ã€ŠA World Of Rotten Eggs (Eggman/The Boys SI)ã€‹


 Chapter 1: Getting A Job

    Before I made my first robot or beat my first superhero, I was jobless.

    When COVID-19 hit, job prospects got a bit tough for everyone. I¡¯d spent hours with different temp agencies, filling out applications, going to interviews, all sorts of things. I did a couple quick jobs, even one where I went into a Nike factory with a group of people and scrubbed the place down. But I had yet to find something permanent.

    So when I was told a new job was available with high pay and benefits for entry-level employees, I was skeptical. Sounded like some guy was going to teach a group of morons how to sell knives for a pyramid scheme. Which was something I¡¯d run into before.

    So when I drove up to a nondescript building in the middle of town and stared up at it, I wasn¡¯t feeling sold. ¡°Yeah¡­ this isn¡¯t going to end well. Place looks like a serial killer is going to trap me inside.¡±

    I walked up to the doors anyway. Job prospects weren¡¯t good, remember? I¡¯d scrub toilets as long as it put food on the table.

    I saw my reflection in the door as I swung it open. I cleaned up a bit for the interview, wearing clean jeans, a red polo shirt, my beard neat and brushed, and my curly hair wet. Couldn¡¯t help my raccoon eyes, set into my dark tanned skin. Too many late nights writing and gaming.

    Once I entered, the place was empty.

    ¡°...Hello?¡±

    Wow. Not even an echo. The floors were cement. Same with the walls. No receptionist desk, nothing. Goddamn, was I really in a serial killer den?

    I clenched my fist and took a deep breath, nervously walking in. My other hand went to my phone, ready to call 911. I was fairly large, and confident I could sort of handle myself in a fight, but that didn¡¯t stop the nervousness.

    The room down the hall was listed as room 1991.

    ¡°...There is no way this building has more than 1000 rooms,¡± I hesitated. ¡°Ahhhh¡­ damnit.¡±

    God, the guys watching the horror movie I was living in must have been screaming at my idiocy. Fuck it. I needed rent money. Then again, if I got stabbed by Freddy, I¡¯d never have to worry about rent again.

    With that fatalistic thought, I pulled the door open, my fist still clenched-

    Darkness surrounded me. I stumbled, staring around, but it was useless. I couldn¡¯t even see myself. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket, quickly turning on the flashlight-

    Above, light exploded. I snapped my head upwards.

    ¡°...¡±

    My phone slipped from my fingers. It landed with a wet splash. I didn¡¯t look at it. I stared upwards.

    I had been in a building. Now I stood under the open sky.

    A kaleidoscope of colors swirled above in the night. Stars spun in circles, shining brighter than I¡¯d ever imagined they could. Nebulas and galaxies were clear to my vision.

    The floor I stood on was gone. It was replaced with water. A dark swirl of rippling waves stretching out to the horizon, reflecting the impossible field of stars above me. I must have been there¡­ I don¡¯t know. A minute? Maybe five at most.

    Then I looked around more, trying to breathe. ¡°God. I don¡¯t¡­ what is this-

    ¡°There you are,¡± I spun on my heel, water splashing upwards with my turn. Behind me, a man in janitor''s overalls stood. He smirked a bit. ¡°You¡¯re here for the job, yes?¡±

    ¡°Job? I¡¯m just trying to understand what¡¯s going on!¡±

    ¡°Ahhhh,¡± he chuckled, walking towards me. The man looked so familiar- ¡°You look to be like you were hit on the head with wood, ya?Kaikki hyvin,then I¡¯ll begin your interview.¡±

    ¡°Ahti?¡± I asked hesitantly.

    His face was old, with plenty of wrinkles from smiling and smirking. His hair was a bit of a mess, with a flop on top. He was overweight and short, hunched over in age, wearing a janitor''s uniform, a pair of earphones resting on his neck that went down to an old school walkman on his waist.

    Basically, he looked like Ahti. A fictional character. I mean, sure, he might have looked like Martti Suosalo, but the outfit screamed Ahti fromControl.

    At that point, I felt like I was going crazy. In a world of stars, with water under me¡­ and a character from the video gameControlin front of me. Was this a dream? But I hadn¡¯t thought of that game in months, why would I dream of it sovividly?And the water that had splashed on my legs was so cold. ¡°What, is Jesse Faden next?¡±

    ¡°No, no, that one is varattu. Focus on you,¡± he walked over to me, mopping as he went. Impossibly, as he mopped the water we stood upon, I got the sense it became cleaner. Where he passed, the reflection of the stars shone brighter. ¡°I¡¯m here because there ismelkoinen soppasomewhere right now.¡±

    ¡°Melko- I¡¯m sorry, what-¡±

    ¡°Quite a soup. A real mess.¡±

    He tapped me on my chest, pushing me back. ¡°Ahhhh. You got realsisu.Okay. You got the job.¡±

    The water under me suddenly stopped supporting my weight. ¡°Fu-ghghghghgh!¡±

    I sank under the waves, staring upwards as I was somehow pulled down.

    ¡°Ahhhh. There will be sugar on the bottom for you. Look for that,¡± he smiled, the waves of water drifting, the stars and nebulas highlighting him. I held my breath and tried to swim upwards, but the last thing I saw was his kind face smiling.

    Then I rose out of the water. I took a deep breath filled with both air and water, screaming and coughing as waves smashed into me. Sand under my feet sucked at my shoes. For one ridiculous moment, the thought in my head was ¡®damnit, I got dressed in my good clothes this morning.¡¯

    Then it was all coughs.

    My arms swung outwards as I fell to my knees. I dug through the sand, rushing towards the beach, spitting out water, trying to get air to replace it. Finally I got to the beach, pulling myself out.

    ¡°Ahhhh¡­ w-wh-what-!?¡±

    I twisted onto my back, staring at the blue sky. After that insane swim, air was all I could think of.

    ¡°...Ahhhhhh-¡±

    I cut myself off, trying to breath again. God. I hadn¡¯t felt like that since that blue devil had-

    Blue devil? Wha-

    ¡°Gah!¡±

    I spun to my feet, clutching my head. ¡°Oh god! Come on! Are you kidding m-AHHHH!¡±

    I fell to my knees and screamed.

    We¡¯ve all forgotten and remembered things. That sensation of reaching into your mind for a memory and getting nothing. And then¡­ boom. The memory hits. You suddenly remember, in a flash of realization.

    Imagine that happening over and over again. Imagine feeling like your brain is getting eternally frozen.

    And imagine an entire life pouring into your head.

    I passed out.

    ------

    When I woke, the sun had risen above me. My clothes were still wet. I stared upwards.

    That¡­ sucked. I wish I could have thought of something more eloquent for the experience. But that was the best I could do. That SUCKED. I just wanted to get a job. To help my family. Get some food. But then, that was always the way. I make my fancy plans, put all my work and time into the perfect idea, only to have someone or something stop it. Whether it was Ahti, a damn plague, or that damn Blue Menace, someone always-...

    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    I ran that sentence back in my head. I let the memories in my head flow, for just a moment.

    I forced myself to my feet, trying to, I don¡¯t know, to move, to get a concept of what I was in for.

    The place I was on looked like an island. A peaceful tropical one. Beach, water, palm trees, the works.

    There was also a dock¡­ with a yacht.

    A big one. Not the biggest I¡¯d ever seen, since I¡¯d owned some-

    Knock it off, brain.

    I pushed back my¡­ I don¡¯t know ¡®false¡¯ memories? They didn¡¯t feel false.

    I stumbled a bit, but kept walking, heading towards the yacht. Not much else to head towards, right? I just had to do something. To try and have some control. Both the normal part of me and the new part hated not feeling in control.

    The yacht wasn¡¯t massive. Just a 60 footer. Feet? God, what an inaccurate form of measurement the Imperial system was.

    Ignoring those thoughts as best I could, (and failing miserably) I hopped into the boat, looking around. It was nice. A bit worn, but overall in good shape. Some duct tape on the seats, a couple scratches. Somehow that made me feel more comfortable with it. Like the fact it was obviously lived in was part of its charm.

    It was quiet as I walked around. The smell of the ocean surrounded me, that brine smell. I entered the open doors in the back of it.

    The smell of brine faded. Instead, oil hit me. Machine oil, that caustic smell. Familiar, but for more reasons than¡­ damn.

    The front of the room had the steering wheel and such, but they didn¡¯t hold my attention.

    Instead, I walked around the main section of the room. Shelves hung on all the walls. Tools rested on the shelves, hung there to be reached. Electronic parts, gears, wires, and more all rested ther. My hand reached out and trailed along them. I hummed to myself as my right hand bounced from chilled steel to vulcanized rubber.

    ¡°Hmmm, dadada,¡± I mumbled idly.

    I reached a desk in the center of it all. A laptop was on it. I popped it open. Old. But serviceable. I typed at the keyboard, stumbling for a second. I had a bunch of experience typing. But now I was fighting muscle memories I didn¡¯t have. I pushed myself to type into it. I needed to find out about this place. Find out where I was. Why had Ahti done this?

    I went to a news site immediately. What was-

    ¡°EYEWITNESS FOOTAGE OF QUEEN MAEVE IN ACTION!¡±

    A commercial for the Boys? There was a photo of the Queen Maeve actress punching two guys in the face at once, a confident smirk on her face.

    I flipped through articles, fighting the two different muscle memories in me to focus on actually getting work done.

    A new movie that was coming out. ¡°Tek-Knight Begins.¡±

    The Deep was at the opening of a sea exhibit opening.

    The ¡®Believe¡¯ Christian expo was being put together, with a guest list including Ezekiel the Stretching Man.

    ¡°Not a commercial. This is the Boys. I¡¯m trapped in the Boysverse,¡± I thought about that for a second. ¡°Wow. I¡¯m absolutely fucked.¡±

    At least I¡¯d watched the excellent show and read those shitty comics. When in the timeline had I shown up? Well, I did know one big event that happened in this universe.

    My normal self was still freaking out. But the fresh new memories I had didn¡¯t flinch. They grabbed hold of the reins and kept typing. Didn¡¯t need too many search terms either.

    A-Train. Robin. Hughie. Death.

    2 days. 2 days ago, the hero known as A-Train had run through a young woman named Robin, ripping her to pieces in front of her boyfriend as he held her hands.

    2 days, huh. Then I had some idea of what to do next.

    I picked up the laptop and moved over to the shelves, looking around. ¡°All right. I can work with this.¡±

    Butwhycould I work with this?

    Stuck in the Boys. Sent by some guy from Control. He¡¯d told me he was giving me a job. This yacht must have been part of it. Same with those memories that appeared in my head.

    What memories were they?

    I looked through my thoughts. I could remember¡­ I stood on the bridge of a ship, a flying aircraft carrier. Looking out into space. I heard sounds of computers beeping behind me. But I didn¡¯t look at them. Instead, I focused on the approaching enemy. I felt¡­ hate. But also an odd kind of fondness?

    A blue blur sped across the top of my ship, bouncing insanely fast, spinning in a circle at one point, snapping in quick twitches from left to right. Annoying. But also incredible. Faster than the speed of sound at points. At others, so fast it couldn¡¯t be measured.

    I raised a hand and placed it against the glass. My hand was so strange in shape. My palms and fingers were massive, but my arm was so thin. I wore a white glove and a red coat, the cuff turned back to reveal yellow on the inside of it. I leaned forward, my reflection shining in the window as I came close enough.

    The memory crystalized. Bald head. A pair of goggles on my face that somehow didn¡¯t obstruct my vision. And a big honking orange mustache, twitching on my face as I smiled. It stretched from side to side, spiky in appearance and dominating my appearance.

    I didn¡¯t need to remember anymore. Not my smile slowly stretching my face, not my echoing laugh.

    And especially not the blue blur (MENACE) coming to a stop. He glanced up at me. Short. Blue. Spiky quills on his back. A pair of red sneakers. And an infuriating grin on his face.

    The truth hit me and I banged my head on the desk. Oh dear god.

    Dr. Ivo Robotnik. Eggman. Whatever you want to call him. I had the memories of Sonic¡¯s archnemesis in my head.

    ¡°This- What am I even supposed to say about this!?¡±

    Sitting in the boat, surrounded by tools and tech, knowing that somewhere out there a Superman Expy was flying around killing people, I tried not to have an existential crisis, even as memories of existential crisis¡¯ I hadalreadyhad filled my head.

    Well. Somehow this still was the least awkward job interview I¡¯d ever had.

    ------

    Author¡¯s Note:Welcome to the new SI story. A guy who enters the world of the Boys with the memories of Dr. Robotnik

    To be clear, it''s sort of amalgamation of the Eggman memories. So he remembers all the things any Eggman can. I figured that was fine, since any version of them makes some RIDICULOUS stuff.

    I¡¯m going to try and make this story a regular thing, aiming for a schedule of a new chapter every Wednesday on myPatreon</a>for as long as I can. Hopefully, you guys enjoy the ride and the potential.

    It¡¯s going to be FUN to write this.

    Let me know what you guys think. This story is currently getting some serious work done on it, so any thoughts, ideas, or philosophical questions, let me know. I like the Boys tv show, and I think it''s going to be fun to run around there as a chaotic influence.

 Chapter 2: Making Progress

    There are a few things that come up when you have memories of an evil supergenius from a fun video game series. The list includes a couple of things. Like the constant urge to monologue.

    Standing in front of a whiteboard I found, I let my mouth run as I thought.

    ¡°So I need to think on a few things now. First,¡± I spun the board in front of me around, looking it over. ¡°Ahti sent me here for a job. Clearly, he wants me to clean up the world. The world of the Boys. So either he has no idea what an ¡®entry-level job¡¯ entails, or he just wanted to send me somewhere horrible and see what happens.¡±

    I threw aside the thought, quickly writing. ¡°Here are some big problems. First. The Sev- No, fuck that. First, superhumans,¡± I crossed out one word and wrote the other, stepping back to look at it. ¡°A bunch of random people who are given extraordinary gifts. I make a single move to ¡®clean¡¯ the world, I need to prepare for them. So-called ¡®superheroes¡¯- Gah, stop that!¡±

    I had never talked like that. Not sincerely. Stupid Eggman memories.

    ¡°...You know what though, that¡¯s a fair way to call them. So-called. They¡¯d rip me in half if they thought I was messing with their bottom line. So put most of them in that big round circle of assholes. Except for Homelander and Starlight I think,¡± I wrote their names. ¡°One is dangerous enough to count as his own character. The other is a Golden Age hero in an Ennis nightmare,¡± I thought about how often she cussed. ¡°Maybe Silver Age. Which is fine, more my speed.¡±

    ¡°But, then I have something else to worry about! Vought!¡± I wrote the name dramatically, spinning around to point at the ocean. I quickly moved out of the pose, sighing. ¡°Okay. Vought. Giant company that runs the world. Or is trying to at least. They¡¯re the big threat. They¡¯re also the big target, right?¡±

    I circled the word Vought. ¡°Okay. I need to take out Vought if I want to¡­ ¡®clean¡¯ this world. Right? What do I have at my dispo-¡±

    Memories spun to the front of my mind. I rolled through the list, thinking faster than I ever had in the past. The pieces came together in my head. Using that circuit board, those wires, that bit of a piston, if I could weld the steel together and build a strong enough frame-

    Blueprints flowed in my head faster and faster. Weapons of war, robots, ships, energy converters, flying nations. Impossible, over the top, and insanely powerful creations. Things no one deserved to have pointed at-

    The Robotnik memories ended. And my own took over. Of heroes killing, raping, and maiming. All while one organization enabled them in the name of money.

    The memories of a supervillain. Against a corporation full of evil ¡®superheroes¡¯.

    ¡°Heh. Heh. Hehehe. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!¡±

    I leaned back, my arms stretched outwards, and let loose a bellowing laugh, my voice echoing outwards. ¡°WAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA!¡±

    On the list of things that came with supervillainy memories, the evil laughter was kind of a fun one. Liberating really.

    ------

    Exploring the boat brought up two things. First was a note from Ahti, resting against the steering wheel. I could almost hear his voice as I read it.

    ¡°Congratulations on the new job. I gave you a new identity. Someone varakas, wealthy dumb child lost. Embrace it. No more old world, so sorry. Family will be safe and rich. Menneen talven lumia, Julian.¡±

    I looked up the Finnish words. Varakas meant what he said, rich, wealthy, haves. He built me an identity as a rich asshole named Julian. No offense to people named Julian, but it was the kind of name rich assholes often had in comics.

    Menneen talven lumia. The snow of the past winter. Forget about old snow, snow that was long gone¡­ I was never going home.

    I almost broke then.

    Looking up the name he gave me brought me to Julian Ivo (Of course it was Ivo). A rich kid who had gone to MIT, specialized in robotics and was on the cusp of graduating¡­ Then his billionaire parents died. He inherited their money but was left with no other family. So he bought a boat and disappeared for four years.

    Thank god Ahti saw to giving the yacht an internet connection to let me do this kind of research¡­ Actually¡­

    I looked up Ahti. No mention of the game Control, which made sense in a world of comic superheroes dominating all media. Just a wiki page for the Finnish God of Water. Or a Finnish hero. History was complicated.

    God of Water who worked in a mythical organization that fought monsters and could send people to other dimensions.

    I found something else, saved on the computer. A news article about a Muslim family whose rich uncle died, leaving them millions. A photo of my family sat there.

    I stared at it for a moment. Trying to hold onto it. Then I closed my eyes. Okay. Okay. Then I¡¯d get to work.

    I¡¯d delete the photo later. I couldn¡¯t risk anyone finding it. But after I¡¯d committed it to memory.

    For now, I looked into the computer more, still fighting the weird sensation of two muscle memories battling. The writer and super-scientist in me were both annoyed at how slow my typing was, but I got enough done. My research was enough to tell that Starlight hadn¡¯t joined the Seven yet, which was when the show kicked off. I had time. Tons of. And I had space. Out here, no one was going to bother me as I got shit done. A quick look at my, no, Julian¡¯s finances showed I had something in the neighborhood of 100 million. More money than I¡¯d ever had¡­ Okay, that was a gross understatement. It was an insane amount to me, a poor kid all my life.

    But... a pitiful amount if you were trying to build anything like the Eggman empire at even a medium level of power.

    Well. Time to see how far these ignorant savages had gotten at testing the laws of physics.

    I got up and went to the board again.

    ¡°Okay, ¡®Julian¡¯. What is it you need? Capitol. Yes, enough money to begin building in earnest. I¡¯ll have to take the long route. Sell my technology, create a company. God, having to pander to people like that-¡± Wow. Both my writer and supervillain side hated the necessity of trying to become a super rich guy. My poor kid side always had some disdain towards big money types, and my supervillain side wanted to do science and tech for the joy of dominating the world, rather than pandering to things like marketing teams and shareholders.

    But the money was for a good cause. Logic won out.

    100 million to start. I¡¯d need to purchase land to build on. Until I could make more automation in the lab, I¡¯d also need employees. Supplies with which to build. While the stuff on the boat was enough to get my prototypes up and running, eventually I¡¯d need to start building in earnest to make things like special alloys, personal energy converters, all of that mess. I didn¡¯t care as much about housing and such, since I planned on living wherever I worked anyways.

    The big thing was security. I needed to make something to protect myself with. A bodyguard who could protect me from supes.

    I ran through the mental list Eggman had.

    ¡°With the material I have, I can¡¯t make something really impressive yet,¡± I stood and paced, my arms going to the small of my back as I monologued. ¡°Funny enough, the Badniks tend to be pretty darn advanced. Same with things like Qubot and Orbot or the other ¡®dumb¡¯ aides that Eggman had following me-HIM. They may have been idiots, but oddly it takes really advanced computer systems to make a robot smart enough to do dumb things. Foolishness is a sign of sentience I suppose. Sapience, rather.¡±

    On thinking of robots, I ended up drifting from Eggman¡¯s memories to my own. Terminators, Amazo, other cool bots. One that made me smile was Atomic Robo, the adorable badass. Then I went back to Eggman. As cool as those bots were, I had to stick to tried and true.

    ¡°Innovation is done in safety,¡± I stopped, tapping my chin. ¡°Think basic, mass produced, dumb but would follow orders to the letter. Strong and durable¡­ I can go big later, build something truly diabolical. For now, I need what works.¡±

    I reached out for a blowtorch and metal face mask. ¡°I have just the thing in mind!¡±

    With that, I got to work.

    ------

    It took me a full day. I worked through the night, building as best as I could. My challenges were many. I felt like I had been in some terrible accident that made me relearn my muscle control. I lost a wrench when I tossed into the ocean in a rage midway through twisting a bolt.

    Eggman would have been finished with such a rudimentary creation in a couple hours. I took solace that a full day was still fast for a guy who¡¯d only built some PCs in his time.

    I stuck with it. I built a basic skeleton, making sure that it was strong and solid. I didn¡¯t have enough power to do something really crazy, so I was forced to stick ports for batteries all over the thing. I had to make the thing short. Only about 140 centimeters. Not enough power for something sexier. Smaller design meant I could put that energy into more function.

    I could feel Robotnik/Eggman/Whatever you want to call him inside my head. Not really. It was just memories. But if he had seen what I was reduced to, he would have been of two minds. On the one hand, he¡¯d mastered robotics on an insane level. Not just robotics. Science was a playground he had studied every inch of, played across all parts of. After starting from nothing and getting to the point of creating machines that ran off fundamental forces of the universe, this current pitiful machine was basically a lego brick compared to the Taj Mahal I could be making.

    On the other hand, it was nostalgic. Starting from scratch with just a workshop and a dream, just like the old days.

    I finished up as best as I could. Couldn¡¯t make it look really clean, unfortunately. No paint, nothing I could do to clean those rough welds. Its appearance didn¡¯t matter though. As long as the shell was solid and the insides worked. I¡¯d made sure the gears were well oiled. Now to turn it on.

    I stepped back from my creation, looking it over. My hands had several burns on them, small cuts, oil all across my arms and body. I reached for a switch on a wall and hesitated.

    This wouldn¡¯t work. That was my first thought. I wasn¡¯t an engineer. I was a punk. A half-assed writer-

    Before I even noticed it, the switch flicked on. I turned to face the machine as the lights in it¡¯s eyes flickered.

    ¡°Right. No time for self-esteem issues.¡±

    I watched in avid silence as the robot before me creaked. It sputtered, shaking in front of me. For the first and millionth time, I watched my creation rise before me.

    Was tempted to scream ¡®It¡¯s alive, it''s ALIIIIVE¡¯.

    But instead, I simply let the satisfaction fill me as the robot stood tall. Well, stood short. It buzzed, beeped, and screeched before finally settling. Two large light bulb eyes stared at me.

    ¡°Hm¡­ well, you aren¡¯t as powerful as the first. And not as advanced as the latest. More like a child of them. So I¡¯ll call you¡­ Ah. The E-Boy. Why not? You-¡±

    I held back the sudden cruelty. I was about to say I¡¯ll just toss it out when I was done with it. Fuck that.

    Eggman had grown out of treating his creations like trash only to be surprised when they betrayed him. And I¡¯d always been sentimental.

    ¡°The E-Series E-Boy, my defender.¡±

    The robot beeped aloud in acknowledgment. A miniature version of robots like the E-1000¡¯s or E-123 Omega. The tiny thing shook in place, up and down. It had a blue barrel-like torso protecting the main components, thick arms and legs with black pieces of steel surrounding the forearms and calves, claw-like feet, and massive clawed metal hands.

    ¡°Okay, my Boy. Come along,¡± I walked to the front of the boat, grabbing the steering wheel. ¡°Let¡¯s head to New York City.¡±

    ------

    Beginning our journey, a sudden thought struck me. Victoria Neuman could explode peoples heads¡­ At least, I thought so. Goddamn.

    I pushed the thought away. I didn¡¯t have a way to do anything about that. About Homelander. Hell, even Eagle the Archer might be able to turn me to a pincushion.

    Some part of Eggman found humour in the thought. Excitement even. Anyone could kill me. The game I was playing was harder than it had ever been in some ways.

    With that weird thought, I slept. Only briefly, in short intervals, constantly checking my position every time I woke. E-Boy clinked and clanked in the corner, always watching my back in his rudimentary way.

    The journey was like that for a long time. Resting, checking my route. And most of all. Planning.

    I needed money after all. So I needed to sell shit.

    Start simple. A computer. It needed to be cutting edge, cheap enough to undercut the competition, and easy to repair. I doubted I¡¯d ever be able to outsell the likes of Apple or Microsoft, not for a good while, but it would get me there.

    Because my real plan was simple.

    Become a merchant of death, baby. Start selling weapons to the US Military. Give them super tech. Nothing I wouldn¡¯t be able to take down of course. But Vought wanted into the military¡­ it would be a good idea to shut that down.

    So I planned and piloted. Until, eventually, after some time, I reached the East Coast. I reached New York City. Well, Manhattan mostly. Man, why did the city keep showing up in my life?

    Paying for a dock online, I pulled into a harbor on Hudson Bay and parked my boat there. It would be my base of operations for a bit, considering it had all of my current items there until I could get someplace more defensible.

    I left the boat behind and walked out onto the dock after tying down. E-Boy followed me, step by clanking step. An elderly man sitting in his boat watched us walk by, me in my sand-covered clothes, and E-Boy whirring as he followed.

    ¡°The fuck is that thing?¡±

    ¡°An X-Box.¡±

    The old man let out a disapproving grunt, immediately ignoring me. He¡¯d likely seen stranger things. Even a normal New York City had strange shit, let alone a superhuman one.

    The plan for the day was to walk around Manhattan for a bit. Just get a feel for the city, the environment in general, see about maybe buying some small necessities. Like caffeine.

    I entered an alleyway, planning to cut through it to get to a pawn shop down the road-

    An arm wrapped my neck. I began to struggle, only to feel a cold edge against my back. A knife.

    I froze immediately.

    ¡°All right kid, just drop your wallet and it¡¯ll be okay,¡± a slightly stale breathed voice said against my cheek. ¡°Over there, against the wall.¡±

    You know? I found something in common with Eggman then. We both fucking hated getting mugged.

    ¡°E-Boy. Be a dear.¡±

    The guy behind me let out a sound of confusion. ¡°E-Wha-¡±

    There was an almost comical sound like defibrillators charging, then a ¡®snap-hiss¡¯ of a gas pistol firing.

    ¡°Oh- SHISHISHISHIZEZEZEZEGAGAGAGAGAGA,¡± I stepped away, turning to look at the guy who had been threatening me.

    He danced in place, arms and legs twitching, his tan face crinkled in pain and shock. E-Boy was behind him, a pair of wire stretching from one arm to a pair of metal prongs in the muggers back

    ¡°I have to wonder, when you pick a target in the future, if you¡¯ll be a little more discerning?¡± I asked casually, watching as he fell to the ground still sputtering. ¡°Better yet, rethink the career choice, because robbing people in a world where anyone could have superpowers just isn¡¯t a business that will ever be sustainable. But then, I¡¯m not here to give you business advice. E-Boy, hit him at, I don¡¯t know, heavy, no, middleweight boxer level.¡±

    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    Sckeeeek. A metal fist smashed into the man¡¯s chest and sent him bouncing into a wall.

    ¡°Heh,¡± I patted E-Boy on his head. ¡°Good bot.¡±

    ¡°Scrush, scrush,¡± E-Boy rose and fell briefly. The Eggman part of me knew he didn¡¯t have the intellectual capacity to be pleased. The rest of me found him adorable.

    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go grab some shit.¡±

    We went on to the pawnshop, leaving the mugger behind.

    ------

    After I grabbed a change of clothes and some energy drinks, I went to an electronics store and bought big bunches of all sorts of things. Circuit boards, soldering iron, TVs, you name it.

    I also had to rent a van to get it all to the harbor. All in all, I must have spent thousands of dollars.

    I headed back to the boat with E-Boy sitting comfortably in the passenger seat. That brief walk and drive told me enough about the neighborhood overall for me to form a solid map of the place. Now, to use the massive budget that Ahti had given me. As E-Boy watched me, I got to work on finding what I needed next.

    I put in a call to purchase an old brick factory that had been empty for a couple years in Manhattan, a place that had long since been taken over by graffiti and alcohol bottles. Based on what I could tell from a couple hours of intense research, it had been an automobile factory. I wasn¡¯t sure if automobile factories in Manhattan had been a thing in my world, even before companies started outsourcing that kind of thing, but it had been in this one.

    Which meant I found a building that was made just for creating big machines using big machines.

    I made plans for meeting the realtor there in a few days, then started looking over the supplies I needed.

    Metal, for one. LOTS of metal. Of all kinds. Industrial steel, copper, good old iron, small amounts of gold for certain wiring. But also various plastics, lab equipment, and much much more.

    I kept on having the issue that every time my Eggman side started taking things for granted, I¡¯d need to drag it back to reality. I didn¡¯t know that the physics of the Boys was entirely compatible with the physics that Eggman was used to twisting. I kept wanting to build these grand things, armies of robotic badasses, powerful death rays, but then I¡¯d be reminded I didn¡¯t even have the most basic of things that lead to those.

    ¡°A robot isn¡¯t just putting pieces together. Even something as simple as E-Boy is a miracle of modern science in this primitive world, and he can be beaten by a Badnik from the first Sonic games.¡±

    I looked over at him, then continued pacing and monologing.

    ¡°I have to reinvent so many things. More advanced circuitry, software, various false musculature, power sources, energy converters, cooling systems¡­¡±

    ¡°Hm¡­ Maybe I can take some cues from other media? It should be more than simple for me to replicate their success?¡±

    Oh, so that¡¯s what villainous arrogance feels like.

    ¡°Of course, in the end, one thing that keeps popping up is quite simple. I need to hire... a lawyer,¡± I said with a hint of disgust. ¡°Until I can make a robot who can do the job better, I¡¯ll need a lawyer to be able to help me with paperwork.¡±

    I took a look at the dozens of lawyers in New York City. No Matt Murdock unfortunately.

    ¡°Too bad,¡± I sighed, hunting through the files. Back in my old world, I had a friend who was a lawyer. He¡¯d once told me that incorporating in Delaware was a damn good idea. Unless¡­ maybe I could become a P.O.C. A privately owned company. Then I¡¯d need to get into the nitty-gritty of government contracts at some point.

    After the most basic perusal of law in New York City, I felt like crying. I laid out in a deadpan voice, feeling like I was losing my mind.

    ¡°The factory will need someone to check on zoning, property, and labor laws. Making my machines will require someone looking into patents, intellectual laws. And then I need someone who knows about government contacts, transactional lawyers, litigators-¡±

    ¡°GAAAAH! Confound the American Legal System and it¡¯s horrific laws!¡± I smashed a fist onto the desk. ¡°MAKE SENSE DAMN YOU!¡±

    Once I calmed the mustached side, I rubbed my face.

    ¡°How the hell does Lex Luthor make this shit seem so easy?¡± I mumbled, checking on my next on the list. ¡°Okay. I don¡¯t need a single lawyer. I need a firm.¡±

    That thought narrowed things down. Okay. A firm. A massive company of lawyers. People who knew what they were doing, who had thousands of lawyers, and all the expertise I needed.

    I needed evil ones too.

    ¡°Well, maybe not evil, so much as purely ruthless,¡± I amended quickly. ¡°They need to be ready to fight anyone that Vought sends my way. Actually, that also means I didn¡¯t want anyone who has business with Vought. Basically, ruthless, doesn¡¯t have relations to Vought, big enough to have a lawyer to help with any and everything. Should be easy enough.¡±

    After a long hour of work, I found the perfect candidates. Addams, Slant & Waldorf. I actually noticed them because of the fond memories the names gave me.

    They were not lawyers most thought fondly of. They were very good at their jobs, followed the laws implicitly, and won huge amounts of cases. While also doing it on behalf of real dickwads. I¡¯m talking about insurance companies refusing payouts, companies responsible for environmental disasters, all that stuff. They did the lawyer thing of at least making sure any victims got payouts, but it was clear these guys were more Wolfram and Hart than they were Atticus Finch.

    They looked like the perfect types of lawyers to fight any Vought types.

    I sent a message off to them using the ¡®contact us¡¯ page on their website, explaining my plans and ideas for building a company, then moved on. Hopefully the ability to wave money under their noses would be enough to get them on board.

    I took a look at when Robin had died again. Damn. Morbid that I was using an innocent girl''s death as an, I don¡¯t know, check point on the timeline. Her funeral wasn¡¯t for another few weeks. Died two, now three, days ago, funeral four weeks later, a full month after her death. A bit on the long side to get started, as most funerals went, but I imagined the controversy of her death had led to some delays.

    By that time, I¡¯d need to accelerate certain sciences in this world by a thousand-fold to get myself capable of fighting back and intruding on the events of this world. I doubted Ahti wanted me to wait until the end of season 2 to step into things.

    So I¡¯d need to take some shortcuts. I needed some small inventions now, things I could make with materials at hand that I could start selling.

    I¡¯d used most of my stuff on the boat for E-Boy, but I still had some basics and a van delivering my shopping. I put on a lab coat and grabbed a circuit board. Time to get to work.

    ------

    I pulled a bunch of shit out of the van and got to work putting it together. My idea was simple.

    ¡°An energy converter. Something I can make that will turn large portions of waste heat into power. That will be useful for myself down the road. But I also need something sexier!¡± I spun in place, pointing at E-Boy. ¡°Do you know what that is, E-Boy!?¡±

    ¡°...Scrunch, scrunch,¡± he bounced in place, waiting for an order.

    ¡°RAMS and graphics cards. Cooling systems! Those are things companies are desperate to find better and better versions of. OH! Mental memo: Build prototypes for atomic waste scrubbers. I am sure the government will pay a pretty penny for that copyright to get me some extra capital and make a splash in the papers."

    Then I went back to my original point, putting some more pieces together and soldering a bit more, my hands moving quickly. ¡°Anyways. Stronger, studier, cheaper, and overall more universally compatible graphics cards and RAM. That¡¯s gonna be a good way to get consistent profits, once I can get started on patents.¡±

    I lifted my new experiment in front of my eyes, looking it over. ¡°For now, we¡¯re on our way, E-Boy.¡±

    ¡°Scrunch, scrunch.¡±

    ------

    A week later

    After a week, I stood in an empty room of concrete, staring at dozens of crates.

    ¡°We all good, sir?¡± a large black man in workman¡¯s gear said, walking over to stare at the crates.

    ¡°Yes we are, Sam. Got all the materials needed. Now we just need to get to work. Your men ready?¡±

    ¡°Just tell us what to do.¡±

    ¡°Excellent. MUHAHA-¡± I cut myself off, coughing. ¡°...Sorry.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s cool. I got used to it.¡±

    I sighed. ¡°All right, get the guys moving.¡±

    ------

    It had been a good week full of progress.

    On the first day, I worked all through the night, chugging more energy drinks than was healthy. At some point I¡¯d need to come up with a better alternative for staying awake, but for the time being it worked.

    By the time I was done, I got an email approving my meeting with the lawyers. Tomorrow. That was quick.

    At least, until I remembered that I was Julian Ivo, confirmed rich kid. They must have looked me up. Money really does open up doors for people, huh?

    By then, I was done. Well sort of. My first prototypes were¡­ rough. They had none of the power of my original designs, none of the sturdiness. Barely adequate in any way.

    Compared to the best this world had to offer, they were an upgrade in every way. Good enough as examples as well.

    With my upgrades in hand and E-Boy at my side, I put on a suit I¡¯d gotten from the pawnshop. Later I¡¯d get something nicer, but I¡¯d take what I could get. Then, I went to meet the lawyers.

    ------

    I sat across a desk from a Latino man who was looking over my prototype graphics card with a pair of white gloves on. My other stuff had been sent to be looked at by his scientists, but apparently, he was curious enough to look at the card on his own.

    The dude was... Impressive, to say the least. Mr. Addams'' office had been on the top floor of the very fancy building his firm worked out of. His office was bigger than any apartment I had ever lived in, including bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen, and living room.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me asking, Mr. Addams, is it common for the top man of a firm to meet with a potential client?¡±

    The Latino man looked up at me, then smirked. When he spoke, it was with a hint of an accent, enough to give his voice a suave elegance. ¡°Oh, no, not at all, Mr. Ivo. Usually, I would have my men looking into this alone. But I wanted to gain your measure. And my, what a measure it is! Your little friend there caused quite the ruckus when you arrived, didn¡¯t he.¡±

    We looked over at E-Boy, the tiny bot resting peacefully next to my chair.

    ¡°I must ask, why didn¡¯t you include him in your list of creations? He is by far one of the most impressive things I¡¯ve ever seen, and I once saw Queen Maeve lift a car. I have yet to see any bipedal robot move with such fluidity and balance, let alone capable of following spoken commands so easily.¡±

    ¡°You know a lot more about computers and robotics than I would have thought.¡±

    ¡°Ohhh, I am a man of many, many interests. Now, that aside,¡± he put down my graphics card, looking curious. ¡°What are your plans, Mr. Ivo? To sell graphics cards and RAM?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± I leaned back in my chair, sinking into it. As I sank into the soft armchair, I also let the real ¡®me¡¯ sink as well. I let a bit of Eggman come out. Not the mad lunatic that sometimes seeped out, but the calculating and calm genius.

    I still didn¡¯t know if I had a specific version of Eggman in my head. There were the games, the cartoons, anime, the Archie comics version. But whatever one I had, he was experienced. More than that, he was dangerous.

    I let a bit of that out, and Mr. Addams stilled just a bit when my eyes snapped open.

    ¡°My plan, Mr. Addams. Is domination,¡± I pressed my fingertips together. ¡°I am planning on creating an empire of technology. Computers are the start, of course. Easy to market and easy to sell. A good way of establishing a brand and cash flow. But I want to go beyond that. I¡¯m planning on selling weapons to the military, of course, but I also want to accelerate the fields of science massively. I have the money to purchase everything I need. I simply need lawyers on retainer to make sure everything I do is legal and above board.¡±

    Mr. Addams quirked an eyebrow, his thin mustache twitching. He chuckled, eyes flickering to a photo on his desk. ¡°Domination, hm? My wife would like you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a compliment.¡±

    ¡°As well you should. Well Mr. Ivo, you have more than enough to hire us on. And I believe I might take special interest in your case, depending on how you open things up. My lawyers will begin writing up-¡±

    He started going over the legal stuff and I listened closely. As I did, I began running through the list in my head one more time.

    I was on my way.

    ------

    Once I had Addams, Slant, and Waldorf filling out paperwork and helping me with the legal side of things, I was able to meet a realtor for the place I wanted.

    ------

    ¡°-used to be an automobile factory, as you know,¡± a young brunette woman said, turning to give me a quick smile. ¡°I know, the graffiti and dirt makes this place look horrible, but the foundation is solid, the location is large, and much of the infrastructure is intact.¡±

    ¡°Not by much,¡± said another young woman. Destiny Simmons, an older black woman and the property expert working for Addams, Slant, and Waldorf, had a pinched look on her face as she looked about the dirty rooms. ¡°Especially for your asking price.¡±

    The brunette woman flinched, her composure fading before she bravely gathered it up. Poor girl. She must have been trying to get rid of the place.

    Luckily, I made up my mind to take it already. The place was perfectly situated in Manhattan, with a good amount of distance from Vought Headquarters that I had a good view without being so close I wouldn¡¯t be able to see an attack coming, as well as a good distance from the harbor so that I could ship products across the world.

    The actual buildings were solid as well. It was a complex of sorts, four buildings set in a square pattern, with a wide courtyard in the center. With room to expand out and up if need be.

    All brick, stone, and pipes, with peeling paint, dirt on every surface, and lots of trash. Every single window was cracked, dirty, or gone. In the room we were in, the walls had been ripped apart, leaving stone pillars standing about at regular intervals. Empty boxes were strewn about, several shelves had been ripped apart. And oddly, baseball cards. Lots and lots of baseball cards, all tossed about the place, hundreds of them, a bunch of them unopened in their wrappers.

    Still. Even with the clean-up and repairs I¡¯d need to do, it was much cheaper to fix up this place and purchase it than it was to build an entirely new building.

    ¡°Look, it¡¯s clear you want to get this off your hands,¡± Mrs. Simmons said, walking up to the realtor confidently. ¡°And my client can buy it. But I need you to work with me. Let¡¯s talk about-¡±

    I let her handle it, my gaze looking about. Later, I¡¯d need more. A shipyard, for example, to build the larger weaponry in my head. But this place was perfect for now. Four large buildings, and a ¡®racetrack¡¯ of sorts to the north of the area. The place smelled like potential. And urine. Lots of urine.

    Step two was done.

 Chapter 3: Want A Friend? Try Building Them!

    Turns out when you spend enough money, cleaning a place up is a breeze. I started with 100 million or so. Now I was down to half. Hiring the firm, purchasing the property, getting a crew together, and finally purchasing supplies, machinery, and other necessities.

    Worth it.

    The guys I hired were all old hands at restoration and cleanup. They got to cleaning out the first building, getting it spic and span in three days. Once they finished up with it, I carted in my supplies and got Sam and his team, a group of machinists, welders, and other mechanically inclined types, to get to work.

    ------

    ¡°Now, this room is off-limits after this,¡± I told Sam, leading him into a large area in the back of the Main Lab area.

    There were four buildings. The north building, the smallest one, would become my main laboratory, as well as my living quarters, with an IKEA sofa bed to sleep on.

    The east building would become the main floor for the robotics building, with clean-up crews working on it now before the assembly lines would be added in with armatures and other goodies to set up later.

    The south building would be for weapons manufacturing. Mostly focusing on small arms for now. It was taking time to get the permits for that together, so it would remain a bit empty until ASW (Addams, Slant, and Waldorf) could dig through that mess.

    Finally, the west building was for computer parts and software. That one was very important, as most of my early money would come from the stuff that would be created there. Even after, so much of the systems that would be used for my robots and weapons would be created there as well. Which meant it had to be the cleanest and most specialized of the buildings.

    Outside the west building was a massive round track that had once been used to test the cars the automobile factory would make. I¡¯d use it as well, for much the same reason, but also to test weapons.

    The room I led Sam into was in the north building, at the back of the building. We entered it and almost bumped into E-Boy.

    ¡°Oh, hey bud. You okay?¡±

    ¡°Scrunch, scrunch,¡± the tiny silver bot was carrying a large crate. As in, almost a full ton of material.

    ¡°Damn that thing is strong,¡± Sam said idly.

    ¡°I made him to be. Okay, what I need is for you to take these panels,¡± I walked over to a large pile in the center of the room, stacked higher than me in a circle around a smaller area. ¡°And set them up along the walls of the main lab. These are sound-absorbing. Very rudimentary, sadly, and only enough to cover the main lab, but easy to install. The last thing I want is people outside getting bothered by all the noise. It¡¯ll be impossible for us to take care of every building right now, but the less we make, the better.

    Sam nodded seriously. ¡°You got it, boss. Anything else?¡±

    ¡°Yes. As I said. After this, no one is allowed to enter this room. I¡¯ll be working here on new ideas and products, so I need absolute privacy. Good?¡±

    ¡°Good. I¡¯ll get the boys on this.¡±

    ¡°Heh. Yeah, get the Boys on it,¡± I chuckled at that. He gave me a look, then shrugged, walking out of the room.

    I smiled, looking over at the large pile of panels. They¡¯d taken hours to make. It was primarily me just mixing chemicals outside, cooling them, cooking them, then remixing them over and over, then pouring them into a mold I¡¯d made with two by fours. Making enough for the main lab had taken up all of my time.

    But now I had soundproof¡­ and x-ray proof panels, lined with zinc specifically for Homelander. Not perfect. They wouldn¡¯t absorb all sound, and I was sure it wasn¡¯t perfect on the ¡®x-ray proof¡¯ side of things if a non-Homelander supe tried to look inside, since I didn¡¯t have everything I needed for that, but it was still a hell of an addition.

    I needed to plan. And I needed privacy for that. So making sure that Homelander couldn¡¯t listen in on me ahead of time was just smart.

    On the list of things that could kill me out of nowhere, Homelander was top of the list. Then Congresswoman Neuman, the exploder of heads, followed by Butcher. The list included others, Stormfront, Black Noir, so on and so forth, but it wasn¡¯t worth going through the entire list.

    Yes, Butcher. The man was a lunatic. And if he decided killing me got him something, he¡¯d find some way to get to me. It didn¡¯t matter that he was a normal human with only basic technology on his side. He¡¯d find a way.

    With that dark thought, I moved over to my computer in the corner and sat down, grinning.

    Week one done. My buildings were getting cleaned out, my tech would be getting made by assembly soon. By the end of week two, I¡¯d have enough for my biggest project.

    I activated my computer, watching as the screen came to life and the camera of my computer saw my face, unlocking itself.

    Three blueprints were displayed there. Internal engines, databanks, false musculature, metallic skeleton.

    I needed allies. Ones that I could actually trust completely. But I couldn¡¯t go out and just tell the future members of the Boys to join me. That was a dumb idea.

    So instead I¡¯d make them myself. Well. Two allies. The last one was more like a¡­ suit, that I would change into.

    I scrolled past a female form and a shorter male one to get to the last. A man, with an overweight and thick build, and a long mustache.

    Eggman was going to have his day.

    ------

    The next week was more work, more designing, more building.

    I put together the basic blueprint for my new RAM and graphics card design, tested them out on motherboards, put together the assembly line, cleaned rooms, made machines to make the various sensitive parts, hired workers and so much more.

    Then, it was time to put the word out. Yeah, I know. Only two weeks to get to selling something like that?

    But to Eggman¡¯s mind, the tech I made was trash. And therefore, easy to design and produce. ASW gave me a list of contacts to sell them to, but I knew who would really want them.

    I sent them to gamers, streamers, tech reviewers. People who would install the tech into their own computers, and find what I already knew. That my tech was not just the best on the market, but the best by a WIDE margin.

    Then they¡¯d see the price. Only a bit over half what even a mid-tier RAM or graphics card was.

    And finally, I slapped some LED¡¯s on that. People love LED¡¯s.

    There was a very nice boom of conversation when people realized just what I¡¯d sent them. Then, what I was selling them. Orders poured in on my website, ivotech.com. I poured that money into more and more RAM and graphics cards.

    Eggman¡¯s tech really was impossible. Technically, the tech I was selling shouldn¡¯t have worked on just any old computer. Something should have gone wrong, the tech was so much more powerful. Imagine taking parts from a modern gaming PC and trying to shove them into the first IBM computers. They just wouldn¡¯t be compatible in any way!

    But Eggman didn¡¯t care. He saw the tech, and then he saw ways to bend it to his will.

    There was something so satisfying about seeing those numbers rise on my board. I barely had enough supply to make up for the demand. We weren¡¯t household names yet of course. But the west building was busy, and getting more advanced the more time went by.

    And as demand grew I would start to expand into CPU''s, hard drives, power supplies, cooling systems and finally rolling out my own line of prebuilt pc''s that could outcompete anything on the market in both price and performance. This would be the bread and butter cash cow of Ivotech for the foreseeable future.

