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The Good Life: Tipping Them Over (ch. 20)
🕑 Added 2023-10-13 15:06:04 +0000 UTCI could feel it. I could feel it deep in my bones that we were on the cusp of greatness. Slowly, I had been building and building to push things to a boiling point. Much like a pot left on a stove, the water was heating up and the lid that was clamping down was about to pop off from the pressure building underneath. I had all the pieces I could want in play -- I had my criminals, I had my supes, I had my connections on the inside and abroad, I had dirt on all the major players, and I had some silver bullets lined up in the chamber.
The stage was set. All I had to do was pull the trigger and the show would begin. And I was almost ready. I just had to make a few more touches here and there before everything would be perfect.
Such as dealing with Asami. I couldn't wipe away the pleased smile on my face as I entered her building for the second time, only through a very different entrance on account of the front being besieged by paparazzi and reporters, all begging for an interview. The issue had been muddled greatly with rumors of my possible death, but people didn't just forget about the issue of the robots trying to mow down a crowd full of people. Quite understandably, even if it was inconvenient.
The secondary entrance was a secret one that opened up in a basement across the street, connecting to Asami's building. I was all smiles as I stepped into a dingy sandwich shop and descended down to where one of the robots was waiting for me. "Please follow me, citizen," the bucket of bolts requested as the secret door opened up to reveal a long and rather sterile looking hallway.
"Lead the way," I replied, gesturing for the machine to move forward. I noticed that it had a rather human-like gait, but it wasn't quite there. Still better than what Boston Dynamics was putting out, but it wasn't the smooth comfortable gait of a person and still clearly a machine. You know, if the metal plating wasn't enough of a hint. The robot's feet clanking into the ground echoed throughout the hallway, and that was the only sound in the hallway when the secret door closed.
"Nice Room," I remarked, creating one to see what I was walking into. I wouldn't put it past Asami to lead me into a trap if she felt the need. My awareness expanded outward, letting me see beyond the other door and- huh?
Interesting.
"I am not programmed for small talk," the robot replied, earning a chuckle from me as we neared the exit. The machine did something to the bulkhead door, and I saw the complicated mechanisms within the lock spin before the door was allowed to swing open to reveal Asami. She was dressed in a business casual outfit colored bright red with a white blouse shirt. She seemed nervous, if I had to put a word to it.
"Morning," I greeted her with an easy smile, stepping beyond the hallway that was closed behind me. I gave the room a look around -- it reminded me of a garage. The walls were lined with materials, the center of the room held assembly lines, and in little corners were desks that were stacked high with clutter. It struck me as very lived in. "Nice place."
"It's a test bed for research and development," Asami answered, almost on reflex before she clenched her eyes shut as if she were trying to turn off that part of her brain. The part that did tour guides and answered inane questions with superficial information. "Thank you for coming. I… wasn't sure if you would," she admitted as she gestured for me to follow her. Oh, a tour? Was I going to get to see where the killer robots were made?
"Why wouldn't I?" I asked, throwing my hands behind my head and drinking in the sights of the assembly lines at work. They rolled forward and piece by piece, robotic hands put whatever the hell they were building together. Each assembly line was building something different, and when the items were done, they were put on an elevator at the end of the line and risen up to the next floor. Testing, I suppose. "I would figure that you would have more reasons to not want to meet with me."
To that, Asami was silent as she led me into an elevator. The doors closed before she said anything, and she knew damn well what I just implied. "Thank you," was her surprising response as she pressed a button and slid in a key, pointedly not looking at me. The elevator lurched, bringing us down rather than up. Asami had a basement underneath her basement.
"No problem. I'd say it's what I do, but I think we both know that would be a lie." This was surprisingly entertaining. She was tiptoeing around the information, leaving the secret unspoken. As if she could ignore the elephant in the room -- that I was Heartless, and that she knew without a shadow of a doubt that I was. "It was mostly right place, right time though."
"Why… why did you save me?' Asami questioned as the elevator came to a stop a good thirty feet below the basement.
"Because that'd be a lame ending to whatever story you got going on," I answered her. I didn't save her out of any goodness in my heart. I saved her because I was invested in her whole deal -- why was she so desperate for money? What drove her to such extremes? Why was she challenging the status quo? If she got killed, I wouldn't get my answers. As for the crowd? That was just a logical move.
I wasn't all fun and games. Having anti-supe supporters wholesale slaughtered by the alternative to supes was good for Vought. Thus, bad for me. Simple reasoning.
