Super Babes 2: A Superhero LitRPG Adventure Page 10

Electronica nodded. "I do not possess emotions or romantic feelings. Our sexual activity has no emotional component."

  "Sex?" Chuck raised his eyebrows. "You had sex with your ATLAS implant? How?"

  "I manifested a--"

  "That's enough," Ryan called out, waving his hands. "Go back to the Watchtower, Electronica."

  "Affirmative." Electronica vanished.

  Chuck had his hands on his face. "Amazing."

  Ryan sipped his Pepsi. "She's more like a robot. Not a girlfriend."

  "But you had sex with her."

  "One blowjob. I wouldn't even call it sex. More like an experiment."

  "An experiment where you came?"

  "Hey, I didn't ask for it, Chuck. She just went ahead and did it."

  Chuck went back to putting toppings on the pizza. "But I'll bet you didn't exactly beat her off with a stick either."

  Ryan gave him a wide grin. "Nope. Not like I have to do with your mother."

  "Fuck you. I don't even wanna hear anymore." Chuck slipped the pizza into the oven. "I gotta tell you, it's been rough for me the last few months. Not as rough as it's been for you, of course. My best friend is a superhero, and I can't tell anybody. I just wanna tell everybody I know that you're Paragon."

  "Well, I appreciate that you haven't. Honestly, I wanna tell everybody, too. Especially Grandpa. But I don't know if he could handle it."

  Chuck rolled his eyes. "Come on, he's not Aunt May, for fuck's sake. He listens to nineties old-school hip hop. I think he could handle finding out his grandson is a superhero."

  "Except for the fact that he specifically told me he would kill me if he found out I was a superhero."

  Chuck raised a finger, then lowered it. "Yeah, that's a good point."

  "What's up with you, Chuck? Anything goin' on?"

  "Other than becoming a level fifty wizard in Dark Abyss 5, nope."

  "Well, that's something."

  "Compared to you, that's like saying I got the high score in last night's bridge game." Chuck came out of the kitchen, wiping off his hands on an apron. He stood in front of Ryan and held out his hand. "Hey, buddy, seriously. Sorry to hear about your Grandpa, man. If there's anything I can do, you know I'm there for you."

  "Thanks, man." Ryan swallowed a lump that formed in his throat while he shook Chuck's hand. They always had a relationship where they busted each other's balls, but deep down, he would give his life for Chuck and knew Chuck would do the same.

  Chuck grinned. "And I'll make sure Lloyd only charges you half price for the Pepsi you just stole."

  Chapter 11

  SERRA CHEN waited patiently as the car pulled up. She had her phone in her purse, recording as she opened the back door and climbed in.

  "Hey, you Serra?" the driver asked without even turning his head.

  "That's right." Serra settled in, watching the man closely as she took the phone out of her purse. "You Tyrone?"

  He nodded as he pulled the car away from the building. "Headed for the museum, right?"

  "Yes. But I'm more interested in one of your previous rides. Paragon."

  He glanced over his shoulder at her, then continued to drive. "Don't know nothin' about that."

  "I think you do. In fact, we have a video of you dropping him off at his fight with Poundcake."

  He scowled at her in the rear view mirror. "Hey, who are you and how'd you find me, man?"

  "That's not important. What is important is that you were driving for Uber that day and that means you had to have been paid through an account. All I want is the information on that account."

  "I ain't giving you shit, lady. There's privacy rules and stuff."

  She took out a hundred dollar bill. "And how much to just hand me your phone and look the other way?"

  "That'll do it." He snatched the money out of her hand and tossed the phone into the back seat.

  She settled back to go to his Uber app and scroll through it. She found his ride history and flipped through it until she came to the date and time of the Poundcake fight. A name and a picture came with it.

  "Chuck," she said. "That's who paid for the ride?"

  She held up the phone to Tyrone and he said, "Yeah, that's the guy who was with Paragon when I picked him up. What's it to you, anyway?"

  "Just a story. You can drop me off here."

  Tyrone pulled up to the museum, and she climbed out.

