The Vespidian
Arc 12 Villainy 101
Chapter 2
“You have been lazy lately wasp,” said Molotov gazing through me from across the training room.
“Have not, I have been swamped lately,” I said, crossing my arms.
“Oh swamped in pussy?” the little monster smiled, and shivers ran through me, she chuckled a little, “I see, I see. Da you have been practicing what I taught you, have you not?”
I hadn’t.
“A little,” I replied warily.
“Excellent then we can resume practice then, since you have been following my instructions.”
I raised a finger up, “About that, is now really such a good time? I mean, I have many other things that I should be-”
“Nyet you worthless wasp. There is nothing more important than learning how to fight properly. The Hero League is coming in full force soon, all the fights you have been in till now are child’s play compared to the free for all that will sweep the city.”
“I hear you, but hear me out,” I retreated a little.
“Nyet! Anything before a but is all bullshit.”
“But last time you took my own arm and bitch slapped me with it and never gave it back! It took me a whole day to grow that thing back, and it hurt.”
She scowled, cocking an eyebrow, “I can do much worse, you know.”
“Ok, ok, I get it. What the hell do you want?”
“We will resume our practice of the Wing Chun martial art.”
I was still not sure what this was all about. “Why am I learning martial arts? I can literally throw a building.”
Molotov’s deep voice replied, “Simple little wasp, you lack control, discipline, and finesse. Power is meaningless if it can’t hit your target.”
“I think the name is stupid.”
“Names can be changed, call it as you like, but the movements and techniques will remain the same. Now stop complaining and show me your hand placement.”
I lift my hands up, the palms opened, Although I could feel her scowling she just looked, “Hmm needs work still,”
Molotov demonstrated her whole body relaxed, arms slightly extended with the hands in a scoop sort of shape. She nodded, which I knew meant that I was supposed to try and attack her. I stared at the little girl, wary of her. Striking a blow on her would be no easy task. First of all, it was a small target. Ugh… she is going to beat me to a pulp if I don’t do anything. I loomed over her, making sure to stay out of range of those little arms.
I had learned from my first mistake, which was to attack head-on. My tentacles attacked from the left and my right arm jabbed at her. Molotov shifted slightly, right hand smacking away the limbs of muscles and her left glided over the top of my hand before surging with power and diverting it into the floor. She twisted the restrained arm and yanked, pulling me off balance. My wings flapped, pulling me away from her, but the death grip did not loosen. Muscles began to stretch and tear until the arm separated.
Honestly, it should hurt a lot more than it did, but ever since I got bigger pain from something like that is only a mild twinge like pulling a muscle. It didn’t matter that the arm was no longer attached, the wound sealed within a few seconds.
“Oh, most would have just gotten their nose broken rather than lose an arm. Though I suppose you are not most. It seems you are learning, but it is not good to abandon your limbs so easily as it will reduce your fighting capability.”
My arm flopped on the ground, rolling to me and I picked it back up, reattaching it.
“What am I supposed to do?”
“If you are grappled, you can move with force, or you can use your other arms to block the path of attack, locking an opponent from being able to use their limbs.”
She demonstrated by letting me hold her wrist and press it against her chest, by restraining the opposite limb than the one she was going to use, it put her stance off-balance.
“I get what you mean,” I said, “But the size difference is a bit much don’t you think? My finger is bigger than your arm.”
Molotov scoffed at me, “Size means nothing. Now show me how your punch.”
I made a fist and reached back before jabbing it.
“Nyet, nyet, nyet, all wrong. Observe.”
Molotov reached her hand, about halfway extended so that it was able to touch my leg when just a little more out. She tapped my leg then pulled the fist to halfway between us, that little hand jerked in a blinding jab that made it seem as though it had not moved at all, my carapace burst open and I toppled over as my shin split in half.
“Damn it, Molotov! You are just picking on me now!”
“Nyet, I gave you a practical lesson.”
“Lesson my ass, you are just picking on me!”
“Now look wasp. You waste too much movement and energy by cocking your punch and pulling it all the way back. It telegraphs your next attack and makes it easy to counter or disrupt. However, if you roll your hips and put your weight and body behind your jab like so,” She said her hand punching the air with an explosive amount of power, despite not actually moving all that far. She had shifted her body with the punch to extend it past the target and then return, “You get much more penetration power compared to the other attack, it is also faster, and you can chain successive attacks like so.”
