its own realm of superiority. He was alreadyso close, but there was so much more she could do for him if only-
"Ey! White bitch! Thefuckyou do inmyroom?Wǒ méiyǒu mǎi nǐ!"
She froze.
Through the dimness of the trashy room, Amy could see that there were others there - and the sight caused her stomach to drop. Two girls, barely any older than her, were shivering in fear as they covered their body with a yellowing sheet stained with… things that she didn't even want to think about. They were of Asian descent, the specifics she had no clue about, and their faces were caked in cheap white makeup like some sort of fucked up kabuki cosplay. Even then, the white paste couldn't hide the bruised eyes and bloodied lips. They looked like twins.
In front of the bed, butt ass naked with a fresh cigarette inches away from his own fat, bloodied lips, was a large, broad-shouldered Chinese man with a gray, receding hairline. He looked more pissed off than frightened, though he was tossing nervous, side-eyed glances at the door.
Conclusions were being drawn, and she didn't like the picture her mind was starting to paint. The heat in her chest thatburnedaway her brain fog became even hotter.
His tiny, flaccid penis shriveled at her withering, dead-eyed glare.
"You not English speaker, white whore?Zǒu kāi!"
Dimly, she noticed the twins in the background frantically gesturing for help, clenching their hands in a universal 'prayer' gesture. They'd probably recognized her outfit as 'Panacea', or maybe they simply saw the robes and thought that she was another crazy cape like Avalon here to save them. Then again, shedidask to go on patrol. Was thatnotwhat she was? A crazy cape?
'I don't like fighting,'Amy thought, as if reminding herself, even as she narrowed her tired stare at the burning cigarette trailing its disgustingly familiar smoke up towards the ceiling.'I don't like using my powers to hurt people…'
But Avalon had cleared her mind of fear for a reason, didn't he? He told her totrusther powers, totrustherself. He brought her with him when he could have just as easily sat her on the rooftop and came in himself to help these girls. He wastrustingher, trusting her independence, trusting herpower… so shouldn't she do the same thing?
After all, she wasn't feeling any fear right now. Not at the gunshots, not at the danger, and not even atherself. All she wanted to do washelp those girls.
So she came to a decision. The smoke trailing from his cigarette was filling her mind withideas, ones that she'd never had before - not before getting a whiff of Jason's perfect body, and experiencing the heat he forced into her chest. The same heat that cleared her mind, made her unafraid of the power she possessed.
She could do something here. Her gut was telling her to trust herself, so she would.
"Give me your cig and I'll leave," Amy said, jutting her chin out and glaring down her nose at the disgusting pig. The mere thought of being afraid of someone so pitiful would've made her laugh if not for the sobering and pitiful sight sitting on the bed in front of her.
"Eh?!" he shouted, his eyes turning thin as he glared at her. "Bié bī wǒ dǎ-"
"I'm doing the rounds for, er… the boss," Amy cut him off with a grimace, taking a fearless step forward. Interestingly enough, the man took a hesitant half-step back. "And I need to take a freakin' load off because of noisy asshats like you. Guys are already getting into trouble over pussy tonight. Just give me a drag and I'll leave. Cig tax."
She almost regretted her words when the twins in the back sank into each other's arms with grief, but Amy kept her eyes on the prize. There was a slight chance that she would be able to knock him out fast enough if she got her hands on him, but he wasmuchbigger than she was, and he had a much longer reach. She wasn't a fighter, she wasn't necessarily agile or speedy, and she wasnotphysically strong.
She needed something to work with, and although she'd already broken herself off of nicotine after relying on it a bittoomuch recently, desperate times called for desperate measures…
"... Feh! Fine, take it and go! Freak help - I tell Bo about this!" The man spat, flicking the lit cigarette at her disgustedly.
Flinching, Amy jolted forward to catch the little cancer stick before it fell onto the wooden floor that wasmuchtoo sticky to be clean. As soon as her fingers wrapped around the thin, porous paper, before either she or the pig could hesitate, Amy pressed her thumb down on the filter, broke the back piece off, and brushed her thumb against the tobacco starting to fall out through the tear.
The crushed up leaves were effectively dead after being harvested from the plant that it originated from, and thus theyshould'vebeen invisible and inoperable to her powers, but data flashed through her mind, her biological scanner telling her ingratuitousdetail the exact chemicals and substances stored in the cheap tobacco. Instinctively, Amy knew that this was a new aspect of her power, something that Jason had managed to coax out of her, and a sudden burst of excitement had her almost giddy with curiosity and interest.
She ignored most of the dried tobacco's makeup, however, because time was expensive and the man was actively watching her with a confused expression on his face. Experimentation could come later, perhaps, if she still possessed the courage and motivation to mess around with her powers.
Herpowers.
The work was roughshod, especially since she only had a few seconds to bullrush her way through the complete modification of nicotine and at least a dozen other chemicals intowaytoo many benzodiazepines, but she got it done with nothing but a bored and distantly annoyed glare on her face. The cigarette was still lit, a thin trail of smoke trailing from the burning end. As she brought the stick to her lips and put it in her mouth, ignoring the gritty taste of tobacco, Amy decided to make another, last minute addition - something in her,deepwithin, urged her to do so.
With an added dose of carbon, the smoke turned black.
She took a deep, long drag, letting the chemically-modified smoke build up in her mouth instead of her lungs. Two years of smoking probably did enough damage down there, anyway.
"... Y-you get out now. Freak bitch!" The man repeated, watching her with confusion and wariness in his bloodshot eyes. He was inching towards the end table beside the bed now, she noticed, and the sight only pissed her off more. There wasn't a weapon in sight, but therewasa drawer.
Fear still held no place in her burning heart.
She took a step forward, and he made a stumbling dash for the end table, tripping over his own bare feet. The twins screamed, gunshots were still sending ringing cracks through her skull, and honestly, Amy was just completelydonewith the stupidity of criminals right about now.
She exhaled.
The smoke, black and dense andcloying, came out of her mouth like a foreboding miasma. It wasn't much, but it filled the air in front of her in a dark, misty haze, and although she made sure to hold her breath andnotbreath it in, the acrid scent alone had her forcing away the urge to say fuck it and simply fall asleep right then and there. She… probably went a littletoohard with the benzodiazepines in the tobacco.
"F-fuck! I-... I-...Fāshēngle… shénme…?"
The pig's head slammed against the side of the end table as every single muscle in his body turned to jello in an instant, and he let out a low, slurring groan. His naked ass cheeks twitched, one after the other, and Amy wrinkled her nose in disgust as a yellow puddle of urine began leaking out from beneath his swollen body. The scent of the room combined with the scent of urine was nearly unbearable, but she clenched her cancer stick between her teeth and breathed through the sides of her mouth.
"... Freaking disgusting sack of-woah."
Twoverynaked,verythin bodies were suddenly pressed against hers, and Amy battled theveryreal flare-up of heat that flashed through her neck and chest. It wasn't conscious - she was beyond disgusted and horrified by this entire fucking place toconsciouslyget flustered by the victims here, but how was the hell else was she supposed to respond-
Sobbing reached her ears. The twins were mumbling something incoherent into her robe, clenching at her body with bony fingers and crying their hearts out, and any embarrassment that she'd been feeling was flushed out of her body alongside whatever flame Avalon had blessed her with. It didn't leave her fearful and hesitant, but it did leave behind a deep, wary mentalexhaustionthat was only compounded by the girls attached to her sides.
She had a sudden urge to spit on the man's unconscious, urine-soaked body.
"Do I have permission to heal you?" Amy asked the girls instead, forcing her voice into a soft murmur that washopefullykind and nurturing andnother usual annoyed grumble. She was already touching them, for better or for worse, and although the knowledge of exactlywhatwas in and on their bodies filled her with disgust…
She didn't remove her touch. Shewantedto heal them.
"...Nani?" The twin on her right - the slightly taller one - muttered in a hoarse, quiet voice.
They were Japanese, then. She knew those long, sleepless nights at the hospital watching old Japanese cartoons would pay off at some point in her career. Just, she'd thought it would be used while healing someone in ahospital, not an ABB whorehouse.
"Uh… Heal. You." Amy spat out her cigarette, spitting out the unusually bittery taste onto the man's body, and raised her hands. The girl flinched back at the motion, however, and her heart almost stopped. Immediately, she felt horrible. "Fuck, I'm sorry- just,here."