    But it wasn¡¯t my passion. My passion was robotics.

    Of course, robotics isn¡¯t just metal and wires.

    It¡¯s also bacteria.

    ------

    In my main laboratory, I worked daily. I never saw the outside world, never left the ground of Ivo Industries, never spoke to anyone who wasn¡¯t my lawyers or my workers. My only partner was E-Boy, and my only interest was finding out the laws of physics of the Boys-verse.

    Which, you won¡¯t be surprised to learn, were pretty flexible. They had to be, to allow for the things like flying unaided, controlling fire, etc.

    I put together a short digital textbook of my knowledge, typing up everything I could. While I had Eggman¡¯s memory, anything new I learned was on me to memorize.

    It took me three days to get the main gist of that stuff. Enough to figure out what sort of limits I might hit.

    Then I got to work on the next part. Making my allies.

    The main lab was broken up into various rooms using steel, plastic, and fencing. One room was dedicated to my biological experiments. Starting with creating bacteria.

    The idea was simple. Use E.coli bacteria genetically modified by me to create the materials I needed. It was something that in modern technology was still in testing for things like ¡®self-healing¡¯ concrete. For one example, I used a strain of bacteria with an affinity for a polymer I created that would contract and expand based on how much electricity ran through it. A different strain was made for the sensitive material I would need to create sufficient computer systems for my project. So on, and so forth.

    Once I had the right range of materials with the right ¡®affinity¡¯ bacteria for each one, I ¡®fed¡¯ it to the bacteria and placed chemicals in lines along the bottoms of tubs I¡¯d created just for the purpose.

    The bacteria went along those chemicals, then died selflessly for my cause.

    In a matter of time, the tubs were showing results. Soon, I had most of what I needed for my first project to be created.

    I needed an ally in science, first and foremost. And this one would be simplest to make. Simply because he was the smallest.

    ¡°The last time I made a robot,¡± I said to E-Boy, who was watching calmly as I worked. ¡°I was working with but a fraction of my potential genius. Not today. Today, I can unleash my true genius! ...well, 25 percent of it, at least.¡±

    ¡°Scrunch, scrunch.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, my dear boy! Soon, we will have company! MUAHAHAHAHA! YES!¡±

    I slapped a mask onto my face and turned to face a small table. ¡°Time for surgery.¡±

    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    On the table was a skeleton. Made of a titanium alloy I¡¯d come up with, it mimicked human skeletons in a few ways.

    The work was both simple and insanely interesting. Have you ever done something and been impressed with yourself? Because I was. Not in an arrogant way, more like impressed by Eggman.

    Pulling together the material I¡¯d made into strands, I began carefully putting it across the skeleton. The work was precise and quick. Soon the metal skeleton was surrounded by thousands upon thousands of strands of green material woven together into false muscles, giving it the form of a short man with no skin. The muscles were attached to power ports lying at significant parts of the skeleton.

    Once done with that labor-intensive process, I went through the muscles once more, making sure the work was done perfectly.

    ¡°Sadly,¡± I said to E-Boy. ¡°I was unable to perfectly mimic my prior methods for this sort of thing. So instead, I took cues from another fictional setting. A friend of mine in my original universe was a fan of the series Battletech. And I remembered him explaining the way that series explained how their large machines and robots could move with impressive speed. Myomers. And now, my genius has turned sci-fi nonsense and the half-hearted experimentation of lesser men-¡±

    I cut myself off. ¡°I mean, I did it. God, I need to stop monologuing¡­¡±

    With the job done, the next part was the false skin. Made of rubber composite, it would allow my creation to mimic human touch almost exactly, with later updates planned to make the results more realistic.

    I had E-Boy lift the skeleton, too heavy for me to carry even with the lightweight materials it was made of, and place it inside a ¡®bath¡¯ of sorts. The bath had a chemical mixture made to stick to the Myomer. There was also more bacteria within. Once the material attached, the bacteria would dig into it, eating away at it before dying, smoothing out the false skin, and even giving it halfway decent pores and false wrinkles.

    As my creation soaked, I reached in with a pair of rubber gloves into the solution and placed a wire into the base of the skull. The wire went to one of my computers. I threw off the gloves and went over to the computer.

    The software I¡¯d created was slowly uploading. The robot had solid-state drives situated across him, each protected by layers of firewalls. Over 2 petabytes of processing power.

    Just enough to mimic a top-level human mind when applying programming beyond what was known here.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let the sheer number of idiots on the internet fool you,¡± I told E-Boy. ¡°Making a human mind is a fiendishly complex process. And I¡¯m attempting to mimic the mind of a person who is intelligent enough to be of some aid to me. Trying to mimic myself is going to be beyond me for some time¡­ Well, not that long, since I¡¯m smart enough to figure it out, but you know-Wow, just can¡¯t help bragging, can I?¡±

    I pushed that aside. ¡°Regardless. It¡¯s easy to upload knowledge. Any half-assed twit can make a device that can hold movies, textbooks, and the knowledge of how to manipulate chaos energy. The real challenge is processing. I¡¯m not just making an AI. I¡¯m making one that can take a look at the same page of data as I, and come up with ideas based on that! It needs understanding, it needs the ability to make hypotheses I may not. And then, give it a personality, that little bit of flavor!¡±

    I stepped back. ¡°And let it simmer¡­¡±

    The bath in front of me booped as an air bubble left it. E-Boy watched. I watched.

    ¡°...I¡¯m grabbing a bite to eat, this is going to take a few hours.¡±

    I turned and headed to my room, where a bunch of healthy snacks and unhealthy energy drinks lay in wait.

    ------

    Hours passed. I ate. I monitored the progress of the upload. I looked over the musculature as it was covered in slowly forming skin. Then I looked over my other projects. Checked in with Sam and Simmons.

    You¡¯d think I was bored. But really, I was never ¡®bored¡¯ in the same way I once was.

    For one, I had so much to do. Being a genius was intoxicating. Knowledge seemed to soak in. I was always pretty smart, but that was nothing compared to now.

    And of course, Eggman¡¯s memories didn¡¯t just hold knowledge. They also had some cool fucking shit.

    I remembered Sonic the Hedgehog in action. Knuckles the Echidna, Miles ¡®Tails¡¯ Prower, and so many more. I¡¯d even seen Megaman at one point, the Blue Bomber himself.

    Planets had fallen to ruin, vast technological empires stretched out before me, powers of the cosmos battled before my eyes.

    Pretty wild shit.

    So the time passed and I worked.

    Eventually, in the middle of the night, I was back at the bath. My creation was finished. Its skin had come together. Its musculature was responding to the fusion core installed with him (Not the best power source, but the best I could make on short notice). And his software had been completely uploaded.

    ¡°...I¡¯m tempted to scream ¡®It¡¯s alive¡¯ when this finishes,¡± I admitted, at least to myself. Wait, had I made that joke before?

    I watched as the bath began to drain. For a long moment, only the sound of swirling water filled the air.

    Then, a pair of eyes snapped open. Blue eyes made of a ceramic composite with cameras within stared around- No. Enough of that. He was alive in all the ways that mattered. Can¡¯t just keep thinking of him in terms of components.

    He scrambled, eyes widening and closing quickly. He gasped, short arms scratching at the glass, then grabbed the rim of the bathtub, pulling himself up. I kneeled next to him.

    ¡°E-Boy, come help!¡±

    The bot moved over to us, helping me pull the heavy man out of the tub. Once he was out and standing, he staggered.

    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t-¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t talk,¡± I said quickly. I pulled back from the Eggman. He didn¡¯t do ¡®comforting¡¯, not usually anyway.

    ¡°Come on, over here,¡± I pulled him along, ignoring his nude form, and sat him down. ¡°You okay.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes,¡± he stared at me, blue eyes wide. He looked as though he was trying to remember something. I could almost feel him rolling through his programming, figuring things out. ¡°You¡­ you aren¡¯t Robotnik.¡±

    ¡°And you technically aren¡¯t Snively,¡± I told him, smiling as I handed him a towel. ¡°But we take the roles we have to. Don¡¯t we?¡±

    That was more than just a dumb line. It was a codeword, basically telling him who I was.

    He blinked at me. Then he hesitantly started wiping himself down, looking like he was still reeling. ¡°You couldn¡¯t have made me taller?¡±

    ¡°I did. By a full foot and a half. I can make you taller down the road if you want.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it,¡± he said with all the dryness of a desert. He finished drying himself up and sighed. ¡°So. You made me. Does that make you my father?¡±

    ¡°Oh, no. That just feels wrong,¡± I scowled, shaking my head. ¡°Consider me your boss and scientific partner from now on, okay?¡±

    ¡°Boss, hm. What comes with the job? Vacation days?¡±

    ¡°Later on, sure. Right now,¡± I got up and grabbed a pile of clothes off a nearby table, tossing it towards him. He caught it out of the air. ¡°It comes with clothes, a bed, and anything you might need.¡±

    ¡°How generous,¡± he put on a pair of underwear. ¡°And look at that, you even gave me genitals.¡±

    Oh yeah, this really was the Boys universe if it could make a Sonic character say ¡®genitals¡¯. Next Amy Rose would be telling me to fuck off.

    ¡°I¡¯m not cruel enough to Ken Doll you,¡± I sat against a desk, watching as he changed. ¡°You know what we¡¯re in for?¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, I do,¡± he rolled his eyes, putting a shirt on. ¡°Come now, man, I¡¯m no fool. You designed me not to be. We¡¯ll be battling superhumans and we need to create weapons to fight back.¡±

    ¡°For a lot of people to fight back,¡± I corrected him. ¡°Ahti wants us to clean up the world. We can¡¯t do that by ourselves. And creating an army of robots will just end in complications.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re afraid an AI may turn on you?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Wow, talk about a question with layers to it,¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°It is a worry, yes, because I refuse to make anyone who will just follow my orders without question, but I¡¯ll just hope that I¡¯m making AI that are intelligent enough to realize being an evil dick like Ultron is dumb. But I¡¯m more worried about the way people will think. An army of robots under my command? That¡¯s not going to end in anything but an army of supes coming after me in turn.¡±

    ¡°True,¡± he put a labcoat on, then stopped on the final piece of clothing, looking over at me. ¡°...A false beard?¡±

    ¡°One of my memories of you showed you with a beard. I thought the glasses might help the look.¡±

    He hummed thoughtfully, placing the beard on, its materials attaching to his face. ¡°Well, Mr. Julian Ivo. I can find no reason not to work with you. My only question is if you¡¯ve built me an identity.¡±

    ¡°Most of one. Fellow MIT kid, bit of an alcoholic-¡±

    ¡°Oh, great,¡± he said sarcastically.

    ¡°You needed some bad history. It¡¯s why Ahti gave me an arrest for drug use in my teen years,¡± I pointed out. ¡°There¡¯s just one thing. I wanted you to choose your own name.¡±

    He froze. Then he pursed his lips. ¡°Hm¡­ I don¡¯t want to be called ¡®Snively¡¯ to be honest. That name lacks a sense of elegance to it.¡±

    ¡°Agreed,¡± I said, though I didn¡¯t say anything else.

    He stood to his full height. Four feet tall, bald head, large nose, blue eyes, and a brown beard. He wore a suit and lab coat sized for him, as well as a pair of sturdy boots. He hummed.

    ¡°Colin Kintober,¡± he said at last. ¡°That was the real name of my human self. I¡¯ll take it for myself as well.¡±

    ¡°...Dude, our names are so damn pretentious,¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°Julian. Colin. Remind me not to name Metal Sonic ¡®Quentin¡¯, or ¡®Xerxes¡¯.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure that won¡¯t be a problem,¡± Colin snarked. ¡°Now. What¡¯s next?¡±

    ¡°Next is simple,¡± I turned and began walking. ¡°We have you and me as our science team. Now I need to make a business manager. We¡¯re recreating Mecha Robotnik. She¡¯ll be needed.¡±

    ¡°What fun,¡± Colin said with real relish. ¡°And after that?¡±

    ¡°We meet with the United States Military. And show them a portion of our real power.¡±

 4: T-X Aint Shit

    Chapter 4

    In the Sonic Universe, Colin Kintober Jr., aka Snively Robotnik, was the nephew of Dr. Ivo Robotnik (formerly Julian Kintobor). A super-genius good enough to even challenge Eggman, though not really. Still, while he was not as smart as his uncle, he was a devious genius who could make some of the most incredible technology in existence when he applied himself.

    The version I''d made was better though.

    Colin Kintober was almost as smart as I was, by design. And I cheated by having Eggman''s brain in my head.

    So it didn''t surprise me when his first thought when he saw my plans for selling computers was-

    "Boring," he scowled, staring out at the computer factory. We stood on a catwalk above the assembly lines below, watching as various bits and bobs were created. "We''ll just be designing and building computer parts? I assumed we would be making something interesting, Julian."

    "You really think that you''ll have anything to do with this?" I snarked. "I can handle the more generic technology just fine. Even my crappiest designs will be more than enough for this. I''m simply showing you where our initial profit will come from."

    Colin looked a little annoyed. "As much sense as that makes, I''m eager to look into creating something concrete."

    "We will. Come, this way."

    I turned and walked off, forcing Colin to follow. "Our next creation is simple enough. But what we really need is building blocks."

    "Creating the materials that will allow us to create more materials," Colin agreed. "I assume we will be working on mining as well? According to your notes, many of our necessary materials are going to be a chore to purchase."

    "Creating some way to dig through the earth quickly and farm materials, yes, fortunately our janitorial benefactor already saw fit to provide us with the permits for such on my private island." I explained as I led him into the robotics laboratory.

    Inside, workers were putting together a single robot. The first of a new line. One of the men nodded to me seriously as we passed, then did a double-take at the sight of Colin.

    "Hey, boss. Who is this guy?" the worker asked.

    "My new head of R&D," I said, drawing the attention of the others. "He''s a fellow MIT grad and a good friend."

    "Another egghead," one of the men said, drawing an identical huff of amusement from myself and Colin.

    "You could say that. How goes the build?"

    "Pretty well," one other man said, chuckling. "Gotta say, when you said we were building robots, I didn''t expect you to start with a mini-Gundam."

    "Please. Gundams are for next month, after the Armored Cores," I snarked.

    "Armored-What?" another worker said, looking confused. "The hell is a Gundam?"

    I almost fired him right then. Joking. Sort of.

    "Carry on gentlemen, you''ve got lunch in twenty."

    We walked off, the workers going back to assembling the new creation.

    "I must admit, I expected something more eclectic," Colin said as he eyed the massive armored tank of a robot being created.

    "Like a Moto Bug?" I asked jokingly.

    "I''m partial to the Egg Pawn myself," Colin said back, before frowning. "Strange, having a repository of knowledge and no memory of how I gained it. Or is that normal, for someone like me?"

    I looked back at him. "Do you¡­ want me to build experiences for you? Give you memories of researching things, to give ties to the knowledge?"

    "That would be appreciated," Colin said, his face unreadable.

    We entered a back room, where a series of blueprints rested.

    "So. We''ll be making Mecha Robotnik?" Colin asked, the man''s beard twitching in thought. "Will she be as combat capable as before?"

    "She''ll need to be," I said with a sigh. "Usually, I wouldn''t go for that, since she only needs to be dangerous to business and lawyer-types. But in a world where any pissed-off supe will rip you in half or freeze your dick off, she needs to be strong. Even you have greater than human strength thanks to your myomer build."

    "Which brings me to my next question," Colin narrowed his eyes. "Will you continue in this human body?"

    I froze. "...What do you mean?"

    "At some point, when the technology comes, you will be able to upload your full consciousness to a new body. Will you be working towards that? Because as of now, you are the most vulnerable part of your organization," Colin pointed out ruthlessly. "Anything goes wrong, an experiment explodes or turns on you, a supe attack, even a slip and fall. And all our work goes to waste."

    "I know that."

    "And yet, despite all of your work, I see no attempts to improve your own body," Colin looked over the blueprints. "No plans for cybernetic implants, no replacement organs, no attempt to replace your own musculature and skeletal structure."

    "I don''t need any of that," I scowled. "I''ll stick with force fields and other tech for protection. Leave the brain uploading for later. Besides, the best way to protect myself is to never put my body in danger. Thus, our third project."

    "Hm," Colin stroked his beard. "I see¡­ Well. I still think you should prepare a worst-case scenario."

    "Forgive me for being uneager to lose my body," I said sarcastically. "Fine, I''ll begin working on something. For now¡­ God, I hate the idea, but we can set something up using this project."

    Colin nodded. "Well then, Julian. I suppose we should get to work, shall we?"

    "Get to work might as well be my catchphrase by now," I said with a chuckle. "Yes. Let''s get this finished."

    ------

    Colin and I spent more time on our new creation than I had on Colin himself. But that made sense. This new body had more ''tools'' inside of it. Plus, she was bigger.

    Part of my work was very simple. I asked Mr. Addams for help.

    ------

    "Brain scans?" Addams asked, looking intrigued. "I was wondering when you would come to us about that, but I wasn''t expecting you to ask for ASW to be your second batch of subjects.

    "Yes. I''d like to ask for volunteers among your team," I explained. "Part of my research is into developing AI," I said as though I hadn''t already succeeded. "I don''t want to scan anyone who isn''t willing, but I did develop this," I placed something on his desk that looked like a VR headset. Oh yeah, I should make those at some point. Thought for later.

    "So one simply places this on their head and it will scan their minds?" Addams asked, looking intrigued. Rather than uncomfortable, which is what I expected. "Hm."

    He placed it on his head, surprising the hell out of me. "Mr. Addams!"

    "What?" he said, looking at me with a smile. "You have tested this thoroughly, yes?"

    "For days, over and over. Still though-"

    "Oh, I''m sure it will be fine," the headset he was wearing beeped softly. "Now. How goes your robotics project?"

    "Excellently," I hid my befuddlement at him as best as I could. "We have a viable product ready to show. I''m still working on my weaponry division as well, but that should be done soon."

    "...How long ago did we meet, Mr. Ivo?" Addams asked as the headset beeped.

    "...Two and a half weeks ago or so?"

    "Two and a half weeks¡­ And you''ve created a fully functioning robot for battle. Something mankind has been working on for decades. I''ve seen the first designs. You''re ahead of the game in ways that border on godlike. I have to wonder just where you are getting such knowledge."

    I leaned back, eyeing him. "I could say that it just comes with my genius, Mr. Addams. But do you think I spent all that time travelling the world twiddling my thumbs?"

    "I''m sure you didn''t¡­ I''ll reach out to those who work for me. We''ll get you your volunteers."

    I hid a sigh of relief. Good.

    Soon enough, I''d have my perfect business partner to go along with my perfect research partner.

    ------

    Colin was the one who made me realize my mistake with him. Knowledge without the memory and experience that came with it would make it hard for my new creation to do her job.

    So I stole the experience.

    My brain-scan device was created by Colin while I was building the new android body. With scans of dozens of lawyers, businessmen, and more, I had the experience I needed.

    After that, it was all down to editing.

    To tell the truth, almost every aspect of creating things made me feel like I was constantly running pong using an Iron Man suit. Using insane works of genius, only to be forced to use it for things that were FAR beneath them. I kept coming up with amazing creations, only to be forced to hold back and make something lesser because I hadn''t created the base components just yet.

    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    With that said, Mecha Robotnik would be one of my best creations next to Colin.

    We put her together and prepared the upload of her software over the course of several days. Her memories were compiled using as many good ones as I could pull, with a focus on a combination of ruthlessness and morals.

    Yes, those two things can exist together.

    I also made sure she was clothed when she would wake up.

    I made her, so I did see her naked, but I wasn''t going to make her wake up to see two guys staring at her naked. She was my business partner, not a sexbot.

    With everything prepped, Colin and I got ready for her to wake.

    ------

    We stood in front of a table, watching our new creation slowly wake up.

    "Was it like this when I woke?" Colin asked me as we watched the woman before us shift and move.

    "No, you were a bit more whiny," I joked.

    "Couldn''t help it, your face was the first I ever saw."

    Ouch.

    "I-" the woman winced, slowly forcing herself to stand. She looked around at us, eyes widening. "I''m¡­ I don''t know what I''m supposed to-"

    I moved forward, cutting her off, and kneeled a bit to meet her eye level. "Just breathe. Relax."

    "I don''t need oxygen," she said, slightly robotically.

    "Breathe anyways," I said, hiding my happiness a bit.

    Two. I made two androids! Not bad for a guy who barely knew his way around a screwdriver a while back.

    She did as I asked, and I looked her over. She looked just like Eggman remembered her.

    A creation he''d made later on in his career, Mecha Robotnik, AKA ''M'', was a female bodyguard of sorts. He treated her almost as a daughter, and she acted with insane loyalty towards him¡­ but Eggman was fooled into thinking she betrayed him. At a time when he was becoming enveloped in a paranoid rage. So he told her to self-destruct. And the ever loyal M did so. Then Eggman deleted all her backups, completely erasing any chance of her coming back.

    She was also a badass who beat the living hell out of Sonic. Archie Sonic, an absolute unit above the other Sonics.

    Loyal, badass, intelligent. She was caucasian in appearance, with short brown hair, a lithe and muscular build, seeming to be around 25-30 years of age. Her eyes were green flecked with blue, and she was wearing a simple business suit.

    "You made me," she said, eyeing me carefully. "Julian Ivo. Formerly-"

    I held up a finger, cutting her off. "Menneen talven lumia, my girl. The snow of the past winter. Focus on what''s next."

    She frowned but nodded. "Very well. Julian Ivo," she looked over at Colin, but before he could speak, she looked back at me. "Who¡­ what is my name?"

    "That''s up to you," I held a hand out. She took it slowly, and I helped her up off the table. She balanced easily on her sneakers because fuck you if you think I''m going to make her wear high heels as her first pair of shoes. "Colin picked his name. How about you? Cause you might get some looks if you call yourself ''Mecha Robotnik''."

    "Oh, I don''t know, just pretend it''s foreign and Americans will accept anything," Colin said dismissively.

    "Colin, you were literally made in America."

    "Untrue. Many of my components are Korean after all."

    I scoffed but looked back at the young woman we''d created.

    "...I can choose anything?" she looked over at Colin. "How did you choose?"

    He looked startled, then thoughtful. "Oh. You see, when I was choosing I¡­ wanted a name that would remind me of my purpose. What I wanted for the future."

    That threw me for a loop. Okay, so then, why did he choose the name of a guy who tried to betray the OG Eggman?

    "What I want for the future¡­" she looked at me. I felt a bit of nervousness at the intense look in her eyes. Maybe because it made me uncomfortable. Or because I''d installed the laser eyes currently staring at me. "That makes some sense. Very well. I''ve chosen a name."

    "Okay, what do you got?"

    "Mechelle Ivo."

    "Michelle?"

    "No. Mechelle. With an ''e'' instead of an ''i''."

    "..."

    Colin looked over at me, hiding a smile.

    "Is that a bad name?"

    "Not at all. It works. Just, you know. Julian. Colin. Mechelle with an ''e'' at the beginning."

    She cocked her head to the side. "I''m not sure what you mean."

    I decided to just let the continued theming of our pretentious names be a thing. Maybe I really would name Metal Sonic, ''Xerxes''...

    "Well, one question. Do you really want to have the same last name as me?"

    "Yes."

    The word came out so firmly I was surprised. "Why?"

    "I don''t wish to say."

    "Oh. W-Well, all right?"

    I''d done my best when designing her to make her as loyal as the original. Was that why she wanted the same last name as me? Some sense of family relation?

    "Well. Mechelle. Colin. I''m glad to work with you both. You guys ready to start kicking ass?"

    "Quite literally made for it," Mechelle said seriously.

    "Ha! Good one," Colin chuckled.

    "It wasn''t a joke. Part of my self-defense programming does allow for-"

    "I''m fairly certain we designed you with more personality than this," Colin said with a frown.

    "We are not conducting business with others. I am being ''myself''."

    "Yourself is deadpan and robotic?"

    "I think it suits me¡­ much like your height suits you."

    "WHY YOU-!?"

    ------

    I walked into my room later that night, feeling satisfied. Two badass androids I could trust. Trust fully. I''d had to build a friend to be able to share my secrets with, but at least mine were sophisticated androids and not a volleyball with a bloody handprint on it.

    I sat down at my desk and sighed. Someone passed me an energy drink. I took a hold of the drink and took a large sip, placing the fizzy drink on a coaster that had been placed for me.

    "Feel better, ja?"

    "Much bet-GAH!"

    I swung around, scrambling to my feet.

    Ahti chuckled in amusement, walking around the desk and sweeping as he went.

    "Hello, Ivo. Well done. I thought you would be loppua kuin kananlento."

    I ran through my Finnish. I thought I might meet him again, if not this soon, so I learned Finnish as best as I could.

    "End like the flight of a chicken?"

    His eyes lit up a bit and he smiled just a smidge wider. "Yes, yes. Good job. I have made a task board for you, here."

    He pointed at a wall to our left. On the wall hung an old cork board with a single piece of paper resting there. It hadn''t been there before. "I have a task. For you."

    "Does it involve going home?" I asked sarcastically.

    "Ahhh, but you are home, Mr. Ivo," he said, chuckling as he walked towards the door. For a moment, I wanted to hit him. He chuckled. "Now, now, now. Bark won''t make a wound. It''s all for the cleaning job. You did good. I even left you a present," he nodded towards my desk, where an old walkman rested. I stared at it before looking up again.

    He was gone. For a moment, a sense of¡­ water. Of cool and soothing water across my mind. With words echoing with them like ripples on a lake.

    "And you finish that second set of pants you are making for yourself lad. You never know when you might need an extra pair."

    Then he was gone. I scrambled to my feet, moving over to the task board and pulling off the paper there.

    "...I was already going to do this, you crazy old man," I mumbled to myself, folding up the paper. Damnit. That was gonna complicate things.

    I walked back to the Walkman while folding up the paper. I picked it up and placed the headphones on, grumbling to myself.

    "One day I need to make something that can catch him. Just so that I can ask some questions on¡­ what the hell?"

    The music playing on the Walkman was¡­ familiar. Very familiar. A very techno kind of beat.

    Aboard the ARK, a genius at heart

    Wanting to unlock the mysteries of life

    I am the Eggman-

    "Good lord, really!?" I said, rolling my eyes as E.G.G.M.A.N. by Paul Shortino continued to play. I hesitated, staring at the Walkman.

    "...Take Control better be on this thing as well," I grumbled.

    Then I sat down and started typing, bobbing my head.

 5: A Bit Violent

    About a week after her ¡®birth¡¯, Mechelle was speaking with Destiny Simmons, one of the lawyers that had been helping me for a long while.

    They were in my office as I walked in, laughing. I walked over with a tray of coffee for them.

    I¡¯d been doing stuff like that a little. Small acts of generosity I didn¡¯t need to do. The last thing I wanted was to let the Eggman memories change me entirely. So anytime a thought like ¡®they might want coffee¡¯ hit me, I went out of my way to fulfill it.

    Which was probably inherently selfish, only doing good things to hold onto my former self as I changed into someone else. But it was the best I had.

    Julian Ivo was just as smart as Robotnik. But he wouldn¡¯t make his mistakes. I had the memories of a more humble man, and a Robotnik who had been fighting against Sonic and his friends for decades. I needed to hold onto that.

    So yeah, I gave the ladies coffee.

    ¡°Julian, how could you have hidden Mechelle from me for so long?¡± Destiny asked me as I handed her a latte. She was chuckling a bit as she spoke. ¡°She¡¯s an absolute delight.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you know my cousin, he¡¯s such a secretive type,¡± Mechelle said brightly. ¡°But really, I think he just wanted to make sure he had his business in full swing. He was like that when we were kids. Never showed off an experiment unless he knew it was working. Though it still blew up in my face a time or two.¡±

    ¡°It was a volcano, it was supposed to blow up,¡± I grumbled.

    ¡°I can¡¯t imagine you as a kid,¡± Destiny said, watching as I sat. ¡°You act like such an old man sometimes.¡±

    ¡°Oh, believe me, I can be quite childish,¡± I chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s why my business is starting off with the PC gaming industry. That said¡­¡±

    Destiny¡¯s smile faded, and she nodded seriously. ¡°Yes. Well, I¡¯ve had word with some of our contacts in the military, and they are still agreeing to come tomorrow as you requested, especially after meeting Mechelle.¡±

    The last was said with a wide smile at my ¡®cousin¡¯, who looked pleased.

    Mechelle had been hard at work since her creation. I had given her just as much authority as Colin had, but in a different direction. He was my Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer (COO and CTO), and Mechelle was my Chief Financial Officer and Chief Marketing Officer (CFO and CMO) both loaded with a few degrees from relevant colleges. I was President of IvoTech.

    Mechelle, in her new role, hired a large cast of people under her, focusing on marketing our products to the public. She also spoke directly to the military types we were prepping to sell to.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be ready, Destiny,¡± Mechelle said confidently. ¡°I¡¯m sure Julian¡¯s creations will blow them out of the water.¡±

    ¡°I have no doubt about that,¡± Destiny said, looking over at me. ¡°Just be ready to have the men who come try anything and everything to make you look bad. I tried my best, but one or two of the generals very explicitly ¡®do not have financial ties to certain weapons manufacturers who supply them hookers.¡¯¡±

    ¡°Always nice to know you can trust governments to be as corrupt as possible,¡± I snarked. ¡°Still, I have no problems with dealing with morons. My technology will stand for itself. I guarantee you that it will be a hell of a show.¡±

    ------

    The next day, I stood outside on our training range with Mechelle and Colin. Formerly a track to test cars on, it currently had a series of targets down range from us made of gelatin, as well as two pig carcasses hanging on ropes. There were also some large pieces of armor plating and brick walls. Next to us was a table holding a variety of objects. Aside from this there were also a few ¡°random¡± items scattered about the remaining road track.

    The three of us stood watching a group of generals and a small security unit of soldiers walk up with Destiny Simmons at the head of them. Four older looking men, wearing their formal uniforms, representing the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines, leading a group of very tough and young looking men and women carrying guns. I looked over at Colin.

    ¡°You ready for your part?¡±

    ¡°Yeeees,¡± Colin said with some relish, a wide smile stretching his face. He walked off at a quick pace, entering a large warehouse recently built on our training range.

    ¡°Well, he doesn¡¯t lack for eagerness,¡± I mused to myself, watching him disappear into the large warehouse before turning to Mechelle. ¡°How about you?¡±

    ¡°I am ready to serve as needed,¡± she said, her eyes never leaving me. Same as always.

    God. That weird subservience of hers. I¡¯d added a strong sense of loyalty to her programming, but not unless it was deserved, and not to this level of¡­ It was unnerving and worrying. I wanted her to be her own person.

    Then everyone got close enough. Mechelle transformed in an instant. Her eyes came alight. Her stance loosened up, becoming more open and inviting. She smiled with her whole face, highlighting the beauty I had given her, while still having just enough imperfections to keep her from being ¡®uncanny valley¡¯.

    I hid my thoughts as best as I could. I¡¯d made Colin and Mechelle. So why did they confuse me so much sometimes?

    ¡°Gentlemen,¡± Destiny said as she joined us. ¡°Dr. Julian Ivo, the President of IvoTech, and Mechelle Ivo, his CFO. This is General Nathan Bradley, US Army, Lieutenant William Renquist, Air Force-¡±

    I let the names roll past, listening closely and filing them one by one until Destiny finished, then holding out my hand for them. ¡°Pleasure to meet you all.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure it is,¡± General Bradley said with some skepticism. ¡°You¡¯re the one with all the fancy tech.¡±

    I could see that he and his fellow hard bitten soldier types weren¡¯t exactly on board with what I was selling. I couldn¡¯t blame them. I was promising a lot for a VERY good price. And they hadn¡¯t seen more than some basic mock-ups.

    ¡°I am indeed,¡± I told him, not minding the look on their faces.

    ¡°And I¡¯m the one who keeps him afloat,¡± Mechelle said with a smile, walking up to shake his hand as well. ¡°It¡¯s good to meet you, sir. I hope we¡¯ll be able to show how much we can help our boys get home safe.¡±

    Bradley looked at Mechelle. I guess he was trying to find some sort of lie in her eyes, checking if she was a snake-oil salesman. Instead, he seemed to warm. Like a grandfather meeting a treasured grandchild.

    ¡°Well uh¡­ we¡¯ll see, all right?¡±

    Mechelle looked like she¡¯d been promised a pony, and Bradley smiled just a bit.

    ¡°Mechelle is quite right,¡± I told the group of soldiers. ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking. ¡®He¡¯s just an idiot scientist here to talk to us about expensive science pipe dreams¡¯. I¡¯d like to say I¡¯m different from everyone who has come to you with these sorts of promises, but that¡¯s a waste of air. So how about I let you grab a gun and practice with it?¡±

    I turned and pointed at the weapons behind me. ¡°These are my first line of products. I know it¡¯s tradition to give them letters and numbers for a name, so I¡¯ll call them the IM-01s. Named for myself and my wonderful cousin.¡±

    I picked one of them up, taking care to point the barrel at the ground. It was shaped like a gun from my memories, a rifle commonly in use by the soldiers of GUN. It didn¡¯t help them against me, but my version was better anyways. It was a smooth and well-lined device, made with an especially strong plastic I¡¯d made myself, with an optional scope lying on the table. The one the private was holding was mostly black and white.

    ¡°She¡¯s something of a lesson from rifles of the past. We all know what a good gun needs. Simplicity. Don¡¯t shove a bunch of random hardware into it, don¡¯t try and give it super-special bullets. Just make something that works every time you pull the trigger. It needs to put bullets downrange as fast, accurately, and with as much power as possible.

    ¡°Thus, the IM-01 fires the good old standard 5.56 rounds. But it fires them with almost no recoil, has reduced barrel friction and special rifling for increased bullet velocity and accuracy, an improved cycling mechanism for increased rate of fire, rugged construction capable of handling extended magazines and varying cartidge pressure, ambidextrous design and it¡¯s more lightweight than any other gun on the market, and is made with so few moving parts that even the most idiotic man in the world can repair and clean it in the field.¡±

    I handed it to one of the privates standing there. When he looked at General Bradley, the older man nodded, and the private shouldered his own weapon to grab the IM01.

    ¡°Take a shot at the pig downrange,¡± I said. ¡°Aim for as small a target as you can. Got it?¡±

    ¡°You sure?¡± the guy asked skeptically, lifting the gun in hands. ¡°It¡¯s pretty far. I ain¡¯t exactly a sniper.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to be.¡±

    ¡°Just shoot the damn pig, Johnson,¡± one of the men, a Sergeant in the Marines, said with a bit of annoyance. ¡°And call your shot.¡±

    The private shrugged, lifted it up. ¡°All right. Aiming for it¡¯s eye.¡±

    Wow, he must have really been skeptical it would work, aiming for a target that small.

    He pulled the trigger. And with the slightest movement of the rifle and a bang a bullet smacked into the pigs forehead. And blew through it with ease, piercing the flesh nice and cleanly. The pig swung gently back and forth.

    ¡°Holy shit,¡± the private said, sounding mildly shocked. He looked back at us. General Bradley was frowning thoughtfully. ¡°Sir, should I-¡±

    ¡°Yeah, hit the gelatin next.¡±

    ¡°You want to have a few more of your people try?¡±

    ¡°What the hell. Samson, Vasquez!¡±

    The two soldiers, one a tall built white man, the other a more petite and muscular Latina woman, stepped forward and grabbed the guns on the table.

    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Vasquez asked, holding up a shotgun.

    ¡°The IM-02, because I wasn¡¯t allowed to call it the ¡®Devastator¡¯,¡± I said.

    ¡°Marketing says letters and numbers work better,¡± Mechelle said.

    ¡°Anyways, I planned on making a shotgun that had no recoil, but that¡¯s for down the road. I don¡¯t want to make something that forces soldiers to relearn everything about guns. So this will have just enough kick to feel familiar, without being annoying. I would say I managed to reduce it by about 70% give or take. Semi-auto shotgun, and will actually take a conventional magazine without problems. Rugged as hell, accurate as hell, and light as hell.¡±

    Vasquez frowned. Then she put the stock to her shoulder and aimed at one of the ballistic gel targets shaped like a person. She fired once, twice, over and over, until she¡¯d emptied the magazine entirely. By the time she was done, the former ballistic being was torn to pieces.

    ¡°Ohhhh. Mama like,¡± Vasquez said with a grin.

    ¡°Go ahead and reload, I got enough ammo to play with,¡± I said with a chuckle.

    ¡°How about this?¡± Samson said, looking more excited than before, holding up his own rifle for me to see.

    ¡°A 7.62mm marksman rifle,¡± Samson aimed the gun. ¡°Made for the times you can¡¯t be arsed to walk any closer to someone.

    He lifted the gun to his shoulder and started firing, aiming for the eyes of the ballistic targets. After shooting those out, he aimed at the holes he¡¯d made as well, shooting as quickly as he could until he ran out of ammo, then reloaded.

    ¡°I¡¯d like you to notice, gentleman, the Ivo goal of simplicity. Make things that work. Reload smooth, fire smooth, and hit whatever you aim at. Now, try this.¡±

    I handed Samson another rifle, this one with blue tape on the magazine. ¡°Armor piercing rounds.¡±

    Stepping back I pointed downrange towards a large piece of metal erected in the distance.

    ¡°Now, take a look at that armor plating. Same type used in many older light armored vehicles. You ever watch Police Academy?¡±

    Samson grinned, lifting the gun. Firing as fast as he could pull the trigger, he released a hail of bullets down range. When he was done, he lifted the gun with a grin.

    A near identical grin was etched into the piece of armor across the way.

    Private Johnson was pouring bullets into a brick wall, and Private Vasquez ripped into the rest of the pig.

    ¡°They¡¯re much quieter than I expected,¡± Bradley said, watching the carnage. ¡°How do they feel, Johnson?¡±

    ¡°Like a dream, sir,¡± he said, reloading with ease and grinning at us. ¡°Too bad we won¡¯t be using these for a while. They must be expensive as hell.¡±

    ¡°They cost as much to make as the standard model currently being made and manufactured by your suppliers,¡± I said mercilessly.

    Bernard¡¯s eyes widened, and one of the military brass let out a whistle.

    ¡°Of course, we could be talked into a discount,¡± Mechelle said with a small chuckle. ¡°Depending on the contract we make.¡±

    ¡°Now hold on,¡± a man in an Air Force uniform said, looking annoyed. John Chambers. He had a few ¡®under the table¡¯ dealing with various weapons manufacturers, but was also a hard-headed sort in general. ¡°You make a few prototypes and you¡¯re already talking about selling these? How do we know they won¡¯t simply shatter apart the first time they get into a real weapons test? We¡¯re supposed to look at three guns-¡±

    He stopped when the workers came up. Six large burly types. Pushing a rack of weapons, with 30 guns shining in the light. A redhead named Ella gave me a grin.

    ¡°Got your guns boss.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Ella,¡± I grinned at John Chambers. ¡°You want a real weapons test? Go right ahead. Smash them into the ground, shove dirt into them, cover them in literal feces. And these aren¡¯t prototypes, Mr. Chambers. I have a full line of them ready to go. I¡¯ll make better models one day, but right now these are top-of-the-line. As well as this.¡±

    I took a large handgun off the rack, one of many. ¡°The IM-04. Now, this isn¡¯t a true replacement for the current handguns on the market. What it has, is the ultimate in soundproofing technology.¡±

    One of the soldiers took it from me. Then he started firing. And while the gun wasn¡¯t exactly whisper-quiet, it certainly didn¡¯t hit 95 DBS. Quieter than even the 136 DB Maxim 9.

    Then I stepped forward. John Chambers was taller than me. Built like an old soldier. And he seemed to shrink at my approach.

    ¡°I would also appreciate it if you wouldn¡¯t question my skills. Like I said. I know the type you¡¯ve been dealing with. And I am not them. Do you understand, Mr. Chambers, the type of man<u> you are dealing with?¡±</u>

    The last was said with more heat than I expected. Because John Chambers backed away from me. There was a dark satisfaction in me, as I watched a lesser being falter. I could see the sweat on his brow, a momentary shiver before he brought himself back.

    Then it was gone. And I turned around, hiding how uncomfortable I was. Mechelle met my eyes. I looked away first, looking back at the soldiers.

    The various soldiers moved to grab their own guns as their commanding officers walked through it. John Chambers gave me a wide-eyed look, then walked over to join the others.

    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    I walked over to join them. ¡°Now. Gentlemen. These current weapons are impressive. But I saved something else for last. Something I think you will find¡­ interesting. My Chief Technology Officer, Colin Kintobor, is in that warehouse in my... expensive science pipe dream, I guess we¡¯ll call it.¡±

    ¡°That must be my cue.¡±

    The ground shook. The soldiers around us snapped their weapons upwards. Mechelle and Destiny watched calmly as the doors of the warehouse slid open silently on oiled hinges.

    ¡°Boom. Boom.¡±

    The echo of footsteps, grinding gears, and twisting servos filled the air. Colin and I agreed. Making the first entrance loud and impressive was much more important than showing how quiet it could be.

    ¡°Standing five meters and fifty one centimeters tall, with green painted carbon-fiber and steel structure, a cockpit of transparent aluminum, with my patented synthetic myomers, thank you for that Mrs. Simmons,¡± she gave a proud nod. ¡°Acting as musculature within the machine, giving it a speed and fluid movement unmatched in the field of robotics.¡±

    I grinned widely as all the brass seemed to drop their collective jaws. The machine in question was bipedal, it¡¯s armored feet like the talons of a massive hawk. It¡¯s ¡®torso¡¯ was shaped like that of a military aircraft, the emblem of an ¡®IV¡¯ shining on the side. A pair of massive box-shaped missile launchers sat on its shoulders. And inside, Colin could be seen grinning like a madman, a red scanner visor over his left eye.

    ¡°The F-6t ¡®Big Foot¡¯ - Ground Air Combat Walker. Show them what you got, Colin!¡±

    At my call, the android super-genius laughed. ¡°Yes! I will show them what I¡¯ve got indeed!¡±

    The massive machine spun on its heel. And started running. ¡°Now, the problem with most current bipedal models, theoretical as they are, made by my competitors is a lack of speed, strength and power. Let¡¯s see how the Big Foot moves.¡±

    ¡°Jesus Christ,¡± one woman mumbled as Big Foot twisted around and started sprinting. It jumped over a knee height obstacle, then did a much larger jump over an average height wall, before hopping sideways to get around a pillar, all in smooth and quick moves.

    That was where the ridiculousness lay. An immense amount of power was flowing through the Big Foot, feeding electricity to myomer inside him. It made it a very quick robot. As well as a powerful one.

    Another wall blocked it. Rather than try to jump around it, the Big Foot smashed through the wall and kept going with only a bit of scratched paint to show for it.

    ¡°Gentlemen. Could you please fire at Colin?¡± I asked the group. ¡°Use whatever you wish.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ is that safe?¡± a man in Navy blues asked.

    ¡°Oh, entirely.¡±

    Still hesitant, one woman put down one of the IM-01¡¯s and lifted her own rifle, firing.

    The bullets bounced off the robot. Colin laughed inside the cockpit. ¡°More! Show me more!¡±

    ¡°You heard the man,¡± Bradley said.

    The soldiers lifted up guns, including some of the IMs. Firing quickly, the bullets smacked across the Big Foot. Colin stood still for a moment, allowing them to shoot the main body, the transparent aluminum cockpit, and the legs.

    When they finished, they had made a mess of the paint job but inflicted no other real damage.

    Then I held up a hand. ¡°Okay. Now. It¡¯s fast. It can handle an entire fireteam of bullets thanks to being at least as well armored as any main battle tank you care to name while being even faster and more maneuverable. And it can be piloted by a single man,¡± I saw that realization spread. Piloted by one man. Instead of an entire tank crew.

    We let that sit before Mechelle spoke. As she did, workers wheeled out more ballistic gel targets, putting them downwind of us. ¡°But how much damage can it do besides just squishing combatants under its feet?¡±

    ¡°A fantastic question. Colin?¡±

    ¡°Ohhhh, yes!¡±

    He spun around, aiming at the new targets. Thankfully long after my employees were well behind some ballistic shields with us.

    ¡°These are also for sale, by the way,¡± Mechelle pointed out as we went behind the large square transparent walls. ¡°Made of the same aluminum as our cockpits.¡±

    ¡°Sweetie, time and a place.¡±

    ¡°Yes sir,¡± she said with a chuckle.

    Colin piloted the mech closer to the targets. On the front of it, just under the nose, a large set of barrels began spinning quickly.

    ¡°Standard M61 Vulcan cannon derivative,¡± I explained.

    Colin unleashed hell. The vulcan cannon unleashed hell down wind, ripping through the remains of the pigs, then tearing into a ballistic gel form, sending false organs exploding apart. He walked around as he fired, moving back, forth, side to side, quickly, then slowly. It wasn¡¯t just random. It was to show how accurately it could fire while on the move, how it easily handled the recoil.

    Then the missile pods on the mech¡¯s shoulders opened up.

    ¡°I was unable to obtain any AGM-176 Griffins obviously, so I made mockups. But the launchers are made for it.¡±

    The missile pods unleashed hell. I turned my back on the explosions to face the group of military men, smiling confidently. ¡°I know, it¡¯s not the best I could give you. But hopefully this humble first showing lets you know what we¡¯re capable of. And if you want to make sure we aren¡¯t just blowing smoke, then you are free to test all of our equipment extensively.¡±

    ¡°WAHAHAHA! YES! PERISH BEFORE ME YOU CRETINS! NO TARGET STANDS!¡± Colin roared happily as he continued to unleash hell, the last of his missiles exploding.

    "Excuse Colin, gentlemen. He is quite excitable,¡± I nodded to Mechelle, who nodded.

    ¡°By the way, gentlemen,¡± she said, drawing their attention. ¡°I¡¯m sure you all want to test these yourselves. So Ivotech is allowing you to take all of these home, free of charge. Including the Big Foot.¡±

    Stunned silence followed her words.

    All in all, I¡¯d say it was a pretty good presentation.

    ------

    Afterward, Simmons took us out for drinks. We went to a bar downtown together, sitting down with Colin, Mechelle, and E-Boy, who sat in a corner watching over us.

    ¡°I¡¯m not really comfortable here,¡± I told Simmons as we waited for our drinks.

    ¡°Oh, come on, be more excited!¡± she said, looking proud as hell. ¡°You guys just blew it out of the park. I mean, I knew that was going to go well, but I never imagined you guys would do¡­ I mean, that!¡±

    ¡°I explained quite clearly what my goal is, Mrs. Simmons,¡± I said with a smirk. ¡°Today wasn¡¯t some grand breakthrough to us. It¡¯s the slow start before we show what we can really do, our steps onto the stage of-¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m not drunk enough for this,¡± Simmons looked up, waving her hand. ¡°Oy, hurry up please!¡±

    Well¡­

    As I sat there miffed, Mechelle patted my back. ¡°It¡¯s okay, cous. We still did really well.¡±

    ¡°I still say you shouldn¡¯t have offered such a big discount,¡± Colin said with a bit of annoyance. ¡°Those weapons are worth ten-fold what we promised to sell the first batch for.¡±

    ¡°Price of doing business,¡± Mechelle pointed out.

