As the supportive super stepped down toward me slowly, I wondered if this had been a setup. Book still clutched under one arm, the same flowing robe outfit as the other day, and green eyes that glared down at me with disdain.

Her statement of surprise at seeing me in this specific location wasn’t a question, but begged to be answered. There were few reasons for someone like me to be skulking around a place like this.

[I was about to say the same thing.]

She gave me a coy smile, some light fading from her eyes as if recalling something very mundane. “This building is part residence to Mr Kingsworth, one of the founders and the key financier of His holy flock.” She stopped two steps above me so that she was more eye-level. “It is important that His word spreads, and thus I am required to act out the sinful practice of begging for credits to fund initiatives.”

[I never realized it was so… corporate.]

Her eyes looked me up and down. “I didn’t think Mr Kingsworth had any further appointments, so you must be here to see whoever owns the higher floors?”

[Cybernetics afficionado. I’m about to do some begging of my own, as I have been considering replacing my other arm.]

Belle clucked her tongue. “With something more useful than a shotgun?”

[Maybe a… larger shotgun.]

“You do yourself a disservice by acting a dullard, sidekick.” She stepped down to stand in front of me. “So full of sin… in need of correction.”

I watched as she ran her tongue across her teeth, some light now returned to her eyes. Would be nice if she could move so I could continue my job. Oh, perhaps I was being rude.

[My thanks for saving my life the other day.]

She gave me a brief nod and pushed some pink hair behind an ear. “His grace guided me that day. Plus… that’s just what a hero does, right?” She gave me another up-and-down with her eyes before handing over a small card. “My contact details, if you ever feel you are ready to repent. I will not be gentle.”

Before I could politely respond, she turned and stepped over to the downward stairs, keeping me just in her peripheral. I wondered how rude it would be to put a stake through the back of her head.

Might sour relations with Roxy, so wasn’t worth it. Not to mention possibly making a mess for my contract… which now had a partial witness. Was this fate having a laugh at my expense? Coincidence, or was the League keeping tabs on me?

Didn’t do me any favors to speculate. Any worries could be left till after the contract was complete and I was home safe and sound. Or at least not dead.

Boots met steps once more. Fifth floor, sixth floor. Each had a sturdy-looking door, but no guards were posted on the outside. Stood to reason that they might not be expecting visitors this late - aside from the super. If it were just a rich old man posted up here, then they shouldn’t be expecting any trouble.

As I finally rounded up to the ninth floor, I was only partially surprised to see that the staircase ended here. The upper part of the hotel seemed to have a secondary internal method of reaching any floor higher than the first section of Jade’s property. Would be too convenient if I could just run all the way up to the penthouse - or wherever she was at this hour.

Hopefully, she was just about to walk through these wide double doors and go on a brief nightly stroll.

A couple of pensive seconds spent just to see if that would be the case - but no. I’d have to earn my credits the normal way. There was still something about the security layout here that didn’t sit well with me, but I was sure that I would find out the reason in no time at all.

The doors didn’t seem to be locked or even that secure. Given the nature of the villain, my assumption would be that most of her protection would be meat-based in the form of manipulated - or just paid - guards.

I stepped forward and kicked out the doors, pleasantly surprised that they relented to my advances. Two guards right ahead, investigating the empty elevator. White uniforms - shirt and slacks with tactical gear over the top. Odd white hats on their heads. Holstered pistol on one, while the other held a sub-machine gun on a sling.

They turned to me just as the closest took a Rubber shot straight to the head, knocking him out and sending his hat spiraling across the marbled floor. Second one fumbled for a radio, but with the hiss of V-Force escaping the chamber I’d already loaded the next less-than-lethal round.

Click and it struck him in the thigh, immediately numbing the muscle. He dropped to his knee from the shock and then I was already upon him. Side of my gun-arm against his head and he joined his companion in being unconscious. Hopefully, I could end the villain in short order and they’d wake up outside of her control - if they were under it, at least.

Withdrew a Tazer shot to slide into the gun and looked around. A simple, if wide, corridor. Elevator entrances on my right, some paintings covering the wall on the left. Another set of doors straight ahead. Everything opulent and polished. Decadent. About as far from what I was accustomed to as possible.

I needed to find the internal stairs or other means to get to the higher floors.

Stepping over to the next set of double doors, I paused. Head craned back to look at the last painting on the wall. Looked like a bowl of fruit. I wasn’t exactly knowledgeable about this kind of thing, but I assumed it was expensive. It was also moving.

Not in a pleasant way. It smudged and twisted slightly, as if my eyes were marginally drunk.

Ah, this was her manner of security. A wave of her influence was trying to take control of my mind. She wasn’t meant to be a high Threat villain, so her power would be limited in some way. Probably area of effect. Just meant I now had a time limit on what I needed to do.

