Chapter 135
The Mental Unifier sat in the center of a large cylindrical room, surrounded by several doors. A small side door opened up and a man in a mask walked out of it. He leisurely strolled towards the glowing device in the center when he heard a mechanical humming sound.
“Not one step further.”
There stood Londyn Green, Director of the ILS. She held her fully-charged grav-cannon in her hands, pointed straight at the man. The man stopped walking and raised his hands. Londyn glared at him for moment before heaving a sigh.
“You know, I took the utmost care in setting this up. No records. Every single person here scrubbed clean and personally verified by PSI Omega. The best network security out there. Minimal contact with the outside world, no one has come or gone since we started. A freaking psionic prodigy, who I let bring in an army of monsters and that little Nemesis band. And yet, not only am I not surprised you made it here, I straight up expected it. How do you get into places like this, Bob?”
Bob simply shrugged.
“I have my ways.”
“I’m sure. And so do I.”
Londyn squeezed the trigger on her cannon, firing a weight-increasing bolt. Bob grunted as he fell to the ground.
Londyn’s jaw dropped.
“Really? That’s it, Bob? You’re just going to let me hit you with the first shot? You didn’t have any countermeasures for my standard grav-weaponry? I got to say, I’m disappointed in you. Or do you have some other plan going on?”
Bob groaned.
“Didn’t need one.”
Londyn raised an eyebrow.
“Didn’t need one? Cut the crap, Bob. You wouldn’t have come here without a plan.”
“If I was here to stop you, then yes. But I’m not.”
Londyn just closed her eyes and sighed. Bob slowly moved a trembling arm and removed his mask.
“I’m here for you. Londyn, I’m sorry.”
Londyn fell silent for a moment. Eventually she spoke in a quiet voice.
“...you’re really going to go with that crap?”
“Yes.”
“Seriously? What, Bob, do you think I’m some fragile maiden who got my feelings hurt and is just waiting for you to figure out what you did and apologize? You think you can just waltz in here, tell me what you did, give me a hug, and everything will be alright? DON’T SCREW WITH ME, BOB!”
“I know. I don’t expect your forgiveness, or your trust. But you were my friend, and I lied to and betrayed you. I need to apologize for that.”
Londyn just glared at him.
“And I don’t care. It doesn’t much matter, Bob. We were never really friends, were we?”
Bob gave a sad smile.
“I wanted us to be…but I’ll admit I didn’t treat you much like one, did I?”
“...is that all you have to say? Just a half-hearted apology and empty talk about friendship from a traitorous villain?”
Bob frowned.
“It’s because I’m a villain that I can say this. Director Green, what you’re doing here is wrong.”
Londyn chuckled as her eyes narrowed.
“Oh, this is rich. Well, go on Bob, why am I wrong?”
“Punishing me, punishing Linda, that is within your rights. Punishing the rest of the world is not.”
“I’m protecting the world, in case you haven’t noticed.”
Bob managed to press a button on his gauntlet. A holographic screen projected into the air, displaying images of Nemesis when the Mental Unifier first activated. It ended with Nana’s tear-filled face.
“Does that look like protection?”
Londyn frowned, furrowing her brow.
“That looks like a group of known villains.”
“They’re children, Londyn.”
“Didn’t stop whoever hired and trained them, did it, Bob? And I’m guessing that was you, wasn’t it?”
“Fair enough, but what you’re doing goes beyond that. This is not a necessary evil to protect the world. This is a play for control.”
“...Bob, can you even hear yourself? You’ve been manipulating me, the entire world. You built an entire League just so you could have me send the heroes wherever YOU wanted. Now, you want to talk about ‘control’ and ‘necessary evils’? You know what, I’m done with this. I don’t know why I’m even talking with you.”
She charged up her grav-cannon once more, frowning at Bob.
“We’re done here. Looks like you failed, Bob. With my authority as the Director of the International League of Superheroes, I hereby place you under arrest, Bob.”
Bob heaved a sigh.
“I’m sorry, Londyn. Truly. This really is all my fault and it pains me that you’re paying the price for it. But well, can’t say I didn’t expect this.”
“...you really want to do the ‘I know everything’ routine when you’re laying on the ground like that?”
Londyn fired a small bolt, this time at the gauntlet on Bob’s arm. The device cracked and smoked as its circuits fried. She then fired another weight increase bolt at Bob, preventing him from moving any further.
