Ruthless - Closer

"For whoever does not know, I am not just Reginald Legere. I am also known in some circles as Mister Ruthless. I am a metahuman with enough resources to make each and every one of your lives absolutely miserable. Some of you might have already known that, given you conspired with the League of Metahuman Heroes to steal the company from me."

Arellano spoke up to ask the obvious question: "Did you kill Dan Fuller?"

"I appreciate the forthright question. And my forthright answer is 'No.' I have scared details about the death of the former CEO, but I have plenty of details about his life. I know that he had a transfer of benefits for his shares. And I know that through a peculiar interaction of the company bylaws, I was the inheritor of his shares. So, that does make me, in every legal sense, the majority shareholder and Chairman of the Board."

"Impossible!" the Chief Financial Officer, Walter Jefferson shouted.

Rex ignored him. "So, bearing all that in mind it's time to meet your new CEO." He held out his hand toward the door, through which walked Meredith. Rex loved how she walked in like she owned the place her long stride took her around the table and to the front next to him. "Meredith Reave Luxor."

Most of the executives looked confused. The Chief People Officer, Nadia Vasiliev, spoke up in her light Russian accent, and demanding tone. "What are her qualifications?"

When Rex found out Meredith's new name, he had a line ready about how with a V and an X in her name, she'd be worth a lot of points in scrabble.

"With as much legal jeopardy that this company faces, Mister Legere thought that it would be appropriate if someone with a strong legal background takes over as CEO," Meredith answered. That, Rex had to admit, was a much better answer.

"What legal jeopardy?" Donovan asked in an indignant tone.

Rex whirled to fix his gaze on Donovan. "The jeopardy you created when you stole company assets in order to buy shares so that Fuller could flip the majority shareholder over to himself, in addition to seizing a large chunk of my shares after I was arrested." He narrowed his eyes. "None of that was legal, Roy. In fact, it's illegal enough that when we fire you, you won't even get your golden parachute."

Donovan crossed his arms. "Good luck. I'm a partner at the best firm in the city."

Rex could feel Meredith want to say something, so he waited. Meredith jumped in with a smile. "Ah, yes, the offices of Parsons, Gephard and Donovan, I'm familiar with your work. I'm also familiar with the fact that when it comes to metahuman cases, you have little to no experience with the Bureau."

Donovan went wide-eyed. "But... I'm not-"

"Producing a tiny firework may be a parlor trick but it's more than enough to qualify you." Her smile broadened as horror crossed Donovan's face. "That takes your entire case out of the normal judicial process and right into the Bureau's metahuman court system. That also means when you serve your sentence, it won't be in a minimum-security Club Fed, oh no. You're going to metahuman prison. You've heard of the Metahuman Cannibal, haven't you? Not only do they not keep him in solitary, he's not even restrained."

Donovan went pale and started to sweat, as he exchanged a nervous glance with the rest of the executives at the table.

Lydia Trang, Chief Marketing Officer, spoke up. "As much as I enjoy watching Roy shit his pants, I do have very real concerns about someone with no executive experience leading a company the size of Akrinym."

Meredith nodded. "I'm sure you all have questions and concerns. In fact, I would like from each of you a memo describing your biggest concerns and most pertinent questions. I assume you can get that to me by the end of the day. Except Roy, of course. I expect your letter of resignation by the time you get back to your desk."

Rex walked up next to him and got uncomfortably close. "Write it on your phone. I've already seized your laptop. I have every piece of evidence you generated with your pathetic scheme."

Camila cleared her throat. "I'm new here, so, I'm afraid I'm not sure what you're expecting when you make a request like that, but if I started writing a memo like that, this second, it would take me longer than ten hours to finish."

Rex blinked and found himself impressed, though he tried not to show it too much.

Meredith thought about that then looked around, "Anyone else need more time than that?" Nobody else seemed to, so she asked around again. "Any other immediate questions?" A few of the executives exchanged nervous glances, but none of them spoke up. "Then I'll expect your reports. Arellano, come with me."

As the trio left, Rex heard the CFO wonder behind him, "What the fuck just happened?"

In the CEO's office, Meredith sat behind the rather imposing desk, while Camila sat on a chair in front of it and rested a small purse on her lap. Rex stood next to the desk and stared down at the CIO, with a smile. She was older than him, probably in her late forties, but looked like she took pretty good care of herself. She cut a rather imposing figure with her red and black skirt suit.