Hadn’t spotted a radio on the man by the service door, but I would be disappointed to not be expected at this point. There was a chance Jade could tell that two of her goons had just been put to sleep.

In which case, I needed a few more cards up my sleeve. Went back over to the fallen guards. Adjusted parts of my gear and picked up the sub-machine gun. Looked pretty mundane - typical private security weapon. Switched it to burst fire, my eyeballs determined it had a twenty-mag of small caliber traditional ammunition. Hekla-3 was the branding on the side. Sufficient.

I turned back to the doors, both of which were now wavering slightly. Reminded me of a time I had to clear out a gang that had taken residence in one of the many city dumps. They used poison darts. Turns out that making me woozy and hallucinate did not temper my murderous nature. Terrible hangover after, though.

Door received a modest shove from my left shoulder as I pushed through into a large room. Briefly overwhelmed by the layout and design of the place, which wasn’t helped by my slightly warped senses.

Large windows in all directions that looked out onto the city at twilight. Thick pillars of detailed marble in each corner, as well there being another four at the corners of an outlined section of the floor. A square of maybe twenty-five feet, that my brain was able to register as actually being an elevator. The empty space in the ceiling above lent to that being the truth - despite how inconveniently extravagant or structurally odd it was.

No real furniture or much to note other than a few chairs and a table off to the nearest right side. Four guards, however, approximately one in each corner. Closest to the right was sitting and eating his way through a long sandwich, which… made me envious for some reason.

So, I shot him with the Tazer.

Dove toward his shaking body as he spilled the entrails of the sandwich all over the table, and I rolled amongst the furniture. Flipped the square table just in time to block a spray of bullets from those further down the room. Not bullet-proof, but the thick wood took enough force from the projectiles to keep me safe - at least while the integrity of the furniture piece held up.

Eyes over to the other guard who had been in close quarters. His long tail flicked back and forth in annoyance as he bared his fangs and drew a truncheon that bloomed with electricity at the end. Stun prod. I raised the Hekla up to him and he leaped to the side to roll onto the elevator and behind one of the pillars. Wasn’t often you saw the agile feline Anthrancs in this sort of role.

Another burst of fire from the other end of the room and the table began to split. Dull pain across my back, but the weakened bullets hadn’t managed to pierce through my suit. Metallic click which I took as a sign of one of them reloading, and I dove back to the left, firing a Rubber shot against the one on the right.

Straight to the chest with a louder crack than sounded healthy. He dropped to his knees before collapsing, struggling for breath. I was using the pillar as cover to block line of sight to the other armed guard while getting myself closer to the hiding one.

Stepped around and blocked the stun prod with my gun-arm, the energy dissipating through the length of metal. Chamber hissed as I loaded another Rubber projectile, while my left hit the trigger where he had left most of his body open. Triple shot to his thigh. Dodged the jab of my muzzle and skirted away to circle to my right - trying to keep the pillar in between us.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Blood burst from my torso as I received a trio of shots myself, before I fired the hardened projectile into the skull of my assailant. Would have to be careful I didn’t rupture a window. Unless I needed an emergency escape and fancied my chances of pulling a flying super power out my ass.

With the cat-man trying to avoid me, I instead stepped over to what looked like a control panel and slapped the wiggly up arrow button. Well, all of them were wiggly, including my hand holding the machine gun.

The floor beneath me shifted, and a groan accompanied some rotating mechanism that appeared to be hidden in the adjacent pillars. With a slight shake, this central square started to rise to the floor above. Last guard realized he would be left behind slightly too late and leaped to grab onto the rising elevator. I stepped over and kicked him away, sending him down into the overturned furniture.

Any reprieve was short-lived as the thud of someone landing behind me drew my attention away. I looked up to see that this elevator apparently went all the way up to the top floor and penthouse. A large gap just illuminated by bright white light and glass, framed by the dark marbled ceiling and floor.

Attention back down to the muscled guard coming at me with a… large axe? Hardly typical.

“You dare step into Sweet Jade’s home?” He growled before flashing the wide blade toward me.

Oh - this must be a proper henchman. Much like a super hero might pick up a sidekick, villains often had those with minor powers or exceptional skills as their underlings, aside from the usual goons and fodder. This man wore the same uniform, but had a red bandana around his head, thick black beard, and a furious mania in his eyes.

I said nothing in return. Gun-arm up and blocked his swing, the force buckling me down to one knee. As I went to fire off the Hekla, his boot lashed out and kicked it from my hand - the errant burst just pelting through the pillar above us, causing a brief cloud of dust to fall.

Another two members jumped the three-foot ledge from the next floor to the rising elevator platform. One with a pistol, the other a stun baton.