Molotov jabbed again, but this time striking five times, three with the right hand and two with the left as it almost seemed like a rolling motion as one hand took the place of the other only shifting back out when the other came charging again to deliver more attacks.
“Always aim for vitals, neck, joints, groin, solar plexus, nose. While disorientated, gouging eyes or crushing the windpipe is very effective.”
I glowered a little, “Underhanded, I see.”
“All that flashy fighting you see in movies is garbage. In real fights, it can be decided in a single hit, so flamboyant moves are a waste of energy and leave you open for a counter-attack. If you are not overwhelmingly stronger, mercy is not an option. Be direct, be quick, and be concise. This is life or death. A single moment of hesitation can cost you dearly.”
“I get that, but-”
“Again,” Molotov motioned for me to attack her.
I reached forward, about half extended and jabbed at her, her hand smoothly diverted me again, and this time she shifted and grappled me, using my own power against me and sent me over her head and crashing into the floor on the other side of her.
“Use your opponent’s energy against them, it is much harder to stop something that is already moving than to simply divert it. How much do you weigh Vesper?”
This was definitely not my forte.
“Why do you wanna know that? What are you going to call me fat or something?”
“Answer my question.”
I looked away, “6 tons.”
“Oh, you really are fat.”
“Hey, that is all muscle! Xava, she is calling me fat!”
The Nurse overseeing the practice tilted her head, “But Vesper your prodigious abdomen is pleasantly plump.”
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“It is full of eggs!” I complained.
“There there, there is no need to be upset over having fat reserves.”
“What fat? My body eats itself if I don’t eat like a minimum of fifty pounds of meat a day.”
“Speaking of meat, what exactly do you plan on doing with those that you captured.”
“Who?” I asked.
“Gnome and Disk Jockey. What are you plotting with those two?”
“Oh,” I said startled slight, “Eh I just remembered that I had caught them.”
Molotov stared holes into me, “You need to be more professional.”
“Ok, ok I will deal with it.”
“Good, now remember, you are a villain now, so act like it.”
I rubbed my chin, “Act like a villain, huh?”
“Da, that is correct.”
I stared at her, “For reference, what exactly does a Villain even do?”
Molotov rubbed her chin, considering it, “Whatever you want really. You could be twirly mustache villain and monologue, though I don’t recommend that since it leads to complications. Long talks tend to get interrupted.”
“Speaking from experience?”
“Da, Sanguine Puppeteer loves to play things up for dramatic effect. It can get away with that due to how powerful it is, you though would likely spoil your plan or get sneak attacked while talking.”
“So no cartoon villainy?”
“Da. Cold hard real villainy. Torture, extortion, manipulation, thievery, murder; that type of thing.”
“I see,” I said vaguely. “A bit darker than I thought.”
“You will get desensitized after a short while. In the underworld, it is much better to be feared than loved.”
“I don’t think I am really up to that, though.”
“You will soon enough. For now, just think of it as protecting what is important to you. Those do-gooder heroes won’t see things the way that you do, they will see a monster rather than a person. To them, once you go, villain, you lose your humanity. So, might as well live up to their expectations.”
“Just cause I am a villain doesn’t mean I have to be all evil and shit. I can pick and choose who and what I mess with, right?” I asked.
“Yes, you are free to choose to a degree. That being said just cause you have more freedom doesn’t mean others are not out to get you. Strength, power, and influence are paramount. Without them, expect others to target you. That being said, that is more for solo operators or independent villain groups. Since you joined Kraken, we have a policy of not taking from other members, everyone else is free game though. Did that makes things more clear?”
“A little, I think. So what, you want me to recruit them?”
“If that is what you want, they are rather small fries, so it is not a big loss if they die. That being said, a Terrakinetic and a Techno-Diver are both useful abilities.”
“Come to think of it, I have never seen Disk use his ability. What the hell does a Techno-Diver do?”
“They can hack machines, reprogram them, corrupt their systems, and control them. More or less the machine equivalent of Mind Divers,” said Xava, “I would prefer it if he was dealt with swiftly to ensure my systems are not compromised. So far, he has not caused any problems, but that could change very quickly if he manages to break through Overseer’s defenses.”
