Mist of Shadows
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Boosted Villainy Part 26
🕑 Added 2022-08-27 05:51:44 +0000 UTCS. Amy shivered as she stared at the unconscious preteen she'd duct taped to the table on the off chance that she woke up before they’d finished double checking everything. "Just because I couldn't find anything doesn't mean she isn't dangerous," she warned, “she could have a plague hidden in some sealed module in her body and I wouldn’t be able to sense it. Listen, the only safe thing to do is to put her down.”
Myst glanced down at the laundromat token that was making sure the area was safe from bacteria and viruses. "I'm not murdering a brainwashed kid."
"It's more like putting down a mad dog. Do you want me to?" S. Amy asked, wanting the dangerous lunatic that had plagued her nightmares dead and gone.
"If you won't save her out of compassion, do it out of spite," Myst told her as he dragged the couch a bit closer to the table.
S. Amy looked at Myst. "Spite?"
Myst turned and looked at S. Amy. "Jack is a monster and he loved creating monsters, by saving Riley, you'll be hurting Jack."
"You could just break his knees and rip out his spleen," S. Amy argued. "Is this about morals? Because I believe putting any of the Nine down is a moral act."
Myst glanced at Riley who was duct taped to the table with a sheet covering everything below her neck. "Jack is used to dealing with physical pain, I'm fairly sure knowing he failed will hurt more."
"We should run tests," S. Amy almost snarled. While Bonesaw was her personal demon, Jack was everyone’s, having turned heroes into serial killers for well over a decade.
"You don't torture monsters, you put them down," Myst replied as he reached out and poked Bonesaw's nose with his right index finger. He gave her a copy of Oliver's skill acquisition ability, figuring it would help with her social and academic skills. He gestured at the couch with his left hand and copied Riley, hoping the clone was less messed up.
S. Amy glanced at the naked and unconscious clone. "Can I tie the clone up?"
"I'm starting to wonder if you have a bondage kink," C. Squealer said as she walked over.
"I'm just trying to avoid her slitting our throats," S. Amy argued, fairly sure they weren't taking things seriously enough.
Myst glanced at Riley's clone, using his glasses to get a rough idea of her powers. "Tinker, general medical tech with a genetic manipulation specialty along with a trump ability to learn from other tinkers."
C. Squealer glanced between Bonesaw and her clone. "How many clones are you going to make?"
"Just the one," Myst replied as he reached out and touched the clone's forehead and started copying her power. "If it makes you feel better, Riley would have eventually figured out that her power was screwing with her and that Jack was completely nuts, it just took time away from Jack."
"How much time?" S. Amy asked.
"A couple of months for Jack, a couple of years for figuring out her power was causing some of her behavior," Myst explained.
S. Amy sighed in exasperation. "And you made a clone, knowing her power was a problem?"
"The stamp should prevent her power from messing with her," Myst pointed out.
"She's still going to be a mess," S. Amy pointed out.
"Nah, you just need to erase the last six years and give her better memories," C. Squealer suggested, fairly sure Leet could come up with something to copy memories if Myst couldn't.
"I'm not sure cobbling together a bunch of memories…" Myst trailed off when he turned to look at C. Squealer and saw the magic mirror behind her. "Huh, that could work."
"What? You're not making sense," S. Amy complained as Myst flew over and touched the magic mirror.
"I was trying to figure out the best way to cobble together a replacement life for Riley that wouldn't feel hollow when she woke up, seeing the mirror reminded me that we could probably just copy an alternate Riley's memories of growing up with her parents," he explained as he pushed energy into the mirror, giving it the ability to look into other worlds.
"She'd know it was fake," S. Amy argued.
"The memories wouldn't be fake, they'd be memories of a life she could have had." Myst focused on the mirror. "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, show me a version of Riley with a better life."
