Chapter 12

 

 

Sunbeam is staring at me looking at me. He looks different. The mask he cover the upper right sight of his face is made with leather now. There are spiky studs outlines his right eyebrow on the mask and more sharp looking studs across the forehead.

 

"Sunbeam it's me..."

Sunbeam raises his hand and says robotically, "Exterminate."

It's his voice but the words are someone else's.

 

"Is that your friend?" Vigor asks me.

"You said he was dead Vigor..."

Vigor has an honest look of shock in his face. For once I think this is something that he didn't have planned. He seems honestly shocked and I honestly know even before he tells me that he had nothing to do with the fact that Sunbeam is here.

 

"I thought he was..."

I don't have time to doubt Vigor. Immediately light rays are being aimed at us. Vigor jumps in front of me taking the brunt of it but manages to change the density of his skin. The light rays reflect off of his shell. He holds me close to him protecting against Sunbeams onslaught but it's clear that it won't last too long. I can see Vigor's body shaking as he tries desperately to protect me.

 

I can't do this.

 

I push at a door. Normally doors aren't something that I can change. The attachments that they have to other objects makes it hard for me to change them. However the door transmutes and disappears with a quick thought of desperation. I'm rushing into the door at that moment pulling Vigor with me. Sunbeam is after us and as soon as Sunbeam walks into the door I punch him. I hit him hard to his face. He struggles to get up and aims his rays, clipping my shoulder. I feel the heat burn through my body as it slightly burns me. He attempts to do it again...this time aiming at my chest. I dodge it just in time and duck below him. I trip him...kicking my leg as hard as I can into his shins and when he falls I deliver a sweeping kick straight into his abdomen as hard as I can sending him squirming in pain.

 

Vigor is looking at me with a raised eyebrow. I don't think he expects me to know how to fight like this.

 

"Damn. I thought that was your friend," Vigor manages to laugh through his bloody smile, listening to Sunbeams painfully rolling around on the floor, "Remember never to let me get on your bad side."

"He doesn't know what he's doing," I explain.

"What?"

"I'll explain later. I'm trying to save your life right now," I told Vigor.

 

Vigor grimaces a little bit. It's clear he doesn't like the thought of that at all. Vigor gives me a strong look. He's the leader. He's the one who charged in here trying to save my life. The last thing he expected was for me to be taking out our opponents.

 

Even though he doesn't seem to like this he reluctantly asks me with a more serious glare, "So what is the plan?"

I look at a desk sitting in the middle of the room. I don't know if I have enough energy left but I have to push myself. I have to push my abilities further than they've ever been pushed before. I have to transmute the desk. I have to change it. I sit there thinking of something that would be able to get us out of here.

 

I put my hands on the desk and focus my energy. My mind clears. It takes so much energy and focus that I have to shut my eyes. I can feel the matter changing underneath my fingertips. There is more power coming out of me than I ever imagined. I'm pushing my limits to do things that I never thought were possible.

 

"A ninja bike?" Vigor asks.

 

The bike is there when I open my eyes. Where once was a desk is now a bike. I'm drained but I hop on the front of the bike.

 

"Get on."

He gives me the craziest look ever, "I'm Vicious Vigor. I don't ride on the back."

"Mayor Moral is on his way Vigor, along with a bunch of pissed off Villains. You can worry about your manhood later."

He gives me a look. He is SO reluctant and I have to say I'm loving this shit. Vicious Vigor hops on the back of the motorcycle. He puts his hand around me. He holds on tight. I can feel Vigor breathing on my neck. I can feel his crotch pressed up against my back. His fingers holding onto my abs. Feeling him so close is driving me crazy.

 

He pushes his lips up against my ear. I can feel the juicy things damn near tickling my earlobe when he whispers, "You better not tell anyone about this."

 

 

 

 

Escaping the Hall of Heroes wasn't easy. Luckily Sunbeam used to taught me how to ride a motorcycle back in the day. During the entire escape the only thing I can think about is Sunbeam. All I can think about is the fact that my friend is really alive. He somehow survived the encounter with Mayor Morals and he made it out there. I can't say how excited I want to be, but how can I be excited. Sunbeam just attempted to kill me.

 

By the time I get Vigor back to the lair, he's passed out and he needs medical assistance immediately. With Gadget Girl gone, the only person left to really do that is Scanman. I can see the Villains still are looking at Scanman and me as the new guys. The fact that we are the ones that they had to depend on to save their leader seems to be putting all of them on edge.

