I am in love with Vicious Vigor the first time I meet him.

 

Maybe it's the emotional gap in my heart because of my dead friends.  A normal person should be crying.  He leaves me for a while as though expecting I would cry in private.  Real villains don't cry though...not even in private.  So instead of crying I'm just staring at the god dam wall wanting Vicious Vigor to come back in the room hold me and tell me it'll all be ok.

 

He walks back into the room but there is no sweet words of repentance.

 

Instead he grunts a stern, "You owe me motherfucker.  You hear me?  You owe me."

And I fall in love with him all over again.

 

Vigor is dressed in a gray trenchcoat that goes all the way to the ground.  It is open revealing brown abdomens.  I count four sets of abs that seem wet as though permanently stained with oil.  He has on jeans from what I can see but I only see the top of them because the jeans go into some black overalls.  He strangely had on a black sheer cap over that covers his entire forehead and his left eye.  Over his gray trenchcoat is this silver metallic structure.  That's the only thing I can useu to describe it.  The structure is like a silver wing, half ornament and half armor wrapping around his shoulders.  They spring to life reflecting the light around him.  The silver structure weaves and braids around the trenchcoat and disappears on the a metallic padded right shoulder.

 

As I stare at soft slither of skin under his trenchcoat he uses his gray gloves to divert my attention to the one eye that I can see.

 

"Fuck me now."

He asks me not sure what just came out of my mouth, "What?"

"What---eh---nothing.  Um.  How'd you save me?  Not that I'm upset about it...but how'd you manage?" I ask him.

 

"I have my ways.  It isn't the first time I faced off against Mayor Morals," Vigor explains to me and his voice gets lower and deeper, "I hadn't meant to reveal myself.  I hadn't meant to let the Host of Heroes know that I've returned to Metropolis...not yet at least.  I'd been tracking Mayor Morals the entire day.   It peaked my interest when I saw him so interested in a common robbery.  Usually the Host of Heroes would send someone lower.  Maybe Lady Liberty, maybe the Holy Wings, hell maybe even Kid Lightning.  When Moral went in I just had to follow.  I saw you attack him with the grenade.  Luckily Rapidfire was with me.  He managed to pull you out just in time."

"Rapidfire?"

"A colleague of mine.  He had super human speed.  He was one of the last metahumans with that ability.  He was very valuable to me but he didn't make it out of the explosion...but he got you out just in time," he replied.

 

"I'm sorry."


Those are the only words that can come out of my mouth.  

 

"No need for apologies.  You owe me.  I always collect my debts.  Simple as that.  Stop pouting and stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?" I ask him.

 

Could he see right through my disguise?  Hell...I wasn't even wearing a mask right now

 

"Like that.  Villains don't pout.  Your friends are dead.   Rapidfire is dead.   I came back for my villains.  Every last one of you.  Today your losing streak ends.  Tomorrow we begin the Division of Disaster.  A group aimed at one thing and one thing only...getting the fuck out of Metropolis."

 

I wondered at that moment.  Did he know a way past the invisible barrier?  God knows how the barrier even came up.  I assumed one of the Host of Heroes had the ability to create something like that but I never wondered.  I just assumed Metropolis was my life now.  A concentration camp for super humans was the best way to describe Metropolis.  

 

But if Vigor was in DC when the barrier came up then how did he get back to Metropolis.  He had to have known a way.

Immediately my eyes light up with the possibilities.  


What if we could set ourselves free?  What if we could exist somewhere else besides Metropolis?  


"Just like Moses."

"What?"

I smile at Vigor, "Just like Moses...coming to lead his people to the Holy Land."


Vigor doesn't respond.  He licks his light brown lips thoroughly wetting them as though settling the conversation.  He pushes himself up.  I can hear the heavy clacking of his armored jewelry sitting on top of his trenchcoat.  He doesn't turn to me or acknowledge me any further.  There is a sense of power and purpose with every step that he takes towards the door.

I'd always love Sunbeam but this immediate feeling of attraction I had to this man was ridiculous.  The man and the legend was real and he wanted me to join his ranks.  He wanted to recruit me.  Little did he know then that he didn't have to threaten me for me to agree.  He'd only have to give me that stare and talk to me in that low deep voice full of menace and intention.

 

"Get some rest," he responds, softer than I thought he was capable of, "Like I said before.  I can't comfort you.  For that you have the wrong person.  The only comfort I can give you is the promise that if you follow me...you'll have your revenge."