“Well looks like you miscalculated, villain. There’s nothing more you can do here.”
Bob grit his teeth as he struggled to speak.
“I knew…I couldn’t stop you…”
His face trembled as his mouth curled into a grin.
“But they…can.”
The main door burst open as Wonder Knight smashed through them. Aurora Legion rushed into the room, followed by Captain Hot Devil and Icy Falcon.
“Director! Please, stop this!”
Londyn narrowed her eyes.
“Stay out of this, Wonder. For your own good.”
“I won’t! That device, that’s what’s controlling people, isn’t it? We need to stop it!”
Londyn sighed.
“Look, Wonder, I know you mean well, but you have to understand this is how the world works. We hurt the villains, or they hurt others. This is necessary.”
Pink Star’s eyes widened.
“Director, how can you say that?!”
“You all were there. You saw just how many people died in the past year alone. I’m not letting that happen again.”
Chronolock’s eyes narrowed while Voidpspeaker’s jaw dropped.
“Are you serious, Director?”
“You’ve got to be kidding me!”
“Void, you’re the last person I want to here from, Mr. Cultist.”
“Oh come on!”
Icy Rose trembled, tears welling up in her eyes.
“Director, this, this is wrong. Please don’t do this.”
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“Sorry Rose, but I have to.”
Captain Hot Devil sighed and glanced at Icy Falcon. The man nodded back and the two stepped forward, gently moving Aurora Legion out of the way. Londyn raised an eyebrow.
“You two have something to say?”
“Something like that.”
Captain Hot Devil quickly swung his hand forward, a fireball shooting straight into Londyn’s grav-cannon and knocking it out of her hands. Icy Falcon opened his cape and walls of ice grew around Londyn, encasing her hands and feet. Her eyes widened as Aurora Legion’s jaws dropped.
“What are you two doing?!”
“Returning the favor.”
Icy Falcon crossed his arms and sighed.
“When we hit a rough place, when we started to take things too far, Director Green put a stop to it. She told us no, and brought us back. That’s why I’m here today, instead of lying in a ditch on the side of the road.”
Captain Hot Devil nodded.
“And that’s why I still have a family. The two of us can’t thank you enough, Director Green, for not putting up with our crap. So you better believe we’re going to do the same for you.”
Londyn grit her teeth as she tried to move, tried to activate one of her devices. But her arms were well and truly trapped. Captain Hot Devil walked in front of her, looking her in the eye.
“Londyn…honestly I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know what drove you to do this. And whatever it is, I’ll face it with you, whatever I need to do. I’m with you to the end. But what you’re doing here is a step too far. You don’t need to do something like this, that’s what the League is for, isn’t it? So cut this out and tell us what’s going on and we’ll handle it. Together.”
She grimaced and looked away.
“This…doesn’t concern you, Captain.”
He put a hand on her shoulder. Her gaze turned back to him.
“Anything that concerns Director Green concerns me. Simple as that.”
Icy Falcon nodded.
“Director, I know what it’s like, getting so caught up in a fight you can’t see the world around you. You know that I do. So listen to me when I say, that’s what you look like right now.”
“I can see just fine, Falcon.”
“That’s what I thought, too, and you know how that ended.”
Londyn frowned and looked down. She heaved a sigh. She couldn’t activate her own tech, PSI Omega was nowhere to be seen, and Dr. Fraser and his staff likely wouldn’t intervene against ILS heroes.
She had no choice but to convince them.
And that meant…coming clean.
To tell them what was going on. And to tell them the truth about the League, its origins.
The story she didn’t want to tell…and the people she didn’t want to hear it.
She grimaced.
But she had no choice.
Londyn took a deep breath…
Author’s Note:
Dang, guess Londyn got inoculated against Bob’s talk-no-jutsu when she saw the Xiong Huang talk.
