Chapter 61

After exploring the rest of the Botanical Garden, henceforth dubbed the ‘Garden of Eden’, and making a shopping list of things to purchase for it, the girls and I discovered several more rooms hidden behind their own murals - five more, to be specific. 

Directly to the left of the Garden was ‘The Bathhouse’, and it looked as resplendent and gaudy as you’d imagine it to be. Large, as seemed to be the norm in my new home, and made of the same smooth marble stone as near everything else, the Bathhouse had multiple square pools of piping hot water that were separated by ivy-touched pillars. Aqshy hung in the air, as thick as the steam that filled the entire room, and towards the back, multiple racks of fluffy white towels hung beside a long stone bench. 

An open archway led into a much smaller room that contained an expensive-looking washer and dryer; an odd addition, considering how… ancient everything appeared, but the perk did mention WiFi, so I wasn’t too surprised at the modern amenities.

To the right of the Garden, another mural-turned-door led into what the archway labeled ‘The Archive’. True to its name, what we were greeted with when we entered were shelves upon shelves of empty bookcases - two floors of them, actually, with comfortable looking furniture spread around for ease and comfort. 

Out of the dozen or so large bookcases, only one was filled with literature. The assortment of knowledge seemed completely random, from self help books on surviving out in the wilderness, to a dusty copy of Moby Dick, all the way to real-life occult journals detailing rituals that required a baby’s blood. Much to our joint disappointment, there weren't any cheeky little spellbooks lurking in some secret passageway in between the shelves; it was all as mundane and boring as you could imagine, probably pulled directly from Earth Bet.

How my powers made that work, I had no fucking idea, but I’d long since learned to stop expecting logic from magic. With Cassie promising to get Pod 084 to sort the few books we did have later, we moved on.

It was directly across the corridor from those three rooms where things got a bit more exciting.

The middle room was aptly labeled ‘The Dojo’, a name that had to be used purely to pay homage to the perk itself, because it looked nothing like your stereotypical dojo. It was roughly the same size as our previous training room back at the Sanctum, but rather than having the appearance of a nondescript gymnasium like its counterpart, our new ‘dojo’ looked more like the interior of a Roman colosseum, or arena - complete with towering columns, bronze statues of constipated looking warriors, and enough square footage to give Velocity a nice workout.

Outside of the gaudiness and the statues, though, the room was surprisingly barren; a reminder that, like the library, we’d actually need to purchase shit instead of getting it all handed to us on silver platters. In this case, gym equipment. Cassie, with a reluctant and wary pout, added another entry to our slowly growing shopping list: Seeds, books, and dumbbells - everything a fledgling hero team needed.

The two rooms on either side of the Dojo were smaller, but no less interesting because of it. 

‘The Treasury’ was my personal favorite, but that may have something to do with the baser instincts of a man like me. I was functionally filthy fucking rich now, even though I was still due the delivery of my Number Man-patented platinum card. When walking into your very own treasure room, empty chests lining the walls and barren weapon racks stacked up high towards the ceiling, what were you supposed to feel other than an overwhelming desire to fill it up high with gold, jewels, and magical artifacts?

The sight lit a fire under my ass, I can’t lie. Three tinkers and a wizard with the ability to enchant items, and we had almost nothing to show for it? It was a fucking skill issue of the highest order, and also completely my fault. But now… Now I was inspired.

I left the Treasury freshly stocked with the 50-odd thousand dollars from our crackhouse busts, Lung’s fifteen foot tall dragon corpse, and a couple racks full of Tinkertech assault rifles. 

In exchange, it gave me ideas.

The sixth and last room on the right wing, compared to all of the others, was rather boring. Don’t get me wrong, it looked just as nice as the others - marble floors, gentle lighting, high ceilings, but there was also a significant lack of style. The archway above the door read ‘The Atelier’…

“But what the hell does ‘ate-leer’ even mean?” I muttered, an annoyed frown on my lips, as I scanned the large, nondescript room. It was smaller than the Dojo, obviously, but larger than the Archive; enough space to turn it into practically anything we wanted it to be. However, assuming the other side of the palace had the bedrooms and kitchen, I couldn’t really think of anything else we’d need.

