The Adventures of Grave 4, page 20
She had a decision to make . . . a big one.
Chapter 13
“Ow,” Gabi moaned and rolled over as I got out of bed the next morning.
“You’re telling me,” Ramona groaned from where she lay face down with her naked bubblebutt sticking up in the air.
“Why are you complaining? You’ve got A-class healing,” Gabi huffed.
“And not even that could keep up with the pounding I took covering for you two,” Ramona groaned. “Plus, don’t you have those nanite thingies that can heal you now? If you ask me, I got the long and fat end of that stick. Ha!” she cracked herself up, but it turned into a grunt. “I don’t want to hear your bitching, alright.”
“My nanites are meant to fix combat damage. Not . . .” she trailed off with what I expected was a blush.
“Seriously! You didn’t program them to un-tear your pussy! That’s a major oversight Gabs. Better get on that,” Ramona chortled before wincing.
“You hear that, Yume. Gabs creates high-tech, super-healing bots and she forgets to program them to help her recover from a hard fuck by Marcus’s big cock. Yume? Hey . . . you there?” I heard jostling as the spell-slinger was shaken. “Holy shit. Is she alive? Did he fuck her to death?”
“She did swallow that one time. She could have suffocated. Did anyone roll her on her side into the recovery position?” that was the last of the banter I heard as I left the room and entered the bathroom.
It was a memorable night. The first night the three of us spent together in a meaningful way. We were all riding high on the success of dominating and absorbing the 112ers, and that translated into passion. Maybe a little too much. As Ramona said, I might have gone a little hard on them, but despite all the complaining I heard, none of it was negative toward my performance. Life was good.
“They were definitely begging for it in the moment,” I mentally defended my actions as I turned up the shower to scorching to wash the various viscous liquids off me.
“Heya, Boss!” Jeanette greeted me as she dropped down through the ceiling to land right in front of me.
I didn’t even jump. I was pretty sure she tried to find the most embarrassing moments to drop in on me and I was ready for her this time. I was onto her game. She gave me a little pout, but then her eyes sparkled as she recognized the challenge. Maybe I should have jumped a little. Now, every time I took a shit, I was going to have to worry about her jumping out of the plumbing.
“I just thought you should know that Pop and company are being somewhat good little boys and girls,” she threw her head back and pretended to wash her hair, but it never got wet.
“Somewhat good?” I raised an eyebrow.
“There is some resentment and a little coup planning here or there. Honestly, it’s more Meek that’s driving that ship. I’ve got someone keeping an eye on it, but if Pop calls, tell him if anything happens to Yume, you’ll rip Meek limb from limb right in front of him. That should shut down their plans.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said as I clenched my fist, took a deep breath, and let it out. I wasn’t going to let them spoil my good mood first thing in the morning.
“Connie has already contacted him and set up meetings with Ramona to go over her vision for the 112ers moving forward. She can make the threat in person if you want,” she finished her report.
“Vision?” I snorted. I couldn’t help myself.
I was pretty sure Ramona’s vision up until the day she met me was chasing boys and trying to get laid. She had that period where she wanted to be a cape, but life choices made that an impossibility. Now that she didn’t have to worry about a constant supply of dick and already had all the money in the world, she was going to have to chart her new direction in life. I already knew what part of it was.
She’d taken on a starring role in Grave’s Bitches. It made sense. She was the first and strongest of my women and had proven herself multiple times on the battlefield. The only problem was that her leadership style – to put it bluntly – might not be for everyone. That wasn’t a problem before, but all my women were becoming stronger and would buck against her authority at some point. Yume’s spells were only going to grow in complexity and strength as she designed stuff specifically for an S-Class in mind. Gabi’s medium-combat armor performed perfectly, and I knew one day I’d walk down into her lab to find its big sister being assembled in a cradle. Even Jeanette had become an adept recruiter of the ghosts of Arch City. From the zealous look in her eyes, it was her life’s mission to spread the gospel of Grave. I had plans for the power she was gathering for me.
