The other doll stepped forward and Roman locked hands with her, her other arm starting to form into a sharp blade. “I need you to stay with Nadine.”
Celia nodded, a determined look on her face. “Will do.”
The two took off toward the action, Coma faster than Roman.
Knowing that her weapons wouldn’t work against the man with arms of steel, especially since it was clear the steel had made its way all the way up to the top of his neck, Coma veered toward the left and into the dust to narrowly avoid a concentrated energy blast.
The metal man locked eyes on Roman, and as he did Roman exploded his chest outward.
He wasn’t done yet.
Sweeping up the man’s collapsed metal form into a spiral of pointy death, Roman launched it at the woman with wings, his makeshift spear piercing her chest and driving her into the ground.
A man wearing a hard hat ran by, screaming. Roman got in front of him just as another rebel chased the Centralian out of the dust, his wrist guard aimed at the fleeing man.
As the rebel took his next step, his entire skeleton began to collapse until he was a melted sack of flesh.
The woman in the air with the energy powers spotted Roman.
Before he could react, she struck him to the ground, Roman’s body slapping against the soil as she sent bolt after bolt of blistering red energy through him.
Her head exploded in a matter of seconds. Roman looked to the right to see Coma now held a severed arm with the wrist guard attached to it.
A final rebel ran out of the dust, trying to get away. He took one more step and Roman shattered all the bones in his legs.
Coma approached the man who had been trying to get away, the combat doll walking with the sashay of a model as the ends of her dress beat in the wind.
She drove her blade into his throat, and the man let out a final gasp.
Portals opened up.
Centralian soldiers spilled out and began securing the area. Several of them came to Roman with their weapons drawn as another group surrounded Coma.
“I’m with the Centralian Intelligence Agency,” Roman told them, his hands up. “So is she, the woman with the sword arms.”
A thought flickered at the back of his mind that he could easily kill them all, but he ignored it. While his intervention had been sudden, he wanted his exit from the situation to be official.
“We need a moment to confirm,” said one of the soldiers, clearly the woman in charge. Another portal opened up, and a man in a military uniform identifying him as an exemplar stepped forward.
Roman felt the tingling at the back of his mind almost immediately.
“He’s with the agency,” the man said.
“And his counterpart?” the female commander asked.
“She’s my creation,” Roman told her. “You won’t get much by reading her mind.”
“Okay,” the woman said, a firm smile on her face. “Keep your mask on and leave the area immediately. We have it from here. If we have any further questions, we will reach out to you through official channels.”
One of the soldiers reached a hand down to help Roman up.
“Thanks,” Roman told him, trying to ignore the sense of pride moving through him. “Just let me get my other doll before I go.”
“By all means,” the commander said.
A few of the soldiers brought forth the rebel man who’d had his arm severed by Coma. “This one is still alive,” one of the soldiers told his commander.
“Great,” she said, “let’s question him now before he dies.”
Chapter Fifteen: The Woes of Running a Successful Small Business
Kevin Blackbook lightly patted Sandy Gray on the ass.
His newest employee stood next to his desk facing outward, a dazed look in her eyes and a bit of drool at the corner of her mouth.
The telepath was topless, still in the same pencil skirt she had been wearing earlier in the day.
It took her a moment to realize what Kevin was doing.
Once she did, Sandy merely let him touch her as she stared absentmindedly toward the entrance of the room.
Turquoise was on the couch, her legs propped up, her head to the side as she rested. Obsidian was around too, the cat girl somewhere else in the building dealing with their employees.
It was night now, which was generally their busiest time.
This was precisely why Sandy stood next to Kevin, ready for the inevitable customer with a complaint or employee asking for more of the cat girls’ serum.
While Obsidian had given Sandy a direct dose earlier, she had taken a little more since, Kevin noticing every now and then when the telepath tried to break free of the power of the narcotic.
Kevin knew the beautiful redhead wouldn’t be able to do it.
While Sandy may have been a Class A, she didn’t have a very strong will, which was a trait he was looking for in creating this role.
He had a feeling Sandy wouldn’t last long, that there would be a point when he would transition her to being one of the women in the rooms upstairs, his first exemplar prostitute. A telepathic whore, no less.
Kevin lowered his hand until it was at the edge of her skirt.
He grunted, and as he did so Sandy parted her legs a little, allowing him to reach his hand up and graze his fingers against the fabric of her panties.
The former administrator noticed she was a little wet, but he knew it wasn’t him doing it, knew it was because she had been standing there for over an hour.
Still, a part of Kevin’s brain liked to imagine her wetness was due to his soft touch.
Looking up at her confirmed just how wrong he was.
Sandy was terrified.
Her eyes were practically white, darting between Turquoise and Kevin, clearly wanting to move away from him yet not knowing what would happen to her if she did.
Kevin grinned.
It was intoxicating to be so powerful, to be so in control of someone just by holding the threat of violence over them.
He generally didn’t make himself available to any of his pleasure-house employees, but there had been one when they’d first taken over the brothel, an eighteen-year-old with incredible tits. He’d wanted to test his goods as soon as he saw the teen, and it was only a day or two after settling in that he’d sent his cat girls away and invited the woman to his bedroom, which was just off the office.