S. Amy stared when the mirror changed to show a crowd of people dressed in medieval clothing sitting in wooden bleachers. She paused when she saw Riley sitting in the stands with a boy that was fourteen or fifteen sitting next to her. "She's smiling…"
"She looks happy," Myst agreed as he focused and twisted the view around so that he could see what they were watching.
S. Amy frowned as she watched two knights on horseback charge across the field and slam a pair of lances into each other's shields. "I think your mirror is broken."
"Or they're at a renfaire. Mirror, mirror, on the wall, show me this Riley's house." Myst blinked when the mirror changed to show a stone castle overlooking an old fashioned town. "Infinite worlds, infinite possibilities. Mirror, mirror, on the wall show me a version of Riley that is closer to our world."
C. Squealer grinned as she saw a blonde haired bombshell that could have passed for Riley's older sister swirling around a pole on a stage in a pair of knee length green and white stockings. "We should keep a couple of clones of her."
"Is she even legal?" S. Amy asked, fairly sure that her sister looked older than the girl on stage.
"It's hard to tell with the makeup and the lights," Myst mused as he programmed the remote with the coordinates from the bottom of the mirror, having to double check the coordinates because he was distracted by her dancing, “plus we don’t know what legal age is for that world.”
S. Amy rubbed her temples, trying not to think of Bonesaw as an actual person. "Try again."
"Or we could wait until she finishes her set…" C. Squealer trailed off as the teen finished spinning around the pole, took a bow then sauntered over and picked up her witch's hat and a black minidress.
"Looks like she's done," S. Amy said, trying to sound like she hadn't enjoyed the brief show.
"Mirror, mirror, on the wall, show me a heroic Riley," Myst ordered, hoping he could convince Amy's shadow clone that they were doing the right thing. He frowned when the mirror changed and he saw a version of Riley walking down an alley carrying a pair of drumsticks and dressed like a cheerleader. 'Maroon skirt, yellow shirt with an S on the shoulder, why does that look familiar?'
C. Squealer frowned as she noticed a pair of guys with deformed faces and yellow eyes sneaking up on the girl that was walking through the alley without a care in the world. "What the hell is wrong with their faces?"
"Huh…" Myst trailed off as Riley spun and stabbed the taller of the two men through the chest with one of her drumsticks, causing him to stare at her in shock for a second before he sort of burned up from the center of the chest outwards, turning into an ash statue that fell apart a second later as it cascaded to the ground.
C. Squealer smiled when the other Riley lunged forward and kicked the other guy in the nuts, dropping him to his knees. "She's a badass."
S. Amy scowled as Riley stabbed the second man with her drumstick, causing him to catch fire and quickly turn to ash as well. "Heroes don't kill people."
"You're assuming they're people," Myst said as he quickly entered the coordinates of the world into the remote.
"What else would they be?" S. Amy asked, wondering if she actually had to impale someone for her power to work or if she was just sadistic.
"Mutated clone soldiers? Gangs on PCP? Vampires?" Myst offered with a grin.
S. Amy shook her head. "Vampires aren't real."
"People would have said the same thing about parahumans until Scion showed up," Myst replied with amusement as he watched Riley continue walking down the alley in the mirror, managing to look like an innocent girl in middle school despite the cheerleading outfit and the fact that she'd just killed two 'people'.
"Either way, we should probably find a safer world to drop her," C. Squealer suggested.
"Mirror, mirror, on the wall, show me a Riley with a good life with family," Myst ordered, causing the mirror to show the inside of a modern living room that bridged the gap between a movie set or an expensive 'showroom' and something people actually lived in. He smiled when he saw a version of Riley playing a version of the old operation game with her mother and a version of the blond teen she'd seen sitting next to Riley at the joust. "Looks normal enough."
"Almost too cheerful," S. Amy muttered, fairly sure dropping Bonesaw and her clone on some unsuspecting people was a horrible idea.
