fics I read

January 23rd 2016 Galaxy Communications 12:00 PM EDT

It took Edge two days to get me an office as promised. It was nice and spacious and entirely out of the way of any actual important work as expected. It was the kind of place you set up a stupid kid to keep him out of your hair. It was literally perfect. He also didn't bitch about me bringing eye candy with me to play around, probably because busty bubbly Tiffany the secretary was smoking her boss's pole every chance she got. He just assumed that everyone with power was a horny asshole.

I WAS a horny asshole of course, but sadly for him the redheaded slut bunny I brought to work with me wasn't here to bounce on my cock on top of my desk (though she absolutely would if we had time) she was here for much more practical reasons. Barbie sat on my lap, fingers flying over the keyboard as I felt her up. She was refusing to look at me and my teasing was to help her loosen up a bit. She pointedly ignored me, even when I tweaked a nipple to get her all excited.

I rolled my eyes. "I notice you aren't upset at what I'm having you do today. This little adventure doesn't earn me a bit of leeway?" Barbie was furious about Charise being let off scott free. With zero evidence she had no actual legal recourse, and since I'd discontinued Cherry's costumed capers she couldn't even do shit as Batgirl. She didn't KNOW Cherry was Knightfall, she was just pretty sure.

Her jaw tightened, still refusing to look at me. "No. Morgan Edge is criminal scum and the chance to rip some holes in hos company is welcome, but this is for your benefit as much as mine. Like EVERYTHING is. Because you don't care about me. If you did you wouldn't have brought home the girl that's been trying to kill me. So feel free to keep groping. Since I'm a sex toy that's all I'm good for. Clearly you don't think any more of me than that." Her voice was cold, and her sharp blue eyes were fixed on the screen as she typed.

I frowned at that. That wasn't fair. Well...it had been fair at first. But I LIKED Barbie. She was a fun fuck and a good teacher. She had a sneaky sense of humor. But more than any of that, she was one of MY girls. She was my possession, my property, and I was a jealous owner. I wanted all of her. Mind, body, and soul. I was an asshole, but I was their asshole, and I didn't want that questioned. It annoyed me. "You realize that she would get out of literally any prison you put her in? That she would be back out on the street? You want me to let her go?"

She whirled and glared at me. "She taunted me this morning you know. About how good you fuck her, about how she belongs to you. About how you're HER daddy." She hissed the words, furious. She closed her eyes, exhaling, before turning back to resume typing. "But that's fine. You're all hers. I'm just a set of tight holes for you to use. Assuming you even need any more sets since you fucking impregnated Black Canary. I assume that busty slut is happy to spread her legs for you now that you locked that down."

I groaned, letting my head fall back as I rubbed the bridge of my nose. Yeah, the timing of her finding out those two things had been...less than ideal. I couldn't even blame her. She had reasons to be pissed. But it was fucking inconvenient. I was good at manipulating people and bullshitting, but genuinely...ugh, apologizing, was not a skill I had. I grimaced. I felt like I should at least try. I'd been kind of shitty to Barbie, and she actually had gone out on a limb to help me.

I didn't give a shit about suckering some random slut but now she was MY random slut. I felt like...responsible for her and shit. It was actually kind of gross. I sighed. I was positive she knew my sensitive act had been bullshit at this point, but she never called me on it. I could tell in the car outside Superbabes she actually thought we were bonding, and she wasn't wrong. "What can I do?" She stopped, turning to look at me suspiciously. "You're angry, you want something. An apology, a show of good faith, something. You have to have something in mind."

She glared for a minute before turning back to the computer. "A donation. To the Gotham PD widows and orphans fund. Anonymous." I raised an eyebrow at that. She didn't strike me as the money grubbing type. When she saw my look she explained. "You dismissed me. Treated me like I didn't matter. I want to see if you'll do something for me. It has to be a decent sized donation and you can't take any credit. This will be purely for my benefit. You don't get anything from doing it except making me happy. I guess we'll see if that's enough."

That was...pragmatic. I could see her point. I wasn't against the idea. I nodded. I took out my phone, scrolled to the Gotham PD site, and remotely wired a million dollars to the fund, showing her the screen when it was done. I used an anonymous email to make the deposit, and shuffled the money through an account in the caymans to make sure it wasn't traceable. She froze, staring at the screen then looking back up at me. I didn't blink, didn't look away, I just stared her down.

She swallowed hard, then exhaled. "That's... a lot. Just to make me happy?" I nodded. She looked...confused. She swallowed hard, an odd look on her face. "I can't just turn it off. I'm still mad." I nodded again. She turned back to face the computer screen. "I'll get past it though. Just...one of these days I need to know what's really going on. I need to be a part of things. I'm not stupid, I know you do things I wouldn't approve of. But that can't be all of it. Being part of something with you. It would mean a lot."

I glanced meaningfully at the computer. "Exactly what do you think you're doing right now?" She blinked at that, kind of stupefied, before her lips quirked up into a coy smile. I leaned in and gave her a kiss. Not a hungry possessive kiss, but a soft one, the kind I would usually give a girl when I was trying to convince her to catch blushed slightly when I pulled back and it made me smile. "Now, since we've established that you approve, why don't you tell me exactly how we're going to fuck over Morgan Edge?"

That got a devilish smirk as she put her hands to the keyboard and pulled up a few windows full of numbers and spreadsheets. "Well, first of all, getting me in here helped. His security is almost all external, and having access here is going to make bypassing it a breeze." Her fingers flew as she dove through screens and documents, bringing up dozens of different pages and showing them to me as she went. Despite our previous subject matter Barbie was pretty obviously excited by what she found.