Aimed the muzzle toward the henchman, and as he brought his axe flat to block the shot by reflex, I instead stood up and barreled into him. He had sturdy footing, so instead of falling, he just stumbled back. His eyes looked down at his arm that was now streaming blood. The knife in my hand had drawn its first taste of violence and was eager for more.

Rubber shot zipped past him and struck the guard with the gun in his forearm. It snapped the bone, and he yelled a curse as he clasped at the now-floppy limb. Pistol clattered to the floor.

Left me open to a jab from the axe, which I took. Not really damaging, but caused me to take a couple of steps closer to the edge - perhaps more dangerous if we hadn’t just arrived at floor ten.

Rolled to the side as a hail of bullets spread over the elevator, almost taking out the two guards trying to combat me. Gun-arm up with a hiss, next Rubber projectile ejected with a thunk and struck the assailant through his light cover and into his stomach. He collapsed as he ejected whatever he had eaten last.

Pain as my arm took a gash from the sweep of the axe. Up to my feet, I tried to gain some space, only to see another two fuzzy guards step onto the elevator. Starting to sweat now. I’d been playing nice, but the mental stress was wearing my good mood away.

Avoided the flurry of axe swings by moving back away and circling the edge of the elevator. He was trying to push me off - remove me from my intended path. V-Force drive loaded up Overcharge. If I got home soon enough, I might be able to see Roxy. I would not be delayed.

An odd thought to have in the present situation - something I pegged to the fact that Jade was trying to wear my brain down into some manner of soup she could control. Like a… soup wizard.

Swung out at a nearby guard, which put me at a disadvantage against the henchman. Knife up, but unable to fully block the downward swing. Warm pain radiated through my shoulder as the bladed weapon sunk into muscle. I twisted the knife around to be on top of the shaft rather than below and held the axe down into the wound he had created.

Brief confusion on his face before my muzzle turned to him. Overcharge blew the hardened Rubber projectile right between his legs. I ignored the squeal of pain and blood soaking through his uniform. White was a terrible choice for combat, anyway.

Sweat ran down the sides of my head as I stood up straight and shrugged the axe to the floor. Drum mag fell from my gun-arm to clatter to the floor. Ten-mag in.

Far beyond forgiveness. Maybe I was just a bad a sinner as Belle liked to purport.

First shell blew the throat out of the closest guard. Empty cartridge bounced across smooth marble. The smell of gunpowder filtered through my re-breather. This was living.

A wavering shot ricocheted from my cyborg arm and I killed him next. Blocked the swing of a stun prod and brought my knife up into their stomach, drawing up to the side to disembowel them. Ended the wounded henchman by spraying his brains across the now sullied marble.

I was a killer, nothing more.

The statement echoed around my head… as if I hadn’t said it. No - I was being manipulated. Allowed to sink back into the dirt where I had writhed previously. My eyes went back over to the discarded drum mag, but I didn’t have the heart to pick it back up right now.

Stumbled to the vibrating control panel and wiped the sweat from my brow. Drenched. Considered going back down so that I could leave and get some fresh air. Had enough exercise. No. No - more thoughts that weren’t mine. Brought my elbow down onto the up arrow and the whole metal panel buckled. Arrow flashed on and off, the rest of the controls going inert.

No going back now. Forced success.

It wasn’t often that I had to deal with things affecting my mind. Not to this extent. While I had managed to weather physical damage that would kill a normal person, I wondered how much of a beating my psyche could take? If I could put up with Roxy on the regular, then quite a lot.

As I craned my head around to watch the remaining guard shakily trying to pluck the discarded pistol from the blood-slick floor, I found myself wishing that I could smile - because I would be, right now.

Eleventh floor.

I slid across the marbled floor and grabbed at the guard, lifting him up in front of me like a shield. Bullets shredded his body and pinged off my exposed metal arm. One-tap. Eject shell. Reloaded. One-tap.

Three behind with melee. Everything felt sluggish. Like I was melting. A… buzzing feeling had started to encroach the inside of my skull.

Threw the man to knock one of the fresh assailants off the ledge, as the elevator hadn’t stopped the slow ascent. Whipped my knife out again as I blocked a swing, but this guard was quicker and backed away. Stun prod came in from the second man, catching my left forearm. Numbed, and the blade lowered. Shotgun shot took his shoulder out, rendering his own arm inert.

Another block and I dropped the magazine to the floor, kicking the guard in the leg at an angle. His knee produced a loud crack, and he dropped low. Elbow to his temple. As I followed through, Overcharge powered up. Empty shot to the wounded guard, and the strong gust of force burst the eyes from his head. Shock had him pass out.

Fresh mag clicked in place, and cartridge loaded.