    ¡°Pretty much,¡± Simmons added seriously. ¡°We¡¯re fighting an uphill battle. A new company, with new weapons, promising impossible things. If you want your company to become a big weapons manufacturer of the US military soon, you need to come out swinging, and you need your weapons to spread among the literal rank-and-file. Let them start turning the tide in real fights and you¡¯ll see a lot more demand for your supply.¡±

    She chuckled as the waiter came over with a tray of drinks. ¡°But for now, relax guys! We made a big deal today.¡±

    Colin relaxed a bit, grabbing his glass of scotch. ¡°Yes, I suppose so. Forgive my rudeness, Mrs. Simmons. I am happy with the progress we have made.¡±

    ¡°Insanely fast progress,¡± she pointed out.

    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s all because of my cous,¡± Mechelle said with a smile. ¡°He¡¯s the brilliant one.¡±

    I fought off a bit of imposter syndrome at that, but nodded. ¡°Well, I spent a lot of time creating these things. Just nice to actually apply my research. Hopefully one day I can fulfill my ultimate goal¡­¡±

    ¡°And what is that?¡± Simmons asked curiously.

    Technically, depose Vought and become the most powerful organization in the world. But I couldn¡¯t just admit that. So¡­

    ¡°Create a space program,¡± I said with a smile. ¡°A private space program. Made to explore the solar system, make stations across the stars, mine the asteroid belt and more.¡±

    ¡°Damn, you don¡¯t aim small, do you?¡± Simmons noted.

    ¡°We live in a world of-¡±

    ¡°Hey, come on!¡± someone shouted at the bar.

    We all looked over at the shouter. My eyes widened.

    ¡°...of superhumans,¡± I finished. ¡°And anything is possible.¡±

    The shouter at the bar was a very large and muscular black man. He was wearing a black spandex suit of sorts, with armored panels across the shoulders, chest, and thighs with ornate looking designs along his body. I recognized him from both my world and the news.

    Nubian Prince, a supe with superhuman strength, speed, agility, and durability. AKA, knockoff Black Panther. What was he doing in New York City? He was supposed to be in Detroit...

    Right now he looked annoyed. Well, pissed off, honestly. And drunk. Very drunk.

    Once people realized who was there, they pulled out their phones and started filming and taking pictures. He didn¡¯t pay attention, because he was yelling at the bartender. I couldn¡¯t hear everything, but the next part was very loud.

    ¡°-know who the fuck I am!?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but James called ahead,¡± the bartender said with a bit of fear in his eyes. ¡°You¡¯re cut off for the night.¡±

    The large man snarled, looking more enraged by the second. ¡°Bitch, if you-¡±

    ¡°Sir, please!¡± the bartender backed up, hands high.

    Nubian Prince glared at him. Then his eyes panned around. I could see him noticing the cameras around him. I could imagine him thinking about the optics of the situation. Drunk hero, yelling at a bartender for more alcohol? That was bad enough. Doing more would lead to his precious ¡®points¡¯ getting lowered. And while Nubian Prince was popular, he wasn¡¯t a member of the Seven. Vought wouldn¡¯t do more than the basics to protect him.

    He turned away, plastering a painfully fake smile on his face, and walked towards the door. ¡°Fine. That¡¯s fine. Have a good rest of your night-¡±

    He walked past E-Boy and bumped into E-Boy¡¯s fist. E-Boy let out a small ¡®Scrunch¡¯ of surprise and shuffled out of the way-

    BOOM!

    I hadn¡¯t been worried. That was my mistake. I¡¯d thought that it was such a small and simple thing. He bumped into E-Boy. That was it. Nothing worth noting.

    Then Nubian Prince¡¯s face twisted in rage and frustration, eyes snapping to E-Boy. He swung his fist downward in a swift move. His fist smashed into the steel frame of E-Boy.

    He was made to withstand a lot. But Nubian Prince was stronger than that. E-Boy bent in half under the fist, crumbling. ¡°SCREEEEE-¡±

    His voice box cut off. The lights went out.

    The entire bar stilled at the sudden burst of violence. Nubian Prince scoffed, wiping some oil off of his fist onto the wall, then walked out without a look back.

    Mechelle looked horrified. Colin gaped at the door then looked over at me. ¡°Julian¡­ I-¡±

    I rose to my feet slowly. ¡°Mechelle. Gather what you can.¡±

    ¡°Yes sir,¡± she said, quickly walking over to E-Boy.

    ¡°Julian,¡± Simmons'' face was stern. ¡°I know you¡¯re angry, but-¡±

    I looked at her. She froze, sinking back into her seat. I walked up to the male bartender.

    ¡°Drinks are on Julian Ivo,¡± I pulled out my checkbook and began writing on it. ¡°For the rest of the night in the name of fuck that guy,¡± I handed him the check, with a large number written on it, and turned dramatically as I handed it to him. ¡°So drink as much as you all like, and everytime you do, say Fuck Nubian Prince!¡±

    I doubted anyone cared about my sudden hate-on towards the hero, but the promise of all the drinks they wanted led to a loud and boisterous cheer across the popular bar. I turned to the bartender.

    ¡°And anything left on that is your tip, understand?¡± I asked the bartender.

    ¡°T-Thank you man,¡± he asked, shocked.

    ¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± I turned and walked out. Mechelle followed silently, easily carrying the remains of E-Boy. Colin hopped from his seat, and Simmons hurriedly gathered her purse and followed as well.

    Once we were outside, I spoke quickly. ¡°Colin, take a look at E-Boy once we can get to the lab, see what you can salvage.¡±

    ¡°Understood,¡± he said, for once without any snide backtalk.

    ¡°Mechelle, I want you to look into the social media accounts of every person there. I want you to ruin that man''s reputation. There should be some ¡®cute¡¯ footage of E-Boy from his time at the factory. Remember, Nubian Prince was apparently cut off for a reason. Look into his past, see what sort of reputation he has with Detroit¡¯s local bars.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯ll be known as a violent drunk by the end of the week,¡± Mechelle agreed.

    ¡°Make sure to leave more in case the Church of the Collective tries to pull him and rebuild his reputation,¡± Simmons pointed out, looking a bit startled but quickly recovering.

    ¡°Excellent point. Now, legal ramifications?¡±

    ¡°E-Boy was insured. Beyond that, he was also an extremely valuable prototype. We can easily sue for damages.¡±

    ¡°I can also make sure it looks like he knew what he was doing when he broke him,¡± Mechelle said. ¡°Some quick camera angles.¡±

    ¡°Good. And Vought?¡±

    Simmons coughed. ¡°They¡¯ll¡­ probably try to figure something out. Nubian Prince isn¡¯t a huge money-maker, but he does pull down some cash. That said¡­ I know a couple guys who work for them.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re being surprisingly helpful,¡± Colin noted.

    ¡°I hate drunk assholes. And I don¡¯t like how fucking invincible supes act when they screw people over,¡± Simmons eyes were filled with just a bit of glee, the black woman grinning. ¡°So yeah. Let¡¯s ruin him.¡±

    Intellectually, I knew I shouldn¡¯t have cared that much. E-Boy was replaceable. Obsolete.

    But I was a man who was made of two sides. One, an emotional man who thought of E-Boy as an adorable pet, his first and only companion in the new world. The other, a vicious son of a bitch who saw a fucking supe treat his property like trash.

    Combined, it led to an icy sensation across my mind, burning like the touch of frost on the skin. A single thought. Destroy him.

    We walked into the night, planning to turn a minor superhero into a living pariah. More importantly. I decided it was time to get project Robotnik started.

    Time to play supervillain.

    ¡°What a productive life I lead¡­ Hehehehehe¡­¡±

 6: Minecrafting

    One Week Later

    Madelyn Stillwell

    Madelyn Stillwell was an older blonde woman, beautiful, wearing a black shirt and dress. Her face was set into a small and controlled frown as she watched a news broadcast in her office, sitting against her desk, one leg crossed over the other as she watched.

    Nubian Prince, Violent Drunk? The display said at the bottom. Footage of the hero smashing into a short robot could be seen, followed by earlier footage of the hero yelling at a bartender. Then, even more footage of him, in bars in Detroit and New York City, yelling, threatening people and destroying private property. Things Vought had easily been able to ignore¡­ up until today.

    ¡°Turn it off,¡± Madelyn sighed. Her assistant, Amanda, a young redheaded woman with a white jacket and blouse on, did as she asked. ¡°So¡­ what¡¯s next?¡±

    ¡°Well, marketing is having some trouble with it,¡± Amanda admitted. ¡°The fact is, social media is eating it up. There¡¯s pictures everywhere of this E-Boy thing being ¡®cute¡¯ and very marketable.¡±

    ¡°Cute? It¡¯s a fucking robot.¡±

    ¡°People love robots,¡± Amanda said weakly. ¡°And then, there¡¯s that guy, Ivo?¡±

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t even get me started,¡± Madelyn scowled. ¡°That asshole. You know that whole ¡®Fuck Nubian Prince¡¯ thing is trending now?¡±

    ¡°I¡­¡± Amanda hesitated. ¡°That¡¯s not the only thing. He¡¯s¡­ well, look.¡±

    Amanda pulled out her tablet and tapped on it for a bit, turning it to face Madelyn. She read the email there for a minute. Information on one Julian Ivo. And after a moment, she lowered the tablet, glaring at Amanda.

    ¡°How the fuck does some random rich kid build a company in less than a month and single handily have the entire US military eating right out his fucking hands,¡± she growled.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Amanda said hesitantly.

    Madelyn sighed. Okay, this wasn¡¯t worth it.

    ¡°All right, just leave it,¡± Madelyn waved a hand, shaking her head. ¡°Nubian Prince isn¡¯t one of our best guys anyways. Just put out an apology statement for now, put him in Alcoholics Anonymous and have the writers make up a fucking crybaby background to justify his addiction. We can market him later as a ¡®redeemed hero¡¯ and make him the face of the whole thing.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s going to be tough to market him to Baltimore like we planned then,¡± Amanda pointed out.

    ¡°We have a hundred more like him, just give me the next five after him and the mayor can pick what he likes best,¡± Madelyn said. ¡°Nubian Prince is the one who couldn¡¯t handle his fucking alcohol. Just send him to Akron after this is done. We can bring him back once this dies down and people forget all about it,¡± Madelyn handed back the tablet. ¡°Let''s talk about someone worth holding onto. You finished with A-Train¡¯s speech.¡±

    ¡°Already written up. We have a press conference planned to air right after the funeral.¡±

    ¡°Perfect. Let¡¯s talk it over. Oh, and the settlement?¡±

    ¡°Lawyers already on it to keep the family quiet. Same with her boyfriend. We don¡¯t have to, but marketing says settling with the boyfriend is a good look,¡± she finished while Madelyn nodded.

    Amanda hesitated.

    ¡°What about Ivo? And this¡­¡±

    Amanda¡¯s eyes went back to looking at the pictures and videos on the ¡®Big Foot¡¯. Madelyn looked at it as well.

    A giant mech. Cheap, fast, and powerful. Showy too.

    Madelyn mused over that. Ivotech shows off their new weapons and mech to the military. And right after, their CEO, CFO, and CTO are at a bar to see Nubian Prince smash one of their products. Coincidence? Right when he was about to get marketed to a new city for a possible 300 million dollar deal?

    ...Likely not. The chances were slim, but it wasn¡¯t as though they could plan Nubian Prince to show up. No one would have known he was even in New York City for a while.

    She read some of the reports. Apparently both the troops and brass were loving it, calling it the biggest advancement in land combat in years while being cheaper than building a tank¡­ or hiring a hero.

    Then she dismissed it. They¡¯d been working on selling supes to the military for years. One upstart with some tech wouldn¡¯t be taking it from them. He¡¯d need better than a mech to enter the game before they could. Tech was great, but nothing on earth could match a supe for power and versatility. He could sell all he wanted. Hell, Vought could even benefit from it.

    Madelyn liked the idea. American army, with mechs, fighting alongside superheroes. Now that was an image. The military of the future. Yes. Let him sell his fancy weapons, and Vought would sell their supes.

    ¡°I¡¯ll discuss it with everyone upstairs, see what sort of optics we can get on this,¡± Madelyn said. ¡°In the meantime. The Seven need a new member.¡±

    ¡°Auditions are already on the way in,¡± Amanda said cheerily. ¡°We¡¯re hoping for someone from the heartland, nice and cheery, a real go-getter. Some options are-¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll see what the options are later, that speech though?¡± Madelyn reminded her in an annoyed tone of voice.

    ¡°Oh r-right,¡± Amanda recovered quickly, shaking her head. ¡°So basically¡­¡±

    ------

    Julian Ivo

    ¡°Sadly, E-Boy was a bit more of a primitive creation,¡± Colin noted, looking down at the separated pieces before us. ¡°In some ways, that was his strength. A sophisticated set of cheap technology brought together to make a simple, yet useful machine. But, once his durability was compromised, well¡­ Nubian Prince¡¯s blow couldn¡¯t have been struck more accurately if he¡¯d designed him himself.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll compliment his luck later,¡± I bit out.

    ¡°...My apologies,¡± Colin lifted up some pieces of broken plastic. ¡°The point is. While I can recover portions of him, his software is completely gone.¡±

    I ran my fingers across the pieces before us for a moment. ¡°...He¡¯s the first creation of mine in this world. He protected me, and watched me through every stage of my work. I shouldn¡¯t be so sentimental. He wasn¡¯t designed to understand, to comprehend. Not like you or Mechelle. But-¡±

    Colin¡¯s hand on my back stopped me. ¡°I understand, Julian¡­ In some ways, it¡¯s a relief, seeing you cared.¡±

    I scoffed, though there was no real heat to it. ¡°You sure I¡¯m not just faking it? Trying to draw sympathy from you?¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes. I suppose that¡¯s possible,¡± he said. We stood in silence a bit longer. ¡°I have some thoughts on how we can use his components. To make a specialized and new form, just for him. It will never be the same E-Boy, but I understand the need to bring him back in some way.¡±

    ¡°What are you thinking?¡±

    ¡°Something of redesign for a powerful creation of Robotnik.¡±

    I saw what he was saying immediately, nodding slowly. ¡°Yes¡­ yes, that makes sense. For now, I need to focus. Colin. Please tell me my emotional outburst hasn¡¯t slowed down the Robotnik project.¡±

    ¡°Not at all. Come, this way,¡± Colin walked off. I followed immediately, turning my mind to the next problem.

    We entered the main laboratory. I took in the sight of the room.

    It changed a lot recently. From a big cement room covered in dirt, to a nice and clean metal walled fortress. Each part of it was sectioned off for our various avenues of research.

    The section we walked into was locked up completely though. The door was incapable of being opened without the authorization of myself, Colin, or Mechelle.

    Colin opened it and the room beyond came alight. The walls were pure black steel painted with a thick layer of zinc and soundproofed to hell. A single glass tub sat in the center of the room, surrounded by equipment and technology.

    I looked in at it, Colin joining me. Within the tub was a single body. I¡¯d had to take some liberties with it. Building the body had been a very long and involved process in some ways. Simple in others. The skeleton was a carbon-fiber structure around a titanium core, muscles made of a new version of my myomer muscle frame, surrounded by a new synthetic skin of rubber-plastic. It was inside the skeleton where the real differences lay though.

    It had taken hours to create it. Based on the technology of my brain scan tech.

    I¡¯d told ASW that it was still in production. I doubt that surprised them. Mind reading technology was both a dream technology for reasons both fun and evil, and something no-one was close to making a good version of.

    Except for me. I¡¯d made an accurate scanner that could read minds, memories, and impulses, using a combination of neuron perception filters, mental imprint readers, face and eye sensors-... Look, there was a shit ton of work done. Just know that Eggman¡¯s memories helped me make it, and then I had to adjust it to work here.

    Then, I had to find a way to transmit that data. Quantum entanglement. That was actually the easiest part. As long as you knew the physics of it, it was easier to pass information through quantum entanglement than it was through, say, a modern bluetooth.

    I designed it into a mesh ¡®skeleton¡¯ of sorts, stringing it through the skeletal structure of the bot, with much of it running through the ¡®skull¡¯. All with my newest update to the solid-state drives, which were still not as good as I would have liked but the best I could make for now.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you make an AI for this one?¡± Colin asked. ¡°I can understand the thought of maintaining control, but you could easily make a version of-¡±

    ¡°What would be the first thing a version of that man would do?¡± I asked.

    Colin hesitated, looking up at me. After a moment where our eyes locked, he rubbed the tip of his nose and sighed. ¡°Yes, yes, you have a point.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve gotten good at that.¡±

    He chuckled. ¡°Well, the Robotnik project is done. Now all we need is to activate it.¡±

    ¡°...Well. This is going to be unnerving, huh?¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t know,¡± Colin said snidely.

    True enough. I walked over to the computer nearby, where a helmet modeled after the one used by the one used to connect to Cerebro from the X-Men comics rested. I lifted it up and placed it onto my head.

    ¡°Ready?¡±

    ¡°W-Wait,¡± I hesitated, blinking. ¡°Ohhh, man.¡±

    ¡°You okay?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, just¡­ even with the testing we did, if something goes wrong, my brain gets cooked.¡±

    ¡°Oh please,¡± Colin rolled his eyes.

    ¡°Some of us only have one head available! And I don¡¯t get upgrades!¡±

    ¡°Julian¡­¡±

    ¡°Fine goddamnit, flip it.¡±

    Colin pressed a button on the keyboard. I stilled.

    And opened my eyes inside a liquid concoction. I blinked slowly. And after a moment, I slowly sat up, feeling the slimy fluid drip off my body.

    ¡°Hm¡­ naked,¡± Colin noted. ¡°Somehow I wish we¡¯d given you underwear, rather than leave you¡­ flopping about.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it was weird enough making the thing,¡± I flinched. ¡°God¡­ That is so strange. Speaking in a voice that isn¡¯t my own.¡±

    I sounded deeper, almost echoey. I¡¯d gone off my most recent memories of this voice, which left me with a booming and imposing voice accented with something of a posh New England accent.

    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Standing entirely out of the tub and stepping out, I caught the towel Colin tossed towards me. ¡°You are taking this better than I thought you would.¡±

    ¡°I have experience in the matter,¡± I began wiping off the slimy fluid, looking back.

    I was standing back there, the helmet on my head as my fingers twitched. I was also standing nude with a towel in my hand.

    I looked down at myself. There was a brief moment of body dysmorphia. Part of me felt like ¡®this isn¡¯t my body¡¯. Another part said ¡®ah, finally I¡¯m back to normal¡¯.

    I had long thick legs, a rotund belly, and arms that were thick with muscle. I looked like a classic lumberjack. Overweight, but thickly built with muscle under that. And dominating my vision whenever I looked down was a massive orange mustache.

    ¡°Done admiring yourself?¡± Colin asked.

    ¡°Why would I, when there is so much to admire,¡± I said with a chuckle. I moved over to a table and began putting on clothes. Soon enough, I was wearing my full uniform. I looked into a mirror.

    Black boots with dark gray set of pants tucked into the boots. A red jacket over my torso, with large gold buttons across it and a pair of tails, giving my whole appearance a very aristocratic look.

    My eyes though¡­ black. Entirely black. Except for two bright red pupils. My eyes seemed to burn. I looked evil.

    I placed a pair of pince-nez on my nose and pushed them upwards. The lenses covered my eyes with opaque ice blue lenses, hiding those evil damn eyes of mine.

    With that, I was no longer Julian Ivo. I was Eggman. Robotnik. One of the most iconic and infamous mad scientists in history. It would be fun to continue that journey.

    ¡°Was there a reason you went for those pupils?¡± Colin asked.

    ¡°One day, I¡¯ll need to intimidate Homelander,¡± I said, turning to face Colin. ¡°And these eyes would intimidate the devil himself.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯d have to, I suppose,¡± Colin said. ¡°Well. It looks like your new body is working as required. What¡¯s next?¡±

    ¡°Next? Why, what else, my dear companion?¡± I chuckled. ¡°Julian will have his army. And I will have mine.¡±

    ¡°Is it really healthy to talk about yourself in the¡­ I¡¯m not sure, third person?¡± Colin asked.

    ¡°Nothing in this job is healthy. I doubt my mental health was ever going to be stable after Ahti. Likely even before,¡± I waved a hand dismissively. ¡°And in the end, forming habits to differentiate my selves like this makes an unfortunate slipup far less likely. Now, let¡¯s see how good I am at creation in this form. We¡¯ll start small.¡±

    ¡°Buzz Bombers?¡±

    ¡°Buzz Bombers.¡±

    ------

    One thing Eggman is famous for is his army. It¡¯s made up of some of the most varied and eclectic designs you could imagine. Mainly, the Badniks. Which in most iterations, were run by small animals acting as a power source and AI.

    Eggman didn¡¯t need to run them on small animals. He didn¡¯t need to enclose squirrels, birds, and mice into armored shells. But he did it.

    You might think it was about efficiency, or that he¡¯d gotten more skilled at making AI and power sources as he got older.

    Nope. It was funny, and it messed with Sonic¡¯s head. Seriously, the ¡®Blue Bomber¡¯ always kind of froze up whenever he was first starting out, worrying about if every bot he would fight would have a cute animal he had to worry about. Later as Sonic gained more skill and mastery he got over it, but Eggman still thought it was kind of hilarious.

    I decided it wasn¡¯t worth following his example, no matter how funny he thought it would be.

    But his designs, on the other hand, were incredible. Well-worth using. However, I needed some incredibly valuable resources. Resources that were hard to get a hold of in large quantities. Not because of price, but because of scarcity.

    That said, I did have a time limit.

    When I first arrived, it was two days after Robin died. With her funeral a month later, I had four weeks. Three of those weeks were gone. I¡¯d done a stupid amount of stuff in that time of course, but I was now left with very little time.

    And then there was Ahti¡¯s task. Didn¡¯t have much time for that.

    So I had two days.

    Thankfully, I¡¯m not the kind of man who does his tasks one by one when you can get them started week one.

    I needed resources. Rare earth minerals among them. And I¡¯d finally gained the mining rights to do it.

    ------

    ¡°Makes sense that Ahti would give you an island that had easy access to those minerals,¡± Mechelle noted as we stared at the map in front of us.

    ¡°He thinks ahead, to say the least,¡± I said, tapping a finger to my beard. My Eggman controlling helmet rested on the table (I needed to figure out a less cumbersome control soon), the robotic body standing across from me. ¡°Mining operations are beginning. But I can¡¯t wait for the legal route. I need to send someone out there to dig up everything I need and bring it back in twenty-four hours. If they can also create the circuit boards and other necessities for the Badniks on the way, all the better. So the plan is simple.¡±

    I placed the helmet on. My mind shifted on the quantum plane and entered the Eggman bot. I smiled at Mechelle and Colin.

    "I will build a drill tank and a couple drill bots and go sideways from there. There is a nice dormant volcano a few islands over and that stuff is classic!"

    ¡°Can we do that?¡± Mechelle asked stoically.

    ¡°Do you doubt me?¡± I asked back.

    ¡°Never,¡± the lack of hesitation to that was surprising enough that Colin looked a little bit perturbed by it. Mechelle continued. ¡°I¡¯m more worried about the machine. You said it was difficult to create a machine that could combat the immense heat and pressure under the earth.¡±

    ¡°It is,¡± I acknowledged. ¡°In point of fact, it was damn near impossible. But I don¡¯t need it to take on much. As long as I can protect it from enough heat and pressure, it¡¯s fine. I would have liked to create something that could dig down into the mantle, but right now we¡¯re only able to reach the lower levels of the earth''s crust.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s unnecessary,¡± Colin said. ¡°The minerals we need aren¡¯t anywhere near that far down.¡±

    For now. My life was likely going to lead to the point we¡¯d need to go down there later.

    ¡°I¡¯ll head out and begin the mining process now,¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°Mechelle, please get the paperwork for the facility to be built on,¡± I took a look at the map. ¡°Siegel Island. Once we can get some real workers helping us, we can begin mining massive amounts of material.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it as I meet with the marketing team,¡± she said calmly.

    ¡°You manage to convince them to stop asking you to model for posters for those?¡± Colin asked with a chuckle.

    ¡°I will be modeling.¡±

    Colin and I stared at her. She didn¡¯t look at all perturbed. ¡°What will Colin be doing?¡±

    ¡°Acting as mission control, I suppose,¡± Colin still looked as befuddled as I did, but continued. ¡°As well as working on our other projects.¡±

    ¡°Perfect,¡± I walked out of the room and into the outside world, in the courtyard between all four buildings. This time of day, no one was around to see me in the Eggman body. Which meant no one could see the oversized container in the center of the courtyard.

    I entered the container and gazed upon the creation held within.

    An armored drill tank.

    It was rough, I¡¯ll admit. Finished by my best men just the day before, it was a mostly square design, with treads for locomotion, and around 86 tons of steel and temperature controlled material.

    Oh, and the drills in front. Large, circular and pointed, drills spread out like an ugly blooming flower on the front of the tank, with petals of pure destructive force.

    I opened the door in the side, entering a small confined cockpit within. I sat in a chair made for Eggman¡¯s body and pulled the door closed without a second thought. Then I began booting up the machine, flicking on switches and bringing the machine and screens around me to life with a chorus of insanely loud engine noises and bright lights all around me.

    ¡°Testing, testing,¡± I said into a mic connected to the top.

    ¡°We read you, Eggman, prepared for your departure,¡± Colin said over the line.

    ¡°Fantastic. Take care of my body while I¡¯m gone, I¡¯ll be hopping back into it for lunch.¡±

    ¡°Understood,¡± he said, sounding amused. ¡°Come back with enough europium and we can dominate the screen industry by the end of the week.¡±

    The sound of an industrial flatbed rolling up and hooking up to the container came from outside. Right on time. It would lift the container up, take it out to the ocean, and drop it into the harbor. On the surface, it was being marked as a contribution to the NYS Artificial Reef Project. Really it was to give me a nice easy way to the ocean where I could dig.

    As the super reinforced container lifted and began to shake, I chuckled.

    ¡°I¡¯ll see if Mother Earth is fine with me looting her,¡± I reached for the controls, a set of levers on either side of a joystick in the center. ¡°Now, play my song!¡±

    Over the speakers, a loud bumping soundtrack began to play. Moments later, the voice of a young man began to sing.

    ¡°I¡¯m mining. I¡¯m mining. I¡¯m mini-¡±

    ¡°Bit on the nose, but I¡¯ll accept it.¡±

    ------

    Once I was completely submerged under the Atlantic, I pushed the levers forward. The treads of the tank lifted up. The drills began to spin with a violent and powerful array of hardened metal, screeching aloud. Then they began to dig into the ground. Dirt was sent flying. The driller dived downwards, and soon I was alone, surrounded by earth.

    Brothers of the mine rejoice!

    Swing, swing, swing with me!

    I hummed along to the sound of Wind Rose¡¯s take on ¡®Diggy Diggy Hole¡¯ as I dug through the earth, enjoying the peace of loud machinery around me.

    The drill was doing great. I¡¯d found several veins of material already, and she¡¯d dug up the large portions of material for me. The way it worked was, the drill would slice up the rock and pull it into her ¡®maw¡¯, where it would enter a processing filter of sorts to get automatically sorted into the needed materials. Or shoved out the back as useless stone and dirt.

    Mining was easy without zombies, creepers, and skeletons harassing me. Well, and the high-powered machinery.

    Sadly, it was also sort of boring. Mostly just sitting there, monitoring screens, checking the temperature, looking at my GPS, and digging.

    I stopped for lunch by going back into my original body. Quantum tech meant that there was no real lag or way to stop my helmet from connecting me to the Eggman body, so at least I could eat my fill.

    After around 18 hours of work, I had a full suite of materials. I turned the driller around to head home with enough rare earth minerals (manganese, rhodium, palladium, and much, much more) to be worth a pretty penny.

    And all of it would be poured into my creations.

    Now for the final part of my work.

    Then, Eggman would step onto the world stage.

 7: Mental Tactics

    The Seven

    Being a superhero was fucking fantastic.

    Money, fame, and all the sex anyone could ever want. It was a damn dream.

    A-Train stepped out from a tunnel and into a stadium of cheering fans. The young black man in a blue costume and goggles had a smile stretching from ear to ear.

    He looked out at the stands, with people shouting his name, and didn¡¯t have to force his smile. He¡¯d had a tough couple weeks after running through that chick. He needed a bit of this, of people cheering on the A-Train.

    ¡°Yeah, what¡¯s up!¡± A-Train lifted his hands high, spinning around to face the crowd, throwing some quick playful jabs that the crowd went crazy for. ¡°Yeah, the A-Train is heeere!¡±

    ¡°Would you tone it down?¡± Translucent said, walking past him, invisible within his superhero outfit.

    ¡°Shove it up your ass, Translucent,¡± A-Train hissed at him even as he kept smiling. With A-Train leading them, the rest of the Seven followed.

    The Deep, in his green uniform. The beautiful Queen Maeve, long red hair flowing behind her and silver costume shining. Black Noir, covered head to toe in black armor and spandex, barely registering the crowd cheers.

    The crowd exploded as A-Train, Translucent, The Deep, Queen Maeve, and Black Noir walked together. They waved at the people in the stands, walking towards a large stage in the center of the field. As they stood in a line, their last member arrived.

    Dropping out of the sky, he crashed into the ground just in front of the stage. A-Train felt his smile freeze just a bit as he felt the vibration through his feet. The man who crashed from the sky stood tall, looking around. His white teeth flashed, blue eyes shined, blonde hair almost glowing in the sunlight as the American flag waved about on his neck, muscles barely contained in a blue body suit.

    The stadium erupted as Homelander joined the rest of the Seven on stage, a million watt smile shining on his face.

    ¡°They really do love him,¡± Queen Maeve mumbled.

    A-Train didn¡¯t say anything. None of them did. Homelander might hear it if they said anything¡­ negative.

    ¡°Hello, ladies and gentlemen!¡± Homelander moved up to the podium, the mic picking up his voice with ease. ¡°Welcome, one and all! Everybody excited?!¡±

    ¡°WOOOO!¡±

    As the crowd cheered, Homelander chuckled. A-Train heard him mumble under his breath.

    ¡°Of course you are, you cocksuckers.¡±

    Once the crowd calmed, Homelander continued. ¡°Now, as you know. The Seven hasn¡¯t had seven members for a while. Unless you count the janitor who helps keep our office clean.¡±

    A polite chuckle rang out. Homelander moved on.

    ¡°I¡¯m pleased to announce that this won¡¯t be the case for long! For some time now, we¡¯ve been auditioning to add a new member to the team! A new hero, to join the ranks of the Seven! And soon enough, we¡¯ll be announcing someone with the qualities of bravery, strength, and kindness, to stand with us!¡±

    More like another asshole. A-Train shrugged off the thought.

    ¡°Next week, we¡¯ll be announcing-¡±

    ¡°SCREEEEEEEEK!¡±

    ¡°Gah!¡± A-Train shouted in pain at the loud squeal of the microphone suddenly getting cut off. Homelander looked around, holding a hand to his own ears.

    And then, a giant blue glowing man was standing in the center of the field. An overweight guy with a long mustache and goggles. He grinned down at the Seven.

    ¡°...What the fuck?¡± Translucent asked.

    ¡°Hello, Seven!¡± the giant man said, his hands behind his back. It took a second for A-Train to realize what was going, though Queen Maeve said it first.

    ¡°Is that a hologram?¡±

    ¡°Why yes, it is,¡± he bent down to smile. ¡°Thank you for noticing, my dear. A simple one, sadly, but enough for today¡¯s little shindig.¡±

    ¡°Who the hell are you?¡± Homelander asked, looking annoyed. ¡°Did Meridith set this up?¡±

    ¡°Oh, my apologies,¡± he stood back up. ¡°Seven? My name is Doctor Eggman. Scientist Supreme. A genius, above any being on Earth. To say I am the smartest man alive doesn¡¯t cover it! Why, I-¡±

    ¡°Do you have a fucking point?¡± Homelander said, looking annoyed.

    ¡°Of course I have a point, you flag wearing buffoon!¡± the hologram laughed. ¡°I¡¯m here to show the world just who their new ruler is! Who will stand above you pathetic imbeciles as I bring humanity to a new level of greatness! Oh.¡±

    He raised a finger. ¡°And I¡¯m here to attack you.¡±

    A loud rock song suddenly began to play over a speaker in the distance. Lyrics began to play.

    <u>¡°The story begins, but who''s gonna win</u></a>

    <u>Knowing the danger lies within</u></a>

    <u>Aboard the ARK, a genius at heart</u></a>

    <u>Wanting to unlock the mysteries of life!¡±</u></a>

    The doors of the stadium exploded outwards.Something dropped out of the sky. A-Train looked around in shock. ¡°What the-¡±

    ¡°I am the Eggman!¡± the giant said with the lyrics to his music, laughing. ¡°WAHAHAHAHAHA!

    Dozens of things in the sky began shooting at the stage. Bright yellow balls of energy that exploded in brief ¡®poofs¡¯ of light, turning the wooden stage to shrapnel. The Deep and Black Noir were sent flying as the blasts hit their chests, while Queen Maeve and Translucent ducked. A-Train instinctively dived aside at super-speed, glancing up.

    He almost fell over in shock. ¡°BEES?!¡±

    Robot bees. Giant, 2 foot tall, robot bees. Firing laser weapons.

    ¡°YES! Buzz Bombers</a>! Fly! Motobugs</a>! Unleash your power!¡±

    The robot bees were joined by goddamn robot ladybugs on wheels flooding in from outside the stadium. Ladybugs. On Wheels. A-Train, still running at super-speed, almost hit one when it came rushing at him. They were fast! Not as quick as him, but faster than they should have been as they ran along the grass.

    ¡°Go my Badniks! Go!¡± the hologram laughed. ¡°WAHAHAHA! SHOW THEM THE POWER OF DOCTOR EGGMAN!¡±

    ¡°What the fuck!?¡± Queen Maeve shouted.

    That was when the crab robots</a> showed up in the stands, and the audience began to shout and scream.

    ------

    I watched my Badniks rush the heroes and civilians, and wondered if I was enjoying this too much as I hummed to myself. ¡°I am the Eggman, that¡¯s what I am¡­¡±

    Homelander was looking around, confusion on his face as the other heroes were attacked. It was kind of hilarious. He didn¡¯t even move to attack anything, just stood there like he was trying to take things in.

    Translucent took off his costume and tried to sneak up on a Motobug. So I think he was surprised when they turned around and rushed him, smashing into him with claws and sheer body weight and sending him bouncing across the grass.

    ¡°Sorry, Translucent, my machines are built with thermal vision!¡± I said gleefully.

    A-Train ran over to a Vought employee who was trying to run, grabbing her arm. ¡°Hey! Did you guys set this up!? The asshole has his own theme song!¡±

    What, really? Middle of an attack, and he thought it was a publicity stunt. Well, I guess Vought had done similar things.

    ¡°A setup? Well, let me see if I can convince you of my authenticity,¡± I snapped my fingers. ¡°Burrobots</a>!¡±

    ¡°Burro-what?¡± A-Train asked.

    Then a drill exploded from the ground.

    ¡°FUCK!¡± A-Train dived aside. The drill was on the head of a robot with a pair of treads instead of leags, and long clawed arms. As A-Train dodged, the robots snapped out a long arm, it¡¯s claws scratching deep into his bicep.

    ¡°A setup?¡± I chuckled deep in my throat. ¡°No. You¡¯re fighting for your lives, you fools!¡±

    Black Noir jumped upwards, grabbing onto a Buzz Bomber and ripping its wings off, only to get shot dozens of times by another. Queen Maeve dodged a Motobug, grabbing it¡¯s head and using it as a bludgeon. Translucent got over his loss of invisibility to begin attacking a Crabmeat.

    And yet, I noticed, only Queen Maeve had moved to the stands.

    ¡°Get out, go!¡± she shouted at the crowd, defending them from Crabmeats rushing towards the men, women, and children rushing after the crowd. Sadly, I had to allow my Badniks to injure civilians to sell the attack as genuine, so a few people had broken arms and legs from robotic claws. Nothing unrecoverable, but¡­ Still.

    When Queen Maeve leaped into the stands to defend the civilians as best as she could, I felt a bit of relief.

    One of the crabmeats grabbed her arm, clenching down hard. She bit her lip in pain, then lifted a boot to stomp it over and over. As she slowly crushed it, I frowned at Homelander.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ are you still confused, you absolute buffoon?¡±

    More likely he was trying to see if he could find me with his super hearing and x-ray vision. Please, like I would have made it that easy.

    As soon as I asked that, the confusion in his eyes snapped into rage. His eyes glowed red and his laser passed harmlessly through my holographic form. I raised an eyebrow.

    ¡°Ah, you blonde ignoramus. I cannot wait to watch you fall. Bombers!¡±

    ¡°You fu-¡± Dozens of Buzz Bombers dropped out of the sky, firing their yellow lasers at him. The lasers hit his head, chest, and back to seemingly little effect. He floated upwards, eyes glowing-

    ¡°And be careful with those lasers. You wouldn¡¯t want your loving fans to die from random laser fire on national television, would you? Consider our lovely audience!¡±

    I said that for multiple reasons. First, because the shot that went through my hologram had destroyed a portion of the stands behind me and started a fire. Really, the asshole was so damn indiscriminate with those lasers. Second, to make sure I kept to my role. Couldn¡¯t just be a villain. I needed to have a bit of class, after all.

    Scowling, Homelander flew forward to grab a Buzz Bomber, smashing it apart. Still, I smiled when I saw his annoyance at how hard it was to do compared to his usual victims. He fired one quick laser blast, but the lightning quick Buzz Bombers were programmed to shift out of the way of his line of sight whenever possible. Granted, they¡¯d had practice.

    Still. This was¡­ I mean, it was cool. Seeing a team of heroes fighting hordes of robots, screaming citizens running for the hills as police sirens rang out in the distance. Right out of the comics¡­ except it wasn¡¯t.

    The Seven were sort of disappointing. Queen Maeve and Black Noir were fighting well, but A-Train was half panicking as the celebrity hero ran around avoiding the Borrubots jumping out of the ground, Homelander looked more annoyed than anything else chasing down the Buzz Bombers one at a time, Translucent was basically being bogged down unable to do much since his invisibility was totally countered even as he got a few good hits in and The Deep hadn¡¯t even started fighting just yet. Not to mention their teamwork was practically nonexistent throughout the whole fight so far.

    I mentally sighed. They were obviously going to win this fight. My Badniks were made on short notice and on a budget. I¡¯d gone for a combination of advanced tech and shortcuts. Thermal vision to track Translucent, just enough durability to matter, and fast enough that even A-Train had to use a bit of his speed to dodge around them.

    But even if they were going to win, I was still disappointed. The Eggman in me, the part that had taken on godlike hedgehogs and echidnas, who had matched wits with a prodigy fox, found them lacking.

    Whatever. I had more work to do.

    ¡°Looks like we¡¯re having fun, heroes,¡± I said, hiding my emotions under a boisterous voice echoing in the baseball stadium. ¡°But my Badniks will overwhelm you eventually. In the meantime, enjoy the musical accompaniment I have selected!¡±

    E.G.G.M.A.N. ended, and was followed by another song from Ahti¡¯s walkman.

    Take control, take control

    I see a vision rising, dreary

    Fading in as children play twilight games

    In the town called Ordinary

    As Take Control continued to play, I let the hologram go on autoplay. Basically it was just a gigantic Eggman¡­ dancing. If someone interfered with the hologram, it would stop to say a smarmy line, but otherwise, it was Eggman grooving.

    Hopefully, the cameras currently filming the mess would get a good view of that.

    ------

    My mind returned to my body as I let the hologram continue. ¡°Colin, how we doing?¡±

    I stood in my main lab, my Eggman Control Unit sitting atop my head.

    ¡°Already done,¡± Colin, sitting at a computer, took a sip of caffeine watching an upload finish. ¡°Cameras and alarms are yours. You have ten minutes.¡±

    I switched my awareness back again as soon as he said that.

    This time, rather than a view of the baseball stadium, I stood in my Eggman body in a forest, with a field of grass in front of me. Across from that grass, a single sign stood.

    ¡°Sage Grove Center,¡± I read the sign. ¡°God, the building looks positively devious even from here! I need to remember that design at some point.¡±

    I looked to my right, where a single Buzz Bomber had been flying with a camera instead of a laser stinger, using my movements to model the hologram. ¡°Stay here.¡±

    ¡°Zzzzzit,¡± the Buzz Bomber acknowledged.

    With that, I looked to my left, where a pair of Badnik¡¯s stood waiting. One was small, only about three feet from nose to the tip of his tail. Shaped like a reptile plushie; it had adorable stumpy legs, a curled tail, and googly eyes that looked around quickly.

    The other one was even smaller, smaller than the model from the games. About as long as a school desk and thin as a banana, it was segmented into dozens of small orbs colored blue, with a pair of mandibles on it¡¯s head just under two narrowed eyes.

    ¡°Come along.¡±

    ¡°Cree, cree!¡± the lizard crawled onto me, wrapping around my back and placing it¡¯s head on my shoulder. The small worm creature wrapped around my waist instead, becoming a makeshift belt of sorts. Moments later, it¡¯s program activated.

    Flickers of light bounced across it, before it¡¯s skin began to shift and change. It¡¯s coloration began to match the world around it, then the field it projected extended to me and the worm.

    A Newtron, a Badnik capable of turning invisible. Well, camouflage, technically, but that¡¯s a whole thing. The point was, it became hard to see. And could extend that power to others. It wasn¡¯t perfect, since it required direct contact, and wouldn¡¯t hold up well to direct touch with objects, but it was still fantastic.

    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    It¡¯s why a chameleon was the animal representing it. Not just for style points, but because the Newtron eyes were made to take in every sight around it and quickly recreate it with a combination of recordings and predictive algorithms.

    I started running the second I turned invisible, rushing over the grass. On some level, I felt a little ridiculous. In an Eggman body, running faster than some golf carts across an open field, with a chameleon on my back and a worm around my waist. Weird image. Except, of course, that I was invisible.

    I flexed my false muscles and jumped over the fence in a quick bound, landing lightly on the other side. I moved on, heading towards the building beyond. ¡°Colin, walk me through it.¡±

    It was hard, splitting my attention between two bodies, but it was the fastest way to communicate with him.

    ¡°The door ahead is clear. No orderlies or doctors,¡± he said to my real body. In my Eggman form, I nodded.

    I quickly opened the door and headed inside. The hallways within were pretty much the same as in the show.

    Sage Grove in the show was a place owned by Vought. Well, owned by a shell company of Vought. Basically, it was where they held adult superheroes they had given Compound V to. A place to stick their experiments in until they could find a way to give superpowers to adults with any sort of useful repeatability. Stabilize the V.

    I could see the appeal. Sell powers to people on a larger scale. Not just those with infant kids, but grown men and women with money to burn. Solid powers to everyone.

    Didn¡¯t forgive the torture and murder.

    I ran through the hallways at a quick pace, moving as lightly on my feet as I could.

    ¡°Left. Left again. Okay, go straight. The security office should be just ahead. What will you do about the guard?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what my little belt is for,¡± I said with a chuckle. An orderly came down the hall. I slowed my pace to a slow walk, my steps silent, and slid around him before continuing. He didn¡¯t even glance up.

    Nice thing about real life. A simple plan tends not to fuck up out of nowhere by some guy suddenly being psychic.

    I approached the security office and tapped my belt.

    ¡°Go on, Crawlton.¡±

    The worm/centipede unfurled from my belt and landed on the linoleum floor. It sped along the ground, sliding like a snake. Once it got to the security door, it moved under it, it¡¯s robotic shell plates flexing around its myomer-muscle body.

    I sat back and waited for a moment, leaning against the door. Inside, the single guard was probably bored, waiting for his shift to end. The most he would feel was a sudden sting through his shirt, probably on his back, the sort that someone would feel from a chair spring poking them.

    That would be Crawlton stinging him. He carried a simple chemical in his body, made just for each guard registered as an employee in the facility. After all, you can¡¯t expect knock-out chemicals to be universal. Crawlton could recognize the weight, height, and health profile of every employee, and adjust the mixture to accommodate. Hopefully one day he could do even more, but this would be good enough.

    There was a thumping sound. Then, after a moment, the door opened. I entered, smirking at the sight of Crawlton rushing over to slide up my leg and around my waist.

    ¡°Aw. Missed daddy already?¡±

    With a small evil chuckle, I closed the door, stepped over the unconscious form of the guard lying on the floor, and moved over to the computer system and cameras. I started typing quickly, bringing up the internet and loading a program to connect Ivotech over to Sage Grove. Sure, Colin had hacked the cameras and alarms, but that was top-level shit. We needed everything.

    ¡°Gods,¡± Colin stared at the screen before him, his eyes wide. ¡°They¡¯ve been at this for some time. Are you sure we shouldn¡¯t simply assassinate the ringleaders?¡±

    ¡°Not exactly, ¡®cleaning¡¯ the world to do that,¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°We need to bring this around to being a better place. Armies of robots killing people doesn¡¯t do that. Public opinion and societal change. That¡¯s the goal. So gather the evidence. And find Ahti¡¯s boy.¡±

    Colin rolled his eyes. ¡°Mention a couple of assassinations and you get all nasty¡­ Okay. He¡¯s on the first floor thankfully. Head sixteen rooms down, take a right, then five rooms up. I¡¯ll let you know when it¡¯s clear. Also¡­ there are physical files on site here. But I¡¯m guessing all the good stuff is with Vought.¡±

    ¡°Of course it is,¡± I moved the guard from the floor to the desk, arranging things so he would think he had fallen asleep at his desk. ¡°But Sage Grove had the actual experimentation being done in the modern day. Public opinion, remember? People don¡¯t care about historical horrors. They¡¯re terrified of the possibility of monsters kidnapping them and experimenting on them now. Files from the old days will be fantastic, but these are fresh and hot for media consumption when we make our play.¡±

    With that, I left the room. That¡¯s the boring and convenient part of hacking. Most of it is just opening access to a program and letting it run. So it meant that I could use the rest of my time to get work done before I left.

    While Colin continued to open up Sage Grove to Ivotech control, I headed over to the cell Colin indicated. As I passed the cells, I forced myself not to look inside. Invisibility kept me from being seen. But if I looked into the cells, seeing the tortured souls within¡­

    I couldn¡¯t break everyone out. This early, it would cause nothing but chaos. It would make Vought realize they had an enemy, especially with my little distraction causing mayhem. They¡¯d worry about Eggman being more than just a dumb supervillain with some weird robots.

    Still. This was something I¡¯d have to take care of later¡­

    Pushing that aside, I stopped in front of a single door. ¡°Once more, Crawlton.¡±

    The worm-centipede scooted under the door. Moments later, a man shouted in shock and pain, then a small thud followed.