She pointed to a few spots on the screen. "Edge's internal system is a mess. I found evidence of at least a dozen HR violations that they've covered up, several cases of fraud perpetrated both by and on the company, fifty or sixty sexual harassment suits they've buried against Edge and his top people, oh and about seventeen cases of patent infringement that they made 'go away'. Basically, if there's a scummy thing you can do while running a business, Morgan Edge has done it, then repeated the process a few times to make sure he had the technique absolutely perfect."

I grinned. "Fantastic. Copy it all down, we'll be releasing it in measured doses. Too much will just sink the whole thing. We're not in a position to use that yet. What do you have about the guy directly above me in this department?" I expected her to bitch about me being a selfish bastard, but I was guessing she knew how many people would lose their jobs if we just tanked the whole company. In this particular case, doing things slow and steady like I wanted was actually the best way to manage the situation and she knew it.

Her fingers flashed out again. "Ok. Damien Westlake. Give me a second. The buried suits against him are pretty few relatively speaking. A few sexual harassment complaints and a patent infringement or two. That's just what the company is aware of though. Moron left himself logged into his private email on his work computer, so give me a minute aaaand. Got it." She scanned through a list of emails, entering keywords and typing search terms. "Ok, so I'm seeing some embezzlement we could use. I doubt Edge will care much about the HR stuff since he's literal pond scum, but no way he'll put up with an employee stealing from him, much less being caught."

I grinned. "Perfect. Send the theft info to Edge and the HR stuff to a reporter at the daily planet. Someone who will drag it all out. Between the internal and external humiliation edge will lay him off and I'll move up. He'll know it's me obviously, but this is such a stereotypical rich brat power move he won't notice a problem with it. In the meantime get me all the material you can on other company execs, especially anyone on the board." I didn't mention that I was going to bribe or blackmail those people, I doubted she wanted to hear it, even if she probably guessed.

We spent another fifteen minutes or so on that and then she finally confirmed it was done I hopped up from the chair, lifting her up and setting her on her feet. "Now. I don't really feel like being here for this next part because it's going to be messy and annoying, so why don't I take you by the shop and show you where we're working." I had to make some more glasses anyway. I'd managed to stockpile about fifty thousand points worth of random assorted supplies for electronics from Edge and I had Waylon arranging resale through the Penguin, so I had the points to make a pretty solid batch.

She looked a bit dubious, but I grabbed her hand and dragged her out. I knew what she was worried about. Cherry was manning the store. Edge had let me keep it running as an advertisement because a hundred or so sold a day was a drop in the bucket compared to what he was aiming for. Though the eventual plan was to transition to selling only the flagship model in store. By having it only available in one place we would increase the perception of rarity, and thus value. It was actually a pretty smart idea.

When we arrived we slipped in unnoticed. It was relatively busy but not insane, at least not yet, so we didn't have any trouble entering. When I got inside I saw a familiar blonde teen raise an eyebrow at me challengingly. "You hire me and then vanish for days? Not cool Nick." Kara Kent was waiting for me, looking a bit put out but not too annoyed, she seemed to mostly be glad to see me, though her body language could be hard to read at times. That became a non issue when she spotted who was next to me, eyes widening in joy and recognition. "Oh my god Barbara? It's so good to see you!" Huh. Maybe I should have appraised Kara after all.

January 23rd 2016 Pythia Solutions 2:00 PM EDT

Kara looked shocked that we knew each other. She and Barbie were apparently friends, and judging by the age gap I was kind of figuring they met through the League. Which meant this girl was probably a Leaguer. Tiny, blonde, and with a tight little ass, maybe Star Girl? She wasn't buff enough to be Wonder Girl. I'd done some research on heroes after I got Barbie to spill on some of the League, and I knew most of the big name actives. With an internal shrug I used appraisal on her, finally just giving up.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Kara Kent- A rank Kryptonian. The teenage cousin of Superman, Kara fights crime on a regular basis as the teen heroine Supergirl. An outsider due to growing up on another planet and in another culture. Kara does her best to fit in and assimilate with her new planet mates, but still struggles with Earth social norms despite being a gregarious and social girl at heart.]

I have never in my life been as happy to have perfect bodily control as I was right that instant. I immediately locked down my heart rate, pupil dilation, sweat glands, and every other outward sign of the massive panic attack I was in the middle of right now. Kryptonian. She was Kryptonian. An A ranker. I hadn't ever seen an A ranked item before but I was guessing if any being would be A rank it would a Kryptonian.

That was besides the point though. This girl was DANGEROUS. She could listen in on anything I said, focus on me from across the planet and learn all the secrets I kept. Granted the mask would prevent any bleed over from Mammon at least. But I made the immediate and completely rational decision NOT TO FUCKING MESS WITH HER. As amazing as all those points would be I didn't want this girl any more involved in my fucking life than she had to be. I was sweating bullets at the thought of her deciding I was interesting enough to listen in on regularly.

Barbie smile and stepped forward to hug her. "Kara! Hey how are you? What are you doing here? How do you know Nicky? It's a small world, to think my boyfriend would know a close family friend of mine. Though I suppose I interested him to Zee and Rocky and the rest of our group, so it only makes sense to complete the set." Her voice was steady and casual, but I appreciated her attempt to warn me that Kara was a Leaguer.

A Leaguer who was currently looking me over skeptically. "He's your boyfriend huh? Because he was definitely hitting on me when he first met me. I'm not sure he's very trustworthy." She was frowning at me, which I imagined was a lot like having an atomic bomb decide it had a problem with you. She didn't mention Cherry calling me daddy, which I assumed was because she didn't need to given she had first hand knowledge of my 'infidelity'.