Twelfth floor had… no enemies. Sweat dropped to the bloodied marble as I stood there breathing heavily. Some manner of bar and dining facilities. The barman with a handlebar mustache and panic in his eyes stood statuesque as I waved to him - the living horror slowly ascending on the broken elevator. Wasn’t worth killing, and I struggled to find the strength to load a Tazer shot to do him in.

Instead, with robotic movements, I moved around the corpses and picked up my drum and ten-mag to affix to my belt. That felt like a marathon. Exhausting when it should be so natural.

Thirteenth floor and my brain really ached now. Needles poked through and made me uncomfortable. Flashes of violence as I burst the face from one guard, while receiving the shotgun blast of another. Found myself unable to move from the place I had shuffled to. Only turn and shoot and reload and take the pain of being shot.

The sound of empty shells bouncing across the floor somehow grounded me. Stims were keeping me on my feet, their warmth adding to the amount I was perspiring.

Fourteenth floor only had two guards present.

Couldn’t even remember what I did with them… but they were no longer in my way.

Seemed to me that Sweet Jade had a pretty useless security team. I’m sure she would pay me well to do the job - I have proven my efficiency, after all.

Fifteenth floor, and there were just doors. Leading to her office, I assumed. No, I knew this.

Ejected my mag to the floor and palmed at the open chamber to check nothing was loaded. Unbuckled my belt and let it stay on the elevator. Bandoliers unclipped to join the rest. Knife clattered on the marble. Boots took me over to the doors with an unnatural calm, despite dripping blood all over the carpet. That could come out of my first paycheck.

Pushed the door open slowly to find an exquisitely furnished office. Long plush carpet leading to a wide desk of rich browns. Shelving ran along each side of the room in a similar wood - all decked out with trinkets and books. Behind the desk were tall windows that rose to the ceiling, showing of a near unparalleled view of the city.

The woman sitting at the desk smiled widely. “Certainly an entrance, mysterious stranger.”

Pain wracked at my mind in pulses, as if she had her hand literally gripped around my brain.

A sapphire dress that reflected the light as if it was multi-faceted, something that wasn’t modest about showing off her ample figure. A light jacket over it, sharp white with a brooch of soft jade pinned to the right breast side. An odd tiara of similar stone atop rich brown hair that ran over one eye.

“Such strength to resist my will. I do enjoy toys that are harder to break, and I can think of so many ways of putting you to use. What is your name?”

No response. Every muscle in my body was tense and struggling to maintain control. Yet I couldn’t step any closer to her. My eyes were aflame with hatred, something she could see, and took pleasure in.

“No matter. I will give you a new one once you have submitted to me.” She held out a hand bedazzled with several rings. “Things will get worse for you until you agree to my terms.”

Talons tore through my mind, the weight of her power fully pressing down on my mental state. Of course, killing off her goons meant her power wasn’t spread so thin. I had invited this on myself.

“Just tell me you accept and this will be all over.”

Threat Level 48.

I dropped to my knees, barely able to stand the agony burning through my whole body. She was right, it would make more sense to join her. Better than being turned into a zombie or just flat out dying. I’d made many mistakes in my life, but now I could make a change.

My senses running numb, I gave in. I accept.

She waited patiently. I accept.

I accept.

Only, the dangling vocalizer at the back of my neck didn’t care to relay my thoughts.

“Why won’t you accept?” She stood and slammed her hands on the desk, not used to such disobedience.

Trouble was, while my brain was a raging wildfire that she controlled, I had sequestered off a small part to hold two key thoughts alone. I had lost control of my muscles, but part of me was robotic and didn’t work like that.

Before my mind totally succumbed to being turned to ash, I allowed the second synapse activation to power up - the first setting up this possibility.

Without moving my head, my cyborg arm raised up. Overcharge flashed through just as I fired the Sanguine stake.

Glass burst away, bringing with it a cool rush of air. Loose pages fluttered around as I shivered and slowly pushed myself back up to my feet. Pain in my head subsided just as the physical agony from the wounds sustained came back.

Sweet Jade lay across her desk, a pool of blood running from her body and soaking through the ledgers and other trash that the wind couldn’t pick up. Surprise on her face, but once again, villains always suffered from their hubris. Contract complete. I turned from the office and left.

Hit the elevator and equipped my gear once more. Raised a stiff arm up so that I could reattach my vocalizer. Drum mag loaded.

Went up to the control panel and struck it again, the elevator shunting before a groan had it lowering back down. One floor at a time, but it knew who was in control now.

So... tired.

Stopped at the Twelfth floor and stepped over to the man who was looking even more frightened of me.

With my gun-arm, I pointed over at the metal rectangles beside him.

[What’s in the freezers?]