As Above, So Below

Releasing some stories while I continue working on editing the rest of Knight of the Wood (trying to edit it for longer chapters to make it easier on myself). This one is a part of World of Wonder, a superhero setting which I plan to revisit with more standalones.

Evan Cook, helmet on the desk in front of him, tapped his fingers and frowned. The displays of the Tower's reports on activity around the city should've clarified some things for him. That was how it had always been before, when a new villain had arrived that he didn't understand. But today, the noise remained noise. Even Stella, the Tower's AI, who Evan preferred to avoid relying on, had no suggestions to help narrow the field. No matter how I slice it, this all looks totally random. But why risk so much for nothing? His thoughts were interrupted as he detected the elevator approaching from several floors down. He lifted his helmet to place it firmly on his head, taking a deep breath and straightening his back. When the elevator opened in the hall behind him, he was once again Vanguard, the admired leader of the East Coast Defense Brigade. His helmet, which left his blue eyes and strong jaw visible, shimmered as it reconnected with his nano-weave, full-body suit. Now that he stood straight, confused look scrubbed from his face, he turned confidently to greet the arrivals.

"Cygnus. Lady Torrent."

Cygnus, his long white hair bound into a single severe knot behind his head, nodded.

"Vanguard. Have you discovered what this new villain wants?"

"No," Vanguard smiled easily. "There's not enough information for me to tell. Not yet."

"Is there any chance she's like Fugue," Lady Torrent offered, voice hoarse and quiet. "And this is all just random?"

"Anything's possible," Vanguard shook his head, "but I don't think so. I have a hunch there's a reason, I just can't tell what it is."

"Then we must move now." Cygnus' dour expression darkened further. "We cannot allow a new an unknown villain to go unchecked any longer. Even this hour you were granted was, in my opinion," he cast a glare at Lady Torrent, "too much time."

"I do not regret forcing the vote to give Vanguard time. We owe it to ourselves to avoid rushing in blindly. What did Stella think of the situation?"

"She had no additional feedback." Vanguard replied, hiding his disquiet under his smile. Time was my word would've been taken over some program. "What has the Brigade voted on?" Cygnus, all business, walked to the center of the room and gestured at the air.

"Table please, Stella." A table a dozen steps from the displays whirred up from the ground. "The plan is to send myself, Lady Torrent, and a few others to investigate the disturbances this villain has caused since this morning. I, along with some of our new recruits, will be securing the police stations so we can stop this from spreading further than the outer boroughs. Lady Torrent will be managing the Hudson to ensure that the recent flooding doesn't complicate anything further. As for the beekeepers, we'll have..." Cygnus continued to speak, but Vanguard's attention drifted off.

This is a solid plan, but it's make-work. If we don't find this villain and figure out how they're doing this and why, it won't matter.

"...and you, Vanguard, will be hunting down the villain, whoever it is." At this, Vanguard's head tilts slightly. "None of our members with tracking powers could pin whoever it is down. We believe our best course of action is for you to fly around and listen for them, then intervene and call for backup as needed."

"Well," Vanguard chuckled. "Let's hope I don't need it."

"Good." Cygnus looked between Vanguard and Lady Torrent. "Let's get to work."

Vanguard nodded, then sped into action, launching himself out of the quasi-porous field the Tower had instead of a ceiling. As inspirational speeches go, it's not his worst. Let's see if we can't hear something suspicious... He took a deep breath, then spread his awareness slowly as far as it could go. The sounds of New York City, still here after the floods, fires, and invasions, brought him the same calm it always did. He hadn't grown up here, but as soon as he'd come into his powers it had been the only option. PSAs about the Defense Brigade and the glory of service had been the carrot, and his family's expectations had been the stick. Ever since his arrival, as a hero smarter and stronger than nearly everyone else in the game, his star had risen. And now here he was, at the top of the world. He smiled to himself, letting the air rush over him, then refocused on the rhythm of the city. It didn't take him long to home in on those parts of the city that sounded wrong, after which he began ignoring those out-of-step portions that he could hear other heroes solving. There. He heard, from a museum in the southernmost shelter in Manhattan, a crowd of near-silent people listening to what sounded like a single person ranting. He reoriented himself and flew as fast as was safely possible this close to a city. A few moments later he arrived at the shelter's entrance, pausing only to scan for traps. He found nothing and moved rapidly and quietly to where the crowd listened, rapt, to the speaker.