I dreamt that night of Sunbeam.  I remember how excited we were when we first got our powers.  I remember how he'd hold my hand and carry me around the city.   In those days I felt free.  I had no worries about the registration, the Mandate Ministry or the Host of Heroes.  For a boy that was never special...I felt special.  I felt alive and Sunbeam made me feel alive.

Sunbeam.

 

Sunbeam.

 

"Wake up."

My dreams are interrupted by a woman.  She's a tall Asian woman with strong striking features. She's dressed in all black and has black hair.  Her spandex are like liquid body paint on her body, flowing to every single curve.  Her sexy all black suit is accessorized with a utility belt, military boots and two gun holsters around her thighs.  She has the binocular looking things dangling around her neck and carries a huge book bag around her back.

 

"Just who might you be."

"Gadget Girl," she replies before heading to the door, "Keep up.  I don't slow down for anyone."


I have no time to think.  I have no time to even say anything in return.  She's quick as hell carrying around that huge backpack as though it weighed nothing at all.  I struggle to keep up with her and find myself running out into a long dark hallway.


The hallway is dark with nothing but swinging lights.  It carries the same minimalistic feel as the slanted room.  The hallways are so long and windy as we walk.  There are no windows but it doesn't feel completely like some deep dark lair.  There are these super modern benches as we walk by and even these interesting paintings on the walls.

 

"Where the hell are we?" I ask her.

 

She looks over at me, "We call it the Lair.  40 rooms.  60 bathrooms.  State of the art training centers is to your right.  Barracks are on the 3rd floor.  Also on the 3rd floor you will be designated weapons.  Machine guns, knives, whatever it is you need..."

"Wait slow down.  I can take whatever weapons I need."

"Of course."

"Whose paying for all this?" I ask, "Cause a bitch just fucked up a heist and I'm pretty much dead broke..."

The girl gives me a look.  She's almost like a robot.  She doesn't seem amused at all by my sense of humor or  even interested in having much of the small talk.  Her silent slanted eyes are deadly as she stares me down but she doesn't say much of anything.

 

"Vigor is paying for everything.  Right this way.  Mr.  Materias," she responds.

 

We are at the end of the hallway and there is an elevator.  She steps into the elevator and waits for me to walk in.  This elevator looks like some badass lift straight out of a Batman novel or something.  I'm blown the fuck away as I enter it.  I wonder if she can tell that I'm excited.

 

Gadget Girl points to the different button on the elevator.


"The basement floor are the torture chambers. Don't go down there unless you have a pretty strong stomach.  It includes prison cells, gas chambers, experimental labs and a shark tank. "

"Like a real life shark tank?" I ask.

 

"No a real fake shark tank," she replies rolling her eyes, "Of course a real live shark tank.  Vigor has a thing for torture.  I wouldn't get on his bad side."

My heart skips a beat at that moment, "Shit.  I don't intend to."

"The main floor has the garage.  As with guns...everything is owned by Vigor but you'll have to rent one through me for your missions.   The third floor like I said is going to be barracks, weapon supply, etc, etc..  4
th floor are the sleeping arrangements, dining hall, recreation and things like that.  5th floor is war room where we meet.  Anytime you hear Moonlight Sonata playing on the loud speakers you drop your shit and you get to the fucking 5th floor war room.  Don't be late...Vigor doesn't like late..."

"Why Moonlight Sonata?"

"You are quite the curious one aren't you?" she asks.


"I try to be."

She rolls her eyes, "Curiosity kills the cat.  Which brings me to the top floor...the 6
th floor.  You are not to go to the 6th floor under any circumstances.  It's completely off limits.  Your button slips from 5 to 6 and you might as well just kill yourself."

My eyes get wide.


"I just feel the warmth.  It feels like home already."

She sneakily adds in before pressing the 4 button on the elevator, "We'll see how long you last."

I don't know what she means by that.  I'm assuming that she means villains don't last long.  I wonder how new this organization is.  Everything smells pretty new.  I wonder how many villains there are.  Gadget Girl doesn't seem exactly like the friendliest person though and I figure I'll only ask questions that I feel are completely necessary because it's clear I'm getting on her nerves more and more as the moments pass.

 

When the elevators open we are on a floor that seems to branch off into a million different directions.  I'm a little lost and confused because all the hallways look exactly the same.  The minimalistic feel makes it hard to tell one hallway form another.

 

As we walk down the hallway a tall white guy with pasty skin and a leather outfit heads our way.  He completely ignores Gadget girl who actually ignores him right back.  He however seems to spot me and gives me an interesting stare.