Barbie looked embarrassed, cheeks flushing as she gave me a bit of side eye. "Oh. I mean, yeah, that's not a huge deal. We have kind of an open relationship. He's free to talk to other girls, and I certainly can't blame him for noticing how pretty you are." Once again an attempt to deescalate, but I noted the obvious tone implying she DID in fact, blame me, and that it would be going on my list of sins to work off to get back in her good books, beyond the exorbitant charitable donation she made me give just to prove I would.

Kara's eyes widened but she smiled happily. "Oh! That's ok then. I remember that kind of thing was much more common back on...back home. I definitely don't judge. I didn't really take you for the sharing type Barbara, especially after the whole thing with Zee and Dick. I think it's really nice you're learning to trust more and be more open with intimacy." She bit her lip. "Though I suppose going from not being able to share your boyfriend with a friend even platonically to sharing him with EVERYBODY romantically might be a bit of an over correction." She shrugged. "Well as long as you're happy."

I blinked in awe. Kara was...a fucking verbal sledgehammer. That must have been what the appraisal meant by 'has trouble with social norms' I mean I was still going to avoid her like the plague, but the shade of purple Barbie's face was turning as she tried to hide how much she didn't want to have this conversation was fucking mindnumbingly hilarious. I couldn't hold back a laugh. "I see your value now." Kara's big blue eyes went wide with enthusiasm as she clapped her hands in excitement.

Her voice was full of glee at being in on the joke. "Oh! I got that reference! I love that show!" I had to admit she was sweet. Like a big terrifying puppy. Sadly in this analogy she was a drug dog and I was a meth dealer, so I could only give her a polite smile and a nod. I stepped away from her, using body language to convey that I had noticed Barbie's discomfort and was trying to get myself out of the doghouse. Kara wilted a bit, but her chipper attitude came back full force as she turned to Barbie. "Anyway I was just here to pick up my pay. Nick had me doing word of mouth advertising for his store."

I went and got the money and passed it to Kara with a smile. "Thanks for all your hard work, but we've been working with Galaxy Media and the deal has kind of just gone through. I think we're good for advertising, but I'll give you a call if I need a hard worker ok?" I gave her a polite smile and tried not to wince a little at the hurt in her eyes. Even I didn't like kicking puppies. Still, I didn't stop her as she put on a forced smile and said goodbye, giving me a sad but understanding nod.

Once Kara left, Barbie looked at me for a minute before taking out her phone. She tapped out a text and sent it. I smiled at that. It was clever. No buttons on the phone so even if Kara heard it she would just hear fingers on a phone screen. The message popped up on my screen within seconds. "Kara can hear us, don't say anything you wouldn't want her to know." I looked back out the door and then nodded, smiling at her. She was looking out for me even though she was still pissed. That was just like her.

I texted her a response. "Got it, sorry we had to send her away, but there are a lot of things I'd rather some random superheroine not know. Once you told me she was from the League I decided better safe than sorry." She frowned but nodded. We were still technically running a secret independent investigation from the League, but I was also pretty sure she had put together some pieces based on my behavior and knew...something...was off with me. She didn't know about Mammon since the mask sealed that secret, but she knew I wasn't exactly what I'd claimed to be.

The issue was that we were in a deadlock here. I had no clue how to tell Barbie what was going on for real. She was a superhero, and despite seemingly being willing to bend a bit for my sake she wasn't someone who would support the way I did things. I didn't feel like being hamstrung in how I did business by having a member of the Bat family looking over my shoulder, even one I ostensibly controlled. She would influence me, and that wasn't something I planned to allow. Not the way things were.

I spent the next hour showing her the store, making sure to keep things vague and normal when I talked about the products and how things worked, just in case Kara was listening in. I bound Waylon and Cherry to silence temporarily, texting them before releasing the order so they could talk once they knew the score. Waylon got a bit twitchy when he heard, clearly worried what a Kryptonian could do to him.

Once that was finished I told Barbie to send that info to the planet for tomorrow and said goodbye. She left and I made some preparations before the news hit. I bribed a few other employees in the department to either support me or turn down a promotion and went out of my way to make sure I would be the only viable choice for my head of my department. Once I got kicked up to the next level I'd wait a bit and focus on my work as Mammon while things died down before I hit my next target.

One at a time all the way up to the top until I had control of Galaxy. Once my preparations were made I collected my people and headed home, confident that my Palace's prison defenses would keep eavesdroppers from picking anything up. I arranged for Cherry and Bonebreaker to take Dinah shopping for baby supplies to get her out of the house and then assembled my most trusted subordinates. Waylon and Whisper were the ones I trusted most out of my whole crew, so they were the ones I consulted about my most recent plan.

I looked between the two of them. "With the introduction of Supergirl at the shop, even if we probably chased her off for now, it's become clear that the power levels of people we might meet are much too random for me to stay at G rank. I need to push up to F, which means merging myself with something, or a mutagen. So Whisper, I want your opinion on the merging. I've already been exposed to a mutagen, but having your views on how yours has effected you would be helpful too Waylon."

Whisper brightened. "Of course my lord!" She bit her lip, thinking over her experiences and trying to give me a fair assessment. "Well the extra strength is wonderful of course, but I think my favorite aspect of the merge was the abilities. I would suggest using something with impressive skills you could integrate into your fighting style. I also suggest being careful about the nature of whatever creature you utilize. I find myself preening more, and generally more vain. The feathered serpent is an arrogant creature, and some of that has come through in my nature."

