Chapter 6
The bar is beginning to empty but the mandate ministry has a gun pointed at me.  The officers are glaring dead at me.  I had no idea that I was wanted.   I guess the fact that I'm even sitting next to Vicious Vigor made me a wanted man.

"You still look the same," Ashley Keeper tells Vigor.

"I have good skin elasticity," Vigor responds to Ashley.

They stare at each other.  There are sparks between them.  I'm not sure if these sparks are positive or negative but there are sparks.  I'm standing here in shock that this man named Ashley is Vicious Vigor's ex.  I don't know how to feel about it.  On one hand there is this excitement that Vigor actually is gay. On the other hand this Ashley Keeper is handsome.  The only thing more striking than his silver hair is his perfectly arranged face structure.  Him and Vigor look like they'd win couple of the year on some gay lifestyle magazine.

"If you come in peacefully.  I'll make sure you get a fair trial," Ashley tells him in a calm calculating manner.

"You know I won't do that," Vigor responds.

"Vigor..."

Ashley Keeper barely gets the words out before Vigor charges at him.  My mouth drops when it happens.  Gunshots pierce through the air at that moment.  They are shooting at Vigor!.  However Vigor must be using his superhuman powers to change the density of his skin.  The guns shots bounce of his hard exoskeleton and fall to the grounds in clips of thuds.

Vigor charges Ashley pushing him to the ground.  In a matter of minute he disarms several gunmen, knocking  their guns out of their hands.  More bullets fall through the air.  I'm starstruck seeing Vicious Vigor in action.  One man attempts to punch Vigor.  Vigor catches his arms, changes his density once again and crushes the man's arm with his hardened skin.  The man falls to the floor in pain.  Others come at Vigor attempting to restrain him MMA style.  Vigor changes his density again, slipping out of their grasps and using knocking three of them out with an inhuman roundhouse kick after he suspends himself in the air for a second.  The men continue to attack him and he's taking them on in hand to hand combat.  His fists are explosive weapons punching, grappling and tossing his enemies into walls.  I hear the clash of bottles break as Ministry members are tossed one after another into the bar.

Screams follow the attack on the ministry member.

"VIGOR!"

I hadn't noticed it happened until I see the gun pressed at my temple.   It's Ashley Keeper.  He has a spare gun and this gun is pointed at me.  I am in shock.  Ashley keeps the gun pointed at me and turns to Vigor who has stopped moving.

"You think I care if you do it?" Vigor asks Ashley.

My mouth drops when he says that.  Ashley Keeper has a strict face and he's challenging Vigor.  I can see his hands itch on the trigger.  In any moment he could pull that trigger and I could be dead.  I could be gone.  Now is NOT the time for Vigor to be calling his bluff.  My heart is racing.  I'm scared shitless.  I'd been in some tough situations but this is ridiculous.

"I know you Vigor.  If you didn't care you wouldn't be standing there.  You'd still be fighting," Ashley seems to challenge Vigor right back with a confident tone, "I know you Vigor.  And you know me.  You know what I'm capable of.  So get down on the ground or I'll shoot him."

"No won't."

"On the count of three."

"Ashley you really want to fuck with me right now?" Vigor asks.

"1...2..."

My heart races.  Just at that moment Vigor puts his hands up and let's through a quickened shriek, "Ok. OK!  Don't shoot him.  I give up.  I...surrender."

Ashley seems surprised that his plan works.  He lets out an interesting, "hm."  I have to admit that I'm surprised Vigor would give himself up for me as well.  I'm more than surprised.  Still...I remember how he held me a couple minutes ago.  I remember how he kept me close and let me cry on him.  Vigor wasn't as coldhearted as he wanted people to believe he was.  He had a heart.  He showed me that heart and I felt it.  Now he was showing it again.  He was giving up because he wanted to save me.

Ashley lets out a very cocky sounding, "It's ok Vigor.  You can't get away every time."

He's confident.  It reeks from Ashley Keeper.  He thinks he hadn't made any mistakes.  However he's wrong.  He'd made one very vital mistake and that is turning away from me and thinking that Vigor was the only threat here.

I touch Ashley's gun and just at that moment Ashley's gun is transmuted into a toy gun  As soon as Vigor sees this he makes a dash for Ashley.  Ashey immediately shoots the toy gun at me letting off a small popping noise.

