The Protagonist System

212 Blame It On The Rain

By the time a blushing Miss Militia and I came up for air, Armsmaster and Dragon had disassembled the laser completely and registered the parts, the assembly instructions, and what was needed to reproduce it. Since I had removed the parts that had been tinkertech and replaced them with normal materials, the cost was significantly less than the original lasers were.

“I will be depositing quite a sum into your bank account again, Atlas.” Dragon said.

“As will I.” Armsmaster agreed. Having access to an easily created, cost-effective, and replaceable laser, was going to help enormously with their tinkering projects. The possible weapon enhancements might play a huge role, too.

Since I didn't want to ruin their tinker budgets for the year, considering the year only just started a few weeks ago, I decided to not rip them off. “Cut the initial fees by 75%, since you both verified the design for me and worked out how to mass produce it.”

Armsmaster gave me a huge smile, which was a very rare thing.

“If the PRT doesn't pick it up for their own use, say one weapon per squad, Dragon can let The Guild know about it.” I added.

“I'll let Narwhal know anyway.” Dragon said and a typing sound could be heard. “You can never have too many clients, anyway.”

I nodded. “If she picks up the contract, you're going to use one of your own manufacturing plants and retool it to produce them yourself, aren't you?”

“Of course.” Dragon said, smugly. “I'm going to save so much overhead by converting about a third of my own laser-intensive tests and research to use those lasers instead.

“I was thinking the same thing.” Armsmaster said.

Miss Militia patted his armored arm to get his attention. “Please run ballistics on the gun barrel and any bullets you test fire. If the weapon is connected to any crimes, we can tie it back to a perpetrator and maybe clear some cold case files.”

“I looted it from Coil's base.” I said, making Miss Militia smile and nod. “I'm pretty sure he bought the original from Toybox.”

“Was that just the laser attachment or the whole gun?” Armsmaster asked.

“I have no idea.” I said, truthfully.

“Then we can add it to their charges if any crimes come up, if not, Armsmaster can keep it in his lab for comparison.” Miss Militia said.

Armsmaster looked like he appreciated the gesture. “That's very generous of you.”

Miss Militia nodded and motioned for me to follow her. “We should leave them alone to play with their new toy.”

I chuckled and waved to the screen Dragon was on and then nodded at Armsmaster as I followed Miss Militia to the door. “How much do you want to bet they're going to scale that up to cannon range to see if they can somehow generate enough power to fire it?”

“That's a sucker bet.” Miss Militia said with a grin and pulled up her scarf before opening the door. “They have the plans half-drawn on his desk computer already.”

“Ha! I didn't even see that.” I said with a laugh as the door closed behind us.

“To be fair, you were focusing more on using your tongue to check if I had any cavities.” Miss Militia joked, making me laugh.

“We all seek comfort for many reasons.” I responded and she nodded, then waved me to silence as we signed out of the secured area and went to the elevator. “Are we heading to your office to do the paperwork for turning in the assault weapon into PRT custody?”

Miss Militia's eyes widened slightly and then they crinkled at the corners as she smiled and pushed the button for the elevator. “If you keep politely surprising me like that, I might have to break my no dating coworkers or capes rule.”

We stepped into the elevator, the doors closed, and she hit the button for the right floor.

“Hold on, you weren't going to bend me over your desk and have your wicked way with me?” I asked in as innocent of a voice as I could.

Miss Militia looked shocked for a moment, then she made a long snort sound and held both hands over her scarf and mouth to muffle her loud laughter.

“I might be rethinking about going to your office now.” I said and pouted, making her laugh even more. “I thought 'filing your paperwork' was the newfangled way of asking to share a coffee or to borrow a cup of sugar.”

“New... hahaha... fangled...” Miss Militia managed to say between laughs, her voice just as muffled as her laughter.

“Here I was, completely prepared to lose my innocence...” I continued and her laughs were getting harder to keep quiet. “...and let a slightly older woman lead me into depravity and debauchery, like holding hands or over the clothes good and bad touches.”

Miss Militia laughed and laughed, so I stood there and let her get it all out. We reached the right floor and I hit the door stop button, giving her more time to settle herself. I handed her a monogrammed napkin and she wiped at her eyes as she gave me a very pointed look.

“Hey, it's not my fault I'm handsome and stupid... I mean funny.” I quickly corrected.

Miss Militia barked a laugh and touched her eyes again with the napkin, then hit the door release button and tucked the napkin away in a pocket. She led me down the hallway to her office and we settled in to do some paperwork that she was grateful for my help with.

