by H D Forth
I looked at Val, and she stared back at me somberly. “I get that I could’ve approached the situation better, but with the exception of not blindly rushing to random womans defense and get better reaction, I don’t know what I could change.”
To my surprise, she nodded. “I agree. you handled that situation admirably. With the exception of how you got in it.”
“Then I don't get it.” I said. “What is there to talk about?”
She smiled at me sadly. Then she nodded at Kani. Kani clicked around a few times until she brought up a picture of me looking at the whole crew after I had taken them down. Another burst of pride glowed in my chest.
“This is so you can learn the consequences of your poor decisions.” Val said. “If you’d made better decisions before it came to fighting, then most of what I am about to tell yo could’ve been avoided.
She pulled a folder out from a bag, sitting next to her chair. She opened and pulled out something that looked like a medical report. “He has likely lost most, if not all of his hearing on the damaged ear. You have given him permanent ear damage.”
Kani clicked back to the picture of the criminals, she looked nauseous. Val pointed towards a pair of men, lying next to each other. They were both passed out.
A video played of me rushing them, my shoulders taking each of them in hip.
“These guys both took heavy damage to their hips.” She said, throwing two reports over to me. They both detailed the damage to their hips. “One doctor even went as fast as to describe the remains as little more than dust, and the top of his thigh is not much better. They might one day walk again, once they get a new hip and either a leg bone, or get a prosthetic leg. They aren’t even 25 years old yet.”
Kani clicked back, and Val pointed at one, and she showed me the damage of my actions. Until we reached the woman.
“Last one.” Val said, clearing her throat. Kani played the video of me tackling her to the ground, to the sound of crunching bone.
“Her name is Melissa.” Val said, pulling the last paper from her folder. “You broke her spine,” I winced at her words, “She’s been in operation since they got her to the hospital and her fate is as of yet still not known, though it is unlikely that she will ever walk within the next 20 years or so. You managed to rip most of the nerves to her spine in your charge.”
I swallowed looking at all the papers in front of me. “There’s only one person in between any of these who will be fine again, within the next decade.” Val said. “None of people here are innocent sure, but your rash decision to rush in, and your lack of experience in restraining yourself, has ruined more than one life last night.”
There was a quiet moment. “There is one thing however,” She said, turning to me and looking me in the eyes. “What you did wasn't perfect, it wasn't even that good. But if you were stuck in that situation again, and you decided to use any less than full force, and you die. That would’ve been infinitely worse.”
I flinched at her words and glanced away from her.
“Look at me.” She said. I reluctantly turned to look at her. “There was only one good person out there that night. The fact that you are the only person who wont leave with semi permanent damage is a blessing. But, I want you to think. A villain’s most common tool to abuse is emotions. There’s not been a single villain out there who hasn’t at some point abused the emotions of the hero they were fighting. Think before you act, work with reason.”
She tapped the papers. “Then maybe you could’ve put all these guys behind bars, instead of on hospital beds.”
I swallowed and forced myself to look her in the eyes. Then I nodded. I saved that speech, the pictures and video to my harddrive. I couldn't let myself forget this lesson, being a hero wasn't as easy as I had first believed it to be, and I was only playing in the minor leagues.
“Now, who wants to take the day off, watch some TV and relax?” Val asked, moving to get up from the chair.
Everyone agreed.
Chapter Eighty-Three
Kani hadn't been there to watch as the fighting went down. So she hadn’t seen the way Vanys had fought when he had been ambushed. She had thought he would respond with proper power, but she hadn't been prepared for the kind of brutality that he would deal out with.
When it came down to it, he hadn't even hesitated. The moment the woman had shot him, he had jumped straight into the action. Kani shuddered as the image of Vanys jumping the woman, blended with the memory of Victor towering over her.
She sat on the toilet after Val had called the meeting. Kani wasn't actually using it, though she had been afraid that she might puke, she had managed to master herself. She had known that this wouldn't be easy. There would be a tough decision, sometimes it wouldn't be as simple as I defeat you quickly, or I lose.
Sometimes like that first night, when Vanys had stopped the robbery. There had been a potential hostage, if they had been smart, then they would’ve used an actual hostage. They had just been lucky the gang hadn't thought of it, or for whatever reason decided not to use it, on that night.
Kani hadn’t been able to look at Vanys after she had pulled those pictures up. But she could do better, she knew she could. There was a trick to this. Some way to handle the situation without moving into full fear of Vanys.
She thought about why she was helping them, why she was out there away from her apartment and safety. Her shaking hands stilled some, not entirely but enough that it shouldn’t be noticeable.
She was out here because she wanted to help. She might not have any special powers, nor did she have any unique talents. But she could work metal, and she knew technology like few did. She was instrumental.
