Vigil 01 - Return

18th Citronella Lane, 6PM

The truck screeched to a hard stop.

Nick looked up. Took you long enough. He let his cigarette fall to the ground, and snuffed it out with his foot. Cold droplets of rain greeted him as he made his first few steps out of the warehouse.

Standing by the truck, he watched as the driver disembarked.

"How's the haul?" Nick asked.

The driver grimaced. "Not good. Only five this time round, chief. The news' got everyone all tensed up, my boys are scared."

Nick scoffed. "What, of the cape?"

"We all joined up after the Purge, we've never faced one before," the driver said. "And this cape's...freaky, boss...I hear she brands people."

"Bullshit. And you don't needa worry. Everyone knows she's gunning for the guys up top. We're small fry to her. Get your shit together."

The driver nodded. "Yeah, sure thing, chief." He turned to look at his truck. "You...you still want today's catch?"

" 'Course I do. The hell do I pay you for?"

The driver hastily nodded. He led Nick to the back of the truck, nodding to his three other associates to open the door.

Muffled moans emerged as the truck doors screeched open, revealing five women. All five of them were bound uncomfortably in tight nylon ropes, whimpering through their ballgags. Their eyes were a dull pink in the dim lighting of the truck, their bodies squirming sensually in their drugged haze.

Nick let out a low whistle. "Damn. They'll fetch a fine profit. Where'dya get them?"

"Down the ol' forty-two. Those rich bitches never saw it coming."

Nick frowned. "District forty-two? Ain't that where..." He looked up at the driver, his heart skipping a beat. "You fucking idiot."

"What?"

"Jones hit that area last night! That cape's probably watching it like a damn hawk."

A sound of glass shattering above him was heard, before the street was plunged into darkness.

"Fuck!"

Nick grimaced. He whirled around, pulling out his revolver and scanning the rooftops of the buildings carefully. Around him, the three armed goons began checking their own weapons as the driver threw his head around, panicked. "Oh shit, oh shit..."

Nick heard movement behind him, before gunshots rattled out in the darkness, briefly illuminating one of the men. "Show yourself, bitch!"

A loud grunt, and everything was silent.

Nick trained his revolver there. He threw a quick look behind him, his gaze jumping to the faint light peeking out beneath the warehouse's door. I can make it, he reassured himself, ignoring a second cry of pain behind him as he broke into a sprint.

The sound of bones cracking sent a chill down his spine. Nick swallowed hard, desperately ignoring that sound as he neared the door.

His fingers clenched around the door handle, throwing it open, welcoming the warm embrace of the light. It illuminated the region, revealing two unconscious goons on the ground. The driver was to the left, slumped over near his truck. To the right, the third surviving goon looked over at him. Nick saw a sudden movement.

"Behind you!"

Too late. Nick watched as an elbow slammed into Adam's head, sending him reeling to the ground. Nick looked back up, instinctively locking his aim at the target that emerged.

The female figure turned to look at him. She was dressed in a silver and black uniform, her eyes still visible under a dark silver mask, bright red lipstick standing out from the rest of her costume. Her brown hair was tied up tightly into a bun. She was heaving, her bosom rising and falling as she held a baton tightly in her hand.

"Freeze, bitch." Nick sneered, his past fear evaporating as he finally confronted the ghost. He knew he had the advantage, and he allowed himself to eye her body appreciatively. She'd make a fine slave, alright..."Turn around slowly, let me see that cute ass..."

She glared at him through her mask, her brown eyes increasingly visible as he came closer.

"You deaf, bitch? Turn around, or I shoot that pretty head off."

Still glaring, her eyes dropped as she turned around slowly.

Nick smiled, walking closer. Her ass was toned as hell, especially in the tight costume she wore. "Kneel."

She nodded, slowly bending her knees.

Nick walked closer, his muzzle pointed at the vigilante's head. Oh, all the things I'm gonna do to you...

She was so close, the muzzle just about to touch her head. The vigilante's head shot to the left.

He fired instinctively.

The shot went wide.

Nick looked down, seeing her gloved hands tightly gripping his right wrist. He wanted to react—

She brought his arm down on her shoulder, the crack of his right elbow reaching his ears before the stabbing pain shot through him. Nick screamed. An elbow shot into his gut, he stumbled back. The vigilante whirled around, grabbing him by the collar. Nick grunted as he felt the hard impact of the wall behind him.