Vigor delivers a solid punch to Ashley's gut causing him to fall into the wall away from me.  I'm shocked by how hard Ashley hits the wall.  In the next couple of minutes Vigor grabs me.  I am not even sure what happens.  I have no control before I'm swept up like a newborn baby into his arms.  Vigor holds me in his arms and he's running out the window in the next moment breaking the glass so that we can jump into the parking lot.

Gun shots are aimed towards us and they are firing.  I can see feel Vigor's entire body harden at that moment again to deflect the bullets.

Then all of a sudden something magical happens.  Vigor is taking off.  He's flying!  I had no fucking idea Vigor flew.  I look up into his eyes and see him staring down at me.  He's dreamy.  He's fucking beautiful.   Even after he turned me down I still think so.  It's such a dream and I'm feeling lightheaded as Vigor is flying away taking me through the sky, abandoning his motorcycle in order to make sure that we are both safe.

"I'm falling for you," I say feeling how lightheaded I am.

Vigor looks down at me for a minute with no type of emotion, "No you aren't.  You're losing blood.  You've been shot."

"Oh damn.  I guess I have."

I look down and see that my arm is indeed bleeding.  I don't remember when I was shot.  It had to be after Vigor had broken through the glass and an array of gunshots were firing at us.  I was so dazed by Vigor taking off into flight that I hadn't even felt it.

Within a matter of moments I see nothing but darkness.

"He's going to need a suit.  A  more appropriate one, Web.   One thing that least covers his privates.We can't risk losing him.  He's much to important to me."

I wake up to a robot working on me.  I'm in something that seems like a medical room.  I turn to the right to see Vicious Vigor talking to Web Weaver.  In the corner of the room there are medical machines and it seems like Gadget Girl is monitoring my vitals.  They have to be my vitals because I'm the only one hooked up to all these machines.  It seems as though Gadget Girl's robot is playing a game of Operation on me taking out the body with long metallic strings and sewing me up.  Luckily I don't feel anything so I assume I must have been shot with some sort of anesthetic.

"To us you mean," Web Weaver corrects him.

Web Weaver has a look on his face that betrays the fact that he is suspicious of Vigor's intentions.  I'm not sure Vigor takes too kindly to Weaver's tone and immediately he stares him down.

"Our plan.  Will you have the suit ready or not Weaver."

"I'll have the suit modified.  Soon," Weaver responds, "For the next time the two of you want to have a  one on one romantic rendezvous that ends up getting you both shot at."

Weaver's intentions are clear.  He's feeling some type of way.  If Vicious Vigor wasn't in the picture I honestly would think that his actions are kind of cute.  I mean Web Weaver is not an ugly guy.  Before this I would have dreamed to have the attention of someone like him.  However since I met Vigor I can't get him out of my head and even though the feelings aren't mutual I can't help myself.

Vigor doesn't seem nearly as entertained by all of this as I am however, "Listen.  Weaver.  I don't know what you think this is.  I don't know if you think I'm in some sort of love triangle with you motherfuckers or not.  That's not the case.  I'm your leader.  I'm your boss.  You get that.  You'll respect me and do what I say.  You understand that?  Say yes sir.  Because I won't repeat it again."

Vigor's voice is challenging.  It is confident.  He shuts Weaver down like it's nothing.

Weaver is reluctant to answer, "Yes sir."

"Besides.  I let him know that he's not my type.  I let him know that I'm not interested and never will be.  If you want to pursue something with him, go right ahead.  I'd be glad.  He might stop bugging me.  My relationship with him is strictly business."

I can't even react to it.  I'm too drugged up by the robots working on me.  I wish I could though.  I wish I could open my mouth just long enough to tell Vicious Vigor to go fuck off.  That's not going to work though.
Instead of cursing Vigor out and being embarrassed I just fall back into a deep, deep slumber again.

I wake up to a silent ass place.  Everyone's gone.  I look at my injury though and realize that it's almost as good as new.  A part of me knows that Gadget Girl had something to do with it.  This is more science than us having any sort of healer or anything like that.   Still I'm happy that I'm back to new and regardless of what she feels about me I kind of want to thank her.  No one's around when I wake up though and I find myself wandering the hallways as I usually do.

