The Vespidian
Arc 10 Brooding
Chapter 6
Everything looked so small down below. My powerful wings flapping at a steady pace of once every five seconds or so. It had been a long time since I flew. Flew with my own wings that is. These were definitely much more powerful than before. My old ones were likely underdeveloped, I really should have spent a lot more time exercising them. Even with 2 people on my back, I felt no burden. Every flap of my membranes was strong enough to crush a car, throw a bus, or pulp a human… not that I have tried, but the sheer power behind these things made it quite evident that I was a hell of a lot stronger now than I was. This wasn’t even me exerting myself either.
We were in the rich side of town. The northwest where most of the larger companies were based. Chronic Tonic for instance, had been spared the destruction and was more or less in pristine condition. In fact, there were some cyber swat members out front of the building as we passed it. It seems that most of them switched over to follow Xava after the fall of the local Hero League. Enforcer was still kicking and running around trying to keep some order, all be it under Kraken’s rule now that the city was the way that it was. He had his hands full, the gang war in the southeast part of the city had erupted into full blown out in the open warfare between what remained of the Sixes and Sevens and the Diablos. From what Xava was saying even the Mad Dogs and Angels of Hell were getting in on it.
As for the Cyber Sirens, Xava’s little group, they were running a protection racket for the rich and powerful to make sure nobody decided to pull anything in the area. It was working due to this section of the city not falling into complete chaos like the rest. There were no roving street gangs, instead, there were cyber swat on every corner and Vira’s combat drones patrolling the area and shooting anybody that decided to try and cause problems. This section of the city was firmly under martial law, but compared to the madness elsewhere it was calm and peaceful.
We made our way north into the suburb section and into the area occupied by Fold and the Scarlet Souls. Here wasn’t so bad either. It had avoided most of the destruction. That being said, most of the power grid had gone out. Things were mostly safe here from what I could see. Minor crime stuff like looted out stores and broken into houses, but at least the streets were not choked with debris and abandoned cars. Barrel fires or any of that other stuff, well for the most part. There were bad sections. Homeless shanty towns cropped up filling alleyways and spilling out into the streets in some places. Trash and waste surrounded these areas, making my antennae flick over the disgusting smells.
No one talked to us, they were scared. They tried to ignore us, avoiding eye contact. Keeping to themselves and staying out of sight. I didn’t mind one bit. The trip to my parent’s house was uneventful. We arrived in the suburb. Things were different than I last recall. Houses were boarded up, cars had been broken into and the nice little neighborhood had a very different air about it. It was tense, an unease filled the surroundings. From what I could see those that could, fled the city when they had the chance. Those that didn’t, were held up in their houses.
We arrived at a familiar driveway. My Dad’s red pickup was not there, it was in the garage. I stared through the little window looking it over. It was not new anymore. Dents and scratches marred the surface. One of the tires didn’t match the others. It appeared that it had seen some shit recently. The lawn was still green though it was not wet. From the looks of it, it had not been watered in days. The house, well the windows were covered up by thick metal bars. Even the door had a recently installed outer door that was locked. It seems they had holed themselves up rather well. I knocked on the door or rather tapped it with my claws.
The sliding peephole opened up and after a moment the sounds of various locks being opened came from the other side. A bald, muscular man appeared smiling until he saw me. He stood still, looking up, taking in all that I was and after a few moments got over the shock. Now he looked between me and the door contemplating something, “What have you been feeding her? Vesper, you are so big now!”
My antennae descend smelling this human. Poking at him as I took in the scent… it smelled familiar and yet I didn’t recognize it. I looked between him and Xava, “Who is this?”
Both he and Xava looked at me as though I was mad, “Vesper, that is Saar, your father.”
“He is?” I asked, tilting my head to get a closer look. My tentacles wrapped around him, feeling him all over. I liked rubbing the bald head. The smoothness was very nice and the little fuzzy hairs tickled. What did my father look like? My memories were jagged, distorted, broken. Bits and pieces jigsawed together. His smell was correct. But everything seemed wrong. I remembered flickers of things. His smile and the warm feeling of touching his smooth head. I lowered him.
“Dad.”
“Oh, so she does remember.” Said Dad giving me a pat. I nuzzled into his hand, remembering this feeling. Mmm it was nice.
“Love you dad.”
“Oh, what has gotten into you?” he asked smiling.
“Nothing really, just remembered how much I missed you.”
“Well, come on in-” he started before looking at me and the door frame again, “Sorry honey, I think you are too big to fit inside.”