    Yeah, I know. Boring to do the same thing twice. But simplicity is always better than fancy shenanigans.

    A moment later, the door was opened. I entered and glanced down at the form on the floor. He was thin, almost skeletal, with a scruffy beard and short-cut hair. I recognized him from the show, but only as a one-scene wonder. A young man who had unintentionally released a short EMP burst that sent a van flying, shut down electronics, and ended in Hughie having a deep wound in his belly.

    So of course I had to knock him out. Couldn¡¯t risk it.

    Honestly, if I could have picked someone to break out, it would have been Cindy the body exploder for her power, or Tim for his relative stability. Not¡­ what was this kid¡¯s name? Gordon Clarke?

    Well. Ahti wanted him out. And I was likely going to get him out anyway. Just to keep him from being used against me.

    I picked him up over my shoulder and looked at the back wall. Now, I had to hack into the actual systems manually to get Gordon¡¯s location and create a permanent back door in Sage Grove. But now that I had his room, the next step was¡­

    A sound came from the wall. Heh. Perfect timing. A laser soon cut through the wall. It moved quickly, opening a hole in the concrete wall. When done, the wall fell out, revealing my partner in crime.

    ¡°Ola, Egg Pawn,¡± I said with a grin.

    The bipedal bot¡¯s eye light shined. He was red, as short as E-Boy had once been, a thought that brought a small pang of pain to me. He was kinda goofy looking, with a big round head, body, and boots, big blue eyes, and a blue ¡®smile¡¯. He extended his arms and wrapped big old hands around Gordon, taking him off my hands. I stepped through the wall and turned.

    ¡°Okay, Crawlton? Ready?¡±

    The worm-centipede nodded. I grabbed onto the edges of the wall and pushed it up and into place again. The Newtron on my shoulder extended it¡¯s chameleon tongue out, the extended false flesh linking the section of wall that had been burned through. In its wake, a sort of drywall replaced it. On the inside, Crawlton did the same with his mandibles. Working together, they filled the circular line up once more. Crawlton added some paint, while Newtron simply retracted his tongue.

    It wasn¡¯t perfect. But better than nothing.

    ¡°Okay, let''s go!¡± I ran for it, Newtron keeping me invisible, while Egg Pawn continued carrying our cargo.

    Inside, Crawlton entered the toilet, sliding into the pipes. If all went well, he would exit underneath the facility, find a secluded place no human could enter, then curl up and wait. An unseen infiltrator underneath the facility, hibernating until I called him to action, undetectable by anything that didn¡¯t directly touch him.

    We headed for the fence, and I hopped over, rushing to the forest with Egg Pawn joining me. I came to a stop once we were behind the van we¡¯d driven out in. Yeah, a van. It was parked in a forest, but we went through and scrubbed any and all footage of it on any cameras on the streets leading up to Sage Grove.

    The van doors opened on their own, showing the Buzz Bomber waiting inside.

    I hopped in, followed by Egg Pawn with Gordon, who got him laid down on the bed. ¡°Colin, how we doing?¡±

    ¡°Camera¡¯s will be back up in two minutes. Or should I end the loop now?¡±

    ¡°Go ahead,¡± I tapped the van. ¡°Get moving.¡±

    With a roar of an engine, the van started driving on it¡¯s own. I chuckled. Thankfully I got a van with standing room for the next part. ¡°Well done everyone! Now. Buzz Bomber. Start up the hologram again, and let¡¯s see how the party at the stadium has gone.¡±

    ¡°Zzzzzit.¡±

    Buzz Bomber activated the hologram. I connected with the emitters at the baseball stadium, and was soon standing in above the crowd once more.

    I was surprised I wasn¡¯t dancing. My hologram was designed to dance as long as it wasn¡¯t interrupted or something serious hadn¡¯t gone down.

    Of course, once I got a look at the stadium, I realized it was the latter. The cops had arrived. A bunch were shooting back at the badniks. However, one man was being dragged off by paramedics. He had burns across his arms, legs, and chest, portions of bone shining under the black police officers'' cooked flesh. Familiar burn marks.

    Of course. Homelander had decided to use his lasers. Damn him.

    My hologram had been in the midst of speech. I let it continue.

    ¡°-all that power. And you have the control of a child. Truly, you are the world''s largest buffoon.¡±

    Homelander glared at me, not even the slightest bit ashamed. I took some pleasure in his appearance though. The eagle on his right shoulder had been shattered, likely by one of the Buzz Bombers mandibles, and his cape had been burnt, with some of the spandex on his left leg missing. Even better, his hair was covered in green goo and was sticking up everywhere.

    I love Badniks. Give them an order like ¡®use this specific gear to ruin Homelander¡¯s clothes and hair¡¯ and they¡¯d follow it to the end.

    ¡°That wouldn¡¯t have happened if you hadn¡¯t decided to attack us. And you¡¯re not even brave enough to come out and fight us yourself!¡±

    His right hand snapped out, grabbing a Buzz Bomber out of the air. ¡°Instead, you send these¡­ toys!¡±

    As the poor Buzz Bomber buzzed helplessly in his grip. He squeezed, shattering it with sprays of oil.

    I chuckled darkly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but of course I sent ¡®toys¡¯,¡± I leaned forward, grinning directly in face with a hologram head larger than his body as he floated. ¡°Because for me. This is merely a game, Homelander. All you heroes will learn to bow before Eggman, future ruler of the world!¡±

    ¡°Fuck you,¡± Homelander spat out.

    Wow. Homelander had no sense of drama.

    Down below, my last Motobug was shattered by Queen Maeve. She gasped in exhaustion, falling to a knee. ¡°We¡­ we¡¯ll stop you. I swear.¡±

    God bless her, I think she actually meant it.

    ¡°Not a chance,¡± I scoffed. ¡°Well, sadly it seems you¡¯ve defeated my current set of toys. I¡¯ll be back heroes. And when I do, I¡¯ll show you the true genius... of Doctor Eggman!¡±

    ¡°...Your name is fucking stupid,¡± A-Train mumbled from his spot behind the line of police officers.

    Well, of course the blue speedster would say that, huh?

    ¡°Oh I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll appreciate it, Mister Choo-Choo, when my next plan hatches. In the meantime, bravo dear Seven. You really showed how strong and competent you are today didn''t you! But we will play again soon! MUAHAHAHAHA! WAHAHAHAHAAAAA!¡±

    I shut off the hologram as Homelander flew at the projector drone that finally floated up into view. I took a moment to be amused that the small round ball of tech had managed to hide away from him for so long just because it was made of zinc, hiding in a stadium with plenty of it to hide among. Then I immediately scowled, snapping back into my real body. Colin turned to look at me.

    ¡°I have the name of the officer who was injured. Reports say he¡¯s in an ambulance, critical condition.¡±

    ¡°How¡¯s our medical gear?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Experimental. But we can help keep him alive for a good while.¡±

    ¡°Send it. Call it a goodwill mission.¡±

    I turned and began to stride off.

    ¡°Julian.¡±

    I stopped, turning to face him. He hesitated.

    ¡°You know¡­ that¡¯s not your fault.¡±

    ¡°I do¡­ Because it¡¯s Homelander¡¯s. And it¡¯s one more crime there will have to be a reckoning for.¡±

    Then I turned and started walking. ¡°We succeeded in getting Mr. Gordon Clarke and beginning our little false supervillain act. Let¡¯s continue working, shall we?¡±

    And one day. One day I would see Homelander die. See him realize that the half-assed Badniks I was forced to send after him were nothing compared to what was to come. I finally got Eggman¡¯s hatred of Sonic, just a little bit. It was different, of course. But I had just a hint of that deep hatred now.

    ¡°Julian,¡± Colin walked over. I stopped, turning to look down at my fellow scientist. ¡°Maybe you should rest. For just a moment. Have a drink with me. All our current projects are automated or need a bit of wait time. You can spare the moment.¡±

    ¡°...Fine,¡± I spat out, forcing myself to calm as best as I could. I took a deep breath. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the kitchens.¡±

    ¡°Good. And I think Mechelle would like to see you as well. It¡¯ll be good to have a small conversation, yes?¡±

    I grumbled, unwilling to agree, but still nodding.

    Still, as we left, a thought occurred to me.

    Why did Ahti think Gordon Clarke was so important to take in?

    ...Because after today, Vought would be looking for someone to use against me. An EMP man was top of the list.

    Should be a fun surprise when they went looking for him...

 8: React

    Chapter 8

    ¡°Here,¡± Mechelle handed me an old favorite drink of mine. Sea-salt caramel milkshake, in a tall glass with a straw poking out of the frothy top of it. Terribly sugary and fattening, so she usually gave me ¡®that look¡¯ when I drank one. It was her usual natural blank face that she showed whenever she wasn¡¯t acting in front of others. But I had started to get good at reading them.

    The face she showed when I reached for unhealthy food or another energy drink? That was her ¡®you know better and you can do better¡¯.

    There was also, ¡®you need exercise, a healthy body, a healthy mind¡¯. And, ¡®don¡¯t pretend you don¡¯t know people''s names just to poke their egos, I don¡¯t care that Ron Swanson did it¡¯.

    Don¡¯t ask me how a literal blank expression did that much. Just know that I¡¯m a genius and therefore always right.

    Anyways, today she let me have the milkshake. I took it gratefully, while Colin and her took beers. We were in my kitchens, set aside from the main labs where Colin and I worked. I sat against it, while Colin was on a chair. Mechelle moved to sit atop the table, something which surprised me, but that I didn¡¯t object to.

    Colin and Mechelle didn¡¯t say anything. They just waited.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to need to allow some horrid things to happen,¡± I said at last.

    Still nothing.

    ¡°That was obvious from the start of course. In order to actually take down Vought, I can¡¯t beat them without smashing them apart. Small skirmishes, pretending to be a normal enemy. Then turn the whole company and structure to ashes.¡±

    I sipped my drink briefly. ¡°But starting off so slow¡­ well, it''s leading to a lot of innocent people getting hurt.¡±

    Colin sighed. ¡°It is necessary, Julian. We can¡¯t stand up to Vought. Not yet. Politically, financially, and even in terms of power. I¡¯m certain I¡¯ve had nightmares about Black Noir walking in and killing us all.¡±

    ¡°For now, we¡¯ll need to allow it,¡± Mechelle pointed out. ¡°But one day, we can stop them.¡±

    I huffed a bit at that. ¡°Yeah¡­ Colin, have we got the pharma branch ready to go?¡±

    ¡°I-¡±

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be asking me that?¡±

    Colin and I looked at Mechelle. She was emotionless, but still looked at me in particular.

    ¡°I, uh, meant the technological side of things. I know you have the business side handled, Mechelle. You¡¯ve been kicking ass.¡±

    Somehow, despite not shifting in emotion, she still seemed to preen under the praise.

    ¡°But we should make sure we have the tech to live up to any promises we give out. What can we do?¡± I asked him.

    Colin frowned. ¡°Well¡­ the prosthetics we¡¯ve developed don¡¯t have anywhere near the ability to sense things as you wished. There¡¯s some sort of lag that we haven¡¯t been able to account for. Takes a second for people to feel heat and pressure. Mechelle and I are fully robotic, so we don¡¯t have that issue, but sending artificial sensation to organic nerves doesn¡¯t seem to work efficiently. Not without sacrificing accuracy.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll need more advanced software,¡± I noted slowly. ¡°Okay. Do we need anything else?¡±

    ¡°Not on the legal side of things,¡± Mechelle said. ¡°Originally, I would say yes. But we are in luck. Vought is a pharmaceutical company. In some ways, it is the pharmaceutical company, selling more than just Compound V. They used a lot of their influence to lobby for easier regulations.¡±

    Well. Explained a few things. Like the opioid crisis still being a thing.

    ¡°In the end, it was relatively easy to put together the correct licenses.¡±

    ¡°And I do have a few doctorates in medical and surgical fields,¡± Colin shrugged. ¡°Well, false ones, but I have thousands of hours of medical expertise in my files.¡±

    I smiled. I was feeling better, now that we had a plan to help someone. I forced myself to focus though. ¡°Right now though¡­ Gordon.¡±

    ¡°Ah, our future guest,¡± Colin frowned. ¡°I¡¯m a bit worried about having him hear. A young man whose primary power is that he shuts down electronics? In a tech company''s headquarters?¡±

    ¡°He won¡¯t be here. We¡¯ll keep him under until we can send him to the island. Better he be out on a tropical island when he wakes, instead of that damned asylum.¡±

    ¡°The building permits are finished by the way,¡± Mechelle said. Her usual stoic attitude cracked a bit. ¡°It was insanely hard to hire companies willing to build on a tropical island however. Are you sure we can¡¯t just build the public building ourselves like the Eggman Base?¡±

    It was an old plan. On the island, there would be two bases. One, nice and visible on the surface, would be a place for miners and researchers to live, work, and build within as they got all the rare earth metals a mad scientist could ever want. The other would be Eggman¡¯s Base. A secret underground fortress, surrounded by hardened concrete and a layer of steel, on the other side of the island stretching out under the ocean, far from any legitimate mining. It was risky, making an underground base near a place where people would be mining, but the legal seismic activity would hide the illegal variety.

    ¡°Better to have it built by real people,¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°We¡¯ll hire employees from everywhere after all. Not just to provide ample work, but to have eyes on us. As long as our employees see us being moral, they can vouch that we have nothing to do with the dastardly Eggman and his genius plots.¡±

    ¡°Genius, huh?¡± Colin¡¯s sarcasm was noted and ignored.

    ¡°On that note, our employee search has been interesting. I¡¯ll need to do some personal visits for a few of them. And some unions are refusing to work with us. I have a plan for that, however,¡± Mechelle said.

    Colin sipped his own drink, a Scottish drink he¡¯d apparently fallen in love with, before speaking. ¡°I also have a project in the running. Some underwater gear and Badniks. Do you mind if I take some time for that?.¡±

    ¡°Not a problem,¡± I agreed immediately. ¡°I¡¯m gonna work on you two in the meantime. Those fusion cores powering you are amateur hour at best, and I don¡¯t like that your overall software isn¡¯t as efficient as it could be, especially in terms of storage space. And I still need to get you experience, Colin.¡±

    Colin looked oddly happy as he nodded, walking off.

    I followed.

    We¡¯d had a busy day, but no good super-genius got anything done by sitting around.

    Except Doctor Doom. How that guy could sit on a throne so much and still make the things he did boggled my mind.

    ------

    Madelyn Stillwell

    ¡°What in the fuck was that!?¡± Homelander snapped as he entered Madelyn Stillwell¡¯s office. She looked over at him, and forced herself not to laugh.

    ¡°Is that¡­ glitter?¡±

    ¡°Yes it¡¯s fucking glitter!!!¡±

    Homelander looked fucking ridiculous. It wasn¡¯t just the fact the eagle on his right shoulder was gone, the patch of melted suit on his left leg, or the cape burned away up to the middle of his back. It was the gold, green, and blue glitter covering him from head to toe. Even his hair, usually so perfect, had been covered in a strange fluid that made the glitter stick to it. He looked like a sparkly porn star.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Madelyn asked, controlling her laughter easily when he gave her a death glare.

    ¡°What happened?¡± he asked incredulously. He laughed, a bitter and sarcastic laugh while walking into her office and pacing in front of her desk. ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t know. We go to a stupid fucking press junket, to talk about how ¡®the Seven are getting a new member!¡¯ La de fucking da! And then, some motherfucker!¡±

    He grabbed a small table next to one of the couches in the center of her office and tossed it at the wall. As it shattered apart and left a large dent in the drywall, Madelyn held back the fear she felt with the barest amount of control.

    ¡°Comes in, attacking all of us with robots. Useless chunks of metal!¡±

    ¡°Homelander. I know all that. I¡¯m talking about the glitter.¡±

    He calmed. But only just. ¡°Ohhhh, yeah, why I look like a fucking gay wedding? Because those robots, after I took out most of them by the way, exploded! With rainbow showers of glitter! All over us. We looked ridiculous out there, Madelyn!¡±

    Madelyn nodded. ¡°Okay. Well, I didn¡¯t know about the last part. But we¡¯re working on the rest of it.¡±

    ¡°Who was it?¡± Homelander demanded, clenching his fists. ¡°That¡­ Eggman?. What a stupid fucking name.?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t know yet,¡± Madelyn said, circling around her desk to stand in front of him. ¡°So far, we haven¡¯t gotten any pickups on facial recognition. And his technology is-¡±

    ¡°Stupid kiddie bullshit-¡±

    ¡°More advanced than anything we¡¯ve ever seen,¡± when Homelander gaped at her, Madelyn sighed. ¡°Autonomous robots, drones, capable of firing plasma weaponry, moving fast enough to force A-Train to dodge, digging through the earth at insane speeds, even bruising Queen Maeve and Translucent. Not to mention full-on holograms. It¡¯s not just impressive, it¡¯s something out of our wheelhouse entirely.¡±

    Homelander sobered. Quickly. ¡°A supe?¡±

    ¡°If he is, it¡¯s not one we know of. And enhanced intelligence or control of technology is just not something we¡¯ve ever really looked for in our supers.¡±

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    Mostly because that sort of power was a bit too much. Homelander was bad enough. Someone who could turn Vought¡¯s technological advantages, their information network, the crime analytics program, against them, or someone as superhumanly intelligent as Homelander was superhumanly powerful, would be a disaster. Frederick Vought¡¯s brilliance had changed the world. Someone smarter might end it.

    Except, that now said smarter person had appeared it seemed like.

    ¡°What about Tek Knight?¡± Homelander asked seriously. ¡°This supe tech bullshit is supposed to be his thing, right?¡±

    ¡°Once we get the chance, we¡¯ll get him to look at the remains of the robots we were able to get our hands on before the police and FBI got them,¡± Madelyn placed a hand on Homelander¡¯s shoulder, smiling. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. We¡¯re going to get this all cleaned up. In fact¡­ this might be to our benefit. Having a¡­ supervillain, around.¡±

    Homelander froze. Then he smiled. A slow, long smile. Madelyn carefully controlled her reaction to that, the fear that shot through her. ¡°Heh. A supervillain¡­ I didn¡¯t think of that.¡±

    Of course not, he¡¯d been too enraged about this Eggman making a fool out of him to consider the long-term benefits.

    Homelander chuckled. ¡°A supervillain. So that¡¯s what we¡¯re going with?¡±

    ¡°Ohhh, yes. In a way, this is perfect. If this guy keeps showing up, the government is going to start looking for ways to fight him. And who better than the heroes who beat him the first time?¡± Madelyn placed a hand on his face, smiling as she stroked his cheek. ¡°Whoever this guy is, he¡¯s going to end up being very useful for us. Our marketing team will get started on making him public enemy number 1. I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll have him taken care of soon enough, but for the time being?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯ll be a good little villain for us,¡± Homelander looked pleased. Thank god. Because when he looked angry, people sometimes died.

    Madelyn sighed in relief. Hopefully, this would all blow over soon enough. They¡¯d track down Eggman, shut him down, and make the Seven look good in the process. For now, the marketing team would do their best work to have that fiasco at the baseball stadium look more like heroes at work, rather than chickens with their heads taken off.

    After all, it was easy to pass the blame off to the guy who made a spectacle of himself.

    In the meantime, she¡¯d reach out to the rest of Vought and see if there was someone who could work as a counter to Eggman. There was some guy she had heard about that could fire EMP¡¯s? Those shut down electronics, right? Might be worth getting them in action...

    ------

    Billy Butcher

    Butcher chuckled as he watched a video clip, sipping at a bottle of beer in the cheap motel. On the laptop in front of him, A-Train got run over by a fucking ladybug bot. Translucent got flipped over when a drillbot slammed into him (though it was hard to tell when he was invisible). The Deep even got knocked so hard on his ass that he wasn¡¯t even seen doing any fighting!

    Granted, the news shots he was watching were from the internet, buggers with cell phones uploading clips before Vought could take them down rather than the sanitized bullshit on the news channels.

    Then a big bee shot off one of Homelander¡¯s eagles. The look on his face!

    ¡°Fucking diabolical!¡± Butcher laughed, leaning back in his seat. ¡°Ah, man, look at their stupid fucking faces. Ha!¡±

    He shook his head as he enjoyed the sight of the ¡®heroes¡¯ getting embarrassed by a bunch of robots. The video changed focus to the large blue hologram in the center of the stadium.

    It was dancing. A giant fat man with a huge mustache, swinging his hips to the song playing in the stadium.

    Evil grows in the dark

    Where the sun, it never shines

    Evil grows in cracks and holes

    ¡°Man¡¯s got a knack for presentation, I¡¯ll give the bastard that,¡± Butcher chuckled. He narrowed his eyes a bit. Still though. That was some advanced shit. Stupid looking. But advanced. Might be nice to get some of those toys¡­

    Then¡­ a laser shot from Homelander¡¯s eyes. It went through one of the bee robots. And hit a cop on the other side. Sending him flying, the poor copper screaming as his body turned into a bloody crisp. Homelander didn¡¯t even notice until the hologram stopped dancing.

    ¡°Really, you absolute ignoramus?¡± the hologram said, staring at Homelander. ¡°I warned you about this exact thing.¡±

    The hologram continued. And Homelander didn¡¯t show a hint of shame.

    Butcher¡¯s amusement evaporated in an instant. Of course¡­ Of fucking course...

    ------

    General Nathan Bradley

    ¡°Exploded into confetti!?¡± General Bradley shouted into his phone. He pulled back the phone to stare at it in disbelief.

    ¡°Y-Yes sir,¡± the voice on the other end said. ¡°We were gathering the remains and they blew up next to Homelander, A-Train, and the Deep¡­ We still have a few pieces, but nothing concrete.¡±

    Bradley rubbed his face with his other hand and sighed. Well, that made some sense. Asset denial was standard practice in the military after all. This Eggman may have been a rampaging moron, but his technology was advanced. Those bees and the digging robots were the top ones. The stupid crabs and ladybugs¡­

    God, ladybugs of all things.

    Well, flying robots that could fire lasers and robots that could infiltrate a place by digging through the earth? Those were dream technologies on their own.

    ¡°All right, well, get that shit out to DARPA. Maybe those eggheads can pull something together out of that mess.¡±

    Bradley hung up and sighed. Bee bots and ladybugs and exploding confetti.

    Actually¡­ speaking of robots.

    Bradley brought up a file on his computer. The testing on the IM guns and Big Foot model mech was currently underway. It would be sometime before they would actually start putting them out to the troops, but the testing was very promising.

    The IM¡¯s were surviving a whole lot of stress tests. And overall, every spec of the weapons outperformed their contemporaries in range (up to 1000 yards effective range!), simplicity, robustness, even things as simple as weight.

    They weren¡¯t perfect. The magazines sometimes got stuck when trying to reload them, requiring a quick hit to the side to remove them. And the grips were too smooth, some of the soldiers were wrapping them up with duct tape to give them extra grip. A pair of small defects he¡¯d bring up to Ivo.

    Bradley was almost relieved by it. If they had been too perfect he would have been almost suspicious.

    And then there was the Big Foot¡­ god, the Big Foot.

    It was new. Sure, there had been ideas along the lines of it before, but modern technology didn¡¯t have a way to make anything like it until now.

    The Big Foot, however, solved many of the old problems.

    It was agile and quick for it¡¯s size, able to roll itself back to its feet if needed, could navigate unsteady terrain fairly easily, and could run at speeds just a bit slower than the fastest tank they had.

    It was cheap for it¡¯s make, about the same as a M1-Abrams.

    It had several different weapons roles it could fulfill, and was constructed to be able to easily handle the recoil of every weapon, sometimes even while moving.

    It¡¯s legs were tough as hell. Bradley could tell that Ivo had invested a lot of time and energy making sure no one could take it out just by aiming a rpg at the legs. And when they removed one leg manually, the Big Foot had been able to hop on one foot. Stupid looking, but it was still moving, and managed to cover a good bit of distance that way.

    And when the pilot wanted it to be, it was quiet. Eerily so. Some of the eggheads had looked under the hood and found dozens of ¡®muscles¡¯ under the armor plating. They had a current running through them when the thing moved, the green false muscles pumping with electricity.

    Ah. And the power sources. That was¡­ interesting. Hidden under the armor, they were on either side of the cockpit, each covered with a decal of a cute squirrel, which was a strange detail. Underneath that, where the intakes could be seen, a pair of engines about the size of a mini-fridge, each with around 800-1000 kw output on average, and possibly half again that at peak, according to his engineers. More efficient than the versions currently used in the¡­ in the M1 Abrams¡­

    Goddamn the M1-Abrams. It was a good tank. A solid tank. But Congress just kept on buying them! The current strategic thought process for the military was lighter, faster, more streamlined. Having big tanks would always be a necessity, but they didn¡¯t fit the current way wars were engaged. At least they didn¡¯t need to spend so much money on new ones.

    Actually¡­ didn¡¯t Ivotech have a service for something related to that? Something about rebuilding weapons and vehicles, or turning them into other things? Or buying them? Hmm¡­

    He decided to look into that later.

 9: Bit More Than Six Million

    Mechelle Ivo

    In her spartan office within Ivotech headquarters, Mechelle and Destiny watched the news together.

    ¡°-unprecedented attack, where a terrorist labeling himself a ¡®supervillain¡¯ attacked the Seven. They bravely fought off the villain, saving many of those at the arena, though a few were injured during the attack. The villain, using a variety of robotic creations to attack those at the arena, dubbed himself ¡®Eggman¡¯, and is currently at large. Later today, Vought will be giving a press release on the villain, as well as their plans on how to handle-¡±

    Mechelle shut off the tv, leaning back. ¡°...Why did you want me to watch that?¡±

    Destiny smirked. ¡°Well. It¡¯s less that I wanted you to watch it. More that I wanted to see your reaction to it.¡±

    ¡°Sad, seeing so many people get hurt,¡± Mechelle said with a shake of her head. ¡°It¡¯s good that the Seven were able to stop Dr. Eggman.¡±

    ¡°...Dr, huh?¡± Destiny leaned forward, resting her right elbow on her knee and her chin in her palm. ¡°You know. I checked. And no one was really ¡®injured¡¯ by the robots. Some bruises, broken bones. No deaths. There was one cop that is currently in the hospital with severe injuries, but other than that, nothing that can¡¯t be healed with some time.¡±

    ¡°How fortunate,¡± Mechelle said with a smile.

    ¡°It is¡­ how is Julian, by the way? Still making things?¡±

    ¡°Always is,¡± Mechelle agreed.

    ¡°Hm. Well,¡± Destiny picked up the remote from Mechelle¡¯s desk. ¡°I¡¯m sure that our miracle worker is making yet more interesting technology,¡± as though to punctuate her point, when she flipped the tv back on, a Badnik appeared. A Crabmeat. ¡®The derpiest looking robot ever¡¯, as Julian said, with it¡¯s big eyes and strange way of walking.

    ¡°Very different from what this guy makes, isn¡¯t it?¡± Destiny noted. ¡°Very advanced though¡­ Please remind him that my firm is willing to go to bat for him on many things¡­ within reason. There are limits.¡±

    ¡°Limits?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ depends on the paycheck,¡± Destiny leaned back. ¡°That aside. I reached out to the family of the cop who was injured, as you requested. His doctor is looking over the data you gave.¡±

    ¡°Thank you so much, Destiny,¡± Mechelle said cheerily. Behind the mask of happiness however, her mind began to go over the issues at hand.

    The news was lambasting Eggman. That was something they knew would happen, but it was a bit much in Mechelle¡¯s opinion.

    She decided she could do something about it. After all, if Vought was hiding the footage of what really happened, how their heroes were embarrassed, there was no reason she shouldn¡¯t show the truth. See them try and keep that out of the hands of the internet at large.

    Dr. Eggman may have been a villain, but he¡¯d be one with a good publicist if she had anything to say about it.

    ------

    Julian Ivo

    A day after my first foray into supervillainy, I looked over the monitor in front of me, frowning just a bit. ¡°You know, Colin, when you told me you wanted your own project, I was expecting something smaller.¡±

    ¡°Then you underestimate the levels of greed I work at,¡± Colin snarked. He frowned. ¡°Really though, what do you think?¡±

    ¡°About the overall idea? I think it¡¯s going to be expensive and long-term. But beyond that, I can¡¯t believe I never considered it.¡±

    ¡°In your defense, your focus has been rather targeted as of late,¡± Colin said.

    ¡°Well, I guess that¡¯s why we work together. Cover our weak points,¡± I pulled out a map. ¡°How much of this can we take care of, do you think?

    ¡°If we can build the Badniks for it, we can get started on the clean up. But the rest of it could take a good long while, considering what it would take to build a base like that.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m perfectly fine with that,¡± Colin said with a smile. ¡°If we end up in trouble, having control over even a portion of the ocean would be advantageous to let us hide.¡±

    ¡°...Can Homelander swim?¡±

    Colin stared at me. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know? He might not even have tried.¡±

    ¡°Might be worth prepping for. You¡¯ve got enough to worry about with the Deep. He might be a discount Aquaman, but despite the memes about it Aquaman can be damned scary when he wants to be.¡±

    ¡°Excellent point,¡± Colin said, crossing his arms. ¡°I will have some issue creating my bacteria idea however. The last thing we need is for it to start devouring things it shouldn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s leave causing a worldwide plague as a maybe for now,¡± I snarked. ¡°Still, I agree with you. Building underwater facilities, cleaning the ocean, making travel under water more convenient. I¡¯ll help as much as I can.¡±

    ¡°I appreciate it. I can likely handle most of it however,¡± he said. I detected a bit of¡­ eagerness, from him. I was glad.

    Making androids had been risky, but one thing I¡¯d made sure of was not to put so many limitations on them that they¡¯d end up turning on me out of spite. Being a dick had caused ninety percent of Eggman¡¯s problems.

    And Colin taking on a project of his own volition was something I took heart in. I wasn¡¯t expecting him to make his own Seaquest series (Damn, who the hell remembered that sadly wasted show?) but it was cool.

    ¡°But building your future Atlantis will be more of a general project-.¡±

    ¡°To be honest,¡± Colin said, cutting me off. He looked thoughtful. ¡°I think that is my goal. It will take time. But one day¡­ The ocean will be mine.¡±

    ¡°...I want to focus on the officer. What do we got?¡±

    Colin shook his head from dreams of conquest.

    ¡°Tommy King? A litany of injuries,¡± Colin sounded disgusted. ¡°A single pass of Homelander¡¯s lasers was equivalent to having magma touch his skin. And worse is the way the beam hit him.¡±

    Colin took on a brief stance, looking like he was holding a gun, stance low. ¡°Homelander used a wider iteration of his beams. Since the officer''s arms and legs were slightly forward, the beam hit those first, cooking the flesh on his limbs. In fact, the beam was so hot that it boiled the blood in his limbs to steam, exploding it outwards. After that, the beam hit his chest and stomach. The amount of damage it did there was less horrid, but still¡­ And of course, his face. As far as I can tell, the beam took out one of his eyes. And most of the skin around it.¡±

    ¡°Fucking Homelander,¡± I sighed. ¡°So what can we do to help him?¡±

    ¡°Well, his limbs will need replacements. The ends of them are almost entirely useless hunks of flesh now. Large portions of his skin, cybernetics to support the systems, fuel cells, some strengthening of his overall bone structure. How super would you like me to make him?¡±

    ¡°Pretty damn, if that can be a level,¡± I moved over to my desk and sat down. ¡°If we¡¯re helping Tommy King, I want him to be better than he was before. Robocop him up.¡±

    ¡°There may be a problem with that,¡± Colin began stroking his beard. ¡°Vought. They¡¯ve reached out to him. Begun their little assault on his perception of what happened. I believe they¡¯ll be sending a lawyer with a paper to sign and money to provide, maybe even try and find some way to convince him he was responsible for his injuries.¡±

    ¡°Price of fighting on a battlefield with gods? I could see them doing that,¡± I leaned forward and tapped at the phone on my desk, soon connecting over to Mechelle.

    ¡°Julian? How can I help you?¡± she said with uncharacteristic cheer.

    ¡°Hey cuz. I was just gonna ask, is Destiny still with you? Can you ask her to make sure Tommy King knows he has options?¡±

    ¡°Already on it,¡± Destiny said, sounding amused. ¡°May I ask why?¡±

    ¡°Selflessly, because helping people is good. Selfishly, because helping a cop who got hurt by a supe is great for our reputation. You know what one of my goals is.¡±

    ¡°I think I do, but you seem to have so many,¡± she said over the phone. ¡°We¡¯ve already reached out to him. We should get a response at the end of the day.¡±

    ¡°Fantastic news then. Do you need any help?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like you or Colin to meet the family,¡± Destiny said. ¡°It¡¯s easier to convince people of this sort of thing when they can meet their benefactor directly after all. Plus, if Vought is about to talk to him, having a CEO of the company meeting them instead of a heartless lawyer is a good look.¡±

    ¡°...¡± I leaned back in my seat. Honestly, while my first thought was to do just that, I was having second thoughts. Revealing myself so completely might be a bad idea. Right now, I could think of maybe 30 people who knew what I looked like and who I was, all people I worked with. Showing up at the hospital of the cop hurt by Homelander. People could notice.

    However, I did have a simple explanation for my being there. Greed.

    If the tech inside Tommy King worked, he¡¯d be able to get to work in moments. And once people saw how effective he was, that he was able to live a healthy life and even become competitive with supes? Well...

    If he accepted of course.

    ------

    In the hours before I would head out to meet Tommy King, I got some work done. Upgrades to my computer line, some looks into the various smaller tech designs Ivotech would be selling (we¡¯d be opening up a line of machines for kitchenware as well as some smaller goods), then some more paperwork like signing off on the purchase of some land.

    Soon enough though, Mechelle and I left for the hospital. It was a long drive, so I had time to watch a movie or two in the fancy car we rented for the ride.

    ¡°...This is absolute trash,¡± I said as Mechelle and I watched Invisible Force, one of Translucent¡¯s movies.

    ¡°No one can see me, Jennifer,¡± an empty piece of space said. ¡°This is my gift. This is my curse. I wish you could see me the way I see you, but the world isn¡¯t made of fairy tales. Now kiss me baby.¡±

    Fuck me, really?

    ¡°You picked it,¡± Mechelle said with no emotion.

    ¡°I wanted to compare it to superhero movies I remember,¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°I mean, I had my guesses, but I really hoped for more from a world where these powers actually exist. How the hell can the effects be bad when the effects are real?¡±

    ¡°Many explosions in movies look fake despite the fact real explosions exist,¡± Mechelle pointed out.

    ¡°And my god, the acting!¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°I mean, sure, some superhero movies in my world had some really trash or dorky acting. But this is somehow worse,¡± I sighed sadly. ¡°And it¡¯s weird, there are almost none of my world''s movies or tv shows, but the music is almost identical. Even Wu Tang Clan is still nothing to fuck with.¡±

    Thank god.

    ¡°That is odd,¡± Mechelle said. ¡°Doctor¡­ are you trying to distract yourself?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    We stared at each other for a long moment.

    ¡°That is¡­ good.¡±

    I sighed. ¡°Fine. I¡¯m both trying to distract myself, and trying to remember that I¡¯m me.¡±

    Mechelle didn¡¯t say anything, but I could tell she understood.

    The past couple of days, I had to act out and practice my role over and over. Make sure I was as much Eggman as I could be, with all the hammy badass insanity intact. Having to play that out had been weirdly addictive. Which worried me just a bit.

    The movie continued.

    ¡°You know, maybe I should make my own movie,¡± I mused.

    ¡°...¡± Mechelle didn¡¯t look over at me.

    ¡°I could remake the Avengers or Justice League, do a thing about them. Hell, I could cross them over!¡±

    Mechelle finally turned to look over at me. ¡°...If you feel that is the best option. I can shift your schedule. You have several meetings, projects, programming sessions, lunches, sleep,¡± I flinched. Ah. Right. ¡°Your time is valuable, of course, but if you wish to add the endeavors of a full movie project, we can-¡±

    I laughed a bit, shaking my head. ¡°All right, all right, I get it!¡±

    ¡°Get what?¡±

    ¡°I have enough on my plate without adding ¡®movie production¡¯ to the list,¡± I smirked at her. ¡°What memories gave you passive-aggressiveness.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure I¡¯m simply the product of my creator,¡± somehow, despite how robotic she sounded, I could almost hear a smile in her voice.

    ------

    When we got to the hospital, we were led up to Thomas King¡¯s room, walking through halls that smelled of antiseptic. Sometimes vomit. Overworked nurses and doctors ignored Mechelle and I, while the nurse leading us seemed more annoyed than anything.

    ¡°Here he is,¡± the nurse said, sounding like he hadn¡¯t slept in days. ¡°He¡¯s in a lot of pain, so he might be a little bit loopy. Try to keep your visit short.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said.

    He scoffed, turning and walking away. Mechelle frowned. ¡°Rude.¡±

    ¡°More overworked,¡± I mused. Back in my world, the coronavirus had been in full swing. I¡¯d visited the hospital a few times, and the look of terrified exhaustion on the workers there had been heartbreaking.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go in alone,¡± I told Mechelle. She didn¡¯t complain, only moving to stand beside the door. With her height and build, along with the dark shades, short haircut, and tailored suit, she looked like an Amazonian bodyguard. Which, she kinda was.

    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    I entered the hospital room. Inside, our man of the hour was in bed, sitting up and looking in my direction, with two people next to him. A young girl and a much older man. I held back a wince at the smell in the air. Burnt flesh, like pork left to scorch. His arms, legs, and a portion of his face were covered in bandages

    ¡°Who the fuck are you?¡± the old man immediately said. He was the same color as Tommy, with more wrinkles and a less than friendly look on his face.

    ¡°Julian Ivo,¡± I said, looking over them. ¡°I was told we were supposed to meet up. I can wait outside if you-¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re another scum sucking-¡± the older man stood up, his chest filling up with air, eyes filled with rage.

    ¡°Pops,¡± Tommy¡¯s voice was weak, exhausted. But the older man stopped immediately. ¡°Can you take Chelsea out while we talk.¡±

    ¡°Tomm-¡±

    Tommy gave him a pleading look. The older man finally sighed. ¡°Come on, midget.¡±

    The small girl nodded, her dreadlocks bouncing. The older man walked out with her, the two looking me over. The older man looked very suspicious. The young girl¡¯s face was¡­ blank. But they moved with a similar sort of exhaustion.

    Once they left, I walked over to Tommy.

    ¡°You¡¯re the CEO of IvoTech?¡± Tommy looked me over. ¡°You look a little young.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s why I grew a beard,¡± I stopped at the foot of his bed, looking over him. ¡°I might as well cut to the chase. Do you know what my company does, Mr. King?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re¡­ a tech company, right?¡± he said weakly. ¡°Don¡¯t you guys make computers?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s where we started, but you¡¯re not incorrect. We make plenty of stuff. But one thing we¡¯ve done intensive research into is medical technology,¡± I moved to sit next to him. ¡°Mr. King. I won¡¯t lie. Your wounds are extensive. The amputations are just the start. Large portions of your skin will need to be replaced, sections of your chest and stomach. If normal medicine is used, you will be severely reduced in your ability to function. Normal prosthetics can give you some functionality¡­ But I want to offer you mo-¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Tommy cut me off. He leaned forward, gasping in pain but his eyes hard. ¡°Why the fuck would you do that? Your lady on the phone said you were offering it for free. Free prosthetics, cover my medical bills, cover everything.¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t I do that out of the goodness of my heart?¡±

    ¡°You aren¡¯t doing this because of that,¡± Tommy spat out.

    ¡°I am, actually,¡± I felt like I needed a cane to lean on. This seemed like a cane leaning moment. ¡°I have a few reasons to do this. One of them is because, really, I can do something good to help you. You have a good record as a cop, Mr. King. Honest, hardworking, some commendations under your belt like Distinguished Service Citation, Citations for Bravery, etc.¡±

    Tommy leaned back a bit. ¡°...A few reasons?¡±

    ¡°Oh, you want all of them,¡± I have to admit, my smile became a bit manic. ¡°Okay. First, like I said, I want to help people. One day, my prosthetics could help thousands. I¡¯d like to start that soon, and you, a healthy young man with a fit build and a strenuous job, are an excellent candidate to work with. Helping you is good, and it will further my research.¡±

    ¡°Second, more selfishly, I want to make money. Good will with the public, tested technology, the free advertisement of a police officer I helped out on the street stopping crimes? Those are money in the making. So if you want a selfish reason, there it is.¡±

    I rose to my feet. ¡°But then, there is one more reason. Spite!¡±

    As I started pacing the room, Tommy¡¯s eyes followed. ¡°S-Spite?¡±

    ¡°Spite¡­ against Homelander,¡± I turned to look at him. ¡°Let me ask you. Did Vought speak to you already?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. On the phone. They asked me a bunch of-¡±

    ¡°Did they apologize?¡± his mouth snapped shut. ¡°No? Did Homelander? ...How about this? Did they have explanations? Excuses? Did anyone say ¡®sorry¡¯? Or was it all, ¡®we¡¯re just wracked about what happened to you,.¡¯ ¡®my sympathies,¡¯ ¡®my condolences, I feel for you.¡¯ Right?¡±

    Tommy stared at me. I scowled.

    ¡°And then, there is the supes. There are good ones. Many good ones. But then there are the ones Vought hides away. The idiots.¡±

    ¡°Homelander¡¯s a hero though,¡± Tommy said weakly. When I gave him a look of contempt, he seemed to flinch.

    ¡°...I hate the idea of supes. Of the special being born on a pedestal, above all the rest. Humanity isn¡¯t a few heroes born with some fancy powers. Humanity is a whole. People coming together, using time, knowledge, and determination to build something great. Vought has created a culture of worshiping a few individuals.¡±

    I clenched my fist. ¡°I believe in heroes. But heroes are not heroes because of some special dna. They become that because of their character! Because when the villains arrive, they protect the innocent, fight the guilty, they step up! Even if you go for the most ancient traditional translation of it, a hero is someone with some goddamn balls!¡±

    ¡°They step forward where others would falter, they fight rather than run! I saw the footage of the battle, Mr. King. The real footage, the stuff on the internet rather than the news. Of the people on that battlefield who fought the robots, you know who had the best results? Queen Maeve, Black Noir¡­ some civilians who stepped forward to protect others. Then you and some of your fellow officers. Of the people who gave those ridiculous robots an actual fight, only two of them were superheroes.¡±

    ¡°And what happened when one of the most powerful men in existence finally fought?¡± I sat down again, staring at him. ¡°He fired a laser that turned you into a triplegic.¡±

    ¡°It was a stray shot,¡± Tommy looked down at his bed, clenching at his bedsheets. ¡°It happens. When you pull the trigger, sometimes people can get hurt.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not saying accidents don¡¯t happen. But the man who is touted as the greatest hero in the world should at least say ¡®sorry¡¯,¡± I leaned back. ¡°Spite, like I said Mr. King, is one of the reasons I want to do this. I want to turn you into more than just a healed man. I want to supplement, make you a superhuman in your own right. To prove that anyone can have power. But heroes have to be more than someone who can pick up a car. You were a hero before this. You can be a superhero after.¡±

    I leaned back, sighing. ¡°There you have it. I can be selfless, selfish, or spiteful. But the fact is, who cares?¡±

    ¡°Who cares?¡±

    ¡°Who gives a fuck why I¡¯m doing it? The fact is, what do you want? After all, in the worst case I am offering you a means to be fully human again and not lose your job or lifestyle in general, and if things go wrong there I will gladly pay you for getting your hopes up. Best case I am offering you basically superpowers, even if augmentations is a better word for it.¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°Frankly, Mr. King, who cares why I¡¯m doing it? What matters is, how does it benefit or hinder you?¡±

    He stared at me thoughtfully. ¡°...Can you give me a day to think about it?¡±

    ¡°Only a day? I was prepared to give you more time than that,¡± I chuckled. ¡°Take a look at my work, Mr. King. My files have been sent already, along with some basic blueprints and a copy of our contract. In truth, my lawyers asked me to hold off on what I¡¯m offering, but you¡¯ll be getting the full package of assistance. And whether my assistance is accepted or not, I have covered your bills.¡±

    He seemed to relax just a bit. ¡°You didn¡¯t have to cover that¡­ but thank you. I figured the hospital would be expensive-¡±

    ¡°No, no bills. All of your bills,¡± I really needed to get a cane I could swing around, because I felt like getting one just for the flair. Tommy had a dumbfounded look on his face. ¡°A great man once said, ¡®never half ass something that you can whole ass.¡¯ I take that sort of thing to heart.¡±

    With that, I turned to leave. Before I did though a fun thought came to me that I had to act on.

    ¡°You ever watched the Six Million Dollar Man, Mr. King?¡± I said with a smirk.

    ¡°No?¡± he said in confusion.

    ¡°You are in for a treat then when I am done with you.¡±

    With that, I walked out. As I passed by Mechelle, she immediately began to follow. ¡°How did it go?¡±

    ¡°I think I¡¯m bad at making speeches,¡± I mused.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you did well,¡± Mechelle said.

    We ignored the two men in suits approaching us. Very expensive looking suits, along with briefcases, rolexes, and a very confident demeanor. Of course, they headed towards Tommy¡¯s room.

    Mechelle and I entered the elevator.

    ¡°I placed the camera above the door as you asked,¡± Mechelle said.

    ¡°Perfect. Let¡¯s see how those assholes act. Hell, maybe they¡¯re a lot more charming than I remember,¡± as the elevator doors closed, I felt Mechelle eye me. ¡°Yeah, I doubt that too.¡±

    ------

    Tommy King

    Not long after that weird Julian guy left, two more men came in. Tommy frowned at them. Both were wearing suits, both were very fancy looking, right down to their haircuts.

    ¡°Who are you?¡±

    ¡°Ah, Mr. King,¡± one of the men stepped over, the other one moving to his other side. ¡°I¡¯m with Vought International.¡±

    He held out a hand to shake. Tommy stared at him, then at his missing arm. The man hesitated, realizing he¡¯d put out the wrong arm to shake.

    Tommy noticed more than that. Neither man had introduced themselves by name,nor the fact they didn¡¯t even realize the fucking issue with trying to shake hands with a recent amputee.

    ¡°Uh, sorry,¡± the man pulled his hand back. The other man coughed, and the first continued. ¡°Like I said, I uh, am with Vought, we both are. We came in to give you our deepest condolences and sympathies. When we heard that you had been caught up in the crossfire of the Seven¡¯s battle against Eggman, we wanted to reach out and do what we could to help you through this tough time.¡±

    ¡°I appreciate that,¡± Tommy said very carefully.

    The two men smiled. ¡°Now, as a police officer, we understand that your job has some danger attached to it, and anything can happen on a battlefield, right?¡±

    Where were they going with this?