Amy stared at me from where she’d been leaning against the bare wall, her eyes dull with disbelief. “Are you serious?”

“Jay didn’t graduate college, remember?” Cassie stretched her arms high above her head, her jaw audibly cracking as she yawned. Falling down at Amy’s feet, she rested her head against the girl’s thigh and dismissively waved a hand. “If he did, then he’d obviously know what ate-leer means. Like, who doesn’t? Pfft.”

Amy glanced down at Cass, her mouth falling open, before her eyes flickered towards me. “It’s pronounced atelier,” she deadpanned, shaking her head. “It’s French for ‘workshop’, or a ‘studio’. Didn’t you say you were born in Louisiana, Jason?”

I shot her a lazy grin. “Oui oui. Doesn’t mean I was fuckin’ taught French.” 

But now that I took another look around… yeah, I could sorta see the vision. Why the fuck they decided to not give any furniture for the room, I had zero clue, but there was a vague tinge of iron building up at the base of my throat the longer I stood in the middle of the room. I wasn’t sure if it was the act of using Qhaysh right before dropping the palace that made the Winds so eager to be included, but I wasn’t gonna look a gift horse in the mouth.

This would make for a good workshop.

Suddenly, Cassie shot up - causing both Amy and I to flinch at the sudden movement. “Wait! I just realized something.”

“What?” Amy gasped, pressing her hand against her chest and giving Cassie a weary glare.

She smiled, her dark eyes shining with smug excitement. “Sabah- or, sorry, Parian. I felt pretty shit for ditching her for magic the other day, since we were s’posed to hang out, but I just realized that we could literally just hire her now! Jason’s loaded, she’s already agreed to be associated with Invictus, and now we have this super cool base with this super cool ate-leer-”

“Atelier.”

“Whatever, grammar nazi.” She stuck her tongue out at the smirking Amy, before hitting my unprepared ass with the puppy-dog eyes - complete with trembling pout and twiddling index fingers. “But seriously! You fucked up your costume already, and I knooow you’re just dying to buy more clothes. You’re almost as bad as I am.”

My lips twitched. “Don’t compare my love of swagger to a teenage girl’s obsession with Hello Kitty and mini-skirts. It’s emasculating.” 

Cassie placed her fists on her hips, the innocent puppy-dog look fading all too quickly into a feisty, vaguely disturbed scowl. “Okay, and don’t ever say ‘love of swagger’ ever again dude. You sound like a 40 year old man who still thinks it’s cool to go to skateparks and wear Chuck Taylors.”

“I’d shred the fuck out of a grind rail at 40 years old and you know it, don’t play with me. Dude.”

Her eyes flashed, a familiar heat of bratty anger making its way into the flush on her cheeks. “I told you, buster, ‘baby’ or ‘princess’. Don’t make me zap your asshole shu-”

“I swear, you two bicker like an old married couple sometimes. You are both very pretty and have large dicks, alright?” Amy pushed herself off of the wall, crossing her arms beneath the swell of her chest and glaring at the two of us. Though it lacked the bite of genuine anger, seeming more amused than anything, Cassie’s mouth clacked shut immediately, and I…

Well, I just winked at her. 

She couldn’t keep the wry smile off her face. “I don’t really know Parian outside of the group chat Cassie made to get us all to post on PHO, but her work is really good…”

“Exactly!” Cass exclaimed in a stage whisper.

I raised my hands to placate the excitable girl. “Aye - she’s my friend too, ‘ight? I’m not against bringing Sabah into the fold, but she… doesn’t really fuck with the whole ‘action hero’ thing. I can ask, and I’d ‘prolly be able to convince her, but movin’ her whole business over here may be a lot all of a sudden.”

“Is that all? Because I texted her pics of the base already, and she’s uber jealous. It might be easier than you’d think, mister.” Cassie grinned victoriously, shooting me a cocky wink.

“… That right?” I hummed. “Cool.”

Maybe I’d hit her with the big question at the house-warming party, once I actually got around to planning that out. Even if she didn’t join our base, and team, officially, her powers were top tier for making clothing and she was an extremely talented designer. Amy would need a new costume - assuming she wanted to rid herself of Panacea too, I did want new clothes, and we needed someone who could actually do something with all the monster parts I brought back from my multiversal adventures.