And as usual it takes much too long to find out where I'm going because of the long repeating design of the lair.  I end up stumbling onto a door that is just barely open.  I'd never seen this room but I hear a voice coming from the inside.

"I think he's onto something.  I think he's on to me," I hear the whisper.

I press my ear to the door and start to listen even more to the person behind the door.

"You ok?"

I turn at that moment and realize someone is behind me. I see the tall white man that walks through walls sneaking up behind me.  I'd never really had much of a time to talk to him.  He spends a lot of time in the hallways I notice.  Maybe it's his thing.  When he sees me standing there he seems immediately interested in what I'm doing.

"Shh..."

"Who you spying on?" he whispers.

"I'm not spying."

"Yes you are.  It's ok.  I do it all the time.  Who is it?"

"I'm not sure..."

"I'll find out for you."

Just at that moment the tall white pale man leans his head slightly through the very door.  His head goes clean through the door as he peers through the room.  Within seconds he pulls his head back out and gives me a sneaky little smile, "Icebox..."

=============================

The pale white man's name is Ghost. He seems cool enough.  I mean honestly he does have a little sneakiness to him but I mean we are villains.  All of us pretty much have a little sneakiness to us.   He seems more than happy to walk me up to the room.  I don't hesitate to take Ghost and the two of us end up in Vigor's office repeating what I just heard with Ghost.  I watch Vigor's face as Ghost tells him the story of what happened and I give my side of the story.

"I heard him," I am telling Vigor, "I heard Icebox talking about how someone was 'onto' him."

Ghost nods towards Vigor, "Yes Boss.  He's right.  I saw Icebox.  He was sitting on his bed and he was having a conversation with someone through his ear piece.  He may just be the one who is selling us out to the Ministry."

I expect Vigor to praise Ghost and I.  I mean were helping him do the detective work that we needed.  It's because of the traitor that I was shot at that bar.  Even though I was fixed back up it didn't seem to matter.   This is Vigor though and I should have known better.  Instead of praising us he gives me the hardest stare that I could imagine.  He looks at Ghost and for a minute I swear I think ghost is slowly going through the floor in an attempt to escape.

Vigor opens up his mouth and looks at Ghost with a cold blank stare, "Get the fuck out now Ghost."

The villain doesn't seem like one of the others who talks back to Vigor.  He nods at his boss gives me a slight smile as though saying `we tried' and then walks through the wall disappearing.

"You could have been nicer.  I was trying to help you out with my new friend there."

Vigor gives me a hard look, "He's not my your friend.  And neither am I.  I didn't ask you for help in trying to find out who the traitor is.  Did I?"

I grunt a little bit, "Hmph..."

"Materias...open your mouth."

My face gets as cold as I can make it and through clenched teeth I reply to Vigor, "No boss."

I nearly spit the word boss at him.  Vigor seems to notice it because all of a sudden his cold glare seems to soften even if it's just by a little bit.  His tone seems to wander as though trying to find a way to frame his thoughts.

"Ghost was part of the half I'm still suspicious of," Vigor tells me shaking his head, "I don't need him sneaking around trying to play detective and I don't need you helping him.  I told you that I'd figure it out."

"Was Icebox part of the half of the group you told as well."

"Yeah."

"So why is it so hard to believe that I might have already solved your case?" I ask.

Vigor shakes his head, "Because I like to be 100 percent sure of something.  Icebox has been with me forever."

"I'm telling you that I don't trust him."

"I trust him more than I trust you!" Vigor replies as though immediately annoyed at me.

It stings a little when he says that.

"Oh.  Ok."

Funny.  He'd just told me that he'd trusted me not too long ago.  I'm tired of getting hurt by Vigor.  I wish I could just shut my feelings off like a light switch. Sometimes he's so soft and gentle and other times he's just a dickhead.  It makes sense that he doesn't trust me.  He didn't tell me Ashley Keeper was a man or that Ashley Keeper was a member of the Mandate Ministry.  He didn't tell me that he had a plan to narrow down who the traitor within the Division was.  He didn't tell me anything.  It was becoming more and more clear that Vigor didn't trust me.