Meredith spoke first. "I'm sorry that we had to meet under such unusual circumstances. You're relatively new to the board, as I recall. Fredrick retired a few months back?"

"Yes. I was brought up from cybersecurity, because both Dan and Frank thought we needed a CIO with more of a security background."

Rex sighed, as this was exactly why he had hired Fuller. He wasn't a bad COO, he was a pretty good judge of how to run a company. Too bad about all of the other things. "I looked up your work history yet found it oddly thin."

Camila looked down and chuckled, then looked back at Rex. "I was hired out of Rockledge."

Rex had a hard time containing his excitement. "Holy shit, you're a spook?"

The CIO wrinkled her nose, and sighed, "I was an intelligence officer for the Consolidated States Security Service."

Rex grinned, and Meredith leaned forward to ask, "And what do you think of Night Watchman leading the League?"

Camila furrowed her brow then shrugged. "I don't really think anything of it."

Rex kept his disappointment contained, as he leaned against the desk and sighed. "I'm going to say a name to you, and I want to see your reaction." He stared at Camila, who looked him in the eyes, and he said, "Electric Eye."

Arellano reached into her purse. "Are you Electric Eye?"

"No," he said immediately, his eyes locked on her purse. "Before you pull out that gun, I want you to very carefully consider that at the time of ProAm's power grab, I would have been in my late teens."

Camila relaxed and pulled her empty hand out of her purse and nodded. Then her eyes went wide, before she cried in alarm, "Night Watchman was Electric Eye?"

"You have no idea how good it is to hear someone even ask that question." Rex chuckled and nodded. "But yes, I have intelligence that points at Night Watchman being Electric Eye."

Camila narrowed her eyes. "Can I... see it?"

Rex shrugged. "Well, I'd like to see how the League formation was tied to Reunification. Can you give me that?"

She sighed. "I wasn't that high rank."

Rex shrugged and smiled. Obviously exposing his sources and tactics for retrieving intelligence so juicy wouldn't be something he would just turn over to anyone. "So, I can't give you that, but I do have something else for you. I believe that the Bionicist is going to try to attack our computers. I'd like to send someone your way to help shore up our defenses."

"Who?"

"She goes by Pythia."

Camila sighed. "A superhero?"

"Give her a chance. She uh... she studied under Night Watchman."

Camila's eyes went wide with alarm. "And you trust her?"

Rex thought about that for a moment and decided the best answer to that question was, "If I send her to you, that's a clear sign that I trust her."

Meredith sighed. "Miss Arellano, I need to know if anyone on the board can fuck us - electronically, I mean."

Camila shook her head, "Not as far as I'm aware. One of the first things I did was clean up all of the access privileges."

Meredith nodded. "And what about yours?"

Camila smiled. "A good question. I have total access, but not all of the time. That said, if you can't trust me, you're fucked." She glanced at Rex. "Though I suppose that's what he's for, huh?"

Rex smirked. "I doubt it'll come to that."

Camila stood and nodded, then turned to Meredith and smiled. "I'll create that report for you. I won't have it by the end of the day, but I'll have it in three. It will be comprehensive."

Meredith nodded. "Thank you, Miss Arellano."

Camila walked up and put out her hand, which Meredith took and shook. "Please, call me Camila."

Rex put out his hand, and she shook it as well. "I look forward to hearing of your progress, Camila."

She gave him a polite smile and looked between the pair of them. "Just to be clear..."

Rex pointed at Meredith, who added with a smile, "I'm your boss, Camila."

"My role is strictly advisory," Rex added.

Camila nodded and left.

Meredith sighed and looked over at Rex. "I hope you're not expecting me to help you out much with the rest of your schemes."

As Rex stepped into the hall, he saw Joseph Martin, the CSO, had waited for him. Martin was a big guy, who packed on most of the muscles on his large frame while he was employed by the Consolidated States Marines. Rex appreciated how much effort he must put into buying a suit that fit him. He approached the large man with a smile and a nod. "Joseph."

"Mister Ruthless," Martin replied with a scowl. Ah, so he was perhaps less than enthusiastic about the whole thing.