No longer hesitant, she placed her hands back on the broken girls' bodies and, with a dogged, stubborn determination, began healing them as much as possible.
They were too malnourished to fully heal, but she was hoping that Jason could finish off what she couldn't. It never even occurred to her that he would need healinghimself. He was Avalon, after all. Borderline perfection in near-human form. A bunch of thugs with guns would pose no threat to the man who took out Hookwolf in fair, one on one combat, and the gunshots had already quietened. If Victoria had caught up, then even better - those two together had to have been borderline unstoppable.
Pride began to warm her chest, though whether it was for her 'teammates' or herself was anyone's guess. She was just happy that things seemed to have worked out for fuckingonce.
…
BOOOOOM!
And, of course, that was when the building-shaking explosion went off, nearly sending all three girls falling to the floor.
A Couple Minutes Earlier…
I cleared the top floor quickly in order to keep Amy safe.
Was it foolhardy to drop her off in the deep end with nothing more than a bravery and mind-clearing buff and a dream?
Yeah.
However, that was one of the only plans I had managed to come up with in order to help her get the fuck out of her own head. She was afraid of her power, afraid of using it to its full potential, and her Shard was sick and tired of being used as a 22/5 healbot. I wasn't sure if the fanon interpretation of her Shard fucking with her mind due to her negligence was true, but if it was, well… getting her a bit of field experience with utilizing it would probably do wonders when it came to repairing their symbiotic relationship.
'Least till I found a way to magically sever it without lobotomizing her.
Besides, I hadn't left her completely defenseless. Even if she couldn't utilize the mana-amplification aspects of the Gauldur Amulet, the stamina and health increases were definitely tangible. She didn't even realize the fact that I'd slipped it onto her neck during our 'dynamic entry' - a testament to my magically-enhanced sleight of hand skills.
It wasn't like this brothel was packed to the brim with security, anyway. There'd been about three ABB goons with submachine guns that were watching the hallway and staircase, but I'd been prepared for opposition like that - they were currently hanging from the peeling walls, skewered by golden spears.
If I had to approximate, there were probably about three floors in total in the whole building. A few gangsters had charged upstairs bullishly once the gunfight started, and were promptly shishkabob'd with magical weapons for their trouble. I was willing to bet that the only other occupants in the building were the cowardly clientele and the women who were - mostly - forced to work here.
Just in case though, I needed to secure the other floors-
"U-um, sir," A well-endowed woman, Chinese if my intuition was correct, pushed herself into my line of sight. It was an impressive show of bravery, considering I'd just gotten done turning the hallway into a magical version of a Daredevil fight scene. She was wearing nothing more than a dirty, stained white sheet around her body, hiding away her nudeness as much as possible.
I'd already dialedHidden Intuitionall the way down to its base level after my first look into one of the rooms. I didnotwant to know what had stained those sheets.
"I told you and the other women to stay inside the office," I said lightly, tilting my head to the side in order to glance past her head. Immediately, half a dozen unsure, awed, and bruised-up female faces ducked back into the room at the end of the hall. The 'manager' had put up less of a fight than his goons, and was also hanging, unconscious, by a spear in the office.
I clicked my tongue.
"Duìbuqǐ," she said quickly, ducking her head down so fast that I was afraid she'd strain a muscle. "Sir has done much for us. We are grateful! Let us help gather other girls. Please."
I shook my head, placing my right hand gently on the woman's shoulder. She flinched at my touch, snapping her eyes up to stare at me with surprise, and I offered a roguish smile. "No need, let me take care of y'all. Go back to your girls, keep them safe and calm while I take care of business. Okay?" I did my best to speak slowly and clearly, wrangling down my slight accent until virtually none of it remained, and her cheeks colored ever so slightly.
"Shì de. I shall keep them safe." She straightened, giving me a resolute nod, and I nodded back. Despite being bruised and battered, this woman was clearly willing to do whatever she needed to do to take care of the other women held captive here by the ABB fuckwads. I wasn't naive - I knew thatsomepeople actively sought out prostitution as a last-resort job to make ends meet, but I didn't needHidden Intuitionto know that the ones I saved were victims of sex trafficking.
Just something else to add to my growing list of bullshit, eh? The death of Lung…
"Good," I squeezed her shoulder, and her eyes - tired, smudged with oily eyeshadow - twinkled in response.
I very explicitly looked up to the ceiling out of respect when she walked away, the sheet not big enough to stretch completely around her large, womanly ass.
Perhapsthat'swhyHidden Intuitionsaw fit to warn me with the sudden tinkling sound of alarm bells ringing through my head. Danger.
I didn't think - I teleported down the hallway, hip-checking the brave Asian woman who's name I still hadn't asked for, and sending her stumbling the rest of the way into the office. Before she could even utter a cry of confusion, I slammed the door shut, melded the bronze knob into the wall with a silent application of Chamon, and turned back around.
That was when Glory Girl and Oni Lee came crashing through the ceiling in an explosion of concrete, dust, and plaster.
If the black bodysuit and bandolier of pipe bombs strapped to his chest wasn't evidence enough, easily spotted due to my enhanced vision, the ghastly, grinning Oni mask definitely made it apparent. They were mid-grapple, but as I narrowed my eyes and made to move forward, a second one was suddenly lunging into my guard with two gleaming steel katars aimed at my jugular. The movement was swift and skilled, Oni Lee clearly being an expert in their usage, but there was onemajorflaw in his strategy.
… He was simplywaytoo slow for me right now.
My mask was warm and snug on my face, my eyes lidded and focused, and I forced my body tomove.
His left arm was prodded lightly to the side, allowing my neckjustenough breathing room to tilt and avoid the right punch dagger. I turned slightly at the same time, bringing my left arm in towards my center and sending a pulse of golden mana directly into my elbow to supercharge it with pure magical power. He couldn't even shift the course of his original lunge before I clenched my fists, veins and tendons tightening in my arm, andblastedmy hard, glowing elbow into his sternum.
CRACK!
His entire chest gave way, and I felt the beginnings of my magically-charged elbowtearingthrough his body before a sudden explosion of white ash robbed me of my vision.
Fucking teleportationandshadow clones, what the fuck. He wasn't behind me, he wasn't in front of me, I knew he wasn't to my sides-
Above!
I reacted blindly, throwing my hands up above my head like I was Goku performing a fucking spirit bomb and sending out a wave ofpureAethyr, like a telekinetic shockwave. There was a hoarse grunt, like a skeevy asshole getting the wind knocked out of his lungs, but I was on to his tactics now - I teleported directly out of the cloud of ash, just as Oni Lee did thesame exact thing. There was only a moment of staring - me, cold and annoyed, and him, silent and masked, before he went for the bombs on his chest and I jabbedagonythrough his body with Evil Eye-
He spasmed, hand gripping two of the pipe bombs, but no sound escaped his mask.
"SCREW YOU, FREAK!"
A blur of white and gold breezed past my head, missing me by mereinches, and crashed into the spasming Oni Lee with all the force and delicacy of a rushing train. I paid them no further heed, as bothHidden Intuitionand my Second Sight alerted me of the annoying, cockroach-like motherfucker swinging at me with his fucking katars from behind.
There was simplyno timeto chant. No time to cultivate and utilize the Winds.
Oddly enough, I wasn't mad at it.
I abruptly leaned back, pulling off a real-life Matrix dodge in order to avoid his twin slashes, and flipped back onto my hands to nail the second clone that was falling at me from the ceiling with its weapons readied and primed to skewer me through the chest. My mana-empowered boot slammed against its masked chin with a crack, breaking its neck, and I allowedHeroic Aptitudeto embody my movements as I rotated on the palms of my hands and round-house kicked the first clone like a blurring human helicopter blade. He went flying into the wall, cracking the plaster with his body, and two more bursts of white ash overtook my vision.
'He's getting predictable,'I noted, pushing off on my finger tips to flip back onto my feet. Two daggers pierced hilt deep into the wooden floor, completely missing me, and I could've sworn I heard a hiss of annoyance. It swiftly turned into a rattling wheeze as Glory Girl shoulder-checked him into the wall, her golden blonde hair floating around her body like the halo of a vengeful angel as she combo'd the linebacker tackle with a brutal haymaker. Bones cracked and became powder, and Oni Lee's clone exploded into another cloud of ash.