Now almost like clockwork Vigor goes back into his silent soft voice, "Listen.  Are you feeling better?  I meant to apologize to you about taking you out without you knowing there was a chance the Ministry might show up."

"I'm fine.  No need to apologize.  Our relationship was just business right?"

Vigor looks stuck at that moment.  His mouth parts as though he was going to keep talking until he really comprehended what I was saying.  Then he swallows hard probably remembering that I was referring to the conversation he had with Web Weaver.

"You heard that?" he asks.

"Loud and clear."

"Listen.  I'm not saying I don't like hanging out with you," he explains before putting his hands together and struggling to create a thought, "Matter of fact I enjoyed spending time with you.  Maybe we can hang out, as friends, sometime soon."

I hear the way he says `as friends'.  He's making it very clear and I'm taking it all in.

"No need for us to hang out," I respond.

I'm a little emotional but I think I'm doing a good job at hiding it.  I think I'm doing a good job at putting on a face that Vigor would make and just pretending like this isn't bothering me.  I try to become a stone at that moment.

I wonder if he thinks I'm hurt when Vigor crosses his arms and says, "Don't be like that M."

M?

He really thought we were friends.

I shake my head at that moment.  Maybe I'm being a little petty.  I could care less because immediately I'm just saying, "Like you said.  Our relationship is strictly business.  I'll go ahead and make your device for you since that's the only thing you care about.  And one more thing."

"Yes?"

"Call me Materias."

Two weeks pass.  I assume the deadline to get his device gets extended being that I was literally just shot.   I spend a lot of my time attempting to create the stupid device.  Fem Fatale is the only real company that I keep and luckily she's not nosy enough to ask me what the hell I'm doing.  She is too into her world and bragging about her own sexual endeavors.  Truthfully I can hear about them all day.  We aren't allowed out of the lair too often because of Vigor's strict rules.  I don't think many of us mind either because I'm pretty sure most of the villains are wanted.  None of us really have maintained a secret identity or wear masks or anything.  The Ministry seems desperate to get us and the lair definitely seems the safest place to be.

Fem Fatale is in the gym.  She's practicing kickboxing.  She's a mean kickboxer as well.  She's punching the back with her heavy weight and throwing her foot into it.  Before I knew Fem Fatale I knew she was a dangerous hand-to-hand fighter.  I want to learn a few of her moves but instead I'm in the gym sitting on a mat with this fucking box full of forks, bored out my life.

"He's giving in.  The other day I walk in the room and rub my tits.  I think the craziest, nastiest thing and I know he reads my mind," Fem states.

Since we aren't allowed to leave the lair, Weaver is interested in me, Icebox has been acting weird, the Pale guy isn't really attractive and Vigor could care less about her advances Fem Fatale has turned her attention towards Mr. Thinker.  She sees it as a challenge. Not as challenging as Vicious Vigor but something of a challenge since he's married.
"You're evil," I let her know.

"Hey.  Hell is full of sluts," she responds, "I'll fit right in."

I laugh steadily knowing that I shouldn't be but I can't help it.  I'd seen Fem Fatale messing with Mr. Thinker's head and it's definitely the funniest thing I'd ever seen in my life.  It is a great distraction from the fact that I can't change this box of forks into Vigor's device.

"I'll probably won't be joining you," I respond, "You have to have sex to be slut and it's dry season over here..."

"Weaver is basically throwing himself at you."

"I don't want Weaver," I respond.

"Please don't tell me your still stuck on Vigor?" Fem Fatale asks shaking her head, "Materias, that man is the devil.  I grabbed his dick one time and he punched me so hard that I got a blood clot. He has no sex drive.  I'm telling you.  Leave it alone."

"I know...he's a dickhead."

The guy was keeping my friend prisoner until I fixed him this fucking device.  He was not the nicest guy.  I knew that.  So why the fuck couldn't I get him out of my head.  It had been a week since I talked to him and I still can't do it.

"Put your box of forks down and go see Weaver," Fem Fatale tells me, "You're a strong man.  You can do whatever you want to do.  You can rule the world.  You can fall in love.  Most importantly—you can suck a dick."

"I don't even want to know what you guys are talking about..." Web Weaver walks in.

