The Legacy of Eros - Dark Son Ch. 04

There were a variety of other contests we had to participate in ... the obstacle course, a cooking contest and a stint working for a charity. Despite my poor showing (in my opinion - hey, I was trying to lose!), I remained surprisingly popular. Aaron Quartermaine and Donna Pierre had gone in round one. Inez 'The Cop' Neustadt and Barry 'The Brush' Bushnell had already been eliminated last night.

My outlook was bleak. I had accidently come in second during the cook-off and Bonnie and I had blown everyone away during the obstacle course ... earning me a second 'bye'. Ugh. Personally I was praying Kyle would win. He was the nicest of us. If not him, then India as she was truly the cutest. If this city chose me, I would be highly irate - that was for damn sure.

Unfortunately, as of the last time I'd checked, ole Lao was trending downward after some popularity yesterday. Kyle and I were neck and neck. On the girls' side, Louise was still on top with India a solid second. I guessed that meant Julie Feldman was going home tonight.

[~]

We had taken Ms. Water Dragon to her hotel then proceeded to Lao's place of employment because we contestants still had lives to lead, grades to make and paychecks to earn. I was seriously thinking about a way to exit this calamity, but Bonny was off doing Ultimates stuff and there was no other hero on call to perform the firefighting duty should things explode.

Better yet, the three ladies I had witnessed standing behind were part of Li hua Zhang's entourage, not solely other passengers. Their purpose in life was uncertain ... beyond their personal beauty and gentle mannerisms. Their existence did force the Mayor's dweeb to scoot about and get three extra (and smaller) rooms for the expanded party.

"So, what are you doing here?" I broke down and asked one of them. She stared at me and then said something in Chinese which probably meant 'I don't speak English'.

"She is here to be an acceptable choice of one of my fiancée's concubines," Water Dragon responded to my question.

"What?"

"Huh?" from the dweeb.

"The American woman is of an unacceptable moral character while Chao-xing Chen is of fine breeding and from a good family," she explained.

I assumed 'good' translated over as 'Chinese' somehow.

"Are all three of these ladies choices for concubines?" I pressed ahead. "How many choices does he get?"

"Two of the three. My fiancé needs to start practicing moderation," Li hua stated authoritatively.

"The Mayor's female constituents aren't going to like this," the dweeb muttered.

"Ya think," I teased him.

"You are of not help," he glared my way. "You do realize Americans don't allow things like concubines," he tried to reason with Water Dragon. I knew that was a lost cause from the get-go. Besides, was he forgetting polyamory?

"Your culture, or lack thereof, is the reason I have had to make this decision."

'Ouch'.

"You can't blame all of the United States for the actions of one woman," he pleaded.

"Why not?" was her reply.

"Well, now I know why Lao is terrified of you," I shrugged.

"He is not terrified of me. He has as healthy respect for my position in our homeland," Li hau corrected me.

"Yeah," I muttered. "That is why he's here right now instead of me."

"What was that?" her eyes narrowed.

"I've been bullied by far better people, Lady. Give it a rest," I shrugged.

"I am not bullying you."

"Do you think you are better than me?" I inquired.

"I know I am," she was relentless.

"Then you are bullying me," I let my eyes narrow. "Also, you are not better than me. You are a jilted lover - nothing more."

"What does this 'jilted' mean?" her eyes mirrored my own.

"It means another woman sampled the treats of your guy before you did and now you are worried he might not want you anymore," I sort of explained.

"I have not been jilted then," she threatened me with her gaze alone.

"Give it a rest ... before I have to put you back in your cage," I promised.

"You think you can?" she smiled wickedly. "Does this city of yours have an arena where we can test your ... quaint theory?"

"I don't do arenas ... but I'll check you right in this car if that's what you want," I leaned forward.

"Hey now," the Mayor's dweeb interceded. "Let's not have any hostilities here."

"I don't need any powers to defeat you," she leaned toward me.

The taxi stopped suddenly.

"Oh, Thank God! We are here," the dweeb informed us. We were at the skyscraper which housed Lao Ping's place of business.

"Don't think I've forgotten our exchange," Li hau said.

"Pity. I'm working overtime to forget about you," I yawned.

"Stop it right now, Mr. Haven. Ms. Zhang is an honored guest in our city," the Mayor's diplomat tried to push me back.

"Whatever," I shrugged. I also got out and held the door for Ms. Zhang and her three concubine nominees while the dweeb paid the driver. It had been a crowded ride.