Glory Girl's yell of frustration nearly drowned out his labored breathing, but I heard it before I saw him - a dark, masked figure attempting to flee downstairs. Something glinted in his hand, and I only had a split second to identify the wholebandolierof pipe bombs before they were flying inourdirection.
My mind raced. Spells were thought of and dismissed, strategies weighed and found wanting. The old building wouldn't be able to take an explosion of that caliber without collapsing in on itself, and neither me nor Glory Girl were able to comb the rest of the floors and extract every woman and civilian before the entire place collapsed in on itself. I knew it, Oni Lee knew it, and although Glory Girl was currently blinded by ash I was sure she knew it as well.
Who the fuck brought an entire building down on a bunch of innocents in order to mask a fucking escape? Fucking psychopaths, that's who.
'Fuck. Fuck it!'
I had to act. Pipe bombs took, what, five seconds to explode?
… Easy.
'Five.'
I blurred forward, grabbing the leather bandolier by its strap and teleporting halfway down the staircase to catch up with the silent Oni Lee. Before he could even react to my sudden appearance, I gritted my teeth and palmed the back of his head with my hand like a motherfucking basketball,wrenchingmy gauntlet-clawed fingers into the eye holes of his mask andcurlingthem into his skull.
He needed his vision to teleport, after all.
"A-AHHHHHHHH-"
'Four.'
His hoarse, guttural scream was soul-wrenching, full of genuine agony and pain, and the sensation of his eyeballs popping beneath my fingertips was foul, but the fucker had been planning to kill dozens of innocent women to avoid prison so I wasn't feeling very sympathetic. Biting my lip and closing my eyes, I bowed my head down andSoaredupwards, using every ounce of my Sole Protector-enhanced strength and speed to plowstraightthrough the staircase and up into the third floor.
'Three.'
Glory Girl, mid-flight to the staircase with a panicked look on her face, stopped and stared blankly at me as I came crashing through the floor head-first. I paid her no mind.
'Two.'
I broke through the roof and into the air above the brothel, Oni Lee still screaming bloody murder in my grip. As soon as I was clear of the building, Ilobbedboth him and the bandolier of active bombs up into the sky. They flew like arrows, one dark shape flying beside a much smaller one, and in that brief moment oftwoflowing down intoone, I teleported back down the rooftop and raised my right hand towards the sky.
I didn't have much in the way of shield magic, but…
One.
I'd do what I could.
BOOOOOOOM!
The explosion shook the building.
I stood there, hand still raised and eyes narrowed as I watched for any signs of Oni Lee's survival. A few car alarms were going off in the streets below, dim lights flickering on in the rundown apartment buildings neighboring the brothel, and I could see nosy silhouettes moving towards their windows. It was only a matter of time before the PRT came to check out what the fuck happened,ifthey decided to head this deep into ABB territory during demon hours, and Ireallydidn't feel like explaining myself to those high-horse riding fucks for the second time in twenty four hours.
Something -manysomethings were falling from the dissipating cloud of smoke, I noticed. A more strained, intense look revealed that thosesomethingswere body parts, falling across alleyways and rooftops with dull, distant 'thunks'.
"Well, that answers that…" I murmured, grimacing slightly.
Yet another body to add to the count. I couldn't say I felt bad, but damn… homie couldn't wait until I had a full night's sleep first?
"Avalon," Glory Girl said hesitantly, floating back up through the same hole I'd created in my mad flight to give Oni Lee a taste of his own medicine. She paused beside me, searching my impassive expression before looking up at the dissipating cloud of smoke. "Is he-"
"Dead?" I cut her off, glancing back down at the beautiful girl. She didn't shy away from my stare, placing her hands on her hips and staring right back, and I chuckled. "Yeah, dumbass got himself blown up. Probably karma for tryna bring down a whole fuckin' building."
She didn't say anything for a second, shifting her stare to look up at the sky, and I followed her lead. The stars sure were pretty.
"... It wasn't your fault."
"Sure," I allowed, shrugging. "Don't really mind either way. Sex traffickers, nazis - who cares?"
"Heroes do, Avalon." Glory Girl said pointedly, and hovered to get into my face when I didn't bother responding. "Look; I know he was a crazy sack of shit, but- you gotta at least show some form of regret or- or guilt. The PRT's on their way, theyhaveto be at this point, and you're already under a lot of heat."
I knew that she was only being logical. I also knew that she, for some reason, actually cared about me. I was just… really fucking tired, and wanted to make sure the women I saved were actually okay. "I feel you, Glory Girl. I really do. Just… let's go check up on the others, yeah? I left your sister in a room with a couple girls."
She watched me for a few seconds longer, close enough to my face for me to smell the scent of ash on her skin and the sweet-smelling scent of her shampoo. Something citrusy - oranges, maybe?
Her eyes roamed down my face, down my chest and body as if giving me a quick checkup, and I idly wondered what she saw and smelled as well. I knew that I was sweating a bit, and I was also splattered with ash. I had to be a sorry sight.
But her lip curled upwards, aheatgrowing in her eyes, and I figured that maybe I did, in fact, smell good?
Victoria likes what she sees.
'Oh, now you speak up?'
"Amy's down there with them right now. Don't really know what got into her, but she decided to comb the rest of the floors by herself. C'mon!"
Bemused, I followed the suddenly energetic blondie back down through the hole.
Regardless of what she believed, I was fully planning on dipping before the PRT arrived. Saving a bunch of sex-trafficking victims was about all I had in me for the rest of this long ass night.
As if agreeing with me, Grimmy tossed a small mote of light towards my soul, like a dealer handing out cards.
I slipped it into my 'deck' without a second glance.
'Well, if anything good came outta this whole excursion,'I thought, stuffing my hands in the pockets of my coat,'It's the perks. Always the fuckin' perks.'
Thirst for Knowledge (200 CP - Serpent's Hand):What an erudite you are! Always burning with the desire to learn! As a frequent patron of the Library, it is only natural. You have an incredible reading speed and comprehension rate - only a few seconds is enough for you to scan a page densely filled with text, process this text, digest its meaning and move on. You can easily discern the meaning of even the most difficult jargon and technical terminology using context clues, and learning is much easier for you when it comes in the form of books.
This also boosts your learning retention rate - no longer do you forget 70% of what you learn within 24 hours, instead you passively transfer all knowledge you acquire into long-term memory to facilitate easier recall. Additionally, you will never get bored of learning, and one would have to be actively trying to make learning dull to make you lose interest.
Spoiler:Perks Accepted
Thirst for Knowledge (200 CP - Serpent's Hand):What an erudite you are! Always burning with the desire to learn! As a frequent patron of the Library, it is only natural. You have an incredible reading speed and comprehension rate - only a few seconds is enough for you to scan a page densely filled with text, process this text, digest its meaning and move on. You can easily discern the meaning of even the most difficult jargon and technical terminology using context clues, and learning is much easier for you when it comes in the form of books.
This also boosts your learning retention rate - no longer do you forget 70% of what you learn within 24 hours, instead you passively transfer all knowledge you acquire into long-term memory to facilitate easier recall. Additionally, you will never get bored of learning, and one would have to be actively trying to make learning dull to make you lose interest.
800 CP remaining.
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A Mage's Guide to the Multiverse by Abdursmailbox1
Books » Worm Rated: M, English, Adventure & Humor, Words: 395k+, Favs: 116, Follows: 127, Published: Jul 23, 2025 Updated: Jul 25, 2025
13chapter 35
"-plannin' to blow the whole-"
"... not blaming you, Avalon. The PRT-"
"-body? Did you see-"
"- 'sploded. Everywhere. I'm-"
"-we can handle-"
The voices trickled through the shut door in quiet, disjointed bursts, a mixture of Jason's, Aunt Sarah's, Crystal's, and Vicky's. She hadn't been necessarilyinvitedto the field AAR, but she wasn't necessarily biting at the bit to deal with the sociopolitics of heroing at damn near four AM either, so that suited her just fine. She didn't wantanythingto spoil her mood right now.
Amy was feeling… floaty, for lack of a better word.
Like she was miles above the sky like Vicky often was, lightly stepping over clouds and staring down at the dilapidated humdrum of reality from a point of view that few non-fliers could. Over a dozen scantily-clad women, damn near naked and malnourished buthealthy, huddled and grouped cautiously around the draping lapels of her robes like a twisted, modern-day rendition of a Michelangelo painting. They murmured to themselves in Japanese and Chinese, their hoarse and quiet voices muffled with uncertainty and fear, but they were looking toherfor security.
