Chapter 027: A Proposal

Adrian felt like the universe was having a laugh at his expense. 

In just one night, he had discovered his powers, fought multiple near-death battles, and somehow managed to stand his ground long enough to survive Batgirl’s unexpected arrival. But the confidence he’d shown her? Total bluff. His body was screaming, his muscles were heavy like lead, and if she had even nudged him in the wrong way, he probably would’ve face-planted onto the dock. 

Now, standing at the edge of the pier, the cold wind biting at his skin, Adrian watched as the container ship headed to the U.K. drifted farther into the distance. Without him. 

“God damn it!” he cursed, stomping on the wooden planks. He turned around to storm off and— 

“Jesus!” He jumped back, heart racing as he nearly tripped over his own feet. His hand shot out instinctively, forming bone spikes, but his exhausted body betrayed him, and they cracked before fully extending. 

Lady Vic stood just a few feet away, smirking like she’d been there for hours. Her red-and-gold suit clung perfectly to her toned figure, and the way her hair was draped over her shoulder made her look less like an assassin and more like a woman who had just stepped off a magazine cover. 

“It’s you,” Adrian breathed out, shaking off the scare. 

“Yes,” she said smoothly, her smirk widening. “Disappointed?” 

Adrian exhaled sharply, trying to shake the fatigue from his limbs. “So, what is this? You back for round two?” He shifted into a loose boxing stance, willing the bone spikes to form properly. They struggled, splintering at the edges, but he didn’t drop his guard. 

Lady Vic tilted her head, eyeing his shaky form. “Having performance issues?” 

“Oh, shut up,” Adrian groaned. “Give me five minutes to breathe, and I’ll show you I can perform just fine.” 

“Is that so?” Lady Vic’s gaze dropped slightly, her smirk turning into something more playful as she took a slow step forward. The deep V of her suit showed off enough cleavage to make Adrian’s brain short-circuit for a second. “Think you can perform with me, big boy?” 

Adrian blinked, caught between exhaustion and confusion. Okay, this is weird. Very weird. Why is the assassin who tried to kill me flirting with me? 

But he wasn’t about to be outdone. If she was testing him, he’d pass. With flying colors. 

“I mean,” Adrian said with a grin, leaning slightly to the side, “you are a distraction I wouldn’t mind getting pinned by.” 

Lady Vic raised an eyebrow, clearly amused. “Oh? You like being pinned?” 

“Only by someone who can actually keep me down,” Adrian shot back, stepping just close enough for his breath to mingle with hers. “But fair warning—I don’t stay down for long.” 

“Confident,” she teased, running her finger along the edge of his jacket like she was sizing him up. “Too bad confidence doesn’t make up for… other shortcomings.” 

Adrian smirked. “Funny. I didn’t hear any complaints earlier when you were running after me like I owed you child support.” 

She laughed softly, circling him slowly, her gaze flicking to his still-weak bone spikes. “Cute. But if you think your limp-dick flirting skills are enough to—“ 

“Hey, now,” Adrian interrupted, grinning wider. “No need to get personal.” 

Lady Vic rolled her eyes, but her grin stayed intact. “I’m not here to fight,” she said, finally stepping back. “I’m here to make you a proposal.” 

Adrian crossed his arms, but the tension in his shoulders didn’t leave. “And if I say I don’t care?” 

Without missing a beat, Lady Vic pulled one of her pistols and aimed it directly at his chest. “Then I shoot you.” 

Adrian held up his hands with a chuckle. “That’s a compelling argument. Please, continue.” 

Lady Vic smirked, tossing a small diamond through the air. Adrian caught it with one hand, holding it up between his fingers to inspect it. The thing sparkled like it came straight from a billionaire’s wedding ring.  

“That’s a two-carat diamond, brilliant cut, nearly flawless,” Lady Vic said casually, as though she hadn’t just handed him something that could buy a small house. “Absorb it.”  

Adrian sighed and pressed the diamond into the open wound on his arm, wincing as he felt the now-familiar warmth spread through his body. His artifact activated, drawing the crystal into his bloodstream like liquid fire. The warmth spread to his fingertips, and he clenched his fist, feeling the energy ripple through him. It was powerful—stronger and cleaner than anything he’d absorbed before.  

He flexed his hand, cracking his knuckles as he eyed Lady Vic suspiciously. “Okay, so clearly you know way too much about how my powers work. Did you spy on me?”  