I’m guessing one question you might have is how much of Bob’s activities is Londyn currently aware of? The answer is a lot and not a lot at the same time. Londyn still doesn’t ‘know’ most of Bob’s activities and assets at present, but she has enough to make a good guess. Like, Linda would’ve known certain orgs and individuals she was supposed to watch out for (El Bank, Nemesis, etc.) but wouldn’t have known exactly why Bob was interested in them or how it all fit together, plus other pieces of info like Bob’s involvement in the whole Xiong Huang and Midnight Staffing incident. So Londyn would have enough pieces to put two and two together though not most of the details. So like, she can infer that Bob is heavily involved in the villain side of the equation and possibly running the whole thing, combined with him manipulating her and controlling Linda and she has a picture of Bob running the world (or at least having more control over both sides than any other person), though she doesn’t know exactly how he was involved in any given incident.
Londyn’s goal of the Mental Unifier then? Flip the table. She doesn’t know exactly how much control over the ILS Bob has, much less how organized the villains are in general, so she’s just wiping out one of the sides entirely and ending the game. Then it doesn’t matter how much control Bob has. Since it’s the ‘bad guys’ she can also justify it to herself and call it a good thing for the world at large as well.
Anyways!
Can the heroes convince Londyn to stop? How will they react to revelations Londyn's about to drop? What about Bob? Tune in next time, to find out!
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Chapter 136
Londyn took a deep breath and then grimaced, looking down at the floor.
“It’s not enough. The League isn’t enough. Monsters falling from the skies. Kaiju rising from the deeps. Secret masterminds you all don’t know the first thing about. I’m the Director. It’s my job to do something about all this.”
Captain Hot Devil sighed.
“Londyn…you’ve already done more than anyone. You built the League from scratch. You took on the villains no one else could do anything about.”
Londyn grit her teeth.
“That…wasn’t me.”
“What?”
“There was…someone else. Someone who gave me the idea of the League. Who put me in contact with the right people, gave me the funds to set it up. The League was never mine. I’ve just been a puppet in their hands, the League their tool. And now I need to stop them.”
Captain Hot Devil stared at Londyn for a second before snapping his fingers, creating a jet of flame in front of her face. Londyn’s eyes shot up from the sudden light and heat. Captain Hot Devil was glaring at her.
“With respect, Director, you’re wrong. I don’t know how the League got started. I don’t know how you set it up. I don’t know who you worked with or what they had planned. But I know one thing. YOU set up the League, you alone.”
Londyn looked him in the eyes as he spoke.
“Someone else thought of it? Who cares. Everyone was talking back then, but YOU’RE the one who actually did it. Someone else paid for it? Every government and company on Earth had the money but not one of them managed what you did. Someone had some sort of motive with the League? Who cares, do you know just how many times you’ve saved the world?”
Londyn’s eyes began to quiver. The Captain pressed on.
“When I was broken and alone, when I had destroyed everything I cared about, you know who it was who came to me? Who got me off my butt and put me back together? Who gave me a second chance? Who taught me what it means to be a hero?”
He pointed his finger right at her.
“It was you. Not the League. Not its sponsors. Not some puppetmaster or something. You. And you’re the one I follow, not the League. Anyone can think of the League, can fund it, can make schemes around it. But only YOU can build it. So if the League belongs to someone else, then forget it. Go and build a new League, and I’ll follow after you. And I bet I’m not alone.”
Both Captain Hot Devil and Londyn turned to the others. Icy Falcon just smiled wryly.
“I only returned to the League because you forced me to. So I’m obviously going wherever you tell me to, Director.”
Icy Rose stepped forward.
“That’s right! Director, when everyone went wrong, when I messed up everything, you helped pick me up! You made me a part of the team, and taught me how to be a hero again! If it weren’t for you, I’d…”
Wonder Knight nodded.
“That goes for all of us. When my powers developed, when I was lost and confused and had no idea who or what I was, you were the one who found me. You helped me figure out who I am and who I want to be. I’m only trying to be a hero because you taught me how to be.”
Pink Star clasped her fists as she yelled.
“Everything went wrong when all this started happening! You’re the one who made it something good! So don’t take that away from us, Director!”
Chronolock nodded too.
“Honestly, I probably would have died if you hadn’t helped me learn to use my powers. So don’t tell us it wasn’t you!”
Voidspeaker looked to the ground.
“...I’d probably have become a villain if you weren’t there. I was hurting, and lashing out. I was going to do something terrible. But then you found me. You showed me I could rise above my circumstances. And there powers I was going to use for bad…you showed me that I could use them for good instead. And…”
He glanced over at Chronolock, smiling at her.
“...you taught me to care about people again.”
