The Vespidian

Arc 12 Villainy 101

Chapter 4

The day was like most others I suppose, well it had been a while since I had left my lair to see the sun and light of day. I had become a bit of a recluse, only leaving the confines of my home when forced to. It can’t exactly be healthy, but at the same time, I was not motivated to move. I had everything I could want, food, plentiful mates; my little grubbies were growing as well, lots of movies and things to watch or games to play, really there wasn’t a reason to leave. Feels like I had been getting lazy, complacent lately. Might be getting fat again too… well no that is just the eggs building up. Still, it was good to leave the lair once in a while. Get some eh, fresh air, spread my wings and see what had changed in my week or two of seclusion.

Today was something of an emotional day I suppose, due to the impending hero attack I had decided to get my parents to leave the city. I would have preferred to have Ichigo go with them, but she wasn’t listening to me at all. For that matter, Dad was putting up a fight about going, something about it not being manly. Better than letting them get caught up in the crossfire or get involved with the super smackdown that was apparently about to unfold throughout the city. As such, I was paying them a final visit before flying them to the airport. They were going to the Bahamas to wait for all this to blow over.

Honestly, I wish I could go with them, but my nest was here, and Xava was not moving. Less that she wouldn’t and more that she physically couldn’t move what with being a brain in a jar connected to a vast villainous lair and using it as life support. Nightmare’s capture and her subsequent torture had allowed Xava to develop a workaround to this, but it wasn’t quite ready for her to do on herself just yet and as such she was still just a brain in a jar. The cyber brain would have to wait for now.

I had gotten a bit distracted with my thoughts as the open air of the sky rushed by me. I still had not gotten used to the bowl-like crater in the middle of the city. It was a gaping wound in the earth that still spilled the radioactive blood of this city from the exposed sewer tunnels. Even after a month, the quagmire of glowing filth had not stopped. At night it created an otherworldly radiance, dying the surroundings in a sickly green glow.

It wasn’t my problem, though. The radiation and disease-infested waters did nothing to me, ever since the sewer incident I had changed. I had not gotten sick once and was beginning to think that I likely was immune to most viruses.

The thick, sturdy orange membranes carried me over the sky-scraping cluster of tech companies that made up the UpTown area where Xava’s base was situated. It was most likely the safest place in the city due to the Cyber Swat teams patrolling the streets. Elsewhere the city had become much less civilized as the gangs had taken over and in some cases went about looting sprees. The Diablo De Chillar being the most notable offender. It wasn’t exactly a surprise since they were still not fully cooperating with Kraken, unlike every other gang.

In all honesty, I was surprised that Molotov was allowing such disrespect and blatant disregard for her authority. Rumor was that the Diablos down in L.A. had finished up and were coming up here. I had also heard that they had hired a Kraken mercenary, which seemed a bit foolish if they wanted to oppose Kraken’s rule. Of course, it could be a matter of conflicting interests in the leaders of the gang. Each branch likely had their own agenda, and these were criminals, so there was likely to be power struggles.

Still, it seemed very stupid to me to oppose Kraken and the Hero League… Ah, that is likely it. Molotov was probably planning on pincering them between the Hero League and us. If it was like that, then there wasn’t a chance in hell they would survive. I wonder what the hell they did to piss Molotov off to such a degree?

I slapped both sides of my face to concentrate again. This wasn’t something to be thinking about at the moment. The Heroes would be here any day now, and this was the last time I would see my parents for a while. Actually… that is a strange-looking cloud over there. I squinted over the ridge of mountains to the east. A blackened blob had appeared slowly getting a little bigger until I could make out buildings… buildings? I recalled that Molotov had mentioned some sort of mobile base.

The Citadel of Order… I believe that was what it had been called. Seeing it here meant that they were here already then. This meant that we had even less time than I had thought. I banked away from the encroaching mass, heading to the northwest of the city.

Things here had not changed so much at least not since last time I had come. The streets were mostly clear, and few cars went about. People seemed to either be held up in their houses or had already skipped town. My parents being one the holdouts. From above, their home was so tiny, it could fit between my fingers and could easily be crushed. Still, it was odd, I remembered this place was so much more prominent before. I know that I had been the one to get bigger, but it always startled me a bit at exactly how large I had gotten. I was almost as tall as the damned house after all.

I descended, landing in the backyard. The heavy thud of my feet crushing the ground sent a small tremor out that rattled the windows. After a short delay, Dad and mom emerged out the backdoor. I leaned back, using my abdomen as a sort of chair to sit on.

“Vesper, I told you I am not running,” said Dad, crossing his arms.

I pointed at him, “And I told you two to pack your shit cause you two are getting the fuck out of here.”

Dad looked me in the eyes with his gruff face, “I am not a coward.”

“This ain’t about being a coward, Dad. You are what, a rank 4? Dad, there are Rank 9s coming! I am telling you this for your own good, you and Mom are leaving and that is final.”

“We are not leaving Vesper.”

“Fuck yes you are.”

“This is our home.”