Last but not least, Cynthia was helping to make this all happen. The money being laundered would make many things possible and further insulate my secret identity. That allowed me to play my games with Ranger and date Miss Marvelous. Time would tell how Ramona reacted when she couldn’t use her strength to get what she wanted, and situations popped up that she couldn’t bullshit her way through. I was excited to see what she was capable of.
Speaking of Jeanette . . . “I’m going to be going out of town,” my hand slid forward, and despite her being a ghost, her body felt firm to me. “I need you to do me a favor.”
“Anything,” her eyes burned for me.
“I need you to keep an eye on them,” I nodded back toward the bedroom. “I know they want to do things by themselves and be independent, but I couldn’t take something bad happening to them.”
After watching what Ramona did to Meek, I knew I wouldn’t be nearly as cool and collected as Pop. Just thinking about myself in the other man’s position made me want to torch the entire city.
“Oh,” she looked conflicted. “It’s not that I won’t,” she quickly confirmed, “but it’s not like I have the power to do that.”
“Then maybe we need to fix that,” I grinned.
What could I say, I was still in the mood. When I walked out of the bathroom, Jeanette followed me with a towel wrapped around her hair and chest while her eyes burned like twin green suns.
“Ghost bitch!” Ramona shot upward.
“Ramona,” the two regarded each other. “We should talk.”
“We should if you’re going to join Grave’s Bitches,” Ramona nodded.
That was the wrong thing to say. Jeanette turned on Ramona as anger contorted her face and green veins started to spread across her body as she summoned my power.
“I am one of Grave’s Bitches,” she roared. “He is life to me. He is the air I breathe. The food that sustains me. He is my sole reason for existence. That is something that none of you understand. None of you! And from now on I’m not Ghost Bitch. I’m Apostle,” she trembled with rage.
“Wow. Someone needs to take a chill pill,” the thankfully still-alive Yume propped herself up on her elbows. “I can sell you one for twenty bucks.”
The nonchalant air about the spell-slinger cut Jeanette’s ectoplasmic legs out from under her. “What?”
“Congratulations,” Gabi was pulling on a pair of work coveralls. “You passed, Apostle.”
“Passed what?” Now my ghost-girl was just confused.
“The entry test. Devotion to Marcus is a must, and I gotta say girl,” Ramona walked over and threw her arm around Jeanette’s shoulder. “You passed with flying colors. But no bonus points for bucking the B-codename trend,” she sighed. “I guess it was only a matter of time, but I at least thought you’d choose something ghost-themed.”
“Yeah, I saw you all doing the B thing. I considered Banshee, but she’s a fed out of Liberty City, and I don’t have a sonic attack. The best I could find was Buruburu, but that sounds more like a candy bar than a proper villain name. In the end, I decided to name myself after my purpose instead of what I am,” she explained as Ramona walked her toward the door.
“No, Apostle is good,” Ramona gave it her stamp of approval. “I’ll workshop some ideas and make t-shirts for everyone. Catchphrases, theme song, the works.”
“Please don’t,” Gabi shook her head.
Ramona ignored her. “But I’ve got to ask, and don’t take this the wrong way, but what can you do aside from being all invisible and intangible?” the enhanced Neohuman tried not to sound like she was dissing the mere ghost.
“I can do this,” Jeanette ceased becoming a very attractive woman wrapped in towels and morphed into a puddle that started to slither across the room before reforming.
“That looks kind of gross,” Ramona grimaced.
“It doesn’t feel great,” Jeanette shivered. “But imagine me crawling up your body, in through your sinuses, into your skull, and exploding it from the inside out among other gruesome things. A few times doing that and people sure as shit will fear Apostle.”
“It’s still gross . . . but badass,” the explanation turned Ramona’s frown upside down.