    ¡°Still, with your injuries, we¡¯re still willing to help bring you some measure of peace. While you may not be able to continue your job, we will be able to help cover your medical bills in the meantime along with more financial assistance. We also have some connections we can reach out to so you can stay on the force in an administrative role!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not perfect,¡± the other man said. ¡°But it¡¯s something.¡±

    Tommy looked between them. He grimaced just a bit with the pain filling him. ¡°...And what do you want in return for this? For me not to say Homelander fucking shot me with his lasers?¡±

    ¡°Mr. King,¡± one of the men said disapprovingly, before the other one raised a hand, stopping him.

    When the man gave Tommy a pitying look, Tommy felt a small amount of disgust.

    ¡°Mr. King. An accident is an accident. But if you must know, we¡¯re all in this together. In fact, this is for the greater good,¡± the man said in a smooth tone of voice. ¡°All we ask in return is that you sign a settlement contract that absolves Vought International and its employees of any wrongdoing during the course of the events of the attack and legally promise not speak up publically against it in a¡­ negative light.¡±

    The man smiled gently. ¡°We were all surprised by this Eggman¡¯s attack after all and it only helps this terrorist if we turn on each other. So any mention of how you were injured and by whom will need to be kept quiet.¡±

    On the surface, that made some sense¡­ but Tommy felt something in him rail at the thought. Sign a paper. Absolve Homelander. As though the pain he was feeling, the fucking loss of his legs and arm, was just a damn accident!

    ¡°...Can I at least get an apology?¡± Tommy asked calmly. Testingly. ¡°I just want Homelander to say he¡¯s sorry.¡±

    One man hid a grimace. The other didn¡¯t flinch. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I can promise that. Homelander is a very busy man. But we can give it a shot.¡±

    A shot. How nice.

    ¡°I need a day to think about it,¡± Tommy said immediately.

    ¡°...That¡¯s fair,¡± one of the men said. He smiled gently. ¡°Just remember, Mr. King. A deal like this doesn¡¯t come everyday. We¡¯re willing to help, we just want to make sure we can work together on this.?¡±

    Tommy didn¡¯t speak. The man was right. A deal like this didn¡¯t come everyday. Luckily, he¡¯d gotten two.

    A promise to get him somewhat healed with a desk job waiting as long as he shut up, or a promise to make himself stronger than ever without needing to do a damn thing he didn¡¯t want.

    And in the end¡­ Julian was right. Neither of those fuckers had the dignity to say sorry.

    As soon as the two left, Tommy reached for his cell phone, placed on the drawers next to him by his father. He knew what deal he¡¯d take. Maybe it was impulsive, but it felt like the right choice.

    ------

    Author¡¯s Note: Robocop! Robocop! Robocop! Robocop!

 10: Pulse: Origin

    Back in the car, I got a call from Tommy not long after his conversation with the Vought folk. I knew it was coming, because I¡¯d watched every moment. As we continued to ride peacefully through the city, I spoke with the man of the hour.

    ¡°Yes, I can have my medical specialist visit you in a couple of hours,¡± I told Tommy on the phone. ¡°No no, it¡¯s no issue. They¡¯ll need to take a look at you personally, and the last thing I want you to do, is wait. Got it. Will do. Have a good day, Mr. King.¡±

    Once he¡¯d hung up, I looked over at Mechelle. ¡°What you thinking?¡±

    ¡°That if you hadn¡¯t offered a very different point of view, he would have accepted the deal. Or at least considered it more seriously,¡± Mechelle said, leaning forward in her seat a bit. ¡°They likely knew on some level that he was already looking at them negatively based on his responses. I¡¯m not sure if they always go for the hardline so fast, but that could be a reason why.¡±

    ¡°Well, hopefully Colin already has everything ready to go. We¡¯ll have to pretend we didn¡¯t already hack his records and create a basic plan,¡± I leaned back. ¡°This will be good, getting actual experience in robotization in this universe, if a less invasive version.¡±

    ¡°Do you have more individuals you want to practice it on?¡± Mechelle sounded less curious and more like she was trying to figure out my schedule.

    ¡°A few. I¡¯ll need to see about that. And I wasn¡¯t lying. I¡¯d like to begin making cheap robotic implants a normal thing for society, to help those who need it,¡± as long as they don''t end in people looking like those Maelstrom guys from Cyberpunk 2077. With a full chunk of their face removed and replaced with machinery. Gross.

    ¡°Then of course, there are your other projects,¡± Mechelle noted.

    Ah¡­ right.

    I leaned back in the plush seat of the car. ¡°Well, sadly I can¡¯t justify making the Swatbots or the White Glint just yet, so I¡¯m thinking my next build should be simple. Military drones¡­¡±

    Despite my jokes, a part of me was saddened. The fact is, while I enjoyed building the technology I was making, I knew much of it would be used to kill people.

    In my world, drones had killed the family of someone close to me. Innocent people. But then, this was the life I¡¯d chosen. To be a weapons manufacturer. It was the logical choice to explain why I¡¯d have tech that would make the weapons I needed. The things I would sell would kill people, innocent, guilty, all flavors of human beings. One day, I could find some way to¡­ I don¡¯t know, balance the books I suppose?

    For now, I accepted it.

    ¡°Drones, simple ones that can hover. I can probably justify them by ¡®studying¡¯ the Badniks'' remains and footage, make Bradley think that I got the idea from the Buzz Bombers.¡±

    ¡°I recommend having some models fail,¡± Mechelle said. ¡°No need for them to be too successful.¡±

    ¡°Agreed. Beyond that, our work on improving designs for current models of tanks and fighter jets will be a good way to install our surveillance tech within the US government and military,¡± I stroked my chin. ¡°I¡¯ll have to consider buying a senator at some point.¡±

    ¡°Are you joking?¡±

    ¡°Kind of. They¡¯re cheaper than you¡¯d think. We can work on how to lobby a few,¡± always good to have a few politicians ready to go for when you needed them. ¡°Let¡¯s stick with the military angle for a bit. Night goggles?¡±

    ¡°Gen 5 models are being worked on now,¡± she said. ¡°I also have some paperwork coming through in building new facilities.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯ll help us make our new materials,¡± various alloys of metal, soundproof materials, new plastics and nanocellulose designs, even graphene. ¡°What about outsourcing?¡±

    ¡°We have some workforces and factories available. I¡¯m making sure they don¡¯t work on anything too impressive.¡±

    I chuckled. Yeah, outsourcing. Sadly, we couldn¡¯t do everything in-house. We didn¡¯t have the room to make all the tech I wanted. So a lot of once defunct factories and out-of-work engineers, machinists, and good old oil heads were gonna be busy. Fun!

    The show events were catching up though. Soon enough, I¡¯d be looking over the Boys, Starlight, and the spread of Compound V. Speaking of Supes.

    Gordon. Time for a meeting.

    ------

    Gordon Clarke

    When Gordon had fallen asleep, it was in his cell. Same as it had been for the last 5 years, since he had been taken to Sage Grove.

    When he woke, he was on a tropical beach.

    For a moment, just a moment, he stared around. He was on a comfy chair, wearing a clean t-shirt, a pair of board shorts, and a pair of flip-flops. On the table next to him, along with an umbrella casting shade on him, was a pitcher of something fruity smelling, and a tray of sandwiches.

    Gordon knew what was happening immediately. He¡¯d died. Of course! He¡¯d died inside his cell and was now in heaven!

    With that small adjustment to his thought process, he relaxed. He reached towards the drink on his table and took a sip, sighing happily at the taste of the first truly delicious drink he¡¯d had in a long time. When he bit into the sandwiches, they were just as amazing. Years of torture, stuck in a cell, with only the most basic foods¡­ finally, he¡¯d reached heaven.

    Someone showed up on the edge of the beach. Gordon watched the man slowly walk over to him. He was odd looking, with a bald head and a massive orange mustache. Gordon slowly chewed on his sandwich, trying to put together the image of the man with the idea of someone like this showing up in heaven.

    ¡°...Are you god?¡± Gordon finally asked when the man came to a stop.

    The man raised an eyebrow, then chuckled. ¡°My boy, you put me in quite a conundrum with that question. First, because I worry about the ego stroke. Second, because a wise man once said ¡®when someone asks if you¡¯re a god, you say yes¡¯,¡± he chuckled again, raising a white-gloved hand to rub at his mustache. ¡°I¡¯ll answer that simply. I am Dr. Robotnik. Some call me the Eggman.¡±

    Gordon thought about that, trying to process the words through the confusion that plagued him for years. ¡°I¡¯m sorry?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be. I picked it. The name doesn¡¯t matter as much as what you do with it. How are you enjoying your meal?¡±

    ¡°...Who are you?¡± Gordon asked. He was beginning to feel nervous. Very nervous. It had been a long time, so long, that people had just talked to him. The closest he could think of were the orderlies that beat and drugged him and¡­ her.

    Inside of him, Gordon felt a coiling heat fill his belly. He began to hyperventilate, trying to breathe.

    ¡°Are you all right, my boy?¡± the man, Eggman, said gently.

    He couldn¡¯t stop it! It was too much, he-

    FWOOMPH

    A wave of force echoed out from him. Gordon felt the chair under him shatter, the umbrella, drink, and sandwiches went flying, and Eggman disappeared in a wave of sand and air as the blast pushed out from Gordon. Gordon felt despair at the pain the burst left in his chest, but also relief at the loss of pressure, like a hand clenching on his heart finally let go.

    Gordon landed on his back, and slowly looked around. ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m so sorry-¡±

    ¡°The funny thing is,¡± the man rose up, looking positively covered in sand and dust. ¡°I think I would have ended up covered in sand no matter what.¡±

    He brushed off the sand as best as he could off his red suit, but was still looking much more ruffled than he had before.

    ¡°I-I¡¯m-¡±

    ¡°Nothing to worry about, my boy,¡± Eggman waved a hand dismissively. ¡°In fact, I expected something like this.¡±

    He moved over to Gordon and sat down. ¡°Does that happen often? Accidental, shall we say, bursts of EMP?¡±

    Gordon stared at him. His mind, already addled, tried to pull together a proper response. ¡°Y-Yeah.¡±

    ¡°...Mr. Clarke, I¡¯m a scientist. A good one. I don¡¯t claim to be a good man of course, but I try to help those deserving who need it. I¡¯d like to offer you that help.¡±

    Gordon could barely comprehend those words. ¡°H-How do you mean?¡±

    His voice just sounded so raw. This was the longest conversation he¡¯d had since¡­ since his kidnapping.

    ¡°Medical assistance, for one. I suspect that your powers hurt, at times? Maybe you feel confused after using them,¡± Eggman said, not unkindly.

    ¡°A-All the time,¡± as Gordon said that, his earlier question returned. ¡°Who are you? How did I get here¡­ what do you want?¡±

    ¡°As I told you. I am Eggman, a scientist. As for how you got here, I found you in Sage Grove, and rescued you from there. Finally, what I want, Mr. Clarke, is to help you. If you can help me, I would love that. But if all you want is peace, then that is fine as well.¡±

    Eggman relaxed in the sand, looking over at Gordon. ¡°Mr. Clarke, I didn¡¯t break you out to subject you to more torture. I can help you with control of your power, to help you focus it without pain. Once I do that, I can provide you with food, shelter, and anything else you may need. In return, I¡¯d like to research your power as noninvasively as possible.¡±

    Gordon hugged his knees to his chest. For a moment, everything was quiet, only the sounds of the ocean filling the air.

    ¡°...Will you stop the pain?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely.¡±

    Trying to think, trying to push past the fog that always filled his head, Gordon spoke once more. ¡°Can you¡­ protect me from her?¡±

    ¡°Stormfront?¡±

    He knew. Gordon felt his eyes burn. ¡°And the doctors.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m planning to have her either imprisoned or killed at some point, to be honest.¡±

    Gordon felt a rush of excitement fill him. Killed¡­ ¡°Can I help with that?¡±

    ¡°...We¡¯ll see. But for now, let¡¯s take things one day at a time, shall we?¡± Eggman rose up, still dusty and sand-covered, but also somehow¡­ grand, in his stature. It was in how he smiled, the crinkle of his eyes around those ice-blue glasses he wore. He held out a hand. ¡°How about it, Mr. Clarke? To a beautiful friendship?¡±

    Gordon took so long to take his hand that it became awkward. In the end, he took it. The promises the man gave were impossible. But if he could do even half what he said, well¡­ Gordon had gone to sleep not having anything to lose anyways.

    -----

    Julian Ivo

    Gordon Clarke needed therapy. That was an understatement, but a start.

    In my office, after Eggman met our Electromagnetic Pulse generator and I showed him to the small space set up as his new home, Colin and I were looking over two boards in front of me. Granted, work was still being done on the island beyond that. The Badniks would be digging even as we spoke, making a base for Eggman to work from. What was supervillain without a base after all?

    ¡°You know, we have computers for this sort of thing,¡± Colin noted, watching as I stepped forward to write something.

    ¡°The sensation of writing something with my own hands helps me remember things better,¡± I twirled the marker in my hand around. ¡°Okaaaaaay. So. We have before us two individuals. Let''s start with Tommy King.¡±

    ¡°Replacing his legs will be simple enough. Same with his arm. His eye¡­ while we could try and create an eye, that sort of technology maybe-¡±

    I interrupted Colin. ¡°Too advanced. Yeah. In fact, while I¡¯d love to give Tommy the full package possible, we¡¯re gonna end up looking suspicious. We need to hold back. Give him enough to be advanced, even experimental¡­ I hate to say it, but he¡¯s going to have a couple uncomfortable moments while we pretend to be adjusting and advancing the technology.¡±

    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°Itchy limbs, muted connections, slight problems with the heat or pressure sensors. And for his eye, I would recommend we replace it with a visor of sorts to stretch over to his other eye. Give him back some depth perception and other more advanced visuals, but still bulky enough to throw people off.¡±

    I rubbed my face. ¡°As for strength and speed, that¡¯s going to be interesting.¡±

    ¡°He can¡¯t be too strong, not without replacing large portions of his skeletal structure. Otherwise, it¡¯ll be like using heavy machinery wrapped around eggshells. Some basic reinforcement will work, so we can make him stronger. And of course, his stamina will be elevated. We¡¯ll have some trouble rebuilding his skin.¡±

    ¡°Better than nothing. What about the exoskeleton?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Being fabricated now. I¡¯ll scuff the design a bit of course, but he¡¯ll be the most durable police officer in existence when the time comes.¡±

    Or one of, at least. I felt kind of bad. Making the tech purposefully subpar got a bit annoying sometimes, not giving the straight-up insane enhancements I wanted. He¡¯d be a badass. But Mechelle would be able to rip him in half by comparison. Still. Needs must, when the... devil drives.

    Wow. Never thought about that phrase too much before now.

    ¡°What about Gordon?¡± Colin asked, pulling me from my darker thoughts.

    I turned to the board holding all the information we had on Gordon. ¡°Well, he¡¯s a harder egg to crack. The man has spent the last five years being tortured after his DNA was already transformed by Compound V. To build onto that, he¡¯s also a walking EMP. Who knows what sort of effect his own powers have had on his brain and body? He would have been a touch-and-go case with any of those on their own.¡±

    ¡°So we have a problem. Now, we need the solution,¡± Colin turned away, pacing slowly. ¡°This will take intense analysis. We aren¡¯t simply helping a normal man. We need more controls, Julian. We need supes who have had their powers since their birth, or at least Voughts research on them. You have the files we stole from Sage Grove?¡±

    ¡°Oodles of it,¡± I pressed a hand to my chin. ¡°I¡¯m still digging through it though. You¡¯re right. We can narrow our focus with those. See what sort of medical files they have on supes. I remember they had a few on current heroes. If we get a look at the heroes who are similar to Gordon, then we can isolate ways to help him control his power.¡±

    ¡°And the therapy he¡¯ll need?¡± Colin asked. ¡°You read my report, yes?¡±

    ¡°On the mental state of heroes affecting their powers? I¡¯m not sure that has as much bearing as you think.¡±

    ¡°Not on functional supes, Julian. We aren¡¯t talking about people like the Deep or A-Train.¡±

    ¡°Of all the heroes to consider functional,¡± I snarked.

    ¡°They have massive issues, but they aren¡¯t on the verge of a mental breakdown yet,¡± Colin pointed out. ¡°Gordon lost control just from talking to someone. We did all we could to make him comfortable, and he still unleashed enough force to crumble a car in all directions. That isn¡¯t calculated violence, that is a loss of control.¡±

    True. Gordon may not have been a bad person, but he was unstable.

    ¡°We¡¯ll hire a therapist,¡± I said, shaking my head. ¡°I¡¯m not comfortable making one.¡±

    ¡°I can understand why. You aren¡¯t exactly stable yourself.¡±

    I barked out a surprised laugh, looking over at him. He smirked at me unabashedly. I shook my head. ¡°Fair. I do have the memories of a bunch of much older and smarter minds running around my head after all.¡±

    ¡°We can reach out to someone about that. As I posited, a severely unstable mind likely would have intense trouble controlling their powers, no matter what cybernetics we put in or what superhero name we give them¡­ I like Pulse, by the way.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a good one.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    I placed my marker down. ¡°By the way, one of our Buzz Bombers is currently in place over target C.¡±

    ¡°And how is target C?¡± Colin asked.

    I walked over to my computer and pressed a button. On the large monitor in the back of the room, an image popped up.

    Colin and I watched as a house swam before us from the eyes of a Buzz Bomber. Through the kitchen window, we could see a pretty black-haired woman eating with a young boy, both of them smiling and gazing at each other with love.

    ¡°Rebecca Butcher. And Ryan¡­¡± Colin stopped, thinking.

    ¡°Butcher,¡± I said softly. ¡°When it comes to kids, I prefer to remember their best traits.¡±

    ¡°...I¡¯m going to say something cold,¡± Colin said as I turned off the footage of mother and son.

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°A sample of his blood would be a boon to my research,¡± Colin said. ¡°I¡¯m not saying we kidnap him. But a natural-supe¡¯s DNA would be-¡±

    ¡°Goddamnit,¡± I cut him off, rubbing my face. ¡°...A nanobot. A mosquito maybe. Send him in when Ryan is asleep, take the tiniest bit of blood while also scanning him.¡±

    ¡°Julian, we aren¡¯t hurting him.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s skeevy as hell to steal a kid''s blood and study it. Besides, I need to make sure I rethink these things. The last thing I want is to just accept every justification I make at face value. It¡¯s a slow path to shoving a self-destruct in someone I trust.¡±

    Colin sighed. ¡°When does the line between keeping the moral high ground and punishing yourself for nothing get crossed?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll let you know when we¡¯re done taking down Vought,¡± I said. ¡°Or after someone kills me I guess.¡±

    ¡°Which reminds me-¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m working on it.¡±

    ------

    With that conversation over, I met up with General Bradley in my machining shop, where the IM guns and some models of the Big Foot were being made.

    ¡°-grips are slippery as hell in combat,¡± he explained as we walked through my factory together, alone except for the workers buzzing about. ¡°Along with the magazines getting stuck sometimes on the reload. They¡¯re still damn good guns, but that might need some fixing.¡±

    I sighed in fake disappointment. ¡°Well, I guess the conditions weren¡¯t what we expected. I¡¯ll make adjustments to the IM guns. What about the Big Foot?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a damn sight more useful than I expected. Some of the boys are complaining that it''s a little hard to drive, but they¡¯ll get used to it.¡±

    ¡°Do you mind sending me any reports they have?¡± I asked him. ¡°Any insights they might have would be handy. It¡¯s nice to be advanced, but it¡¯s better for the tech to be useful.¡±

    ¡°Wish some of our boys had the same thought process,¡± he grumbled. ¡°Anyways, I¡¯m not here just for a refresher.¡±

    ¡°If you want more new technology you¡¯ll have to wait a bit. I can only do a couple of miracles a month.¡±

    He didn¡¯t seem to appreciate my sense of humour, but didn¡¯t comment on it. ¡°I¡¯m actually here about a project you wanted a look at. The robots that attacked the Seven.¡±

    ¡°You got my request?¡± I asked with a frown. ¡°My company put that through a¡­ actually, I don¡¯t really remember the name of the people we sent the paperwork to.¡±

    ¡°Regardless,¡± Bradley continued. ¡°I caught your name, thought I¡¯d drop by and talk to you about it.¡±

    I sighed. ¡°That¡¯s embarrassing.¡±

    ¡°Embarrassing?¡±

    We came to a stop in front of the latest Big Foot being built. As it¡¯s balance program was being programmed I leaned against a railing separating us from it. ¡°General, I¡¯ve worked my entire life to excel at robotics and engineering. And yet, after building a machine that I thought dwarfed anything that could be possible in terms of robotics¡­ some upstart asshole drops out of the sky and blows me out of the water with¡­ cutesy animals.¡±

    I looked over at him. ¡°Did you see those bees?¡±

    Bradley nodded. He suddenly looked exhausted. ¡°We wish we could make drones with the flight ability those things had. And the fact they managed to hurt Homelander of all people is insane.¡±

    ¡°Barely scuffed his cape really,¡± I pointed out. ¡°But that¡¯s more than I¡¯ve seen before. And really, the way those things flew with wings that small blew our minds. We¡¯ve been working on hovering vehicles, trying to improve their weight, power, durability¡­ here, look,¡± I pulled out my phone and unlocked it, loading up a video.

    As Bradley and I watched, a large machine hovered on the top of a cliff in the middle of a forest. ¡°Upstate New York,¡± I explained to him. ¡°We thought we¡¯d ironed out some of the kinks on our first version of the Mono Platform, a bot we¡¯re planning on eventually selling to you fine folks. But it¡¯s¡­ not going well.¡±

    The drone was hovering happily over the forest below, looking solid. It began to drift to the left, then right, then up. It was extremely slow, almost glacial, but the big thing was moving.

    Then a fire started in one of the propeller sections, a crackling sound filling the air. The machine went squealing over the heads of the cameramen, who ducked aside as the machine, hundreds of thousands of dollars of research, exploded against a tree and crashed in a heap.

    I put on another video. Same cliff, smaller machine. This time, the second it launched, it flew forward. And forward. And forward.

    ¡°Is it supposed to do that?¡± one of the people there said.

    ¡°It was not, in fact, supposed to do that,¡± I grumbled. ¡°My expensive prototype disappeared over the horizon cause none of the people I hired were smart enough to go out and catch the damn thing.¡±

    ¡°You telling me your prototype ran away?¡± Bradley asked incredulously.

    ¡°Flew away and crashed, hard enough that we lost trackers on the damn thing,¡± I put my phone away. ¡°I¡¯ll be honest, I wish we had installed a self-destruct mechanism on the damn thing.¡±

    Bradley scoffed. ¡°I hate to say it, but I think Eggman has you beat on that front. His bots exploded when we went to take the remains.¡±

    ¡°Makes sense. Anyone with tech that advanced would want to keep it out of enemy hands. I just wish I knew where he was getting it!¡±

    ¡°I assume he built it,¡± Bradley snarked. ¡°Unless you mean where he¡¯s getting the tech. We¡¯ve been looking into people who might have the knowledge to make something like this, along with the resources and place to actually put it all together.¡±

    ¡°Is it strange to hope I¡¯m on the list?¡± I said with a bit of chagrin. ¡°Because Eggman is clearly insane, but¡­ his robots were impressive.¡±

    ¡°If you think you can¡¯t match him, you just dropped down the list,¡± Bradley sounded somehow both serious and teasing all at once. ¡°As far as I know, the FBI are visiting MIT, Apple, Boston Dynamics, Tesla,.Anyone and anywhere that has the slightest chance of making the shit that guy made.¡±

    ¡°...So I am on the list.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a short list,¡± Bradley admitted. ¡°But you¡¯re there. Considering your recent lawsuit against Vought. So I hope you aren¡¯t planning on attacking them.¡±

    ¡°I hate the superhero that broke my prized robot, and I dislike that they defend him. Other than that, I just hate their movies. The acting is terrible,¡± as Bradley and I shared a small chuckle, I continued. ¡°Is there anything else you need?¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯d like you to take a look at something in particular¡­¡± he pulled out his phone and brought up an image. ¡°Work on replacing a vehicle that shares my name. Or at least, be one of the people looking into it.¡±

    ¡°...You want me to join as one of the companies invited to make proposals to replace the Bradley Fighting Vehicle.¡±

    Oh god no.

 11: Julian Likes Puns

    After Bradley left, Colin and I went into our lab while Mechelle and Destiny joined us. Destiny was curious about our process. That was fine by me, since our work wasn¡¯t Eggman related. I leaned against a table that Mechelle was sitting on, while Destiny swung one leg back and forth as she sat on an armchair, the three of us watching as Colin stood in front of us just in front of a screen holding the image of a very big vehicle.

    ¡°The Bradley Fighting Vehicle,¡± Mechelle mumbled.

    ¡°The list of jokes about this thing is longer than my arm thanks to The Pentagon Wars,¡± Colin said.

    ¡°The Pentagon Wars? What¡¯s that?¡± Destiny asked.

    ¡°An older movie, a comedy really, about the development of the Bradley,¡± I said. ¡°A friend of mine showed it to me once. Anyway, the joke is that it¡¯s supposed to be an APC: Armored Personnel Carrier. This thing was supposed to carry around 11 people to the battlefield, just a simple fast as fuck vehicle. But they went on to add a bunch of stuff to it.¡±

    ¡°Nowadays, however, it has a good reputation in the modern military,¡± Colin said. ¡°The M3 model is respected by many. It may have started out as a camel, but it¡¯s a damn robust one now.¡±

    ¡°Camel,¡± Destiny chuckled. ¡°Right. A horse made by a committee.¡±

    ¡°Enough of the past,¡± I said, taking the lead. ¡°Focus on the now. Forget just making a tank. This is IvoTech building it¡¯s brand. We need to provide not just a better design, anyone with an idea and a drawing board can do that if they¡¯re smart enough. We need more. Think basics¡­ the metal.¡±

    Destiny frowned, watching as I walked over to the computer nearby. ¡°IvoTech is currently finishing up work on a new type of plastic.¡±

    ¡°I thought you wanted to think about metal,¡± Destiny noted, her dark lips quirking a bit.

    ¡°I wanted to think about the material. This is something we¡¯ve been thinking of as a derivative of nanocellulose.¡±

    ¡°That wood pulp stuff?¡± When I gave her a surprised look, she grinned. ¡°I may not be a scientist, but I¡¯ve helped a lot of them.¡±

    Oh right.

    ¡°Well, we¡¯ve been working on something similar, but synthetic,¡± based on the work that Eggman had done to make bots that couldn¡¯t be found out by metal detectors¡­ as well as the time his nicer half had made a certain adorable wooden girl out of similar materials, in terms of durability at least..

    ¡°Something light, but extremely strong, flexible, resistant to impact, scratching, other such things, and most importantly when it comes to selling to the military? Cheap to produce and mold. Haven¡¯t come up with a snazzy name for it yet, but I¡¯m excited for it. I wanted to make body armor out of it, maybe later improve it to the point it can be used for almost anything but-¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s too inflexible right now, and we haven¡¯t gotten it as light as we like,¡± Colin finished. ¡°But it is still a quarter the weight of armor grade steel so with a full-on tank engine pushing it, it¡¯s a perfect light and strong replacement for plate armor. We can even modify it to be explosive reactive like we planned, or to at least absorb attacks with ease. That¡¯s a great idea.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the model we¡¯ll follow then. Not a new tank. Improvements only we can provide,¡± Mechelle added.

    ¡°Okay, then the engine has to go,¡± Colin pointed at the image of the Bradley. ¡°We¡¯re using a smaller and more powerful engine in our Big Foot. We can easily modify it to fit this thing, make more room for ammo and personal. While we¡¯re at it, we can improve the systems of the actual thing, the computers and targeting system.¡±

    Following his idea, I started to manipulate the computer to quickly begin writing up a schematic, fingers moving fast. I had to hold back from really improving the thing, giving it the Eggman touch, instead just making more room to account for the size of the engine. ¡°The Bradley engine right now isn¡¯t powerful enough, but we may be able to do something very interesting with this new version. Quad treads!¡±

    ¡°I thought you didn¡¯t want to change the design too much,¡± Destiny said sarcastically.

    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be a big change. Split the treads of the tank so it has four. The thing will be able to move even if one of them gets blown away by a mine or missile, so it¡¯ll make it more likely that it¡¯ll be able to come back home. Plus, there are the inherent advantages of them. Quad treads have less trouble with sudden elevation and changes in terrain. Then, there is the tread wear. With two sets of shorter treads, they don¡¯t have much tension across them, so they¡¯re less vulnerable to wear and tear.¡±

    I drew in the suspension to the treads, then cleaned up the design just a bit more.

    ¡°What about armaments?¡± Mechelle asked. She sounded so robotic that Destiny turned to look at her in surprise, to which Mechelle gave her a small smile.

    ¡°Good point. With the right materials, we can give this thing a banger of a turret without changing it¡¯s current profile too much, equipped with Ivotech lightweight and powerful radar, sensors, thermal optics, the works. And then of course, the missile pods.¡±

    ¡°Julian, seriously, weren¡¯t you just saying-¡± Destiny began to speak, only to get cut off again.

    ¡°Here, the design we made for the stinger missile pod design,¡± Colin sent me the file, and I quickly sketched it in.

    ¡°The pilot won¡¯t be able to get in if you make the turret that big,¡± Destiny noted.

    ¡°Then we¡¯ll make it front opening instead of top opening. The armor plating we¡¯ll be adding will be more than enough to protect everyone inside, at least for a good long while.¡±

    I finished drawing and backed up a bit. ¡°Good for a basic sketch¡­ Let¡¯s start checking over the design and making sure this thing can really sin-¡±

    I stopped when I turned to look at the Bradley. Then at the vehicle I had created. Then the Bradley again.

    ¡°...these are two different tanks.¡±

    ¡°I tried to tell you,¡± Destiny said with a sigh.

    I think I understand why the first Bradley ended up the way it was. Still, it was going to be a LOT roomier, more powerful, lighter, faster and tougher with the extra reinforcements. That was the basic idea, right?

    I guess that meant I shouldn¡¯t add in the air conditioning¡­

    ¡ª---

    After Destiny left to let us keep working, Mechelle, Colin, and I instead switched gears.

    Ivotech being successful would be nice, but the main goal was beating Vought. Anything else was just food to feed that beast of a goal. That said, there was one event that I absolutely wasn¡¯t about to let go down.

    ¡°You know what I¡¯m going to say,¡± Colin sighed next to me, his hands clenching and unclenching as we watched the screen in front of us.

    ¡°That we¡¯re risking way too much.¡±

    ¡°We are,¡± Colin said, sounding exasperated.

    The screen in front of us displayed a large round room, with a marble floor, a big table of similar material, and several screens on the walls of the room displaying things like satellite imagery and graphs. The Seven¡¯s meeting room, this worlds version of the Justice League round table.

    ¡°There is no benefit to us,¡± Colin said. ¡°I agree with this morally, but if we get found out, it could undermine our entire operation.¡±

    ¡°...What do you think, Mechelle?¡±

    My android businesswoman didn¡¯t show any emotion, but still hummed. ¡°Logically, this isn¡¯t something we should interfere with, but I understand that you seem to take this personally enough that you wouldn¡¯t be able to live with yourself without interfering.¡±

    ¡°And I¡¯m sure you would have done the same with Robin if you could have,¡± Colin said patiently. ¡°But where does it end? What about those in the asylum you left behind?¡± I winced. Colin continued. ¡°What about Kimiko, or her brother? The many soldiers that will die from that super, Naqib?¡±

    ¡°Look, I get it,¡± I watched the screen, with nothing happening just yet. ¡°There are things I just can¡¯t interfere with, I agree. Some events just sort of¡­ have to happen, but there are some I can at least have some minor influence over. Enough to hold back the worst shit, right?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll end up playing god if you aren¡¯t careful,¡± I stopped looking at the screen to eye Colin. ¡°Picking and choosing who to save and when. It¡¯s going to end badly if you aren¡¯t careful.¡±

    ¡°Well this is not going to-¡±

    ¡°Also, have you considered the net positive that will follow?¡± Colin continued.

    ¡°Positive!?¡±

    Colin didn¡¯t flinch from my tone. ¡°If you interfere incorrectly, she won¡¯t be distraught. She won¡¯t have reason to visit the park. She won¡¯t meet Hughie and become involved with the Boys.¡±

    ¡°...She won¡¯t have to, if I do this right,¡± I said that just as two people walked in. The Deep, in his usual green uniform, and Starlight.

    The blonde girl really did remind me of Mary Marvel. Not the costume or the hair, that was entirely different being a white and gold uniform and long blonde hair. More just the bright and happy look of awe on her face. It was something I could have imagined on the Lady Shazam.

    The pair walked around, The Deep talking about the power of the Seven¡¯s satellites. Well, Vought¡¯s satellites.

    ¡°-World View-4 satellites in geocentric orbit. We can essentially read a getaway car''s license plate from 380 miles up.¡±

    He wasn¡¯t wrong. Thus far, those satellites had been very useful to me. I could keep track of a lot by piggybacking off those same satellites.

    Eventually though¡­ we got to that point.

    ¡°I kind of had a schoolgirl crush on you.¡±

    ¡°God, I can¡¯t watch,¡± I rubbed my face as the two continued talking. ¡°Please tell me this is going to be interrupted soon.¡±

    ¡°If you timed things right, yes, it will,¡± Colin handed me a tablet, displaying four red dots and two green on a map of the city. I tapped the screen and grinned at the confirmation that the magic was happening.

    ¡°Perfect. Then it¡¯s time for some monkey business.¡±

    Colin groaned. Mechelle sighed.

    ¡°What? ¡­You think panda-monium is better?¡±

    ¡°I wish you hadn¡¯t said either one,¡± Colin said.

    Everyone''s a critic.

    On the screen, Starlight¡¯s turned away from the Deep. He reached for his pants with a smug look on his face.

    The doors slammed open. ¡°Deep!¡±

    Ashley Barrett burst in like a storm on fire. The petite redhead looked around. ¡°Why the fuck isn¡¯t your phone on!?¡±

    The Deep stared at her, quickly removing his hands from his waist. ¡°Uh¡­ I uh-¡±

    Starlight looked between Deep and Ashley, confused, while the redhead scowled.

    ¡°Nevermind! Deep, Starlight, a bank is getting robbed down the street from us.¡±

    ¡°A bank?¡± Starlight¡¯s face shifted, determination filling it. The Deep, on the other hand, looked annoyed.

    ¡°All right, well we can take care of that,¡± he said without much enthusiasm. I knew what he was thinking. A generic easy mission, quick and done, with cameras filming him, getting good views, with some cheap baddies to knock out. Basic PR gig.

    Man needed to learn to get with the times.

    ¡°You¡¯ll have to,¡± Ashley still looked panicked and worried. ¡°Because the robbers are Eggman¡¯s robots.¡±

    The Deep gaped. Starlight¡¯s face showed determination. I smirked.

    ¡°Oh yeah¡­ it¡¯s all coming together.¡±

    ¡ª---

    To their credit, Vought got the Deep and Starlight to the bank quickly. But then, we had chosen a very specific one.

    The bank in question had actually built their location specifically because Vought Tower was near them. After all, what bank would be safer than one right next to a bunch of superheroes? And in their defense, that had worked. Pretty much every building for a few blocks was safe from random violence and crime.

    Today, however, was a different day.

    The bank in question had been closed at the time, with some security guards roaming it. The place was made of smooth stone floors, pillars, and ceilings, with the main lobby in front of the vault being a circular room. Vault on the far end of the room, entrance across from it. Teller desks ringed the room, with pillars ringing the center of it to give the whole place the appearance of a Roman or Greek sort of temple. A place of worship to the god of money.

    The entrance had been smashed inwards, a trail of debris leading to a large white van that was sitting on the remains of a door and a desk. On the side of the van was a sign for a fake company that sold free range liquid eggs.

    And now, at the center of the room, a large capsule had been set up. A large steel container made just for holding people.

    A robotic panda lifted a screaming guard high, shoving him into the container with three other yelling guards as well as the two cops who had come by to see what was going on. Outside, police lights were still spinning as more officers cordoned off the street.

    I watched through the cameras of a different bot as the capsule was sealed and the panda stepped back to join a second one.

    I¡¯ll be honest. The panda thing was purely me wanting to make a joke. Funnily, Eggman, across the multiverse, didn¡¯t have a panda badnik. So I¡¯d take a different badnik, by the name of Snowy</a>, and just shifted the colors. Like Snowy, the new badniks had a large and stocky build, with armored plating, massive clawed hands, and a overall bear appearance, but with a black and white look. I called them Bamboo.

    In keeping with the jungle theme, the bot who¡¯s eyes I was looking through, climbed up a pillar like a tree, it¡¯s monkey paws easily gripping the stone as it turned to look at the entrance. One of a set of eight, the monkey badnik was an adorable thing, only about a foot high, with brown metal across it¡¯s form and a ¡®t-shirt¡¯ of yellow painted on it¡¯s chest. A Coconut</a>, one of the models Eggman had made often.

    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    Two other Coconuts were piling up bags of money in the back of the bank, on top if the ripped off vault door. They hadn¡¯t found much, just enough to fill around six small bags. People didn¡¯t seem to want cash as much nowadays.

    Then someone stepped in.

    ¡°Hey!¡± Deep shouted, Starlight following after him looking nervous. ¡°Where¡¯s your boss!?¡±

    Two pandas and eight monkeys turned to look at him. The Deep and Starlight stood side by side in the light. For a tense moment the ten Badniks and two heroes faced each other.

    ¡°So¡­ are you going to surrender, or are we fighting?¡± Starlight said, sounding both non-plussed and determined.

    ¡°Oh no,¡± the Deep snarled, sounding more than a little annoyed. ¡°We¡¯re fighting. I need to make up for the last fight. You take the right, I¡¯m taking-¡±

    Okay, guess that¡¯s how this was starting.

    I snapped my fingers. ¡°All right, run it.¡±

    ¡°GRAAAAR!¡± pandas in the real world, while still bears, tend to be very cute sounding. Bamboo, on the other hand, were based off the software and hardware of Snowy. Based on fucking polar bears.

    Their echoing roars were followed by the Deep and Starlight staggering back briefly.

    Then the panda bots were in their faces, sweeping out massive arms. Starlight blocked the blow with a pained grunt, while Deep barely dodged. He ran forward and punched it.

    ¡°Oh good, he¡¯s actually trying now,¡± I mused to Colin and Mechelle.

    The Coconuts moved as one. Within their chests, a small plastic sleeve was filled with chemicals, turning it into a tough plastic orb filled with caustic chemicals. The orb was moved by a suction system from the chest, through a pipe in the arms, before leaving a port in the palms of the Coconut¡¯s, allowing them to grip the orbs before tossing them.

    Starlight ducked an attack from a Bamboo, the panda¡¯s claws ripping through the wall behind her. One of the Coconut¡¯s took advantage of the opening to toss a ball that landed against her chest, shattering apart in an explosion of sound and light while tossing her back.

    ¡°Ahhh!¡± Starlight scrambled back, screaming while grabbing her ears and closing her eyes tight.

    ¡°Ah, damnit!¡± Deep shouted in unison, staggering back despite having been across the room from that.

    From the safety of my office I noted that the Deep really did have enhanced vision and hearing. Not much probably, but enough to allow him to traverse the ocean well.

    Starlight staggered to her feet as a Bamboo approached her, eyes struggling to stay open. A Coconut launched another ball at her and she raised her hands, unleashing burst of light that stopped Bamboo in it¡¯s tracks and exploded the bombs in mid-air, well away from her.

    She didn¡¯t see it, but the energy levels of the Badniks closest to her dropped a small amount as well. Not a huge amount, but enough that I could see it on their status charts.

    The Deep, not wanting to be seen lacking, moved in to attack as well. A Coconut tossed a bomb at him, this one exploding at his feet. The Deep, on seeing the bomb explode into plumes of smoke, shut his mouth, and smashed his fists into the Bamboo.

    The panda took the hits across his chest, then returned it with a backhand from its claws that smacked the Deep into a pillar behind him. The Deep recovered in time to dodge the next claws, circling around quickly and kicking at the Badnik¡¯s back desperately.

    His mouth was still closed and his eyes were near slits. Neither should have prevented the tear gas from affecting him at least somewhat, but he was still fighting. Interesting. Something about his physiology? Also, I wouldn¡¯t have thought a man with gills would need to learn to be able to hold his breath for long, but he was doing very well fighting at top strength with only a small amount of breath.

    Not too much actual martial arts skill, unlike Starlight who was moving in with a combination right out of boxing, but he made up for it with his natural strength and athleticism.

    The Bamboo Badnik he was fighting adjusted quickly, roaring and smacking him aside. The Deep screamed in pain as the massive metal palm smashed into his chest, but moved back in. Damn, where had this will to fight been before?

    No. I could see it in his eyes. He was desperate looking, hungry. He knew he¡¯d tarnished his reputation on the football field. Now he wanted to make up for it. This was a man with low self-esteem desperate to make it back to the top.

    Almost admirable in some ways.

    A bomb exploded next to him, flash-bang blinding and stunning him long enough for panda to kick him in the stomach. He staggered.

    ¡°Fuck me! Starlight, we gotta take care of those monkeys!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m trying, this panda is on me!¡± the Bamboo¡¯s arms smashed down on her upraised ones, shattering the ground underneath her as she briefly struggled to hold the panda back. She managed to overwhelm it after a bit, pushing up then kicking it back before blasting it with a small burst of light.

    Interesting. That was around 2 tons of force she had fought off. I¡¯d noted another decrease in the ambient electricity as well when she¡¯d done that initial push. So already amplified strength, but maybe she could up her physical parameters with the same electric conversion she powered her light attacks with.

    The Deep was clearly not feeling as introspective as me. ¡°Fine! Then let me handle them both!¡±

    To my surprise, he grabbed the panda he was fighting by the left arm and spun around, lifting up the Badnik and tossing it in the direction of the other Bamboo. Starlight barely dodged it in time to let the two bots smash together, followed by the Deep landing on top of them and desperately punching down at them as their programming adjusted for the sudden violence.

    Starlight didn¡¯t hesitate to take advantage of her freedom, raising her arms and blasting a Coconut in the chest, turning it to scrap. The other three Coconuts attacking her threw bombs, which she blew out of the air only to curse as all three bombs exploded into tear gas. She released another concussive blast, dispersing the smoke before shooting at another Coconut, barely missing.

    At the same time, the Deep was in trouble. He was now fighting both Bamboo¡¯s at once, and they were laying into him. He shouted in pain when a claw smacked him in the head, punching the offending panda before the other one bit him in the shoulder. He uppercut the panda, ripping it¡¯s teeth from his tough skin, then kicked it back with a scream. He looked like he was panicking, but still stayed in the fight, moving forward even as he bruised up and bled.

    Man, surprising what comes out of people in a tight spot, huh?

    Starlight shot another Coconut in the arm, then fired at the pillar it was hanging from, ripping the pillar apart and sending the monkey tumbling under the stones. She ducked another flash-bang, gritting her teeth in pain as it exploded behind her, but raising her hands and filling them with power. A lot of power.

    Which had to come from somewhere.

    One of the Coconut¡¯s shut off, the one closer to her, as it¡¯s energy levels dropping under the safety levels. A Bamboo stuttered it¡¯s movements, allowing the Deep to clock it in the face.

    Starlight noticed. Her eyes lit up metaphorically. Then literally.

    The Bamboos and the Coconuts shook. Their power levels dropped rapidly.

    ¡°Take this!¡± Starlight roared, raising her hands and unleashing a single beam of energy about a foot wide. The blast ripped through the hardened armor of one of the Bamboo¡¯s, sending it crashing to the floor. The Deep screamed as he grabbed the other one by the head and ripped it off while it was distracted.

    Starlight fired another beam, this one blinding the camera¡¯s entirely. When it was over, the Coconut I¡¯d been watching from was lying on the ground. I blinked a bit.

    ¡°Huh¡­ That was dope as fuck.¡±

    Starlight gasped, dropping to her knees as she panted. The Deep was breathing desperately, trying to stay standing even as he staggered.

    ¡°Holy shit. Holy shit,¡± he gasped. Then he clutched at his shoulder, where blood slowly dripped. ¡°Oh god, that hurts!¡±

    ¡°Y-You okay?¡± Starlight asked the Deep with genuine worry.

    ¡°Of course I¡¯m not fucking okay, I got bit by a robot bear!¡± he spat, Starlight flinching. He had a point there.

    I flipped a switch on my control board and coughed to clear my throat before speaking into the mic. ¡°Technically, it was just one of my badniks. But I gotta say, that bite should have had the force of an actual polar bear. Around 1200 pounds per square inch.¡±

    ¡°Eggman,¡± Starlight mumbled. She looked around quickly before her eyes landed on one of the Coconuts, it¡¯s eyes blinking a dark red. When I spoke again, the lights glowed and dimmed with each word.

    ¡°In the flesh, or I suppose the audio, my dear,¡± I chuckled, shaking my head. ¡°Honestly, I was just bored and decided to try for a classic. The bank robbery! Good old school crime! But I didn¡¯t expect you two to put up the fight you did! The Deep, one of the most useless members of the Seven last time we fought, fighting like a pissed off weasel trapped in a pair of jeans this time around? Amazing! The new girl, still shiny from her last job, turning my badniks to scrap! I must say, I wish I¡¯d sent more badniks in, see how you all do with a few more to fight!¡±

    ¡°F-Fuck¡­ you,¡± Deep gasped out.

    ¡°We¡¯re going to find you,¡± Starlight said with real heroic aplomb. She had a black eye, her arms covered in bruises, her ears bleeding, and she still had trouble seeing. But she stood tall and firm. The Deep stared at her, surprise on his face. ¡°We¡¯ll shut you down, I promise! You won¡¯t hurt anyone anymore!¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help it. I laughed. A genuine happy laugh. ¡°See! That¡¯s what I wanted! A real hero! Not someone desperate to save her pride, not some foolish fop of a celebrity! Someone who stands, covered in dirt and pain, and still willing to fight.¡±

    The sigh I followed up with was filled with nostalgia. ¡°Starlight, I¡¯ll be watching your career with great interest. Because as of now, there are three heroes I¡¯m willing to call my rivals. Maeve. Starlight. And honestly, next would have been Black Noir, but Deep you actually respond to my taunts so you¡¯re more fun.¡±

    ¡°Is this a game to you!?¡± Starlight spat out.

    ¡°Only when it¡¯s easy,¡± I chuckled. ¡°No offense to your efforts. It¡¯s just¡­ I had eight Coconuts.¡±

    ¡°...Coco-what?¡± the Deep asked, confused.

    ¡°The monkey badniks. I understand battlefield math is hard in the thick of it but¡­ I had eight. You scrapped four.¡±

    The two heroes paled, looking around. Four destroyed monkeys, two broken pandas. And a few bags of missing money.

    ¡°Fuck!¡± the Deep staggered up, glancing around.

    ¡°Eh, it was only around 500,000 or so. Not much to worry about,¡± I said as the pair of heroes stared around. ¡°Besides, you two should use this as a lesson. Get some better gear. Armored costumes at least. Deep, you need to upgrade as well. Poseidon it up and get a trident, something useful so you stop breaking your knuckles.¡±

    Then I disconnected the connection and activated the self-destruct, leaning back with a grin.