Asami seemed a little put out by the reasoning, casting me a glance as the doors opened up. She said nothing, and even if she had, I wouldn't have paid attention. The doors slid to the side to reveal… "A Stargate?" I asked, my voice hopeful, not quite sure what I was looking at, but the resemblance was there.
Along a walkway with a steady incline were about a dozen rings that got progressively larger in size with each ring able to fit into the one that came after it. The machine was dull gray in color, and while I wasn't sure exactly what it was, I could tell that it was advanced. Everything about it screamed sci-fi and I was completely enraptured by the sight.
Almost to the point that I failed to realize that Mirko was standing in the room with her arms crossed over her chest with a scowl on her face. "This the guy, then?" Mirko questioned, looking at Asami who offered a curt nod that she didn't think I could see.
Interesting. Very interesting. I didn't see that coming -- what could bring Mirko and Asami together? Actually, how did they meet? And what was Mirko doing here at all?
The last that I heard she was mopping up hotspots in New York. She was incredibly effective, I would give her that much. But, according to Cinder, Mirko had more or less stood Vought up. Didn't show up to meetings she was invited to, didn't even return a phone call or a text. For all intents and purposes, she had cut contact with Vought entirely. I was curious- had been curious, but other things had stolen my attention so I didn't bother poking around.
"I'm the guy? What am I the guy for?" I asked, looking to Mirko, who simply rolled her eyes. No glaring of any kind.
My smile widened a fraction when I looked at Asami, who met my gaze with an even look. I heard the message loud and clear and it was an honest struggle to not laugh.
Mirko didn't know that I was Heartless. Asami had hidden that fact from her because she assumed that Mirko wouldn't work with me, or her, if she knew. And I hoped that she was right in that assumption. Mirko was one of the last supes that I had any expectations for. I still got shivers racing down my spine when I recalled her ripping her arm out of its socket just to keep coming after me. It was beautiful. Combined with Robin's verdict that working with Mirko was a lost cause? A chef's kiss -- she was perfect.
I would fucking cry if she compromised her moral code to work with me.
Emotions jumbled in my chest -- excitement and anticipation reigning supreme because now I just had to know what Asami was up to. What could be worth these secrets? What could be worth the risk?
"To be a wallet," Asami replied, her gaze going past me to the sifi thingamajig. "For that."
"I see. I see. I don't suppose you would enlighten me as to what 'that' is if I'm going to be its sugar daddy?" I requested, and I really wanted to know. Desperate even.
Asami walked past me to approach a control system that was behind some thick safety glass in case of explosions. She certainly knew how to drum up suspense. And how to make a striking figure as she turned to face me, the doodad behind her, "This is my ticket home." She said the words with an air of finality, as if she were making a grand declaration.
I tilted my head, "Where is home? Wait- are… are you an alien?!" I blurted and my excitement shot through the fucking roof as my brain leapt to conclusions. All the advanced tech she invented left and right. Was it because she was using alien technology to-
"In a matter of speaking, I suppose." My breath caught in my throat and I could just gape at her. Did aliens look like humans? Because that was totally fucking lame, but at the same time, it also meant our junk was compatible, so alien sex was on the table. Or did she transform herself to look like us- "I'm from a different world. A different Earth."
And it felt like someone punched me in the dick, stealing the wind from my sails. "Oh…" I muttered, my excitement taking a massive nosedive. That was… "That's cool. I guess."
Mirko immediately busted a gut laughing and Asami looked offended. "You- you're disappointed that I'm from another Earth?!" She exclaimed, sounding like she wasn't sure if she was angry or not.
I scratched at my cheek, "I mean… the multiverse is cool and all, but it's not aliens cool. But, you're right. I set my expectations too high. You were saying?" I prompted, still feeling disappointed but I started to switch gears for my expectations. I was well versed in the multiverse theory, mostly due to the VCU. After all, every time a new member joined the Seven, it was their go-to excuse as to why the last movie was still canon, just in 'another timeline.'
"It's a bit more complicated than that. The multiverse is essentially the idea that for every decision in a timeline, there is an opposite decision in another timeline. A process that goes constantly for infinity as every second there would be billions of timelines created. The further away you go, the more divorced the timelines become due to different decisions made in the past." She more or less summed up my understanding of the multiverse. "That is not what I'm talking about. I am from an alternate reality… as is Rumi."
I tilted my head, finding myself more invested now. My gaze slid to Mirko- Rumi, I suppose. Her blood red eyes met mine and she offered a small curt nod. "There's some similarities between this world and where I'm from in the broad strokes -- heroes and villains, powers are called Quirks, but that's about it. There's none of this corporate crap."
