In This Country Act 02 Ch. 01

"Anyway, since the guys worked the tourist attractions last year," the Commander continued, "this year, the heroines will be showing the tourists around, starting in a couple of weeks."

"Brilliant," Hyper groaned. "Now it's our turn."

"It sure is and to make sure everyone follows proper etiquette," the Commander continued, "there will be a short collaborative meeting with the Committee who will help set the rules and procedures that we, and the tourists, are expected to follow."

"Do we have to join? The guys and I can skip this right?" Osprey asked.

"Everyone will be attending the meeting, including me," Commander Shinobay replied, though there may have been a twinge of annoyance from him having to join as well.

"If there are no more complaints, this meeting is adjourned," the Commander dismissed them. "Be sure to read over your pamphlets."

The heroes and heroines exited the Meeting Room with the heroines the last ones to leave.

"This is going to be a long season," Hyper complained.

"I can't disagree with that," Swift said. "And to make it even worse, you know there's going to be perverts there."

"Well, fuck them," Hyper growled. "If someone tries what to do what they did to Osprey on me, I'm going to show how bad I can really be."

"Don't let the Commander hear you say that," Cherry warned.

"I thought you'd be the first person who'd agree with me," Hyper replied.

"I do," Cherry frowned. "I'm still pissed off at how the bitch got to manhandle Osprey AND got off scot free with a fucking retarded ass excuse that her hand slipped and got stuck in his pants. What a whore. But the Commander heard what I'd said about getting her back and stalled any and everything I tried to do."

"Then pretend I didn't say anything," Hyper conceded.

The girls made their way down to the third floor where the Committee was waiting for them. With the Commander and the other heroes already there, the girls were the last to arrive and when they did, the meeting began.

"Due to the lack of foresight that was taken advantage of last year," General Miller began, "the government has issued these pamphlets to us and any tourists visiting that lists the expectations everyone is to meet so please abide by them. These were made to protect and benefit both sides of the party involved, so if there are any questions, please speak with your supervisor. However, we won't be going over the standards held for you as it is expected that each and every one of you to understand and uphold these standards on your own. Instead, we will be discussing the positions each of you will have and the responsibilities that come with that position. For the Committee, we'll be doing what we'd normally do: protecting the citizens, answering appropriate questions, and generally maintaining the peace on these islands, but now with the added bonus of being security detail for the tourists. In the unfortunate event of an attack, the security detail of the tourists are to defend and get them to safety. I must stress the importance of this: do not engage hostile forces unless you are defending the tourists and there's no other choice. The objective is to keep the tourists as safe as possible. They don't know anything about this place and when they begin to panic, they're likely to make things worse and or get themselves in trouble. Keep them calm and moving towards the closest Committee base as fast as possible. Meanwhile, there will be another Committee force, trailing the group of tourists in case they're needed to intercept and deter the hostile forces from the tourists. For the heroes and heroines, I don't know who you're assigning what roles to who, but the same thing goes for you as well. If you're guiding the tourists to a destination and a villain is in the area, you are not to engage them in combat unless they're absolutely threatening the tourists. There has to be two heroes per group, one to hold off the villain and one to get the tourists to safety. If the second hero hasn't gotten to the villain yet or is defeated, the hero guiding the tourists will be allowed to engage the villain. Ultimately, we can't allow even one of our tourists to be injured due to villains or other hostile forces. Now I understand that it may seem like we're favoring the tourists over our own local population, but we are in the process of constructing designated areas that will house our civilians in times of danger. And as I've said before, the tourists don't know anything about being here. They'll likely think everything's all fun and games until they get a taste of how serious this is so don't let it come to that. As of now, that's all I have to say, you're dismissed."

*****

"Speedsters, Replica has been spotted over in Daleegle," the Commander's voice spoke to them through their earpiece. "The police over there has stated that she's stealing parts from cars and other vehicles. I need you two to put a stop to her."

"Ugh," Swift groaned as the Commander finished the call. "I hate fighting against Replica. She's probably the only villain out there to avoid being captured on a consistent basis."