 

I'm sitting in my room when Icebox walks in.

 

He doesn't even knock. He just walks in.

 

"We'll need to know what happened at the Hall of Heroes," Icebox explains to me coldly.

 

I don't expect anything less from him.

 

"I expected that."

"Debrief will be tomorrow."

"Will Vigor be good to attend?" I ask.

 

Icebox nods.

 

"He heals quicker than normal humans. It may have to do with the fact that he can change the density in his body. He's still pretty beat up but he's alive. I don't know why he did something so risky as going to save you. You're nothing but trouble you know that?"

I want to argue with Icebox over the point but I'm exhausted. After expending so much of my powers all I can do is try to give him an annoyed look but it probably just comes across me having gas or something. I twist my eyebrows and grunt a little bit.

"Vigor reminds me every chance I get that I'm nothing but trouble," I explain.

Icebox nods in satisfaction probably taking my exhaustion as a sign of submission, "Good. We agree then."

I grunt again wanting to lift my hand and give him the finger but so exhausted that I look like I have a nervous twitch. So I let out the loudest, "Hmph."

"Oh one more thing," Icebox says.

"Oh god. What now."

Icebox looks at me hard. His eyes are as cold as winter but suddenly they warm up out of no where when he tells me, "Thanks for getting him out of there Materias."

 

I don't know how to take it. The term when Hell has Frozen over takes a whole new meeting now that Icebox has done the unthinkable. He's thanked me. His warmness lasts only a quick minute before he slams the door and leaves me to my thoughts.

I want to be happy. I want to enjoy this moment of acceptance from Icebox but right now all I can think about is Sunbeam.

 

Sunbeam was alive.

 

 

 

The next day the meeting goes on for hours with the Villains. They all want to know what happened at the Hall of Heroes. They are all so interested. I'm still exhausted but my body is slowly recovering from so much strain. Vigor on the other hand looks like he's recovering really well. He hides his bandages under his trench coat. He is silent for most of the meeting while the others asks me questions. He just has that leadership look on his face. Stoic and strong as usual. I'm glad he's doing well. I want to ask him if he's feeling ok but for some reason I feel like I'd offend him if I did that. The only thing worse than saving Vicious Vigor's life and having him ride on the back of a motorcycle was asking him about his war wounds. He was a proud fighter and he damn sure wasn't going to look weak. Not not at least.

 

"So that's Leaf's plan. He wants to use this metahuman named Mind Meld to use all registered metahumans to attack humans as soon as the wall goes down."

"What about the Ministry? They are gonna stop Leaf," Ghost suggests.

"Leaf is the Ministry. They don't know what his plans are. Honestly I don't think the heroes fucking know what Leaf's plans are."

Fem Fatale seems to get desperate at that moment, "Why don't we tell people?"

Scanman looks at her with a raised eyebrow, "Who?"

She shrugs, "Tell the Hall of Heroes. Tell the media. Tell anyone that will listen."

 

"Have you seen the news lately?" Icebox asks Fem, "All of our photos are all across the news. We are wanted criminals. Whose going to believe a bunch of outlaws."

"So what do we do?" Fem asks, "Just let him kill all the humans?"

Madame Motions crosses his arms like an old villanous Queen and tightens her lips, "Good riddance. That's what they get for demonizing us. Their hero is going to the person who kills them all."

"We agree," one of the Thinkers say.

 

I am watching Vigor at that moment. He has his hand on his chin. He's taking in everyone's opinions about what's going on. He's not really offering anything into the conversation. It's almost like he's waiting to see what we think about this situation first.

"They are going to blame everything on Vigor," I tell them.

 

I need Vigor to know how serious this is. Leaf has planned this out from the beginning.

 

"What do you think we should do?" Vigor asks.

 

Fem rolls around immediately, "I told you. Tell the Ministry. Let them deal with it."

Vigor puts his hand up to stop her, "I was asking Materias."

The entire room turns to me.

 

"You want to know what I'd do?"

 

"It's because of you that we finally know what Philip Leaf's plan is," Vigor explains, "You have been able to give us what we've never had. That's the upper hand. So yeah. Materias. I'd like to know what you want us to do. And we'll do it."

The others look over at me. I don't expect this. Not too long ago these were the same people who had me in a cage. Now they were looking at me and agreeing with Vigor that they would like to hear my opinion. They actually cared about what I had to say.

 

I struggle with it but I know what the right decision is.