"Infinite worlds, infinite possibilities," Myst reminded her as he put his remote back in his inventory and pulled out his cleaning and matter rearrangement gloves. He pulled the gloves on then looked through the inventory slot where he'd stored the scrap wire from the marina and pulled out a tangled bundle of copper wire. He used the gloves to untangle the bundle then twisted it into four braided wire circlets.
"Have you considered finding an artist and copying their skills?" S. Amy asked thoughtfully as she studied the tiaras that looked like something that would sell for a couple of dollars at a street fair.
"When I get a chance," Myst muttered as he used three of the circlets to boost the quality of the fourth, making it look slightly more professional. "This should be good enough to avoid looking like a crazy hobo with a collection of costume jewelry."
"Best of luck," C. Squealer teased.
"Whatever," Myst muttered as he focused and poured his energy into the circlet, trying to give it the ability to copy chunks of memory. He stuck the circlet into his inventory and checked the details. "Close enough."
C. Squealer pulled her attention away from the mirror and looked at Myst. "Close enough?"
"It leaves a faded copy of the original memories, they'll be a bit like movies or stories but that's probably for the best so, yeah, close enough," Myst told her as he pulled a handful of semi precious sapphire chunks out of his inventory. He focused and used the gloves to 'melt' the sapphires together and remove some of the impurities, turning them into three large gem quality sapphires that would sell for enough to send the girls to college.
"What happens if Bonesaw decides to kill her family?" S. Amy asked warily.
Myst shook his head. "The healing ring should have fixed most of her issues but even without that, I doubt she'd have attacked her family, she loved them. Besides, I'm going to give them regeneration and a brute rating in case someone figures out what Riley can do and comes after them."
S. Amy glanced at Riley's mother, a touch disturbed by the fact that she seemed to be enjoying herself, both because it reminded her that Carol wasn't a good mother and because it made her remember that Bonesaw might have been something else if given a chance. "How are you going to convince her folks to take them?"
"I'm going to open a portal to their living room and ask if they'll take care of Riley and her clone, if they refuse, I'll keep trying until I find someone that will take them," Myst explained as he focused on Riley's clone and conjured a set of Amy sized pajamas on her. 'I should have hit the mall with the girls and scanned everything.'
S. Amy scowled as she turned to look at the girl she'd duct taped to the table. "I reserve the right to say I told you so."
"Noted." Myst walked over and stuck Riley in his inventory, the thick layer of now empty duct tape falling to the table, then turned to look at the couch and pulled her back out of his inventory. He conjured a shirt and skirt on Riley then set her down on the couch. He glanced at C. Squealer. "You should probably put on some clothes."
C. Squealer used Anne's power to conjure overalls and a shirt. "Happy?"
"If only because it gives me less things to have to explain," Myst replied as he dispelled his construct duct tape and sheet, leaving the table looking less suspicious.
S. Amy checked her clothes. "You should probably toss in flight and force fields, just to be sure they can handle her if she loses it."
"Good call," Myst agreed as he put the circlet. He pulled the remote out of his inventory and double checked the number to make sure he'd selected the right portal. He checked to make sure his lucky penny was in the case in his pocket then pushed the button and opened a portal to the other Riley's living room. "Please don't shoot, we come in peace."
Grace Davis stared at the open portal where she could see a pair of unconscious girls that looked exactly like her daughter sitting on a couch behind a man wearing a large amount of tacky jewelry, black leather boots, black slacks, a sweatshirt and a tiara or circlet that didn't really go with his outfit. "What's going on?"
"Did you clone my sister!" Drew blurted out as he stared at the unconscious girls that looked like his sister.
Riley reached over and lightly swatted her brother's head. "Don't be an idiot, why would anyone clone me?"
"Because you're a genius," Drew argued. “There’s a reason you’ve got all those scholarship offers."
"We're from an alternate reality and our version of Riley ran into a group of insane capes, she needs a safe place to live," Myst replied as he worked on copying the other Riley's memories into Riley's clone, trusting his luck to keep from completely screwing things up.
“There’s two of her,” Drew pointed out.