My heart pounded in my chest, lurching forward until it felt like my heart bounced off of my ribs. "What?" I breathed, immediately enraptured with what I was hearing. Rumi was from another world that had real heroes? Heroes like her?
Don't… don't give me hope…
"The world that I'm from doesn't have heroes at all," Asami said, stealing my attention. "The closest thing we would have to powers is bending the elements -- Earth, Water, Fire and Air. The Avatar can bend all four, but other benders can only bend a single element. There's no America, Europe, or China either. I do see some similarities with Chinese culture, but the only nations that exist are four kingdoms that each represent an element." She elaborated and that was almost more exciting than a world full of real heroes.
A world completely unlike my own. The possibilities. The potential. My knee-jerk reaction was that Asami was from a timeline where… I don't know, some guy that fell to a punji stick trap in Vietnam in our timeline didn't and because of it he made a scientific breakthrough that radically sped up our tech level. Which was cool, I guess, but still a little lame. But another world entirely? The possibilities were endless. What would it look like?
"And this thing brought you here?" I questioned in awe, my mind alight with possibilities.
"No. This is a creation of my own design based off of some blueprints my dad made," Asami said, and there was something in her voice I couldn't quite place. "In my world… spirits exist, and there is a spirit realm that, in theory, you could go to. The only one that can with any ease was the Avatar because bending is heavily connected-" she started to explain before she clenched her eyes shut. There was shame there. "The point being that I've modified it rather extensively so, in theory, it could be used to take us back to our home worlds."
Rumi spoke up, "We don't know what brought us here. I was in Japan when I came to, complete with a whole background and a history that I didn't live through. I figured that I got slotted into someone else's life, but according to Asami, we were brought here physically."
"Molecular radiation. Both of us, and maybe more, give off a distinct molecular radiation signature that isn't natural to this Earth." Asami was quick to explain the science behind it, even if the jargon really didn't mean anything to me. That whole 'not going to school' thing kinda bit me in the ass. "The machine -- the Dias -- should be able to lock on to that signature and take us home. In theory." She added, and from the sound of that, it seemed to be very much in the prototype stage.
I was in. This was the very last thing I expected when I got the invite here, and I still wasn't sure why I was here in the first place, but whatever reason it was… I was in. I was 100% committed. This was a veritable goldmine. A world of real heroes? Foreign lands unlike anything I had ever seen?
Sign me the fuck up.
One thing stood out to me, though. "You have no clue how you got here?" I questioned, making both women frown.
"In my case, I woke up here. My last memory of my world was falling asleep at my desk," Asami said, and that felt like a lie to me.
"I blinked and I was here. Thought it was a villain, or something, but nothing showed up," Rumi replied. "I was watching a sports festival for UA students to see if any of them were worth keeping an eye on."
A mystery? Fun! "Okay," I decided, making Rumi narrow her eyes at me.
"Okay? That's it?" She questioned, not so much as suspicious but more confused.
"If you're lying, then it's one hell of a lie and I really don't see what either of you stand to gain by lying to me. Honestly, it's explained some things about you," I admitted, inclining my head to her. I'm guessing that development of the Dias wasn't cheap. As for why she was jumping leaps and bounds in tech was because she had absolutely no intention of staying here any longer than she had to. It also explained why a girl like her was willing to work with me at all.
Asami accepted the remark with a nod of her head. Letting me continue, "So," I said, crossing my arms, "Where do I factor into all this?"
I wanted this thing to work. I needed it to work. I would do literally whatever it took to get this thing to work, up to and including human blood sacrifices.
"I need materials. To be more specific, I need materials that aren't legal to buy or sell," Asami began, and I saw the picture she was painting. "My Securitrons were meant to be my way into the military sector, where I could then apply for a contract and receive materials for testing. However, with what Vought did…" she trailed off. I imagine that the military wasn't exactly gung ho about buying machines that proved they could be hacked and nearly unloaded into a crowd of American citizens. "Additionally, it's going to take a great deal to power the Dias. The full output of a nuclear power plant… possibly more."
"Send me a wish list and I'll take care of it," I said with a wave of my hand, approaching the Dias. I saw Rumi cock an eyebrow in my direction, sending a meaningful look at Asami- ah. She thought this was because I wanted to fuck Asami. I did, but she was mistaken in my motivation.