 

"Telling the Ministry won't help. Ashley's relationship with Leaf is strained now but Leaf is still in charge at the Mandate Ministry. He's also clearly the one whose pulling the strings at the Hall of Heroes. We won't find allies there."

"We agree," the Thinkers nod in unison.

 

Fem concedes and bites her lip thoughtfully, "So what can we do? What can we possibly do?"

"We save the humans. Bad becomes good. Villains become heroes."

The thought of it plays out in everyone's mind for a while. I think deep inside they all knew what needed to be done. It was just taking someone to come out and say it. I knew by the hesitation in reaction to this that it was hard for them. Humans put an invisible wall up around our city. They financed a madman to create an organization for the sole purpose of controlling us. Now the madman that they created was really the same thing that they feared. Their weapon was ready to be turned against them. Now humans needed our help. I can see why the Villains are reluctant to answer this call for help.

But slowly surely Vigor nods his head in agreement. The others following Vigor's lead begin to nod their head as well. The moment is a short moment but it means so much. This moment means that no matter what the world thought of us before, we were ready to take a stand for what we believed in. We were ready to be the heroes that kids wouldn't put on their walls.

I guess it's true when they say every villain thinks he's a hero.

 

Vigor gives out his marching orders, "Icebox, Fem, I need the two of you to draft out an offensive plan against Leaf. We need to hit him strong and hard. Scanman, I need you to find out all you can about who this Mind Meld person is. He may be the key to taking down Leaf. Ghost and Thinkers...I need you all to go out into the city and do some information. I need to know what's happening in this city so we aren't blindsided. Madame Motions you are in charge of keeping defense of this lair. Leaf pretended to be Web Weaver. I have no doubt that he knows the ins and outs of this place. If he sees us as a threat he just may try to attack."

One at a time I watch people gather up and leave the room. I'm a little confused on why Vigor didn't assign me to do anything. He's done clearly however and looks like he's about to head away but I watch as Fem Fatale grabs him.

 

"Say something now," Fem says.

 

I turn around and act like I'm leaving. Honestly though I'm curious on what Fem wants Vigor to say. I look over at the Thinkers. They are looking at me and giggling. I'm not thinking about anything so that only leaves the idea that the Thinkers have interrupted a thought about me. Someone must have let their guard down.

 

"Now's not the time."

"You're going to wait until it happens."

"Fem mind your business.

"No. Hey...hey Materias! Can you come over here for a minute?"

I'm frozen at that moment. Ghost walks through me to leave the room. He has a bad habit of doing that and I really do hate it. It leaves me feeling empty for some reason. He does it probably at the worst time because now I turn around and see Vigor's eyes locked on me. I'm a little scared. I'm a little nervous.

 

"Yes?" I ask.

 

"You're welcome," she states.

 

"What?" I ask her.

 

Fem Fatale is walking away without answering me. What the hell did she mean?

Vigor is looking over at me though, "She's not talking to you. She was talking to me."

"What did she do that required thanking?" I ask a little interested.

Vigor doesn't beat around the bush, "Fem Fatale is under the impression that I need her help to ask you something."

"Ask me what?"

He is looking around the room. It's clear he's looking around to make sure that the others have cleared out the war room. He wants to maintain a sense of privacy as usual. I don't expect anything less when it comes to him. What I don't expect however is the soft sweat rolling down his forehead. I don't expect Vigor to be looking afraid all of a sudden. I'd never seen Vigor afraid of anything so why the fuck does he look so terrified.

His voice gains a sense of composure all of a sudden when he pushes out, "I want you to go out with me."

"A mission?"

"No."

"Vigor the last time I went out with you the ministry showed up and we got into a gun fight. This isn't one of your crazy ass secret plans is it?"

"Not unless winning your heart counts as a secret plan."

"Winning my..."

I'm speechless. I just stop talking. Anything else I can say would probably come out like a slow whimper or something. The fact that I'm nervous too seems to make Vigor seem a little bit more confident.

"You don't have to dress up. It's not upscale."

"Vigor are you asking me on a date?"

He is halfway out of the room when he licks his lips and says, "There's a first time for everything."

 

 

 

I'm nervous but the nerves turn to excitement. We are on a hill. It's at the edge of the city. I can see the stars. Pittsburgh before the wall went up was a cloudy, murky downcast city. With the limiting of all resources I had to say the city became more beautiful. I look up and can clearly see the stars aligning in the sky at that moment.

 

 

"This place is beautiful," I admit to him.