Captain Hot Devil nodded and tapped Londyn’s shoulder. She looked back up to him, her eyes trembling at this point.
“See, Londyn? The part of the League that matters is yours. It’s always been yours. You’re the heart of the League and no one else. The League only exists…because of you.”
Tears began to fill Londyn’s eyes. She tried her best to hold it in…but she couldn’t. Not anymore.
Captain Hot Devil nodded at Icy Falcon and he dropped the ice. Londyn fell forward…and Captain Hot Devil caught her.
Aurora Legion rushed over and piled onto her. Icy Falcon sheepishly stepped over, joining in as well.
After a good amount of time, Londyn managed to press a button on her gauntlet.
“...Dr. Fraser…can you hear me?”
“Loud and clear, Director.”
“...shut it down.”
“With pleasure.”
The Mental Unifier’s spinning began to slow. The hum of power began to die down…
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Bob smiled as he walked through the hallway, watching the scene from a drone he left in the room. He had been holding the button to his own piece of grav-tech from the start, so all he needed was a slight finger press to counteract the increased weight and slip out of the room.
And he wasn’t needed any longer.
Londyn didn’t need a faceless minion.
She needed a hero.
And the heroes needed her.
Which meant all that was left…
“Hold it.”
PSI Omega stood in the hallway in front of him,
And the present PSI Omega was also distracted.
She crossed her arms and looked down.
“...I don’t get it.”
Bob shrugged again.
“Let me guess, you tried to give Londyn what she thought she wanted, right? But it didn’t go like you thought it would, it didn’t make her happy in the end.”
PSI Omega didn’t respond.
“Sometimes what we want…isn’t what we need. After she was betrayed, Londyn wanted to take control of her life and her feelings. What she needed was her friends, and a reminder of what she had achieved on her own. I want to repair my friendship with her…but what I need to do right now is accept the consequences of my actions and leave her to the heroes.”
PSI Omega frowned as she scrunched her brow. Bob smirked a bit.
“You? You were forced to grow up too quickly because you could hear things that aren’t supposed to be heard. You want to use your power and your knowledge, to make it mean something for how much it cost you, to be useful to the person who finally helped you, who didn’t shun you.”
She glared at Bob, but he just smiled back.
“What you need? You know a lot of things, Roxanne, maybe more than anyone else. But that doesn’t mean you are fundamentally different from them. And knowing everything about someone doesn’t mean you know them.”
Her face scrunched up.
“What does that mean?”
“What indeed?”
Bob resumed walking. PSI Omega crossed her arms and glared at him.
“I haven’t said you can go yet.”
“Do you think it will make the Director happy if you stop me?”
“...”
He continued walking down the hall, pausing once he was past her.
“If you want to understand…I recommend starting with your friends at the Academy. And try to do it without your powers.”
She frowned again.
“How will that help me understand?”
“It won’t. But it will help you get to know them. And, it will let them get to know you.”
With that, Bob left the hallway, leaving the young girl deep in thought.
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Elise stood still, watching her friends struggle against the seals. Her mind raced with calculations…
But she couldn’t think of anything to do…
Suddenly her thoughts began racing.
Much faster than before.
The intrusion had stopped. Her processing resources suddenly became free.
She started to wake up her organic components.
The yellow lights also died down around the heads of Nemesis.
Saydaa groaned.
“What…happened?”
Arvid held his head while Kiyosuke shook his. Nana was just breathing heavily.
Elise’s helmet opened up as her human eye began to open. Saydaa glanced up and noticed her.
“Elise? What’s going on? Whoa!”
Elise activated a gravity pull to pull all the team together, holding them in her arms.
“Ecstatic Greeting: My friends…welcome back. Thank goodness…you’re alright.”
“Huh? E-Elise?! W-What’s going on, w-what are you doing? T-Too close!”
“...I’m so sorry…Elise-san…Bob-sama…”
Kiyosuke frowned and grunted…but didn’t resist.
Arvid made a wry smile.
“It seems…a lot has happened.”
Chiyeko quietly released the seals on Nemesis, smiling as she slipped out of the room.
Author’s Note:
No author's note was written for this one prior to the rewrite, so nothing new here. I mean gasp, I definitely don't write these ahead of time or anything. You always get my genuine, sincere, real-time thoughts. Of course. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.