She didn't get snarky, so I didn't act the butt-monkey as we entered the skyscraper and proceeded to the elevators. Only once the dweeb had punched the correct button - number 32 - did she decided to mess with me again.

"You can be polite when you want to be," Water Dragon looked my way.

"I was raised by kinder, gentler folk," I replied. "Normally I'm not as rude as I am today except I was dragooned into this mess and resent it."

"Dragooned?"

"Forced - blackmailed - shanghaied - given no other choice."

"Oh ... I thought you would consider meeting me to be an honor," she smiled.

"You? Hardly. I don't know you and don't want to know you. You think you are better than the average metahuman. I tremble to think what your real opinion of regular people is," I countered.

"Chinese, or others?" she inquired clarification.

"Chinese," I played along.

"Party members, or non-Party members?"

"Regular Chinese folks ... non-party members."

"There are a billion of them and while they serve some basic function, they are also replaceable," she enlightened me to her world view. "They are still better than non-Chinese people though."

I looked over at the dweeb.

"You aren't going to champion Mankind?" I goaded him.

"No. We have Ultima and the rest of the Ultimates for that," he coughed.

"Yeah, that's right," I turned on Ms. Zhang. "Be happy Bonny doesn't consider you replaceable. After all, if she took you out, what could the Chinese Communist Party do?"

"Who is 'Bonny'?"

"That is Ultima's Christian name. All of her friends call her that."

"The Ultimates wouldn't want to go to war with the People's Republic of China," she countered, yet there was some unease behind her confident façade. "Besides, how are you Ultima's friend?"

"She paid a million dollars for me," I sighed. "Our relationship has been all downhill from there."

"That makes no sense. You gained Ultima as a friend. How can that be going downhill?"

"Well, it brought me here - today - dealing with you. I call that downhill."

The elevator chimed and then the door opened ~ very smooth.

"Oh, Thank God! We are here," was becoming the Mayor's man's mantra. We all stepped out into the hallway. Lao's office was to our right so off we went.

"I am finding you to be more interesting than I initially envisioned, Mr. Haven," Li hau regarded me. "I think there is much you are hiding from the world."

"Lady, I've been being an asshole so you would want to be quit of me," I groaned. "I want to get back to my regular, mundane, humdrum life."

"No chance of that now, Mr. Haven. I've seen through your mask and I want to know more."

"If these walls weren't glass," I lamented, "I'd bust my head up against one."

"But they are," she pointed out. "I am glad your abrasive attitude doesn't continue on to anarchistic tendencies."

"Eeeehhhh ... I've passed my collateral damage allowance for the week," I fabricated.

"What have you been destroying?" she inquired.

"We are here to see Mr. Ping," the dweeb told the receptionist.

"He's right around that way," she indicated over her left shoulder.

"My alien ant farm," I lied. "It was precious to me."

"You had a farm made out of alien ants? How did that come about and why did you destroy it?" she pressed.

"Would you just stop," the Mayor's guy hissed.

"I can't. I'm a smooth criminal."

The dweeb groaned.

"Well, I'm beginning to think you are something of a criminal," she grinned. "But I don't know about you being all that 'smooth'."

"Ms. Zhang, Alien Ant Farm is a musical band in the United States and 'Smooth Criminal' was one of their hits," dweeb ratted me out.

"Why did you lie to me about this?" she demanded to know while grabbing my elbow. I imagine it was supposed to hurt ... but it didn't. I'm a lot tougher than I look.

"Hey - Lao," I called out. He looked up, somewhat annoyed initially then gulped and let his face drain of blood when he saw who was attached to me.

"What are you doing here?" he swallowed with some difficulty.

"See," I triumphed, "he is terrified of you."

"No! He is not ... and I wanted to see where you worked," she added to ole Lao.

"Lao, who is this woman?" this hot Asian number - my bet was Korean - addressed Lao while staring daggers at Ms. Zhang. Oh ... side-piece! Lao was dumber than I thought he was, or had at least far less common sense.

Water Dragon said something in what I assumed was Chinese (of the Mandarin variety). Side-piece didn't seem to understand it as well, but Lao did. He looked even more noticeably shaken.

And all the while a film crew was capturing this for posterity - how nice.

"Keep this conversation in English for the viewing audience's viewing pleasure," I interjected myself.

"I said, 'Fiancée, who is this woman?'," Li hau clarified.