Myst nodded. “I cloned her.”
“Why?” Riley asked.
Myst shrugged. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
"Why are they unconscious?" Grace asked in concern, fairly sure Gotham didn't count as safe but she wasn't going to let that stop her from helping her daughters, even if they were from another world.
Myst was glad that he didn't have to see the collection of memories or experience the headache that was probably going to result from giving her an extra six years of memories. "Because they'll probably wake up confused and dangerous and I wanted to explain things to you and see if you'll take them."
"What happened?" Grace asked.
"Do you have parahumans?" Myst asked, wondering how much they were going to have to explain.
Grace glanced at the edge of the portal. "I've never heard the term, but we have people with powers if that's what you mean."
"Yeah, Riley ended up a medical tinker or mad scientist and got mind controlled into being a monster. I've fixed most of the physical and mental damage, but she's going to need a loving home…" Myst trailed off, knowing he was probably butchering the explanation.
"Start from the beginning," Grace ordered him, while waving for her son to help carry his new sisters into their home.
Myst swapped to copying memories to Riley and started explaining, hoping there would be enough time to do both of them.
0o0o0
"Your lucky penny is bullshit, you know that right?" S. Amy asked as they headed into the strip club to celebrate finding a home for Riley and her clone. "There's no way you should have been that lucky, they both should have tried killing someone when they woke up, not hugging the dog and breaking down crying."
"They’re twelve and just got their family back, they’re allowed to be an emotional mess." Myst stepped to the side when he saw a red haired nearly seven foot tall mountain of a man wearing slacks and a black t-shirt with 'Security' spelled out in large white letters on the front of it walking towards them carrying a screaming drunk by the back of his jacket and his belt.
"Can you get the door?" the bouncer asked calmly in a deep voice as if he wasn't holding a guy that probably weighed a good two hundred and fifty pounds off the ground.
C. Squealer quickly moved to the other side of the entranceway, not wanting to get hit by the idiot's flailing limbs.
Myst pushed the automatic door button then stepped out of the way and winced when the bouncer tossed the man out from about five feet from the door, easily removing him from the building and actually causing him to bounce.
"Next time, you'll end up in the Bay," the bouncer warned the guy then turned to look at Myst and the girls with a smile on his face as the drunk scrambled to his feet. "Welcome to the Dancer's Delight, don't touch the girls on the first floor, don't touch the girls in the basement if they have a red bracelet or if they tell you not to, other than that, have fun and remember to tip."
"Let me guess, he did something stupid?" C. Squealer asked as the door slowly swung shut.
"Yeah, he was harassing one of the waitresses," the bouncer explained. "You'll need ID if you're hitting the bar. If you're watching the show, just wait for one of the girls to seat you."
"Thanks," Myst replied as he tried to make a shadow copy of the guy, figuring it would be nice to have a collection of bouncers for the club and the giant seemed particularly effective and intimidating. He frowned when his ability failed and the man's friendly smile got less friendly for a second. 'What the hell?'
C. Squealer smiled as the man with muscles in all the right places walked off. "At least we have decent eye candy."
"We'll see…" S. Amy trailed off as one of the people paying for their meal at the register moved and she saw the attractive blonde behind the counter that reminded her a bit of Vicky, if you dressed Vicky up in a long sleeved white dress shirt that was thin enough that she could see her nipples and made her wear an adorable black bowtie.
Myst glanced between the attractive blonde behind the register and the disclaimer about the management reserving the right to remove people from the club if they violated any of the rules as he walked over to the please wait to be seated sign. He made a shadow clone of the girl behind the register, mostly because she looked good and obviously knew what she was doing but also to make sure his ability was working in this world.
'Maybe it's just the bouncer,' he mused as his attention was pulled to the half dressed red haired teenage girl walking out of the back room. He barely glanced at her long sleeve shirt that matched the other girl's, more interested in her headband with fluffy black cat ears and the fact that she wasn't wearing pants, a skirt or even underwear.