I nodded at that, she made sense. I hadn't considered that the instincts of the creatures would have more of an effect than just cementing their loyalty, but it was reasonable. I was just lucky I was already peak G rank. Another G rank monster merged in should be enough to boost me to F, rather than using something overpowered and averaging the ranks. It still cost me ten thousand points of course, because I paid for the final rank, not the ingredients, but at the very least I wouldn't have to make something E ranked and burn a hundred thousand GP.

Waylon gave me a brief summary of his experience as a mutate, and I mulled that over as well. Between the two though, I'd already tried one, and I'd seen enough merges with animals to be pretty sure I would be ok as long as I was careful. I needed to get stronger ASAP, so I knew what I wanted to do. I was going to merge myself with an animal. I nodded solemnly as I turned to Whisper, handing her my card. "Alright, I have a few things I need. Buy them wherever you have to, but make sure to get me everything. This is going to be important." I wrote her out a list and she left.

Meanwhile I began to prepare. I was about to reach the next rank, and I already had a pretty decent plan for how.

January 23rd 2016 Palace of Debauchery 8:00 PM EDT

Whisper got back with the list of items after only a few hours. There was more than a few random items mixed in, as well as an actual wolf. I decided that I would use a wolf as my base animal. I'd always had kind of a phobia of werewolves, and I was betting the ability to become one would be pretty terrifying. That left me with the task of creating a new animal, a G ranked wolf based beast that would be strong enough to push me to F rank and give me some interesting powers, along with my new form.

Still, that left me with one important question. "Where the actual fuck did you get a Komodo Dragon in Gotham in the middle of the afternoon Whisper?" My newest baby mama and most loyal follower had pulled some impressive shit before, but honestly this was more amazing that bringing me paintings or gold and jewels. Like, did she buy the thing from a lizard dealer? Did she have an in at the zoo? Was there some kind of wild animal sanctuary hidden in the city? Because I would absolutely believe that given the crazy shit that went on here.

She just grinned smugly. "I can do anything as long as it's for you my lord." Which I noted wasn't actually an answer for anything at all, but I decided to let her have her mysteries. She'd done a good job and I wasn't going to hassle her over that. I still rolled my eyes at her of course, but I turned away when I did it so she didn't get her feelings hurt.

She gestured to all the things I'd requested. "The list of ingredients you requested was complex my lord, but I've managed to acquire them all." She looked skeptical. "I admit I dont see the uses for all of them however. Some of these items seem random and useless." I could see her desire to obey warring with her curiosity. Luckily obedience won as it always did.

I just laughed, not bothering to explain. The art of merging was a but weird and symbolic at times. I was almost positive the results could differ based on my intentions, but even without that factor, things could cause odd or unusual effects that had nothing to do with their actual purpose. Like the descaler I used in Waylons serum. It was for taking water stains off coffee machines, but the name was enough to create a completely different effect when mixed with other elements.

It wasn't hard to see where I was going with the Komodo Dragon. I'd considered a werewolf theme, but I couldn't bring myself to destroy a canine, even if I'd only technically be combining it with myself. Dogs were just so warm and sweet and adorable. People were shitty puppets I would jerk on my strings, but I would never hurt a puppy. I was an asshole, not a monster. I briefly appraised the thing, just for a better idea of what it could do.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Komodo Dragon-H rank. A massive serpentine beast, the Komodo Dragon is the Apex predator of it's environment. Skilled ambush predators and devastating fighters the Komodo Dragon can engage in either up front or stealthy combat. Bites contain toxic proteins as well as an anticoagulent to slow and prevent healing. Komodo Dragons also possess a peptide in their blood rendering them all but immune to bacteria or infection.]

The beast was absolutely huge too, and incredibly powerful. But there were a few other factors that could be added to make the Komodo more suited as it ranked up. The big lizard had been the hardest get, being endangered and all, the other animals I'd tried to get were much simpler to acquire. Tardigrades, or water bears, were one of the most durable beings on the planet, and sea cucumbers were the most powerful regenerators. Well, at least in the normal animal kingdom. The were also simple enough to find, and merging them together created something that could boost the Komodo massively.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Immortal Sea Slug- H rank. A small and unassuming beast, the immortal sea slug possesses massive defensive potential and formidable regeneration abilities. With nothing in the way of offense, this creature is still capable of surviving even head on explosions, and recovering from any damage taken quickly.]

I grinned at that. Perfect. Increased defense and regeneration combined with the already powerful attack capabilities of the Komodo would be a good match. Since the Komodo was the primary reagent in the merge it wouldn't come out as some freakish slug abomination either, which was a relief. Still, I had to see what the actual result of the merge would be, I assumed something draconic, but probably pretty thin blooded. I couldn't imagine an actual dragon would be G rank regardless of what it's ingredients were called. But the only way to find out was to give it a shot, so I triggered the merge.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Lifeweaver Wyrm- G rank. A powerful beast overflowing with vitality and life force, the Lifeweaver Wyrm is a distant relative of a life dragon. Though the flesh and blood of the wyrm is a tonic that can heal most wounds (including it's own, on the rare occasions something manages to damage it) it's bite causes rot and pestilence.]

I whistled. Wyrm wasn't a surprise. I expected real Dragons were extremely high rank, but still, this thing was a juggernaut. I couldn't help but gulp as I stared at the now much bigger beast. It's scales practically glowed the luminous green of life energy, it's legs had been lengthened and it's claws grew out in fingers. It also developed a brow ridge and spikes and in a general sense just became more obviously draconic.