"I thought you said your fiancée was some sort of rural village girl ...not ... this," Side-piece turned on Lao.

"This is not good," the dweeb finally caught on to the fiasco approaching us all.

Lao was still ... quivering in stark raving terror.

"Answer me," Li hau seethed.

"Hello Miss," I interjected myself physically between the two women, "this is Ms. Li hau Zhang. When she isn't scaring Lao straight down to his tighty-whities she goes by the handle of 'Shuǐlóng' on the Golden Dragon's Chinese National Superhuman Team."

"She's a METAHUMAN!" Side-piece shrieked. Lao flinched while still being unable to take his fear-widened eyes off of his bride-to-be ... or his assassin, or maybe both.

"Yes, I am a metahuman," Water Dragon hissed steam out of her mouth.

"Please don't hurt me," Side-piece blathered to Li hau. "We were never serious."

"I should kill you," Li hau seethed.

"It's not her fault (much)," I placed a hand on the Water Dragon's upper arm. "Besides, her life matters to me so I'm not going to simply allow you to waste her."

"Are you sleeping with this whore too?" Li hau's eyes riveted onto me.

"No. I don't even know her name. What I'm try to tell you is every life is important to me - on some level - and I'm not going to let you randomly start gakking folks."

"Gakking? What does 'gakking' mean?" she simmered.

"Kill - murder - maim unto death ... gakking," I defined the word for her.

"Why can't you simply say 'kill' then?" her temperature rose. "Why must you be so obtuse?

"I'm an obtuse kind of guy. If it is any consolation, my girlfriend also finds me to be a bit annoying too ... and she actually likes me," I reasoned.

"I doubt that," Li hau spat. "She probably wants you for some financial gain."

"Not likely," I grinned. "Also, she's not a great liar."

"You ... you are distracting me from my fiancé," she pieced together, "and his whore."

"Yeah - pretty much," I exhaled. It had worked after all, or so I thought.

Man, oh man, was she fast. The jet of water came out of her hand and blew me across the office space in the blink of an eye.

I had also tumbled a half-dozen people along with me as well as shattered work stations and two nice sized plants (bushes really). She wasn't done with me either. Using her control over water, she whipped me up and through me into the extended ceiling. Her mistake was letting me fall back down. That allowed me freedom of movement and I went right at her.

Well, not 'right at her'. I had to maneuver away from the spots where water sat on the floor. I wasn't afraid of me slipping. I was afraid of her using the water control to snare me again. Still, Water Dragon wasn't terribly concerned about me until I got within ten feet. That was when she launched another jet of water at me from her other hand.

I corkscrewed in midair to avoid the blast then impacted her. We tumbled over - I was fortunately stronger than she was - and I let my secret power take hold (once we were out of view of the film crew. Sadly, the powers it gave me were control over flame, flame generation and 'Body of Flame'. None of those powers I could use subtly.

I didn't long to decide what to do either. The second she regained her senses, she blasted me up into the ceiling with two jets of water then took hold of my person and hurled me against an exterior wall ... and then through the walls and into what could have been a thirty-two story plummet to my death had she let me go. Still, since I had some maneuvering room, I flexed to break free ... and nothing happened.

Next, since I was below the view of people in the room, I activated my Body of Fire which was taking longer to perform than I thought it would because I hadn't really understood what I was undertaking. I turned into a flaming Asian DRAGON! Yikes. Glad nobody saw that, I guessed. Up I went just in time to see Li hau running to the hole she'd blown in the wall.

Our eyes met - mine in anger and hers in disbelief. My biggest initial problem was I was now too big to engage her in combat on the firm's floor. Not only would I set everything on fire, I had no headroom.

Li hau said something to me in a language I didn't know except I heard it translated over as 'what are you doing here?'. It wasn't Chinese. I knew that much.

I had to think fast.

"You apologize to everyone you have embarrassed," I bullshitted. "I'll go get the male", and down I went before she could figure out I wasn't who she thought I was.

I then went diving down toward the largest water feature I could find close by then plunged into it. The large fountain I impacted exploded into an upsurge of steam as I turned back into my human form. The steam cloud made sure no one could see the real me until I had exited the area. I had to run up the street to the building where I belonged then took the elevator ride upstairs to discover what I had missed.

I was still dripping wet when I stepped onto the 32nd floor once more. 'Stunningly', the rest of the floor had been evacuated except for those few trapped in Lao's office. Most of employees were looking over the scene of their ruined office space while a few were still getting over Li hau's profuse apologize.

