The Vespidian

Arc 12 Villainy! 101

Chapter 13

Xava and I had returned to the temporary lair. The cargo lift descended several floors. I suppose it was my VIP entrance, just for me. Well, me and any of the extensive equipment. I watched the tiny keypad lighting up as we went deeper into the earth. Assuming that was all the floors, there were five floors to the subterranean lair. I tapped at my chin, recalling Dr. Tesla’s other base and Xava’s Central Command Cortex. Yup, definitely a small base. I was starting to pick up on this whole villain thing, what with hanging around them so much. But, if it must be kept secret and safe, be like dwarfs and dig deep.

We arrived on the 4th floor. The doors opened to a large spacious corridor. It appeared to be the storage area for all the large machines. Speaking of which, there were tanks down here, big ones. I eyed the stationary vehicles. The treads were rather large, up to my knee. They were wide as well I wasn’t positive, but I feel that one of these would take up both lanes in the street.

“So,” I said, tapping at the cannon on the top, “I was wondering why there was a cargo elevator large enough for me. I guess these answer that question.”

Xava smiled, “Indeed, there are ten of these. I was surprised as well that we were given military equipment.”

“The canons look a little weird,” I said, observing the spiraling design.

“These are railguns,” Xava replied.

“How dangerous?”

“Depends on what it is against. It can penetrate up to a rank 6 endurance Super.”

“I see. So in the end, these are toys?”

“Against what we are against? Yes. Still, they have their uses. They will be most useful against the supplemental hero league forces. They should be able to cull some of their numbers. If nothing else, they will be good distractions. If we are lucky, we can pick off a few of the medium Supers.”

“I suppose we will take everything we can. Would be ill-advised to look a gift tank in the barrel, eh?”

Xava looked up at me, patting my leg, “Indeed. Hopefully, we will lure the main forces out of the Citadel so that the strike force can infiltrate sooner rather than later. Something tells me this will turn into a war of attrition unless we can manage to provoke Hubris, though that comes with its own issues.”

“How likely are we to win a war of attrition?” I asked, leaning over, cupping my chin.

“With what we have on hand, we can last maybe a week of full confrontation with Hubris. If Hubris does not act, we can last upwards of three months without resupply or reinforcement.”

My face scrunched up, “Can we win?”

“Without the Puppeteer acting directly? The odds are not in our favor.”

“When the shit hits the fan, how likely are we to escape?”

Xava paused, looking downcast, “I will not be able to escape the city.”

“Why not?”

“Vesper, you know why. If I had more time, perhaps I could finish the cyber brain and create a portable life support system. However, as is, my biological components will not survive the transfer. They are too degraded. My main facility is all that is keeping me alive.”

I frowned, patting at her with my massive hand, “We will find a way.”

“Vesper, if it comes to that, promise me you will not throw your life away trying to save me.”

“You know I can’t do that!”

“It is only if it happens, Vesper. I will take as many of them with me as I can to allow you to escape. However, it might not even come that. If we succeed, then these backup plans are mere redundancies.”

I nuzzled her fake face, “Xava, don’t do that. I need you.”

“Should it come that Overseer will be there to aid you in my absence. I have programmed it to accept you as its admin. It will obey you.”

“Xava, don’t be like that. Nothing is going to happen to you. I won’t let it. Don’t you be planting fucking death flags on me. Be more positive.”

“Preparations are already in place, just in case.”

“I will be happy if they are never used,” I glowered. “Speaking of preparations. How strong exactly is Hubris?”

“He is stronger than Miss Universe.”

I sat on the tank, feeling it tilt from my weight, “We were powerless against Miss Universe, and we need to beat her and somebody stronger than her. How the fuck are going to do that?”

“Miss Universe was wounded during our last encounter. As for Hubris, we must find a way to shake his resolve and make him doubt himself.”

“I see. Any idea where to start on that? Is he overcompensating for anything that we should know about?”

“I am researching as we speak. I will inform you when I discover anything.”

“Sounds like it the waiting game then. Where am I staying, by the way?”

Xava led the way with a nod. My room, as it were, was a hanger of sorts. Large, spacious, tall, everything I could hope for. Well, not everything, but it was a start. There was a large “bed” it was, in actuality, about eight mattresses set together. It could be worse, it could be an operating table in a small containment cell.

I lay on it, lounging on the squished fabric. It wasn’t exceptionally comfortable. I would need about twenty more of these stacked up to support me. Oof, big girl problems.

“Do you require anything?”

“More beds if you can find them. Other than that, it is good enough for now.”

“As you wish, my Queen.” Xava smiled playfully.

She sat beside me as I just lay there. Gradually my thoughts began to wander. There was a sort of nagging at the back of my mind. I definitely forgot something. Did I leave the oven on? Muh Biscuits! Wait, no. Something else, something impor-

“HER MAJESTY”

The simple phrase seared my mind. Stabbing, burning, throbbing. A pulse, a flash of pain, and something else. An emotion I didn’t quite understand. A deep dark sadness, something I couldn’t touch. It left me aching, wondering, curious. There was only one question on my mind: Who the fuck is her Majesty?