Her.
The mousy, horriblyplain-looking girl whose only lot in life seemed to waffle between beingthequintessential healer of the Bay andtheworst sister in the world.
It was a heady feeling. Even knowing that she'd only taken outonehigh old man whilst Vicky and Jason fought gun-toting thugs and motherfuckingOni Lee, Amy, in spite of herself, found her shoulders squared and her chestfullwith a myriad of emotions, the strongest of which was… pride? Confidence?
Gratefulness to the man whose very existence and presence seemed to push her to do better? Tofight, as much as breathing chemically-altered smoke into a man's face counted as such. Regardless, she feltsatisfiedin a way that she'd never had healing people in hospitals and counting down the hours until she could go home and feel the same sense ofemptiness.
The hallway outside of the office became quiet, and Amy flinched as the doorknob began to jiggle. Despitelogicallyknowing that Jason and her family had just been on the other side, an unfamiliar sense of protectiveness and focus had her palming the old man's Zippo lighter in one hand, one of her new chemically-modified cigs clenched between her teeth and ready to light up at a moment's notice. The creep had multiple packs in the nightstand, some cheap Dollar Store brand that smelled like shit, and Amy had looted them all.
There had also been a gun in the drawer, but she'd steeredwayclear of that. Fighting assholes off with knockout smoke was one thing. Getting her fingerprints on a potential murder weapon was another. God knows what he'd done with that thing.
"Knock knock," Jason's low, smooth baritone practicallyfilledthe room in spite of its quiet tone. He slid through the crack in the door, contorting his broad shoulders in a way that didn't seemcomfortable, and closed the door softly behind him.
Seeing him, even with his costume covered with a fine layer of ash and dried blood staining his gauntlets, calmed the wary 'fight or flight' alight in her chest. Amy sighed, sliding the Zippo lighter back into the oversized pocket of her robes.
'Are you okay? Are the others pissed at you? Thank you for helping me, even if you don't know just how much you did.'Were all things that flitted through her mind, things that shewantedto say to him - amidst more gross physical actions likehuggingandhandholding, but all that came out was a hoarse…
"What's the damage?"
He smiled that ridiculously charming half-smile, as if aware of something that shewas not, and took his sweet time glancing over the forced sex workers hovering and murmuring to themselves. "They 'ight?"
"I've healed every single one of them," Amy frowned,not pouting whatsoever, and crossed her arms over her chest. "They'll need nutrient-rich food, saline drips - things we can get them when the PRT gets here, but-"
Jason faded out of existence with a'whomp', and one of the girls - a teenager she dully remember calling herself 'Aki' - let out a startled, choked-off gasp. One heartbeat later, he sat languidly atop the large desk at the back of the office, leaning forward with his elbows resting on his thighs, his back towards them.
"... you still haven't answer my question," Amy finished lamely, brain laggingjust a bitat the sudden teleportation. Once again, she wonderedhowhis powers worked. What was the combining factor between genetic, alien-likeperfection, glowing golden spears, flight,teleportation, and the other shit he was capable of - like summoning miniaturehurricanesand laserbeams the size of condos?
"You made a good call, combing the rest of the joint. Vicky and I double-backed, made sure no one was bein' skeevy and hiding away, but nah…" Jason gestured with a finger to something that she couldn't see from her position, and the sound of metal groaning and woodsplinteringtore through the room. "No 'damage', other than the fuckers I nailed to the wall. And the late Oni Lee, I guess. Lady P thinks I should dip before the suits get here, let her run interference."
Amy ignored the distracting sight of him casually grabbing a whole miniaturesafeout of the air, more concerned with his laidback words.
"So Oni Lee's dead," she muttered, not too surprised at howlittleshe felt at the confirmation. Maybe before tonight she would have been more disturbed at the utter casualness of Jason's delivery, especially considering the fact that he'd been the one tokillthe psychopathic ninja, but after seeing everything that had been done here…
Seeing the effects the ABB had on these women, many of whom wereminors…
She couldn't force any sort of empathy. Not tonight, and definitely not amongst the trafficked and the abused, some of whom understood their words and were visibly tearing up and hugging each other at the news.
"Yep," Jason twisted around on the desk, the chest-sized safe placed firmly on his lap, and pressed his golden gauntlet against the front. "Fucker got blown up by his own pipe bombs like the brainlet he was. It was eitherheate 'em or this entire building did, and honestly, if I had to choose between the murderous terrorist and a bunch of innocent women…" He trailed off, a dispassionate smirk forming on his lips.
"I get it. You chose the lesser of two evils. After tonight, you won't see me biting your head off about it… " Amy snorted derisively in spite of herself, watching him murmur words beneath his breath - something he'd also done just before blessing her with the courage tofight. Her ears twitched, curiosity forcing her to take a couple steps closer to the enigmatic man, but he'd already finished his… what,incantation?
The front of the safe became pitted, corroded, and Jason's golden claws sank into the metal like a knife through butter. Amy stared, transfixed, alongside the suddenly quiet women. Muttered words, glowing eyes, dramatic and flashy hand movements… what the fuck evenwashe, awizard?
The thought was as amusing as it was thought-provoking. Myrddin, after all, was a man convinced that he consorted with magical forces. Whether or not hegenuinelybelieved it was a well-visited topic on PHO, but the fact that he even existed was evidence enough that some powers fashioned themselves after the arcane. Or, at least, some Capes did.
If anything, it was fuel for another conversation.
"Sweet," Jason winked at her, even as he brushed away chunks of rusted metal and revealed stacks on top of stacks of crisp green and blue bills. "Woulda hated to end our patrol date with a lover's quarrel."
And there it was again - the subtle little flirty jabs that she nowknewwere genuine. How the hell was she even supposed toreact?! Here she was, attempting to look and act all serious and unperturbed in front of the civilians they saved, and he was ruining it by making her annoyingly pale skin burn crimson. If he hadn't so bluntly confessed his attraction to her, flesh on flesh so that she couldfeelthe truth in his body, then it would've been a nonissue. She would've been a bit flustered or embarrassed, sure, but it wouldn't have feltreal.
But now? Now, it felt alltooreal and exciting and validating andlovelyand Amy was starting to realize just how absolutelyfuckedshe was. It simply wasn't fuckingfair.
"I- I-We,uh, that is,you-"
Fucking spit it out,retard!
"I," Jason grinned, crookedly, and Amy justknewby the glint in his eyes thatheknew what he was doing to her. "Have a lil' going away present before I leave." His gaze drifted away from her, slowly, and some sort of invisiblepressurelifted off of her chest, allowing her to inhale a full breath of air.
She hadn't even realized that she'd been holding her breath.
"Sir?" An older-looking woman - older than everyone else in the room, which wasn't saying much considering she looked to only be in her late 20s - quietly spoke up once Jason's gaze lingered and intensified on her in particular. There was familiarity there, Amy noticed. She was probably someone he'd personally assisted before the fight with Oni Lee took off.
Jason scratched his cheek, hesitantly, with the same golden claw he tore metal asunder with. "... Shit, shoulda asked you this before. What's your name, ma'am?"
The woman tittered, a flush of red dusting her cheeks, and Amy practicallysuplexedthe tiniest worm ofjealousythat dared to wriggle into her chest. She was almost ashamed of the instinctive feeling.
"Aah, sir does not call this one, um, 'ma'am'. Too much respect!" She bowed her head low, hands clasped together, and the girls who'd been attached to her at the hip hurriedly did the same thing. The woman made the gesture look graceful, despite wearing nothing more than dirtied, stained white sheets. "But this one name isLu Ming, sir."
"Oh God. Yo, you can relax, Lu Ming." Jason coughed awkwardly, running that same hand through the tangled mess of dreadlocks that fell to his shoulders. "You know these women, right? Can watch out for 'em after the PRT shows up and gets you all situated?"
There was a moment of silence as the other girls looked up to the older woman, whose face turned impassive and cool. She offered a simple nod. "Shì de."