After a few more moments of thought, I nodded my head decisively. “Yeah, I’ll hit her up soon. If she decides to join then we’ll be able to share the space since there’s so much room.”

“You plan on getting into sewing, Jason?” Amy peered up at me, oddly interested. 

I wasn’t even going to entertain that.

“No,” I snorted, running my hand through my hair. “But this ‘atelier’ would make a good spot for my and Cassie’s artificery. The same way I made our rings, I can make other shit too… I just need a lil’ bit of practice. Cassie’s Earth Bet’s first Magitech Tinker-“

“Hehe, shucks…”

Smirking at her feigned humbleness, I locked eyes with Amy and finished, “So she could use a workshop for her shit as well. Makes sense to just share the space.”

Understanding dawned in the young woman’s eyes, but her brow stayed furrowed. She glanced back at the door, licked her lips, and swung her head back to look at me. 

I knew what she wanted before she could even utter the words.

“You wanna try out alchemy, don’t you?” I couldn’t help but chuckle, eyeing her with fond curiosity. “Going full-tilt with the witch motif, ain’tcha? Not that I mind it- goth witch gf is crazy hot.

“So hot,” Cassie added helpfully.

Amy’s face flushed.

“Well, is it not a natural step?” She tried to scowl at us, but the expression came off as more of a disgruntled pout. “I said it before; I don’t want to waste away at the hospital, healing people and hating my life, and… I don’t think my Shard likes it, either. But with Ghyran, and with my powers, I could - I don’t know, fucking create magical weed that can cure lung cancer when you smoke it, and even give you low level cellular regeneration...”

The former healer looked away, her eyes growing unfocused as thoughts began to run rampant through her head. 

Cassie and I shared an amused, knowing glance.

It was the quiet clap of my hands that brought Amy out of her fugue before it could fully set in.

“Then let’s finish looking around the base, yeah? Afterwards we can go grab everything from the Sanctum, including ‘the weeds’, and you can get started.” I looked around one last time, a furrow to my brow. “I got a lotta shit to buy.”

What all would I even need? Did they even sell this sorta shit in normal stores? I’d probably have to order from a specialty website. Mortar and pestle, cauldrons (ha), woodcarving instruments, wood-

Hell, did I want to learn how to forge equipment? Guiding my Infusion ability only worked when I was the one who created the item, so it could be a useful skill to learn - and it wasn’t as if I was, in any way, lacking in skill-learning perks. As cheesy as it was to say, my brain was, quite literally, a magical sponge… or, at least it had been feeling that way ever since I’d gotten Infinite Potential and Divinity. Maybe I owed it to both myself and my future world-hopping adventures to pick up some life skills.

Like cooking. Bitches loved a motherfucker who could cook.

“Damn, you kinda got me all excited now too,” Cassie sighed, dipping back towards the door. She clasped her hands behind her waist as she moved, a soft, jubilant little grin on her lips. “I’m close to finishing up the MagiLink, I can fucking feel it! I know 084’s probably sick and tired of being shut down every time I wanna study his code, so the quicker I get it done the better, hehe.”

The thought of finishing the house tour seemed to be the final requirement for bringing Amy back down to Earth Bet. She blinked the rest of the fog away, glancing at Cassie and then locking eyes with me before nodding her head. “Sounds good. And stop teasing me about how I referred to the marijuana as ‘the weeds! My-... It was a new experience, you arrogant jerk.”

I faded out of existence, reappearing at the door just in time to pull it open for Cassie. As she mock-curtsied in her black spandex shorts and walked past me, I offered the approaching Amy a lazy, lopsided smile. “The ‘straight-laced, overworked healer turned bad girl’ pipeline is a cute lil’ shtick, though. Lemme have my fun.”

Her responding eye-roll looked almost painful with its force. “I’m not a ‘bad girl’ - I’m perfectly balanced in every way. And I wasn’t ‘straight-laced’, either. I smoked cigarettes… sometimes.” She brushed past me, her shoulder sliding against the sculpted shell of my upper abs, and walked - read, marched - over to a smirking Cass, who immediately claimed her hand with a cheeky wink towards me.