    ¡°You look pleased with yourself,¡± Colin said with a small smile.

    I turned from my control center. ¡°I am. That footage is going to be very fun. And I¡¯m sure the charities we¡¯ll be giving that money to will be pleased.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll find a way to legally give that cash then,¡± Mechelle said robotically. ¡°Do you mind if I edit the footage? We can upload it to the website.¡±

    ¡°Thinking of putting it up with the music video?¡± when she nodded I chuckled. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s fair. Well, there is just one last thing¡­ is it worth matchmaking Hughie and Annie after this?¡±

    Colin scoffed, looking over at a different screen. On there, a traffic light showed a panicked Hughie in a car next to a very badass looking man. Then again, I¡¯d had a high opinion of Butcher, and Karl Urban played my favorite Dredd of all time.

    ¡°If you¡¯re worried about matchmaking,¡± Colin looked at another screen. I joined him. ¡°Then shouldn¡¯t she be on your list?¡±

    Within a small house, a woman and child were having dinner together. Her with dark brown hair, him with a dirty blonde head of hair. They were smiling and talking animatedly. Becca Butcher and Ryan Butcher.

    ¡°...If I bring them in out of the cold too soon Vought will become a much bigger problem. I wouldn¡¯t put it past them to tell Homelander we kidnapped his kid or something equally ridiculous.¡±

    ¡°Fair point,¡± Colin said. ¡°Still, I know you don¡¯t want to leave them separate forever.¡±

    ¡°Of course not. I¡¯m a nice guy like that,¡± I said with a hint of smugness.

    But man, I had a lot of balls up in the air. What I wouldn¡¯t give to be fighting just one ragtag bunch of animals rather than working against a government and corporation.

    Ah, who was I kidding? I¡¯d never had this much fun.

    Tomorrow though. It was time to work on Gordon. See what we could do for the little EMP emitter. I needed more samples of supes however.

    Luckily, there was going to be a free supe corpse in just a few hours. Fare thee well, Translucent. Fare thee well.

 12: The More Things Change

    Chapter 12

    On the day before Translucent was going to die I had a morbid sort of feeling around me. It was like his ghost was already glaring at me. He wasn¡¯t dead yet, but I almost felt it. Like he was screaming ¡®why don¡¯t you save me!? Do something! Help!¡¯

    Eh, that was fair. I¡¯d be pissed if someone decided to let me die instead of helping. But Translucent wasn¡¯t important to the world, and I had no real care for the guy beyond what I would feel for basic human life. Maybe I should have worried about that, morally speaking, but I decided to ignore it. I did feel for his family though...

    There were other things to worry about.

    <hr>

    CNN Broadcast

    A very pretty blonde woman was speaking to the camera, looking stone-faced and professional in a manner that had become commonplace for broadcasters the world over. Which was in stark contrast to the news of the day.

    ¡°-and once again, our ongoing coverage of the new website, Eggs Over Heroes, apparently created by the supervillain Eggman. The US government has been urging people to avoid posting or visiting the website, but tech experts say the website''s cybersecurity have made any attempt to prevent anyone from visiting or shutting it down nearly impossible, as well as unable to track back to its source. Some media personalities have come under fire for publicly posting on the site, but those who wish to be anonymous have been equally impossible to track.¡±

    ¡°As for the actual content on the site, users have been able to post videos, images, status updates, and even play small video games. The biggest draw however has been a music video currently being played on the site.¡±

    A brief clip began to play of Eggman¡­ dancing in the middle of a warehouse. He was swaying his hips from side to side, bouncing to the music.

    ¡°Evil grooooows in the dark!¡±

    Eggman did a quick spin, shifting his rotund form with far more agility than one would expect. He continued to dance as robots began to enter the camera''s view from the shadows. Motobugs rolling in, Buzz Bombers zomming through the air, Crabmeat¡¯s striding in sideways, a pair of massive Bamboo bears.

    All of them dancing.

    As the funky beats of The Poppy Family continued to play, Eggman did a dab, then shifted into a swaying cha-cha. The Bamboos did their own dance, Motobugs rolled in synchronization with the Buzz Bombers above, and the Crabmeats clapped their claws in beat with the tune.

    ¡°Evil grows in the dark

    Where the sun it never shines

    Evil grows in cracks and holes

    And lives in people''s minds¡±

    The reporter returned on screen as the video played in the corner. ¡°The video has already gained over 1.5 million views on its own website. On other social media sites, remixes, remakes, and parodies have exploded in popularity. The actual video has been uploaded on the same sites before being taken down, only to reappear almost immediately after. The description of the latest video reads, ¡®Keep trying idiots, I¡¯ve got bots like you wouldn¡¯t believe!¡¯¡±

    The last was spoken almost flatly, but she was still clearly taken aback at that. ¡°Along with those videos, footage of Eggman fighting The Deep and new member of the Seven, Starlight, has been uploaded, with music and editing as well. The Deep and Starlight were unavailable for comment, but they did win their fight, something Vought themselves pointed out, despite no arrest of Eggman himself.¡±

    ¡°In other news-¡±

    <hr>

    <u>Annie January/Starlight</u>

    Annie sat in a park, staring out into the distance as she listened to her mother on the phone. ¡°No, they were really excited after the fight. They started talking about how they would promote me from then on¡­ No, Homelander wasn''t there. He¡¯s really busy. Mom, I just want to say I-¡±

    She stopped. Her mom was just overly excited. She could almost picture her exploding with joy and most likely cutting up magazines. ¡°Okay, yeah mom. I need to go. I¡¯ll keep you in the loop. Yeah¡­ I love you too.¡±

    Annie put down her phone and stared out at the park. Her hands were shaking.

    Last night had been crazy. She¡¯d fought a supervillain. A real one.

    Eggman had seemed so funny on television. A goofy fat man with funny animal robots.

    Then she¡¯d had a bear hitting her harder than she¡¯d ever been hit before, and suddenly everything changed. Back in Des Moines, she¡¯d been in a few fights. Usually they were simple. She¡¯d knock over some guys with her powers, get hit with some small caliber rounds in one circumstance. But nothing that hurt as much as that.

    Those bears looked so stupid until they hit her. When she blocked their blows, she felt the bones in her arms crack. She could still taste blood in her mouth and remembering those explosions from those stupid monkey¡¯s bombs made her ears ring.

    Annie had wanted to be a true hero for a long time. Not for the fame or fortune, but to do the right thing. And in some ways, that fight felt like the first time she¡¯d come close.

    Then it all came crashing down.

    Vought had grabbed her and the Deep after the fight, bringing them back to the tower. There, the Vought lady, Ashley Barrett, the Director of Talent Relations, spoke to her. At first, things had been very normal. They asked what happened, who they fought, how the fight had gone and other usual things.

    Then they played the music video.

    Eggman had recorded the fight. He¡¯d recorded it from multiple angles, with high-def images. Then he¡¯d edited it and added a high energy beat while clips of the Deep and her fighting the robots played. They looked heroic. He¡¯d cut out all the parts where she¡¯d been terrified out of her mind.

    Why would he do that? He had embarrassed the Seven before, now he was deliberately trying to make her and the Deep look good? She brought that up. Annie didn¡¯t get the response she expected.

    <hr>

    ¡°Who cares?¡±

    Inside Vought, the night before she would end up walking over to the park, Annie stared at Ashley. The redheaded woman who had just spoken said the words so bluntly they didn¡¯t register for a moment.

    ¡°I mean-¡± Annie tried to figure out how to explain it. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we try to figure that out? We need to find out what his plans are, why he¡¯s doing this. If we can figure that out, we can stop him-¡±

    ¡°Oh come on Starlight, that¡¯s not important,¡± Ashley said.

    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t that be important!?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not what we need to worry about,¡± Ashley said in what she must have thought was a comforting way. ¡°Starlight, think about it. We just got a big win against Eggman.¡±

    ¡°He got away with 500,000 dollars.¡±

    ¡°Chump change! I¡¯m talking about the optics of this. We needed a win, and right now, you and the Deep look like you chased him off.¡±

    Because of a video Eggman made.

    ¡°So, we¡¯re going to make sure the public knows. We¡¯ll do some press tours, some interviews, film a commercial or two.¡±

    Ashley turned and looked over at the other two people in the room. ¡°This is Seth and Evan from marketing, they have some brilliant ideas on how to capitalize on all the buzz. Gentlemen.¡±

    A young black man and an older white man. They immediately started talking, the black man, Seth apparently, starting.

    ¡°Oh yes, we are so excited for this. Okay, follow us on this. Small town Iowa girl comes into the big city and becomes an unexpected prodigy chosen for the Seven!¡±

    The other man, Evan, took over. ¡°Destined for greatness, chosen to fight alongside her heroes, when suddenly, bam!¡± he clapped his hands for dramatic effect. ¡°A real supervillain comes out of the blue! Using automated machines to attack, to steal from the people, she and one of her greatest heroes fight side by side!¡±

    Annie felt a small smile on her face at the description of that. That sounded good. Heroic, like she was doing the right thing. Then Seth spoke.

    ¡°Now, she gets into the fight. She¡¯s scared. She¡¯s terrified. But she pulls herself together, beats back the bad guy! And now, rather than cower in fear! She adapts, transforms!¡±

    ¡°Embraces her feminine strength!¡±

    The pair was getting excited. Annie was starting to get worried.

    ¡°Preparing to fight off the forces of an evil manufacturer of automated robots, she reaches for that feminine strength, and prepares for the fight of her life!¡±

    ¡°Say hello to the new Staaaaarlight!¡±

    A woman who had been standing calmly in the back of the room took a gold blanket off of a mannequin. Starlight noticed three things.

    First, the gauntlets. Big looking, armored, made of metal, painted her white and gold colors.

    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    Second, the boots. Also gold, but to the point of stupidity. They looked so damn heavy and shiny.

    The last thing she noticed was the cleavage. The deep, deep cleavage, leaving everything open from the edges of her nipples to her groin.

    Seth, Evan, and Ashley looked so proud. Annie felt horrified.

    ¡°...I¡¯m not wearing that.¡±

    They looked at her like she¡¯d asked them to kill puppies.

    ¡°What?¡± the woman who had pulled off the blanket said.

    ¡°Why not? It¡¯s beautiful,¡± Ashley¡¯s supportive voice was gone. Now she sounded extremely hostile. Annie barely had time to wonder just how fake her earlier cheeriness had been before Seth spoke up.

    ¡°Yeah, look at it! We gave you armor! You know, so you could punch the robots harder!¡± He did some excited punching moves.

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind the gauntlets, but if you were going to give me armor, why did you leave my damn chest open?¡±

    ¡°...Because you¡¯re bulletproof?¡± Evan asked hesitantly.

    ¡°Bulletproof, not laserproof as far as I know, or whatever other stuff Eggman is going to bring!¡± Annie shook her head. ¡°And this just isn¡¯t me.¡±

    ¡°Oh come on, it¡¯s feminist, it¡¯s powerful-¡±

    ¡°Feminist?¡± Annie asked, stunned.

    ¡°It¡¯s showing you taking a hold of your sexuality, turning it into power to fight evil!¡±

    Annie thought back to the end of the fight. What Eggman had said. Get some better gear. Armored costumes at least.

    It was partially armored at least, but somehow she got the feeling he would have agreed about it not being enough.

    ¡°Look, I appreciate what you think you¡¯re doing, but I like my costume,¡± Annie said, speaking as calmly as she could. ¡°I don¡¯t mind adding the gauntlets, those make sense, but the rest of it is too much.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wearing that,¡± Ashley said. Annie stared at the angry redhead, stunned. Apparently she¡¯d decided to go with the hard sell.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have to. I¡¯m allowed to wear what I want, to expose only as much as I want, especially when it has my safety in mind.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you are,¡± a new voice said.

    They turned to see Madelyn Stillwell enter the room with Homelander just a step behind her. Madelyn had a smile on her face. ¡°You can wear anything you want¡­ when you aren¡¯t a member of the Seven.¡±

    Annie felt her heart drop into her stomach at the smug smile on Madelyn¡¯s face. ¡°But right now? You¡¯re wearing that. All of it.¡±

    ¡°I think it looks nice,¡± Homelander said, smirking. It was a very unkind smirk, nothing like his megawatt smiles on television. ¡°Really shows off what you got.¡±

    And in that moment, Annie never felt more alone.

    <hr>

    Now she was here, in the park. She felt like shit. All she wanted was to help people. For a moment, just a moment, she thought she¡¯d gotten that. Then Vought seemed to come down and destroy that. Not just the costume, but all of the scheduling they had ready. She had to go to a dozen events, all timed one after another. Even her hero work was going to be scheduled. Not patrolling like back in Des Moines or investigating Eggman in some way. More like a big showboat.

    Then they dropped another bomb. She¡¯d be marketed as an anti-robot hero. They were going to have her speak about automation taking jobs from people, about needing to get back to basics.

    It wasn¡¯t like she didn¡¯t feel for people who lost their jobs when robots replaced them, but she wasn¡¯t sure just blaming robots for that was the solution, especially when it came to Eggman of all people. Wasn¡¯t there a lot more behind that, corporations and bigwigs pushing for cheaper labor at the cost of human interests? She was pretty sure that it was more complicated than the Vought marketing guys were making it.

    And really, she didn¡¯t want to be a part of that. She wanted to save people, in her costume. She wanted to actively hunt down Eggman, not just do scheduled missions.

    But she still wanted to be part of the Seven. She¡¯d wanted it since she was a kid. The Deep had said it in the beginning. They had so many resources to see crime as it happened that she could help so many people, maybe inspire someone like she had been inspired.

    Like Homelander had, until he¡¯d started acting like a jerk.

    Annie sniffled, rubbing at her face. Then the guy next to her, who had been eating quietly, spoke up.

    ¡°Um,¡± she looked up at him. He was tall, thin. A flop of brown hair rested on his head. He looked hesitant. ¡°Excuse me, sorry, a-are you okay?¡±

    Annie stared at him.

    ¡°J-Just seemed like a tough call,¡± he said kindly.

    And that was how Annie met Hughie.

    <hr>

    <u>Colin Kintober</u>

    While Annie and Hughie were facing destiny, Colin was entering an operating room.

    An experimental operating room.

    Julian had created a transportable operating room, purchasing the necessary medical tools across the board. Within that room, there was enough material to do all but the most in-depth medical procedures. So they wouldn¡¯t be able to move a brain from one human to another, but anything else was fair game.

    Then he¡¯d taken those tools and placed them in the MCR, Moving Clean Room. It was able to be transported by helicopter, large enough to hold up to 8 medical professionals and two patients (if a bit cramped), had dozens of failsafes to keep the inside clean, and a small room just in front of the door to allow for thorough scrub-ups.

    Of course, that all was contained in a very pricey, durable, and advanced room, made to be lifted and dropped anywhere in the world. They likely would sell the model down the road.

    But right now, it would be used on just one patient.

    As Colin finished washing his hands, he looked up at the window, one of a few set into the walls of the MCR.

    Outside, the tropical paradise that had become Eggman¡¯s future base was as tranquil as ever.

    ¡°This really is quite the beautiful location,¡± Colin said.

    A speaker in the ceiling spoke with Julian¡¯s voice. ¡°Yeah, but I can¡¯t wait to get started building shit there.¡±

    ¡°I thought you might be eager, considering the number of blueprints you¡¯ve created.¡±

    Julian scoffed. ¡°Don¡¯t blame me. I keep trying to make a solid base, but something in the design eludes me.¡±

    ¡°A problem for later,¡± Colin said calmly. His AI mind was working through the various files he¡¯d downloaded. Footage of various surgeries, procedures, dozens of techniques and failsafes in case the worst happened. He needed to be careful. He was technically the only real medical professional in the area.

    Not to say he wouldn¡¯t have help.

    As he entered the main surgery room, a machine set up with multiple arms rested above the patient. Each arm had a medical tool of some sort, made for a specific purpose. Colin walked up and took a hold of a cable hanging on the machine. Then he inserted it into his back, into a port made just for that cable.

    His mind, well, his software really, linked into the machine. Seconds later, it began moving at his command. Perfect.

    ¡°How is he?¡± Julian asked.

    Colin looked down at the man of the hour.

    Gordon was sedated, resting peacefully on the surgical bed.

    ¡°Peaceful.¡±

    ¡°Good. Well doctor, what¡¯s first?¡±

    Colin took a hold of a scalpel. ¡°First, we open up his wrists and insert the implants. And can you please put on something classical.¡±

    ¡°Sure thing.¡±

    After a moment, the tunes of Eminem¡¯s Lose Yourself began to play. Colin smirked. ¡°Perfection.¡±

    With that, he began to cut. First, arms, then the heart, inner thighs, and finally his neck, inserting implants, making changes to his system. Where biology had failed to adjust to his powers, technology would take over.

    It was going to be a very long operation.

    <hr>

    Author¡¯s Note: Sorry this is so late, it¡¯s been a rough few weeks. But I¡¯ll get back to it asap.

    Meantime, we¡¯re slowly getting into the plot. If, a very out of order plot. The costume conversation wasn''t supposed to happen for a while, and this version has some legit armor on her fists and feet.

    I maintain that Starlight would have been devastated at the state of the Seven no matter what. She¡¯s just too good a person, man. For someone who wants to be a real hero, finding out the world has so few HURTS.

    Then, Gordon. He¡¯s going to be interesting. I don¡¯t want to do TOO much with him, but giving him a way to deal with his powers will be fun. Next chapter should have a moment where Colin and Julian explain stuff to him.

    Next chapter of one of my other stories, Dial: Call Resumed, is up on my Patreon</a>, and will be up elsewhere Tuesday, if I have my timing right. I''m gonna work on this one as well. I wonder how season 3 of the show will go...

 13: Chunky

    <u>Julian Ivo/Eggman</u>

    I watched Colin for a brief time through the cameras in the MCR, but I had to keep it short. Colin was competent, I¡¯d designed him that way after all, and I had other stuff to do. The surgery, even with a superhuman AI moving at top speed, would take hours. More than 24 most likely.

    In the meantime, despite my worry for Gordon the walking EMP, I needed to keep my eyes on the ball.

    Which meant keeping an eye on the developing Vought situation.

    What I remembered of the Boys timeline wasn¡¯t exactly the wiki. I had a perfect memory of every Eggman life, not my own. No matter how smart Eggman made me, he couldn¡¯t make my own memories perfect.

    But I was positive I had it right.

    While I had skipped a step, Annie still met Hughie in the park. Hughie would next go to Butcher and agree to leave a bug at Vought. Then, Translucent would follow and get kidnapped. The next day, he¡¯d die, then Homelander would later kill the mayor of Baltimore. Nice and simple.

    But hey, why should Butcher be the only one to leave a bug in Vought? I¡¯d hacked into some of their systems, but a direct listening device within their base would be good. Maybe even a way to listen in on Stan Edgar.

    Worth the risk, that.

    <hr>

    I went into my office and was surprised to find Mechelle there. Looking at¡­ ah.

    ¡°Mechelle,¡± I grunted, sighing when she looked over at me from the screen she¡¯d been gazing at. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±

    ¡°I came to visit,¡± she said. Then she sharply turned to look at the screen again. ¡°What is this?¡±

    ¡°Something¡­ well, something I¡¯ve been working on from the side,¡± I stood next to her. On the screen was a video, a rudimentary moving blueprint really, of a flat structure folding and unfolding itself into a variety of designs. A crane, lizard, tiger. Over and over, shifting between them. The video then transitioned into an image of the internals of the flat structure.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t Eggman tech,¡± Mechelle said. Not accusing. Not judging. Just saying it.

    ¡°...I kind of came up with it based on some stuff I¡¯d seen in my own world,¡± I admitted. ¡°It¡¯s probably going to be used on the Eggman side of things. And I¡¯ve barely got any clue on how I¡¯ll make it possible, but I wanted the Eggman to use something I made myself, rather than just modifications or copies of previous designs. So uh¡­ the Origami bot-line. A set of robots designed to fold and unfold into a set of designs, changing functions to suit what they need. All capable of being stacked together like pieces of paper.¡±

    I demonstrated this by waving at a box of papers near the printer. About 500 sheets inside. Heavy, yes. But also, a lot of paper, in a small space. I sighed. ¡°Can¡¯t get the design quite right though. They¡¯d be too thick. I have this idea, too, that the folding would bring the circuitry together in different ways to allow different abilities¡­¡±

    Mechelle searched my face. I relented. ¡°I¡¯m grateful for Eggman¡¯s experience and knowledge. But if I ever end up meeting that villainous magnificent bastard, I¡¯m going to have some shit of my own to show him beyond just cribbing his style¡­ Got to be my own kind of bad guy.¡±

    She seemed to accept that. ¡°Can I help?¡±

    I chuckled, giving her a one-armed hug that got me a surprised look. ¡°Always.¡±

    Despite the robotic look she always carried, I could tell that made her happy.

    <hr>

    Being a super-genius meant a lot of things were easier. But it also meant I had trouble with some things I hadn¡¯t expected. Like obsession. I thought it was bad in my world, where I could get so into writing or gaming that I would forget to eat, but it was way worse now. I¡¯d sometimes wake up covered in oil with blueprints in front of me and a belly roaring with hunger after a two day stint.

    Mechelle kept an eye on me from then on, but being as smart as Eggman was an addiction in itself. Having an idea and immediately forming the exact things you needed to make it happen, right down to the final wire soldering and bit of code. It was a heady feeling of power, knowing physics were under your command and only time kept you from true power.

    The other part was that I wasn¡¯t sure what to do when Bradley approached me about making an official contract with the US Military. Eggman was a genius. But he was a supervillain, and he never had to worry about having a good relationship with any government. In some realities he was the government. No tyrant in human history had ever reached the level of power he¡¯d obtained. ¡®My rule is law¡¯ was literal there, sometimes including laws of reality.

    Point is, he didn¡¯t have nearly as much paperwork.

    In my office, I sat behind my desk reading a set of papers. Across from me, Bradley, my favorite military man, was looking a bit disapprovingly at me, not sitting down just yet. It could have been my clothes. I¡¯d been working out before this meeting, and was still sweaty and wearing a pair of shorts and a shirt, rather than my usual lab clothes.

    Healthy body, healthy mind. Until later at least.

    ¡°Bradley, I¡¯m not sure how much of this I can agree to,¡± I said with a frown. ¡°I¡¯m an American, I don¡¯t want to sell my weaponry to any country that we aren¡¯t allied to. But we aren¡¯t just a weapons manufacturer.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± Bradley watched as I sipped from a protein drink. ¡°This isn¡¯t about the rest of your technology. While we are interested in your computer tech, your military tech is the only thing I''ve been told to lock down. The fact is, you¡¯ve become a valuable commodity. It was crazy enough when you made the new guns and other shit. But then you brought a mech out. Not just those half-assed pipe dreams with battery life like a fucking gameboy. But a viable piece of honest to god robust engineering.¡±

    Bradley leaned back, finally sitting down. ¡°The shit you¡¯ve made might as well be goddamn magic, Julian. I hear you¡¯ve got someone ready to have cybernetics applied to them as well?¡±

    ¡°For a very exorbitant price,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Tommy King is going to be healed, but the materials I¡¯m putting into it are actually going to cost more than four Abrams tanks and a couple of A10 Warthogs.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a start,¡± Bradley tapped the papers I¡¯d handed over. ¡°We aren¡¯t offering you peanuts here. You¡¯d become one of our industry partners, working with DARPA. They¡¯ll be working closely with you, along with some other partners. And I promise you. This will become a very lucrative deal for you.¡±

    ¡°Be careful how you say that,¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°Way too many companies end up taking advantage of that government check.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re too arrogant for that.¡±

    ¡°Oh? How do you figure?¡±

    ¡°I think I have you pegged,¡± Bradley smirked. ¡°You don¡¯t give a shit about money. Just the stuff you can make with it.¡±

    ¡°...Well, you aren¡¯t wrong.¡±

    ¡°Ha!¡± he chuckled. ¡°Yeah. I don¡¯t think you¡¯re gonna be one of those soft-serve fuckers pulling us along while taking cash. You? You¡¯re more likely to bankrupt the US because you can¡¯t stop making new shit for us to buy.¡±

    I smirked. "I will be honest with you. The ideas and possibilities in my brain do sometimes terrify me."

    Reaching into my desk, I pulled out a large blueprint and handed it to him. As good a time as any other to share this.

    "As an example. How would the army like an attack helicopter of sorts that can match or even outperform the Warthog in the speed department and run rings around its maneuverability? This is just one of many things bouncing around my brain. Hell, I could have a prototype ready soon with my... Well I think I will keep those cards close to my chest. Got to keep some proprietary company secrets to not lose my edge. Suffice to say I have methods to speed up a lot of steps of manufacturing in house. You interested?"

    Bradley looked over the plans for the copter in question, a single seater. One I¡¯d copied from a game this world had never made.

    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Fucking hell. Yes, I¡¯m interested. A top speed of-... You better not be messing with me.¡±

    ¡°I never lie about science or technology.¡±

    Bradley chuckled. ¡°Yeah. Yeah. Oh. Just in case, I¡¯m also going to recommend upping your security.¡±

    ¡°Worried about me?¡±

    ¡°Worried about the people who might be against changing the status quo,¡± Bradley shrugged. ¡°This is a competitive business. War always is.¡±

    ¡°War, huh?¡±

    I hummed to myself. Yes. War. I had memories of war. But no real experience. This should be valuable for me. Starting small.

    I signed the papers. Let the government believe they had a hold on me.

    At least as long as I let them live with that ignorance.

    <hr>

    The next day, I was watching a screen on my own. In a small kitchen in the city, I watched three men shout and yell at each other. Frenchie, Butcher, and Hughie. Thank you, The Boys tv show, for giving me a massive amount of establishing shots from which to find the building I needed.

    In the room next to them, I knew that a certain super ¡®hero¡¯ would be sitting naked in an electrified cage. As long as the trio weren¡¯t idiots, as long as Hughie was still the same as he once was, then that hero would soon be chunks all across the kitchen. A shame, I¡¯m sure.

    By the way, funnily enough, I hadn¡¯t actually needed to track the building I needed. Frenchie¡¯s girlfriend had bought a Ivo Phone and laptop, so I was able to use the, impossible for anyone but me to find, backdoor into then hack into Frenchie¡¯s phone as well. She was quite the tech fiend apparently.

    I could worry about my recent lack of respect for boundaries or privacy some other time.

    In any case, I turned away from the screens when a call came in. Colin. I brought the call up and his face appeared. He looked¡­ refreshed? Ecstatic? Accomplished, that was it.

    ¡°Colin. How did it go?¡±

    ¡°Incredibly,¡± he sighed, shaking his head. ¡°I do have some new questions about the nature of these powers, especially the fact they seem to ignore the laws of physics. If he wasn¡¯t dead I might be inclined to recommend we hire Dr. Vought.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll consider it if I make a time machine. How is the patient?¡±

    ¡°Healed, for lack of a better word,¡± Colin moved the camera over to show off Gordon. The EMP generating young man was asleep, and otherwise looked exactly the same as before. Except for the lines of silver along his cheeks, pectorals, and abdomen. He was naked except for a pair of shorts, more lines of cybernetic silver running along his knees, shins, and ankles. Most importantly, two silver disks rested at his wrists.

    ¡°The young man will need therapy. I took some of his brain and replaced it, but healing the damage caused by long-term exposure to electromagnetic pulses is easy. The PTSD from a long period of torture and solitude is more of a problem.¡±

    ¡°Therapy doesn¡¯t exist in fiction,¡± I joked lightly. ¡°Or comic universes.¡±

    ¡°Sopranos and Doctor Leonard Samson,¡± Colin countered with a roll of his eyes. ¡°And I¡¯m serious, Julian. If you want him to become a halfway healthy human being, he needs therapy. As for your dreams of having him on the payroll, I don¡¯t see that happening for a while.¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°That¡¯s fine by me. It¡¯s like the man said. Investments are a risk, but the big ones have great returns.¡±

    Colin seemed to accept that. ¡°Gordon will require at least a week of rest. Extended time for physical therapy as well.¡±

    ¡°Done. He¡¯ll get a nice vacation on that beautiful beach island as well,¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Come on back home, Colin. We¡¯ll leave the rest to my Eggman body.¡±

    ¡°See you soon,¡± he hung up. I rubbed my chin, rising up to my feet and walking out of my office.

    In Ivotech, every building had someone working in it 24/7. We had to, to keep up with the demand for our products, and thus had shifts switching between each other constantly. I¡¯d gone out of my way to make sure the contract for working with me was very lucrative, and very open on hours. Overtime was allowed, but I had Mechelle and my managers making sure we weren¡¯t overworking people.

    So whenever I left my office, I was surrounded by people. I walked past men and women, some in lab coats, some in ¡®bunny¡¯ suits (body encompassing white suits to prevent lint, hair, and other things from contaminating computer ships), and some covered in oil while wearing jumpsuits. The roar of machinery from the creation of guns, computers, and mechs filled the air.

    I stopped briefly in front of one door. Inside, my favorite creations sat, still being made. I watched the inky black figures being worked on for a moment, admiring the efficient designs before walking away. Bradley had no reason to worry about my security. Not once those got started.

    The thought about my company¡¯s current problems made me frown. With Gordon, I would need to hire a therapist. More likely, several, for a variety of reasons.

    I¡¯d also need to hire security. Real security, in the form of trained men and women capable of wearing armor and weapons of my making, some of them with experience in espionage. Sad as it was, there were plenty of veterans I could hire on who had trouble finding work.

    Tomorrow I¡¯d speak to Colin, Mechelle, and Destiny, and work out a plan for us to expand. A pair of new facilities was also in the works and Destiny should have some results on our deal with hiring a third party to make the Big Foot mechs.

    Exhilarating. Truly. But in the end, the only reason it mattered was that it supported Eggman.

    I walked back into my office and sat down, sending a message out to Colin, Mechelle, and Destiny. On the screens, Hughie pressed a button. Red flew about the room. I reached over and idly pressed a button of my own. Once the Boys were done cleaning up the body and tossing it into the ocean, the next part would be easy enough. Then, I¡¯d need to make another attack.

    Couldn¡¯t let Vought rest too easily. They¡¯d never have a moment to forget that Eggman was out there, ready to embarrass and harass them. Hm¡­ I¡¯d done a bank robbery. Maybe next, a good old fashioned¡­ yes. That would be FUN.

    Wall Street was open for business.

    <hr>

    Beneath the Waters of the Hudson Bay

    A silver-colored zinc trunk lay at the bottom of the river, under a harbor. Earlier, a porpoise had swam up to the trunk, inspected it, then left after a while. That was when the next visitors moved up.

    The first was a strange combination of goofy and terrifying. Purple in color, it was shaped like a child''s drawing of a shark, with massive goofy looking eyes, a tiny fin on its back, and a propeller rather than a tail.

    The terrifying part was the massive steel jaws, with teeth like butcher knives. The badnik, called a Jaws</a>, swam up to the crate and took a position near it, circling slowly in a guarding position.

    Another robot approached the crate itself. It was pink in color, with a large bulbous head. More importantly, it had 8 long limbs. Using those arms, the Octus</a> badnik unclasped the crate and pulled it open. Within was a set of words spray painted in black.

    ¡®Coming For You¡¯

    There was also a set of black plastic bags, chunks of meat laying within.

    The octus reached in and took several portions of the corpse, sucking them into itsit¡¯s mouth to be contained within it. Then, it placed a small sticker to the inside, a barely noticeable piece of tape that blended into the crate. Once done, the badnik closed up the crate. With the Jaws as it¡¯s escort, the Octus swam off into the ocean together, heading down river. They left long before a man in a green suit would encounter the same crate.

    Superhuman corpse chunks acquired.

    <hr>

    Author¡¯s Note: Next chapter. Back to war again, and a gift for a brit. Also, bitcoin theft and loot boxes.

    Next chapter will be on Patreon, but my original fic, Rewired Saga, will be up next.

 14: Stereotypical Villainy

    The problem with plans for world domination is all the time you need to invest in them. The dozens of little things you needed to take care of. I was in both a better and worse state than Eggman had been.

    Eggman was essentially free to do what he wanted. For all intents and purposes, in the dozens of multiverses, he was the closest thing to a government that those Earths had. He could dig, build, and control as he wished, as long as he was strong enough.

    Julian Ivo, on the other hand, had to be more subtle. I had to be careful how much I did, where I did it, and who knew about it. My plans were all about the build up, slowly intergrating myself into a variety of organizations.

    On the other hand, I didn¡¯t have to deal with Sonic. Homelander was powerful. But Sonic and his meddling ilk were as far above the heroes of this universe as deities above ants. So long as I was careful, I¡¯d one day have machines that could match and surpass them.

    For now, I had to be sneaky.

    Thus why I stole the sample of Translucent on the downlow. Vought knew Eggman was dangerous. But they had yet to realize how dangerous. Eggman could make a splash or two, but only to distract from the tidal wave coming after him.

    ¡°This material is fascinating,¡± I mumbled, looking at a chunk of Translucent under a microscope. I had a few more scanners going over the small piece on the table, but getting actual eyes on it was valuable. ¡°¡®Carbon metamaterial¡¯ seems like such a rudimentary explanation for this. This material doesn¡¯t just not let light through, it perfectly forces light to bend around it. I can do so much with that.¡±

    ¡°And of course,¡± I took a scalpel out and poked at the piece of meat that used to be a portion of Translucent¡¯s neck, with bits of carotid artery flapping around. With the right touch, the outer skin turned from flesh to invisible carbon. Then I ran the scalpel across it.

    I couldn¡¯t see it, but I could still feel the skin repelling the blade. When I took the scalpel away, it was dull. ¡°Nearly invulnerable.¡±

    ¡®Nearly¡¯ being the key word. Nothing is truly invulnerable of course. Still, this stuff was very tough. In fact, considering everything, his punches might have had more strength because his own body didn¡¯t absorb the kinetic energy of his blows. When you hit someone, some of that force comes back to you. That¡¯s physics. But Translucent didn¡¯t have that problem.

    I took notes on the composition of the material, some theories on just what I could replicate, and how useful it might be for some of my badniks.

    Still, there was one big thing.

    Two different displays nearby displayed a pair of samples. One was Translucent. The other was Gordon, my favorite EMP producing patient.

    They were similar. The changes that Compound-V applied had some very clear markers. Like two paintings by the same artist. The paint, canvas, and the image depicted were different, but the brushstrokes were the same.

    To continue that analogy, Translucent was a far more refined artwork than Gordon was. Gordon¡¯s body had a copper rich nervous system, filling every part of his body with the material and acting as a capacitor of sorts. But it was completely garbage in terms of insulation, had no way to release it safely¡­ It was a shitshow.

    Whereas Translucent¡¯s changes were so clean. Elegant. A true masterwork. Not rampant mutation, but focused evolution. Almost beautiful in its form.

    I looked between the two displays thoughtfully. There was potential here. A way to perfectly replicate V. And maybe even go further. This compound wasn¡¯t being used to its fullest, not yet.

    Still, nothing V could do would ever outshine the potential of machinery. I¡¯d always be able to make something better eventually. But hey, if no one else is making the most of Compound-V, it was my responsibility to show them up.

    ¡°Shame these samples aren¡¯t going to be pristine for long,¡± I mused. ¡°Maybe I can get some more?¡±

    Hm. No. I couldn¡¯t simply kill any Compound-V user to get more samples of brain or heart. Even if I went for the more ¡®despicable¡¯ ones, Vought would notice. Best to let this happen organically.

    Translation: Follow Butcher around and wait.

    For now, I put in an order for some lab rats.

    As I was finishing that up, Mechelle entered the room. ¡°Julian. We have a problem.¡±

    I blinked. ¡°A problem? What is it?¡±

    ¡°Someone is trying to claim we¡¯ve stolen their patented technology for use in one of our computers.¡±

    That was bullshit. I scowled. What a waste of time. ¡°I assume Destiny is looking into it?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Mechelle adjusted her glasses briefly. ¡°Of course, they have nothing to stand on, but it will still take some time.¡±

    ¡°I doubt they really think we stole from them,¡± I snapped out, brushing at my lab coat. ¡°This company is trying to get a look at our specs. How annoying. I have better things to waste time with than idiots attempting to steal what is mine.¡±

    ¡°They will not be able to.¡± Mechelle said. She had a stern look on her face. ¡°I will make sure the courts shut them out.¡±

    ¡°I know you will. I trust you.¡± Mechelle didn¡¯t respond, but I could feel her glowing with happiness at that. She was adorable that way. ¡°Let me know one you¡¯ve finished up.¡±

    No need to explain further. Mechelle simply smiled.

    How lovely to know I¡¯d created such competent help.

    ¡°I need to break something.¡± I grumbled. ¡°Hm. Well, it has been a bit. What¡¯s a good place to rob in New York City?¡±

    ¡°Someplace with diamonds.¡± Mechelle said. ¡°Those are simpler to pawn.¡±

    I hadn¡¯t expected a real answer, but that was helpful. ¡°Alrighty then. The Eggman is going diamond shopping!¡±

    ¡°In the middle of the day?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s a beautiful man, he deserves some sunlight.¡±

    More cheered at the prospect of some classic villainy, I went off towards the booth that held my other persona.

    <hr>

    For the job, I wanted to go with a variety of bots. However, after some thought, I went with my Egg Pawns. They¡¯d work for multiple reasons. One of them being that I could market more toys of them later. The Egg Pawns were adorable.

    They were also useful. I equipped them each with a weapon. The Badniks based on animals were great, but there was something to be said for opposable thumbs that could grip weaponry and pick up loot.

    Then we piled into a rental van and zipped off. Yes, a rental van. I had my own Eggman vehicles, but I was still going with the idea of slowly escalating. Rental vans, then a custom vehicle, then an Eggmobile, until one day I could finish processing Mercury into the new Death Egg.

    Well, that wouldn¡¯t be an endpoint, but it was something for the future.

    So yeah, we piled into the van and sped off into the city.

    New York City had a small army of jewelry stores. Of course it did. Any big city did, but New York was an old hub of culture, with plenty of stores to supply a ravenous populace. It was the third biggest industry in New York. 90 percent of diamonds passed through NYC, and the Diamond District was home to over 2600 jewelers.

    Two thousand, six hundred. A ridiculous number. Hell, the GIA, or Gemological Institute of America, was mere blocks away from my target. Truly, the industry of rocks was alive and well.

    In truth, I was not a fan of the jewelry industry. Treating a potential resource like diamonds and gold as big shiny baubles to be worn, rather than making useful technology from them? What a waste!

    In a way, I was doing the world a service!

    After fighting through a full thirty minutes of New York traffic (thank god I could watch youtube videos in my base while controlling the Eggman body), my van full of Egg folk pulled up to the front of the jewelry store in question. An upscale place near the center of town by the name of Egon Olsen Diamonds.

    ¡°Well that¡¯s an ironic name,¡± I mumbled. I turned to the Eggpawns, one in the passenger seat and the others in back, all giving me wide grins. ¡°All right boys! Let¡¯s head out there and steal some stuff. Make daddy proud, huh?¡±

    ¡°Beep-beep!¡± they intoned cheerily. Then one kicked the back doors open. I stepped out of the driver¡¯s door and watched the Eggpawns step out onto the sidewalk. A fancy looking woman in a black dress looked up in time to almost run over one of my boys. She screamed in shock, nearly falling over.

    I caught her, spun her around with a twirl, and gently guided her to stand straight once more. ¡°Apologies, my lady. They¡¯re eager boys,¡± I looked at the one who had almost tripped her. ¡°Apologize to her, 5009!¡±

    The Eggpawn in question somehow managed to look embarrassed. He held up a sign. On it were the words, Sorry miss, I¡¯ll be more careful!

    ¡°Awwww, now isn¡¯t that sweet!¡± I turned back to the lady. ¡°Now, you have a wonderful day.¡±

    I turned back to the store, jauntily walking forward with one of my boys holding the door open for me. As I did, the woman stuttered out.

    ¡°W-Where did the sign come from?¡±

    I entered the store and panned my eyes around. I¡¯d already infiltrated the security and gotten some blueprints, but having fresh robotic eyes on things was helpful. The Egon Olsen Diamonds layout was very simple. A cashier on the wall, podiums displaying different forms of useless baubles, necklaces, and jewelry.

    ¡°S-Sir, you-¡± a poor employee said, the man looking around at the Eggpawns strolling in with shock.

    ¡°Ah, my good man! Congratulations!¡± I grabbed him around the neck. ¡°Hahaha! You are my hostage! Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll get interviewed after this.¡±

    Pulling the horrified man along, I ignored the sounds of people screaming and glass shattering as the Eggpawns broke the glass podiums open and began pouring diamonds, silver, gold, and platinum into their mouths.

    A security guard finally got over his shock and raised a gun.

    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    He was instantly tazed by three different Eggpawns, one of them running over and jumping to land elbow first on the security guard as he fell. A sign flipped through the air with the word ¡®Piledriver!¡¯ emblazoned on it.

    ¡°Be gentle boys, he¡¯s a 9-5 worker. The backbone of our world!¡± I clutched my new friend close. ¡°Now, Dave-¡±

    ¡°How do you know my name?¡± he asked, more terror in his voice.

    ¡°Why, Dave, we¡¯re friends! Friends at least know each other''s names!¡±

    ¡°Wha-We¡¯ve never met!¡±

    ¡°And yet, I feel like we¡¯ve known each other our entire lives. Now, Dave, while all these useless baubles may interest a more pedestrian sort of person, no offense Miss,¡± the woman in question squeaked when an Eggpawn jammed a gun into her back, moving her to join the other customers. ¡°You and I? We are men of culture! Even back when you went to the GIA Institute, professors praised your eye for the art of grading gems of all kinds!¡±

    Every word from me seemed to drop Dave deeper and deeper into horror. It paid to do research on the store and its employees before doing this.

    While we walked towards the back, a bigger male customer decided to try grabbing and throwing an Eggpawn.

    He couldn¡¯t have known they weighed around three-hundred pounds. The unimpressed Eggpawn grabbed his arms and casually Judo threw the man back to the other customers. He flipped a sign around. ¡®Hehehehe!¡¯

    Dave and I reached the back door. I kicked it open, revealing a fancy looking office. A fat man with a shotgun in a business suit roared, ready to fire. He was hit by a taser shot that sent him sprawling to the ground.

    ¡°Luke!¡± Dave shouted in concern.

    ¡°He¡¯ll be fine. Thank you,¡± I said to the Eggpawn who had shot him.

    ¡®Yer welcome boss man,¡¯ his sign replied.

    ¡°Where do they get the signs?¡± Dave asked, his voice weak.

    ¡°Dave, Dave! These questions aren¡¯t interesting! Focus on the fun ones. Like what is in that safe!?¡±

    I pulled him over, stepping over ¡®Luke¡¯ and bringing Dave along. ¡°Now, Dave my friend. What you need to think on is what is of value to a jeweler? True value. Not the stuff in the front, no! This. THIS is gold.¡±

    A safe. A Franz J?ger safe. One of the finest in the world. ¡°Ahhhh, look at you.¡±

    I ran my gloved hands across her. ¡°The engineering of this. A mark 25. People have tried to break into these for years. They have a contest for it! To date, only six people have succeeded. Classic construction, made with modern sensibilities. A true model of innovation!¡±

    ¡°You can break into it?¡± Dave asked, looking as harried as ever.

    ¡°B-Break into it!?¡± I stared at him, horrified. ¡°Dave! You think I¡¯m a madman!?¡±

    ¡°You have robot versions of you¡­¡± he said weakly.

    ¡°I¡¯m not breaking this beauty. I want the whole thing!¡±

    I snapped my fingers. A pair of Eggpawns walked in and lifted the safe together, moving in perfect unison together. Dave hiccuped. ¡°Oh man. I¡¯m so fired.¡±

    ¡°If you are, you can complain to the labor board. What were you supposed to do, fight me to the death?¡±

    I laughed, the thought genuinely tickling me. ¡°Ah, Dave. In all the time we¡¯ve known each other, I forget how you make me laugh.¡±

    He gave me an exasperated look that only made me more amused. Dave was fun to tease.

    We left the store, ignoring the sound of sirens in the distance. Please. As though mere police could stop me. The Eggpawns loaded the safe into a metal sphere in the back of the van, others tossing jewelry into the same sphere. The orb in question took up most of the back, being about a foot taller than the Eggpawns.

    ¡°Huahahahaha!¡± I laughed proudly, flanked by my small army of Eggpawns, their red coats shining in the sunlight. ¡°What a gorgeous day for crime!¡±

    I looked over at Dave. ¡°Too much, you think? Should I tone it back?¡±

    Dave swallowed, sighing just a bit. As I held him, my eyes caught the glint in the distance. I reached past him.

    When the rifle round landed in my palm, it was with a sound of metal exploding against metal, like a car smashing into a pipe factory.

    ¡°EEEEEEE-¡± Dave reeled, staring at my hand. His scream cut off when I opened my fist to reveal the intact rifle bullet resting in my gloved palm, scorch marks surrounding the point of impact.

    Dave crumbled, passing out.

    ¡°Ahhhh, Dave. You really need thicker skin. He aimed for your shoulder,¡± I was moving even while talking, hopping into the back. ¡°Load up boys, we got a real threat on us!¡±

    One of the Eggpawns was shot in the face, his eye cracking. He stuttered, before the redundancies kicked in to keep him moving. We piled in, one of the Eggpawns moving into the driver¡¯s seat, and the van burst forward. The sound of rubber popping was followed by the whole vehicle shuddering, the distinct sound of metal on asphalt following.

    ¡°Seriously, what kind of crack shot is this guy?¡± I mumbled. I knew from the show he had good aim, but this was ridiculous. ¡°Eggy, step on it!¡±

    A sign with the words ¡®Already on it!¡¯ went flying past me. The rest of the Eggs cocked their weapons. I grabbed a big laser pistol, one I¡¯d designed to look like the raygun from Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies. The Eggpawns held more boxy style weapons, designed to be generic looking so that one couldn¡¯t track where they¡¯d been made.

    I kicked the back doors open. ¡°Rattle em boys!¡±

    The target was leaping off of a roof, holding his rifle to his eye. The Eggpawns and I opened fire, unleashing a storm of green energy bolts.

    ¡°MUAHAHAHA!¡± I laughed as the van swerved through the streets, firing wildly. One of my shots smashed into the black figure aiming at us. He responded by hitting me in the sternum.

    ¡°Carbonweave, you fool!¡± I crowed even as I was sent back on my ass. I couldn¡¯t help the wide grin on my face.

    Black Noir didn¡¯t respond to that. Instead, he landed from his five story drop, hopped on a motorcycle, and pursued us.

    ¡°Well, look at that!¡± I got to my feet and brushed off my shirt. ¡°Guess we¡¯re making things interesting!¡±

    Black Noir closed in, zipping back and forth through traffic. He pulled out a submachine gun and began firing while approaching. His bullets slammed into the van, bouncing off the metal sphere, shooting out another Eggpawn¡¯s eyes while destroying a different one¡¯s laser rifle.