A grin broke through. "Cool. Then this," he slid off the desk, but the safe didn't fall - it simply floated in place. Jason gestured with a casual tilt of his hand, and it hovered closer to Lu Ming, multiple pairs of wide eyes watching as it floated by. "Is my farewell gift. Divvy that up however you see fit, Lu Ming - give these girls a fair shot out there, so they don't end up back in shithouses like this. You get me?"
The safe tilted, emptying out its contents on a shocked Lu Ming's lap, and silence pervaded the room. Amy could see it in the eyes of each girl and woman, as they gaped and turned towards the quiet and graceful figure of Lu Ming. Appreciation. Shock. Respect. There was greed, too, she was sure - even if she couldn't necessarilyreadit in their 'auras' like Dean, but no one made a move to take anything preemptively, maybe because Jason was still there. Even after he left,shewouldn't let it happen anyway.
The silence was broken by the sound of sirens - distant, but approaching quickly. The shrill noise knocked Lu Ming out of whatever mental reverie she'd been sucked into.
"... Thank you. Thank you so much." Her words were slow and heavily accented, the woman clearly not used to speaking in English, but where pronunciation failed, emotions more than succeeded. She didn'tcry, but the sheerforceof adoration in her beautifully dark eyes spoke volumes. "You arehero, Avalon.Truehero."
And then Lu Ming's soulful eyes turned towards her, and for some reason, Amy wanted to shy away. To hide. She knew what she was going to say before she said it, and every fiber of her beinginstinctivelywanted to deny such heartfelt words.
There was a shimmer in the corner of her eye, and suddenly, Amy smelledhim. Ash, and sweat that held a heady, primal, subtle musk. It smelled of the earth, of heat and warmth, of dusk and chocolate andpower.
As his arm wrapped around her shoulder, forcing her head straight and her body forward to accept Lu Ming's appreciation, a distant part of Amy's inner subconscious only had oneseriously embarrassingquestion to ask.
'... W-why thefuckis hissweatmaking me wet…?'
It went unanswered, and later forgotten, but Jason'sscentstayed on her mind through the rest of the night.
Even as he the sirens got closer, and he took his 'magical' mirror out and 'boomf'd' out of existence, leaving her with teary-eyed women cradling stacks of cash to their chests.
Even as her family came back up to the office in order to lead everyone downstairs and out into the streets, where ambulances were waiting and PRT vehicles combed the street for signs of Oni Lee's body.
Even as Sarah professionally fielded Battery's polite inquiries, explaining how Oni Lee ended up scattered across the Docks due to his own suicidal bombing strategy quite literally blowing up in his own face.
Even as she, herself, avoided both her family's and Battery's questions on how she knocked the man out (I can knock anybody out if I touch them, you guys know this) and why she was carrying around cigarettes out of nowhere (you try to save a bunch of sex-trafficked girlsyour ageand tell me you don't feel the urge to smoke!).
And, a full hour and a half later, as she laid in bed after a steaming hot shower, studiously ignoring Vicky's annoying attempts to 'gossip' about the morning's activities, Amy found herself hovering over a certain man's DM window in her phone. Her finger hesitated, wanting to hit send, but despite all thebreakthroughsshe'd made… the fear of rejection still burned dimly in her chest.
(4:04 AM) Amy:Remember the whole 'you owe me' thing? Well… I know what I want now. If you really meant all the bullshit you said, then… take me out. On an actual date, like the cheesy shit you see in the movies. And you better actually reply to this Jason or I swe
She paused, cringing, her thumb trailing down to the little 'x' key on her keyboard.
…
So fucking corny!
Delete, delete, delete!
Amy groaned, dropping her phone on her nightstand and burying her burning, freckled face into her pillow. Her heart hammered wildly in her chest, embarrassment and anxiety and foolish, naivehopesetting her entire stomach ablaze with butterflies.
There was no way she was sleepinganytimesoon.
"Ughhhhh. I'm so fucked! Fuck you, Jason!"
Undersiders Base
February 4th, Late Afternoon
The warehouse was blissfully quiet, save for the occasional shout or snicker from the 'living room' - Alec and Brian playing some sort of video game that she couldn't bring herself to care much about. Lisa ignored them in favor of keeping all of her mental focus on the conversation at hand. Divvying up her attention too much often caused her power to confuse itself in a warped attempt to multitask when multitasking wasn't needed, and that was the last thing she needed while on the phone with her murderous, psychopathic supervillain boss.
Him clearing his throat - again - forced her tired eyes to shoot towards her phone.
"Ahem…"Coil's quiet voice was deep and foreboding as it filtered through her headset like a particularly annoying snake, all overly-pronounced syllables and dramatically timed pauses."You've had more than enough time to review the PRT's updated dossier on Avalon, Tattletale - several hours of time, to be precise. I would be… disappointed to hear of no new information on our newest player. Who is he? What are his limitations? Who are his… associates?"
Her eyebrows twitched, powers wrapping around his oil-slicked words and digging straight to the pit. With only his voice to go off of, she had to be a little more creative with what she looked out for; intonation, word choice, and the overall context of his sudden phone call. Coil rarely hit her updirectlylike this, which was already nerve wracking in and of itself. That would imply that this wasn't a throwaway for him; he was willing to spend some of his 'precious' time actually questioning her over the phone in his 'main' reality instead of pumping her dry of info and dropping it right after.
The revelation didn't exactly help her anxiety.
'Thinly-veiled impatience; Worried that he's running out of time to properly handle Avalon. Plans could easily be disrupted by a hero of Avalon's caliber and unpredictability staying in the Bay. Wants information that can be used to harm and/or blackmail Avalon.'
About what she'd already expected, then. Lisa resisted the urge to sigh loudly and piss the supervillain off even more than he already was. Shehadbeen using her powers all morning to evaluate the information given to her, but not for Coil's sake.
Lisa's head was killing her.
"Like I told you already, there's not too much I can glean about this guy on such short notice, boss. You probably know more about him than I do right now. High tier Trump with several powerful abilities, has a small team he runs ops with; some sort of hacker, a Tinker with a vehicle specialization, and the ugly guy in power armor." Lisa rattled off the most benign, surface-level observations that she could as she purveyed the much more detailed document labeled 'Team Invictus' on her laptop.
'Invictus; Latin word, meaning 'Unconquerable'. Purposefully meant to come off as arrogant and powerful. Chosen to warn away both heroes and villains alike.'
What shewasn'trevealing, amongst countless other little written tidbits and observations, was the fact that she was about ninety five percent sure that she had run into him about a week ago in his civilian identity. Jason with the Sunglasses, the guy from the pawn shop with the charmingly flippant personality and a supposed immunity to her Thinker powers. He was the same guy that she'd been trying, in vain, to dig up more information on whenever shewasn'tdoing her 'mysterious' benefactor's menial dirty work.
The keywords there, of course, were 'in' and 'vain' - Jason had literallynothingbeholding him to the city! No family, no registered identification that she could find in both publicandprivate channels, hell, she couldn't even figure out his fucking birthday!
For all intents and purposes, 'Jason with the Sunglasses' was a complete and utter mysterious - a fuckingghost, with no trail leading him to or from Brockton Bay.
One that just so happened to be the cape that was putting the entirety of the city into a tizzy with his bold and fearless plays. Suspiciously blank slate or not, Lisa was just happy to know that her initial hunch was correct - that Jason was someone who could potentially assist with Coil's downfall. Whether his immunity to her powers meant that he was immune to Thinkers in general or not, the raw power he'd displayed on multiple occasions as 'Avalon' left her feeling fairly secure in his ability to brute-force his way to victory if the chips fell that way.
Of course, she existed, so there was no reasonnotto formulate a more efficient strategy than 'slam your head against an army of Tinkertech-carrying mercenaries', buteverythinghinged entirely on getting her acquaintance to play ball.
For that, she needed something he would want - an offering, or, better yet, an equivalent exchange of goods and services. Lisa wassurethat Jason/Avalon enjoyed the finer things in life. His costume was expensive, and cursory proddings into Parian's pricings revealed that her workstartedin the several thousands at minimum. Her prices were rising due to the sudden influx of commissions she was starting to getdueto her rumored connection to Avalon, but not at such a speed to where Lisa couldn't accurately estimate the value of her commissioned work for her mystery man.
He would appreciate money, then. And information, for his unofficial-officialsanctionedwarpath against the Empire. These were all things she could get for him given a little bit of time, assuming he'd even want to work with her in the first place.