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Riiiight. Once or twice, huh?”

“S-screw you.”

My smile sharpened.

I had to admit; it filled me with a special sort of stomach tingle to see them getting along so well. I’d never doubted that they would, not really, but seeing it and believing it were two completely different things. Amy was quieter than Cassie, less outspoken and cheerful and hyperactive, but she brought a sort of grounding sense of serenity to the relationship as well - as odd as that was to say about someone who was only recently dealing with a chaotic and shitty homelife for damn near eighteen years. 

Her easing in to play the straight-man during me and Cassie’s bickering wasn’t a rare occurrence, and it made me happy to see her getting more and more comfortable around us despite our… oddities. You’d honestly think that they were best friends by the way they held each other’s hand and chattered as they plodded down the marble corridor - Cassie doing most of the yapping, with Amy mostly listening and providing dry, often amused feedback.

As I followed after their distractingly chubby-cheeked asses, heading towards what could only be the entryway into the common area of the palace, there was a sudden stir in my chest-

Flutter…

And the sound of pages turning in the back of my mind.

The Celestial Grimoire.

A large, dense mote of light was hooked into the infinite expanse of my soul, and I felt the fishing line tug harshly to reel it in. This was a big one, comparable in size to the likes of Immutable Form and Infinite Potential, and curiously, I brushed my consciousness against the mote, interested in seeing what ol’ Grimmy had in store for me now…

[Ancient Frost Dragon (Warhammer Fantasy: Ogre Kingdoms - 600 CP): You might just be the first Ogre to ever tame a dragon. It’s not a baby dragon either, but an elder Frost Dragon of the Mountains. It took an epic struggle lasting multiple days and nights but you made the beast kneel to you. Big as a Stonehorn, with fangs and claws that slice through those beasts like a hot knife through butter and able to breathe out an icy gale that can render an entire tribe of Ogres into a single ice block. With this beast alone you could potentially lay claim to the Overtyrant’s throne. Certainly, it would take a whole tribe to defeat the two of you together.

I nearly tripped over my own feet.

“My god…”

Cassie’s awed, hushed exclamation perfectly encapsulated my own amazement, except she wasn’t privy to the literal Elder Dragon materializing within my soul. She and Amy stopped at the end of the corridor, right in the archway that bled into the ‘common area’, and I was so distracted by the child-like, boyish wonder of having my very own dragon that I almost didn’t register what was happening until I bumped into them.

And with a grunt, I looked up and saw it.

Resplendency.

The room was massive, and even that was probably an understatement. The same smooth, dark marble stone that made up the right wing persisted throughout the rest of the palace, trimmed and gilded with golden accents. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling, giving the same warm, calming glow that emanated from the eternally burning sconces attached to the wall, and there was the very quiet burbling of liquid as two streams of water flowed down the central area.

Two small bridges arced over the contained streams, one of which we’d have to cross in order to make it to the main floor. The room was divided into two halves, distinctively separated by the water and the bridges - the right half, which was where we walked in from, and the left half, which seemed to possess its own long corridor of rooms. The only reason I could even see that much was because the left wing’s archway was neatly built directly opposite of the right wing’s, allowing an easy view down the hallway.

On either side, before you crossed the bridge and met in the middle, the room seemed to be steepled in a lounging, decadent comfort. There were long, curving couches and reclining chairs that circled low coffee tables, fluffed and stacked with ridiculously soft, velvety cushions and blankets. 

Despite the sconces and chandeliers, the lighting in these ‘lounge’ areas were dim, with just enough illumination to see comfortably - but not enough to bother the eyes. If I had to guess from a quick look, there was enough furniture to comfortably hold a bit over a couple dozen adults, which was more than enough space for Invictus. It wasn’t so spacious that the lounge felt too spread out and sparse, mainly because the central floor took up so much room. Everything was the perfect blend of dark, mysterious comfort and luxury, and I could already see the perfect spots to mount a couple OLED televisions on both sides, maybe a game console or two as well.

That wasn’t even getting into the second floor, which, judging by the dining tables and chairs I could see on the balcony, had some sort of kitchen setup installed. This place was genuinely insane.

And I still had a Frost Dragon sitting patiently in my soul. What the fuck was I even waiting for, permission?