  She waited until the car had pulled away before pulling out her cell phone and tapping an app disguised as Facebook.

  The Monolith's helmet appeared on her screen. "Your report."

  "I've got a lead, but I'll need some help. And I need to make sure you'll still protect me if Paragon comes after me."

  "Of course. Your work is valuable to me. Beyond anything you can imagine."

  ***

  Doctor Horne worked on a laptop computer while the Hispanic woman gave him oral sex under the table. As she sucked on his newly hardened cock, he couldn't keep the smile off his face. The women Aphrodisia had given him did anything he wanted.

  Aphrodisia herself lay on the huge bed nearby, watching a man lying on top of a woman, thrusting into her. He'd been going for hours, and Horne thought from the way he sweat and gasped that he wouldn't be able to go much longer.

  The man gasped once more, and rolled off the bed to collapse on the floor.

  "Heart attack," Aphrodisia sighed. "Shame. He didn't even last as long as the others. Send in the next one."

  Another man came in, climbed on top of the woman, and began to hump.

  Horne watched on the computer as his screen showed him a simulation of his data. "All right, I have the formula for a drug that will boost your power. Here's a list of ingredients I'll need."

  He printed a sheet of paper and handed it to Aphrodisia. "Some of them are pharmaceutical which we can purchase or steal anywhere. However, this one is a street drug called pipedream that's illegal. We'll also need a crystal, and it's so rare that it's stored at the museum."

  Aphrodisia smiled. "That won't be a problem."

  She waved a hand. "You can come in now."

  The door opened and a man and woman walked in. The man wore a sleek orange bodysuit and a winged mask. The woman seemed made of a green jelly-like substance. Both of them had the glassy look of someone under Aphrodisia's control.

  "Goo Girl, Gunslinger," Aphrodisia called to them. "We'll be stepping out tonight."

  Horne frowned. "Do you really think we need them?"

  "I believe we might. The Night Watchman found a way to make himself immune to my power, and if he returns, Paragon could very well find out what that is. Best to have some backup."

  Horne smiled, both to her and to himself. His research had come up with something far more useful to him, a way to control Aphrodisia. Once they had the formula, she would be the one doing his bidding.

  Chapter 12

  THE SUN hung low over Eros City by the time Paragon returned to the Watchtower. He flew up to the clock and the face slid open to let him fly through.

  Electronica still stood in front of the computer, exactly as he had left her, while Heavenly Hawk and Alley Cat sat on a nearby couch, holding and kissing each other.

  Paragon landed next to them. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

  Heavenly Hawk laughed. "Of course not. You're always welcome."

  Alley Cat beckoned. "Yeah, get that tight ass over here, baby."

  He leaned over to give Alley Cat a kiss first. He felt her lips vibrating as Alley Cat purred, and he slipped his tongue into her mouth. When he finally broke their embrace, she rubbed her face against his cheek as he kissed Heavenly Hawk.

  Electronica lowered her hand and called out, "The decryption is complete."

  Alley Cat sat up. "What, seriously?"

  Heavenly Hawk giggled. "Extraordinary. It actually worked. She's a miracle worker."

  Electronica nodded at him. "Yes, I have decrypted the files."

  She pointed at the computer screen which show
ed a series of documents in nested windows. "The files are a collection of receipts for purchases of technology through various shell companies. I was able to trace the individual parts and cross-reference them to find out who imported the materials into Eros City over the past thirty years. The purchases are for the Night Watchman's equipment. By tracing the shell companies in public records, I've identified them all as subsidiaries of Langley Enterprises."

  Heavenly Hawk gasped. "Langley? That's the company that owns the bank we went to earlier. Could that really be the company behind the Night Watchman?"

  Paragon grinned. "If it is, we guessed wrong. That's not a tech company."

  "But everything else fits. Langley Enterprises is a massive company that's been secretly purchasing weapons and equipment for the Night Watchman. The owner is Lance Langley. Langley is the right age, and certainly wealthy enough to be the Watchman. The fact that he's gone so long without being seen could be because he managed to stay young with an ATLAS implant."