She simply needed to establish an actual line of contact, one that went much deeper than an awkward 'hello' message on PHO. The question was, what could she - or the Undersiders in general - do to gain his attention without tipping Coil off-
"You will be granted more time, Tattletale, because I strive to show patience and leniency to those who do good work beneath my care, and your team's recent job was performed admirably."Coil's voice was measured and silky once again, but there wassomethingthere - an almost unnoticeable threat that she could hear loud and clear behind the unfeeling compliment."The Undersiders will be pulled off of any job for the next week, Tattletale - consider it a well-needed break and an incentive. Youwillget me the information I require. Perhaps by looking further into these supposed 'teammates' of his."
'A warning, low subtlety; Feels threatened by Avalon's existence, needs him out of the picture before he feels secure continuing his plans. Thinks Avalon is too dangerous to handle with current assets. Hopes to draw him out by harming his teammates instead.'
Lisa crossed her arms over her chest and propped her feet up on the desk, chewing on her bottom lip as her green eyes distractedly roamed the ceiling above her. 'Harming his teammates' would be stupid, so that part of her analysis was faulty information. Coil was horribly paranoid and exceedingly smart with the resources that he did have - killing a powerful Trump's support base, the weaker links, wouldn't make any sense.
'Hopes to draw Avalon out by threatening his teammates.'
No, too shallow.
'Hopes to draw Avalon out by torturing his teammates.'
Close? She already knew that he was a freakazoid who got off on releasing his stress through sadism, torture, and… other activities through the means of his alternate realities, but torturing them would imply…
'Hopes to draw Avalon out by kidnapping his teammates out of costume. Plans to use them as a bargaining chip to either forcibly recruit Avalon or eliminate him under the guise of parlay.'
There it was. Lisa narrowed her eyes, ideas already starting to chug along through her sore and abused brain.
"I'll work on it, boss," she muttered distractedly, glancing back over to her laptop's dimmed screen. "Give me a little bit to work my magic, alright? This Avalon guy won't know what hit him."
A pause, before Coil responded, bemused."I look forward to hearing back from you, Tattletale. I expect updates daily withallinformation you manage to acquire during your… 'magic'."
"Gotcha. Leave-"
CLICK.
"It to me…"
Fucking rude.
Lisa allowed her feet to fall off of the desk, scooching forward in her swivelling desk chair to get closer to her laptop. Bullshitting Coil wasn't the most difficult thing in the world, but it always left her feeling jittery and exhausted afterwards - probably because the asshole, quite literally, held her life in his greasy ass palms. Just the merethoughtof it burned her chest something fierce, but now wasn't the time to lose herself in the daydreams of escaping Coil's clutches, shooting him in the temple, and taking his entire empire from underneath him.
Now was the time to further her own plans. She'd find out everything she could about Avalon and the rest of Invictus, for sure, butnotso that Coil could kidnap the team and use them to subjugate or assassinate the hero.
No, she would do it in order to gain an ally in the man that was quickly proving himself to be one of the strongest, if notthestrongest cape in the entirety of Brockton Bay. With him helping out the Undersiders, spending her days working beneath Coil would quickly become nothing more than a shitty memory. With the megalomaniac out of the way and his assets beneath her control, she'd be able to getallof her teammates everything they could ever want andmore.
A large, successful dog shelter for Rachel.
Full custody over his sister for Brian.
… Hookers and blow for Regent?
She snickered to herself, scrolling down the document and searching for her most recently updated entry about Team Invictus. After just a few strokes of the finger, Lisa's tired eyes found the roughshod overhead map of the Docks and the Trainyard that she'd copied over from Brockton Bay's wikipedia. Red lines traced up and down multiple streets and avenues, each stroke of color a route that either he or members of his team has been seen frequenting at some point over the last couple of nights.
So close to their own base. She was both excited and nervous.
"I'm going to find you, Avalon, or Jason, or 'Cute Guy in Sunglasses'... whatever the hell your name is," Lisa murmured, a vulpine-like smile forming on her thin lips. "And we're gonna have us a nice, long chat."
The Sanctum
"Ahhhhnnn~..."
Cassie came to a jaw-cracking, barely cognizant wakefulness with a very noticeable lack of hot, toastyboyfriendoccupying the space beside her. For a moment, she simply sat in their ridiculously comfortable bed with a blank expression on her face, blinking her dark eyes slowly to clear them of the previous night's blurriness. Surely that was the only reason she couldn't perceive Jason, right? Her face-blinkers weren't properly prepped for the day ahead!
Blink. Blink.
…
Still no boyfriend.
"Brave man, forgetting to give me my morning smooch…" She wrinkled her nose in mock frustration, less annoyed and moreconcerned, but ample online research forewarned her of being too clingy and needy early on in a relationship so Cass buried her instinctive desire to shoot Jason a text message. The last couple of days had been extremely stressful and action-packed, and if anyone deserved some time to themselves it was her boyfriend.
Her boyfriend. Just being able to say such a thing even in her own brain made her face heat up and stomach fill with fluttering butterflies. Intheirbedroom, hidden from any judgemental or mocking eyes - ahem, literally theentiretyof Invictus - Cassie allowed herself a moment of immature, girlish glee and fell forward into the thick black blankets, burying her hot face into her hands. All of her dopey, lovesick elation and excitement exploded through her chest like a geyser as she kicked her feet happily behind her, letting out a high-pitched squeal.
"Eeeeeeeee!"
It definitely did not sound like a pig being tortured.
BANG!
"This Pod was alerted by the sound of an omnivorous, hoofed mammal being sadistically maltreated. Query: Where are the interlopers?"
Cassie abruptly quietened, her cheeks turning crimson as Pod 084burstthrough the door and hovered menacingly. The bulb on his 'head' flickered between yellow and red as he silently scanned the room, uncaring of the fact that he just turned their bedroom door intosplinters.
She stared, feet frozen mid-kick. Surprise and embarrassment almost immediately shifted into indignant anger.
"What are you, a friggin' bulldozer?! Knock next time, tin-can!"
084's bulb flashed green, and it rocked its little body back and forth. "Order acknowledged; this Pod will endeavor to 'knock' next time it hears high-pitched squealing."
Cassie jutted out her lower lip, wiggling back so that she was sitting flat on her butt instead of lying on her stomach. Her white t shirt - one of Jason's apparently, considering the way it dwarfed her body and hung loose over her slim, pale shoulders - rode up on her stomach, and she smoothed it back down so that it fell over the milky thickness of her thighs. "I don't sound like a pig…"
"Embarrassment detected. This Pod will not respond."
"Urk- screw you."
With a long-suffering sigh, Cassie eased her way out of bed and snagged her phone off of the nightstand. A quick retina scan later and she was scrolling through several different windows of notifications and information with quick, decisive flicks of her slender thumb. Even before becoming a Tinker, she'd always been good at multitasking and absorbing information quickly - obtaining the status of 'World's Coolest Hacker' only accelerated the speed in which she was able to comb through data.
An avalanche of random DMs on PHO, multiple taggings in different threads - ooh, she even got a speculation thread made about her!, a text from Sabah asking to meet and have tea tomorrow morning, and an assortment of pings from her VI Daycare program letting Cassie know that Athena, her 'head' VI that was practically being groomed into substituting as the OS for her tech, was finished parsing its nightly training data.
God, she loved programming. Angelic coding made creating VIs infinitely easier on both her brainandher fingers. Each character in the script was practically worth hours of coding in any other human-made language.
It was only a matter of time before Athena was able to create VIs to assist with specific tasks that it couldn't spare memory and power to do itself. Commanding 084 to do everything would have worked just as well, perhaps even better, but her pride rankled at the thought of asking another person - anotherprogrammerto do her work for her. She appreciated him as a teacher and a fellow coder, but Cass also saw him as a rival and a whetstone - to be sharpenedagainst, not to use as a replacement for her own abilities.
Padding over to the dresser, she slipped her CodeLink - in its sleek, earbud-like form - into her ears and spoke confidently into the air, "Athena, go through my DMs on PHO and write me a consolidated list of any important messages that require our immediate attention."
A woman's voice, quiet and robotic, whispered a simple,'Yes ma'am'in her ear.
Cassie's serious facade cracked, and she grinned happily. "Hehe, sweet!"