Yoink.

While it only took me a few moments to take in the entire room/lounge/atrium, Amy and Cass were slightly less quick on the draw. They moved forward, all jokes wilting away in the face of actual luxury. 

Amy swallowed, falling back onto one of the couches. “Wow. This is…”

“Fucking gorgeous?” Cassie let out a high-pitched giggle, the sound disbelieving, as she walked onto the miniature bridge and stared down into the stream. “No way is this our new place… It looks like a frickin’- castle-palace! Like, I know that your powers were given to you by some omnipotent anime Goddess or whatever, but holy shit Jay, she made you too fucking busted. They’ve gotta nerf you in the next patch.”

The settling of my newest perk - my newest acquisition - was as hot as it was burning cold, and it settled deep within my soul. I rubbed at my chest, trying not to smile too wide at the realization that I now held a giant, Endbringer-sized dragon inside of my Celestial Grimoire. Just like with 084 and the palace, I knew that simply tugging on that mote would bring it to bear. 

Of course, that wasn’t something I wanted to do inside of here. When I had everyone gathered, though…? Well, I did just create a whole mountain with its own fucking ecosystem. The timing was impeccable.

Shit, now I’m getting giddy.

“Don’t count on it, sweet-cheeks. Somehow I doubt Madam Goddess is all that interested in seeing me fail.” 

And fuck, I loved her for it.

One step and a breath and I’d teleported across the floor, smoothly walking through the archway that led into what I was starting to refer as ‘the left wing’. True to my initial observations, this corridor, while aesthetically similar to the right wing, seemed to be the entryway for all of the personal rooms. The hallway was wider and quite a bit longer, and there were no magical murals - only large bronze doors that neatly lined each wall. I counted them as I walked.

“… Twenty-five; twelve doors each wall, and a final room at the end here. Ain’t that a lil’ bit too much?” I tilted my head, a wry grin forming on my face. Common fantasy trope knowledge was telling me that the last door at the end was clearly the largest one, and therefore, mine.

There were a lot of rooms, sure, but maybe Invictus was fated to be huge one day. We only had six members now, but what about a year from now? Two? I could create Wormholes through the multiverse with nothing more than mana and the natural quantum energy of the planet, and there were countless people who’d be down to kick Scion in the fucking nose. Who’d want to make Earth Bet a safe place for humanity.

The thought only incentivized me. There were so many things I wanted to accomplish, so many places I wanted to see and people I wanted to meet, and what I created here - my Invictus… it was just the start of something fucking epic.

With these feelings pounding in my heart, I pushed open the door to my room (ours, if you wanted to be technical) and stepped inside to see where I’d be laying my head for the next couple months.

And-

“Ohhh shit.”

Seeing the common area already drained me of most of my surprise at this point, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t still be impressed, and what I saw definitely gave a good impression. 

The ‘master bedroom’ was large and spacious, which was a given, but what caught my eye immediately was the comfortability. The bed was beyond king-sized, nearly taking up the entire far wall it was placed against, and the dark sheets and comforter looked entirely too soft. The floor was a smooth, dark marble, and the walls were a lighter, but no less polished silvery-blue color. There was a spacious walk-in closet, a door leading to what could only be a bathroom, and one of those big, fancy-looking dressers with a gilded mirror installed right above it.

Overall, it was somewhat barren, having no furniture outside of the quintessential bed, dresser, and bathroom combo… but there was a lot of potential here. And more than enough space to really have some fun with. The closet itself was like its own miniature room, with more space than we’d be able to fill with clothes and shoes.

A thought came to mind then, and slowly, a wide, excited smile took over my face.

What a perfect little area to place wormholes to other realities. Hell, they even had a movie about it, right? This wasn’t the Chronicles of Narnia, but I wasn’t against stealing the idea.

“Fuck yeah… this’ll do nicely.”

A knock on the open door pulled my attention away from the closet/soon to be portal room. Amy walked inside, hesitantly at first, but with a bit more energy once she saw just how swanky everything looked. Her eyes glinted appreciatively, her lips parting in naked wonder. “At this point I’m getting tired of being amazed by this palace you pulled out of your ass. I feel like it’s feeding your ego.”