He's not alone.  He walks in with Icebox.  I notice the two hang out a lot.  I figure Weaver must have been around a long time too.  Icebox gives me a look when he walks in.   He clearly doesn't like me and little does he know that I'm onto him.

"You want to spar?" Icebox asks Fem, "I'd ask Gadget Girl but she's out on some secret mission for the Bossman."

Fem seems like she's all for it, "Loser takes their clothes off?"

Icebox licks his lips, "I'm down."

It doesn't take only a second before they charge at each other.  Icebox glides across the room almost like he's sliding on ice.  Fem Fatale somersaults out of the way.  Icebox grabs her just before she gets away and tackles her on the ground.  The two spend the next couple of minutes rolling around the floor playing grab ass.

I am a little disgusted but luckily Weaver grabs me from behind, "Unless you want to see some hardcore porn in the next couple of minutes, I suggest you come with me."

I don't hesitate because knowing Fem it's not going to take much before she is getting doggy fucked by Icebox in every direction across this gym floor.  Not that they weren't two attractive adults but I wasn't really too excited to see it.

I end up thanking Weaver and walking with him to my room.  He says he has something to show me that he left at my room and honestly I'm excited by it.  Weaver stares at me the entire time we walk.  I can feel his eyes on me and for a moment I feel special.  I don't know why I keep thinking about Vigor the entire time he is staring me down.  I keep thinking about how it would be like if Vigor was actually the one staring me down.

"I fixed your suit...try it on," he tells me.

"Am I going to be naked again?"

"Don't worry.  It's just me."

The suit fits the same for the most part.  There is padding in my privates or at least my dick area.  It's clear that I'm still very much exposed.  It is still going to be something to get used to but I have to admit he did make some interesting adjustments.  The suit now goes all the way over my head like some tight hood.  Golden curls on the suit frame my face.  There are swirls on my chest now as well.  I think the suit would work perfect with the black military boots that were left in my room by gadget girl.

"You look amazing.  Come here let me see how it fits..." he tells me.

Just at that moment I realize him reaching over me.  At first he seems like he's stretching the fabric but then I see Web Weaver is pulling all in my ass.  His fingers run through the crack of my ass.  The fabric is so thin that I feel it.  It must be magic somehow if this thing is capable of helping protect my vital organs.  My body jumps as I feel his fingers rub over my body over and over.  He slides his hands onto the smalls of my back at that moment.  I can feel my body just shudder under him.

"You still seeing how it fits?"

"It fits beautifully," he tells me, "Just how I thought it would.  From the very first moment I kissed you, I knew I was going to make you the most beautiful suit I ever made.  I was going to make you a suit that stops traffic.  This suit goes over every curve.  It runs through your beautiful, sexy, fat ass.  It curves over your thick juicy dick.  It frames your perfect face.  Just you wait until the media sees this."

I look up and down at the suit.  I have no doubts that the media is going to eat up how sexy it is.  I smile at him and ask, "Why me?"

"Because I wanted the chance to do this again..."

Web Weaver leans in at that moment.  He is kissing me.  His tongue enters my mouth.  He clashes with my tongue.  I feel him squeeze my ass.  My heart pounds as he picks me up and lays me out on top of my bed.  He kisses me more.  He kisses me harder.  I am kissing him back.

Web Weaver begins to undress.  He takes off his shirt first and throws it onto the ground.  He is much slimmer than Vigor but still has a muscular frame.  He is hairier than Vigor as well.  Where Vigor was just smooth muscles, Web's body is covered in hair and there is still something sexy about it.  He sees me looking at his body and at that moment he pulls down his pants showing me all the glory underneath.  His dick is a magnificent 8 inches.  It's one of those dicks that stands up and points upward towards the heavens.

He walks over to me at that moment, slowly and deliberately takes my hand and places it on his dick.  He guides me to jerk him off several times.  The touches are slow, deep and long.  He lets me squeeze out a long string of precum that remains in my hand.

I'm dripping wet ready to go but all of a sudden my mind just thinks of Vigor again.

"I—can't..."

He looks at me at that moment, "Are you joking?  You're standing here with my dick in your hands.  You can't just...stop."

I take his dick out of my hands, "It's not you.  It's..."

"He's never going to give a fuck about you?  Don't you see that?" Web asks me.