    ¡°What boring weaponry!¡± I taunted. ¡°Show him something interesting, boys!¡±

    ¡®Mecha-shifting!¡¯ A sign bounced off of Black Noir¡¯s head, followed by the Eggpawns pressing buttons on their guns. The boxy looking lasers shifted and moved around, stopping into a variety of configurations.

    As if I¡¯d be so boring as to stick to lasers alone.

    One Eggpawn fired his new gun, now shaped like a cannon. A giant set of cords came fluttering out, snapping together to form a net. Black Noir twisted aside, the net wrapping around a man on the street and sending him into a storefront with a scream. The Eggpawn kept firing nets, Black Noir pulling out a katana from a sheath on his bike to begin slicing them out of the air.

    Another Eggpawn fired a gun now shaped like a hose, the blast coming out as thick green goop. Black Noir moved his motorcycle aside, then leaped over a car with it, allowing the stuff to flow over the asphalt. A car behind him ran into the stuff, and came to a squealing halt as the thick material wrapped around the tires, gumming up the works. More cars slammed into that one, causing an immediate pileup.

    Black Noir dived around the cars, hopped on top of another one, zipped to his left, and sliced another tent out of the air.

    I had to admit, I was impressed.

    ¡°It''s a shame you don¡¯t talk, cause I would love to get thoughts from a hero who actually works hard at their job!¡±

    Granted, his job was assassination most of the time, but he worked hard at it.

    ¡°Well, maybe I need to change things up a bit more,¡± I turned and walked over to the metal sphere. ¡°I am, after all, a student of the Art of War.¡±

    The metal sphere opened up. I entered, adjusting my collar as I sat down. The sphere closed, Black Noir¡¯s bullets bouncing off it just before I lost sight of him. For just a moment, I sat alone in darkness. Then lights shone across the inside, showing the wide array of buttons, switches, and levers, a single screen in front of me.

    ¡°Time to rock!¡± I pulled the lever in front of me. The sound of engines roaring filled the air, before the sphere rose up, smashing through the roof of the van. The top of the sphere slid open, revealing me to the world.

    The sphere finished transforming, a single glowing light on the front, a windshield just tall enough for me to duck behind. A series of rockets burned under it, lifting me into the air, with two wings on either side.

    ¡°Well Black Noir! Time for you to face the first ever EGG MOBILE!¡±

    I turned my vessel to face him and started firing. The bottom of the Egg Mobile opened. Unseen, 3D printers and stores of chemicals formed large black orbs within, then dropped them out of the bottom. They exploded on the street, erupting into green goo, white foam, and smoke grenades.

    Black Noir stopped shooting, and instead focused entirely on his driving. The black clad mad lad dived through smoke, zipped around patches of green goo. He almost went into the foam, but ended up seeing a minivan enter the foam first.

    The minivan came out the other side with large portions of it getting eaten away, the foam creating holes as it chewed through the non-organic material. Black Noir leaped over the foam, ignoring the stunned family inside the van that was becoming swiss cheese.

    ¡°Hmm,¡± I stopped laughing for a moment.

    He wasn¡¯t stopping. I¡¯d assumed this was going to be somewhat easier. But Black Noir was going to become an issue. If I wasn¡¯t careful, things would go from fun to problematic.

    ¡°Very well, Black Noir. Follow me then! Let¡¯s see how far you¡¯ll go!¡±

    I spun the Egg Mobile around and headed deeper into New York City, bringing up a map. We didn¡¯t have too long before we¡¯d end up crossing my escape route. Just a few blocks.

    A bullet bounced off the Egg Mobile. I sped forward just a bit and led Black Noir along by the masked nose. This would be great.

 15: Gifts From Strangers

    Escaping the scene of the crime is usually not fun. Having to ¡®escape¡¯ rather than slip away means something went wrong. In a perfect world, no law enforcement would interfere, and you would walk off into the sunset, cigar and cool soundtrack optional.

    Running from a superhero on a motorcycle was not optimal, for those who are wondering.

    I was driving from the Diamond District, further from where more superheroes might be. Homelander and A-Train should have been far away based on their public schedule, so I wouldn¡¯t need to deal with them, and no other heroes were truly fast enough to reach me in time.

    Unfortunately, the hero chasing me was an Energizer bunny.

    I flew over the streets, diving into alleyways, buzzing just over the heads of the populace. Black Noir drove his motorcycle to its engineering limits. A Suzuki Hayabusa, with some custom work done.

    ¡°You really just don¡¯t give up, do you!?¡± I half-complimented Black Noir, twisting the Eggmobile to start shooting at him again with both my raygun and the Eggmobile¡¯s weaponry.

    For a moment, I got dizzy. This whole experience. Racing backwards, shooting at a speeding enemy that dodged my shots. For a moment, it overlapped with my memories. Across thousands of realities, in the bodies of men, women, and robots, all variants of Eggman, all who had sat in Egg Mobiles doing exactly what I was.

    ¡°Blast it!¡± I pushed through the flashing memories, focusing on Black Noir. ¡°I¡¯m glad it¡¯s you, to be honest!¡±

    I shot Black Noir in the shoulder, his armor exploding off that section. Thank god it was Black Noir chasing me. It helped keep me centered in the moment, rather than focusing on what was. If it had been a speedster, especially a blue one like A-Train, I might have had a harder time.

    Still, I was distracted enough. We careened into an alleyway, at top speed. Black Noir took advantage of the heartbeat where I wasn¡¯t shooting to hop his motorcycle onto a dumpster, then jumped off of it. He hung in the air for a moment.

    In that second, I mentally ran through my options. This area was near¡­ hmm. Two birds with one stone then.

    Black Noir landed on the Egg Mobile. I pretended to panic, twisting the controls. We shot out of the alleyway, Black Noir punching at me. I barely dodged a superhuman fist, only for a katana to slide against my red coat, a long tear revealing the armor beneath the cloth.

    The Egg Mobile smashed into the side of a glass building, entering an office space. I pulled on the controls, forcing us to avoid the now screaming workers. I punched Black Noir in the helmet. He fell back but grabbed onto the edge of my cockpit, hanging on while I forced my vessel upwards, smashing through the ceiling.

    Floor by floor, we careened upwards, blasting through the building and leaving holes in our wake.

    ¡°Let go, damn you!¡± I yelled, internally praying he¡¯d hold on.

    Black Noir pulled himself up and swung his katana again, aiming to decapitate me. Even with my robotic reflexes I just barely ducked it, twisting the controls again. We shot to the side, out one building and towards an old brick one. I forced us towards the correct floor, smashing through the wall.

    We ended up in a living room.

    ¡°Bloody fuck, what!?¡± A British accented voice roared in shock. I raised my ray gun and fired at Black Noir, sending his katana flying when he blocked the shot with it. I fired another shot, blasting the mouth portion of his mask off.

    Black Noir swiped his hand out, sending my raygun flying to land on the nearby couch. I spun the Egg Mobile around and blasted out the room, the sound of a loud angry British man roaring after us.

    ¡°You made me lose my raygun,¡± I said with a wide grin at Black Noir. ¡°So I¡¯ll need to end this.¡±

    Noir, as always, didn¡¯t reply. He did reach out for my nose, trying to grab the protruding point. I drove the ship towards the ground.

    We flew dozens of feet in seconds, aiming for the asphalt below. Black Noir had enough time to give me a look. I grinned, pushing the thrusters as hard as I could. ¡°Should have worn your seatbelt!¡±

    Then we crashed into the ground, cratering it. Bits of stone flew around, cars came to a halt around us. The Egg Mobile wheezed weakly, and Black Noir stared up at me from the bloody crater he made in the ground. I grinned.

    ¡°When you recover, just remember to drink plenty of fluids, okay?¡±

    Black Noir nodded slowly, then laid back against the cracked asphalt. On my console, the screen depicting his condition displayed that he was, for a superhuman, unconscious. Interestly, even passed out his body showed a level of activity usually seen in high school athletes while exercising.

    Which was a lot when you¡¯re knocked out.

    I brought the Egg Mobile up, my poor vessel wheezing weakly as it floated upwards. People were filming me, and I jauntily waved at them as they pointed their phones at me. Higher up, I reached the level of the apartment we¡¯d crashed into. Staring out at me from the second hole blasted into his apartment was a man in a black trenchcoat, Aloha shirt, with a short beard and spiked hair.

    ¡°You blew up my fucking apartment!¡± Butcher roared at me, looking annoyed rather than scared.

    ¡°Ah. My apologies!¡± I reached into a compartment in my cockpit. Within the Egg Mobile, a set of machinery shifted about, picking up the contents within. I pulled out a handful of the raw uncut diamonds my Eggpawns had placed within the Egg Mobile, now in a sack with a yellow minimalist image of my face on it. I tossed the marble bag sized package to Butcher, who grabbed it out of the air.

    ¡°That should cover the damage to your apartment. And keep my toy if you like!¡±

    ¡°What toy-!?¡± I ignored the angry Brit, instead turning the Egg Mobile around and driving outwards.

    I checked my display. A-Train and Homelander were still busy. No other speedy or flying types were on their way. Police were on the way, but that could be ignored.

    ¡°Come on, sweetie,¡± I patted my poor Egg Mobile, hands tracing over a long slit in the metal where Black Noir had ripped into her with his katana. ¡°Just a bit longer.¡±

    The Egg Mobile didn¡¯t answer, only sputtering weakly and leaking smoke as we left the scene. I worked as fast as I could to repair it mid-flight. Just a few miles, and we¡¯d be over the ocean. There was a boat waiting there, ready to take the Eggman body, Eggmobile, and the stolen safe. The Eggpawns were already driving home.

    All in all, a very successful heist.

    <hr>

    Billy ¡®Fucking¡¯ Butcher

    ¡°Fucking supe cunts!¡± Butcher half-hissed, half-yelled, looking around. His apartment, technically, was just a shithole he was bunkering down in while working, but it was his shithole. There were two massive holes in the walls, debris everywhere, and soot covered the walls from where that flying thing had smashed into them.

    Oh, and Black Noir¡¯s blood. Of course.

    Butcher kicked aside the remains of a crappy coffee table, glaring around, then remembering he was still holding the bag that omelette fuck had tossed him. Still pissed, he opened the bag-

    Diamonds. There were diamonds in the bag. Shiny fucking rocks.

    ¡°...Fuckin hell,¡± Butcher lifted one and looked at it closely. ¡°Holy fuck!¡±

    Behind the diamond, on the remains of his couch, something glowed green. He lowered the diamond and placed it in the bag, hiding the package away in his trench coat as he approached the couch slowly. He cocked his head to the side, inspecting what lay there.

    A ray gun¡­ Eggman¡¯s ray gun.

    ¡®And keep my toy if you like!¡¯

    ¡°No fucking way,¡± Butcher grabbed the gun and inspected it. It looked like a children¡¯s toy resized for an adult. The whole thing was constructed of metal though, the grip well made. When he pointed at his kitchen, the sights were perfectly set.

    He pulled the trigger. The recoil sent his arm back like he¡¯d fired a revolver. And his fucking refrigerator blew up.

    ¡°Oh that is fucking diabolical!¡± Butcher crowed, staring at the raygun. ¡°You fuckin¡¯ beauty!¡±

    Now this leveled the goddamn playing field.

    <hr>

    Julian Ivo

    ¡°Are you sure about this?¡± Mechelle asked me as I finished setting up the boat to head towards its destination. ¡°According to your memories, Butcher doesn¡¯t historically do well with receiving power.¡±

    ¡°Hey, we don¡¯t know that. I never watched season 3, maybe he became well-adjusted later.¡±

    Mechelle, her face unmoving, simply eyed me. I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. ¡°Yeah, definitely not. I¡¯ll admit, giving Butcher a laser gun is iffy. But I¡¯m hoping the fact it¡¯s an actual gun, not a power, will help keep him from going all murdery on people. It¡¯s an equalizer, but he¡¯s not about to beat Homelander with it.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s still very reckless.¡± Mechelle said emotionlessly.

    ¡°Ah, not truly! You see, I¡¯ve got a plan for that. Butcher needs to begin seeing Eggman and his technology as a boon, rather than a curse.¡± I wagged a finger at her, rising from my seat and walking off, Mechelle following me. ¡°If this world needs some villains, then they will need a weapons manufacturer they trust.¡±

    ¡°But can you trust Butcher?¡±

    ¡°I can trust Butcher to act as he always does. I have absolute faith in Butcher, because I know his path of least resistance.¡±

    If you know people well enough, you never have to worry about being betrayed. You simply place them into positions where they will always take one of two positions. The first, where they don¡¯t betray you, and thus end up aiding you. Or the second, where they do betray you, but you capitalize on that betrayal and they end up aiding you anyways.

    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!

    I didn¡¯t need trust if I could predict people.

    Pushing aside that thought, I grabbed a tablet off a table as we walked, flipping through the pages to reach my classified works. So far, so good. Project Duo was on track. The myomer polymers had been improved, as had the programming software.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to upgrade you soon,¡± I told Mechelle. ¡°You¡¯ve been doing excellently, far better than I ever dreamed, and I want to make sure your body keeps up to the standards you¡¯ve been setting.¡±

    Mechelle didn¡¯t respond, but I felt like she seemed to glow at my praise. She really was excellent.

    I pulled out an earpiece and placed it in, calling Colin. As soon as he picked up, I spoke. ¡°Colin, would you like me to upgrade you in any way, or would you rather do it yourself?¡±

    ¡°What a question,¡± Colin said, sounding wry as always on the other end of the phone. ¡°Are you sure there is no danger to letting me upgrade myself?¡±

    ¡°I told you, I wanted a scientific partner. That means accepting you might want to do illicit experimentation on yourself,¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°Hmm. Well, I¡¯ll simply be upgrading my programming and memory storage then.¡±

    ¡°No laser eyes?¡±

    Colin chuckled. ¡°No, no. As you said, I am a scientist. I¡¯m running out of capacity for my current ideas as it is.¡±

    Just like Mechelle then. Both had exploded in terms of how intelligent they were, if in different ways.

    ¡°Very well. Contact me if you need materials.¡±

    I hung up at the same time as Colin, stroking my chin. I almost reached to tug at my long mustache before remembering I didn¡¯t have one in my human form. Not one as long as Eggman¡¯s at least, just some fuzz on my lip.

    Pushing the odd sensation of not feeling right in my own body, I focused. What was next now? Things were going smoothly, in some ways, rough in others. But what could I do?

    Pondering that question, I idly switched my tablet to display the island Ahti had purchased, now named Theogonia Island. From a camera, I could see a foreman watching teams of people working on the beach. I tapped a button and a loud beeping on the other end drew the foreman¡¯s attention. He looked around, finally noticing me on screen.

    ¡°Hey Hammond,¡± I said to the foreman. ¡°How goes things?¡±

    ¡°Smooth as glass, bossman,¡± the large Samoan man approached the camera, placing his hands on his belly. ¡°The dock is getting set up right now. We¡¯ll follow up with the roads and all that next.¡±

    ¡°Can I-¡±

    ¡°Get a look? Sure thing, bossman.¡± Hammond picked up the screen and camera, walking forth.

    On screen, I could see the massive forms of cranes moving material out to the ocean, building a sea barrier. A large compound of temporary shelter made from dozens of modular buildings was further inland, forming a ¡®village¡¯ of sorts.

    Men, women, and machinery moved about quickly. I¡¯d hired everyone I could, getting anyone with skill and experience out to the island. Ivotech was making lots of money nowadays. And yet, most of it went to the island.

    The machinery was a mixture of conventional machines and my own mecha. Nothing crazy like Badniks, but some simple large suits designed to resemble the Power Loader from Aliens.

    I fucking love the Power Loader from Aliens.

    The advanced mechs had a variety of attachments on the arms, but their biggest job was lifting heavy objects over uneven terrain.

    The dock, the village, the sea break, and the roads were being set up with wonderful efficiency.

    ¡°Thank you Hammond. Do you need anything else?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re too free with money, boyo,¡± the Samoan scoffed. ¡°We¡¯re doing alright. Supplies are comin in quicklike. You¡¯ll have your base.¡±

    ¡°I hope so. There¡¯s a lot going into this. Spare no expense.¡± That joke was lost in a world without Jurassic Park.

    ¡°Thank you for the sitrep, Hammond. Make sure your people are being taken care of.¡±

    ¡°I always do,¡± Hammond chuckled.

    Good. I may be a villain, but I¡¯d promised to treat everyone under me with respect. It wasn¡¯t just nice, it was logical. I wasn¡¯t trying to make money, I was trying to make progress. And happy employees was one way to achieve that.

    Once we disconnected, I checked in on an island again. But this time, from my other workers. At another island, far from the first.

    Julian had Theogonia Island. Eggman had Sage¡¯s Hollow.

    It was volcanic, with a few sandy beaches, including one Gordon had met Eggman on. Underneath the island, badniks were at work. Burrobot, vaguely mole shaped Badniks with drill noses, were digging out a massive expansive space under the island far from the construction workers. Working with them were Eggpawns, Snowy¡¯s and more of my stronger Badkiks, building out the cave. Above, Batbrains flew, while Caterkillers set up wiring for lights on the ceiling. Still, it didn''t need too many lights.

    The lava pool underneath everything was a light source of its own. I could see Fireworms and Rexon¡¯s swimming there, widening out the pool and working on the geothermal engines.

    A Drill Worm poked out of one side wall, completing another massive tunnel.

    It was uninhabited Heroes wouldn¡¯t be roaming it, and it was volcanic so no one would ever be digging neararound it. Dig far under it, and start work on the tunnels, and you had a perfect place to have an underground lair. It was fantastic.

    Except for one thing. Sage¡¯s Hollow. I hadn¡¯t named it.

    ¡°Mechelle,¡± I looked over at her. ¡°Are you¡­ sure about the name?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± she said simply. ¡°Sage is important.¡±

    ¡°Because of Gordon?¡±

    She gave me a look. Well, as much as one as she ever did, which was somehow very expressive.

    I pretended to think about it, but I knew why she really picked it. ¡°I haven¡¯t even said I¡¯m making her.¡±

    Mechelle didn¡¯t answer, which was sort of an answer in itself. I looked for excellence in my allies. Mechelle and Colin were proof of that. And no one could argue Sage had been anything but exemplary.

    It didn¡¯t help that the Eggman memories tied to her were so emotionally powerful. They appealed too much to the person I had been before I became Julian. And now Mechelle had pushed hard to name the Eggman base Sage¡¯s Hollow.

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave it aside, then,¡± I sighed, putting away the tablet. We entered my office. Bradley, my military liason, was eyeing a table I¡¯d installed in the center. It was basically a touch screen the size of a kitchen table. He had pulled up a file on the Power Loaders.

    ¡°When the hell did you start building these?¡± Bradley asked, sipping at a cappuccino he must have made himself from the kitchen.

    ¡°The Power Loaders? I don¡¯t know, about a week ago? Mechelle?¡±

    ¡°They have begun mass production as of two weeks ago,¡± she answered brightly, switching from her usual stoicness to her more cheery false businesswoman side.

    ¡°We need these for the military.¡±

    ¡°You do?¡± I asked, moving to stand next to him. ¡°Well, I suppose I can see them being used for combat-¡±

    Bradley scoffed. ¡°Boy, do you know how useful these would be for our boys in warehouses and bases? I don¡¯t want more guns, I want more support for our supplies and logistics.¡±

    Oh. Right. I felt a little sheepish. ¡°Very well.¡±

    With a few taps on the table, the files on the power loaders were sent directly to Bradley, his phone dinging a notification. He nodded in satisfaction. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°So, did you come just for my exo-suits?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Not at all. I came to tell you that your Bradley Fighting Vehicle improvements were approved for prototyping.¡±

    I stared at him. ¡°...holy shit.¡±

    He nodded back, the corner of his lip rising into a half-smile. ¡°That¡¯s right. The boys were very impressed, especially when they got a look at the materials you recommended. I think DARPA is going to start sweating if you keep it up.¡±

    That was fantastic news. The profits for that project were going to be worth staggering amounts of money. I¡­ I needed more people. Another factory, workers, materials.

    Detroit. I¡¯d build factories in Detroit.

    ¡°Now, I did have a question,¡± Bradley ignored my racing thoughts to bring another file up on the table. ¡°What is this?¡±

    I looked at it as well. ¡°Oh. That¡¯s a fast food court.¡±

    ¡°A what?¡± he asked with a look on his face like I¡¯d hit him with a pie.

    ¡°A food court. I want to serve food in New York.¡±

    Bradley stared at me. Sighed. ¡°Well, I guess you¡¯re allowed to be eccentric.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a rule, but it helps with stress relief,¡± I admitted.

    On the table, the image of the first Ivo Food Center shone brightly. There were statistics on the employee rate in the area I¡¯d chosen, ideas on improving it, and cultural information about the people who would eat there.

    And also, the designs for the assistants and security I would provide. What fun it would be.

    <hr>

    Author''s Note:

    Butcher: Now I have a ray gun. Ho ho ho.

    The chapter was fun to write. Hopefully it makes sense that a head on collision, combined with getting shot a bunch by the ray gun, makes sense to knock out Black Noir, if only for a minute.

    Next chapter will have a bit more interference from the regular plot, while more building shenanigans push in. That will be on my Patreon</a>, but the next story I update will be Monsters of My Own. Until next time, stay safe folks.

 16: Rumored To Be

    Vought News Network

    ¡°-Continuing development on the heist pulled by Eggman. Black Noir, who heroically fought to try and bring him in, is currently recovering in the hospital. Reports tell us he is healing well, and a fundraiser in his name is trending online.¡±

    A very pretty Hispanic woman sat behind a desk, speaking earnestly to the camera, as video of the bloody crater Eggman had crashed Black Noir into played next to her, followed by shaky phone camera footage of the actual event.

    ¡°The store, Egon Olsen Diamonds, is currently investigating reports that one employee, Dave Mallory, may have been working with Eggman, as well as looking into why the stolen safe wasn¡¯t attached to the floor in any way.¡±

    Another image, this of Dave crestfallen as mics and cameras were shoved into his face. ¡°I don¡¯t know the guy! Seriously, it was creepy! Can someone please help, I think he knows where I live!¡±

    ¡°You invited him to your home? Are you in a sexual relationship with him!?¡± A man with a mic carrying a familiar ¡®TMZ¡¯ symbol asked eagerly.

    ¡°What the fuc-!¡± Dave squeaked before the news returned to the anchor.

    ¡°Damage done from the chase is still being tallied, with some estimates in the millions. Motorists'' vehicles were destroyed or left stranded for hours in the streets, buildings had windows and walls destroyed, and some form of acid that melts metal has left large portions of the city damaged. Vought Industries Senior Vice President of Hero Management, Madelyn Stillwell, spoke today on the attack.¡±

    Madelyn appeared, a confident smile on her face as she faced the camera. ¡°While this ¡®Eggman¡¯ and his recent attacks have left many surprised, rest assured that the Seven and our resources are putting everything we have to prevent him from escaping again. While his weaponry and machinery make him a threat, our Heroes have faced worse. Together, they can take him down, long before the premiere of our latest movie.¡±

    She smiled that confident, brilliant smile.

    <hr>

    <u>Madelyn Stillwell</u>

    ¡°No, we haven¡¯t been able to track him,¡± Madelyn said, her smile nowhere to be seen. She stood in Crime Analytics. The nerve center of Vought¡¯s hero operation. Where dozens of people worked to track down media worthy criminals and made strategic plans to have them taken down.

    Except, for some reason, they couldn¡¯t find the one bad guy who made the most over the top displays they¡¯d ever seen.

    Homelander stood beside Madelyn, his eyes tracking everything in the room as the pair watched over the group of analysts like hawks. She wondered, for a moment, what else he was seeing, hearing, smelling¡­ What he saw that she missed. Or would rather he never noticed at all?

    Pushing the thought down, she continued.

    ¡°They¡¯ve been at it for hours. He has a near impossible ability to simply appear and disappear on our network. We think he might have hacked it.¡±

    ¡°I thought that was impossible.¡±

    Madelyn looked over at Homelander. He was smirking. She didn¡¯t like that. He¡¯d been so damn angry before. Why did he look so smug now?

    ¡°Clearly it isn¡¯t. We¡¯ve had our best looking into this, but whoever Eggman is, he¡¯s better at this than we are. Vought¡¯s looking into pulling in supes with technological skill to help.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like he¡¯s a real problem,¡± Homelander said happily.

    Madelyn looked over at him, frowning. ¡°And yet, you couldn¡¯t be more smug about it if you tried.¡±

    ¡°Oh come on, Madelyn!¡± Homelander turned to face her fully, leaning in. ¡°Think about it! Vought¡¯s been pumping out heroes for years. Hell, I¡¯ve stopped remembering their names decades ago. They might as well be numbers. But we¡¯ve never had villains. Not real ones.¡±

    ¡°Real ones causing real damage,¡± Madelyn pointed out.

    ¡°Exactly! I can¡¯t remember the last guy I took down who wasn¡¯t some random gangster or idiot with a gun! But now we have something real. Flamboyant, over-the-top, just the guy to make the public remember why we¡¯re needed! To make the military remember why we¡¯re needed, eh?¡±

    Homelander¡¯s smile was brilliant. ¡°And the best part is, he¡¯s free! We let him roam around, stop him from doing anything serious, and we¡¯ll be raking in the money. Hell, we can sell merchandise. Those robots are perfect for the kiddies.¡±

    Madelyn¡¯s eye twitched. Idiot. Such a massive idiot. Did he think he was the first person to think of this?

    Vought was one of the most powerful organizations on Earth. They had more analysts, media managers, and strategists than Madelyn could count. Of course they¡¯d thought about this.

    But Stan Edgar had laid it out simply. They needed confidence in their heroes. Confidence was a currency. When people believed in heroes, they paid for them. There was a cold calculus to it all. And Eggman was an unknown. He had somehow hurt Maeve, someone who could stand in front of a train and come out the winner. He had gotten away from Black Noir, one of the most effective assets they had.

    Funny enough, Homelander was partially right. Starlight and The Deep were more popular than ever since their fight. The Deep had shown more balls than she thought the insecure man had, especially after listening to his company provided therapy sessions.

    That was all out of their control though. Who knew what this crazy fat bastard would come up with? Black Noir¡¯s numbers rose out of sympathy, but Queen Maeve, A-Train, and Homelander had somehow lost points.

    Of all heroes, the second most popular was Translucent, going by numbers alone. Because he had died in the line of duty, as Vought had explained to the public.

    The point was, Eggman wasn¡¯t some sort of controllable asset. He was a real danger. One dead hero was a tragedy. A wounded one was sad.

    Dozens of them were a pattern. They had to nip this in the bud. Early.

    Madelyn kept those thoughts inside. Homelander was happy. Proud. Lean on that. ¡°I suppose that is a silver liningling to all this,¡± she said. ¡°We can market it that way for a while. Make a campaign about our battles against him. Then, once you take him out, we make a movie series about your triumph. Maybe add it to Homelander: Brightest Night.¡±

    His face froze a bit, but he hid it. ¡°Exactly. We turn this idiot into our cash cow!¡±

    Madelyn hid her thoughts. Idiot. Right. Patting Homelander and giving him her most seductive smile, she nodded slowly, drawing him in.

    Keep him calm, relaxed. Don¡¯t let him see the truth. Homelander was perfect.

    Or else.

    <hr>

    <u>Julian Ivo</u>

    At the desk in my office I signed another digital bit of paperwork, finalizing the purchase of land in Detroit. It was one of many purchases I¡¯d had to make, usually land in places that were hungry for work and had skilled folk. The Appalachian Mountains, ghettos, cities and towns left behind by time.

    I¡¯d even started selling affordable gear in places like that. Things like coolsuits. I¡¯d gotten the idea from a friend of mine that told me about them from Starcraft. Sealed clothing that was designed for absolute temperature comfort, with nasal oxygen tubes for the environments within.

    And there were uses for coal. Less boring ones than burning for fuel.

    Point was, I needed workers and land. Plenty of places needed work and had land. Still, it all signified another dip in my finances.

    I did not have a limitless budget. Unlike Bruce Wayne or Tony Stark, my profits were modest. Of course they were. My business was new. While my products were incredible, and I¡¯d created a series of bots that made sure my company''s advertisements were widespread, it took time to establish a name in the tech industry.

    My Ivotech phones blew any other out of the water, but the IPhone and its competitors had a stranglehold on the market that was tough to grab. Same with things like Intel, Nvidia, and other tech companies. Even my guns had to fight for attention.

    It didn¡¯t help that I was branching out so much. My genius was immense, but I was a master of all, and thus was aggressively dominating any one industry. Couldn¡¯t do that either. I had to branch out as much as possible.

    A single badnik required software, material, weaponry, and cameras. Despite how goofy they looked, each one was a complex system. And in order to purchase that stuff without the IRS freaking out, I had to have reasons.

    Hell, I bought into the food industry for the same reason. Certain badniks and more advanced technology required material that came from certain foods. Including the Bigfoots and Bradleys I¡¯d been commissioned to build.

    Point was, I was signing papers to continue my rise in the technological power structure. I looked at the screen to my right briefly.

    Code was compiling there. Five sets of it, each with a dedicated set of servers for making the required information. When I¡¯d made Colin and Mechelle I hadn¡¯t been able to put this much work into them. They¡¯d become too advanced for their shells, a problem Colin was fixing himself while Mechelle was scheduled for an update later that day. These new sets of code would be in better shape, with my built-up infrastructure.

    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    A new body with the most advanced false musculature I¡¯d ever created, another one with every bit of stealth tech I could feasibly create.

    In my factory, a single room had been set aside for a piece of machinery shaped like an eye attached to a large arm. Someone, a random worker, said it looked like a bound woman.

    One body was a smaller one with every possible tech I had made to interact with technology, including something I called ¡®Ghost 1.0¡¯.

    The last one, I had to look up lagomorphs for. Embarrassing. But necessary. The website and app meant for that body were ready to go up any day.

    And yes, they all had bodies. Technically, three didn¡¯t need them. But I¡¯d decided that giving them the option was fair. I was unsure if they would even want them.

    Lastly, of the AI I was making, I was worried at least four would be liabilities in different ways. Two were based on a pair that had their idiotic moments. One had killed her creators. The last might be, funny enough, TOO nice.

    But you don¡¯t hire people without possible issues. The first two had been effective, the third had been effective, the last was perfect to help this world.

    As for the one who wouldn¡¯t be a liability, I trusted her. Completely. Like Mechelle, she would never betray me. With both of them, I could face anything.

    But that was for later. For now I had more paperwork.

    Turning back, I put a portion of my mind to reading the paperwork on the screen before me while the rest of my mind continued designing. How strange, in retrospect, that I was so brilliant. I¡¯d like to think I wasn¡¯t a moron before, but I wasn¡¯t even a percentage compared to how amazingly smart I was now.

    Memories didn¡¯t do that. If you shove the memories of a thousand people into one mind, you don¡¯t get a genius, you get a vegetable. Or at least a very insane person.

    And yet, I was categorically smarter. Only growing in intelligence in fact. Likely something that Ahti had accounted for, that enigmatic old man/Finnish god. If I ever did upload my mind, I¡¯d need to wait until I developed quantum computing followed by emerald computation, something I¡¯d- ugh, something Eggman had figured out after extensive study of the Chaos Emeralds.

    For now, I was feeling rather good about the amount of progress I was making on the technological front. Recruitment was going well too. My skills in engineering and science were beyond anyone else, but I needed experts to help me with those avenues I simply wasn¡¯t interested in.

    I¡¯d been headhunting for that. Scientists, engineers, skilled workers, folk who knew a good deal. The nice thing about not giving a real fuck about money was that I offered great pay. As well as medical and dental.

    Currently a man by the name of Tom Yang was heading up research into vacuum microwave MRE¡¯s, to make more delicious foods for soldiers in a small package that still kept for quite some time.

    I had convinced him after some tips on improving his process, and he was developing the idea for me while also helping with a snack division for the gamers and general public. MRE packs, sure, but also nutrient rich bars of food.

    Tom Yang was a goddamn genius, and that was me saying that. Bradley was happy with his results thus far, and a happy Bradley was more work for me. At least his food tasted good, rather than just being the barely edible Bradley was used to from his own soldier days.

    Although apparently the people from the Combat Feeding Division were pissed I¡¯d sniped him. Sucks to be them, do better holding onto your people.

    With all the tech and inventions I was making, I had to advertise it. So I had appointments set up for important media figures to take tours of my factory, try out my tech, and even drive my latest Big Foot designs.

    No, not the news. Streamers. Gamers, Youtubers, even some Vtubers. People of the internet. I¡¯d deliberately ignored several media outlets in favor of my own kind of folk. The first ones would be coming in soon enough. Mark Rober was one, Electroboom down the road, a few more.

    I¡¯d also bring in folk interested in one of my recent creations, the nuclear waste scrubber. It would take time to send those out across the world, but it would be good for the future.

    Recruiting folk to work for me, whether directly or by advertising for me with their influence, was a big deal. Mechelle, for example, was getting me one more recruit before she¡¯d have her update installed.

    A specific one.

    <hr>

    Mesmer

    The man known as Mesmer had seen better days. The Mesmerizer tv show had been incredibly popular, he was a household name, the kind of person who was treated like a rockstar since he was a kid.

    Nowadays he was signing copies of DVD¡¯s while Tara Reid was giggling in the corner, sometimes sleeping with slutty fangirls. For some insider trading. Martha Stewart did the same thing and she was still freaking popular! Granted, he¡¯d made a lot more money than she saved, but it was the principle of the thing.

    He couldn¡¯t even visit his daughter. Just staring at her playing in the park like some creepy asshole. Foster care. She must have missed him as much as he missed her. What was he supposed to do though?

    Maybe he could find a way back. If he got his shot, if he could reenter Vought. Then maybe he could get his life back. It had been a while since he¡¯d used, he could still use his powers. Just one chance.

    Someone sat at the park bench he was brooding on, to his right. He looked over at her, then double-taked.

    Hot. Ridiculously so. She wore an elegant dress suit, had short cropped hair, and a pair of sunglasses. She looked like she¡¯d walked out of a magazine. She looked over at him through her glasses.

    ¡°Hello, Mesmer.¡±

    He stiffened. Shit. Hopefully this was good. ¡°Uh, hi. You uh, looking for an autograph or something?¡±

    ¡°In a way,¡± she leaned back, smirking sexily. ¡°My name is Mechelle Ivo. I work for Ivotech.¡±

    Mesmer blinked, slowly. ¡°Never heard of them.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re a relatively recent company. We work for the military, though we have some branches in the pharmaceutical, entertainment, and computer electronics industries, as well as a few others.¡±

    ¡°And I guess you want me to do some insider trading for you?¡± Mesmer chuckled. ¡°Guess you haven¡¯t heard. I don¡¯t do that anymore. Can¡¯t, really. Any stocks I¡¯d try to touch? Fucking poison.¡±

    Mechelle raised an eyebrow. ¡°We don¡¯t want you for insider trading. In fact, my employer does not care about money.¡±

    ¡°Bad way to run a business.¡±

    ¡°Depends on what the business is,¡± she said with a brilliant smile. ¡°For example. We are willing to offer you six figures to work on our security team.¡±

    Mesmer stilled. ¡°Uh, like, per year or-¡±

    ¡°Monthly,¡± Mechelle said with just a hint of smugness. For some reason, he felt drawn in. Like it was just the right amount of smugness. ¡°We want you to become the face of our security division. Someone who can make sure we aren¡¯t flooded by corporate spies who somehow get through our background checks.¡±

    He swallowed at the thought. ¡°The face. Like, you what, put me on posters around the office?¡±

    ¡°Or you star in advertisements, have your face on our security products, that sort of thing.¡±

    That was way too far. No way this was happening. ¡°I uh, might need to see a-¡±

    ¡°Contract?¡± She took a manilla folder he hadn¡¯t seen earlier out for him to take a hold of. ¡°All right there. You can, of course, look us up as well, speak to our lawyers. All above board.¡±

    He glanced at her hands. Gloved. Damnit. And she wasn¡¯t likely to let him touch her face, though he really wanted to. ¡°Are you sure about this? Not a lot of people would hire me.¡±

    ¡°My employer is not most people,¡± Mechelle rose from her seat, smiling down at him. ¡°He believes in second chances. Even third ones, depending on things. Just take a look at those, and when you get a moment, give us a call.¡±

    She walked off, leaving Mesmer to sit there, stunned. He opened up the folder, pouring through the contract.

    He never noticed his daughter being picked up in the distance.

    <hr>

    As she left him behind, Mechelle raised a hand to her ear. ¡°He¡¯s in.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t hear a yes, there,¡± Julian¡¯s voice said through her internal radio.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t need one. I could tell. How about you?¡±

    ¡°Your upgrades are ready to go as soon as you get back.¡±

    Mechelle smiled just a bit. ¡°Wonderful. And the Eggman?¡±

    Julian chuckled. ¡°Well. I think it¡¯s best I not keep his appearances too brief. I have some ideas for that.¡±

    Mechelle smiled at the excitement in her creator¡¯s voice as she got into a limo. Things would be moving again soon.

    <hr>

    Author''s Note: Points for those who can guess which AI is which.

    Beyond that, Dave''s life is getting complicated, Homelander''s Ego is getting massaged, Julian builds more things, and Mechelle recruits a man dumb enough to betray Butcher. So what else is new?

    Next chapter, we drop in on the Boys and see what they''re up to, followed by Robocop. Meantime, next chapter will be on my Patreon</a> ahead of time, support me there if you like my stories. Have a good one ya''ll!

 17: Starter Gun

    Mechelle''s upgrades went smoothly. It was mostly a matter of transferring her data out of her body, making the changes needed to her body, then transferring it back. Took a while to do though. I had to remove a lot of her inferior parts. Her musculature needed no upgrades, nor did her weaponry, but her software had to go, replaced with faster more advanced systems of my own design, with much larger storage space. One day she''d get the advantage of quantum and emerald computing, but this was a good stopgap measure till then.

    Colin did his own upgrades in the meantime. And while both of them were getting more advanced, I kept an eye on The Boys.

    <hr>

    Hughie

    "Butcher, I''m not so sure about this," Hughie said as he stared at the ray gun in front of him. "I''m not great with guns."

    "Oh come on, it''s barely a gun!" Butcher said excitedly. "It''s mostly electronics. I just want you to take a look, make sure there''s no tricky buggers in it."

    "I already told you there wasn''t, just some of the most beautiful internals I''ve ever seen," Frenchie said in his thick accent, walking over with a drink in his hand.

    "Yeah, but a second look never hurt, now did it?" Butcher said, sounding just a bit annoyed before giving Hughie a devilish smile. "Come on now. Ain''t ya just a little bit curious?"

    Hughie stared at him. "Okay, Butcher, what''s the real reason you want me to look into this?"

    Butcher''s smile fell. After a moment, he sighed. "Look, you damn¡­ you ain''t a supe, right?"

    "Not last I checked."

    "But you''re a pretty bright shit. So if you can look into this and understand the tech in this water pistol, then I know this Eggman doesn''t need to go on the list."

    "You have a list?" Hughie asked.

    "Everyone has a list," Frenchie said helpfully.

    "I don''t!"

    "A-Train." When Hughie stopped to stare at Butcher rather than respond, the Brit only smiled. "Come on, Hughie, take a look at let me know if you think this guy is a supe, or just a fella with magnificent fuckin stache."

    Frenchie rolled his eyes. "Don''t worry, Petit Hughie, I''ll pull you away if anything happens, okay?"

    Weirdly enough, that helped. Frenchie was weird. Confidently awkward, some might say. But he was also a nice guy.

    Sighing, Hughie reached for the tool box Frenchie had left nearby. The gun had simple screws holding it together, which, even with the metal giving the gun heft, still made it seem very toy-like. Hughie opened it gently, then stared at what was within.

    "...Wow."

    "Wow as in, ''this is impossible supe shit'', or-" Butcher asked before Frenchie interrupted.

    "No no, I agree. It is very wow. But not supe."

    "Yeah, I mean," Hughie slowly and carefully looked over the guns internals. "It''s, uh, probably expensive as hell to make one of these. But I can recognize some of it. That''s from an Apple phone, some of the new Ivotech chips there, the lenses are from Microsoft, maybe? It''s like some genius brought together the pieces of regular tech to make, well-"

    "A fucking laser gun." Butcher said, smirking. "So. He might be a supe?"

    "Ahhh, I disagree, Butcher," Frenchie said, rubbing his chin.

    "Yeah, I mean, this shit is pricey. You''d be spending like ten thousand dollars to rip out pieces from the phones and stuff you''d be getting, but I think even I could make one of these."

    "...Can you?" Hughie glanced up. Butcher had a wide grin on his face. A very dangerous one. Hughie swallowed.

    "U-Uh, maybe. No promises though. This is just after a glance, maybe there''s a component in the inner workings that I can-"

    "Relax," Butcher patted him on the shoulder. "We''ll leave it for next time. For now, I need to go meet someone. See you lot at the truck, okay?"

    Butcher left, leaving Frenchie and Hughie to stare at the open laser gun, then at each other.

    "You should not have mentioned that," Frenchie teased. "I think he was about to kiss you, eh?"

    Hughie shuddered in horror at the thought.

    <hr>

    As I watched Hughie shudder under Frenchie''s teasing, I leaned back thoughtfully in my chair. In truth, Hughie being able to replicate the laser gun was impossible. Well, improbable, really. Without certain components installed in a precise order, the gun would simply be very expensive paperweights. But the fact he was even able to figure out where most of the pieces went was to my benefit.

    I kept an eye on Hughie and Frenchie, and tracked Butcher''s movements. He was heading to Mother''s Milk, as expected. Everything was going well¡­ Too well.

    Frowning, I looked at another screen. This one was focused on the factory floor, where the spy was working.

    Yes, a spy. Granted, he was barely a spy. When he''d applied it was under some pseudonym with a very solid story behind it. Not enough to really throw me off of the trail, but good enough. After some research I''d found he wasn''t a corporate spy, but a national one. I was unsure what nation, but obviously one interested in the technology behind the US military''s new toys.

    Except that the spy was incredibly, boringly, patient. He ate with people during lunch, did his job efficiently on the line, never seemed bothered by the fact he couldn''t sneak out any files, photos, or technology, and all around was a model employee. If it wasn''t for me tracking down CIA and NSA files from a decade ago showing him sharing classified knowledge with Russia, I would have thought he was great.

    Ugh. That was what sucked about real life spies. They were boring!

    Still, whoever he worked for, I''d find out down the road. Right now it was all a waiting game. I''d wait until he acted, then I''d spring on him. And hell, maybe when he was done trying to betray me, I could keep him on. As I''d said, he was a model employee.

    Putting that aside, I looked over at the AI I''d been developing. Almost done. Soon enough I could make some larger moves. Starting with the day that I''d been waiting for.

    Race Day!

    <hr>

    A-Train vs Shockwave, the race of the century! A poster on the wall declared as I walked in. Mechelle was right behind me as we roamed through the stadium. The two of us made what I considered impressive figures, striding towards our seats. We''d paid for the best ones. Not VIP, since those tended to be for people Vought wanted to personally impress, dignitaries and the like, but still damn good spots.

    Sitting down at the small table with a good view of the race, I sighed.

    "All this money, all this ostentatiousness, for a race that will last all of a second," I mumbled to myself. "You would think someone would have suggested something more. An obstacle course maybe. A run around the city. Anything beyond a sprint that lasts less than an eyeblink."

    "Cost benefit, sadly," Mechelle said, a charming smile on her face. "Renting out a simple track field is cheap, and people will come just because it has superheroes in it. They can draw in the numbers, stretch out the airtime with advertisements and long speeches¡­ Ah. There is our girl."

    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    I looked where she indicated. My sadly organic eyes weren''t as good as hers, but I could still easily make out the white uniform and almost blindingly bright blonde hair, standing next to a black clad figure.

    "...I cannot believe they still put her in the same damn uniform," I grumbled. "I mean, the gauntlet and boots are great, but leaving that much of her chest open is just screaming for a weapon to slice her heart out."

    "You knew that they would," Mechelle pointed out. "Besides, this is still better than what happened last time, isn''t it?"

    "Barely," I sighed. "I don''t like the idea that I''ll have to make her bleed to get her into better armor."

    "She can take it," Mechelle said mildly. "How long do we wait?"

    "Until all the major players are available," I said. "Once we know the Boys are here, then we make our move. Colin?"

    Over the tiny earpiece hidden in my skull, the man himself spoke. "Everything is prepared, as you ordered. I do find it funny that you are complaining about this event being boring, considering your plans."

    "I am, at heart, a showman," Even as I said that, Homelander came dropping out of the sky, landing next to where Queen Maeve was being interviewed. As everyone cheered, I checked my watch. "Hm. He''s on time. So Noir and Starlight should be¡­"

    Both heroes stepped away. For a moment, just a moment, I thought about interrupting what was going to happen next. A bunch of assholes interrupting what was going to be a sweet moment. But I had to let it happen. Hughie and Starlight would need to meet.

    That didn''t mean I couldn''t benefit from it. I got up, Mechelle following. "Let''s go meet the pair."

    <hr>

    In a small crappy restaurant, the kind all stadiums had with overpriced junk food, Starlight and Hughie sat across from each other, talking happily. Hughie said something, Annie giggled a bit. She said something, he blushed while grinning goofily.

    It was adorable. I almost felt bad for casually chewing on a very leathery salad just behind them while cloning their phones.

    Phone cloning, as it turns out, is easy, but I needed access to the phones in question to do it. It didn''t take long, thankfully. Annie and Hughie had their meet-cute, and I stole their information. Later, both walked away, and Mechelle and I went back to our seats. I was genuinely surprised it went so smoothly. I''d expected something insane to intrude. Explosions or something.

    Back at the race, I checked the clock again. Almost time. Things had to be perfect. Before A-Train could ruin things.

    "Ladies and gentlemen," the announcer said. Shockwave walked out jauntily. A-Train was eyeing him carefully. I grinned. "Here comes Shockwave!"

    As everyone cheered, I felt my grin grow almost big enough to hurt. "Now."

    The music in the stadium stopped. The screens went black. And in a moment, the Eggman appeared on screen.

    "HELLOOOOOOO, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" Eggman''s voice echoed in the stadium, blowing through the place. "WELCOME TO THE MAIN EVENT!"

    Mechelle and I shared a look, then looked back at the screen, watching as Eggman laughed jauntily. The crowd murmured, confused, while Homelander''s smile fell. "Sadly, what Vought had is boring! A simple sprint around a track? That''s the best you have!?"

    Music began to play over the speakers. <u>Metallic Madness Zone Act 2 Sonic Mania</u></a>

    The camera zoomed out from his face, revealing Eggman standing before a giant map of the city. "No, no, no! What kind of contest is that!? Where is the punch, the pizazz, the wow factor!?"