Vigor dressed down is still sexy as fuck. He doesn't have on his signature gray trenchcoat but has on a gray deep v neck. The v neck shows off his pectoral muscles and his sexy ass man muscle cleavage. I am attempting my hardest to look at least a little muscular in my outfit out of pure intimidation from seeing his sculpted this man's body is. I couldn't look like that on my best day though.

 

"I hope you like seafood man," he tells me.

 

Vigor is laying out a blanket on the top of the hill. I'm looking at this man and wondering if Philip Leaf has killed the real Vigor and turned into him. It's not Philip's eyes though. This is the real Vigor but somehow I'm just lost.

"I'm still waiting for people to start shooting at me---just so you know."

"I figured for once we can get away from all that. I wanted to get away from heroes and villains. I wanted to show you who I was. The real man. Not Vicious Vigor."

 

I look down at what has become a picnic. Vigor is sitting down. I'm overlooking the beautiful city of Metropolis below us. The water sparkles. The city has a ton of bridges all around leading into the downtown area. It's beautiful. The hills go on forever around the city.

 

"So there is heart underneath all that teflon skin?" I ask him.

 

"Maybe. I didn't think so at first. But you have the power to transmute. You can change things. Maybe...maybe you can change people too."

I'm looking at Vigor and this is all I've ever wanted to hear.

"Why me?"

"Why you what?"

"C`mon. You could have had Gadget Girl, Fem, Ashley and whoever else you wanted. Why choose me. And why now?"

Vigor looks over at me. He grabs a shrimp and eats it. His eyes glare at me and he smiles. It's hard not to smile back as he seduces me on the top of this cliff.

 

"You're sexy. You're powerful. You know when to be submissive and you know when to take charge. And you're just...a good person. It sounds cliché. I know it does but real talk before you I didn't believe humanity could be...good. Not in the way that you are."

"I'm not good. I'm a villain..."

 

He rolls his eyes and laughs, "No the hell you aren't. You have better ethics than all these heroes. You said Philip Leaf is in love with you right?"

I get embarrassed. I know that it isn't hard to tell. I had to debrief the others but I think Vigor saw Leaf's feelings towards me first hand.

"It's not something I'm proud of."

"Exactly. Philip Leaf is offering you a seat at the table. That man Mind Meld is a sure thing. Mind Meld has a power that can control the world. He may be the most powerful metahuman. You know how many people would jump at that chance? Not to say that you aren't worth it. I mean...I see what Philip means."

"Oh you do?"

He laughs.

"Why didn't you?"

"Why didn't I what?"

"Why didn't you take Leaf up on his offer? Why didn't you join him?" Vigor asks me.

I shrug, "Because this crazy sexy ass man that I been crushing on since the first day I met him bulldozed his way into the Hall of Heroes to save me."

 

"Damn right I did," Vigor laughs, "But is that the only reason you didn't take it? Because I showed up..."

I shake my head.

"No. I was waiting for you."

"Oh you knew I was going to show up?"

"I had a feeling. I can read your thoughts. Like the Thinkers."

He smirks at that moment.

 

"Oh huh?"

"Yup."

"So what am I thinking now?"

Vigor grabs me and pulls me close to him on the blanket. He pulls me underneath him and pins me down. I guess this is what he meant when he said I knew when to be submissive because I know better than to fight him when he's showing off how strong he is. After he pins me down he slides his body in between my legs. He keeps me there and looks into my eyes. He stares down at my lips.

"Hmm...ok. You are thinking about---where the weedman is because you want to blaze up and then you're thinking about Krispy Kremes and the diabolical villainous plans you have to invade them when you get the munchies."

He hushes me wish a kiss, "Shut the fuck up."

His tongue enters my mouth. His wet soft tongue fills me mouth. There is warmth and intense passion as he kisses me. He grinds up against me as we continue to kiss on that blanket looking up at the stares. I can feel him kissing my neck in no time and slowly kissing down my collar bone. I let out a soft pant as he continues to go lower and lower.

 

"Let me take this off," I offer desperately throwing off my shirt.

 

"Your body is sexy..." he tells me.

It's almost as though he knows how insecure I feel next to him. He doesn't seem to matter though because soon he's sucking on my nipples and letting his tongue lick on my abs. He's worshiping every part of my body and I realize he wasn't giving me a pity compliment. Vigor is really into me and he is loving every part of me.

 

"I can't believe this is happening right now..." I pant.