Before I actually did this though I had questions for Crassus. "Hey Marcus, tell me about merging myself. How does this work? I take it it's something you tried?" I spoke low, keeping my voice subvocal to make sure that Whisper didn't hear. I trusted my girl, but something just told me that no one else should know the specifics about the system. Maybe I was being greedy with information, but it just seemed like I should keep it to myself.

[Eventually. I was paranoid about that, physical differences were much less accepted when I was alive. What with all the aliens and metas around today a slight change would be less of a problem. It should work the same as merging someone else, maybe slightly better. The merges work on intent, and your intentions can shape the ability better when it's used on you personally. The result should be roughly in line with what you're expecting, provided it's within the range of what the effect of the merge should be.]

Translation, I'd turn into what I wanted to turn into, as long as I wanted to turn into something pretty close to what the merge would have done before. Fine details could be adjusted subconsciously. That actually made me feel much better. It meant I was less likely to develop some horrible mutation. I was much more interested in using the system like than in making a mutagen like Kobra Venom or the variants. Even higher ranked versions were much less controllable and predictable. I still didn't know everything the Blood did, even with appraise.

Honestly, creating that mutagen was the worst possible method of upgrading myself I could have used. It caused absurd amounts of pain and suffering for the same benefits I would get from using the system properly. The stuff was fine for garden variety thugs, and I'd use it for that, but using an object instead of a much more impressive merge on my best people or even myself was a waste.

I considered sending Whisper out for this, but it seemed like a good idea to have someone around to watch me before I used the ability on myself for the first time. I turned to my redhead. "Ok, hopefully this isn't going to be a huge deal. You went through this and so did Roy. It'll be much less dramatic than my last upgrade. I hope." I was nervous about this honestly. As convenient and magical as the merges were, they were basically breaking something down into pure energy and inserting new energy.

The concept of literally dissolving myself into raw power was intimidating, but it was something I had to do, so I targeted the wyrm and myself and initiated the merge. I'd been at fifty thousand GP so an F rank merge was more than doable for me. Even with the thousand I'd used making the wyrm and the hundred making the slug had been barely a dent. I wasn't making the mistake of tapping myself out again. Once I initiated the merge I felt...strange.

It didn't hurt. It was more like the feeling of adrenaline flooding my body, except it kept flooding, that excitement rushing into every cell and then building. I felt myself begin to almost vibrate with energy, then it increased, and my cells weren't cells anymore, they were just power, like I built up so much energy that I creased to be a physical being. The light flooded my vision, but even without seeing I could still sense the energy composition, tweak the way it worked.

The wyrm's energy flooded me mixing into my own like syrup into milk, altering the flavor of the milk and making it something different. Since the rank of the two beings were the same, the mixture caused a qualitative improvement rather than diluting the stronger. My energy shifted to take on a new aspect. Green mixing with gold but not forming any recognizable color. More of a green gold. At least that WAS what was happening, Until the red flooded in.

It came from the gold, and it took me a minute to figure out what the hell it was that was happening, but I finally got it. The Blood. The red energy was the Blood of Apophis, the hidden effects that I'd been warned about. In retrospect ignoring that had been stupid. The safety features on the system didn't apply to things it made, I knew that because I could and had created poisons, and I knew they would work on me if I took them.

I ignored that, focusing on the energy, I had no real choice but to mix it into my own, hoping to disperse it enough to prevent any serious changes. It felt hot when it joined with the rest of my energy, like there was a bonfire exploding inside me, or rather, since there was no inside or even a me, more like I was a bonfire. I felt myself solidify again easily enough, so fast and simple it was almost anticlimactic after that huge event. I walked over to the mirror on one side of the room and appraised myself. I didn't look any different, though I could feel that I had another form. Still, I was interested to see the details.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Nicholas Lord- F rank. Lifestorm Wyrmkin. The possessor of the Greed System, a recently transformed Lifestorm Wyrmkin. A powerful race possessing immense defense and vitality, the Lifestorm Wyrmkin are beings touched by chaos and the storm. A being whose very presence brings the storm, both literally and figuratively, incidence of rain and thunder increase in their vicinity, as does the natural chaos of the world.]

I blinked. That was...less than ideal. Chaos was usually annoying. Storms were fine, I loved the rain, and I was betting once I evolved again I might be able to actually control that. I loved the defense and regen, plus the vitality would be fun for sex. I was anxious to try out my new power. I should be a physical powerhouse now, even with my main attributes being healing and defense I should be around the same level as Waylon. I turned to Whisper. "Go get Fafnir and have him meet me in one of the training rooms. I have some things to try out." I'd worry about the side effects of the blood later. For now it was time to take this body for a test drive.

January 23rd 2016 Palace of Debauchery 9:00 PM

As I made my way down to the training room, I had to admit that I felt fucking amazing. Slightly unusual interruption aside, the merge had gone amazingly. I felt like I could throw a tank, or take a head on shot from one if needed. My entire being was flooded with a raging hurricane of force that bled through every cell. No matter how much I moved or how much energy I expended I was overflowing with power constantly. I felt like I was on a permanent adrenaline high. like a shot of epinephrine injected straight into my fucking soul.

When I got to the training room I was pleased to see Waylon already waiting. Whisper had found him fast, and even though I had stopped in the kitchen for a snack on the way he still made good time. My bodyguard was standing in the center of my favorite training room, the one shaped like a boxing ring. We had about four of the damn things in the palace but this one had built in seating and was just generally awesome.