I nodded, seems to be the case. “I will be in the back yard.”
“You sure? I can move the truck out of the garage and you lay in there.”
“I will be in the back,” I replied, taking a large step over the fence and into the section divider between my parent’s yard and the neighbor’s. After another, I was in the backyard. Looking over the varied things.
The old swing set rustled, my eyes wandering to the grill and picnic table. There wasn’t too much else back here. Standing up straight I realized I could look into the second story window. What I saw was a very confused face staring back at me. My brain wracked about and it didn’t take long to recall this person. She was my mother, Caroline. I smiled, giving her a little wave with my tentacles. I visibly saw her shiver and she quickly left the room. I didn’t have to wait long before she emerged with Dad and the rest. She stood below me as I looked down at her.
“She certainly did get a lot bigger. How, eh… how you feeling Vesper?” asked Mom gawking me up and down in an attempt to take it all in.
I cracked my neck and sat down, “I am feeling better.”
Mom, Dad, Boris, and Xava all sat at the picnic table. “So what happened to her exactly?”
Xava explained, “Well you see when the Hammer was fired, Vesper was crippled… her arms and legs and abdomen were melted off. Her regeneration power was not strong enough and so she decided to augment herself with a full dose of Mutigene. It accelerated her growth after reversing it and as a result, she artificially forced herself into her next stage of development. In other words, she is an adult now.”
I nodded, “Mmhmm, ah, Mom, Dad, this is Boris. He is the one who fertilized my eggs.”
“Da, it is pleasure to meet you Mr. And Mrs. Vasska. I had been looking forward to meeting you.”
Dad looked between me and him and Xava, clearly trying to piece this together, when Mom blurted out, “Eggs?!”
“Yes, I laid them in Xava.”
Dad nodded finally understanding what had happened. He looked between me and Xava expectantly, “So when am I getting grandkids?”
“That is what you are concerned about?” asked Mom.
“And what are you concerned about?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe the fact that our daughter is as tall as a house or like who the fuck is Boris and how the hell did he end up impregnating our daughter?”
Dad nodded, before he stared down Boris, “So, Boris how do you know my little girl?”
Oh, things were serious.
“Da, I have had my sights on Vesper since moment my father showed me picture. My first planned date was ruined when she ran away. Never did get to take her to Nicky Mouse Land.”
More or less all of us picked up on something there, “Father?”
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“Da, you have all met him. Dimitri is my father.”
“Who?” I asked.
Boris nodded, “He is known by different name now. Molotov.”
Dad and Mom more or less didn’t register it. Their faces filled with a mixture of disbelief and abject horror in the case of my mother. “How?!”
“It was before he became little girl.”
“Who is the mother then?” I asked quite perplexed as I rubbed my chin. I mean fuck, this was news to me. I didn’t realize they had that sort of relationship. I thought he was a just a Russian mercenary guy.
Boris nodded, “Nicky Mouse.”
I put a hand up, “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold the fuck up. Your Mom is Nicky Mouse? The Nicky Mouse? Like Nicky Mouse Land Nicky Mouse?”
Boris nodded rather proudly, “Mm. Da, she is the one and only.”
“What was she like?” I asked.
Boris frowned a little thinking, “I am unsure she was killed when I was young.”
“Oh, right remember hearing something about that. So wait how did she die?”
His expression grew dark, “Officially, she died on mission, killed by Sanguine Puppeteer. In reality, she was eaten by Arachnaon.”
“Oh fuck, sorry,” I said only now realizing that sort of thing is probably hard to talk about.
Boris shook his head, “It fine. Old news, I hardly knew her anyway. Just gives me more reason to hate Chimera and Arachnaon.”
I nodded, “I see. Oh, Mom, Dad, uh, I joined Kraken.”
Dad took a deep breath and sighed, Mom rubbed her temple as they gave each other a long look. She nodded after a moment, “Well, while we are coming clean about things. There is something you need to know.”
Perplexed, I looked between them, “What?”
“Honey, I am a Super,” said Dad with a slight almost regretful smile.
My eyes spun for a moment, “Dad?! You how long? WHAT? Mom, you knew about this?”
“I was born a Super sweetie,” Dad answered.
Mom nodded, “Yes, I have known since before you were born.”
“Dad, do you have like a cool hero name and stuff, what is your power?”
Dad rubbed his neck a little embarrassed. “Hero is not quite right. Vesper, I am a Super Villain.”
