I've created a monster, dear reader, let me tell you. A face-riding, ovipositor-grinding, cum-sucking monster. I mean, Marcy hasn't been shy about asking me for a fuck for a while now, but after watching Cold Call and Silver Sensation pound their trust into me from both ends that girl went wild.
By the time we got that conference room cleaned up it was well past midnight.
After sleeping in late the next morning though it was kind of hard to decide what to do next. I mean, sure, my new batch of eggs was about ready to go by mid-afternoon, but finding an incubator for them wasn't going to be that easy. Liberty Stars couldn't really order us not to go out on patrol, but it'd be a mark against us if we ignored basic safety protocols. Marcy offered to wingwoman up an incubator for me like she did with the guys, but as hot as the idea was, seducing someone right out of HQ was a bad idea for the same reason it would've been bad to go after Marcy herself.
So instead we ended up spending a couple of days taking it easy and training. Although training wasn't that easy - especially when I ended up watching Marcy's for a bit. I'd assumed she'd been taking basic fitness training, maybe some medical training, and there was some of that. On top of that though, apparently a couple of days ago she'd signed up for full-contact combat training - and I haven't even gone for that myself yet!
It was brutal to watch! Marcy was down in the ring, throwing basic punches and shit at heroes with superstrength, and every time they swung back her arm would be bending in the wrong direction, or her chest would be caved in! But after a couple of seconds things would pop back into place, and she'd be right back at it with no complaints. She still lost every fight, but she was putting herself through a tougher gauntlet than I would have in her position for sure.
After getting back to the apartment, I had to ask about it. "Marcy! What in the cold hells, girl? You were getting turned into ground meat out there!"
Marcy gives me a grin, and since she'd showered and changed before coming back up here, this time it's not even covered in her own blood. "It's good practice, though. I think I'm getting closer to pulling it off!"
I shake my head as I collapse onto the couch. "Pulling off what? Both of your arms like that last guy looked like he was thinking of doing?"
"Hey, I did ask them to hold back from any limb removals, that at least would take me a bit to regrow." She grabs a snack bar from the kitchen before sitting down next to me. "So there's two things I'm aiming for. One, I need to learn to get used to...bad things happening to me. If we're in a fight with some super, I can't stop and cry just because I got a few broken bones."
"Marcy, I would stop and cry if I got beat that badly out there. You really think you need to get used to that?"
She pats my arm. "It's not that bad, actually. Like, the physical pain I mean, things don't hurt as much as they did before I got my powers. It was mostly a shock thing, you know? Like, the first time I broke my arm I was just staring at it for a minute before I did anything. My powers do work passively, but they're faster if I focus on them, so I need to be able to do that."
I still give her a worried look. "You're not afraid of getting pushed past your limits?"
Marcy chuckles. "You know the first real hero thing I ever did? I saved this kid from a burning apartment, near that college I was going to. Kid got out okay, and with me there healing him he was fine. And I was fine...except the fire burned me down so completely that when I healed back up myself, I was walking around out there completely naked! In front of everyone!"
I do have to laugh a little at her priorities. "You weren't afraid of burning to death, but a little exhibitionism scares you? Void."
"Burning might actually be able to kill me, if it got me completely. We're not entirely sure. But almost anything up to that?" She leans closer to me, and looks deeply into my eyes. "I could literally give you my heart if I wanted to." She pauses in thought. "Might get a little messy though. Maybe something to try in the bathroom..."
"Haha, okay! I'll give you this, Marcy, you are way more intense than I was expecting when we met. And I love it!" It wasn't quite an 'I love you', but my heart skips a beat when I notice the effect the words have on her expression. Quickly moving on! "You said there were two things you were trying to do, though?"
"Oh, yeah, I'm trying to do that knock-out touch effect on purpose. Like, healing people who are already healthy to the point that it knocks them out. It's...hard. I feel like there's some trick to it, but I haven't quite figured it out yet. I think trying it during training helps, though. My power's already active healing me up, so I can feel it more easily while it's doing things."
"Huh. Well, if you want to try it without all the violence, I don't mind being your test subject." I can see her considering it, and I lean in to give her a kiss and an extra tease...or perhaps an enticement. "Maybe if you can knock me out, I'll be all at your mercy and you can have your wicked way with me."
She seems to like something about the idea. "Oh? Maybe that's the way I'll finally get some of those eggs of yours into me..."