"Commander Shinobay only said for us to stop her; not prevent her from whatever she's trying to get," Zipper advised.

"You know what he meant," Swift argued.

"I know we should be halfway there right now," Zipper reminded her before running off to Daleegle.

She huffed in annoyance and ran after her brother. As usual, they ran through the less populated area of the country to keep from having to run around people in their way. With only the trees to hinder their way, they made it to Daleegle within fifteen minutes and immediately found who they were looking for: Replica who was currently raiding a car lot for vehicular parts. It seemed as if the employees had tried and failed to keep their merchandise from being raided as they were outnumbered in the very literal sense of the word.

There really wasn't a way to successfully launch a surprise attack since Replica let her clones run throughout the entire lot. The only advantage they had was their speed, which they used to halt a multitude of Replica's clones.

"Replica, get your ass out here!" Swift yelled.

"Can't you see me?" the clones asked as they surrounded the two heroes instantly. "I'm right in front of you."

"Don't play games with me," Swift demanded. "These people have things to do and you're getting in the way."

"I'm just another customer," Replica's voice echoed through the clones, "with a big interest in the automotive industry."

"They don't have clown cars for your circus act," Swift informed her. "Besides, you're not even shopping."

"I'm accessing the parts to see which car is the most suitable one for me," the villainess said.

"A nice Committee vehicle would do the trick," Swift suggested. "And what's better is that I don't even have to call them; they're already on their way."

"As if they could contain me," the clones laughed, though it died quickly. "Wait a minute . . . you're stalling, aren't you? Shit, where's your brother?"

It was fairly general knowledge that Replica's number one strength was also her number one weakness. The less number of clones she has allowed her more control over them than the horde of clones she currently had at her disposal. But with enough concentration focused on a specific thing or person, she could hold the population under her control. As it was, Replica's attention was all on Swift, which Zipper strategically used to his advantage to slip between the clones and get the hostages out of harm's way.

"No!" the clones yelled. "Stop him!"

The clones moved all at once, rushing forward to grab Zipper but it was a pipe dream to think they'd be able to reach him, especially with his speed. Having been forgotten, Swift grabbed a clone in each hand and brought their heads together hard enough to make them puff away in a cloud of dust and smoke. Quickly, she moved through the mob of clones, hitting any of them her fists could connect to.

On the other side was Zipper, throwing the clones against cars and into other clones. The clones did their best to get a hand on him but Zipper would always spin out of their grasp or pull out that one lucky clone to beat it until it poofed away.

However, neither of them were really giving it their all. The heroes knew Replica's tactics and ways: since it was hard to control an absurd amount of clones at once, her strategy was to let the heroes and heroines tire themselves out as they trimmed the excess number of clones to a more manageable size that the villainess could control. As the number of clones decreased, Replica's hold over them would tighten, making them faster, better combatants, and a lot more durable than when they first started out.

Despite that threat looming over them, the speedy twins continued to plow through the clones, fighting their towards one another until they were back in the same gigantic circle to begin with.

Suddenly, one of the clones leaped above the others and landed on Zipper as they crashed to the ground. Swift quickly ripped it off her brother only to be tackled by a couple of clones herself. Her hands blurred as she struck but none of them turned to dust as she had hoped.

When they came back at her, Zipper raced in front of them, palms out and facing them. The kinetic energy within him flowed out of his hands and swelled into a sphere, which he pushed towards the clones. Upon contact, the spheres exploded and knocked back a handful of clones who were standing in the target zone. Only the clones on the outskirts of the blast radius resisted being defeated, barely able to get back to their feet.

Tightening her fists, Swift could feel her own energy flow through her core and come out as electricity. She really wasn't trying to aim as Zipper did, but she made sure to take care of Zipper's leftovers and get some for herself. The clones banded together to create a shield that absorbed most of the electricity and only losing those few. The rest spread out as Swift attacked with her electricity again, but this was only to get the clones a chance to come up from behind her and grab her arms.