*

Narwhal sat in her large reinforced chair to hold her 7 foot tall frame and chuckled at the notification Dragon has sent to her. Would she be interested in a working laser that wasn't tinkertech and wouldn't cost a fortune for her to license the use of and to buy from her longtime friend? Of course she would!

Half of the tinkers in The Guild would chew off their left arms to get one of them and the other half would kill the first half because one-armed tinkers were easy prey and would take their laser.

After only a short conversation, Narwhal laughed at finding out that it was Atlas that had brought the design to Dragon's attention, even if it was a happy accident that she happened to be teleconferencing with Armsmaster at the time.

Thinking about the young cape that was more mature than his young age should have allowed, Narwhal couldn't help but remember his comment about the local flying brick being able to crush his head between her thighs and he wasn't hurt.

Narwhal had laughed it off at the time; but, after talking to him some more and later finding out what he did to Heartbreaker and his problem children, she had much more favorable opinion of him. She checked her schedule and saw that she had some vacation time coming up, as well as the predicted Endbringer attack that could be within the next month, so she had some free time.

A trip to Brockton Bay to visit the newest members of New Wave could give her the perfect excuse she needed to have a bit of fun. It wasn't like there were a whole lot of capes around that were strong enough to survive her attention, not after whatever had happened to all of the villains being dealt with.

Narwhal hit play on the grainy video that Dragon had sent to her and she smiled sexily as Atlas tore through the reinforced steel hull of a tanker like it was made of paper. Yes, she was definitely looking forward to visiting Brockton Bay to see if he was available for some personal one-on-one training.

*

I left the PRT building after sharing another midnight meal with Miss Militia, which she enjoyed as much as the first one, only this one ended with a chaste kiss that she claimed was only because of the current laws of the land. I had to laugh at that and didn't have to remind her of the other two kissing sessions we had, because she said those circumstances were different and I had better leave before she used her new weapon mode on my butt.

I flew away after waving goodbye and went back home. It was the weekend, so I was looking forward to sleeping in and relaxing for the day, maybe both days, because I didn't have anything else scheduled with no Amy or Vicky to pamper and spoil.

My mother had been in bed for hours, so I only briefly checked in on her. She was sleeping in the master bedroom and I saw that there were piles of boxes stacked in the corner. I immediately felt bad and my heart pained, because she had gone through dad's things and packed them up all by herself.

I entered the room and walked over to the bed and saw she was pretending to be asleep. “You should have waited for me to be here to help.” I said and sat beside her and started to pet her hair.

“I know, I... I just... I had to get it over with.” My mother said and didn't open her eyes.

I sighed and exchanged my uniform for a pair of flannel pyjamas the same as hers before I laid down beside her. She cuddled up to me and let out a contented sigh as her fingers brushed across the skin of my neck, then she relaxed and she let out a long slow breath.

“Goodnight, sweetie.” My mom whispered.

“Goodnight, my adorable little limpet.” I whispered back.

She let out a soft chuckle and hugged me tightly, just like a limpet, and she fell asleep only a few moments later. She had been waiting up for me and I was sure she relaxed because I hadn't had sex with Miss Militia, and her power would be able to tell if I had.

I kissed her forehead and closed my own eyes. The morning was going to come soon and I fully intended to sleep in for a few hours, even if I always woke up just before the break of dawn every day. Was that a benefit of the perfect body or a side effect of my Mind Blank ability?

In the end, it didn't matter, because the time seemed to pass in only a moment and then it was morning and my mother had me fully nestled inside of her. I honestly had no clue how she managed to do that while I was asleep, considering I was a very light sleeper and any movement or noise should have woken me up.

“Love... you... sweetie.” My dozing mother mumbled into the puddle of drool she had created on my chest.

It was honestly adorable how she was so comfortably sprawled across most of my body. The only thing holding her in place, and stopping her from sliding off, was my erection inside of her. With that little caveat, I was wholly unprepared to even think about trying to move her. So, I didn't. I laid there and just watched her sleep, since I couldn't really do anything else until she woke up herself.

Since I had lots of experience remaining still for many days, weeks, and even months at a time, usually immobile with injuries, I had no trouble at all keeping myself mentally entertained as I waited for her to wake up naturally.

My mother eventually did wake up on her own almost an hour later. Her mouth made several smacking sounds and she licked her lips, then she realized where she was and why part of her face was damp. She blushed and tried to sit up, only to gasp and moan as her weight shifted me inside of her.

“If you move any more than that, I might not be able to hold back.” I warned her.

My mother's blush deepened for several seconds, then she shrugged and started riding me and moaning on purpose. Well, I wasn't going to lay there and take that, so I started fondling her perfect breasts and she moaned twice as loud and then helped me grip them harder. She cried out and gushed a little, then she really picked up the pace and braced her hands on my shoulders for balance.