 

"New recruit?" he asks and before I can answer he says, "Try not to die your first week like the other two assholes Vigor brought around."

With his warning I watch as he walks over to the elevator door.  He doesn't press any keys to reopen the door though.  The guy actually walks right THROUGH the door.


"That's so dope..." I respond.


"Keep up," Gadget Girl replies.

 

She literally has to be the least hospitable welcome party that I've ever came across in my life.  I guess that's what separates us from the Host of Heroes.  We weren't the good guys.  These villains were of pain and they had no qualms with letting it be known.

 

She guides me to a door that looks like all the other door around.  There's no numbers on the doors that separates them from the other plain black doors.  There is no special features to the door.  She opens the door with a key card and hands the key cards to me.


"This is your personal room.  It has it's open personal bathroom, bed, drawers and everything you'll need to live.  


I look around the room.  It's a grayed out room.  The only decoration is a single fake flower on a gray table.  The bedsheets are gray.  The window is a boxy window with plain white blinds.  The paint on the walls are gray.  Everything looks, modern...maybe even futuristic but it still seems so goddam cold.


"Goddam, who designed this place?" I ask, "And how much did they sell their soul for?"

This place had no soul.

 

"I designed it," Gadget Girl states.

 

She shoots me a stare.  Almost immediately I know that I'm not going to be this girls favorite person and she's not going to be mine.  She's shooting bullets at me right now.  She might as well take those pistols out of holsters and pop me a couple times.  Hell...it'd  probably make this moment a little less awkward.


Luckily we are interrupted.

"I can handle this this from here Gaddy..."

A girl appears at the door. She is a white girl with blonde hair.  Her titties are really huge and her figure is really curvaceous.  From the looks of her I know who it is almost immediately.


"Fem Fatale!"  

 

She's a famous super villain.  The reason I knew about her was because Sunbeam was fucking obsessed with her and it drove Jolie a little crazy.  I can tell the outfit almost anywhere.   Her outfit is red and consists of a metallic bra and a flailing leather skirt.  She'd become somewhat of a celebrity when she was supposedly lead an attack against the ministry when they put up the invisible barrier.  It was called the Fatale's Day.  She almost brought the entire city to its knees and she would have if Mayor Moral, Lady Liberty and their band of goody two shoes hadn't come in to save the ministry.   Ever since that day Fem Fatale had been Lady Liberty's main archenemy.

 

"And you must be Materias.  Seems like our reputations both precede us.  Vigor told me a lot about you.  We're all excited that you actually came to join us," she responds.

 

I didn't think I had much of a reputation.  I mostly was a small-bit villain.  If me and Sunbeam were able to get food to put on the table to feed Baby Boom and the others we'd consider it a lucky day.  I had no idea that I'd be in this room right now with a big timer like Fem Fatale.

 

Gadget Girl doesn't seem as impressed by Fem Fatale as I am, "You're not needed Ms. Fatale.  Vigor wants me to show him around."

"Relax...I can show him around."

"Vigors orders were clear," Gadget Girl responds at that moment.

 

"You aren't exactly Miss Congeniality," Fem Fatale tells Gadget Girl, "You don't smile.  You smell like metal and gears.  Your breasts are the mosquito bites.  You seem like you constantly have a fuckin' dildo up your ass.  No one really wants welcomed by you Gadget.  Beat it."

Gadget Girl seems shocked that Fem  Fatale is talking to her like that.  All parts of me wants to break down into laughter.  I probably would if Gadget girl isn't sitting there staring at Fem Fatale as though something is extremely offensive to her.  


I watch as Gadget Girl shakes her head and turns away, "Vigor will hear about it."

"Knowing you.  I bet he will."

Regardless of her method Fem Fatale got Gadget Girl to storm off.  A part of me was really excited about that.  Even though I'm standing here a little star struck by Fem Fatale I can't help but think I'd rather be around her a million times more than Gadget Girl.

 

"Thank you so much," I respond.


I'm trying not to fan out, but first I meet Vigor and now I'm meeting his protégé...the one and only Fem Fatale.

 

"Don't mention it," she responds, "God knows why he sends that stick in the mud as the welcome party.  I think Vigor must be trying to intimidate people.   Most of the weak ones get scared off by Gadget Girl before they even get settled."

She walks into my bedroom without asking permission.  Immediately she takes the fake flower out and lays on the bed staring at it.  

 

"So I'm assuming you aren't close."