She threw them off her but was tackled yet again by a clone. However, before she could throw it off, another landed on top of her. As she struggled, more joined in to suppress her electric attack. It was the perfect plan to execute as Zipper came running back towards his sister, throwing kinetic balls to knock them off and keep the rest of them at bay. Not watching where he was going, he found himself tripping over a well placed foot in his path and, consequently, falling on one of his kinetic balls ready to be thrown. The explosion sent him flying through the mob and taking a good number of clones out of the fight with him.

"Commander, this is Swift," she reported in as she retrieved her brother. "Zipper has been taken out of commission temporarily. I need assistance please and I need it now."

"I'm sending Hyper over to you now," Commander Shinobay replied. "You'll need to stand your ground for about fifteen to thirty minutes until she gets there."

"I hope Zipper wakes up real soon," Swift panted, "because I don't know if I can do a full thirty minutes by myself."

The crowd of clones had moved closer during her talk with the Commander. Some were cracking their knuckles, some were getting in a running stance, but almost all of them had malicious grins on their faces. Swift still had her electric power activated but she got the feeling that it would run out soon. Here we go, she thought.

The clones swarmed her to put her down quickly. With all the strength she could muster, Swift released a gigantic wave of electricity and knocked back most of the clones. The ones that didn't fall leapt over their comrades to get to her and she responded by kicking them as they landed in front of her.

One of them was smart enough to catch her leg and twist it to make her fall over. However, she jumped and spun in midair, kicking him back with an electric charge before she landed. Another two grabbed her arms to repeat what they did earlier but she ran off until they crashed into a car, causing the alarm to blare from the contact. Meanwhile, the rest of the clones left Zipper alone, not bothering to beat on an already defeated enemy as a more threatening opponent was still standing on her feet.

But the more Swift fought, the more she realized the clones were getting tougher as her stamina and energy waned. And as she struck at one, it blocked her arm and punched her back. Stumbling back, the heroine went right into the open of another clone that wrapped its arms around her neck. Now panicking, she ran into the clones but they stopped her instantly and jumped on her until she fell under their collective weight. She tried to call the Commander to see where Hyper was but her arms were pinned just like the rest of her body. She also tried to use the electric power within her but it wasn't strong enough to even make a clone flinch. There really wasn't anything she could do but surrender —

An explosion rocked the mountain of clones, lifting some of the weight off her. Another one hit near the base and she actually saw a few of the clones dissipate away. With a view of the outside, Swift watched her brother launch a few kinetic balls all over the mountain. Right behind him was Hyper, firing hyper beams at any straggling clones that tried to retaliate. As the last of the clones turned to dust, the two heroes helped Swift to her feet.

"Swift, I'm sorry," Zipper immediately apologize. "I got beat by the oldest trick in the book and left you to fend for yourself."

"It's not your fault," Swift replied. "Now that I think about it, it was pretty funny that you literally blew yourself up."

"Ha ha," Hyper laughed. "I knew it was going to happen one day."

"Can we talk about something else?" Zipper asked shamefully. "Where did Replica run off to?"

"Regarding her, you'd be lucky to find out," Swift shrugged.

*****

Lillian "Lily" Timberland grit her teeth as she watched the latest news broadcast about her business. Not that it was anything terrible like the previous news headline (just thinking about it made her shudder), but it didn't put her business in a positive light. Although, it wasn't as if her business was something worth shining light on, she did run a club known as Lily's Lust, so it wasn't as if she was looking for something good about her business in the news (of all places).

As it was, the headline was about the negative impacts a club brings, using her club, and the events that happened at her club, as an example.

"It really is an unfortunate thing," Taylor Springs, the news anchorwoman, said as she was finishing her report, "that in every civilization, evil exists in every shape, form, and fashion with all manners and ways to enticingly strip anyone hapless enough to visit these places or just by crossing paths with them. Back to you, Wallace."

"They're not getting to you, are they?" a voice asked her as the TV clicked off.

"No," she replied as she turned to face the business' benefactor. "I just like watching Taylor and thinking how much of a bitch she is."