I sat up wide awake now, rubbing my temple to alleviate the stabbing pain. If I didn’t know any better, a nail was being hammered into my brain.

I rose; there was only one person who had the answer to my question, Mantia.

“Vesper, what is wrong?”

“I need some air.”

***

My wings hummed as I flew low through the city streets, below the cityscape where it was relatively safe from the Citadel’s view. My antennae wriggled, tasting the night air, picking through all the different scents, searching for a specific one.

I returned to the last place that I had smelled Mantia. The abandoned base loomed through the darkness. With a thud, my feet touched down as I landed in the courtyard. My antennae were reaching about, strangling the air to find it. It didn’t take long to pick it out, even among so many other scents. Mantia had a unique smell, primal, elegant, alluring. Oddly, I could sense some sort of flowery smell as well.

Now locked on to my prey, my senses bristled. There was undoubtedly a trial here. Mantia had doubled back after the tunnel. I followed it out over the wall back into the city. The trail was low to the ground, and so I scurried about on all sixes following it.

It weaved and wove through the concrete landscape, between buildings, across streets, over rooftops. The night was quiet. I paused, gazing around the desolate city; it was peaceful without the people and the prying eyes. I could move about in the open without people screaming at me. Perhaps it was better this way.

I crouched down on a rooftop assessing the dimly lit city. Where was Mantia going? She had moved steadily West, away from the Citadel. Distantly I heard gunfire—the twinkle of muzzle flash visible about four streets over.

My attention shifted back to the scent. The going ons of the city were not my concern. I crawled over the edge down the side of the building wall onto the sidewalk below. The trail had grown steadily more pungent as I followed it, meaning that I was getting closer.

Here and there, I found the half-eaten remains of Mantia’s victims. Some are more hidden than others.

The trail led up through a window. Within was a blood bath. Several people had been massacred in there. It appears to have been a quick affair as the occupants were taken unaware. Other than the bloodstains coating the walls, mostly licked clean, a few bones were scattered about. Slash marks cutting through the walls. There was a giant hole in the floor. I looked down a floor, and the hole continued down all the way below ground level.

Oddly, the floorboards were bent up. From the way things were situated, it appeared that something had come up through the ground. It was big, whatever it was. My feelers poked in the window smelling, and sure enough, there was another scent.

Primal, musky, bugish? Different than Mantia, it was not hidden below a flowery perfume. Other bug people. Hmm, the only one I could think of was Centi. That means there are two of them here.

Centi must be either tunneling under the city or using the sewer systems to move about undetected. My antennae picked through the scents and found Mantia’s aroma again. It went through the door and out the broken window. I followed, bounding up over the building to the other side.

She wasn’t covering her tracks; instead, I get the feeling she wants me to find her. She did invite me after all. I couldn’t tell if her route was purposeful or if she was merely stalking the streets. Only one thing was certain; she was moving away from the help of her allies in the Citadel deep into Kraken controlled territory.

Her scent trailed along the rooftops until it stopped abruptly. Below was a park. Long well-maintained pathways created a central point where a fountain flowed with ever-changing colors. The trees shimmered in flickering lights; the bombardment must have damaged the power grid for this area.

The wind blew in my direction, and on it was Mantia’s pheromones. A lengthy, elegant woman stepped out from behind the fountain. At first, all I could see was the umbrella that covered the back of her head until she turned in my direction. Then, a geisha was surrounded by a pink and red splattered kimono. Finally, a blue fan masking most of her white-painted face as the eyes stared directly at me, unblinking.

“Ara~ Ara~ So you have come, little sister.”

With a thud, my claws broke the pavement as I descended to ground level approaching her. I was eyeing the thin silhouette up and down. At a glance, one could mistake her as human. Her body was wrapped in a stylish smooth kimono that gave it shape; however, it only teased her form rather than showing it off. Her smooth white hand delicately held the fan so that only her eyes were above its veil. Speaking of eyes, what I had taken for hair buns at first take shifted, the tall stalk-like eyes glinting, sizing me up. She had two long pins sticking up out of her hair bun, or so I thought until I noticed one of them tilt slightly curling. Those were her antennae. I stared hard at her. There were three obsidian gems embedded in her forehead. Something tells me those are eyes too. Hmm. Alien bug people sure do have a lot of eyes on us.

Overall, Mantia was curvaceous, sexy, mysterious, exotic, and all evidence was pointing to deadly. On a scale of 1 to 10, she was firmly in the I wouldn’t mind sticking some eggs in there. Though I knew much better than to fall for her feminine wiles, it was her insect wiles I was more worried about. She smelled intoxicating up close, well, relatively close. I had thought I had grown accustomed to it after following the trail until now. I suppose it would be like the difference between a pie right out of the oven and one that had already cooled when it came to aroma.

My mom had always said, “Don’t put your dick in crazy.” So when I was a high school girl getting lectured about life, it didn’t make a damned bit of sense. It was only now that it made sense.