“Yes,” she said without hesitation, her smirk growing.  

Adrian narrowed his eyes. “You didn’t think to help me while I was running for my life and getting shot at?”  

“I would’ve stepped in if you’d been in any real danger,” Lady Vic said, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “But you kept yourself alive, so why interfere with the show?”  

“Uh-huh. And did I look good while I was fighting for my life?” 

She tilted her head, doing a ‘so-so’ motion with her hand. “You looked like a pig on its last breath.”  

“Ouch. Remind me never to ask you for compliments.”  

“If you want lies, date someone else.”  

“Noted,” he muttered. “Okay, so I can confidently say you didn’t just hand me an extremely powerful crystal out of the kindness of your heart. What’s the catch?”  

Lady Vic crossed her arms, leaning against a shipping container. “Simple. You scratch my back, I scratch yours.”  

“Are you inviting me to have sex?”  

She snorted, shaking her head. “No. But…” She shrugged, her lips curling into a teasing smirk. “That can be part of the package deal if you want. What I’m offering is a bit more practical. You work for me—create valuable crystals I can sell. In return, I give you what you’re desperate for.”  

“And what exactly am I desperate for?”  

“A safe place where you’re not constantly looking over your shoulder, training to get revenge on the people who experimented on you,” she said smoothly. “You’d have freedom. Security. And you’d have the resources to actually control your powers instead of stumbling through them like you are now.”  

“And I become your personal crystal factory, huh?”  

Lady Vic grinned. “Seems fair to me. I provide the security and the resources. You get the crystals you need—diamonds, emeralds, quartz, you name it—and access to a team of scientists who can help you unlock your full potential. Or you can keep running from one deathmatch to the next, hiding in containers and hoping you don’t get caught. Your choice.”  

Adrian exhaled sharply, weighing his options. As much as he hated the idea of being used again, she wasn’t wrong. He couldn’t keep this up forever. Eventually, he’d hit a wall—or a bullet. And if she was offering a chance to grow stronger without the immediate threat of Cadmus breathing down his neck…  

“Fine,” he said at last, meeting her gaze. “But let me be crystal clear—if you try anything that screws me over, anything that puts my life in danger, I’ll make sure you regret it. I’ll become your biggest nightmare.”  

“Ooooh, scary. Should I be trembling?”  

“Depends on how much you like sleeping at night,” Adrian said, smirking.  

“Anything else, big boy?”  

“Yeah, actually.” He tilted his head, his grin returning. “What did you mean by sex being part of the package deal?”  

She leaned in close, her breath brushing against his ear. “Keep up the good work,” she whispered, “and maybe you’ll find out.”  

With a wink and a playful smirk, Lady Vic turned on her heel, strutting off with a confidence that could stop traffic—or cause accidents. Her hips swayed in a way that felt almost choreographed, the tight red-and-gold suit hugging her curves and making sure Adrian couldn’t look anywhere else even if he tried. Which, to be fair, he wasn’t trying.  

He swallowed hard, blinking as if to reset his brain. “Jesus Christ,” he muttered under his breath. 

Lady Vic glanced over her shoulder, catching him staring. “You coming, big boy?”  

Adrian cleared his throat and quickly caught up, stuffing his hands in his pockets as if that would help him look less flustered. “Yeah, yeah, just trying to figure out which chapter of bad decisions my life is on right now.”  

“Hopefully the exciting one,” she said with a mischievous smile.  

Adrian exhaled, shaking his head as he fell in step behind her, watching as the night swallowed them both. 

And with that, he followed Lady Vic into the unknown, his gut telling him he was either on the verge of something brilliant—or really, really stupid. Probably both.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

The dim room buzzed with the glow of flickering screens. Each monitor displayed blurred silhouettes—a faceless collection of power and authority, known only as the board of directors of Cadmus. Their distorted shapes pulsed against the white background, but their voices were sharp, cutting through the room like blades.  

Standing in the center, Dr. Emil Hamilton tugged at the collar of his lab coat, his composure fraying under the weight of their collective judgment. He could feel the presence of power, suffocating and heavy, and the only thing keeping him tethered to the moment was the G-Gnome perched on his shoulder, its claws gently digging into him as it transferred memories directly to his mind.  

The memories came in sharp flashes—the failure of Guardian to subdue Adrian Wells, the unexpected intervention of Batgirl, the destruction at the docks, and most unsettling of all, Adrian’s sudden display of power. 

