Science of Supervillainy by Phipps C. T

Author:Phipps, C. T. [Phipps, C. T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: superheroes, comic book fiction
Publisher: Crossroad Press
Published: 2019-01-05T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

MUSINGS ON THE LOSS OF FRIENDS AND LOVE

I woke up on the couch of the Crystal Palace’s lounge, staring up at the ceiling even as Other Gary’s words echoed in my mind. I was wearing a pair of boxer shorts and a t-shirt that Mister Inventor’s machines had generated for me. He had a whole big replicator system down here, which made me wonder if Other Gary really was releasing all the science he was claiming to.

Getting up, my primary thoughts were about his offer. The chance to just leave this reality with my loved ones and forget it all. Was I willing to take it?

Hell no.

Still, I couldn’t say I wasn’t tempted. There was nothing like five years of being a prisoner in not only your body but also your mind to let you know you weren’t invincible. I’d successfully killed the worst president since Andrew Jackson and brought an end to World War II, only to get smacked down within seconds.

Honestly, the biggest thing preventing me from picking up my ball and going home was that none of the others would go for it. Mandy wanted revenge; I could tell that by the subtle tics in her movement. Amanda also wanted revenge; she said so. Gabrielle was missing, and I wasn’t about to leave her behind until I knew what was happening. Cindy?

Well, Cindy would go if she could stuff her picnic basket full of gold or diamonds. Diabloman couldn’t go since he was dying and the only thing that might save him was Other Gary’s reservoir of magic. I didn’t know this Mister Inventor Guy well enough to say what he’d do, but I suspected any man willing to go against the Society of Superheroes on moral grounds wasn’t likely to cut and run.

“I don’t think you’re likely to run either, Gary,” Cloak said, in my head.

“I’m a father now,” I said. “Like you said, that changes everything.”

Cloak was silent.

Picking up a black bathrobe with a big M on the back, I put it on and walked down the hall, looking for Mandy. Vampires didn’t really sleep, contrary to the whole coffin myth, and mostly just hibernated when they weren’t eating. One decent thing about Undertown was there were plenty of people who enjoyed being snacked on. That was probably the only thing I liked about the place since, for whatever reason, biting wasn’t one of my kinks. The aftermath? Yes. The actual throat gnawing? Not so much.

Much to my surprise, I found the robot-manned kitchen and Amanda instead. Amanda was sitting in a pair of house shorts with a goth Hello Kitty shirt on and her hair tied in pigtails. She was eating a bowl of cereal with Guinevere on as the mascot.

“Hey, Gary,” Amanda said. “Having trouble sleeping?”

“You could say that,” I said, looking through a half-dozen bags of imported expensive coffees as well as hand-ground beans for the cheapest strongest coffee Mister Inventor had. I then started making myself a cup, since he didn’t have a coffee pot but one of those Keurig things.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.