"But check out her body," her benefactor replied. "She'd be a great slutty and freaky whore if she actually tried."

"She'd never go for it," Lillian smirked. "I honestly believe she wants to, or at least her body does, but her precious reputation would be demolished if she did; you know how difficult hard working women are: all bark, no bite."

"She's definitely a laughingstock from that perspective," he grinned.

"Disregarding her, what brings you here?" Lillian asked.

"I can't see how my investment grows?" he inquired.

"Right, because we're that interesting to you," Lillian snorted. "You're rarely here and only looking for something in return when you are. The question is what is it that you want this time."

"You should be asking yourself that question," he replied, sitting on her desk. "And whether you know it or not, I know what you want: expansion. You want to take what you've built here and duplicate it in another area. Another building means more girls, more girls means more patrons, and more patrons bring more money. The best part is that this is all legal so no cops are going to bust down your door so long as you stay out of trouble."

"You're not selling me here," Lillian rolled her eyes to hide her embarrassment . "This isn't telling me what you want."

"I want you to do the same thing you did for me the last time," he shrugged. "Get the guys, the intimidating ones, and have them find someone for me. To make it fun, it could be a promotional thing like a game and the winner could get something. I don't care how you do it but I want you to make sure that they bring him to me. If you do this for me, I'll get you that second building."

"Tempting," Lillian said unmoved

"I'll even put it in the city Taylor resides in," he promised, "drag her down to the depths of hell and bring her back as the succubus we know she can be."

"Now there's an offer I can't resist," Lillian grinned. "So who's the unlucky one this time?"

"Some dude named Grey," he replied as he dropped an envelope with a couple of papers on her desk. "I wasn't able to bring up much about him other than a picture of what he looks like and places he's been before."

"Just a couple of pictures?" Lillian asked. "I would've thought you'd bring me a bit more than just pictures."

"Well you can't get what you want all the time," Raymond replied. "Any questions?"

"Just one," she nodded. "Does he know how to fight?"

"I wouldn't put it past him," Raymond answered, looking away and rubbing his jaw.

"Alright, so excessive force required," she noted. "Anything else?"

"Just keep it quiet and don't get caught," Raymond advised as he walked out the door.

*****

"So when are they going to pick us up?" Crystal asked as she straightened up her clothes.

"Probably in less than an hour since the tournament doesn't start until eight," Grey replied.

"Am I dressed appropriately for tonight?" she inquired.

"Babe, you look stunning," he answered. "Those pants really hug the curves of your thighs."

"Is that all you're looking at?" she smirked at him.

"I want to touch too," Grey replied as he drew near her.

"Touch me and we won't make it to the game," Crystal warned.

"We have an hour or so," Grey waived her concern away as they both heard a car blow its horn outside.

"I guess time really does fly," Crystal grinned as she followed Grey out the apartment.

The car parked in the parking lot and Maurice stepped out with his wife, Brenda, by his side.

"Grey, it's been a while," Brenda said as she gave him a hug.

"Nice to see you too, Brenda," Grey hugged back. Turning to his friend, he nodded, "Hello, Maurice."

"I hope you're not expecting a hug from me," Maurice backed away.

"You can keep your dirty paws to yourself," Grey smirked.

"You're touching my wife and I got the dirty paws?" Maurice laughed.

"Are you getting jealous over a hug?" Grey teased.

"My wife is loyal, so no," Maurice replied. "But I don't know if your girlfriend likes to see you touching another woman, especially a married one."

"Right, my bad," Grey chuckled as Crystal gave him a pseudo angry face.

"Don't mind the boys," Brenda said as she walked to Crystal. "I'm Brenda Harrison."

"I'm River," 'River' smiled back, "River Marine Frost."

"That's a wonderful name," Brenda gushed. "Who gave you that name?"

"My mother wanted me to be named River because of the pure and freshness in the word," River answered, "but my father wanted me to be named Marine because it sounded rough and tough, especially for a girl."

"So which name do you answer to?" Maurice asked, almost knowingly.