My jaw dropped, stammering I looked between mom and dad trying to see if it was just a joke. It was not. “You… you are serious? I… who even are you? There is no way my loving, doting dad could be a fucking villain.”
“Honey, we fought once already.”
“We, we did?” I asked it felt like my mind was going to explode, “When? Where? What?!”
“We fought in the slums dear. I go by, Jack the Hammer. Imagine my surprise when I saw you there, I went easy on you, but not exactly what I wanted.”
My thoughts went back to that night. Scurrying about like a cockroach, getting my face smashed with shrapnel and a very heated batting contest with a certain football player. My mind started clicking things together. Gears turning. And the number sixty-eight on the jersey became the bridge that spanned the darkness to the light of revelation. That was Dad’s number back when he played. Why hadn’t I realized it sooner? Hmm, well I was fighting for my life and it is just a number.
“So, you are a member of Scarlet Souls? Jesus… Dad, I could have killed you that time!”
“I was much more worried about me killing you. I mean, you got hit really hard by that concrete chunk and then when I was running over to help you, you burrowed into the ground. I was scared to death you know.”
“You hit her?” asked Mom looking between us.
“Well, she hit a big assed chunk of concrete at me so, I hit it back and we hit it back and forth a few times. Until it broke and sprayed her in the face with pieces.”
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“What the fuck was I supposed to say? Oh hey honey, I am sorry I hit you, I am a villain by the way?”
“Why did you want me to join the Hero League if you were a fucking gang member? What if I had beat you up and arrested you or killed you?”
“Why the hell would I want my daughter to be a criminal?”
“Dad! That is like need to know information.”
“If you knew you might slip up. You might have even tried to join me. The guilt would eat you alive. I mean, who is proud of having a super villain for a father? I wanted you to be better than I could be. I didn’t want to force you onto a path like that. Jesus… Vesper, I never wanted you to be like me.”
“Dad, I am proud of you. When everybody else thought I was just a monster or a lab rat, you were the only one who loved me. Loved me for me. You didn’t care how I looked or if I had changed a little bit, ok a lot. I was still your little girl. You think I enjoyed my time in the Hero League?” I shook my head, “No, save a couple people like Xava they treated me like an animal. Dad, your visits were the only thing that kept me sane.”
“Honey… You should have told me. I would have gotten you out of there.”
“Dad, it is not your fault. You just wanted me to do better. It is not your fault that the Hero League is a front for Chimera. I would have told you but, you had a lot to deal with already.”
He got quiet looking down. “Yeah, I didn’t know it was that bad until after you had been in there for a while. At that point, it was going to be really hard to get you out.”
“Yeah, I know. It is hidden deep below the surface. If I had known earlier, I maybe could have saved Sunshine.”
Mom looked at the table silently before sighing, “It is still hard to believe she is gone.”
“Sunshine died?” asked Dad.
“Yeah, the hammer got called in to take her out. That bitch Dreamer, no Nightmare was torturing her and she went insane. She was trying to make me go crazy too when I was locked up in there.”
“That bitch. Next time I see her I am going to hit her head so hard it disintegrates.”
I grinned, “I was planning on torturing her.”
He crossed his arms, nodding, “True, a painless death would be too good for that cunt.”
“You know Dad?” I said, plopping a hand on his head, “We are on the same team now huh?”
He gave it a moment, thinking before he laughed, “I guess we are huh?”
Boris clapped his hands, smiling, “Da, what a happy family reunion. We all on same side.”
Dad nodded before he looked Boris in the eyes, “So, you fucked my daughter huh?”
“Dad!?” I gasped.
Boris grinned, “Da, she wild and angry like vicious jungle cat. I have slain many a pussy, but none like that.”
“Boris!?”
I could see it, there were sparks going between them. Their eyes were locked. The tension in the air was enough to make the surroundings quiet down. It was like a fight might break out at a moment’s notice. Boris’s shirt ripped from the muscles and Dad tore off his own like a strong man in a circus. Boris flexed his mighty muscles and a single dribble of sweat glistened in the sun. My eyes spun. What is even going on anymore? Dad gave a grunt and slammed his arm onto the table. Boris did the same and they locked hands. What? What the- Arm wrestling?!
“You want my daughter you will have to defeat me!”
“Mmm, I like you. Strong man. Very well. I will use my full power.”
“Dad! Boris! What are you two, children?!” I yelled shooing them and breaking up the contest before it even had a chance to start. I scolded my Dad, “Don’t try to arm wrestle him, he is a rank 7 strength Super. He would rip your arm off, crush the table and blow up the house from the force of it. Hell, there would be a crater!”