  Paragon nodded, thinking how Lance Langley had achieved a legendary status in Eros City. He was a billionaire who started earning his fortune in real estate as a young man in the 1940s. While Langley was known as the ultimate playboy in the fifties and sixties, he retired and hadn't been seen in public in decades. Some people wondered whether he had gone crazy or died, but no one knew for sure.

  "It's the best lead we've got so far on the identity of the Night Watchman."

  Heavenly Hawk looked at Electronica with wide eyes. "Extraordinary. In hours, you found the identity of a man that I've spent years trying to find."

  Electronica tilted her head to one side. "Affirmative."

  Alley Cat clapped her hands. "She's the fucking shit!"

  Paragon nodded, feeling something inside him that he'd tried to keep down for years. "Electronica, they never found the guy who torched my house when I was a kid. Do you think you could find out who killed my parents? I mean, is that possible to check police records and see if you can connect the dots?"

  Electronica turned her glowing blue eyes. "Affirmative."

  One of the screens on the computer began scrolling through text and images.

  Paragon took a deep breath, telling himself not to get his hopes up. The police had already spent a while trying to catch the guy, only to conclude he was just some junkie who ended up dead in an alley somewhere. But Paragon still wondered. He desperately wanted to know the man or woman who had destroyed his life.

  "Let's roll." Paragon headed out.

  He took off along with Alley Cat, and Heavenly Hawk and Electronica followed closely behind him as they left the Watchtower and turned towards the horizon.

  They flew over Eros City, past the city limits itself into the rural area beyond. After passing over lush forest, they came to where the trees ended at a gate surrounding a sprawling mansion. Paragon recognized its large and wide buildings as Lane Park.

  Ryan had heard of Lane Park most of his life, usually as an expression like "this place is fancier than Lane Park." It was the home of the Langley estate and used to be the site of lavish parties in the fifties and sixties but Ryan had never actually seen it.

  Judging by the old fence and battered road leading from the front gate, very few people had recently. They passed over the estate and saw an empty pool that had been dry for so long that the tiles had cracked, and a sun bleached tennis court overrun with weeds. Even as the sun began to drop, the windows of the mansion never lit up, remaining dark and gloomy.

  Paragon landed by the front porch, and looked up at Heavenly Hawk as she fluttered down next to him. "How do we do this?"

  Heavenly Hawk folded her wings against her back. "Well, if Langley is the Night Watchman, we don't have time to dance around it. I think the direct approach would be best."

  She climbed the steps of the porch, and knocked on the wooden front door that had intricate carvings on it.

  The door opened by a few inches, and a pair of eyes looked out of the crack in the door. Paragon leaned closer, trying to see if the eyes looked like the ones looking out of the Night Watchman's helmet.

  He felt a little disappointed when a woman's voice called out, "Can I help you?"

  Heavenly Hawk pressed her hands to her chest. "I'm not sure if you recognize me, but my name is Heavenly Hawk. I'm a member of the Trinity--"

  The door opened wider. A beautiful brunette with bee-stung lips and large gray eyes stood there. She was quite short, even in high heels, and wore a black and white maid's uniform.

  She said, "I know who you are."

  Heavenly Hawk breathed out. "Oh, good. Well, we're looking for Lance Langley. May we speak with him?"

  The maid shook her head. "I'm sorry, Mister Langley doesn't see visitors. Is there something I can help you with?"

  Hawk looked at Paragon. "Forgive me, but we have something very important to discuss--"

  "I'm sorry, but Mister Langley sees no one." The maid never said another word, just took a step back and the door closed.

  Paragon sighed. "Well, that didn't go too well."

  Heavenly Hawk knocked on the door again. "Ma'am, it's quite urgent that we speak with Mister Langley. Many lives are at stake."

  They stared at the heavy wooden door, but it never moved.

  Paragon took a step back. "Okay, we tried it the easy way. Now we'll do it the hard way. Come on."

  Alley Cat pumped a fist. "You gonna kick down this motherfucker?"