"You can still call me Mister Legere, if it helps." Joseph had actually been here when Rex was still running things.

"I'd prefer honesty."

"Ruthless it is then." Rex raised an eyebrow. "What can I do for you, Joe?"

"I just wanted to clear the air. I'm sure you'll find out soon enough that I pushed very hard for the Bident Security contract to be terminated after Fuller... died. I was hoping to explain myself first."

It was a smart play on Martin's part. The CSO knew that with Fuller out, Ruthless would find some way to get back into the company, and he must have also discovered that Bident had a relationship to him. That's what he was more curious about than his explanation.

"Why get rid of Bident?"

Martin sighed. "I knew that you had personally chosen them when you were here. And when you first promoted me, you assured me that there was no way that contract was ever going away. I just naturally assumed that they reported directly to you, instead of to me."

"A reasonable assumption, but an incorrect one it would turn out."

"How do you figure that? In there you said they did."

Rex shook his head, "Not exactly, no. Bident Security does have a special contract with me, but it's not at all accurate to say they don't report to you. They do. If you give them an order, they'd follow it."

"You could contradict that order."

"That doesn't mean they're waiting on my orders or reporting everything that happens to me. I want to make this clear - Meredith Luxor is the CEO, and I am the Chairman. I'm not going to be involved in operations."

"Pretty sure you legally can't be."

Rex laughed. "A concern, for certain." He held out his hand to Martin. "Can I count on you to keep Akrinym secure?"

Martin stared at his hand for a moment, then shook it. "Of course." After he returned his hand to his side, he asked, "Are you expecting something I should be worried about?"

"Nothing definitive, but I have some concerns."

Martin furrowed his brow. "About what?"

Rex gave him a pained smile. "Events, my friend. Events."

Ruthless stood in front of his communication monitor in CIC, then activated the comm network node for Caine.

Raiju answered, clearly sat at a monitor dressed in what looked like a flimsy robe. She had bright red hair which contrasted sharply with her light blue skin. She grinned, which revealed her sharper than normal teeth.

"Ruthless! My charming employer, calling to congratulate me on a job well done?"

"No, I did that by clearing the money from escrow. Also, this is Caine's comm node." Ruthless paused to choose his next sentence. "You said earlier that Caine was, I quote, 'Out of the picture.'"

Caine's voice came from the background. "Raiju! You cannot accept calls for me!" His voice was lightly accented, though Ruthless had never quite been sure from where.

Raiju stuck her tongue out. "Well, we're not smashing bits together anymore, but we're still smashing banks. Doesn't mean I can't kill an old lady for you on the side, you sick bastard." She laughed.

Caine lowered his head into the camera. "You put a hit on an old lady?"

Caine was dressed in his usual outfit, the most notable piece of which was a black leather face mask with large goggles. A hose came off the side of the mask, as Caine apparently required a peculiar mix of chemicals in his breathing air.

Raiju laughed again. "Her old man killed himself over it!"

Ruthless rubbed an eyebrow in annoyance. "Raiju, you signed an NDA. That means 'Non-Disclosure Agreement.' That means you don't tell anyone."

"Oh, Caine doesn't count-"

"Caine was specifically included, by name, in the NDA you signed."

Raiju pouted. "Well, if you want to shut me up, I guess you better come explain the fine print to me at the Exchange."

Ruthless sighed. "I'm too busy for-"

"But then I'll get bored, and when I get bored, I start telling stories-"

"Caine," Ruthless pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Right," Caine replied and muted the comm. He chased Raiju away, who disappeared in a bright flash of annoyed lightning, before he returned to the screen. "Apologies for that. She is still annoyed at me, and by extension, you. If it helps, she'll eventually bore."

"It doesn't. Caine, I have a job for you. I hope you can be more discreet than Raiju."

"As I said in prison, I wish to work for you. That includes doing things the way you wish them."

Ruthless and Caine had a long conversation in prison, where he had indicated that he was sick of the usual smash and grabs. However, Ruthless knew that he was exceedingly good at both smashing and grabbing. He had a rare mix of strength and intelligence that would put him well beyond the reach of law enforcement. But Night Watchman and Caine hated each other, and it was their frequent butting of heads that sent the masked criminal to prison. When Caine found out that Night Watchman had put Ruthless behind bars, he wanted to form an alliance.