“So you want me to kill him?” I asked, staring down at her.
Xava tilted her head, “He is a potential threat.”
“I… is that really the only option? Can’t we just dump him out of the city or something and make him promise not to come back?”
“There would be no guarantee he would not betray us. Why are you so concerned? Is it because you two were friends?” said Molotov.
I scratched the back of my head, “Well, I mean he is a good kid. I don’t think he deserves to die just cause he can hack things.”
“Then recruit him.”
“I doubt he would join us.”
“We can’t leave him be either, if you just let him go he might join the Heroes and turn on us.”
“That… you have a point, but I won’t feel good about it. He hasn’t really done anything that warrants his death.”
“It is the potential risk that he poses.”
I nodded, “Ah, you guys are sounding like all those bastards that were treating me bad just cause I am a wasp. I am going to talk to him and decide what to do after that.”
I left them walking along the corridors until I arrived at holding area, part of it had been converted into a housing area for the Mad Dogs. They kept to themselves, mostly just lazing around with their engorged bellies stuffed with my brood. My thoughts lingered as I stared at the baby bumps. Something I must protect, huh? What exactly would I do to protect my children?
Just about anything.
Still, if it could be avoided, I would rather not have to kill one of the few people who’s company I actually enjoyed. It was hard to find good gaming buddies. Ah speaking of which I hadn’t even been playing games lately. My guild is probably in meltdown mode in SR. Oops. Oh well, I have been busy.
Disk was held in a rather tightly secure location. Unlike the other areas, no little robots were scurrying around cleaning things. It was like a dead zone where nothing mechanical set foot. Even the door was lacking techy stuff in stark contrast to the rest of the lair. It was analog, a manual crank so that it could not be hacked.
Was Xava just being paranoid? Likely not, I mean I did disarm Nightmare just to be on the safe side. You can’t be too safe around mental Supers after all.
I unlatched the lock and cranked the door so that it opened. Disk sat in the corner, dark bags under his eyes. He was surprising clean compared to when I had drug him in. His ginger hair had sprouted some sparse patches on his chin due to not being able to shave. Ah, he always did suck at growing facial hair.
“Hey,” I said, closing the door behind me, “How are you holding up?”
He gawked at me for a long awkward few moments, “Who are you? Why am I being held here?”
“It is me, Vesper,” I replied, smiling slightly.
“Vesper? How the hell did you get so big? Wait what is going on I woke up in this room and I can’t remember how I even got here.”
I sat down, you know, to be less intimidating and well, the ceiling wasn’t that much above my head. “Well after the Hammer Strike I was pretty messed up so Dr. Arbor did some stuff to me, and I am better than ever now.”
“Hammer Strike?” he asked, “What are you talking about?”
I paused for a moment, “Just for reference, what is the last day that you remember?”
He got quiet as he started thinking. “I don’t remember what day it was, but there was a school trip to talk with kids.”
“Oh,” I said, growing rather sympathetic, “That was like a month ago. Fuck man, then Nightmare got you then?”
His face said everything, he was shocked and confused, “A month! Who the fuck is Nightmare?”
I wagged a hand slightly, “Dreamer was actually an evil Chimera agent mind-controlling people. I have taken care of her.”
“Are Glide, Squeeze and Sunshine ok?” he asked.
I shook my head, “Sunshine is… she died trying to block the Hammer Strike. As for Squeeze and Glide, I just don’t know. Haven’t seen either of them since a few days before the strike. Chief, Panther, and Metal are dead. Neon Nurse, Enforcer, Medavac are still alive.”
“Dead? They actually shot Bronson with a Hammer Strike?”
“Yeah, the Hero League HQ was at the center.”
“My parents and sister are they still alive?” he asked, having let it sunk in a bit.
I shrugged, “I don’t know who they are.”
He paled growing even more concerned, “Please I have to find out. Let me out of here.”