"What did you do to the women?" Her voice was soft yet serious.

Nick struggled helplessly, his fractured elbow screaming for attention. He grimaced. "Like I'd tell you anything, bitch."

She let go of him, letting him fall to the ground upright. She grabbed his head roughly to face hers, leaning in close. He met her eyes, and felt a faint tingling in his mind. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way, asshole." she whispered.

He spat at her.

The vigilante flinched, her face slowly twisting in anger as the globule of spit rolled down her freckled cheek. "The hard way it is." Her brown eyes glowed white...

---

Nick found himself on a dirty brown floor. He was in a dilapidated alleyway, with upended trash cans scattered around the place, and dim, flickering street lamps. The vigilante! He scrambled to his feet, turning around to face her. "Where the fuck am I?"

"Welcome to the inside of your head." she said. "Or what I like to call...enhanced interrogation."

He gripped his throbbing arm as he steadied himself, circling the vigilante slowly. "If my arm ain't broken..."

"It's your imagination. Your arm is as broken as you want it to be."

Nick stopped, feeling his arm. The pain was gone. He looked back up at her, seeing opportunity arise. He snarled, hurling himself at her.

She shimmered, allowing Nick to tumble through her body as if her body was nothing but air.

"You can't hurt me here." she smiled, before her face darkened. "But I can."

She turned around, grabbing him by his arm. Her grip tightened, further, further, and further

He tried to summon the invisible power that healed his arm earlier. It doesn't hurt. It doesn't hurt. It doesn't—

"Sorry, I misspoke. Your arm is as broken as I want it to be." Her voice echoed through his mind and he screamed, feeling every stabbing spark of pain from his shattering elbow.

Laughter echoed around him. "You're pretty stubborn, Nick. Let's see how far you'll go..."

Nick felt himself slam into the ground before he was roughly pulled up.

"No...No!" he screamed, throwing his head back in fear, as she gripped his uninjured arm and started twisting. Horrid sounds began emerging as another scream was wrenched from his lips.

"STOP," he wailed. "Stop. Stop. Please."

He felt her release his arm, and he fell face-first into the ground. She casually rolled him on his back with her foot, daintily placing a hand over his face before everything went white.

---

Nick found himself back in front of her again, the pain in his arms nothing but a horrifying memory. He never thought how relieved he'd be to have one broken arm, but that was much better than...whatever the fuck that bitch put him through.

"So, Nick." The vigilante's voice was at her normal soft volume. "Ready to try again?"

Chapter One

Vigil sighed, watching as the man's eyelids droop shut. She pressed a palm to the man's forehead, reaching in to feel for any excessive trauma to his brain. She'd really skirted the line on this one, did this man's anger have a residual effect on her? As a psychic, keeping her mind open allowed her mind to pick up on intent, allowing her to be warned of incoming strikes before they hit her. It did, however, make her particularly vulnerable to emotions from those around her.

Excuses, Faith. She reminded herself. Her mentor, the missing superheroine Mindtwist, would surely have disapproved. Vigil shook her head, breathing in deeply before releasing her breath in steps. I'm in control. She secured Nick's wrists with her cuffs, before turning her attention to the other men she'd beaten to a pulp.

Concussions were for the most part unavoidable, but she did her best to avoid excessive damage. Her powers did give her a slight advantage in fights, allowing her to predict an opponent's strikes and feeling out the exact amount of force to avoid permanent damage. Still, it was a rough gauge, and she meticulously scanned their minds for lasting damage before securing them with cuffs.

She then turned her attention to the truck. A strange, inquisitive tendril of thought snaked out from one of its occupants, and Vigil nearly stumbled, hit with a vertigo of...lust? She felt a tingle to her loins...

---

She felt it pressing past her fold.

"Gordon," Faith rasped, her voice shaky as another thrust stole her breath away. She arched her back to meet her fiance's thrusts, feeling herself climbing rapidly to the peak. She gripped his wrists, shutting her eyes tightly. "Gordon! I—I—"

"I know," he breathed, "me too."

"Harder," she whispered.

His cock twitched inside, she felt—

---

Vigil recoiled from her memory, breathing heavily. She wiped out the droplet of sweat that slowly trickled down her forehead, shutting her eyes to focus. Gordon is gone. She suppressed the pang of anger rising within her. Stupid mistake, she scolded herself. Again with the emotions. This was why Mindtwist had constantly harped on controlling her emotions, on closing her mind off from the things around her...something Vigil never truly mastered.