I pointed at my eyes, drawing a line a between us several times, “Does it look like I give a fuck? Do you want to keep the house so bad? Fine I will rip it out of the ground and throw it in the ocean if that is what it takes to get your asses out of here.”

“It is not about the house Vesper.”

“Then what the hell is keeping you here?”

“We are worried about you.”

“And I am worried about you, so do me a favor and get the hell out of here, so I don’t have to worry about a stray laser beam or fireball or whatever the hell else is going to be being thrown around hitting the house killing you two. I am going to carry you two to the next to the airport, and you will use these damned tickets to fly to the Bahamas. Now come on, your flight is leaving in like two hours so get packed.”

Mom took the tickets looking between them and me, “Vesper, you should come with us. You don’t need to stay in such a dangerous place.”

My fingers drummed on the ground, “I wish that I could, but I won’t leave Xava. Besides, I have all my children and friends that I have to protect. Even if they were not here, I can’t go with you.”

“Why not?”

“I can’t fit in the plane.”

“You can fly though, that is a stupid reason.”

“Okay, okay fine. Chimera might be after me. So if I went with you, it would just put you in danger. If you guys stay here, they might capture you and use you against me. So, just do me a favor and go live happily far away from here, okay?”

Dad seemed a bit hesitant before he finally gave me a big old hug, well he hugged my arm since that was what he could get a hold of, “You have to take care of yourself.”

I grumbled a little, “I am not a child, I can take care of myself. You are too dramatic about this Dad.”

“I don’t care; you will always be my little girl.”

I went a little red, “Dad! You are so embarrassing. Go on now, get your stuff. I am not sure how much time we have.”

“Why are you in such a hurry?”

“I saw them. The Citadel thing is almost here. So you need to leave.”

They seemed to get it finally, and Dad nodded, “Alright Vesper, you win. Come on, Caroline, let’s get packed.”

“Just take the shit you need, I already transferred a good bit of money into your account so you can buy new stuff over there. I would have sent more, but don’t wanna make it look suspicious,” I said.

“Thanks for the consideration, I think we will manage we have after all saved up a good bit of a nest egg.”

I leaned back gazing up at the clouded sky, the morning mist still lingered. It was early well early for me anyway. This had been a dry year, the November rains had not arrived just yet, but things were cooling down. It was a good thing too since I was not partial to hundred plus degree weather every day. Mid-eighties was preferable for me. Wasn’t too hot, it wasn’t too cold.

My back eye gazed at the forest, the sloping trail and distantly I could make out the shape of my old thinking spot. I had widened the path a bit last time I was here as evident by the uprooted and knocked over trees leading off into the forest and over the hill into the swamps beyond. Eh, what the hell, I got a bit of time to kill.

I walked along, soon arriving at the old gnarled tree. Mmhm. I placed a hand on the half-dead trunk, feeling it. The wood was soft and spongy. The bark was peeling off in some places. A faint blue glow radiated out below as I gently peeled off a strip of the outer layer. Below was a bright fungus, speckles of blue floating in it. It was rather entrancing to look at. The fungi had grown quite a bit from the last time. It ran the length of the tree in veins much like minerals in the side of a mountain.

I sat beside the tree. I wonder why this place was always so calming to me? Perhaps it was the sweet scent of the fungus drawing me in. But even before I had changed, I always came here. It didn’t particularly matter, I suppose. It was beautiful and quiet here. Away from the city and the machines… and the people.

Yes, just you and me.

Yes, just you and me.

What is wrong, you seem distracted.

I am just afraid of the future is all.

Understandable, we might lose everything we have fought so hard for.

What can we do?

There are many things we can do; it is a matter of how far we are willing to go.

How far will it take?

That is entirely up to them, now isn’t it?

I just want to live peacefully with our children.

We both know they won’t let that happen. If they don’t already then once they learn of us they won’t leave us alone.

What should we do?

Sub whispered in my head, Simple. Kill them before they kill us.

That might be too far. They might not want to kill us.

Oh Vesper dear, don’t be so foolish. The moment they learn of our children they will come at us with everything they have. We are a threat to humanity itself. Dr. Arbor said it herself; we are her Doomsday device.

I think she was just exaggerating that part.

We are stronger now. We won’t let them push us around anymore — no more fake heroes like Captain Metal. And if anymore of those Villains or anyone else for that matter gets any ideas, we can always do to them what we did to Nightmare.

That… That was a special case.

Oh please, you relished every moment of it. It was very Villain like of you. Even the Sanguine Puppeteer said as much.

It was revenge.

Yesss and it was delectable. The thrill, the pleasure of dominating something so completely. The ecstasy of breaking her mind and molding her body to our whim. We both know you loved it. I can hardly wait to see what wonderful children that one will give us.

You… well, you are not wrong.

Doesn’t the thought of converting these would-be heroes into Seedbeds just like her, doesn’t it just excite you?

I doubt we will have time for that.

Oh, so you do not deny it.

Well, sure the thought is arousing, but Nightmare was a special case. She deserved it and worse.