I raised a tentacle, “Here is the thing, the Hero League collapsed here. I am now a member of Kraken, so I am technically a villain now. So if I let you out of here, you might cause us trouble. I get that you are concerned, I been there, so I will release you, but on the condition that you get your family and leave Bronson immediately. If you don’t leave then you are either with us, or against us and just between you and me, the cops and robbers games are over, this is serious, and you will be killed. I will kill you myself to protect my family if I have to, so do us both a favor and leave.”
“You wouldn’t kill-”
My voice cut him down like ripe wheat, “I killed Captain Metal myself. I will kill you if push comes to shove.”
“Ok, I get it.” He shivered.
“Good, I will inform Xava, and you will be on your way. You have three days to leave. We are watching.” I said, standing and opening the door to leave.
“Vesper,” he said, looking up at me, “Why didn’t you try to force me to join Kraken?”
I smiled vaguely, “Cause, I would rather you didn’t die. I have had too many friends die lately. Ah, we should play SR sometime after all this is over.”
He teared up a little, “Thank you, Vesper. I won’t forget this.”
***
A few hours later, I sat at the table, looking out over the gathered villains of every gang in the city, with two exceptions, the Diablos and Sixes were not present. Glitter Kitten lay sprawled in my lap, to my right Xava stood beside Vira and Spark Spray. To my left Den Mother and Thumper were seated though like GK they were very much heavy with my children, slumped a bit dazed. Further to the left was Dr. Arbor, who kept stealing glances at the gurgling bellies. Then again just about everybody was looking at them. Across from us was Burnout who as usually looked a bit cracked out, fresh scabs were torn open on her neck.
Fold and Shadow were at the far end of the table, opposite Molotov and Boris. Dr. Tesla’s masked face was on a screen set up beside Molotov. In front of the Russian duo sat Miss Wiggles on her pillow, stretching and yawning.
“What the hell happened to you guys? You blew up like whales!” said Burnout twitching a bit.
Glitter Kitten rolled a little as I rubbed her tummy, affectionately, “Nyaa, well we got knocked up.”
All the eyes focused in on me. I could hear the whispers amongst some of them, “It was the wasp.”
“I can’t believe she got Glitter Kitten.”
“What is it planning?”
“Speaking of the wasp, when the hell did it get so big?”
I ignored their whispers and continued to pamper my pets.
“You ok, Glitter Kitten, does it hurt?” asked Burnout.
“Nyeah, I am purrfectly fine. It takes getting used to, but I am just fat and sluggish for a bit.”
Burnout nodded, “Ok, just make sure you take care of yourself, I heard about the Sparkle Kat.”
“Eh, we got Nightmare at least.”
“True, wait, are you going to be ok for missions?”
“Nyahaha we taking maternity leave.”
“Wait, really?” I asked, “Do Villains even have maternity leave?”
“I already talked it over with the Boss, so it fine,” replied my kitty.
My eyes fell on Molotov who simply nodded, “It would be futile to make them do anything while they are in such a state anyway.”
“I see,” I nodded back, “Thank you.”
Molotov shifted in her seat, and the room quieted, “Da, now then. Down to business. As we all know, the Hero League will be arriving in four days. Our most recent report is that they are bringing their mobile base of operations, the Citadel of Order from which they will be launching operations.”
“Do we know how many there will be?” asked Fold.
“There will be a fully staffed base, several thousand noncombatants and roughly a defense force between a thousand and two thousand soldiers. As for Supers, they brought all their A-listers. Hubris, Miss Universe, Tecton, Light Fly, Adamantine, and Armadillo. There are several teams of mid-ranked Supers as well, as such, just in case I have called in some backup. Chimera is watching and will likely send agents to help as well. After all, we do have of their members. If not, then we will crush the Hero League here making operations across the world much easier.”
“How big is the Citadel?” I asked.
“It is a four-mile by four-mile square on which a heavily fortified base has been made. Attacking it directly is not an option until their numbers have been whittled down a fair bit.”
“How are we going to deal with that thing?” asked Burnout, “I mean that thing flies, doesn’t it? And, and like didn’t that thing take out Germany the other month?”
“Yes, it does fly. Not quite, it was there for support, but it was Arachnaon that took out Germany’s Super revolt. They just mopped up after the fact.”
“So, what are we going to do?” I asked. “We have a plan, right?”
“Of course, we have a plan. Now let me explain it to you…” Smiled Molotov.