"You lived!" squeaked the dweeb. "Oh. Thank God you lived."

"I'm feeling pretty good about it too," I allowed. "What did I miss?"

"You're alive," the dweeb repeated as he hugged me. "I thought my career was over."

"Well, glad you have your priorities straight," I joked.

"I don't know how I let you slip," Li hau turned to me. "I apologize for my rude behavior and the risk I put your life in."

"Big Flaming Dragon Guy," I used as an explanation. "A friend of yours?"

"Yes. Is he still about?" she requested to know.

"The last thing I recall perfectly was hitting a fountain across the street then everything was steam and boiling water. I'm just happy to be alive."

"I really thought I had killed you," she regarded me.

"I'm harder to kill than you might imagine," I grinned.

"I imagine you are," she studiously regarded me.

"Has anyone else been hurt?" I inquired.

"No ... just you."

"Well, I'm soaked. Why don't you and the Mayor's guy go back to your hotel while I go back home and change into something less damp," I suggested.

And for once, everyone did what I asked. What I didn't know was my attempt at an intervention and plummet to my supposed death propelled me to the top of that night's rankings. Kyle remained in a comfortable position, so Lao got sent 'home' to spend time with his 'betrothed'. Likewise, Louise remained in the lead on the lady's side with India closing in (as the 'good wholesome' choice), so Julie Feldman was exiled from our company.

[LATER THAT EVENING]

I escaped from our latest contest in last place without it looking like I'd thrown the game to any of the others. India won, so she got to spend time in the limelight. I went up to the roof and hung out enjoying the sounds of the city and the lack of company. Nothing good lasted for me, it seemed.

"You did well today," Bonny aka Ultima greeted me.

She was hovering there in air, decked out in her trademark costume - a medium blue bodysuit with blood red boots and shoulder pads. A big 'U' was on her chest in copper trim.

"You think so? I was lucky no one saw me do anything," I griped.

"Still, you intervened to save several other peoples' lives."

"Yeah, tell me about it. On second thought, don't tell me about it. You will just find a way to think I was acting heroically again when I was simply acting in a manner to keep myself out of the spotlight."

"Even 'Shuǐlóng' should be happy you behaved in the manner you did. She could have gotten in a whole lot more trouble ... had she attacked anyone who wasn't you."

"That sucked. She's way more powerful than I am normally," I shrugged. "Being tossed around like a sock-puppet should have hurt my popularity more than it helped it."

"People saw you acting bravely and rewarded you so," Bonny explained. "No matter how much you try to avoid your heroic nature, the common man sees through your obfuscations to the real hero you can be."

"Don't make a habit of it - throwing me into those situations. I'm bound to disappoint you. So, why weren't you there to save me?"

"A volcanic eruption in Chile," she smiled. "Thousands endangered. I had to redirect some lava flows and knock down a few dozen lava bombs."

"Just another day saving the planet, eh?" I chided her.

"Don't be like that," she settled down beside me. "I don't do it for the adoration. I do it because I have the power to do it and it needed to be done."

"Why couldn't you have let nature take its course? I mean, can you imagine a world where there are no superheroes? Natural disasters would still happen."

"But the world DOES have superheroes, Reynard. Because of that, we have to try and do what needs to be done," she riposted.

"Speaking of another grave injustice, Kyle lost tonight. With my two 'byes', he's eliminated no matter what I do. Then it will be me and India in the final round."

"Oh ... India won so gained the 'bye'," Bonnie put things together. "Good for her."

"Yeah. It seems even with Louise's 'little' trick with Lao didn't win her the contest. Tomorrow she gets to go home too."

"See, sometimes the selfish way isn't the way to win. Sometimes the good guys, or gals, come out on top through their own efforts," Bonnie shoulder-bumped me.

"You keep believing that," I grumped. "I'll keep my faith in duplicity and the ability of people to disappoint you."

"Even your heroes?"

"Especially my heroes."

[END]

[5+1G] The Sidekick Super-Squad

Night Owl ~ a borderline metahuman super-skilled person ~ former sidekick of the Night Watchman

Nova Blaze ~ an alien with cosmic whoop-ass powers

Starling ~ teleportation and darkness powers plus some magic

Techno ~ cybernetically-enhanced human ~ former sidekick of Prodigy

Animal Lad ~ can shapeshift into any known animal ~ former sidekick of Animus