He never even got her name.
She came into his bedroom and obediently got down on her knees, Kevin knighting her with his proof of manhood. She was the most subservient woman he’d ever been with, encouraging Kevin to choke her, to make her his own, to mark his territory when he was ready to finish up.
Obsidian killed her not long after their interaction.
Kevin had gotten a feeling this would happen, especially when he’d seen the look on Obsidian’s face as the young woman had walked past her when Kevin had sent the cat girls out of his office.
Perhaps that was what would happen to Sandy.
Maybe she wouldn’t become an employee—maybe she would become Kevin’s toy, and then Obsidian would make it so he couldn’t play with her anymore.
It didn’t matter.
A knock at the door caught his attention.
Turquoise sat up immediately, the cat girl bringing her feet onto the couch so she was now in a crouching position, ready to pounce.
One of Kevin’s employees entered.
She was tall and thin with a flat chest, her nipples visible through her tight clothing. Her hair was braided into two pigtails, and as she cautiously approached Kevin, she brought her hands in front of her body, rubbing her palms together.
“Hi Kevin,” she started to say.
“We’ve already visited today,” Kevin told her sternly. “You’ve already received your daily supply.”
“I know, but I was just thinking, because I worked so many hours yesterday and, you know, some of the other girls have been taking time off, but not me—I’m a
lways here.”
“That is true,” Kevin said as she stopped in front of his desk.
The woman looked at topless Sandy and then back to Kevin.
“She’s our newest employee, Sandy.”
“Hi…” Sandy said, grinding her teeth.
“Nice to meet you,” the woman told her.
“Would you like me to escort her out?” Turquoise asked.
The short cat girl stood next to the prostitute now, the difference in their heights jarringly evident.
“I suppose that is what we should do,” Kevin said, biting his lip as he debated his next move. “But she has been quite loyal, so…” He glanced at Turquoise’s hand. “Just a little, and make it fast.”
Turquoise’s nail elongated.
She drove it into the woman’s flesh, and the prostitute let out a gasp of euphoria. Turquoise only kept it there for a moment before moving away, the woman’s knees nearly buckling.
“Thank you, Mr. Kevin,” the pigtailed prostitute said weakly as she turned back toward the door.
Kevin watched her walk away, his eyes homing in on his employee’s ass.
He preferred women with more curves, but he could see why some of the johns liked her, the gap between her legs, the way they could feel powerful manhandling her, splitting her.
The woman was just reaching the door when a burst of energy tore into the room.
Turquoise leaped just in time to tackle an exemplar, both of their bodies slamming into the wall. The pigtailed prostitute screamed and stumbled out of the room.
Kevin grabbed Sandy by the arm and yanked her down, shoving her under his desk. He crouched as he fumbled inside his desk drawer for his wrist guard. “Stay the fuck there,” he told the telepath, and as she reached out to him, he slapped her hand away.
He popped up just in time to see Turquoise and the exemplar explode into the other side of the room. The man, who clearly had an advanced speed capability, drove her into the corner of the ceiling, dust falling as both of them dropped to the couch.
Turquoise was on top of the man in a matter of moments, digging her claws into his throat. The man tried to swing at her face, but Turquoise was fast enough to avoid his swipes.
Kevin charged forward and waited just a moment longer for Turquoise’s toxic bodily fluids to calm the man down.
He activated his Zero Ring.
Turquoise stepped out of his ring of influence.
“Who sent you?” Kevin asked, noticing the man trying to use his power and failing, a glazed look now in his eyes.
“It doesn’t matter,” the man spat.
“No, it doesn’t,” Kevin said as he triggered his weapon, exploding the man’s face onto the couch. Bits of brain and bone sprayed into the air as Sandy yelped from under Kevin’s desk.
“What do you think?” Kevin asked Turquoise as he deactivated his ring.
Before she could respond, an explosion at the front of the room sent the cat girl flying backward.
A man with energy radiating around his palms burst into the space.
Obsidian leaped onto the man’s back just in time to change his trajectory, his next shot going wide and striking the ceiling rather than Kevin’s chest.
“Keep him alive!” Kevin shouted to the black-haired cat girl as she dug her nails into his shoulder and bit into the side of his neck.
The man stumbled forward, one hand trying to throw Obsidian off while the other tried to blast Kevin.
The man started to fall, and as he did, Obsidian held strong, the exemplar smacking his chin against the carpet. She dug her claws in even deeper, an angry look on her face, smudges of debris across the skin of her forehead.
“Are you okay?” Kevin asked.
“I took out another one,” Obsidian said breathlessly as she continued to press her venom into the man’s body. “It was a woman, out on the stairwell.”
“So there were three,” Kevin said, looking from the speedster with his head blown off to the man on the ground now drooling.
Obsidian nodded.
“Turquoise, check the rest of the place. Make sure none of the girls leave, and contact those men who visited us the other day.”
“The guy’s asking us if we wanted to hire security?” she asked, her ears raising.
“Yes, I believe I know who is responsible for this. Let them know we are interested, that we’ll be stopping by tomorrow.”