First things first. As he moved through the hallway, he double-checked his helmet and suit to block psychic or chemical manipulation. He had learned the hard way that, even with his strength of will, he was not fully immune to mind control. That fight ended up lasting ten minutes longer than it should've. Lucky most people assumed it was my inexperience at the time. He finally arrived close enough to hear the speaker and paused to assess the situation.

"Can't you all see how messed up this is? We have thousands of people with powers that defy classic understandings of physics, and their only options are to hide, become cops, or become criminals? Why are we living like this?"

Vanguard frowned beneath his helmet. A woman and a radical of some kind. Maybe her actions looked random because she doesn't know enough to do real damage? The woman continued speaking, voice low and warm.

"I didn't even know I had powers until last night and now they've got the city locked down. I didn't even declare myself a villain -- I just caused a few accidents!" The crowd murmured in sympathy, but Vanguard's eyes narrowed. She's lying now, I can hear it. Maybe a persuasion-based power? He snuck a quick glance around the corner. No one in the crowd's harmed, but they're even quieter than when I first heard them. Not even any fidgeting. It must be her power, but what is it? Loathe as he was to call for backup, he silently flagged his location to Stella with his suit. Then, still suspicious of purely digital communications, he sent two quick bursts of radio air to Cygnus. A moment later, Cygnus sent two bursts back. Showtime.

"Citizen, I must ask you to stop manipulating this crowd." Vanguard stepped from behind the pillar, drawn to his full height, his bass voice echoing through the near-silent shelter. "Turning to crime instead of civic action is what makes one a villain. Especially so if you are, as you say, empowered. We have a duty to--"

"Blah blah," the woman sneered at Vanguard. "Excuse me if I don't want to hear about what I should or shouldn't do from the top cop himself. You just--" Vanguard heard the very real venom in her voice, but that wasn't what surprised him. What surprised him was that this woman had proportions he'd never seen, even on the most sculpted heroines of the Brigade. Her wide-heeled boots were laced over thighs thicker than his arms, with sheer leggings straining to contain the extreme curves of her lower half. A skirt that just barely covered her enormous ass was the next thing he saw, before her vest -- drawn tight over breasts that were each large enough to defy belief -- almost stopped him from looking at her face. Almost. Vanguard understood, looking at her wide mouth and sumptuous lips, how her voice could sound so low and warm even while she ranted about "the system." On top of her stunning beauty, her skin was a deep brown he'd never seen in person. Thanks to his advanced reaction time, his temporary distraction happened in a fraction of a second. He lowered his hand, discreetly activating his helmet's eye shield to prevent visual hypnosis.

"--have no idea what you mean, do you? You really think being a symbol of order is a good thing."

"Of course," Vanguard blinked. "Surely you agree, if you'd rather talk than try to sucker punch me?"

The woman snorted. "Oh, please. The only limit I've found for my powers so far is range, and you entered that as soon as you came into this shelter." Vanguard's stomach fell. A trap? But what kind? He took stock of himself, not noticing anything unusual.

"So, take me in if you want to, Vanguard." She held her hands out, with her wrists touching. Vanguard didn't look at her now magnified cleavage. "As far as I'm concerned, my first foray is already a victory." Vanguard turned and activated his radio.

"Cygnus," Vanguard barked. "I have the villain, but she has an unknown power with a range at least as far as the shelter we're in. I'll send the civilians out, but I recommend we keep the villain sedated until we figure out what she can do."

"Roger that Vanguard," Cygnus responded. "We'll have Stella send in a medical drone to subdue her. We'll send civilian emergency staff your way to check over whoever you send out."

"Thank you. I'll hold here for now." Vanguard shut down the channel. The woman laughed.

"I guess being the smartest man doesn't count for much. After all, you're still just a man."

Vanguard frowned. Another sign of regressive social beliefs. We need to figure her powers out, fast.

"I want you to remember this moment, even if you forget everything else, Vanguard. It's the first day of the rest of your life. The moment you met me, Na'amah!" The woman -- Na'amah -- twisted her body into a pose. Vanguard stared, nonplussed for a moment.