It was a simple directive, but even the simplest of things had the potential to skyrocket with enough elbow grease and brainpower! Right now it was scanning her online DMs, later it could potentially be controlling entire suits of power armor for her like Dragon! … Well, maybe notthat, but baby steps, right? Even more excitingly, she had gotten another idea while hacking into Armsmaster's visor back during the ambush - something that would hopefully please Jason, too.
"84," Cass turned from the dresser and directly addressed the silently hovering Pod, "Where's Jay? And don't tell me he's out patrolling again- Mr. Busy Body needs to take a freakin' breather."
They had enough time to hunt down the rest of the Empire, and he had been out patrolling with New Wave earlier that morning. She was honestly worried that he'd end up getting burnt out at the rate he was going.
"This Pod is pleased that you've asked that question. Master is waiting for Mistress down in the Training Hall. He mentioned needing to talk to you as soon as you regained consciousness." 084's voice was as droll as ever as it casually delivered the news, little mechanical fingers clenching and unclenching.
Cass blinked. "Wha- why didn't you lead with that? And why the heck did you rush in here and break down our door if you were coming to me anyway?!"
No response, save for that blank, silent hover and a red blink of the bulb.
The silence was telling.
With a loud, exaggerated sigh, Cass quickly made for the attached bathroom. "I'll be down there in, like, ten minutes, so tell him to wait up!"
…
15 Minutes Later~
…
Now dressed, rather comfortably, in one of her favorite black AC/DC hoodies that reached past her knees, bubblegum pink panties, and mismatched thigh-high socks (because she couldn't find the matching pair), Cassie shuffled obediently down the hallway to what was unofficially labeled the 'Training Hall'. It still struck her as otherworldly and unbelievable, the speed and depth in whicheverythingin her life so suddenly changed, but she honestly wouldn't trade it for the world. Sometimes, like last night when the truck almost flipped, the change was scary, but Cass genuinely believed that the goodfaroutweighed the bad in almost every way.
Sure, she was probably now on multiple government watchlists and could die at any second whenever she went outside her home without protection, but… she had an amazing lover, an amazing - read,annoying- 'son', an awesome and unfairly attractive bestie, and a house that was quickly feeling like it was made from actual Magic, with a capital M. Heck, Sherrel and Trainwreck were both pretty cool too, even if the latter was a bit of a grumpy, sexist asshole with a stick up his ass.
Her life was made up of pure chaos now, and although it took some adjusting, Cassie could honestly say that she loved it.
At this point, she hadnoidea what to expect when she finally pushed open the door to the Training Hall. Pot-bellied aliens with waxy green skin, magical runes straight from freaking Dungeons and Dragons, possibly even mutated insects fighting to the death on top of a homemade skating rink? Whatever he wanted to show her, Cassie doubted it would surprise her too much-
"MMMFFF! MMMMMFFFF!"
"I already told you, chick - call me out my name one more time and you're gettin' gagged. I keep my promises."
She froze in the doorway.
Jason, as tall and striking as ever, stood in the middle of the cavernous room, staring directly into what appeared to be amassivegolden cage vaguely shaped like an orb, its 'bars' reminiscent to gnarled, gilded tree branches. It stretched all the way up to the ceiling, only barely skimming the dark, smooth stone that acted as the roof.
The cage wasn't what surprised her, however. Neither did the sight of Jason's shirtless, tattooed, and perfectly sculpted body - even though shereallywanted to lick her way up the curvature of his spinegod damn it. No, what caused her to freeze up like a deer in headlights was the sight of Rune the Teenage Neo-Nazi bound in the middle of the ostentatious cage. Limbs of ornate gold extended from the bars, wrapping around her wrists and ankles and leaving her suspended, spread eagle, in mid-air.
Her hood was pushed back, revealing a pale, sweaty face flushed with what appeared to be all-encompassing anger. It was clear in the clenching of her jaw and the pure vitriol in the smoldering glare that she was aiming at Jason.
This… was probably the last thing she had been expecting. Cassie wasn't sure what she wassupposedto feel at the sight, so she studiously ignored the burst of anticipation and excitement that shot through her stomach.
'This isn't one of your novels, girl - calm down!'
"Cass," Jason suddenly called out, his deep voice filling the silence of the Hall in an instant. Rune immediately began making muffled noises again, noactualwords escaping her throat in spite of her clearly doing her best to speak, but Jason casually ignored her in favor of looking back at Cassie. His cool, intense gaze was free of their usual shaded cover, the sight nearly enough to cause her to choke on her next words.
"J-Jay, fancy meeting you here…"
She almost smacked herself in the face.
Jason blinked, eyes narrowing, before an amused grin split his lips. Cassie knew that he was probably reading her emotions right now, the same way he allowed her to do to him on the night that they confessed their love to one another. The realization didn't spook her, but it did make her more self-conscious of her feelings, both conscious and subconscious.'Damn it, heart, stop beating so frickin' fast!'
"Don't be silly. C'mere," he gestured with a tilt of his head, turning back towards the now-silent Rune, and Cassie found herself padding quickly across the Hall on mismatched socks to stand beside him. Normally she'd act a bit more bratty and stubborn, make him grab her and toss her around a little before she turned obedient, but it was clear that now wasn't the right time.
She couldn't help a little grumbling, however.
"First I don't get a morning kiss, now you're making me complicit to kidnapping and torture…" One eye closed, Cassie glared up at her quietly amused boyfriend and crossed her arms over her reasonably-sized chest. "The doghouse. Immediately."
"Right. The ever-important 'mornin' kiss'. My bad, babe."
Cassie's eyes abruptly opened, cheeks flushing as Jason roughly gripped her chin in his calloused grasp. Embarrassed and panicked, she shot a quick, furtive glance at the wide-eyed Rune staring from the Gilded Cage. "Wait, y-you don't have to-mmmf!"
Molten lava encased her lips, heat traversing from her tingling mouth all the way down to the tips of her toes, and Cassie did her best to hold back the loud, slutty moan ofpleasureandneedthat wanted to leave her chest so freakingdesperately. She'd kissed Jason plenty of times before, and she knew that he kissed withpassion, but this… this was something different.
As he tilted her head back, dominating her mouth so forcefully as he so often did, Cassie tasted… chocolate? Milk chocolate, creamy and sweet and delicious, to the point where she found herself actively fighting through a haze of pleasure and delight to lick and suckle on his tongue in a desperate effort to taste even more ofhim.
It was only when Jason's hand gripped the back of her hair firmly, tugging her back and separating their mouths with a wet 'pop' and a thick trail of clear, glimmering drool, did Cassie come back to herself. Her entire body felt tingly and electric, like her very nerves were being stimulated, and Cassie didn't have to look down in order to know just how much of a sticky mess she had made in her panties. Her body was too slow to keep up with her brain, and with her head tilted back and her eyes staring dully into Jason's, the only thing Cassie could do was try to catch her breath.
"Haa… haa…"
"Good morning to you too, sweetheart. You've got a lil' somethin' riiiiight here…"
Jason's rough thumb slid across her swollen bottom lip, wiping away the vestige of saliva that lingered from their smoldering kiss, and Cassie's eyes widened as a shock of pleasure and arousal shot through her system like a bolt of lightning, nearly causing her legs to give out from beneath her. They buckled weakly, but his left arm was wrapped firmly around her waist, keeping her attached to his side with seemingly no effort.
Dully, as she slowly came back to her senses, Cassie noticed Rune's flushed face pointing as far away from them as possible, her eyes squeezed firmly shut. She was breathing heavier now, her robed chest rapidly moving up and down in synchronicity with her breaths.
In spite of herself, Cassie found it hard to tear her gaze away. Maybe it was the suddenness of her own arousal, or the punch drunk-like feeling of pleasure that was still making its way through her body, but the thought of being seen like this by a pretty girl - dominated and used by her sexy hunk of a boyfriend… it was invigorating in a different way than the kiss had been. Exciting.
"You alright?" Jason's voice, low and rumbly deep in his chest, brought her out of her one-sided staring contest with the bound girl. Cassie swallowed thickly, still tastinghimon the tip of her tongue.
"What-" she started, only to hiccup and bite back a moan as her teeth dragged across the abnormally warm flesh of her lips. "What the heck did you d-do to me?"
His chuckle was warm, comforting, andfamiliar. "New power," he responded coolly, grabbing a large, juicy handful of her thigh and squeezing. As his fingertips dug into her skin, forming imprints in the supple flesh, her nerves lit up like a Christmas tree, sending pleasurable crackles of electricity through her entire body.