We stared at one another, silent for a brief moment before I replied, “Wait long?”

“I was beginning to wonder if you were coming,” Replied the sultry bug woman.

“I am a busy person, so let’s just cut to the chase here. Who is Her Majesty?” I crossed my arms, gazing straight into her stalky eyes.

“Who mm? Her Ma-” she paused abruptly, her free hand rising to her head and pressing against her temple as though she were in pain, “Not here. It is watching.”

I glanced about. I didn’t see anyone around. “It? Who is watching?”

“Tell me, have you ever felt like everything was just a little bit off from what you remembered? Things that you had known all your life being off hue or rearranged inexplicably, that feeling of discomfort when what was familiar is wrong, other, off?”

“I… that is oddly vague and yet specific.” I took my eyes off of her for a moment as I closed them, thinking. What she had said felt uncomfortably familiar. It reminded me of when I had first returned home to meet my parents with Molotov, “You, how did you-”

The light snap of her fan interrupted me. Mantia wagged her finger coyly, “Interested?”

I gulped, “You. You were not there. How would you know?”

She chuckled lowly, almost a pur, “Ara, nee-chan only has your best interests in mind. Come let us go somewhere more private. To better get more acquainted. Without all these prying eyes,” She motioned weakly and turned to leave.

“I am not going anywhere. Tell me now. I get the run around by most people and just want it straight.”

The playfulness of her voice dropped into a cold, emotionless voice, “You came this far because you want answers, answers I have. Now come with me if you want them. If not, leave. I also have much to do and little time to waste.”

I tapped my chin, watching her, mulling it over. I squinted at her. “I think I will pass. Maybe next time we can have a more agreeable discussion.”

Mantia sighed, “Ara ara, little one, I doubt we will meet again after this on such amicable grounds. Next, we meet, you will be forced to choose whether you are our foe or our little sister—last chance, to choose before your path is chosen for you. While I am courteous, come little one, come with us. All shall be revealed. I know all those questions gnawing at the back of your mind.”

As tempting as it was, something felt very off here. “I will have to think on that.”

“I sense weakness in you little imouto. Perhaps I should test you, teach you intimately what it means to be Spore Spawned.”

“That is going to be a hard pass for me. I didn’t come here to fight.”

“You didn’t come to talk either, apparently.” Mantia clacked her fan shut, no longer hiding her face. It was smooth to the point that it was artificial, a mask of white that did not move even as she spoke. “I am hurt, little sister. You wound me. So ungrateful. You must learn much, and you either will either be forced to learn the truth or accept it willingly. Which will it be?”

“Maybe if you had come for me at the start, things would be different, but I have loved ones to protect, and if that means I will have to be at odds with you and the other insects, so be it.”

“Is that your answer, little one? Do you think you are strong enough to protect anyone, let alone yourself?”

“Little? I am pretty big, you know. I don’t have to prove a damned thing to you. I am leaving now before this gets any weirder.”

“Ara, No need to be so hostile. We are family, little one. Don’t you crave power? Strength? We could give you so much, help you to protect what you hold dear. Don’t you fear losing the ones you love? As you are now, you can’t save them. Not from the likes of Hubris. He will crush this city and all in it.”

I grit my mandibles, “And what, you can stop him? Don’t make me laugh. I know he could kill you just as easy as he can kill me.”

“That man dare not kill my associate or me. That fear could be extended to you as well should you take your rightful place. Now choose. Show me your resolve. Come little Sister.”

I eyed her for a long while our eyes silently locked. However, her offer was appealing in its own way. I feared the Sanguine Puppeteer far more than I feared Hubris or Arachnaon and especially this mantis before me. I blinked, my thoughts certain of one thing no matter what Mantia and those heroes did, it would pale compared to what I would face for betraying the one pulling strings.

“Next time, you will answer my questions.”

“Next time? Did we say you may leave?”

I paused for a moment as my wings were humming for take-off, “Yes, You did.” I pointed at her.

Ah- I shouldn’t have done that. Nothing good happens when I point at people. I should know better by now.

My hand separated in a flash, the finger still outstretched, spiraling through the air. She had blurred for a moment there, no longer in front of me but roughly ten feet to the right of her initial position. I reeled back, clutching the stump as blood sprayed out.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” I backed away from her.

Mantia stepped forward, pursuing me, “We are done asking now. Come in one piece, two pieces… or many.”

“Well, when you say it like that…” I trailed off. My wings flapped hard, sending a gust of dust as I rocketed up out of her reach.

I flapped faster, quickly gaining altitude as I dared to look down. Was she gone? Puzzled for a brief moment, I realized I could in fact, still see her, stars twinkling behind her. Oh… oh no. She was on my back. My large eye gaped as her arms raised, glistening scythes tearing through my wings like a hot knife through butter.

“Little one.” Her mandibles clacked as she leaned in close, her human face splitting into her monstrous true self, the wind howling around us as we plummeted out of the sky. Yet the screaming cold wind did not chill me as much as her whisper, “Ara~ Ara~ Struggle for Nee-sama.”