The wry amusement in her voice made me snort. I turned to give Amy my full attention, absentmindedly rubbing a hand on my chest. “Ain’t nothin’ wrong with giving me my flowers every once and a while. What are you cuties up to?”

Her lips quirked upwards, that honey brown gaze softening. “Cass is raiding the kitchen upstairs for some food; she said she wanted to make homemade pizza, but… she didn’t seem too confident in her cooking skills.” 

“Cassie? Cooking?” I blinked, genuinely flabbergasted. “Did Jesus Christ come down from the sky while I was busy or somethin’?”

Amy leaned back against the door, a snicker escaping her mouth. “No, dummy - maybe check your texts sometimes? Sherrel’s on her way back with a lot of the stuff we needed for the base, and Imp- uh, Aisha is with her. Cassie wanted to make food for everyone.”

Huh. That was actually adorable, even though I was sure she’d end up burning up our new place. Cassie + Cooking had never been a good combination - it was why we ate take-out most of the time. Admittedly, I wasn’t the best either, but that was gonna change.

“Bet. I’ll take you girls shopping later on so that we can decorate our bedroom,” I proudly gestured all around me with both arms, grinning, “But this’ll have to do for now. Good to know everyone’s gonna be back here soon, ‘cause I got something really cool to show y’all when they’re all back. Something badass.”

Was it sadistic of me that I’d begun to enjoy the way I could make people’s hackles raise merely by mentioning the possibility of a new power? Probably, but I didn’t regret a single fucking thing.

Amy’s reaction didn’t disappoint.

“Another one? Jason, you just birthed a whole frigging mountain-“

“That was all me, baby.”

“And dropped an Olympian palace on top of it like a hamburger bun of magic bullshit-“

“… Touché, but that was from before. Ole’ Grimmy likes to spoil m-“

Amy’s hands smacked gently against my cheeks, her fingers pinching my grinning lips shut as she glared up at me. The sudden escalation wasn’t too surprising since I’d already seen the intent to shut me up in her body language, but the manner in which she did it was interesting. Her large breasts - and God was I happy that she was showing them off more - pressed against my abdomen, and once again, I was graced with her sweet, cinnamon-like scent. It was almost enough to distract me from the disgruntled pout and the fiery eyes.

“You don’t always need to have the last word, Archmage Black,” she snarked, glaring up at me through long, fluttering eyelashes. “Shut up sometimes and maybe you’d come off as less of a cocky womanizer.”

Oh, was that spice I heard in her voice? I liked it.

“Thffr’s a bff rid thrr ifff yff wffn mff tff shff yff cffcky.”

The flame in her eyes flickered, and Amy relaxed her already gentle grip on my face. “What?”

“Ahem. I said,” I licked my lips, both hands darting forward to wrap around her shapely waist. She instinctively gasped as I pulled her tighter against me, my dreadlocks tickling her skin when I lowered my face down to get closer to her tantalizingly pink and pouty lips. “There’s a bed right there if you want me to show you ‘cocky’. I’m an arrogant jackass, I admit it, but I think I deserve a lil’ bit of fun every now and then. At least I don’t hold myself back… too much.”

Her hips quivered against mine, and my mind flashed back to our make out session, not even two hours prior. She’d tasted good.

“You… you are actually so bad,” she murmured, her eyelids lowering. Amy didn’t fight me - didn’t fight us, as our bodies pressed even harder against each other. My hands drifted down, gripping what was quickly becoming two of my favorite stress balls. Her lips parted, hot, moist breath joining mine as she subconsciously gasped my name. “Mmh- Fine. Play your little games, Jason. Have fun. Cassie might reward you for it, b-but I won’t. You two need someone to k-keep you in check.”

“That why you’re grinding against my dick right now?”

Amy’s cheeks turned scarlet with embarrassment. She went to pull back, but my grip was ironclad - and I wasn’t letting her go without a kiss.

“You’re disgusting.”

“You’re worse than me.”

“No I'm not.”

“Prove it. Tell me to let you go.”

“… S-shut up, asshole…”

Her lips were the ones that pressed against mine, hot and needy and frustrated. Amy groaned into my mouth, clumsily vying for some shred of dominance as she slid her tongue against mine, self-consciously nibbling at my thicker lips like an uncertain gerbil. I gathered her in my arms, turning right around and carrying her straight back to the bed.