"Is that just your birth name?"

"What?" Na'amah deflated slightly. "It's my villain name. Did you not get the reference?"

"No. Sorry." Vanguard started ushering out the civilians in small groups. "Please remain where you are while we wait for a medical drone." Na'amah released a loud sigh, then sat carefully on the floor. Vanguard tilted his head at her.

"It's so I have less distance to fall when you knock me out."

"Sensible." Vanguard placed just over half of his attention on her, to make sure she wasn't going to do anything else. The rest he used to direct the civilians and keep an ear out for any other danger in his range. Once he finished, he floated with his legs crossed in the air, assessing Na'amah. Her striking beauty still caught him, so he resolved to maintain his maximum speed to hide indiscretions. He frowned internally. I do seem to be having more of those than usual. I suppose that makes sense, given her beauty. But just in case it's not, I'll make a note of it. Before his hand started the motion to enter in the note. He paused; her words from before echoed in his mind. It would reflect poorly on me to be unable to keep my composure around her. Instead of making the note, he decided to spend an additional portion of his attention trying to figure out what powers she might have based on the information he had. Three or four minutes into the exercise, he started, as he realized he'd been spending more of his attention on the problem than he'd intended. Worse, he was growing erect in his costume. That's never happened before. I really should make a note about this. Before he made the entry, he hesitated again. I'll just write the effects, but that she was having them on the crowd. That gives me time to figure out what's going on with me. No need to damage my reputation over nothing. Perhaps half an hour later, a medical drone floated into the shelter.

"Thank you, Stella. The villain is over there." Vanguard gestured. Humming gently, the drone floated to Na'amah.

"Please remain still." The drone buzzed, just before it injected Na'amah with a sedative. She slumped onto the ground.

"Please bring her to one of the isolation cells under the Tower. Once we figure out what she can do, we can assess next steps."

"Of course, Vanguard." The drone manipulated itself into a stretcher underneath Na'amah, with bindings extended to stop her from rolling off or escaping if she woke.

"Cygnus, do you read? She's sedated, looking for clearance to return to the Tower."

"Granted. We're not seeing any psychic influence on you from out here. You will need to perform daily check-ins until we confirm her powers, of course."

"Of course," Vanguard said easily. "Heading back now."

As he passed Na'amah, he cast one last glance at her face.

Vanguard, back in his apartment at the Tower, sighed and took off his helmet. He made eye contact with himself in his bathroom mirror as he let Vanguard fall away and Evan Cook return. The last four hours had been rough. Despite how rapidly Stella had confirmed that Na'amah had a biological profile in line with other altered or awakened individuals, neither it nor anyone else in the Brigade had been able to figure out her exact powers. For now, that meant she was bound and sedated in isolation until they'd figured it out. Or gotten desperate enough to wake her up and ask her. He smiled ruefully at himself before stripping off the rest of his gear. The chaos in the city was starting to make a little more sense to him now. Learning her actions were meant to draw him into a trap had helped him understand why it looked random. But he suspected there were additional layers to her plot, given her rant when he arrived. He also suspected that her powers were sexual in nature since he had become progressively more aroused since meeting her. He had gone to Stella for a toxin check, but she'd found nothing. She had advised him to break his celibacy or "self-motivate," which embarrassed him enough to martial himself for the remaining debriefs. Luckily, no one in the Brigade was quite as curvaceous or he might've found himself more distracted than he already was.

I'll go in for another toxin check tomorrow. Or talk to one of the more discreet information-gathering specialists.

Ignoring the heat in his groin, he took a shower, meditated, and prepared to sleep. I'll be dipped if some sexual voodoo breaks me. That thought echoed in his mind as he fell into dreamless sleep.

Ninety minutes later he sat up, wide awake, with an erection that throbbed and dripped harder than he could ever remember it doing. His instincts screamed danger at him, so he leapt out of bed to examine himself and his surroundings. Other than his intense arousal, he found nothing wrong. He meditated again and forced himself back to sleep.

Ninety minutes later, he awoke again. Panic raced through him as his tangled sheets almost tripped him. Something's wrong, but what is it?