  "No, if Langley isn't the Night Watchman, we'd have some explaining to do. I'd like to try something more subtle."

  He headed down the stairs and walked around the mansion, crossing the poorly cut grass in bold strides. Seeing Electronica pass through the ceiling of the Watchtower gave him an idea.

  Heavenly Hawk, Alley Cat, and Electronica hurried after him, and Hawk called out, "What are you doing?"

  Paragon studied the side of the mansion, seeing windows with heavy drapes over them. "Electronica, can you find a way for us to get inside?"

  "Affirmative." Electronica held up her hands and sparks popped on her fingers.

  He grabbed her wrists. "I meant go through the walls? Quietly?"

  "Affirmative." She floated up to the mansion and passed through the window's glass.

  After a moment, the window clicked and slid upwards.

  Paragon lifted Alley Cat and Hawk over the windowsill before climbing in himself.

  They climbed inside of the mansion into a huge ballroom, but one that hadn't been used in a while. The hall and elegant marble floor stood empty except for some chairs leaning against the walls with dusty white drop cloths over them.

  They said nothing but their footsteps echoed off the high ceilings as they made their way to a set of double doors.

  Paragon opened the door a crack to peek through it, and saw only an empty hallway with more draped furniture.

  He opened the door and looked down the hall to a staircase at one end, and a drawing room at the other. A grandfather clock ticked in front of them with intricate carvings of the moon and stars.

  At that moment, he realized the flaw in his plan; he had no idea where to go. Even from the air, he could tell the mansion was huge. He didn't know if Langley really was there and if he was, where he might be.

  He closed the door and turned back to the others. Knowing there was no one outside the door, he felt safe to whisper, "Which way?"

  Hawk shrugged. "No idea? I've never been here before."

  Electronica raised her glowing eyes. "Would you like me to download the blueprints for this building?"

  "You can do that?"

  "Affirmative. I can connect to the Internet. The Internet is merely a flow of electrons--"

  Paragon whispered, "I got it. Yeah, go for it."

  She lifted a hand and blue particles swirled in the air in front of her until the glowing dust formed a wireframe image of the mansion.

  The image confirmed his suspicions about the size of Lane Park. He could see through the walls, and count
ed hundreds of rooms marked with titles identifying them, and he pointed at a small room on the second floor. "These look like bedrooms and this is an office. I think he would be there if he's home. If not, maybe we'll find some clues."

  They all headed out of the ballroom and into the hallway. Paragon led them up the stairs to the second floor, trying to keep from creaking on the old wood.

  He came to a corner and paused before ducking his head around the edge. A long hallway of doors led off through the mansion. Drop cloths covered tables and chairs along the way, and all the doors were closed. He didn't see the maid or anyone else.

  He held up his hand to the others before creeping up to one of the doors and reaching for the door handle.

  The door swung open before he could touch it. The door across the hallway behind him opened as well. Both revealed the black metal barrels of miniguns.

  NEW MISSION: DESTROY MINIGUNS

  REWARD: 500 XP

  "Get down!" Paragon grabbed Alley Cat and Heavenly Hawk and pulled them to the ground before the weapons fired.

  Bullets thundered out of the miniguns, peppering him with hundreds of shots a second. They didn't break the skin, just bounced off him to punch holes in the floors and ceiling, but it still hurt like the time he played paintball with Chuck.

  Electronica just stared with curiosity at the guns as the bullets passed through her.

  He held out his hands so the gunfire would beat against his palms and it took a lot of his strength to push against the hail of bullets. He reached one of the guns, grabbed the barrel and ripped it free of the metal supports holding it in place. The gun seemed to be automatic because only wiring and gears were behind it.

  He swung the gun around to slam into the second minigun. The two weapons smashed to pieces.

  +500 XP

  +500 XP

  MISSION COMPLETE

  +500 XP

  He dropped the twisted metal and took deep breaths as silence crept over them again. He didn't bother to whisper as he said, "Okay, I'm guessing they know we're here."

  Alley Cat stood up. "If this fucker has this many guns guarding him, I'd say we're going the right way."