Her legs wrapped around my waist, her core pressing tightly against the throbbing heat in my sweatpants, and I took us both down. 

Were we a bit too all over each other? Maybe. But there were deep, unresolved feelings and desire between us that had built up day after day after day, and the honeymoon phase had only just begun. I wasn’t unfamiliar with relationships, and I knew that things would calm down with time and familiarity. That spark would never leave, but this tension would. All in due time.

For now, I enjoyed making out with my new girlfriend. 

We only stopped after the scent of burnt pizza dough filtered itself through the open bedroom door, and the sound of Cassie’s panicked shouts filled the air.

“GUYS! I DIDN’T- UH, THE PIZZA BURNED ITSELF REALLY BADLY! HEEELP!”

It was during the cleaning process that the other Invictus members finally made it back.

_________________________

Downtown - Apartment 11B

Rachel Lindt was a simple woman. She loved her dogs, she loved her peace, and she loved her peace & dogs. Canines were simple and direct, unlike humans - they respected strength and dominance, and they followed the Laws of the Jungle: The strength of the pack was the wolf, and the strength of the wolf was the pack.

Only, her ‘human pack’ was weak now. Frayed and disjointed, with no actual leader and no idea on how to proceed.

When it was just her, Brutus, Judas, and Angelica, things had been hard, but good. With just her and her dogs, there was never the issue of who was in charge, or who was too depressed or upset to run ops, or who got along with who. She had been the alpha, had taken care of them just as much as they had protected her. When it was just you, the streets, and your dogs… you truly realized just how much better animals were.

There was no lies or deceit, no showboating, none of that fake sucking up bullshit that humans did all the fucking time. She preferred that solitude. Loved it, actually, despite her current relationship with her team. Her ‘pack’. 

That word again. It was almost funny, but outside of play time with her dogs, Rachel didn’t have many things to laugh about nowadays. The Undersiders were hardly a pack. She’d only been a part of their team for a few months, but even she could tell that the dislike between her and the others was mutual. 

Grue was their supposed ‘leader’, and one who claimed to ‘understand’ her, but his clumsy and shameful attempt at dominance only worked because she had needed them for the protection and resources they gave. Regent was a loner, much like her, but Rachel was pretty sure he was mentally insane in a way that had nothing to do with his powers. And finally, Tattletale- The less said about her the better. She was bitchy, and slimy, and fake - both to herself and to others, but she was also annoyingly smart. Grue thought he was the leader, but Rachel knew the truth.

Not that it mattered anymore. Not with Coil, their apparent mysterious benefactor, dead. Executed, by Avalon.

The same man who killed Kaiser, and Lung, and ran the major gangs out of the city. The same man who gave her the opportunity to liberate all of the dogs that bastard Hookwolf had been keeping locked away for bloody entertainment, giving them new homes in carefully-observed shelters all around Brockton Bay. The same man who stole all of Coil’s resources - the resources that Rachel had been banking on to open up her chain of privately-sourced dog sanctuaries for the strays still wandering, starving and weak and alone, through the streets.

The same man who, according to Tattletale, had just created an entire forested mountain out above the coastline. Nature, wild and chaotic, yet controlled and watched over by the most powerful hero in the Bay. Probably on this side of America.

Rachel Lindt didn’t care about much. She only really gave a shit about her dogs, and her own peace. But mainly her dogs.

So the simple decision she came to didn’t surprise her. Not when the alternative was to go back on the streets and risk harm and starvation for her family.

In an apartment room way too clean for its own good, sitting on the floor with her three dogs wrapped around her body like large, stinky babies, Rachel looked up at the arguing Tattletale and Grue. 

“I’m just saying, Lisa - if he’s that powerful, and that quick to just fucking KILL people who piss him off, why wouldn’t he just tell us to screw off and keep the money? I’m not saying we don’t try, but this guy defeated every major gang in the city. And you just wanna walk up to the mountain he grew out of the ground?”