She looked back up into the truck, seeing five semi-conscious women before her, all tied up in various states of undress. She swallowed the bile rising in her gut. Those monsters used them. Vigil glanced at the empty syringes on the floor, and the residual pink liquid inside them.

Some kind of drug...Vigil mused to herself. It must've become popular in her absence, as she'd never seen or even heard of it before. She'd learnt some information from Nick earlier, however from her, umm, 'enhanced interrogation'.

They called it double-A, a commercially available aphrodisiac manufactured by Calypso Pharmaceuticals. The variant Nick's goons were using, however, was a heavily concentrated variant, one sold on the biggest black market in Arctin City...the Bazaar. The question was...how did regular mooks like Nick manage to get it?

It didn't matter right now. Vigil refocused her attention on the girls. She could still feel the lust radiating from their minds even through her mental barriers.. She could try to pull them out of their lustful trances...but a crackle from Nick's walkie-talkie reminded her she wasn't done yet. She looked into the warehouse. She was aware of the two remaining gang members, but she couldn't leave the girls in that state. The best she could do was to knock them out. She waved away the tendrils of lust that drunkenly groped for her mind as she climbed into the truck. Gross. The women moaned around their ballgags upon seeing her, a strangely attractive pink sheen glossing over their eyes.

Vigil glanced at one of them and blanched, seeing the woman's exposed pussy grinding lustily against her soaked crotch-rope desperately. Her powers did nothing but worsen the problem, as their arousal seeped into her mind. She clutched her head, feeling herself grow wetter as she heard their mental voices call for her to join them.

Vigil took in a deep breath, focusing on clearing her mind. She glowered at the women, almost tempted to use her baton to snap the girls out the painful way.

No...they're being influenced by the drug. It's not their fault. She reminded herself, focusing more attention to warding away the women's arousal. Let's get this over with. She placed her palms on a woman's head. "Sleep," she whispered, feeling the woman's aroused gyrations slow into a deep sleep. She did the same for the rest, before climbing out.

"Nick, Nick, you there?" the walkie-talkie crackled once more. There goes my element of surprise.

Chapter Two

Vigil burst through the door, and stiffened. A man was holding a knife up to the neck of one of two hostages. The two bound women looked up at her, whimpering through their bonds. Their clear irises indicated that they hadn't been drugged. Not yet, at least.

"Ah, hero!" the man had a revolting sneer on his face.

She eyed the hostages. "Let them go."

The man snorted. "No."

She took a careful step forward. "There's no way out for you," she said, watching his reaction. There was only one man. Her interrogation earlier revealed there were two. Where was the second guy?

She felt a faint prickling of emotions from behind.

Fear. Anticipation.

Vigil spun instinctively. Her foot knocked the syringe out of her attacker's hand, and as her foot landed she followed the backhook with a kick, sending the attacker reeling to the ground.

The attacker grunted, rising slowly. "Fuckin' mutant bullshit. Why don't you—"

"Shh..." she grabbed his head by the scalp as her eyes flashed white. "Why don't you take a nap?"

Vigil heard the man laugh as her attacker slumped to the ground, unconscious.

"Impressive, hero, very impressive."

"Give it up, Jack," Vigil grinned, seeing the look on his face. "Drop your knife and let them go."

"Fun party trick, but you still badly misread situation, hero." Jack brought his knife closer to his hostage's neck, drawing a panicked squeal from her.

"Stop." Vigil said, groaning internally as she assessed the situation. Sure, Jack had no other routes of escape, but there was no way she could charge at him before he slit his hostage's neck. She looked into the woman's pleading eyes...Mary, mother of three young children, wife of— God-dammit, powers, really? She did not need further sympathy for the hostage right now.

"We in big pickle. Why not we pretend all this no happen? You go away, and I no kill them."

"Or you could let these innocent women go and surrender yourself to the authorities."

Jack smirked. "I think I prefer my way. Don't think I no see you coming closer."

She froze, and cursed inwardly.

"How about...exchange?"

Vigil rolled her eyes. "Talk."

"These two sluts...meant to be test for this batch of drugs. You help me test, and I let them go." He pointed at a nearby crate filled with syringes of the pink narcotic.