“But honey-”
“No buts! Dad, I know you care. You are what a Rank 4 or 5? But getting in a fight with Boris is not a smart thing to do, besides, he is a nice guy. He has saved me a few times already.”
He squinted at Boris for a moment and extended a hand, “You break her heart and I will rip your balls off.”
“Dad! What did I just say?”
Boris nodded and shook the hand firmly, “Da, I would never think of such thing. I have loved Vesper since moment I saw her.”
Xava smiled, “I am glad that things went so well.”
“Is it going well?” I asked, scooting next to her and watched my Dad and Boris come to an understanding. Well, I guess that is good.
“It looks like they are having fun,” she replied idly watching them with a slight smile.
I suppose so… “Dad put on a shirt!”
Things carried on like this for a bit as we snacked on food and talked about things that had happened recently. Mom was out of a job on account of the Star Agency being closed for the moment. It was not surprising with all the citywide problems. At some point, Ichigo had shown up happily sitting at the table. It was enough to make me do a double take. “Ichigo?! Where did you come from?”
She looked up smiling vaguely, “Oh? I have been here for some time now.”
I must have been too engrossed in the conversations. To think she would be able to sneak up without me noticing. “So what are you going to be doing Ichigo?”
“Hmm, dunno. The school is closed so that out the window. I might go on vacation or something. Go to some tropical beach somewhere and get a tan. The summer of my youth is here!”
“Ichigo it is winter you know?”
She pouted, “It is summer somewhere! I just wanna lay on a beach somewhere.”
“I thought we were friends?”
“Oh? Have you not realized things are about to become… interesting around here?”
“Interesting?”
Ichigo nodded, “There will be lots and lots of fighting in the near future. As such, it is a little dangerous for little old me.”
“What makes you say that?” asked mom.
“Well you see, a little birdy told me that the Hero League sent out a major subjugation force to attempt to retake the city. They sent the A team. So things are about to get, very, very interesting around here. And interesting with Supers mean it is going to be dangerous.”
“Who is on the A team?”
“Light Fly rank 7, Armadillo rank 8 and Hubris rank 9. Well, those are the important ones, there are others, but they are small fry in comparison.”
Boris nodded, “Hubris, been while since I fought him. He is very strong, let me live cause he couldn’t be bothered to kill me.”
“Who the hell is that?” I asked.
“He is one of the strongest heroes in the league. His power is that he can do anything that he thinks he can. He thinks he can fly, he can fly.”
“So wait he can copy powers?”
“Sort of. If he believes it is possible, then he can do just about anything.”
“How the fuck are you supposed to beat somebody like that?” I asked.
Ichigo smiled, “That is simple. His power is based off of his self centered, egotistical belief that he can and will do anything. His power is Hubris incarnate. Which is why he named himself that. That just shows how much of a megalomaniac, he is.”
“If he is so strong, how come he is only rank 9? That sounds like a rank 10 type of thing.”
Ichigo just kept smiling, “Pride comes before the fall. Now think on this Vesper, if someone’s power is based off of their belief, their sureness that they can do something… what do you think would happen if they were unable to do something?”
I sat thinking it over, “Well, if I was able to open a pickle jar then be unable to open it, I would try again and again until it worked.”
“But what if it didn’t work over and over?”
“I would try a different approach.”
“What if that didn’t work?”
“I would try something else.”
“And that fails?”
“Something else.”
“And what if everything you try fails, no matter how many times you try?”
“I would… doubt myself.”
“Exactly. Now you just have to figure out what will break that man’s self-confidence. Crush his hopes and dreams until they are dust and he will crumble like a sand castle at high tide. There is a reason that no one fucks with Arachnaon, not even other rank 9s.”
“What does she have to do with this?”
“Oh, just giving you little hints to figure things out.”
“Why don’t you just tell me?”
“I don’t have all the answers, that is simply what is logical.”
“I see,” I said, stroking my chin, “Xava could you do a bit research on him for me?”
She nodded, “Why certainly Vesper. What are you going to be doing?”
“I need to figure out exactly what I am capable of now,” I said standing.
“Leaving already?” asked Dad.
“Yeah, I don’t have too much time from the sounds of things.”
A Rank 9… sounds like a pain in the ass. Molotov should be able to handle that guy, I mean she is the scariest thing I ever met. Still, those are some high numbers. I hope I got a serious power upgrade, sounds like I am going to need it.