Vanys too wants to help people. She told herself. He first came to the woman's aid. He only got put into danger, because they faked her being put in jeopardy.
A few deep breaths and she stood up and got out of the bathroom, to find an interesting tableau. Val was cooking like usually did around this time, it smelled delicious, but that wasn't what had caught her attention.
Vanys was on his knees as upright as he could get, levering a chair onto its feet again. It would appear he had tried to attach something to one its legs.
"Please." He mumbled, leaning putting upright. The chair didn't seat onto all four legs. Instead one of them was hovering slightly off the ground. He made a noise that sounded vaguely like a grunt, as he shifted the chair back and forth. Surprisingly, it turned out the leg with the extra bit of wood attached was the short one.
She saw that he had pilfered a few of her tools to attach a small piece of wood to the chair. He lowered the chair onto its side again, then he pulled a nearby plank onto his thighs and started sawing it to shape. On his legs.
Kani winced as she saw him work the saw. All the while he grumbled and cursed under his breath. When the saw bend for something like the 50th time, he cursed loudly. Grabbed the piece that had only been halfway cut through, and put the other on the opposite side of the cut. For a moment, she could hear the Power Core whirr to life, some of his motors started spinning up loudly, and heat shimmered from his chest. Then he broke the piece off.
It was at least a few inches wider than the chair's legs, on every side and it was much too thick. Vanys looked for a moment at the saw. His gaze turned sour, and he went to her work table, and the tools placed there. He grabbed one of her chisels and a hammer.
Kani spent the next few minutes watching as Vanys tried to adjust the height of the plank so the chair would be stable again.
"Remarkable, isn't it?" Val asked, having sauntered over next to her. He was now on his third brick of wood, and it was going remarkably worse than any of the previous ones. "To think that someone who could so easily handle a group of hit men, could be stumped by a chair."
Kani looked down as Val handed her one of the wooden blocks, he had tinkered with—though it looked more like he had been fighting it. “How fast can you beat him?” She asked Kani.
It took Kani less
than 10 minutes from taking the wooden block, till she had something serviceable in the right dimensions. It didn't hold the exact same structure as the chair, and some of the edges could use a lot of refining.
“Damn.” Was all that Vanys had to say.
"Thanks," Kani replied, a little smile on her lips. She turned to him, he looked more like a petulant child than a hero at that moment. Still, she felt a faint shiver of fear tremble down her spine as she watched him. She could still continue working with him, but maybe she should just restrain it to that, a working relationship.
“So is that it?” He asked.
“It?”
“Is it done?”
“You’re joking, right?” She said, leaning the chair down on its side again and displaying the foot she had fashioned for it. “Look at this.” She gestured to the seam. “The transition is horribly obvious, it needs another bout of adhesives, ti’s barely sticking to the chair as it is.”
"So put a nail through it." He said like it wasn't the stupidest thing he could've said.
"Put a nail through it?" She asked, rhetorically. "Have you actually taken the time to look at the chair?" The chair in question was undoubtedly old, at least as old as Vanys and her, put together.
She doubted it if it was a year under fifty, and it hadn't been particularly well-taken care off. "Do you think this wood would take well to that, it's far too dry, we need to be careful and do our best to extend its lifetime. It's not like we're swimming in money."
“Sorry.” He murmured, raising his hands. “I guess, you should probably be taking care of it then.”
Chapter Eighty-Four
Kani hadn't been there to watch as the fighting went down. So she hadn’t seen the way Vanys had fought when he had been ambushed. She had thought he would respond with proper power, but she hadn't been prepared for the kind of brutality that he would deal out with.
When it came down to it, he hadn't even hesitated. The moment the woman had shot him, he had jumped straight to action. Kani shuddered as the image of Vanys jumping the woman, blended with the memory of Victor towering over her.
She sat on the toilet, after Val had called the meeting. She wasn't actually using it, though she had been afraid that she might puke, she had managed to master herself. She had known that this wouldn't be easy. There would be tough decision, sometimes it wouldn't be as simple as I defeat you quickly, or I lose.
Sometimes like that first night, when Vanys had stopped the robbery. There had been a potential hostage, if they had been smart, then they would’ve used an actual hostage. They had just been lucky the gang hadn't thought of it, or for whatever reason decided not to use it, on that night.
Kani hadn’t been able to look at Vanys after she had pulled those pictures up. But she could do better, she knew she could. There was a trick to this. Some way to handle the situation without moving into full fear of Vanys.
She thought about why she was helping them, why she was out there away from her apartment and safety. Her shaking hands stilled some, not entirely but enough that it shouldn’t be noticeable.
She was out here because she wanted to help. She might not have any special powers, nor did she have any special talents. But she could work metal, and she knew technology, like few did. She was instrumental.