So you are saying that even if the opportunity presents itself, that we subdue a powerful foe with… exquisite powers that you will not claim it for our own?

I don’t know. Nightmare deserved it. If she weren’t useful, then I would have killed her.

We both know the kicking and screaming turns you on.

It was only Nightmare. If it was anyone else, I would have never gone that far.

Sure, sure. I suppose we will cross this bridge when we come to it soon enough.

“Vesper! Where did you run off to?” called my Dad.

Ah, I put this aside for the moment. Sub, we will deal with this later. I made my way back to the back yard squatting to keep a lower profile as I sat and waited outside of the gate.

“You guys ready?” I asked, looking down at the pair dragging out several suitcases each.

“You sure about this?”

“Yes, I am sure. I already bought the damned tickets for you, and I can’t get a refund for them, so you better use them.”

My tentacles reached down, taking their luggage as I lifted them up onto my back. They had been hesitant, but then again, it was understandable. Granted Mom shouldn’t be freaking out that much I already carried her before. My wings spread and flapped a few times sending gusts of wind before getting enough lift to propel my mass into the air.

The Citadel, which had been more or less a speck on the horizon not too long ago had gotten bigger. With my eyesight now I could make out the spiral towers around the squared base of the shape. It was a floating island of metal, and if those things on the walls were what I thought they were, then it was a flying fortress. It had weapon systems on every side of it, even below and above it. Yeah… I was not looking forward to picking a fight with that.

I banked down towards the airport. There were three in Bronson, one on the east, the north, and the west. The first airport had been down south of the Slums, but after the meltdown, it was decided to have more options in case something like that happened again. The east airport was almost exclusively for transporting the agricultural and factory products due to that area being nothing but fields, warehouses, and factories. I suppose there was also the train yard as well.

We arrived at the northern airport, which was mostly used for passengers, though sometimes cargo was sent through here. It was crowded as usual with Cyber Swat watching the place out front and in various sections of the terminals. I didn’t particularly want my parents to be seen with me, so I dropped them off a little bit away, out of sight behind some buildings. It was about a two-block walk for them from here so they would be fine.

Dad took his suitcase from my tentacle, and I handed off Mom’s stuff to her. They each hugged me lingering for a little bit.

“Vesper, if things get too tough, just try to get out alive. It is only over if you die, remember that.”

“Dad, I am going to be fine okay. It is you I am worried about. Now you guys go and lay low. I will contact you once this is all over. Don’t try to contact me. I don’t want them to trace anything back to you.”

“Wouldn’t they trace the tickets?”

“They would, but Xava helped me out. So don’t worry about it.”

“I see. Be sure to thank her for us,” said Mom.

“I will, go on. You don’t wanna be late.”

They gave me a final farewell hug and wave as they left down the street. Mom’s roller suitcase clicked over every crease in the concrete as they went.

They were going to be fine. I nodded to myself, watching from a distance as they entered the building out of sight.

Two fewer things to worry about. Said Sub.

There is still a lot more to worry about.

***

As I flew through the city streets, the atmosphere seemed to be getting strained. The foreboding clouds above parted to reveal a metallic glint over the east side of the city. The Citadel had arrived. Light from the afternoon sun gleamed off of it, shining blindingly as it stopped, hovering in place above the agricultural area. The fields blanketed in the immense shadow as though crushing them under its weight.

A crackling of electricity reverberated as all the screens throughout the city blacked out for a moment. When power returned, every last one of them had the same image of a man in orange tights. I feel like I had seen him before somewhere, but I couldn’t quite… ah the H, I recognized that. I had seen it clearly in the pictures of this man from the research Xava had been undertaking. One might think it was H for Hero League, but there was no L to go with it. It was H for Hubris.

His voice boomed out through all of the collective screens and radios through the entire city, causing me to cover my antennae. Damn, he was loud.

“Citizens of Bronson City, fear not the Hero League has arrived. Your city will soon be freed of the Villainous scum that infests it. All civis are to evacuate the city immediately, under the sanction of the United Nations, approved by Captain Liberty, and Authorized by President McKinley himself, effective tomorrow at noon Bronson City is hereby a free-fire zone. All property damage claims are forfeit, all liability for injuries and deaths that occur due to the powers of Supers are relinquished, all safeguards and restrictions on Hero League members are lifted, and your safety cannot be guaranteed after operations begin. All civilians evacuate immediately, do not pack your belongs, do not hold out in your homes, flee now, get out before the fighting begins. This is your only warning. All Supers are hereby ordered to turn themselves in, effective immediately. Any and all who resist or do not comply will be designated as Villains and dealt with, with extreme prejudice. I repeat, all Supers turn yourselves in before the noon deadline tomorrow or face dire consequences. To Molotov and the rest of you Kraken scum, I, Hubris am coming for you. I will rip you filth root and stem from your underground lairs, and in the name of justice, I will smote ruin upon you and your disgusting accomplices. Your reckoning has come.”

Free Fire Zone. If they are not going to hold back… then I shouldn’t either.

So, at last, it begins.