"...test?"

"Inject yourself. Help me see if good."

"And how would I know you'd keep your word?"

"You wouldn't."

"Then I'm afraid I can't do that."

Jack scowled. "Fine. Let's put this way. If you no do in next minute, I kill one." His knife dipped lower, drawing a cry from Mary as it lightly sliced a tiny cut on her skin.

"Stop!" Vigil said. Her eyes met the two women's. Their eyes were teary and red, staring helplessly at her, begging for rescue. Crap. This is bad. This is really, really bad.

"Back off! I kill one!"

"Okay, I'll walk away, I'll—"

"No go away! You test or I kill! Ten seconds!"

The women began screaming against their gags, drool dripping as they stared pleadingly at her. Vigil teetered, stunned in the conundrum.

"Seven!"

It takes time for the drug to take effect, right? I can subdue him in time, I—

"Five!"

Yes, I'll have enough time. I have to. Wait for him to drop his guard, and—

"Three!"

"I'll do it, I'll do it!" Vigil said with barely concealed panic.

"Good," Jack said, "do it."

Vigil picked up a syringe from the crate, observing the strange, pink liquid inside. She eyed the label. Fifty percent purity. She thought back to the women in the van, lost in their own desires. If a single dose could reduce regular women to that...she felt fear creeping in as she removed the protective cover and eyed the metal tip.

"Come on hero, hurry up. You hero, no tell me you scared of needles?"

Vigil gave him a piercing glare. Seeing no other way out, she bent down for stability as she rolled up her right sleeve to expose her elbow. Placing the needle at the injection site, she shut her eyes. Focus. Ignore the feelings. Concentrate. Breathing in, she pressed the needle through and pushed down on the syringe.

Her breathing settled, as she opened her eyes with apprehension.

"Alright, now come, hero."

She squinted at him, not really knowing what to feel but anger. If he was hoping the drug would turn her into a mindless whore...it wasn't working. She narrowed her eyes. "You said you were going to release them."

"New deal. We have fun first."

She scowled. "You—" she doubled over, a sudden wave of vertigo washing over her. Oh no. She felt her eyelids droop...

...and open once more. She found herself on the ground before the man. Ugh...she craned her neck up. A warm fog spread from the back of her neck, dipping down into her body, settling into a nice buzz that threatened to steal her thoughts away. She shook her head, refocusing on the women. "Y-you said—"

"Shh...we have fun first." Jack smiled, unbuckling his belt.

Suddenly aware of his intentions, Vigil blearily raised a gloved hand. "Wait...no...I—" She gasped, a rush of sensations flooding through her body. She watched in a mix of disgust and...arousal as he withdrew his cock.

Vigil felt her eyes snap to it, a brief sigh escaping her lips before her battered awareness returned. "No wait, I don't—mmfth!"

He grabbed her head, pulling her close to his cock as she clamped her lips tight. "Come on, be good girl for me."

Good girl...Vigil shivered. God...it sounded so wrong...and yet...her lips parted unconsciously, and Jack seized the opportunity, sliding the tip of his cock in. The primal stench of his cock filled her mind, captivating her as she imagined how it would feel pressing inside her. It was electrifying. She felt his fingers in her hair, lightly encouraging her to go deeper. The first droplets of precum gathered in her tongue, the oily liquid inducing feelings of disgust in Vigil, only for those feelings to be quickly quelled by the rising waves of arousal.

Arousal from the drug. The drug...Vigil knew what was going on, and yet...

She dipped her head lower, cupping her mouth around his cock, feeling it tense up. It wasn't the overwhelming wave of need she'd been expecting, but a pulsing arousal tickling at her loins, rewarding her for obeying. It felt good. Vigil wanted to feel good.

It was so much easier to follow the motion. With increasing certainty her head bobbed up and down along his shaft, rapidly coating it in a layer of saliva as she accepted his length into her mouth. She felt so dirty, and as if to reward her, the soft warmness in her loins sparked into a yearning fire. She heard a groan from above as she felt the hand on the back of her head grip tighter.

A muffled, distressed cry came from somewhere behind the man. Vigil ignored it, sinking deeper into the warm pool of lust that clouded her mind. What began as a reluctant blowjob intensified, as she unconsciously brought a hand up to run along the moist length of the man's shaft, her mouth wrapped around the tip of his cock suckling away...like she'd do for Gordon.