Vanys too wants to help people. She told herself. He first came to the woman’s aid. He only got pout into danger, because they faked her being put in danger.
A few deep breaths and she stood up and got out of the bathroom, to find an interesting tableau. Val was cooking like usually did around this time, it smelled delicious, but that wasn't what had caught her attention.
Vanys was on his knees as upright as he could get, levering a chair onto its feet again. It would appear he had tried to attach something to one it’s legs.
“Please.” He mumbled, leaning putting upright. The chair didn't not seat onto all four legs, instead one of them was hovering slightly off the ground. He made a noise that sounded vaguely like a grunt, as he shifted the chair back and forth. Surprisingly, it turned out the leg with the extra bit of wood attached was the short one.
She saw that he had pilfered a few of her tools to attach a the small piece of wood to the chair. He lowered the chair onto its side again, then he pulled a nearby plank onto his thighs and started sawing it to shape. On his thighs.
Kani winced as she saw him work the saw. All the while he grumbled and cursed under his breath. When the saw bend for something like the 50th time, he cursed loudly. Grabbed the piece that had only been half way cut through, and put the other on the opposite side of the cut. For a moment, she could hear the Power Core whirr to life, some of his motors started spinning up loudly and heat shimmered from his chest. Then he broke the piece off.
It was at least a few inches wider than the chair’s legs, on every side and it was much too thick. He looked for a moment at the saw. He gaze turned sour and he got up to got to her work table, and the tools placed there. He grabbed one of her chisels and a hammer.
Kani spent the next few minutes watching as Vanys tried to adjust the height of the plank so the chair would be stable again.
“Remarkable, inst it?” Val asked, having sauntered over next to her. He was now on his third brick of wood and it was going remarkably worse than any of the previous ones. “To think that someone who could so easily handle a group of hit men, could be stumped by a chair.”
Kani looked down as Val handed her one of the wooden blocks, he had tinkered with—though it looked more like he had been fighting it. “How fast can you beat him?” She asked Kani.
It took Kani less than 10 minutes from taking the wooden block, till she had something serviceable in the right dimensions. It didn't hold the exact same structure as the chair, and some of the edge could use a lot of refining.
“Damn.” Was all that Vanys had to say.
“Thanks.” Kani replied, a little smile on her lips. She turned to him, he looked more like a petulant child than a hero at that moment. Still she felt a faint shiver of fear tremble down her spine as she watched him. She could still continue working with him, but maybe she should just restrain it to that, a working relationship.
“So is that it?” He asked.
“It?”
“Is it done?”
“You’re joking, right?” She said, leaning the chair down on its side again and displaying the foot she had fashioned for it. “Look at this.” She gestured to the seam. “The transition is horribly obvious, it needs another bout of adhesives, ti’s barely sticking to the chair as it is.”
“So put a nail through it.” He said, like it wasn’t the stupidest thing he could’ve said.
“Put a nail through it?” She asked, rhetorically. “Have you actually taken the time to look at the chair?” The chair in question was undoubtedly old, at least as old as Vanys and her, put together. She’d doubt it if it was a year under 50, and it hadn't been particularly well taken care off. “Do you think this wood would take well to that, it’s far too dry, we need to be careful and do our best to extend its lifetime. Its not like were swimming in money.”
“Sorry.” He murmured, raising his hands. “I guess, you should probably be taking care of it then.”
Chapter Eighty-Five
The day ended up being shit.
We spend the next hour on the couch, all snuggled up under blankets watching TV. Then Kani went to take a shower, which led to Val and I trying to break the bed before she came out, though I suspected Kani watched I didn’t actually see her at any point until after we finished.
After that, I did a quick bird bath in the sink with a washcloth, since I still wasn't wholly waterproof and their sweat had gotten on me in significant amounts.
Out in the bedroom again, we found Val lounging completely nude. Some of my release was still visible around her pussy as she stretched. She looked like the cat that had caught the fattest and most delicious mouse and was now happily basking in the sun.
“Yo
u go do what you need to,” She said, sensually. “I'm not moving an inch.” As she said it, she stretched, arching her back. Her taut nipples pointing straight into the air, as her body tensed with the stretch.
"I could really use some help," Kani mumbled, though neither of us were able to draw out gazes away from the spectacle.
"Sure," I replied, reluctantly looking away from both beauties and heading for the hallway. I might not be able to leave if I didn't get away now.
"What do you need help with?" I asked as we escaped into the hallway.
"Well," She said. Her voice sounded distracted like she was moving down a to-do list in her mind. She raked her fingers through her hair, gathering it into a ponytail before answering. "There's a lot of welding equipment that needs to be moved, much of it is too heavy for me to move alone, other than that lots of small knick-knacks. Oh and your steel frame as well, it's coming along quite nicely, by the way, might be finished a little sooner than anticipated."