“I can also possess people,” Jeanette shrugged, and the big blonde almost tripped over her own feet. “Possession! Seriously! Way to bury the lead,” she laughed.
“On that note,” Jeanette turned to me with a sheepish look. “I’m working on a little surprise for you, so don’t freak out when it’s reported that Valentina is missing from her cell. I’ve got her on a mission, and I promise you’ll love it.”
“One of my demoted Chosen, someone who knows the intricacies of Pack’s holdings and operations but doesn’t have the strength to defend herself, is gone,” I ground my teeth and massaged my temples.
“Yeah, but don’t worry. Everything is under control,” she smiled brightly as her eyes willed me to believe her.
I did. I also knew how badly shit could go sideways. “Okay. Keep me updated.”
“Thank you!” she squealed as she skipped over and planted a big one on me. After the power deposit I just put in her, the kiss pulled barely a trickle.
“I’m not gonna lie, I thought you’d be slimier,” Ramona recaptured the ghost and pulled her toward the hallway. “But you’re more elastic,” she pinched her in the arm and tugged at her flesh. “Have you tried reforming yourself into different configurations? You could probably be a decent mid-tier shapeshifter and learn all their cool tricks but don’t worry, you won't have to do it all yourself. You’re one of the Bitches. Gabs is super smart about all this stuff. She’ll want to poke and prod to do some tests, but it’s a rite of passage at this point. Even Marcus had to endure it. In fact, I’d love to see what you feel like when . . .” they wandered out of earshot. I was grateful for that. I already knew what she felt like.
“Gabi, I . . .” I turned to the smartest person in the room.
“No time. I’m off to work,” she waved over her shoulder at me as she followed the other two out the door and turned toward the hidden lift to her lab.
“I guess that leaves us,” Yume was still lying on the bed typing away on her phone. “What’s the plan for today?”
“I’m going to call Cynthia and we’re going to clear up this money mess. Get in contact with your family and have them expect us in Bordertown by late morning.
“Can do,” she slipped out of bed, and I couldn’t help but lean up against the door and watch as she searched around for her clothes among the many outfits strewn across the room.
“What?” she caught me watching.
“Can’t I admire a work of art,” I laid it on thick. What could I say? Despite a few hiccups, I was still in a great mood.
As long as you keep six feet between yourself and this work of art,” she gave me a look and I noticed she was a little bowlegged. I was sorry about that, but not really. She quickly grabbed some clothes and hurried into the bathroom to shower and change. Then it was a cross-country jaunt to get my fifty-mil laundered.
“All in a day’s work,” I sighed as I sat back down on the edge of the bed.
In two minutes flat, I’d gone from being surrounded by four mostly naked, gorgeous women to all by my lonesome. It gave me whiplash. To fix that, I called up Jess.
“Call us a car,” I ordered when she answered. “I’ve got a trip to take.”
***
The only wrinkle in the plan was our departure point. Cynthia was waiting for my call and was out in front of her building before we even pulled up. She was all business today. No spankings were requested. She rode in silence and fidgeted as she picked up on my own tension. My gut churned with potential dread. According to Yume, the one and only place we could leave with her family’s teleportation network was from their shop in the Hole. That put me in Guildmaster’s territory. After what happened with Gabi, I really didn’t want to deal with the other crime lord’s bullshit today. He was tomorrow’s problem.
As we pulled up to the parking lots that led up to the giant hole in the ground, I prepared for the worst. As it turned out, there was no need to be so worried. Maybe one of Guildmaster’s abilities was some type of mental power because miraculously no one bothered us. There were only thousands instead of tens of thousands of people shopping the deals this morning, but they all seemed more intent on their own problems than ogling a man walking toward the underground mall.
As I reached the spiral, I saw a platoon of dick girls getting their morning assignments from their pimp. I remembered what the mink-girl Effie said back during the intro meeting with the Chosen. Guildmaster basically ran the prostitution business, and we were playing catchup. He had the supply to meet the demand while everyone else was struggling. After all, it wasn’t like mommy issues and needing to pay tuition for law school was a problem many men had in this day and age.