Turquoise nodded before bolting out of the room.
Kevin returned to his desk.
He reached his hand under it and grabbed Sandy by the hair.
He tugged it once, and the telepath obediently followed. Kevin pushed her forward, his eyes jumping from her ass to the small of her back, and then to the man on the floor.
The exemplar was in street clothing. He had a line shaved into the side of his head and bad skin, his cheeks covered in pockmarks.
“Confirm my suspicions,” Kevin told the telepath as she approached the man.
Sandy gulped, trying not to look at the dead body in the room. The man’s neck was a bloodied mess, and there was an explosion of red on the couch and the wall.
“Confirmed,” she said on the tail end of a sob.
“Good. Get back over here.”
Kevin approached the man on the floor. As he did so, Obsidian moved away.
“Thanks for stopping in,” he said as he aimed his wrist guard at the back of the exemplar’s head. He triggered his weapon, the blast misting the air with blood. The sight and sound of the exploding head caused Sandy to dry heave.
Kevin turned to Obsidian. “Also, are you injured in any way?” he asked.
She shook her head.
“Good. Let’s get this cleaned up. I want a new couch and a new fucking carpet. We can deal with the construction repairs tomorrow, and…” Kevin nodded. “Let’s hire a little added security.”
Chapter Sixteen: Suited Up
Something resembling a giant eggshell formed around Roman and his dolls, the teleporter producing it from the palms of her hands.
“It can be a bit snug in here,” she said, looking up at Roman. And before he could comment, the shell began to filter away. Roman now stood outside of Ava’s apartment.
Another teleporter appeared with someone else in the designated teleportation zone, a male teleporter with an older female. She looked over at Roman and his dolls, scoffed, and moved on.
A gust of wind blew past as Roman’s teleporter turned to him.
“Until next time,” she said, the shell forming around her body again and fading out of existence.
“That was an interesting way to travel,” Celia commented, an ever-present smile on her face. “I don’t believe we’ve ever done something like that before.”
“I’m still pissed at you for not letting me fight back there,” Casper told Roman as he waited for Ava. “That was really selfish, you know?”
“It was sort of sudden,” Roman said as he sent a mental message to let Ava know he was outside her apartment.
“Do you realize the damage I can do now? Sure, I have tiny little metal arms, but they are just as capable of stabbing as Coma’s. I will seriously fillet someone if you give me the chance.”
“You are not designed for combat,” Coma reminded the tiny doll. She turned to Roman, narrowing her eyes on his jacket pocket. “I do not know what you are designed for.”
“Oh, and look at you, Roman’s favorite little fighting bitch. The reason he lets you do most of the fighting is because you wear a mask and you look tough. I’m sure if Celia over here put a mask on, she would look just as tough as you.”
“If Roman would like me to wear a mask…” Celia began to say.
“Well, we know who the brainwashed one is, don’t we? But that’s not me, and keep talking Coma, see if I don’t sneak up on you in the middle of the night.”
“And do what exactly?”
Casper considered this for a moment. “I suppose you’re right, there’s nothing that I can do to you t
o truly hurt you, but that doesn’t mean I won’t try.”
“And then I will squash you,” Coma said, her fists clenched at her sides.
“No one is squashing anyone—and Casper, don’t bother Coma.” Roman felt the tiny doll shift in his pocket as she kicked him with her heel. “And don’t kick me.”
“I was supposed to have a bigger body, you know. Things would have been different around here if I was human-sized…”
“That’s true,” Roman said as he saw Ava exit her building, a small bag flung over her shoulder. Her doorman said goodbye to her, and Ava waved goodbye as well.
Roman couldn’t help but drop his eyes to her hips as she approached him, her red hair bouncing as she walked. He caught himself just in time and looked away, hoping he wasn’t too obvious.
“You aren’t bringing a bag?” Ava asked him.
“Do I need to bring one?”
“I suppose you don’t, but I figured…” She eyed him curiously. “What’s this?” Ava wiped the dust from his shoulder.
“It’s a long story,” Casper said from Roman’s pocket.
“I see,” Ava said as she looked Roman over.
“Don’t we need some type of documentation?” Roman asked.
“Not the way we’re going.”
“And who are we staying with again? You really haven’t gone over many of the details for this assignment,” Roman said, a little agitated. “I am literally steps away from going to a country I’ve never visited before, and I have no idea where I’m staying or how this is taking place. All I know is that I have a target.”
Ava laughed. “Welcome to the Centralian Intelligence Agency. It’ll make sense once we get there, and I should tell you now: with all these missions, there are details you may not understand until years later. Just be aware of that. I’m going to call the intercountry teleportation service now, and once they’ve come, you’ll have access to it as well. Rafner will be monitoring our trips in and out of the country, so I would advise not abusing the teleportation power, because it isn’t given to many Centralians.”
“He’s not coming?”
Ava shook her head. “He has something else to deal with here, something that involves a recent outbreak in vampirism. But they almost have it solved. So no. It will be you, me, Jess—who you may remember from the last two times we met with our group—and Miranda, the telepath.”
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