"Some of these things are going to be… difficult to get. And if you use less than legal means, you could find yourself in a lot of trouble," Asami said, almost as if she were trying to talk me out of the idea. No… it was more that she wanted me to walk into the situation with both eyes wide open. Courteous of her, but unnecessary.
"That's my problem. Your problem is Vought. Or, more particularly, Victoria," I pointed out. To that, Asami's expression fell, turning into one of bitter disappointment before she pinched the bridge of her nose and looked away. "She tried to kill you once. Does she know that you know?"
"No. As far as I can tell, she thinks my avoidance comes from the fact everything was nearly ruined," Asami told me, a sigh in her voice. "I thought I could trust her."
Rumi huffed, "You can't trust politicians. That's rule number one when you’re stuck dealing with them." She sounded like she was talking from personal experience.
Asami didn't reply to the remark, though she did seem to agree with the advice. Especially when one of her allies turned out to be a double agent. "I did my research into her after the incident, and… I found some things. Like, for example, Victoria's birth name is Nadia Neumann. She was placed in an orphanage after the death of her parents… an orphanage called Red River, that specializes in supe children. Children who couldn't control their powers or whose powers weren't seen as being worth the trouble they caused." That got a scowl from Rumi, but she said nothing.
"Sounds like you found something a little more interesting than that," I prompted, curious to see where this led.
"She had a number of adopted families, but they all perished until she was about ten years old. Nadia Neumann became Victoria Neumann… when Stan Edgar adopted her," Asami revealed, lacking some dramatic flourish but I felt myself getting rocked to my heels regardless. That was interesting. I could use that. I would need to know more about their relationship, but…
I could use that.
"What are you smiling about?" Rumi questioned when my sly smile became downright maniacal.
I made a decision. It was a little early… but it was time. I couldn't wait any longer.
Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a burner phone that had a text prepped to send out to dozens of numbers.
I pressed send.
"Because things are about to get exciting."
…
Madelyn Stillwell realized that she couldn't have possibly picked a worsetime to have a baby. For the longest time, she had been married to her career. Still was, if she was being perfectly honest, but as the years went by, as she got older and older, her biological clock started reaching its end.
She couldn't say she always had some deep desire to be a mother. Quite the opposite, really -- day in and day out babysitting super-powered adult children had been more than enough for her. Madelyn prided herself on being good at her job, and she was good at it. Negotiations, handling talent, always having the right tool for the right job… but the worst of it was cleaning up the messes of the Seven. Idiots of the highest order, every single one of them.
So, she decided to get pregnant and have a child of her own. A supe child. The plan was to raise him right -- to understand both sides of the corporate ladder and to use that to his advantage. By the time he was in his twenties, Madelyn would be CEO and her son could be leading the Seven. The perfect hero with none of the messes to clean up. That was the plan.
But, it seemed that the world was punishing her for her hubris because the moment she became a mother, it was nonstop crisis management. Her maternity leave was cut short and she spent hundreds of hours a week stressing about every little thing and preparing for what Heartless might do next.
"I think it's incredible that you became a mother at your age," Homelander said in a genuine attempt at being charming. Madelyn simply smiled in response, swallowing her anger at the backhanded compliment. Homelander… there were only a handful of people that were genuinely more repelling than him in her opinion -- the narcissism, the rapes, the murders… everything had to revolve around him and she was the one stuck managing him on no sleep and with a baby fussing on her shoulder as he stubbornly refused to burp after a feeding.
"Thank you, Homelander. It means a lot," She replied in a practiced polite tone. Homelander just smiled, his gaze flickering to Teddy, who was grabbing a fist full of her hair and did his best to yank it out.
By all reason, Madelyn realized she should probably hate Teddy. He made an impossible situation worse. But, every time she thought about drowning him, she looked into his baby blue eyes and at his chubby little face and her heart just melted. Hormones. They were powerful things because she was reluctant to let the nanny hold him even with all the problems he caused like crying during a meeting.
"What can I do for you, Homelander? My hands are a little full," Madelyn said with patience that she didn't feel.
"Heartless," Homelander began, his hands clasped behind his back as Teddy gargled happily, gumming a fist full of her hair. "I've had enough. A-Train is an idiot cuck, but he is a member of the Seven and he is a reflection of me. I don't give a shit if Heartless is gangraping every whore from here to Florida, but it's been days now and you still can't tell me where the fuck the video feed is coming from. You can't tell me where the fuck he is."