"We work together.  The Division of Disaster.  We don't have to be friends.  There's 10 of us but we're all so different.  Vigor is the only one I have to actually like.  You know?  I don't know why he sends that cold bitch to welcome people.  He should send me.  I always lay out the welcome carpet.  I can give you a warm...warm...welcome."

She puts down the flower and stares at me.  Just at that moment I watch Fem Fatale sit up on the bed.  She looks into my eyes and I watch as she opens her legs.  I'm not kidding.  All of a sudden I see nothing but pure TUNA from underneath her skirt.

 

"WHOA! PUT THAT THING AWAY!" I'm screaming at that moment almost immediately.

 

"Jesus.  You know how to make a girl feel sexy."

Almost immediately I feel like shit at that moment.  It's clear she was flirting with me somehow in her own way.  A part of me honestly feels excited.  I'd always been attractive in my own way.  I wasn't a heart throb or anything but I should be honored that someone as sexy as Fem Fatale would want to have sex with me.  Her blonde hair, curvy body and tan skin seem to drive dudes crazy.  It just doesn't do it for me.  

 

"Don't take offense to it," I warn her.


"You some type of gay or something---" she starts off but then immediately stops, "Oh my god.  Oh my god!  You are gay!  Aren't you.  I've never had someone react to my Gift like that."

It's hilarious that she calls her pussy her "Gift" as though they were the lights in the sky that gave all of us powers.  


"I am," I respond immediately, "I'm not going to lie."

"Holy shit.  A real live out of the closet gay super villain," she responds crossing her legs at that moment, "Well I'm embarrassed.  Damn.  I'm such a fuckin' slut.  Aren't I a goddam slut?  I was really about to let you fuck me.  I'm talking bust all in this pussy..."

"Please.  No."

I'm about to puke.


"You sure you gay?"

"Pretty sure."


She shakes her head, "That's a goddam shame.  Well.  Guess I always did want a gay friend.  This place gets so boring man.  Especially with all the recruiting and planning Vigor's been doing lately.  I just get so damn...horny all the time.  You know?"

She's a character.  I honestly knew Fem Fatale was a woman who was comfortable in her femininity but meeting her was something else.  A part of me wondered what Sunbeam would think if he was here in this room right now.  I can tell you one thing...he wouldn't be trying to block out the image of her pussy at that moment.  I just kept thinking how weird it is that vaginas looked like some type of tripe.  

No.  I'll pass.

 

Vigor on the other hand.


"Why don't you go after Vigor?" I ask.

 

"Yeah you're definitely new," she laughs at that moment, "You must not know anything about Vigor do you.  No one gets pass that Iron wall of his."

I laugh, "Well girly maybe you just haven't tried enough."

Fem Fatale gets off the bed.  She puts a hand over my shoulders, "I knew I was going to like you..."

 

I spend about an hour talking to Fem Fatale as she shows me around the 4th floor.  I still don't get the place.  If Gadget Girl designed this place I can tell why it's so cold.  Fem seems to understand though and lets me know that I'm free to decorate my room anyway that I would like.  She shows me her room as an example.  The whole room looks like something straight out of Fifty Shades of Grey.  The girl is most definitely a freak and I can't help but to find it extremely amusing.


The recreation area on the 4
th floor are something.  According to Fem, while Vigor is planning the other 9 villains spend a lot of time around the Lair.  It's the only real safe place for Super Villains.  There is a ping pong table, darts, mini gulf and of course a huge gym.  

"You should see Vigor in that gym," she tells me after a minute, "Sweat dripping down those muscles of his as he bench presses superhuman amounts.  And then when he does his squats.  That tight little ass of his.  I had 4 abortions with him already...in my mind."

I shake my head, "You're a goddam mess.  What's he like though?"

She jokes around a lot but then again so do I.  I feel like we will get along.  I don't know how we got to the small talk.  Right now we are playing darts in the recreation room.  It's just her and I there.  I wonder where all the other villains are.  Besides Gadget Girl and the tall white guy who was able to walk through walls...I hadn't seen anyone else around.   She mentioned that there were 10.  So far I had only met 4.  That left 6 other Super Villains around here somewhere.

"Who?"

"Vigor...I mean besides the fact that he is clearly a drawer dropper..."

"More like a panty wetter," she chimes in.


I laugh at the though, "Cum creator."

She fans herself at the thought before stopping the conversation, "Stop.  You're getting me hot and bothered thinking about it.  No.  In all seriousness I've known Vigor for 10 years now.  He taught me how to fight.  He's cold.  He's calculating.  He's intelligent."

 

"Is he single?" I ask.