The look that he gives me makes me feel like he thinks I'm an idiot.  Hell.  Maybe I am an idiot. There is a knock on the door in the next couple of minutes though and we walk over to see who it is.  Web is quickly trying to put on his pants but I open the door because the person is banging with such an aggression.

It's Vigor.  He looks shaken.

"I didn't know who else to go to.  I know we don't know each other like that," Vigor explains to me, "I just...I didn't know who else to go to.  For some reason you were the first person that came to mind.  And I...I'm losing it Materias."

That's when it happens.

Vigor starts crying.  I grab him at that moment.  I don't know what is going on but I'm scared and worried.  Something important must have happened for Vigor to have come to my door in such a panic.  Something important must have happened for him not to gather everyone by playing Moonlight Sonata on the loudspeakers.  Something important must have happened for him to be exposing himself through crying at my door.

I hold him and he holds me there.  At that moment it doesn't matter that we don't know each other like that.  At that moment I'm just someone who is just there for him.

The moment doesn't last long because Vigor notices Web Weaver standing there behind me.

"Anything we can do to help?" Web asks him putting emphasis on the word we.

Vigor immediately snaps back to himself.  He puts back on a serious face.  He coughs a few time as though he wasn't crying at all and within a second the tears are gone replaced by a strong sterile face.  He gives Web Weaver a look, gives me a look and seems to be connecting the dots to what he thinks must have been going on in this room.

Before he gets the chance I struggle to defend myself, "I was just trying on a suit."

I don't know what I'm defending myself against.  Vigor didn't ask.  I still have this urge to let him know that it wasn't like that.  I sound stupid though.  If I'm the one trying on my suit then why the fuck is he undressed?

Vigor doesn't even look back at me. Whatever few moments that he wanted to use to confide in me goes right back into him.  He's the cold super villain again.

"I'm going to be playing the Moonlight Sonata in a few minutes.  I want all of you to meet me on the basement level," he replies coldly.

"Jesus."

The moonlight sonata has all of us down there.  The old lady is the first one there.   I realize that she usually is the first one there.  She is smoking a long cigarette and staring at the rest of us when we get there.  She stares over at Vigor, Ghost, Icebox, Fem Fatale, Web Weaver, the Thinkers and I.

"What happened to her?" Web Weaver asks.

"She's so afraid..." Mr. Thinker states.

"And cold..." Mrs. Thinker adds.
"Humph.  She looks like shit," Fem Fatale states.

"I found her downtown wandering the streets.  I teleported her here," the old lady explains before taking a long puff of a cigarette and shaking her head, "Couldn't even touch her with my bare hands.  Poor girl.  Poor...poor Gadget.  There's something written on her breasts.  It's a message for the boss."

We are all staring through a clear glass at Gadget Girl.  Her lips are blue.  Her skin seems to be blue as well.  Something is definitely wrong with her.  I look at her arms.  Boils are forming on her skin.  They have her in a room.

Vicious is putting on a brave face right now. It is nothing like the shaken man that came to my room.  Right now he is in front of everyone so he needs to be the brave leader.  He walks forward and pushes a telecom that is probably connecting to the quarantined room that Gadget Girl is sitting in.

"Gadget.  P I'm going to need you to take off your shirt.  And show me your chest."

Gadget Girl, ever loyal to Vicious, does what he says.
In bold letters the message reads:

Vigor...this is the first of many Gifts.  From me, To you.  
    With Love,
    Ashley

It's clear what has happened.  In that very moment Gadget Girl falls over.  Her face bubbles up.  She chokes on her own spit and she dies.

It's working too fast.
There is no way to save her.

There is no way to stop it.

I watch Vicious Vigor watching Gadget Girl die and while everyone else looks away he stares at it.  He watches it completely pressing his hand on the window probably hoping she'd find some kind of comfort with him being there.  I hope to give him the same kind of comfort when I move forward and put my hands on his shoulder.

Vigor immediately however winces, gives Gadget Girl's cold dead body one last glare and then walks away in heavy, long strides.

"That's going to be all of us soon," the old lady states and takes a long puff of her cigarette, "Tsk, tsk, tsk."

I know what she's referring to.  The DAMS virus that kills off metahumans has been released and the first victim is Gadget Girl.

 

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