    Eggman spun around, pointing at the map behind him. "You should demand better! And thus, I bring you, the Eggman Obstacle Course! A full map of the city, with enemies to fight, items to obtain! Believe me folks, the Eggman knows his speedsters, and I refuse to face any less than the best!"

    Eggman then leaned into the camera, grinning just a bit. His small glasses fell. Dark pits could be seen underneath them, small pinpoints of red glowing out of them. "Of course, you need an incentive. So here it is. I have placed bombs within the whole arena. Each one defended by my Badniks. If anyone who isn''t able to run at superspeed tries to leave the arena, every single one goes off. And to prove I''m serious¡­"

    BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!

    Screams began to echo around us. Eggman''s voice continued to echo. "That would be the entrances. How lucky that no one died. But that can change. HAHAHAHA!" Eggman clutched his belly, laughing. "You see! Far more fun! So, A-Train, Shockwave! You have your task. Race across the city, fight my badniks, compete! And no cheating, Seven! That means you, Homelander."

    I could see the blonde supe scowling angrily, glaring at the screen.

    "The race begins in 5! 4! Counts too slow, 321 NOW!"

    Shockwave and A-Train hesitated. They looked over at their managers, A-Train sharing a look with his brother and asking him something. I rolled my eyes.

    "Colin."

    BOOOOOM! Out in the parking lot, cars exploded apart. Eggman glared out of the screen.

    "I. Am. Serious. Run. Now."

    "GO!" Someone in the crowd shouted. Others began yelling, until the whole crowd was screaming at Shockwave and A-Train. Someone in a business suit, presumably from Vought, came running towards them, shouting as well while he held a phone to his ear. The pair finally read the room and disappeared, rushing out into the city.

    "FINALLY! Now, let''s follow our heroes, shall we!?" Eggman disappeared, replaced with footage of Shockwave and A-Train sprinting.

    Yes, of course I was able to film them while they ran. It didn''t matter how fast they were, even the slowest versions of that damned blue hedgehog could run circles around them. Mechelle and I rose, and I cracked my neck dramatically.

    "Well Mechelle. Let''s go be heroes."

    The Boys and the Seven should have still been on site. I could see Homelander speaking to reporters further in the arena, smiling with false confidence and assuring them. I ignored him, moving on to enter the arena. Eggman was speaking as well, dramatic and confident.

    Colin was doing a great impression thus far.

    While that went on, the arena was full of shouting civilians. Queen Maeve was somewhere, trying to speak to the crowd, and I could see Starlight doing the same. I approached her.

    "Annie!" I shouted, rather than the people yelling her hero name. That brought me attention. She looked at me.

    "Sir, I know this is scary, but we''re going to keep you safe-"

    I cut off her attempt to calm me down. "I can help find the bombs."

    Starlight''s mouth slammed shut. She stared at me now. "You can?"

    "I can. I''m Julian Ivo, I''m a tech specialist. If you can get me the right tools, I can figure out a way to find the bombs and disable them. As long as you and the rest of the Seven can help me fight off the Badniks, we might be able to stop this."

    As Starlight stared at me, surprise on her face, I fought the urge to smile evilly. All according to plan.

 18: Track and Field

    Chapter 18

    <u>A-Train</u>

    "What the fuck!?" A-Train shouted, running through the streets. His legs and arms pumped, his heart beating hard. "You guys can''t give me anything?!"

    "We haven''t found the bombs in the arena, so this is our only option. Eggman says you and Shockwave need to follow the rules of the race or he''ll blow up the bombs. So, as of now, we play his game," Madelyn Stillwell said in A-Train''s ear. "Starlight is working on the bombs. You just run."

    "The newbie!?" A-Train spat out. "What''s Homelander doing!?"

    "Homelander is currently running damage control," Madelyn''s voice changed, becoming biting, accusing. "Keeping the press from asking why our number one speedster isn''t winning the race in seconds to prevent them from blowing up. Because if you do end up losing now, while lives are on the line, no one is going to question why we decided Shockwave is our best bet. Understand?"

    A-Train stopped for a moment, breathing hard and trying to focus. Goddamn it. He''d tried to grab his dose of V, but he''d been forced to run with all the cameras watching him. So now he had to depend on his own speed, with actual lives on the line.

    He took a deep breath, then started running again. His feet clapped on the pavement, his perception moving up to match his speed. In his ear, a different voice began to speak, some random Vought chick. "A-Train, our trackers show you''re close to the first target, an abandoned warehouse. Shockwave, you''re about to reach the rock quarry. Eggman''s badniks are visible on our satellites. The challenge is to defeat the badniks in the shortest time. It''s a race."

    Suddenly another voice broke into the line. Unlike the previous normal radio fuzz, this one was crystal clear, enough to shock A-Train momentarily. Eggman, shouting like he was a few feet away. "AND THE NAME OF THE CHALLENGE! BADNIK BRAWL! START!"

    He ran through the open gates of a fence area next to a bunch of warehouses, a few trailers dotting the area. Some kids were nearby, skateboarding, about five of them. They didn''t notice him approaching, not at the speed he was moving. The doors of the warehouse up ahead exploded outwards in a burst of air and dust. A-Train had a moment to see the dozens of eyes lighting up in the shadows. Then he was getting shot at.

    And so were the kids. He almost screamed as he avoided one of the bee ones shots, smashing his fist into them. Like last time, the funny robot animals were a fuckton stronger than they looked.

    They were fast. Not as fast as him, but it was like they were designed to give speedsters a fight. They were tough too, and coordinated.

    A pair of praying mantis robots came slicing at him. Green and human sized, with giant mandibles. More importantly, they had a pair of bladed arms rather than pincers.

    They still moved like praying mantis'' though. For a moment, he was reminded of when he was a kid. With Nathan. Hanging out in the backyard, watching insects.

    The sudden burst of memory was cut apart by the mantis badniks rushing him. One snapped his hands out the way a mantis would, trying to hook over him to stab him in the back. With all the speed he had, he slid to the right, then left when the next one did the same. He screamed at the red hot feeling of a blade barely stabbing his back just before he got away. He''d never been stabbed before. Not really.

    A-Train grit his teeth, dodged the next attack, then rushed in, moving around the leftmost bug and grabbing its head before spinning around at high speed, letting go to send it flying into a bee that had been trying to get an angle on him.

    "Enjoying my Slicers?" Eggman said in his ear. "Ah, it would be a shame if you died here, A-Train. Then again, at least you''re fighting. Shockwave is just running around."

    A-Train didn''t have enough time to appreciate that fact before the other Slicer cut at him. Then Eggman spoke again.

    "Take out the children," Eggman said casually. "I''m sure A-Train won''t mind losing the distraction."

    A-Train went almost still. Take out the children? What the fuck?

    Up until the Slicer had stabbed his back, this had almost seemed¡­ well. Like all the other Vought shit. Another publicity thing. If he fucked up, his career was ruined. That was his worry. Then he got stabbed. And he remembered.

    Eggman was a goofy fucking villain. But he didn''t fuck around. Back at the arena, A-Train had to actually fight. He''d seen the bruises and scratches left on the Deep and Starlight, seen footage of Black Noir getting the shit kicked out of him across the city.

    This shit was real. He was in danger. He had to leave, to run.

    But now a contingent of those ladybug robots, five of them, was rolling towards the screaming kids. The Slicer attacked again. And A-Train spun around it, before rushing towards the kids.

    "Oh, look at you! But it''s too late. They''re already dead."

    "RAAAAGH!" A-Train screamed, smashing the first bot with his shoulder. The next one shot him in the chest, destroying the clear material that covered his chest before he could bash his fist through it. The third one actually smashed into his stomach before he grabbed it and used it to break the next.

    The last began shooting at the kids. A-Train twisted on the pavement, the concrete cracking beneath his feet. Running towards them, he grabbed two and shifted aside, dodging the hail of plasma shots, still screaming. The two kids screamed as well, in slow motion while A-Train moved them behind a trailer, then ran back out. The fucking ladybug robot was still shooting at the last of the kids. A-Train hurdled a set of the plasma bolts, grabbed the last kids, and rushed back into cover again.

    "You know you don''t get points for saving the kids?" Eggman asked while laughing.

    "Who gives a fuck!?" A-Train shouted, rushing back out to smash the ladybug before the Slicer got to him again.

    "Ha! Good answer. Shockwave didn''t do that," Eggman was still chuckling even as A-Train continued to fight, forcing the Slicer into the bee''s line of fire long enough for him to smash it apart. More bots came out of the warehouse, and A-Train forced himself to keep fighting. The whole thing only lasted a few minutes.

    When he was done, A-Train was panting. His back and chest were on fire. He rested his hands on his knees and looked around.

    Mantis, ladybug, and bee robots were smashed to pieces around him, around four of the mantis and a few dozen of the weaker bugs.

    "Is that it!?" A-Train shouted, trying to catch his breath.

    "For now," one of the bots chests, where a small light unit lay, glowed suddenly, then projected a hologram. Eggman. The mustached fatman was grinning. "And the score is tallied. You were barely a few seconds behind Shockwave. I''m afraid saving those civilians took up some time."

    The kids. A-Train glanced over. He stilled.

    The skateboarders were staring at him. They had awed looks on their faces. One began to smile. A-Train felt the brief chill that had entered him when he heard he''d lost just¡­ not fade away. But something good was there now.

    He hadn''t needed to save the kids. Just did it without thinking. And now they were staring at him like¡­

    "Of course, as I said, this is as much a test of heroism as it is one of speed," Eggman continued. "And Shockwave saved no one directly. So A-Train gets a few more points on the board."

    Before A-Train could register that, a new hologram appeared. A scoreboard.

    Shockwave: 1500

    A-Train: 3000

    "Oh that''s bullshit!" Shockwave''s voice was followed by his hologram image, looking pissed. "I didn''t know we got points for saving people."

    "I didn''t realize heroes had to be told to do so," Eggman chuckled. "Of course, the score for doing so now that you know will be less substantial, but since you, a proclaimed superhero, apparently need incentive to do your job, here. Saving people will give you points."

    A-Train hadn''t needed to be told to do that. He''d just done that. And the kids were grinning at him, skating over. Eggman continued to speak as A-Train''s breathing calmed.

    "There will be two more Badnik Brawls. For now, an obstacle course has been set up! First to finish wins! Oh, but do be careful of the Falcos! Hehehe, hehe, hahahaha, MUAHAHAHAHA!"

    As he laughed, they came down towards him. A-Train shouted at the kids. "Fucking run! Get off the streets, idiots!"

    That ruined the awe on their faces a bit, but he couldn''t help but panic a bit.

    The kids took cover. And the red falcon badniks dropped out of the sky, moving at hundreds of miles per hour and shooting lasers at him. A-Train grit his teeth and followed the sudden path of glowing checkpoints that began sprouting up along the way, leaping over a fence, sliding across a railing, then up a wall before leaping across, dodging the shots along the way.

    It wasn''t over yet. But something had changed today. And everyone knew it.

    <hr>

    Starlight

    Minutes Earlier

    When she brought Julian Ivo over to Madelyn, Annie had been a bit desperate. She had no clue who this guy claiming he could help was, but she had to try.

    "Mrs. Stillwell!" Annie shouted. Ivo and whoever that intimidating lady with him was followed close behind her as she approached Madelyn. Queen Maeve moved to follow as well, looking curious.

    "Starlight, focus on the crowd," Madelyn said, not even looking at her as she continued to hold her phone close to her head. "I need to convince the stockholders this won''t-"

    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    Stockholders? What?

    "I can find the bombs," Julian Ivo said again, his voice loud and clear. Maeve and Madelyn focused on him, showing the same surprised look Annie imagined had been on her own face earlier.

    "You can?" To Annie''s surprise, the voice that asked that wasn''t Madelyn, Maeve, or anyone else. It was Hughie, stepping forward from the crowd.

    "I can," The dark skinned and bearded man said confidently. He held up a phone. "I understand Homelander won''t be able to aid us, due to the security measures on the bombs, but that doesn''t prevent the rest of us from working."

    "I''m sorry, who are you?" Madelyn said in a suspicious tone.

    "Julian Ivo, of Ivotech," he said. "I''m a tech expert, working for the military. I was hired by them to study some of Eggman''s technology. I''m sure some of your contacts can verify that, but in the meantime, we need to work."

    "Uh," Hughie asked as Ivo took the phone in his hand and moved to a table nearby, opening the device up. The bearded man pulled out a set of tools from his pocket and began working. "What are you doing?"

    "The bombs are likely networked with the Badniks. And thanks to my work, I have some familiarity with that network," Julian winced. "I had hoped not to reveal that at such an early stage, but needs must as the devil wills."

    "The same network?" Hughie leaned over to watch what Julian was doing, his eyes focused. "So we can loop into the same network? Use it to track them?"

    "Exactly," Julian said, ignoring Maeve, Madelyn, Starlight, gathering around to listen, Black Noir coming over as well. The intimidating lady standing just behind him simply looked them over under her sunglasses, giving Starlight a short smile.

    "I had planned to use the network to hack into them, possibly set their self-destructs to activate, but in the short time we have, I''ll settle for simply finding them. I need phones. As many as we can gather, smart ones of course."

    "Why?" Madelyn snapped.

    "I can jury-rig them to become trackers, as well as to interfere with the bombs. It won''t prevent them from exploding when Homelander approaches, considering Eggman obviously placed special priority on that, but we can allow the rest of the heroes to do their job," Julian lifted up the phone he''d been working on. The screen now displayed a familiar Eggman symbol, glasses, mustache, and a grin.

    "Sadly, I have to use his network, so you''ll have to settle for his rather¡­ bombastic design choices," Julian said with some disgust. "He may be one of the greatest geniuses in history, but his taste leaves something to be desired. Starlight?"

    Annie took the phone and looked down at it. Seconds later, a map of the arena replaced the Eggman symbol. With sixteen groups of glowing dots.

    "Are those-" Starlight asked, already wincing.

    "Badniks," Julian confirmed. "Groups of them, each defending bombs."

    "Fuck," Hughie mumbled under her breath. "That is a lot to take care of."

    "I''m sorry," Madelyn said, finally noticing Hughie. "Who are you?"

    Hughie jumped, startled. "Me? I''m uh¡­ a photographer?" he said weakly, lifting his camera to display.

    "Phone," Ivo said, holding a hand out to Hughie.

    "What? Oh, yeah," Hughie pulled out a smartphone and passed it over.

    "The rest of you, do the same," Julian said firmly. "Sixteen groups, we''ll need to break into teams to track the bombs."

    "And do what, shove them up our asses?" Maeve asked sarcastically even as she handed over her own phone.

    "That''s why I''m connecting all of us through this network," Julian said, pulling open the phones and working on them, his fingers moving nimbly across the circuitry. "We don''t have enough superheroes. I''ll need normal volunteers. Get security, civilians, anyone who can help, anyone with a weapon to fight."

    "We can''t just-" Annie was about to say.

    "I''ll try to find people!" Hughie shouted, grabbing his phone back and running off.

    "Hughie!?" Starlight asked, stunned.

    "You know that twink?" Maeve asked, confused.

    "Here," Julian handed Maeve and Black Noir back their phones. "I suggest connecting your headsets to those. We need to work fast. The bombs are on a timer. We''re all dead in twenty minutes."

    "WHAT!?" Everyone around them, including some civilians listening in, shouted.

    "We''re fine, just get to the bombs, fight off the badniks, then I''ll walk you through disabling them. Mechelle, you and me!"

    "Yes, sir," the intimidating lady said, following him out.

    "Madelyn, you too."

    "Excuse me, I''m not-" Madelyn was about to say, before a voice came from her phone, loud enough to hear, if barely over the crowd.

    "Follow him."

    Madelyn froze. She pulled her phone to her ear. "Sir-"

    Whatever she had been about to say stopped. Madelyn looked around. At the camera crews. This was all being filmed.

    And when Madelyn smiled, Annie knew she had been told what to do. For the cameras.

    "Don''t worry everyone! Vought will be working on this personally. Just sit tight and you will all be safe. Mr. Ivo!" Madelyn went after the bearded man, her steps quick and confident. She stopped long enough to point at two security guys to follow her, then left.

    The picture of someone in control. Except that she wasn''t.

    Feeling a little sick at another display of marketing, Annie spun around and focused on her screen. People had to be saved. Running with all her might, she barely noted that she had a shadow in her wake, his swords in hand.

    <hr>

    Madelyn

    "The media believes we are working with Julian, that you pulled him in to aid on this with decisive action. The last thing we need is for you to continue to question him on camera. He has a plan our people say will work. Follow it. Right now, our stock is in flux. Play this right, and we''ll turn this debacle into a win. Understood?"

    Understood. Like hell. This fucking guy came out of nowhere, hijacked the whole situation, and just started ordering them around? Who the hell was he?

    Actually, she knew who he was. Sort of. Fuck Nubian Prince. She still remembered that, if barely. The robot guy who had caused a brief but manageable headache for her. And now he was here.

    A tech expert. To help them fight another tech expert. A tech expert who had come out of nowhere, got the military eating out of his hand, and made giant robots! He had to be Eggman. Or working for him.

    But now the cameras were on him. This was a hell of a publicity stunt.

    Entering the hallways after him and the fuckdoll who seemed to never leave his side, her guards at her back, Madelyn spoke up.

    "What the hell do you need me for?"

    "An extra set of hands," Ivo said immediately. "And someone who can lead the heroes. I imagine you have Homelander on damage control already? I can handle the technology, but I think the main reason your people listened to me was surprise. From here, I think they''d rather someone they trust."

    That wasn''t her. But intimidation would be fine.

    They climbed a set of stairs as Madelyn spoke. "So I tell them what to do, what is the plan then?"

    "First, we need eyes." They came to a pair of doors. When he tried them, they were locked. Ivo looked at his fuckdoll. "Mechelle."

    Her foot kicked out in a blur, smashing the doors open. Madelyn quirked an eyebrow, but was otherwise unimpressed. Hard to be, when you''d seen what she had seen. Beyond the doors was a security room, with dozens of screens all along a wall.

    Inside, a security guard tried to scream, but his mouth was covered by his captor. A badnik. This one was a cute looking violet scaled robot snake, wrapped around him and holding him down to his chair. The snake hissed at them. Mechelle, without missing a beat, ripped a gun out from one of the Vought security guards'' holsters and fired it. The first shot missed, the next ones destroyed its head, and the ones that emptied the clip destroyed the second snake that came out of the shadows to attack.

    "Good work," Ivo said, ignoring Madelyn while the Vought guard hesitantly took back his gun from Mechelle. The tech expert moved forward, ignoring the arena security guard pulling himself from the broken robot snake to focus on the screens. He looked across them, frowning. "Okay. So they aren''t exactly hiding. I think, in some ways, the bombs are as much a part of the show as the rest of this."

    He wasn''t wrong. The badniks were very clear on screen. They were in hallways, in receiving areas, locker rooms, storage areas. Not all of them, but about ten or so groups of them, circling certain areas.

    "None of you could get a call out about this?" Madelyn asked the security guard in annoyance.

    "I tried!" He said, sounding terrified. "Those damn things came out of nowhere and wrapped me up, I couldn''t-"

    "Whatever," Madelyn grabbed her phone. "I''m going to call A-Train and Shockwave, make sure they focus on Eggman''s ''contest'', then we can start on the bombs."

    "I''ll need your help to make sure I coordinate them efficiently," Ivo said. "Obviously I don''t have as much experience as you do guiding superheroes through combat."

    Technically, he had as much experience as she did. Madelyn hid her emotions to focus on the call.

    Moments later, a Vought guard had his phone out, showing the live footage of the contest, and Madelyn held her breath. "Okay. Let''s begin."

    Julian smiled devilishly. And Madelyn kept her eyes on him. Depending on how he acted¡­ well. Homelander might be capturing Eggman earlier than he thought.

 19: It Takes Eight Hits

    Hughie Campbell

    "Hughie, we can''t get involved," Butcher told him, and the rest of the Boys gathered around the Brit. They hadn''t left the arena, having been trapped as well, and were forced to simply talk in a corridor away from anyone else.

    "We have to!" Hughie said. "They don''t have enough people for this. Look, there are other civilians helping, and the badniks aren''t that tough!"

    "Tough enough to beat the shit out of Black Noir," MM pointed out, the fatherly black man sounding exasperated. "Hughie, we can''t be out here fighting fucking robots next to supes!"

    "It does seem slightly against our mission, eh?" Frenchie pointed out with a joint in his hand.

    "Is it?" Hughie snapped. "I thought we were in this to help people! Well, people need help. We don''t need to do much! Just go to the bombs, shoot some robots, then follow the instructions to disable the bombs."

    Butcher rolled his eyes. "Hughie. We can''t be showing up on Vought''s radar. Bad enough you''re getting all moon-eyed at Starlight, now you want to be a supe?"

    "No," Hughie snapped his mouth closed, looking at the other three men. He took a deep breath. "Look, you guys don''t have to do this," Hughie reached into a bag and pulled out a gun, a handgun. He hesitantly looked at it, then swallowed. "Just a few robots. You guys can do what you want. Okay?"

    He looked them over. Butcher was eyeing him with an unreadable expression on his face. Frenchie took a deep pull of his joint, staring at the gun in Hughie''s hand. MM stroked his beard, looking over at Butcher.

    Hughie put the gun into his pants and was about to walk away when MM spoke. "Fuck. Fine. Just to keep your dumb ass from blowing your dick off."

    "Really?" Hughie tried not to sound excited, before the rest of MM''s sentence caught up. "Wait, blow my-"

    "Safety, you bleeding idiot," Butcher pulled the gun from Hughie''s pants, flicked on the safety, then pulled a holster from the bag, handing the gun to him. "Seriously kid, you''re American. Crying shame for you not knowing how to handle these things."

    "He''s right, wee Hughie, it''s in yer blood," Frenchie teased while pulling out a handgun of his own.

    "My family is Scottish," Hughie said hesitantly, watching the other Boys gear up. "You guys are all going to help?"

    "Help? Nah," Butcher said even as he grabbed a crowbar from the bag. He gave Hughie his signature savage smile. "But fucking hell, if this phone app you got can tap into Eggman''s network, maybe we can get some murderbots of our own. Get our own soup fucking robo-cunts."

    "Good idea," Frenchie said cheerily. "And if we impress enough, maybe Starlight will give our Hughie some pussy, no?"

    "That''s not why-"

    "Sure, I''m doing all this to let the kid get his dick wet," Mother''s Milk said sarcastically, cutting off the banter to begin walking. "Now come on fuckers. Let''s get this done before I regret it."

    <hr>

    Starlight

    "Sometimes I wish you could talk," Starlight said to Black Noir as they ran through the halls.

    Black Noir glanced at her, then nodded, before going back to sprinting. Starlight sighed with some exasperation.

    They turned a corner, and Black Noir got shot in the face with a ball of light.

    "Shit!" Starlight ducked another light attack, sliding across the floor until she slammed against the opposite wall. She looked over the attackers. A polar bear robot like the one she''d fought with the Deep, some of those MotoBugs that Eggman seemed to love using, and a pair of praying mantis ones. Behind her, Black Noir flipped up, pulling his sword out of its sheath.

    Behind them was a very big and obvious cylinder with a massive red logo in the shape of Eggman''s face on a screen in the center. Starlight''s phone helpfully sang out to confirm what she could already see.

    "Got one of the bombs!" Starlight shouted, leaping out of the way of another Motobug''s fire and back into cover. "What''s next!?"

    "One sec," Julian Ivo announced. "Once you get close enough, I can interfere with it. You just have to, well-"

    "Fight through the small army?" Starlight asked sarcastically.

    "Hey, you''re the superhero. Do something super, hero."

    Starlight clenched her fist, then went spinning around the corner. Black Noir met the two praying mantis robots in battle, his sword parrying and slicing as the three of them put on a dramatic display of swordsmanship. Starlight ran past him, blocking a Motobug shot on one of her new gauntlets, then smashed apart the badnik with a punch.

    The giant polar bear robot met her charge, Starlight barely avoiding his claws as the lights around them began to flicker while she absorbed the ambient electricity around them. When she punched the polar bear, it was with a fist powered by light, the explosive force of it sending the polar bear stumbling.

    It caught itself, spinning back around to throw an elbow at her. She barely blocked it, gritting her teeth. The Polar Bear threw a punch, hook, uppercut, pushing her back as she parried and blocked the superpowered blows.

    Starlight was trained in several martial arts. Enough to recognize them being used¡­ by a metal polar bear?

    "What the hell!?" Starlight shouted, ducking back and blocking a shot from one of the Motobugs on her gauntlet, focusing on the martial arts robot bear¡­ and what a sentence that was. "Since when could these fight like this?"

    Julian hummed over the line. "Clearly this Eggman''s robots are either learning or receiving new programming. Fascinating. A safe bet then that you should expect harder fights than mere punching bags in the future Starlight."

    Starlight growled under her breath. Rather than answering, she rushed forward. All around, the machines, the lights, even the bomb, flickered, electricity filling the air, the bear freezing up briefly.

    "RAAAAAGGGGHHHH!" She roared like a raging demon as she reared her arm back then fired it forth. When she hit the polar bear this time, her fist slammed through its chest in an explosion of light. Behind her, the sound of metal shearing through metal was followed by a pair of mantis bodies sliding across the floor.

    A Motobug squeaked, turning to run, before she blasted it, sending chunks across the floor.

    Black Noir finished off the last of the Motobugs while Starlight kicked the remains of the polar bear badnik aside. The blonde found herself smiling. That had been exhilarating. Hard, but worth doing.

    "Well done," Julian said over the earpiece. "I''ll let you know when I''m ready. Just waiting on the other teams."

    "Should one of us go help them?" Starlight asked, looking over at Black Noir as he¡­ bowed before the bodies of the praying mantises? Did he consider them worthy opponents or something?

    "No need. They have it handled."

    "They do? I mean, Maeve obviously, but Hughie-"

    "He''s doing fine. Have faith in your boyfriend, Starlight," Julian said, sounding amused.

    "He''s not my boyfriend, I just¡­ UGH. It doesn''t matter," Starlight groaned, looking back at Black Noir.

    "..." Black Noir waved at her with a pair of the praying mantis scythes in his hands, the bladed edges of them shining in the light.

    "Least somebody is happy¡­" Starlight mumbled, crossing her arms to wait.

    <hr>

    Hughie Campbell

    Running through the stadium halls, Hughie unknowingly had a problem that Starlight and Black Noir didn''t need to deal with.

    When heroes ran somewhere, people parted for them. They weren''t cops, but people tended to think of them on an elevated level. Only an idiot stopped a hero who was clearly running to a problem, especially in a crisis.

    Hughie, on the other hand, did not wear a fancy costume. None of the Boys did. So when they rushed through the crowds filling the hallways, they had to do it with some¡­ creativity.

    "Move, goddamnit!" Mother''s Milk shoved his way around a group of guys trying to complain to a very exhausted looking stadium worker, only to have to move around a family.

    "Come on you fucking wankers, move!" Butcher shouted, pushed a group of fans wearing A-Train''s merchandise aside with a growl. "These cunts-"

    Hughie didn''t hear the rest of the swearing that followed, focused as he was on the phone in his hand. "Down that hall, about, I don''t know, thirty feet down?"

    "You don''t know?" Mother''s Milk asked.

    "It''s using the metric system!" Hughie shouted. "I have to translate it!"

    "Putain d''am¨¦ricains, give it," Frenchie took the phone, running along with Hughie. "Oh, he''s right, 9 meters."

    They reached a set of double doors, Butcher kicking them open and pulling a crowbar out from under his coat. The group ran down the blank white hallway beyond the doors, reaching another pair. Butcher stopped them at the door, turning to grin. "All right Boys. Let''s go be heroes, eh?"

    He kicked the next door. And a coconut slammed into his stomach.

    "Guh!" Butcher stumbled back, leaning over in shock. "What the fu-!?"

    Mother''s Milk pulled him aside before another one could smash into Butcher''s head. Hughie had time to realize both coconuts were metal. And¡­ were¡­ ticking?

    "Baise-moi!" Frenchie shouted, grabbing the closest coconut and throwing it, then tossing himself over Hughie before both coconuts-

    BABABOOM!

    Exploded!? "What the fuck!?" Hughie shouted, shocked.

    "Fuckin hell!" When Hughie looked up, he met eyes with Butcher. Who was grinning. "Exploding goddamn coconuts!"

    He then lifted up his crowbar and ran into the room.

    "Goddamn it, you crazy British bastard!" Mother''s Milk shouted, running in after him.

    "Come on, wee Hughie!" Frenchie lifted him up and pulled him along, Hughie yelping.

    The room they entered was big and covered in lockers. Not for athletes, but for employees, just big blue metal ones arranged in rows, with wooden benches in the aisles between them.

    On top of the lockers were monkeys. Fucking robot monkeys. Throwing metal coconuts.

    "Ha!" Butcher used his crowbar to smack one of the exploding coconuts back at a monkey, laughing maniacally. "Fucking DIABOLICAL!"

    An explosion punctuated his shout, which only seemed to make him more excited.

    "Oho, he''s happy!" Frenchie yelled, getting into cover and bringing Hughie with him.

    Mother''s Milk was more professional. He leaned out of cover, firing two shots with the pistol in his hand, taking out one of the monkey''s in a cloud of sparks and metal. He then ducked back into cover before a coconut exploded on his cover, blowing open the lockers beside him. "Hughie, you owe me for this shit!"

    "Sorry!" Hughie shouted.

    "Less sorree, more shootee!" Frenchie shouted back, leaning out of cover to fire back at the monkeys. They were making robotic monkey noises, hopping from lockers, hanging off the pipes above, swinging as they tossed coconuts and dodged bullets.

    They were monkeying around.

    Hughie swallowed and pulled out the handgun he''d borrowed. After a hesitant moment, he leaned out of cover, only to pull back when a coconut came flying at him from a monkey swinging past. The explosion that followed shook the locker Frenchie and he were using as cover. "JESUS CHRIST!"

    "Calm down, they''re basically fireworks!" Butcher shouted. He fired his hand gun with one hand and swung his crowbar at approaching coconuts, grinning all the while.

    "Fireworks can still kill people you fucking limey!" Mother''s Milk jumped up and grabbed a monkey as it swung past, dropping to the ground and bashing its robotic brains in against a wooden bench.

    Hughie still appreciated the support. He leaned out of cover again and fired wildly. He missed five shots, hit a monkey in the chest, then missed another two before ducking back into cover.

    "I got one!"

    Frenchie turned to look at him as four of the monkey''s he''d destroyed fell into the aisle beside them. "Good job, wee Hughie!"

    Hughie grinned excitedly.

    "Okay!" Butcher grabbed a monkey off a locker and smashed it with his crowbar, grinning. "If this all Eggman''s got, we''ve got an easy job!"

    That was when a locker was lifted up and tossed in their direction like a child throwing a toy. Butcher barely dodged it, while the others fell to the ground as the locker sent all the others tipping over, destroying some of the monkeys. Hughie looked up, coughing up dust, to see who had attacked them.

    "Ah, shit¡­" He mumbled, scrabbling to his feet.

    Out of the dust, a tall being stepped forward. His silhouette was familiar, a round upper body, and a pair of glowing red eyes. Until Hughie noticed the metal gray skin, the round joints, and massive fucking gun in it''s right hand.

    "An Eggman¡­ robot?" Hughie squeaked.

    "INDEE-Oh. Hm," On a screen in the center of the robot''s chest, Eggman stared out at The Boys. "You aren''t supes? What commendable bravery! Eggrobo, set blaster to stun. PAINFUL STUN! I want to see if they''re worth the effort!"

    "Order Acknowledged. Unconsciousness commencing." The robot raised his gun and blasted it at Mother''s Milk, who desperately dodged the blue beam that came out. The energy splashed across the concrete wall behind him, sending up bursts of smoke as the concrete briefly burned.

    "FUCKING HELL!" Mother''s Milk rolled behind a broken locker, shooting a monkey out of the air. "That''s stun?"

    "I don''t know. But I want it," Butcher said, grinning as he joined Mother''s Milk.

    "What, are you starting a collection?" Hughie asked, barely able to keep any sort of calm as he popped out of cover to shoot at the Eggrobo.

    Only for the bullets to bounce off, mostly, one sinking into a soft red shoulder pad before stopping.

    "Its bulletproof?" Hughie yelped, ducking back down just as the beam passed overhead, the smell of his own hair burning following the pass.

    "Bullet resistant, mon ami," Frenchie rose up and tossed, of all things, one of the coconuts the monkeys had been throwing, the explosion that followed sending the Eggrobo back a step. "We simply need better bullets."

    "We need a better plan. Kid, you said that app told you where the bomb is?" Mother''s Milk asked.

    "Yeah, yeah, let me just-" Hughie excitedly pulled out the phone. He stared at it. Then he waved it around, making sure it was pointing the right way, before staring in the direction of the Eggrobo.

    Mother''s Milk, seeing that, groaned, closing his eyes tight. "Don''t tell me."

    "It''s in that guy."

    "FUCK!" Mother''s Milk barked. "So if we destroy it, that thing might blow up?"

    "I guarantee you it will," Eggman''s voice was followed by a hand grabbing the top of their cover and lifting it off the ground, tossing it aside. The group scattered as the Eggrobo came at them. Frenchie and Hughie ended up beside each other while Butcher faced the Eggrobo.

    "Ah, don''t worry," Butcher grinned, reaching into his coat. "Watch this, boys."

    Then he pulled out the laser gun and spun out of cover. "Open wide, sunshine!"

    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

    The beam that blasted out smashed into the Eggrobo''s left arm. The robot stumbled, spinning to aim that massive gun at Butcher, who fired another shot.

    "The fuck is that!?" Mother''s Milk shouted.

    "His laser gun!" Hughie shouted back.

    "What moron gave Butcher a goddamn laser gun!?"

    A cough came from the Eggrobo''s chest screen that went ignored.

    "Butcher, be careful!" Frenchie shouted. "Do not blow up un robot!"

    "I''m being car-FUCKING HELL!" Butcher ducked under a retaliatory shot that nearly blasted him in the chest.

    Then the Eggrobo activated rockets in its back, blasting forward to slam into Butcher. It lifted him with it''s left hand and slammed him into a brick wall.

    "Gaaaaah!" Butcher screamed. He grabbed at the steel arm pressing him against the brick, only to scream again as the Eggrobo crushed him against the wall.

    "Butcher!" Mother''s Milk ran forward, grabbing a piece of one of the benches that had been destroyed by the chaos, and slammed it into the Eggrobo''s back. Which did nothing. "Ah, fuck me-"

    The Eggrobo''s right gun arm twisted around on its joint in an inhuman way to point at Mother''s Milk.

    Hughie was tackling him out of the way before he even thought about it. The beam from Eggrobo''s gun sliced across Hughie''s back, scorching him with pain.

    "Ahhhhh!" Hugh screamed, instinctively grabbing at his burning back. "FU-"

    The Eggrobo kicked a foot back, hitting Mother''s Milk and Hughie. Hughie felt something in his chest crack, while Mother''s Milk let out a groan of pain next to him.

    "I¡­fucking hate this job," Mother''s Milk groaned, rolling over on his back.

    Hughie saw the laser gun then, fallen from where Butcher dropped it. Near Frenchie.

    "Frenchie!" Hughie screamed. When the other man looked over, Hughie pointed at the gun.

    Frenchie didn''t hesitate, rushing over and picking up the gun. He fired the last at the Eggrobo''s leg, sending it stumbling enough for him to get a clear shot at the arm crushing Butcher.

    The Eggrobo dropped Butcher, spinning around to face Frenchie. The robot stomped towards him.

    "Hughie!" Frenchie dived aside as the robot swung its arm at him, tossing the laser gun to Hughie, who grabbed it and shot the robot in the same leg Frenchie had. This time, the blast shattered the limb, the robot falling over and catching itself on an arm. It twisted an arm to face Hughie, which was when a thought blasted into his brain.

    It was a robot. It had an AI program. Which meant it had programming. Including on how it targeted people. Everytime one of them attacked it, it had targeted its attacker. Over and over, it prioritized its attacker.

    "We need to draw its aggro!" Hughie shouted, barely avoiding the next shot. He tossed the laser gun at the same time, the chonky metal landing in the hands of Mother''s Milk.

    "Aggro?" Frenchie said questioningly.

    "Fucking gamer talk," Mother''s Milk grumbled. Still, he fired the gun next, aiming at the robot''s left arm, this time shattering it to pieces. When the Eggrobo faced him, he was already tossing the gun to Butcher and ducking into cover. He was a second too slow, the Eggrobo''s beam firing and scything across the air to aim towards him.

    Thankfully, Frenchie shot the robot from behind, drawing its attention from Mother''s Milk before the beam of light could slice across his chest. The Eggrobo spun to face Frenchie, who couldn''t get out of the way before it used its rockets to fly across the room and smash its metal head into him. Frenchie slammed into a locker, the metal bending, portions slicing into his skin.

    "Oy, roboshit!" Butcher shouted. This time, when he shot, it was multiple times. He hit the remaining leg twice, shattering it into pieces and leaving the robot to fall over. It tried to rise up with its remaining arm, letting go of its gun, but Butcher fired twice more, destroying it and leaving the Eggrobo as just a torso rolling on the ground.

    Together, the Boys, bruised, bleeding, and broken, gathered around the Eggrobo, looking down at it, Eggman''s face laughing from the screen in the center.

    "Look at that," Eggman chuckled. "Just need a red moon in the background."

    "Ey?" Frenchie asked, brow furrowing.

    "Nothing to worry about. I must say, this all went swimmingly. I''ve always wondered how it would go, fighting the Boys."

    Butcher, Frenchie, Mother''s Milk, and Hughie all stared down at the screen with varying levels of shock and surprise.

    "The government is very bad at hiding secrets," Eggman grinned under his massive mustache, his pince-nez glasses glittering. "I guess I''ll see you later. And Butcher? Keep the gun safe. You''ve given me some incredible data for the future."

    The screen cut out, leaving The Boys looking down at their own reflections.

    "W¡­W-what does that mean?" Hughie looked over at the others. "This guy knows who we are?"

    "No, he knows who The Boys are," Butcher corrected. "Maybe the bloke worked in the CIA. Maybe he hacked them. Doesn''t matter."

    Mother''s Milk stared at him like he was crazy. To be fair, Hughie was doing the same. "How could it not matter, Butcher? Some robo building son of a bitch knows who we are!"

    "Yeah," Butcher gave him a grin. "And he doesn''t give a shit. You heard him. He wants to play his games with supes. So let him."

    Then Butcher leaned down and lifted up the gun the Eggrobo had been using, grinning savagely as he looked it over. "And we''ll keep picking up these fun little toys of his when we can."

    Hughie sighed, staring down at the Eggrobo, then at the phone app Julian had installed. Well. They''d done their part. Now they just had to hope Starlight and Maeve had done the same.

    <hr>

    Queen Maeve

    When Maeve entered the gym, a whole host of badniks turned to look at her. She trailed her eyes across them. Lady bugs, praying mantises, bumblebees, and a big bear too, all dotted around a room filled with exercise equipment, various shades of metal shining under the bright lights. Maeve walked over to a squat rack and lifted a barbell off of it, spinning the metal pole like it was a wooden staff.

    "Okay, Eggman. Let''s see what you got."

    The shots started firing, but Maeve was already moving. She swung the barbell in her hand outwards, smashing apart a motobug. She ducked under a bumblebee robot as it tried to shoot her in the face, she came back up with a single stabbing thrust that drove the barbell through the bumblebee''s thorax.

    Running through the room, she leaped over a bench to smash a knee into a praying mantis robot, blocking its blades on her barbell before kicking it back to shatter the mirrored wall behind it.

    Then a bear punched her in the face, metal claws scraping across her skin and sending her flying. The world''s strongest woman smashed through a set of weights, landing in a roll as metal bent and shattered against her.

    "RAAAGH!" She roared, thrusting her makeshift weapon through the badnik bear''s head. A series of blasts from some of the motobugs and buzzers around her landed across her skin, sending bursts of pain through her. Using the bear at the end of her barbell like a makeshift missile, she spun around and sent the sparking hulk at a group of badniks, destroying them.

    "Ha!" Maeve grinned, her hair waving behind her. "Gonna need more than these shitty mechs."

    "You''re right," That was when one of the walls shattered apart, a wave of cement flying at her like bullets from a gun. Maeve lifted her arms up, blocking the stones. It was a good thing she did. It meant she blocked the hammer that smashed into her.

    Queen Maeve was sent flying through one wall, then another, then one more, destroying desks, tables, and computers on the way, before suddenly she was in the open air. She landed on grass, sliding back and creating a big divot in the ground.

    "...F-" She coughed painfully, grabbing at her ribs as she rolled over. "F-Fuck me."

    "Hello!" From the hole she had created, her attacker stepped out.

    It was around ten feet in height, with massive shoulders and arms, stocky legs, and a pair of green eyes over a false mouth of sharp teeth. It was also carrying a giant fuck-off hammer, which it hefted easily. The end of it was the size of her torso across, and the whole of it was the same purple and red coloration as the robot.

    "Allow me to introduce the Egg Hammer!" Eggman''s hologram appeared behind the robot. "One of a new line of beatsticks. For those updating the wiki, any of my badniks with the name Egg attached is an elite unit!" He laughed, slapping his rotund belly as he did. "Ah, and I want this to be a one on one, boys and girls! So no Homelander, no Black Noir. Or this baby goes BOOM! HAHAHA!"

    The Egg Hammer approached Queen Maeve. She swallowed and raised her fists up.

    With a roar of hydraulics and thrusters on its back, the Egg Hammer sped towards her. Maeve gritted her teeth and rushed towards it as well, the two titans smashing together in a shockwave of power.

    <hr>

    Madelyn Stillwell

    Julian Ivo was, if nothing else, immensely smart.

    He''d been working at the computers ever since they entered, working quickly. First he''d connected the computers of the stadium to Vought''s own computers, allowing Vought''s support network to chip in and help with their own technology. From there, he''d begun using the cameras to coordinate teams, keeping those in the stadium calm and collected despite the madness.

    Watching him work was fascinating. He manipulated technology like it was his own body. Suspiciously so.

    Madelyn''s main job had been to use the Vought name and Homelander to help with that. Homelander was speaking to people with that All-American smile plastered on his face, reassuring them that the Seven had things in hand. Vought was keeping cops from rushing in and triggering the bombs, while food had been distributed to the civilians inside to keep them calm.

    That job got harder when Maeve was suddenly fighting a giant robot in the center of the stadium.

    "God fucking damnit," Madelyn swore. "Can she beat that thing?"

    "You would know better than me," Julian hummed. "It doesn''t matter. The bomb is inside it. I have two of the bombs in my grasp thanks to Hughie and Starlight. Once Maeve has kept in close to that thing long enough, I can deactivate all three. But that still leaves your speedsters."

    Madelyn looked at the monitors currently watching A-Train and Shockwave. Julian had set up four of them. Two were showing real-time footage, while the others showed it slowed down. Currently, the speedster heroes were fighting badniks that had taken over an apartment complex. On the real-time screens, badniks could be seen simply getting turned to scrap, while on the others, A-Train and Shockwave slowly smashed apart the robots, taking care to protect the civilians.

    "A-Train is doing well," Julian hummed. "He''s rather faster than I expected¡­ no. He''s more efficient I should say. He may not be as quick as Shockwave on the straight-line, but he''s by far the better fighter."

    "You got a point to make here?" Madelyn asked, arms crossed when she looked over at the Arabian tech mogul.

    Julian gave her a smirk. "Do I need one? We''re done."

    "What do you mean we''re done?" One of Madelyn''s guards asked.

    "There is nothing else we can do," Julian leaned back in his seat while his assistant, Mechelle, took a position behind him and to his right. "I''ve already connected what I have to, and the only fight left is Maeve''s. Your people are doing their job as well. At this point, it''s up to the superheroes."

    "We actually don''t call them that," Madelyn mumbled. "There''s a right''s issue."

    "Really? Huh?" Julian then leaned back to rest in his seat.

    "You''re oddly calm." Madelyn noted.

    "Am I?" Julian smiled at her, but it didn''t reach his eyes. "Someone once told me ''In the midst of a crisis, you can either scream or fight.'' I''ve fought. Now I must wait¡­ and contemplate how irrelevant I''ve become."

    Madelyn blinked. That hadn''t been something she''d expected from him. Julian seemed to notice. He chuckled.

    "Eggman is¡­ a child. A child with too much power."

    Madelyn thought of Homelander.

    "He has created the most advanced technology on the planet. Bar none. Nothing anyone has ever created comes close. I was feeling very confident in my own intelligence. But now, I''ll need to steal his technology just to start catching up. And he uses it to make cartoon animals that fight supes."

    Julian rubbed his eyes with one hand. "I''ve got government contracts to fulfill, and most of them are complaining that I can''t give them anything as advanced as Eggman''s tech. It''s infuriating. I imagine it''s how athletes and celebrities feel competing with supes for attention and sponsorships."

    Madelyn stared at him. If he was trying to sell that Eggman was a different person from him, he was doing a good job of it. At the very least, he was painting himself as a lesser rival to him. Still, she kept her thoughts to herself, instead focusing on A-Train and Shockwave.

    The speedsters had left the apartment, and were currently rushing to the last location. A-Train, to her surprise, was ahead on points. She genuinely didn''t think he had it in him. Now, to see if he could keep that up.

    Leaning back, she briefly noted Mechelle''s eyes on her. When she glanced over, the other woman didn''t turn away. For a brief moment, Madelyn and Mechelle eyed each other. When Madelyn finally turned away, she felt¡­ unnerved.

    She had been nervous before. But the only person who ever made her feel that way was Homelander¡­ no. There was another person. Stan Edgar.

    That was who Mechelle reminded her of. It was in the set of her jaw, the narrowing of her eyes. The same look like¡­ like whatever she was looking at had been judged, and found lacking.

    Madelyn clenched her arms around herself and glared at the screens before her. This was a bad, bad day.

    <hr>

    Julian Ivo

    Pretending to be an idiot was exhausting. Granted, even if I tried to be as idiotic as possible I''d still be a genius, but pretending to be jealous of my own work was both hilarious and annoying. There was a part of me that wanted to crow my achievements to the world. Usually, I could slip into the Eggman persona to feed my need for validation, but without that option, I was simply stewing.

    "...Julian," Mechelle whispered. I glanced over at her. She gave the briefest smile, which might as well have been a hug. I smiled back and turned back to focus on the work in front of me.

    It was easy, if constant, keeping Vought''s eyes in the right place. I needed to keep The Boys off any cameras, make sure that they couldn''t see where my badniks were coming from, and interfere with police so they wouldn''t accidentally run into the badniks before A-Train and Shockwave could fight them.

    One day, I''d reveal who I was to the world. It would be the day the world had no choice but to become mine. Funny. For most, the idea of ruling the world was a last step. For me, it was just the point where things would get easy.

    For now. A-Train and Shockwave would soon run into the area boss. That would be fun.