"Mmmph-Jason! Behave!"
"Heh, sorry. 'Bodily fluids' - gross terminology, by the way - makes the recipient more aroused and sensitive. Gives 'em pleasure too, judgin' by how you responded. It's not too much, is it?" Beyond his usual casual, unconcerned drawl, there was a genuine note of worry. He was staring down at her, watching her for any sign of genuine uncomfortableness or pain, and that naked earnestness on his face was enough to squash any sense of unease at how easily he was able to manipulate her body.
Now Cassie was just horny. And a little embarrassed. But mostly horny.
"Right," she breathed shakingly, wiggling her hips to adjust her verywetpanties that were beginning to grow uncomfortable to wear. "Ignoring just how ridiculous of a power that is to gain, 'cause your whole powerset is just frickin' stupid at this point…"
"Uh-huh. Cope."
"Do you want to explain the elephant in the room? Or, I guess- the nazi?"
Rather than answering her himself, Jason simply gestured with his index finger, making a 'come here' gesture, and the flustered neo-nazi abruptly strained forward against the golden branches that bound her limbs, her mouth opening wide as a hoarse, painful-sounding inhale wracked her body. Immediately after, Rune began greedily sucking in lungfuls of air, her blue eyes wide and wild as she did so.
He eyed the girl with a cold, dispassionate gaze, and Cassie felt the atmosphere in the room settle. Turn cooler. "She's-"
"Fuck-" Rune hacked out a cough again, spitting a wad of spit at Jason's feet. It burned mid-air, bubbling into nothing, but the blonde girl didn't miss a beat. "Fuckyou,Avalon. You're a fucking coward, locking me up in your creepy ass sex dungeon, trapping me in a fucking cage. I swear I'll fucking kill you!"
Jason glanced over at Cassie, his lips twitching up into an emotionless smirk. "Notice how she didn't say anything racist?"
Taken aback by the pure animosity in the air, she only gave him a hesitant nod. Rune snarled at the sight, opening her mouth to spit out more expletives, but Jason's darkly amused voice cut her words off at the root before they could even begin.
"It's 'cause she knows I'llkillher. The same way I killed Crusader and Stormtiger. The same way I'm gonna kill Kaiser and Purity and the rest of their little delusional cult. Ain't that right, Tammi?" His gaze turned back to the livid neo-nazi, back to 'Tammi', and Cassie watched as the blonde girl's splotchy-red face abruptly turned pale white with fear and confusion.
"H-How do you know my name?" Though the words were practically spat out like a hissing bobcat, the stutter in her voice betrayed the impact Jason's casual usage of her name had on her. She tried to move again, straining fruitlessly against the gilded metal that restrained her, and a desperate growl escaped her throat. "You're screwing you and your girlfriend over! The Empire-wehave connections all across Americaandoverseas. You- you-"
"I- I- I don't give a shit. I'm not afraid of the Clans, of your European Overlords, and I'm especially not afraid of the remnants of your quickly dying Empire. As far as I'm aware, they're all livin' on borrowed time anyway," Jason unwrapped his arm from around her waist, patting her gently on the hip, and Cass obediently took a step to the side in order to allow him the full 'stage'.
She didn't know how to feel about what was going on in front of her - it was surreal, like almost everything surrounding Jason. It was like watching some sort of action-thriller movie, where the gritty vigilante interrogates the criminal, except this wasreal. She held no empathy for the girl, but she did find herself curious about where he was going with this.
"You don't know what you're talking about!" Rune shook her head violently, sending long tresses of blonde hair whipping over her shoulders. "They'll come looking for me. They'll come looking for me and find this shitheap of a 'secret lair' and burn it, you, and your fucking chiii-A-AGHHH!"
Cassie nearly jumped out of her skin as a ragged scream of pain ripped itself free from Rune's throat, as if coaxed out entirely by Jason's cold, shining glare. It only lasted for a brief moment - immediately after, she sagged against her restraints, sweat trailing down her face and falling to the floor of the cage. "F-fuuuck…"
He tilted his head, frowning. "I'm gonna layallof your options out for you, so no one can ever say that I'm a disingenuous man. You get me?"
"... What are they?"
"You remember what I had you scream before trapping you in the Arch?" Jason approached the cage, hands resting in the pockets of his slim-fitting sweatpants, and Rune eyed him warily as he got closer.
"... Yeah."
"Repeat it."
Silence. Cassie's head was moving back and forth like she was watching a national tennis match, oddly absorbed in the dramatic play by play.
"Fuck-... ugh. B-black power, fuck nazis."
Jason nodded, looking moderately pleased. "Good. So here's your options - One, I just kill you and send you to hell with the rest of your trash racist teammates. I captured you to avoid having to end a young lady's life before it even really started, but I can be convinced to do otherwise. You nearly callin' my girl a 'chink' almost did it for me."
Her face turned bone white once again, but Rune didn't say anything. Jason continued, unperturbed.
"Two, I toss your ass in prison and let the ethnically-diverse populace there do what they do to racist white bitches with blonde hair and blue eyes. 'Cept, I'm murdering the rest of your gang, so no one will be alive to bust you out."
"Th- that's barely any better than-"
He held up one finger to the bars, face deathly serious, and Rune snapped her mouth closed with a loud 'click'.
"Third and final option - you spill everything you know about Kaiser's operations. Betray your former comrades completely and utterly, turn your back on the racist ideology that you've grown up with, and, at the end of it all," Jason leaned against the cage, eyeing Rune up and down with a half-lidded gaze, and smirked. "Fight for the good guys. Show that you've actually changed. Personally, I'm biased towards this one."
Cassie's eyes widened, but she resisted the urge to speak up and question him in front of the 'prisoner'. It wasn't that she wasagainstrehabilitation, to a certain degree, but Rune… Rune was clearly a toxic and unrepentant bitch, hiked up on rebellious bad girl energy. Even now, she was glaring at Jason with a baleful, withering venom in her frigid blue eyes, her pink lips unsure of whether they want to scowl in disgust or part with open shock and confusion.
Jason was charming and persuasive, Cassie would be thefirstto admit, but he wasn't charming enough to just erase years of neo-nazism rhetoric and deeply-entrenched racism. She wasn't surewhatpower he had that made him confident in this path, but… for better or for worse, shetrustedJason Black.
He hadn't led her astray yet.
"N-no," Rune shook her head stubbornly, clenching her jaw. Her breath came out harshly through her flared nostrils, betraying her nervousness. "I'd rather die than be a fucking traitor. Go ahead and kill me! I'd die before betraying my race! The- the superior race!"
"Hah!"
A sudden bark of laughter escaped Jason's chest, taking everyone - including him - off guard. He held back another chuckle, rubbing his hands across his chiseled jaw as he stared at the bound girl. "If it wasn't so sad, it'd be funny…"
"What? I'm serious!" Rune snarled like a trapped animal, not even bothering to shake her hair out of her eyes. "We-"
"You," Jason cut her off, an amused levity clear in his smirk, "Are not 'superior' anything. None of you are. But I guess I can show you better than I can tell you, right?"
He pushed off of the cage, turning his back to it, and glanced over to Cassie. All she needed to witness was the cut of his eyes to pitter patter her way back to his side, her movements slightly awkward and stilted due to the little mess she'd made in her panties earlier. She had questions, a lot of them - almost too much to count, and definitely enough to annoy her endlessly mysterious boyfriend - but they'd have to wait.
His arm wrapped around her waist, the heat of his body warming her skin like a toasty blanket, and Cassie leaned into his side. As they made their way towards the exit, she peeked up at Jason from the corner of her eye. "You've got aloootto explain, mister."
He sighed tiredly. "Trust me, I know."
"Wait!" Rune shouted, a desperate anger turning the low rasp of her 'cool girl' voice high and shrill. "I-I said that I choose option one! I don't give a shit what sort of bullshit torture you put me through, I won't betray the Empire!"
Jason glanced upwards, not even bothering to look over his shoulder.
"Guess I lied about givin' you a choice, 'cause youwillchange your ways - whether you want to or not." he said quietly. The tone of his voice was confident, amused, and slightly bitter, all in the same breath. "... Yeah, you definitely will. Get some rest, Tammi."
His gaze turned forward once again. "You'll need it."
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