Waylon was standing in one corner of the ring, in human form but wearing only a set of loose fitting martial arts pants. Presumably he didn't want to fight in his suit but also wasn't interested in shredding his shirt when he transformed. He grinned at me as I climbed into the ring. "So you finally got your own upgrade huh boss? You sure you want to test it out on me? Sally might be a better match up." Bonebreaker, who was sitting in one of the seats nearby, just glared sulkily at her...boyfriend? I had no clue what their relationship was.

I cracked my neck. "Nope. Your shifted form is the strongest fighter I've got on my side. But I'm F rank now, and I should be able to keep up with you, even if I think you might be stronger still." Waylon's shifted form was a pure bruiser, all of his ability was in strength. My new wyrmkin species seemed to be some kind of energizer bunny magic user type fighter. I was curious what the whole storm thing actually did in combat, but regardless even if Waylon was stronger it shouldn't be by much, and Bonebreaker wouldn't be on my level.

If I could beat Waylon I was going to finally upgrade Sally. I wanted to make sure I had an F ranker who could keep her in line until I got Waylon to the next rank. Waylon just stared for a minute before shrugging and triggering his shift. His body expanded, rippling with muscles and scales with spiked sprouting from his back. Fafnir towered over me, a hulking ten feet of corded muscle and raw power, and I had to admit that I hadn't counted on how intimidating my bodyguard was from this side of a fight.

However, I was wyrmkin now. I could intimidate too. I reached for that storm of power inside me, and when I did I felt how it was contained within my skin. The energy was sealed in me like a soda in a bottle, so I shook it up and let tbe power explode over me. My forehead shifted as a pair of antlers like a deer curled back from it. Scales rippled up my arms from the tips of fingers now tipped with razor sharp claws, and up my legs from taloned feet. I felt them roll up the base of my spine and around my ribs, armoring my torso to protect it from strike.

My eyes sharpened, my sense of smell and hearing increased and the storm of energy inside me increased in power, to the point where I knew if I pushed it could affect not only my body but the world around me. Blue lightning crackled over shimmering green scales and for a second I wanted to let it loose, but that wasn't what this was about. I could test any magical powers I might have later. This was about finding the limits of my new body.

Fafnir was grinning at the change, clearly impressed by my new appearance. I bounced on my toes a few times, awestruck at the air I got with each bounce, and when I came down the third time I shifted my stance and shot forward like a missile right at my guard. Waylon responded with a roar of challenge, lashing out with a back fist at my ribs. I felt the pulse thundering in my ears start to slow as my enhanced mind caught up with his motion. I planted my hands on, his arm, hopped up and swung my legs over it like I was vaulting a counter.

I hit the ground and bounced back up into the air, scything a knee up towards the bottom of his chin, but my moment of bullet time wasn't permanent apparently and Waylon had enough experience to make sure to keep his guard up. His fist snapped back to a defensive posture and he caught the knee on his elbow. I kicked out with the same leg, pushing myself off his chest in time avoid the colossal fist that he jabbed out at my skull by maybe an inch as it split the air so brutally I heard a fucking crack from the sound barrier.

I sailed bock to land a few feet away, gracefully catching myself on my toes. Waylon gave me a slow nod and I whistled. "Damn, you're definitely still stronger." Which was true, but the more I fought the more I was sure that wasn't the point of my new species. I was a walking reactor. i didn't need to overpower him, I could outlast him. Take as many hits as needed or dodge until he couldn't move. I had other abilities I hadn't tried yet too, but in terms of physique I wasn't a sprinter. I was cross country.

I was still stronger than almost anyone I was likely to meet on the street. Waylon was G rank, but I was pretty sure it was only because he was human most of the time and had to make a conscious effort to shift. if his Fafnir form wasn't F ranked it was fucking close. Combined with me being specced different so to speak I wasn't going to muscle my bodyguard, but I was damn sure strong enough to hold my own, especially with my perfect bodily control. I cracked my neck. "Alright man, you better keep your guard up, I'm coming hard this time."

He bent his knees, shrinking his body down to a more defensive position as I streaked forward again. Instead of using my fists I raked out with my claws, trying to get under his guard and tear into his belly. He hunched, bringing his giant elbows down in front of his midsection to block. Unfortunately for him that kind of block, while conservative and cautious, still opened up the face. I bounced up, putting my hands on his fists for leverage, and arched my body forward to slam my fucking antlers right into his scaly skull.

I winced as I had the experience of headbutting a brick wall, but I landed the blow and Waylon staggered, dazed for a minute as his guard dropped. i dipped in close, past his arms to a spot where he would have to backpedal to reach me, and started smashing short sharp punches into his short ribs, snapping them off with a twist from my waist karate style. I shuffled my feet as I punched, shifting forward using the momentum of the strikes and trying to follow him across the ring so he couldn't get out of range.

Unfortunately, this was a boxing ring. He didn't hit a wall, he hit ROPES, and he used them to leverage his superior weight and power and bounce back at me, shoulder dipping to try to slam into my chest. I popped up, rolling over his shoulder, My feet landing on the ropes, which I used to propel myself into a tight back flip. I tucked my knees in to increase rotation as I sailed back towards the middle of the ring, and unfolded at the last second to lash out at his head with both feet in a crushing axe kick aimed at the back of his neck.

I felt the talons of both feet make contact with his flesh, and for a split second I was triumphant...until I remember the spikes. My feet both got fucking speared before I even had time to register the impact, and I planted my hands on his lower back and threw myself into a handspring. Wincing as my bloody feet slammed down as I landed the move. We ended up on opposite side of the ring, him facing away from me until he turned around, grinning at me as he hunkered down again in a defensive posture.