The blondie’s pretty face warped into a scowl, and she threw her arms up. “It’s been four days. Brian. Four days! We don’t have any income coming in, fucking Faultline is already spreading shit about the Undersiders to get back at me, and Alec’s been MIA for forty-eight hours; he’s not coming back, and we. Need. The. Money. Avalon won’t screw us over, I promise, and afterwards, we can go our own merry little way.”

Grue paced the carpeted floor, his heavy boots thumping noisily with each step. He was chewing his bottom lip, but his gaze was roaming the room, stress practically oozing from his body. “I have a good amount of cash saved up, Lisa. Money isn’t as big of a problem for me… you know that. And Avalon just killing Coil the way he did - he fucked up my best chance at getting Aisha back. I don’t need the money as much as I need the strings that he guaranteed he would pull.”

Tattletale snorted. “Coil was a fucking psychopathic snake. You think he was actually going to help you get custody over your sister? He was going to hang that over your head for years, Brian, until Aisha could leave the nest herself without your help! You don’t need him to get your sister back, but you will need more than the thirty thousand dollars you have saved up. There’s a process to winning custody.”

“... What do you mean he wouldn’t have helped me? When did you- Lisa, how long was it going to take you to tell me that?!”

“Use your brain instead of your heart for a second and think. Why would he-”

“I’m joining Invictus.” Rachel said, her low, gruff voice cutting through the bickering like a missile. She was already standing up, the duffel bag with her meager possessions and a good helping of bagged-up kibble tossed easily over her shoulder. “Gonna go grab some stuff at the old base, sleep there, and I’m leaving in a few days. Don’t come looking for me.”

A simple click of her teeth and Brutus, Judas, and Angelica rose sleepily to their feet to follow her without even realizing what was going on. Rachel didn’t bother waiting for a reply - she headed for the door, knowing damn well that neither of them would or could stop her, and swung it open. The old base had the good kennels that she didn’t want to just leave behind, but they’d been too big to bring to this fancy ass apartment. Maybe she’d steal a van to transport them in.

“What the fuck- Rachel, wait!”

“Rachel…-”

The door closed firmly behind her, and Rachel grinned. It wasn’t a kind one.

Maybe later, when she had more time to think about it - and wasn’t that something she just hated doing? - she would regret just leaving like this… but honestly, Rachel doubted it. It wasn’t like they’d been together for long, and it took more than a few months to actually worm your way into her good graces. Humans came and went, like now, but her dogs… they were forever. No one would be able to sever that bond.

And now, as long as she made her strength and loyalty clear, Invictus would be the next step for making her dreams come true. A place where her dogs could roam free, happy and fat and at peace. Not just dogs - all kinds of canines. She could see it now.

All she had to do was make it a reality.

___________________________________________

Perks Accepted:

[Ancient Frost Dragon (Warhammer Fantasy: Ogre Kingdoms - 600 CP): You might just be the first Ogre to ever tame a dragon. It’s not a baby dragon either, but an elder Frost Dragon of the Mountains. It took an epic struggle lasting multiple days and nights but you made the beast kneel to you. Big as a Stonehorn, with fangs and claws that slice through those beasts like a hot knife through butter and able to breathe out an icy gale that can render an entire tribe of Ogres into a single ice block. With this beast alone you could potentially lay claim to the Overtyrant’s throne. Certainly, it would take a whole tribe to defeat the two of you together.

600 CP remaining.

A/N:

Sooo... that happened.

This concludes the base tour, as well - for the most part. A lot of exposition, I'm sorry about that, but I wanted to describe everything accurately and give you an idea of what Invictus will be working with over the next while. Also, trust me when I say that the Dragon perk surprised the fuck outta me. BUT- Who doesn't want a fucking dragon?! We'll be seeing the results of that next chapter, hehe.

An important thing to note is that Jason will be working more on creating magical gear for his team and himself, and that he will be learning more skills as well. Better for him to do it here and now, while he has free time and access to the internet, than to do it later on when he's in a medieval fantasy world that lacks Youtube tutorials.

We also get hints for two new Invictus members - Sabah, and Rachel Lindt, AKA Bitch, AKA Hellhound. I was planning for her to join the team for months now, and obviously it won't be as easy as her showing up outta nowhere and saying 'I'm joining', but she's straightforward like that.