"That's good, because I need your particular skills for this one. The target is Explore Beyond."

Caine paused, as he clearly had hoped it would be something other than robbery. "I'm afraid I'm not nearly skilled enough to steal a rocket."

Ruthless rolled his eyes. "Well, thankfully that's not a problem, as I need you steal data. Their on-site data storage is, for all intents and purposes, remotely invulnerable. But I need that data, so my offer to you is seven-fifty."

Caine nodded, clearly not interested in bargaining much. "That is acceptable. Anything in particular you're looking for to guide me?"

"Shipping information. Explore Beyond used to be part of Akrinym, but the League spun them off when Fuller took over my company. I want to know what the League, Night Watchman specifically, was using them for, and that data is the key."

Caine nodded again, then thought for a moment. "Probably take a few days. I'll take care of it and contact you." He paused a moment. "You should come to the Exchange though; it would be good for the others to see Mister Ruthless."

"And I suppose if you were to choose my plus one, you'd pick Feral?"

Caine tilted his head. "Who?"

"That's Tierjunge's new name."

Caine stared at the screen, which with the mask should've hidden his response, but Ruthless knew.

"Ah. That's a much better name for him," Caine finally replied.

Ruthless nodded. "I'll see what I can do," he said before he disconnected the call, and left CIC.

Rex had an idea. It had been a few days, and Meredith was well in place as the Akrinym CEO, and some of the executives had started to come to the realization that their past transgression would catch up to them. But since the Chief Compliance Officer had already left the company, that meant there was an immediate opening.

He walked into his trainee slut's room, where she'd had a desk setup with a laptop, curtesy of Feral. He'd already told her to go through the documentation for Akrinym and generate the memo that Roy had been too fired to write. She'd finished it very quickly, so he told her to send it to Meredith. Meredith had been quite impressed by both her speed and her thoroughness.

Rex walked into her room and found her entranced at the laptop. She whirled around and stood up, which made her tiny skirt swish around her. She'd made a lot of outfits already, but her favorite was a skirt that came down barely past her pussy, which was covered only by a tiny triangle of white fabric. Nylons and garters attached her lingerie top, and then over that, a sleeveless shirt barely covered her nipples. It was quite an arousing display.

Even Feral once said she made him consider growing a normal dick again. He didn't know if their relationship was actually sexual or not, but it was clear to him they'd become quite good friends.

Rex gestured her toward him, which was a signal to her to come stand in front of him. When he pointed at the ground, it meant kneel. If he didn't make any gesture, excitement tended to overwhelm her to the point where she just jumped on him and let her lips do the greeting.

She stood in front of him with her hands behind her back and her chest stuck out. Normally that was to try to tempt him, but today she had a certain air of pride about her. "I finished my report, master! Akrinym's legal situation-"

Rex held up a hand. "I'm trying to not care about the details. What's important is that Meredith received it and approved of it." He put his finger under her chin and gave her a warm, long kiss. Her stance softened as she clearly wanted to melt against him, but she knew that he would tell her if it was time for that. He broke the kiss and smiled at her. "I have a different sort of gift for you."

Shelly clasped her hands in front of her. "Ooh, thank you, master!"

He laughed and rested his hands on her shoulders. "Don't thank me quite yet. That report you made wasn't just a report on the legal happenings at Akrinym. It was a job interview." Shelly looked shocked, then nervous, then happy and then nervous again. Rex pointed to the bed and offered her a warm smile. "Maybe you should sit down."

She sat on the bed, and her shoulder's slumped forward as the weight of the offer sank in. "Oh sir, I don't know. I don't know if I'm ready."

Rex sat down next to her and slung his arm around her shoulders. She curled up into his side, and he stroked her hair as he spoke to her. "Do you think Meredith thinks she's ready to take on leading a massive company? Shelly, you're pretty happy down here, I know you are. But the happiest I've seen you is after you finished that report. You were bubbling, and I want to see you bubble more."

She nodded and smiled but looked away again.

"You're afraid."

"Yes, sir."

"Afraid you'll disappoint me?"

Shelly squeezed her eyes shut and nodded.

"Shelly, the only way you can do that is by not trying."

She swallowed, took a deep breath and turned to him, smiled, and spoke with her best business tone. "Thank you, sir, for the opportunity to prove myself."