I whistled, not in too much of a hurry since my feet would be healed in like a half minute anyway. "Damn. You are just a juggernaut aren't you." Waylon started to walk slowly to one side, circling, and I did the same in the other direction. I wasn't doing this right. I was trying to finish it with a perfectly precise shot, but Waylon was tanky as hell from all that muscle. I needed to play to my strengths. I dashed in again, and he flicked out a jab to try to ward me off, using my talons for traction I stopped on a dime right before I got in range, and as he jerked back his punch I followed it in.

Then I started wailing on him. No short sharp punches, these were all the fastest jabs I could snap off, and I poured them out like machine gun fire. Waylon's eyes widened and he defended, but I was throwing them so fast he couldn't get an opening to fight back. I could put out punches at top speed all damn day without getting tired. I just poured them on, smashing my fists into his defending arms. A punch to the forearm from me couldn't hurt him too much, but a hundred was another story. I could feel his arms shake under the assault and I kept it up, not letting him have a chance to breathe.

He tried to throw a low kick, but I stepped off his leg and bounded up, smashing my antlers down again on his skull. He saw it coming this time, but unfortunately for him my rain of punches had seriously fucked up his arms and they were too shaky to react as fast as he was expecting. My antlers met his skull, ringing his bell again, and he dropped to his knees, eyes unfocused. I slipped around behind him put a leg over his shoulder and grabbed my foot on the other side, trapping his neck in the beck of my knee in a textbook triangle choke.

I winced as one of his spikes stabbed into the junction of my leg and ass but I held on. We fell backwards and he struggle to try to get away for about a minute before he finally tapped out. I hissed in pain as I dragged myself away, my blood smearing the ring. I pulled myself up on the ropes. Waylon glared at me. "Triangle choke. Showy." He sounded disapproving.

I just shrugged at him, unable to hold back a laugh. "What else was I supposed to do. I couldn't fit my fucking arm around that column you call a neck. Not if I wanted any leverage." He glared for another second before finally bursting into laughter of his own. I helped him up and patted him on the back. "On the upside, it shouldn't be hard to buff you up a bit, which I assume you'll need soon. Because I'm about to make your girlfriend just as strong as you are. Maybe stronger." The smile on his face dropped off pretty quick.

January 23rd 2016 Palace of Debauchery 10:00 PM

Devastation's body was still around, and alive. I'd had her hooked up to an IV of saline to prevent dehydration while I dealt with other things. Since she was just a meat slab at this point, I didn't bother to feed her. I figured a few weeks would be plenty of time, and aside from dehydration there was no immediate threat of death. We had her stashed in one of the extra bathrooms so I had Waylon and Bonebreaker follow me. "So, Sally, you ready for your upgrade?"

Now that I'd proven I could kick ass in front of her I felt better about merging her. I knew she wouldn't hurt be because I could control her with the Brand, but this wasn't about that. Sally worked for Cherry because she proved she was a badass, busted her out of prison. Even though Cherry was weaker Sally considered her worth respecting. Proving I could best Waylon should put me in the same category, should make me worth her respect, and her own desperation for me to resurrect her daughters would do the rest.

Sure enough, she was eager to get started. "Hell yeah boss, even if I don't end up as tough as you or Waylon I want to get stronger. I fully believe you can do the shit you say now, and I want to feel what that's like." It was easy to tell she was excited after watching Waylon and I throw down, and I couldn't blame her. When we finally got to the room where Devastation was being kept I gestured her in first.

I followed behind her. "Alright, strip." She raised an eyebrow but I just rolled my eyes. "Waylon's seen it before and your ass is mine anyway. But I'd rather not shred your only casual clothes if there's some kind of physical change from the merge. There probably won't be, but better safe than sorry." Devastation was bigger than Sally, and I didn't feel like shelling out for new beat around clothes.

She shrugged and started peeling them off, zero shame in her bearing. Not that she had anything to be ashamed of. Her tits were surprisingly big out of clothes, and she wasn't as buff as she looked. Aside from a really defined six pack and some decently bulging biceps she was mostly just a tall athletic girl. Granted she was VERY tall at six foot six, but still, she wasn't like crazy jacked. Not like Devastation was. I was hoping to keep her that way, even if she was Waylons fuck buddy I preferred eye candy where I could have it.

I gestured her over to the bed near Devastation and she walked, giving me a look at a toned but pleasantly fat ass. "Now, stand next to her and put a hand on her arm. Or actually maybe sit down. I don't know how this will work, this is my first human merge, so better safe than sorry." She obeyed and I used appraise on Devastation, curious as to what kind of material she was at this point.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Living corpse- G rank. The wasted remains of an F rank warrior. Though technically alive this pile of breathing meat is functionally useless in almost every way besides as raw materials.]

That was unfortunate, but not unexpected. Still it would be plenty to get her to F rank. "Alright, are you ready for this?" I was slightly nervous about doing my first human merge, even if one of them was a mindless husk. Luckily Sally wasn't feeling that at all, she just shot me a thumbs up as she reclined next to the body. I reached out with my power, triggering the merge without a second thought, and the room was flooded with light as the energy of Devastation's breathing corpse mixed into Bonebreaker.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Sally Sarasota- F rank Titanspawn. A former enhanced human upgraded by a supersoldier serum, Sally, also known as bone breaker was merged with the mindless flesh of a distant child of the progenitors of the greek gods. Though she possesses only a trace of the bloodline, Sally has inherited a small portion of the powers of Atlas, titan of strength, granting her massively enhanced physical power and durability.]