 

I don't have time to believe it. After kissing my lower abdomen Vigor pulls my dick out. He puts it in his mouth. I'm sure he's never done it before because it seems awkward at first. He looks up at my eyes to see if how I'm reacting. He's wondering if he's doing it right when he puts my dick in mouth. At first he uses too much teeth but then he slowly lets his big lips cover up his teeth. He uses spit to make it easier to maneuver my dick to the back of his throat. He gags a few times but soon he works up a motion pulling at my waist to pull me deeper and deeper into his mouth.

 

I moan louder and louder, "Fuck...suck that dick baby."

"I like how you say that," he tells me.

 

I don't know what part he's talking about. Is he talking about me ordering him to suck his dick or me calling him baby. I don't have the chance to ask because immediately Vigor has flipped me over. He's now caressing my back with his hands. He massages me slowly with his fingertips, letting them walk against the smalls of my back. I pull on the creases of the blanket as my pants are lowered and Vigor lips at the very top of my ass. He lets his tongue slide down the crevice of my asshole. He licks slowly and teases my ass in the next couple of moments. I squirm underneath him as I feel him starting to taste me.

 

That's when he stands up. Vigor stands up and gets naked. In the next moment Vigor is standing above me in all his glory. His dick is hard. It's an overwhelming 10 inches of superhuman dick. The veins in his dick stick out beautifully. He stands there and holds his dick, waxing it with his hands and looking down at me. I'm mesmerized by this carved statue of a man. His pectoral muscles are tightening as he's looking at me. He's hesitating at that moment but I can see the desire in his eyes as he looks down me.

"What are you waiting for?"

"I want to make love to you right here."

I am so desperate for it. I find myself laying on my back and putting my legs up, "Come do it then."

He stares at me. He is watching as I'm playing with my asshole. My pink hole is aiming towards the stars. I have it out sky high. Vigor is looking at me with this desire and he seems so horny that precum is dripping out of his dick. He looks at me though and he's starting to hesitate even more.

"I need to be honest with you," Vigor tells me.

 

"What?"

"I'm in love with you," Vigor tells me, "This isn't just sex. This isn't just me wanting to fuck you. Materias. I'm in love with you and I need to let you know that before it's too late."

"Before it's too late for what?"

"I know Sunbeam is back. And Scanman told me the two of you had a special...connection.."

I can almost laugh at the thought, "Vigor. If you are scared to be with me because you think Sunbeam and I are going to get back together you're wrong. Sure I want to help Sunbeam. I want to save him. I want to save all of them. All of the metahumans controlled by Mind Meld."

"From what I know about Sunbeam I like him. I'd like to save him too so he can take care of you..."

"Why would Sunbeam need to take care of you?"

I'm concerned..

"In case I wasn't around to look out for you," Vigor explains.

 

I shake my head and laugh, "Vigor you survived bullets and worse. You'll be around."

Vigor is silent. He's just looking at me.

 

"Actually I won't be."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"There is something that you don't know. Remember how I told you about Ashley and me. Well...Ashley became obsessive over me. I kept it apart from many people. I just didn't want to embarrass him. I felt...sorry for him. I felt bad because I had used Ashley to get at Leaf. However the more I ignored Ashley the crazier he got."

I'm confused as fuck.

 

"Even after he joined the Ministry?"

"Especially after he joined the Ministry. It was a big call for attention from me. If he couldn't be my lover he wanted to be my enemy. I wanted to ignore him but then I fell in love with you. And then I figured Ashley was the one I needed to break the news to. And Ashley. Well...he went crazy and he did something. He did something that he can't take back."

My heart is sinking.

"What did Ashley do to you?"

"Gadget Girl wasn't the first one to be infected with the DAMS virus. I became a carrier. I was able to contain it using my density manipulation. I am even able to make sure that I can't spread it to everyone. But the virus...it eats away at me everyday. Everyday I have to repair tissue that I'm losing. And I don't think I can do it for much longer. And when I'm gone. You'd be a good leader. They'd follow you. You can protect them. And Sunbeam. Sunbeam can protect you..."

Fuck no.

 

All I can think about is when I stopped Vigor from killing Ashley. All I can think about how dumb a decision that was. Then Vigor had known what Ashley had done to him. He could have taken his revenge right then and there. He didn't do it though. Vigor didn't kill Ashley because of me.

FUCK no.

 

I'm crying at that moment, "Vigor you can't do this to me. You can fight the disease. You have the ability to change your body density. Can't you heal faster."

I knew the answer to my own queston though. He could fight it. He could keep going but sooner or later the virus would take control of him.

 

He tells me the inescapable, "I'm going to die Materias."

 

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