"Table for three?" Kitty asked as she walked over, snagging three menus off the counter on her way past it.
"Yeah," Myst replied as he made a shadow copy of her, doing his best to at least try to look at her eyes. 'Ms. Kitty? Pretty sure that's not your real name, then again, can't say I blame you.'
'It's technically Katherine but even my Mom calls me Kitty,' S. Kitty replied.
"We're so taking Taylor here," S. Amy mused as they followed the waitress into the main dining area, slightly disappointed that she didn't actually have a cat's tail or even a fake one. She smiled as the scent of garlic bread and spices hit her nose. 'That smells delicious, some type of Italian.'
'Spaghetti and garlic bread, you'll like it,' S. Kitty assured her over the network.
C. Squealer smiled as she glanced at the people that looked to be enjoying themselves, either eating the food, talking to friends or watching the blonde girl with green and red pigtails dancing on stage in a naughty jester's outfit that was already half scattered on the glass stage. "Nice place."
"I like it," Kitty replied with a smile as she stopped in front of an empty booth. "Take a seat and enjoy the show, do you want to order drinks or do you need a minute?" she asked as she set the menus in the middle of the table.
Myst sat down and flipped the menu over to the drink section. "Raspberry lemonade and a chocolate milkshake."
C. Squealer glanced over the menu. "Beer."
"I'll need ID for anything alcoholic," Kitty warned her.
"I knew I shouldn't have left my purse," C. Squealer grumbled. "Chocolate shake."
"Same," S. Amy said, not worried about the cost as Myst would pick up the tab or she could just dematerialize herself to avoid paying.
"I'll be right back with your drinks and I'll take your order," Kitty told them with a smile then headed for the bar to grab their drinks.
Myst glanced over the menu, surprised that all of the prices looked reasonable.
S. Amy stared in shock when she turned to ask the pair of dark haired twins sitting at the next table if the spaghetti they were working on was good and realized that one of the girls had her hand under the glass table and was playing with her sister's clit ring while they watched the stripper, in full view of the woman that looked like their mother. 'This place is weird.'
'It's certainly interesting,' Myst replied over their mental link. 'Is the club even legal?' he asked S. Kitty.
"Technically, the first floor is perfectly legal, same with the basement. The VIP lounge on the other hand gets a bit questionable at times, but you have to be twenty one to work that section of the club so I don't have any personal experience, just what others have told me,' S. Kitty replied.
Myst glanced at a waitress that was wearing a black skirt with Dancer's Delight printed on it and no shirt or bra. 'Is there a reason some of the waitresses wear skirts and some wear shirts?'
'It depends on the time of the month, if you shave, and personal preference,' S. Kitty explained.
'Makes sense,' Myst admitted. 'Do you know Riley, she's one of the dancers?'
'Davis? Her stage name is The Wickedest Witch,' S. Kitty said cheerfully.
'What's her story?' Myst asked.
'She graduated two years early and started stripping to save up for a vacation to Ireland, went on vacation after a couple of months of working here then came back and has been turning heads for the last two years,' S. Kitty explained as Kitty walked back with a tray and the drinks.
Kitty smiled as she handed out the drinks. "Has everyone figured out their orders?"
Myst smiled at Kitty. "Spaghetti and garlic bread."
"Same," S. Amy said, figuring it would be a good choice if it tasted half as good as it smelled.
"Steak, medium rare," C. Squealer ordered as she pointed towards one of the steaks that looked halfway reasonable on the menu, not used to eating at some place where you weren’t yelling into a speaker.
"Coming right up," Kitty assured them as she took the menus and headed towards the kitchen.
'How long have you been doing this?' Myst asked.
'Nine months, I was a dishwasher before that. Being a waitress here pays a lot more,' S. Kitty replied.
'Makes sense,' Myst agreed, as the DJ cued up a song and announced the next dancer, who was just who they came to see.
0o0o0 99