The head dick girl saw me looking, but instead of waltzing over to show off the goods – no thanks – she gave me a respectful nod. Guildmaster knew I was here, and he wasn’t going to interfere.
“Christmas just came early,” I mumbled under my breath as we spiraled down into the Hole.
In fact, I was pretty sure he was rolling out the red carpet for me. All the duplicated henchmen usually hanging out in front of Goons R’ Us were keeping a path clear for me. Even Angel was standing outside his shop in a flamboyant fedora that he tipped in my direction. Hell, the other supervillain might have even dialed down the ward we had to pass through to get to all the good stuff because Cynthia didn’t freak out too bad.
In record time, we found ourselves in front of a shop straight out of Gremlins. Last time I was here, I didn’t know my elbow from my asshole where magic was concerned. Now, I was coming in with my eyes open. Now, I could sense the power that flowed through the doorway we entered. It felt like some kind of spell that would draw in customers. Maybe that’s how they got me through the door in the first place. Then, there was the eldritch energy bottled in all the tchotchkes around us.
“Huh. A tiki torch that will never go out,” I deciphered the runic script on what was basically a magical party piece.
But all of that had nothing on the power I saw when the woman who owned the joint rushed out to meet us at the sound of the jingling bell.
“I see you finally show up for work,” Aunt Honoka chided her niece as she pulled her into a hug. “Welcome back, Marcus,” her attitude was night and day from last time.
“Sorry, I haven’t been by more,” now that I could see all the magical gear they stocked, I meant it.
It might be wise to stock up on the basics and not have Yume running around doing special orders every time I needed something. Her free time was getting few and far between as I gave her more responsibility within my growing organization. Sadly, I didn’t think she was going to have time to work for her aunt or the Kwon family anymore. She was part of my family now, and I would jealously horde her time.
“And I’m sorry I’m going to have to borrow Yume for the foreseeable future,” since I was here already, I might as well stake my claim. “However, after we’re off, you can have her finish up anything she’s working on until I return.”
“No, you can’t,” Yume countered. “I’m working another job tonight and need to prep. It pays good,” she reassured her aunt.
I just shrugged as the older woman eyeballed us both. For all I knew, she was using an eldritch spell to figure out I’d finally taken her niece’s virginity.
“I knew this would happen eventually,” Honoka sighed. “You were always going to get too big for my shop. I’m just glad you found someone you can rely on. Gods know those are in shorter supply than men,” she gave her niece a sad but happy look.
“And you,” she rounded on me as she did that emotional one-eighty thing again. “Take care of her. Or else.”
I liked that she left the threat open-ended so I could use my imagination to come up with my own punishment.
“Have you told your grandfather?” she turned back to Yume.
“No,” the younger woman looked at her feet for a moment. “But I will,” she looked back up determinedly.
“You have until the end of the month and then I’m dropping that bomb, so prepare for a trip to Falls City.”
“I know,” Yume sighed and gave me an apologetic look.
“Okay! Now that all of our family matters are resolved. This way,” she waved us toward the back like she hadn’t just planned to blow the lid off my relationship with Yume to the rest of her family.
And from the way she said Grandfather it sounded like I was going to meet the boss. Oh well, that was future Marcus’s problem.
“Please excuse the mess,” she waved aside some cobwebs that weren’t cobwebs at all. It was a defensive spell.
“And a nasty one too,” I grimaced. From the looks of it, it was designed to melt anything solid below C-Class. Any regular Joe that walked back here . . . yuck.
One glance around the cluttered and dusty back room told me it was specifically designed to fuck with anyone who wasn’t supposed to be there. It was straight Indiana Jones with poison-tipped darts in the walls, and I found myself looking up to locate the hidden trap door on the ceiling that would drop an eldritch boulder on an unlucky burglar.