I...really want to try and talk her out of it, but also not? I mean, come on! You know I'd be lying if just the thought of pumping a willing Marcy full of my babies wasn't getting my ovi a little excited right there! Still, it's not a good idea. "Tempting, but I still don't want to lose you as a roommate. People would notice if you suddenly got pregnant real quick, yeah?"
She squirms against me, hand pressing between my legs, the foul seductress! "What if it was just one?"
I...actually have to think about that? One egg probably wouldn't be visible, and although Marcy's been getting into better shape, she does still have a few extra curves on her. Could that work? Could I hold off and only give her one? I think maybe I need a delaying tactic while I consider this! "Hrmmm...you get good enough to knock me out, and maybe you can have an egg. As a treat."
Her eyes sparkle. "Oh, I'll be working on it twice as hard now."
"Looking forward to it. And hey, maybe we'll get those sample results back sometime, might have a few tips in there?"
"Hope it doesn't take too long, then..."
And after that, well, let's just say my open evening schedule gets quickly filled yet again, yeah?
It's two more days after that when they finally lift the patrol restrictions. Not that there was any evidence that Baitmaster had moved on, let alone gotten caught, but apparently patrols had been cut back enough that people had started to notice. It's a bit wild, but it seems like half a week of cut patrols is all it takes for the crime rate to start spiking up! I guess that's to be expected when the city has such a high population of superhumans. Everyone's ready and waiting for an opportunity to cut loose.
Although I did hear one theory around the cafeteria, that the villains were intentionally trying to draw us heroes back out onto the streets. After all, Baitmaster might be the big-name trafficker, but tons of villains or gangs are always looking for the extra payday that comes with a captured hero. Some people even think that the occasional bank job and the like are really just bait to pull in a hero to stop it, and that the bank money is just a bonus.
In any case, I was happy to stretch my legs again and get back out there. Definitely keeping a close eye out for any more traps, although I do have a nifty 'teleport to the moon' trick that the average hero doesn't have access to. It's as I'm running across a rooftop though that I notice something unusual happening - up in the sky.
Being nighttime it's a little harder to make out, although I do have pretty decent night vision. Eventually I make out that what I'm seeing is two people flying, women I think...well, I should say one of them's flying, the other one of them's being carried princess-style. Now in Poseidon City that's not really all that unusual, and I might assume they were other heroes or even just civvies out for a flight. Their clothing is all black, though, and that makes me think that something might be up.
I follow after them, and I'm far enough behind that they never even think of looking back in my direction. Eventually they land on the balcony of some apartment, one really high up on a fancy-looking tower, and I figure that's it - they were probably just flying home and it's none of my business.
Except...they start taking a suspiciously long time to go inside. I climb as high as I can from where I'm at, and I still don't have a great view, but I'm pretty sure one of them has a laptop pulled out or something and is working away at it. The other one's fiddling with the balcony door, and...okay, she's opened it, but as soon as she has the other one's put her laptop away and stuffed it into a case.
Definitely suspicious!
Now, getting up there isn't quick. Even once I manage a leap onto the building itself, I'm still like fifteen floors below them. I'd almost consider going inside and taking an elevator, but that's just not hero-cool, you know? So instead I'm climbing, jumping, and grunting my tail off as I make my way up to where I last saw them. All in all I'd say I make pretty good time, considering, but that's still a bigger single climb than I think I've ever tried in one go, so it's a bit of a workout!
When I finally make my way up there, I poke my head around to take a look through the balcony window. I only see one of the women and she seems intent on watching the door, so definitely still a bit suspicious. A little on the short side, long black hair tied into a ponytail...and a utility belt stuffed with tools and gizmos. Carefully, I pull my tablet out from my belt and snap a pic through the window to try and get a scan on her.
Sure enough, I get a hit - or two of them, really. Swip-Swap, also known as the twin sisters Lara and Lisa Gillespie. One of those interesting twin powersets, looks like - one of them has flight and the other has superspeed, but they can swap powers by coming into skin contact with each other. When they do, both of them can move at double-speed for ten seconds. Their record says that their preferred combat style is to do a lot of tag-teaming, swapping as much as possible to keep that speed boost on.
Mostly though they're apparently professional burglars. Well, I can confirm that! They kind of try to keep a Robin Hood-type rep, robbing the rich and all that, but they take plenty of jobs for hire. Corporate espionage, robbing rivals, shit like that. I don't know who they're robbing tonight, but it's not like I much care.
All I see is a couple of twins who need to be brought to justice!
Now I just need to figure out how to do it...