"Stella," he coughed hoarsely into the air. "Can you confirm Na'amah is sedated?"

"Confirmed, Vanguard. Do you require assistance?"

"No! No," he sat heavily back on his bed. "I'm fine, thank you." He tried to meditate again, but his dick throbbed intensely whenever he started to enter a truly meditative state, breaking him out of it. He stalked to the bathroom, turned the water as cold as it could go, and stood under it. His erection wilted, and as it did so a wave of exhaustion came over his mind. He barely had time to turn off the water before he collapsed in the shower.

This time he dreamt, in fragments. First: a beautiful brown woman teasingly unbuttoning a vest before dissolving into mist. Second: an enormous ass rolling under a skirt as he floated after it. Third: staring down into Na'amah's eyes as she--he awoke again.

He was on the floor of the shower, his dick more erect and stickier than it had been the night before. Is it...bigger? He reached his hands to measure but jumped instead when he heard his apartment buzzer going off. Who-I didn't hear anyone approach??

"Vanguard," Cygnus' voice came through the door. "We have a situation related to the villain from yesterday. She calls herself Na'amah, and the DA just asked us to release her. We need your leadership."

"Of course, Cygnus," Evan projected the voice of Vanguard the best he could through his arousal. "I'll be there shortly." Cygnus nodded and left. Evan dressed himself, with only a single hiss of pleasure as he stuffed himself into his nano-weave. He put the helmet on and breathed deep, then stepped into the hall.

"What's the situation?" Vanguard asked. Cygnus gestured, then walked toward the elevator to the top floor.

"We believe the DA was compromised, frankly -- he wasn't in the shelter where you found her, but he was near another of the scenes she caused. The problem is that we can't prove it, and we don't have any idea how she would've done so. More importantly, he is demanding we respect her rights as a citizen and release her after a 48-hour hold."

"That means we have 40 or so hours to discover her powers," Vanguard mused. "Have we made any progress since last night?" Cygnus shook his head, mouth turned down. "Noted. I'll work with Stella on possibilities -- please ensure anyone with applicable powers here gives me more details. I'll be spending my full attention on the problem, as well, so make sure to keep the Brigade ready for threats. If you need me, interrupt me."

"Of course. Let me know what else you need." Cygnus almost saluted out of old habit before he turned on his heel and left the room. Then it was just Vanguard, the displays, and Stella.

"Alright, Stella. Let's do this." For the first time in more than a decade, Vanguard martialed his full attention to a single problem. As his mind came fully together, he moaned and dropped to his knees. If he'd thought he was aroused before, it was nothing compared to now. It took the full force of his will to avoid an orgasm on the spot.

"Stella, please seal the doors temporarily."

"Done, Vanguard."

He unzipped his pants, fisted his dick--it's definitely much bigger than it should be--and moaned in relief as he splattered the floor with an immense flood of cum. His mind returned to the fragments of dreams, as well as to thoughts of Na'amah and her pornographic body. His tongue hung out and he grunted, eyes crossed, as he imagined her wrapping her tits around him. He came again, an equally large burst of cum shooting on the floor. He put his other hand above the first and pumped frantically into a third thick nut. He then fell onto his back. He heard Stella deploying drones to clean up his cum. I didn't know she could do that. His brain was fuzzy and hot, but he felt lighter than he'd felt in years. It was as if his mind, rather than trying to track everything within his senses, had reduced its scope to just this room. I could get used to this.

"Vanguard, are you ready to begin work now?" Stella asked politely.

"Yeah, totally, let's do this." Vanguard staggered to his feet. It was only as his dick, which even mostly soft hung nearly to his knees, slapped into him that he remembered to rezip his nano-weave. "She clearly has titty powers. How do we test for those?" Stella's silence made Vanguard frown. "Unless you think she has...ass powers? Or mouth powers?" His dick, reminded of Na'amah's ass and mouth, started to throb back to fullness in his suit.

"Those are not powers I'm equipped to evaluate, Vanguard. Do you require assistance?"

"Sure, yes." Vanguard frowned as he tried to think. He had jerked off three times and he was still horny, probably because of Na'amah. But she hadn't poisoned him. Or hypnotized him. Or even touched him. "Are there ways to hypnotize people that aren't detectable?"