“The board of directors has summoned you for answers, Dr. Hamilton.”

“Of course, sir,” Emil replied, his voice steady despite the churn of anxiety building within him.  

The memories settled, but the sting of failure remained sharp.  

“Dr. Hamilton,” another voice said. “Your decision to send only a retrieval team consisting of G-Elves and Guardian has resulted in catastrophic failure. Not only is Adrian Wells missing, but the Justice League has now captured both Guardian and the G-Elves. Their interference is inevitable.”  

Emil flinched at that final statement. It confirmed his worst fear—the League was aware of what had happened, and they’d soon be breathing down Cadmus’s neck.  

“You had one task, Dr. Hamilton,” the voice continued, unforgiving. “And because of your failure, Adrian Wells’s location is unknown. Explain yourself.”  

He could. He could easily shift the blame to Lex Luthor. After all, Lex had been the one to approve this mission, bypassing certain levels of authorization. Emil had thought Lex had coordinated with the board, but now it was clear: Lex had been operating on his own agenda.  

Did Lex plan this? Was Adrian supposed to slip through our fingers and end up in his hands?

The thought made his throat tighten. There was no point trying to outmaneuver Lex—not here, not in this room. If Lex had a plan, Emil knew better than to get in the way of it.  

He straightened his posture. “Esteemed members of the board,” he said with a respectful nod, “I take full responsibility for the failure.”  

There was a long pause, and Emil felt sweat gather at the back of his neck.  

“And what does that responsibility entail, Dr. Hamilton?”   

“I will immediately assemble a new retrieval—”  

“No,” a different voice interrupted, cutting through Emil’s words. “I’ll handle it. Your direct involvement will only draw further attention from the League, and we cannot afford that right now. I’ll ensure it is dealt with before the League can investigate Guardian and the G-Elves.”  

Emil bit his tongue and nodded. Let them handle it. The less I’m involved, the better.

“Very well,” said the figure seated at the head of the table. “Now, Dr. Hamilton, the board requires an explanation for subject KR-2’s unexpected power levels. Your reports suggested nothing of this magnitude.”  

Emil hesitated, feeling the weight of the question pressing down on him. His hands tightened into fists at his sides. He had dreaded this.  

“Based on the memories transferred from Guardian’s mission,” he began carefully, “I can confirm that Adrian Wells’s powers stem from his ability to absorb and manipulate crystalline structures. For example, human bone is composed of hydroxyapatite—a naturally occurring mineral crystal—while silica sand consists of crystalline silicon dioxide.”  

He glanced at the screens, hoping that the technical explanation would buy him time. It didn’t.  

“Dr. Hamilton,” the leader pressed, their patience wearing thin. “We’ve read the reports. What we want to know is why Adrian’s powers far exceed your original projections.”  

Emil’s heart raced. He had run countless simulations through Cadmus’s most advanced quantum computers. Every model, every test had pointed to the same conclusion: the artifact would allow Adrian to generate and control crystals, but only within manageable limits. Enough to make him a valuable asset, a living resource mine—but not this. Not what they’d seen at the docks.  

And yet, he created weapons from bone. Controlled waves of silica sand like they were extensions of his body. 

The truth was harsh, but there was no avoiding it. Emil exhaled, his voice quieter now. “I don’t know why his powers are this strong.”  

The silence that followed was suffocating.  

“You don’t know?” 

“No,” Emil admitted, the word bitter on his tongue. “The artifact shouldn’t be capable of this. Not based on any data we’ve collected.”  

The board shifted slightly, their movements causing the screens to flicker ominously.  

“Then perhaps,” the leader said, “your data is incomplete.”  

Emil clenched his fists, swallowing the urge to snap back. “I’ll double my efforts,” he said. “We’ll dissect every piece of information we have on the artifact. We’ll isolate what’s causing the anomaly.”  

“See that you do,” the leader said. “And remember, Dr. Hamilton, failure is not something this board takes lightly. Adrian Wells cannot be allowed to slip further from our grasp.”  

“Yes, sir,” Emil replied, bowing his head slightly. “I understand.”  

As the screens dimmed and the silhouettes disappeared, Emil exhaled a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. But the tension didn’t leave him.  

In the back of his mind, one thought lingered like a shadow he couldn’t shake:  

What the hell did we really unleash inside Adrian Wells?

[ Lady vic's body ]