The latest disaster. A-Train's humiliation. A-Train was an idiot whose only virtues were that he was fast, he was black, and he mostly toed the line. All of that had completely fallen apart about as much as A-Train did. Popclaw, his lover that he thought was a secret, had been gangraped for days now, with barely an hour to rest, and Vought was no closer to shutting down the stream of it than they had been when it first aired. The location was a dead zone, and every time they closed a link, a dozen more were posted on the dark web.
A-Train was utterly inconsolable and, as awful as he was, Madelyn did find herself feeling bad for him. She would feel worse if he wasn't giving her a migraine by tearing through America looking for his girlfriend, causing major property damage and numerous injuries. He was lucky that he hadn't killed anyone yet.
"I'm afraid that I can't tell you what I don't know-" Madelyn began but Homelander lurched forward and slammed his hands on the desk with a bang loud enough that made her flinch. Teddy didn't care for being jostled because a second later he began screaming at the top of his lungs.
"I'm tired of hearing that!" Homelander growled at her, lifting his hands to reveal two intentions in the wood. "And I'm tired of having my hands tied behind my back." His gaze flickered to Teddy and Madelyn's heart jumped into her throat as cold terror raced down her spine.
She was afraid of Homelander. She had always been afraid of him, but she knew how to handle him. But this… this was a whole new side of him that she had only seen glimpses of. A dark violent jealous man that wasn't used to being denied. Madelyn had long since accepted the risk that one day she would wake up with Homelander in her bed and she would be helpless to stop him from doing what he wanted with her. That was a risk of the job.
What she hadn't prepared herself for was how he looked at her baby.
Her heart pounded in her chest and she knew that Homelander could hear it. "It's a matter of optics," she began to explain. "What we thought we knew about his power wasn't accurate. If you two fought and you lost-" that was the wrong thing to say. The moment the words left her lips, Madelyn wished she could reach into the air and pluck them back.
Homelander trembled, his expression shifting to a barely restrained snarl. "Lose?" He questioned, trying to hide the snarl with a smile but it couldn't hide the fury in his eyes. "What? You think I'd lose? Me?"
Madelyn was in full damage control mode, even with a screaming infant in her ear that she tried to soothe but it was like Teddy could sense her fear and that made him terrified. "We're setting the stage, Homelander. People love you because you're the greatest. You're untouchable. You can't be beaten. If it comes to a fight and he hurts you, even just a little, that reputation will be tarnished. You won't be the man that can't be touched… so what we need is for you to swoop from the sky in front of cameras and kill him without breaking a sweat."
The only thing he truly cared about was how he was perceived. His reputation.
It should have worked. It had worked a thousand times before, but Homelander shook his head and wiggled a finger at her. A gesture that she taught him -- a way to chastise without ruining his image by raising his voice. Like Mr. Rogers. "You're manipulating me. You're always manipulating me and I think I've had enough, Madelyn," he said, trying to keep his voice light and conversational and she could hear the struggle in his tone. "I-" he was interrupted by Teddy screaming and he grit his teeth. "Shut him up."
Her blood turned to ice in her veins. Madelyn heard the threat in every word. "L-let me put him down and we can talk, does that sound alright? It'll just take a moment." Homelander's nostrils flared so she switched tact, "Or we can leave and I'll call the nanny to-"
Homelander grabbed her desk and in an effortless display of strength, he hurled it to the side to remove the obstacles between us. It smashed into the window, reduced to splinters and Madelyn scrambled back in terror. She clutched Teddy close to her chest, her baby still screaming, as Homelander took a single step forward. Her back hit the wall, her body shaking like a leaf as Homelander did his best to control his anger.
"Sorry about your desk. And the window," he tried to apologize, taking another step forward. "I lost my temper. That was wrong of me. You accept my apology, right?" He asked, taking a final step forward.
Terror. All consuming terror that Madelyn tried to swallow down because she knew there wasn't a person in the world that could help her right now except herself. "I-I do. I… e-everyone loses their temper sometimes. I'm just glad it happened where there are no cameras," Madelyn tried to pivot.
Then Homelander reached up to caress her cheek. It was meant to be a reassuring gesture but Madelyn couldn't stop herself from flinching. And Homelander's expression became one of absolute betrayal.
"You're lying to me," he said, withdrawing the hand.
She had to do it. "No, Homelander, I-" she began, reaching out to him with a hand. To mimic his gesture. He always welcomed her touch before. He lusted for it. He craved it.
Which is why she never saw it coming that he would lash out at her touch like he did. Madelyn caught a flash of movement…
And then there was only darkness.
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The Panda Queen
Yoooooo! Favorite story