 

"He's unreachable. It's impossible.  I'm telling you," she responds, "My friend.  My new friend.  There are some walls that you just can't climb."

"I don't know.  I'm a metahuman.  We make the impossible very possible."

I don't know what it is about him.  There was something about Vigor promising me revenge that just warmed my soul.  There was something about him that I couldn't stop thinking about.  Maybe I'm still in my grief stage over my friends.  I haven't even mentioned them to Fem Fatale while we've been talking.  I put my dead friends under the rug and bury myself in the now hoping things will be better.

 

"If he IS reachable, I'm sorry but I have dibs on him," she responds.


"That is not fair," I laugh, "You've had ten years."

"How about we play for it?" she asks, "If I hit this dart...then I get dibs on Vigor.  If I don't hit it.  He's all yours."

 

She's interesting but I can't deny that I'm intrigued.  There is someone around who not only understand my immediate attraction to Vigor but actually shares it.  I don't know if we are about to start the Vigor Fan club any minute now or something.

 

"Deal," I smile at her.

 

Fem picks up the dart.  She isn't even looking when she tosses it across the room.  I look at the dart and realize that she has made a perfect throw.  


She smiles as she states, "You should have asked me about what my superpower is.  I never miss.  Super-human accuracy."

"Goddam cheater," I say about to laugh but just as we are about to share a common moment of devilish mutual villainous (whatever the fuck that is) a song starts to play on the loud speakers.

It's not Moonlight Sonata.  It's Fur Elise.

Gadget Girl didn't tell me what to do when Fur Elise plays.


"Shit."

"What's wrong?"

"Intruders..."

 

A panic takes over immediately as Fem Fatale runs out of the room.  Her skirt picks up as she runs exposing half of her butt cheek to the wind.  I notice her digging through her bra and pulling out what look like throwing stars.  I couldn't make this shit up.  This woman was walking around with throwing stars in her bra this entire time.  My heart is racing as I run after her.  There is a sense of excitement that was piling up over and over as I chase after her.

 

I'm not sure how she figures her way down these confusing halls but we get to the elevator finally and she's quick to hit the number 5.


The fifth Floor: The War Room.

 

"Stay alert," she tells me.

 

The 5th floor has a long staircase leading up and up.  As we ascend the staircase there are two huge doors that stand literally 15 feet all and about 8 feet wide.  They look extremely heavy with dragon crescents on them.  Fem pushes the doors with all her might and opens them revealing the most sinister looking room I'd seen yet.  There is a huge crescent like table with chairs outlines on it.  Halfway through the crescent I see him there...Vigor.  He's sitting in all his beautiful attraction.  His gray trenchcoat folds over his chair.  He has this sexy intensity in his eyes.

 

I notice there are others there.  Gadget Girl is on the right hand side of Vigor.  Next to her is the pale tall man that runs through walls.  Next to the pale man is a rather attractive looking model boy and beside him is a really muscular man that is actually still very attractive.   The other side of the room has an elderly lady that I swear seems to be in her 80s.  Then there are is a boy and a girl who are dressed in completely similar outfits that I must assume must be brother and sister or husband and wife or something to that matter by how they are dressed.

 

"Vigor...is everything alright.  We heard the song..." Fem states.


She's much more serious than I've noticed her being before.   I can tell why.   The idea that this was my first real day here and there was already an intruder sent fucking shivers down my spine.  

 

"While you were out entertaining, I was apprehending them," Gadget Girl smirks.

 

Within the next couple of minutes the doors open.  What happens then is something that I'm not aware of.  Gadget girl is somehow commanding these robot looking things into the room.   I wonder if she built them. I'm not sure what her super power is but it seems somehow connected to technology.  Gadget girl proudly walks to the front of the room while the robots are filing in.  The robots have metallic arms and limbs.  They have square heads.  Some march on metallic feet.  Others are like rovers in where they drive into the War Room.

 

At first there are just a few of them but then I realize they are more than I assumed.  This woman literally is commanding what looks like a small force of robotic slaves.

 

"Bring in my prisoner," she orders.

 

Her voice is deep seeded with pride and intention.  I can see her eyes moving back toward Vigor.  She's hoping to impress him.  I have no doubt.  I can tell when someone is trying to impress someone else and this is most definitely what is happening.  

 

As soon as Gadet Girl gives the orders the roving robots start to pull the prisoner into the room in chains.  As the intruder steps forward and lays out into the light my mouth drops.


I knew him.

 

"Scan-man!"

My mouth is dry as I'm sitting here looking at my best friend's brother.  

 

 

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