I blinked. Ok...I was positive Devastation didn't have fucking titan blood. That would have shown in her appraisal. I could only assume whatever power she did have had merged with Sally's enhancements in such a way as to qualitatively upgrade them to this. I wondered how the fuck I would even upgrade her without losing that powerful bloodline, but regardless, she was not officially F ranked, and a fucking strong F rank too if my senses were to be believed. I couldn't imagine she was any weaker than Waylon or I.

Aside from the upgrade, she had physical enhancements too. For one, she got SMALLER. Which I hadn't even considered an option, but something about the titan bloodline condensed her strength. She was only about six foot even now, with bronze skin and bright green eyes. Her body was softer than it had been, still muscular but slimmer and more compact. She looked fucking hot. She stood up, marveling at the feeling her new muscles propelling her smoothly through the air as she rose to her feet.

She lashed out with a few punches, the sound of the air displacing cracking the stillness like a rifle report. She turned to me excitedly. "This feels amazing boss! Thank you so much!" She whirled to look at her boyfriend or whatever he was to her. "Come on, let's go fuck." She grabbed his hand, dragging him out without waiting for an answer or bothering to put clothes on, and it made me chuckle to see her manhandling her now much bigger fuck buddy. Waylong was going to be interested in his own upgrade soon enough.

For now though I decided to go track down Dinah and see how she was doing. My future baby mama was in her room, where she'd been spending lots of time, curled up in bed watching TV and sulking about hew life falling apart. Which was totally reasonable in her situation, but honestly was much less fun than I had been expecting having her here to be. I wasn't going to waste the months of sexy milf I had before the baby started to show and I had to deal with mood swings and shit on her moping, so I decided to try to cheer her up.

My knock on the door got no response. "Dinah, it's me." Nothing. "I'm coming in, so if you're like...eating a huge tub of ice cream on your own or something and don't want me to see then hide it quick." I had to admit I knew jack shit about grieving women. I was a pretty solid manipulator, but part of knowing how to manipulate people is making sure they either don't find out until it's too late or don't care when they do. The moping usually came AFTER I was done with them, so my experience with it was pretty limited.

I heard a snort as I pushed the door open, and Dinah, who was laying in bed cuddling a stuffed giraffe, just rolled her eyes when she saw me. "It's never been more obvious that you're a teenager. Or a man. You watch too many romcoms. Getting your information about how women act when they're upset from bad movies is going to bite you in the ass some day." She was laying on her stomach, so I couldn't help but stare at her own ass, and consider the yield it would have under my teeth.

She noticed my gaze and burst out laughing. "Nice to know you're still interested at least, even when my hair is a mess and I'm not wearing makeup. I look like total shit, so it's flattering you aren't just running away." She gave me a sardonic smile as she sat up. "So what can I do for you Nicky? I hope I haven't been a bother. Just been trying to keep to myself, especially with Barbara running around. I spotted her at least once and I'm pretty sure she isn't happy with me, so I'm trying to give her space."

Which wasn't really true. Barbie wasn't happy with ME. She was jealous of Dinah, though I think she was conflicted about why. Regardless I'd make her play nice, the stress of being alone all the time couldn't be good for the baby. Though her insistence on looking bad was nonsense, she looked perfect, messy hair and dark circles aside. I hadn't even known she wore much makeup and I could only spot the difference because of my supernatural senses, other than that she was still the same busty mouthwatering milf I met in that coffee shop.

Which gave me an idea. My lifestorm abilities meant I was overflowing with vitality, to the point that my blood could heal people if I remembered right. I was betting my cum had some energy in it too. Dinah had been sulking too long, I was worried about her. She was not only one of my girls and hence something that needed to be properly maintained, she was carrying my kid, which made that need even more pressing. I made a contemplative sound, getting a raised eyebrow, before I nodded to myself.

I walked over to her and grabbed her, throwing her over my shoulder with a squeak of surprise. "Laying in bed is bad for you. We're going to get you in the shower, and then I'm going to bring you downstairs and feed you breakfast. You need food and socializing. So you're going to make friends. There are several people living here. You already met Cherry, and Whisper would love to talk to you." They were after all, both pregnant, though I was going to wait to mention that until she was in a better headspace.

I palmed and groped a doughy ass cheek as I carried her to the bathroom, because it was right next to my face, and I wasn't a fucking idiot. My plan was simple, Dinah loved to fuck, so I was going to pound some happy into her, along with some energy laden cum and then pawn her off on the other girls. I wanted her to make friends with them early on because I refused to be the one stuck dealing with her once she got into her mood swings. Granted none of them were professionals but...

I paused. I'd been trying to think of a way to get Ingrid Karlsson back on my radar since I realized she was part god. Having a pregnant superheroine with depression issues who was feeling isolated was a great way to reel her in. I made a mental note to call and as her to come by, she was such a genuine sweetie no way she'd turn me down, and I could start slowly gaining her trust once she was here in preparation for making her one of my girls. I reached one of the bathrooms and set Dinah down on the tile, giving her ass a sharp slap as I did, earning a squeak and a glare.

Despite that her lips were quirked in a smile. She raised an eyebrow, clearly waiting for me to go, and I gave her a long, slow once over. "I think you need supervision for this next part. I did say WE were going to get you showered." I saw a bit of the heat behind her eyes I hadn't gotten a chance to experience in a while, and I fed it with Eros and Psych, stoking that fire. "Now strip, and get your hot little ass in the shower. I'm right behind you." She stripped off her panties and turned very deliberately exposing her fat, milky pale ass to me. I had to admit. It was nice being behind Dinah. But being inside her would be even better.