Half an hour later, she felt full and called me off, making the both of us laugh. She was also really happy about not being able to get pregnant again. That had been a huge worry for her for years after having me, her body unable to bring another baby to full term after she almost lost me.

I did not remind her that Amy probably fixed all the plumbing for her after making her body as close to perfect as she could.

We left the bed and had a quick shower to clean up and we didn't play with each other, even if we joked about it and flirted. I equipped normal clothes, jeans and a shirt, and she dressed in a nice skirt and blouse. We had no plans, so the entire weekend was ahead of us, and the possibilities had us discussing what we could do with two whole days to ourselves.

My cell phone rang and I took it out, saw it was Lady Photon, and answered it. “This is the Atlas Massage Parlour. We always rub you the right way or the next happy ending is free.”

“GREG!” My mother gasped and smacked me across the back of the head.

“Owww.” I said and rubbed the spot, even though it didn't hurt.

Sarah Pelham laughed on the phone. “I need to remember that one.”

“Me, too.” I said and she chuckled. “What can I do for you, Lady Photon?”

“I was calling to arrange you to come over and sign some paperwork about the lawsuit.” Sarah answered.

“Already?” I asked and didn't wait for a response. “Should my mom come over, too?”

“She's your guardian and next of kin, so to make everything legal, she should be here, too.” Sarah said and I nodded.

“Are we bringing breakfast over or are we going out for brunch?” I asked.

The line was silent for a moment. “It's just Carol and myself here at her place, so we can enjoy eating in.”

“Great! I'll grab a mix of things and we'll be there in twenty minutes.” I promised.

“Coffee and donuts, too!” Carol shouted in the background.

“Tea and crumpets? Got it! See you soon!” I shouted back and hung up.

My mother gave me a blank stare at acting so foolish. “At least we're already dressed.”

“Normal travel it is.” I said and looked up a good fast food place that served breakfast items. “I'll call an order in and we can pick it up on the way.”

“I'll grab my keys.” My mother said and we were soon travelling across part of the city to the right place and I picked up the fairly large food order, as well as six large cups of coffee and two boxes of mixed donuts, since I didn't know what kinds they liked. Having two boxes of different donuts would almost guarantee they had at least one donut they liked.

We made it to the Dallon household with a minute to spare and mom and I high-fived each other. We carried the order to the front door and it opened before we reached it. One of the six cups of coffee was scabbed right away and Carol let out a happy sigh after sipping the strong dose of caffeine.

“Why six cups?” Sarah asked and helped us carry everything over to the kitchen table.

“Two coffee nuts means double the cups.” I said and pointed to Carol and my mother.

Sarah chuckled as the other two women enthusiastically nodded several times. She took her own cup and relaxed on one of the chairs at the table and both Carol and my mom slumped down and hungrily sipped at their beverages.

“Food first?” I asked.

“Food first.” Sarah agreed.

We opened everything up and spread it out across the table to make it into a buffet, which made mom and Carol add eating food between their coffee infusions. It was relatively quiet as we ate and I took the opportunity to observe both Sarah and Carol wearing normal clothing. They were both fairly beautiful, even without wearing their skin-tight cape costumes that showed off their toned bodies.

“Do you see something interesting, Greg?” Sarah asked with a knowing smile, letting me know my admiration had not been as subtle as I thought it had been.

“I'm not sure if I can answer that question safely.” I responded, making her softly laugh.

Carol only shrugged her shoulders slightly. “I've been hit on countless times at work and during the cases I handle. I doubt you'll say anything I haven't heard before.”

I really couldn't let that challenge go without responding, so I gave her my best award winning Gilderoy Lockheart smile. “Did you know that poverty isn't the worst thing in the world? Blindness is, because it's a tragedy they'll never be able to see how beautiful you are.”

All three women stopped breathing and stared at me with wide eyes.

“With you as his inspiration, a painter will create his best painting, a writer will create his best novel, and a poet will create his best sonnet. As for a lover...” I reached out and took her hand. “...there are no heights he can't reach if he's with you.”

Carol shivered and blushed hard. Sarah wasn't far behind and my mother looked faint.

With her primed, I went in for the kill. “Now that I've told you I love you, we can work together on all the little details that lead up to it.”

Both Sarah and Carol lost their blushes and then the color drained even more from their faces.

“Dammit, Greg.” My mother said and smacked my shoulder. “Why did you have to ruin it?”

“Ruin what?” I asked and noticed the guilty looks on Sarah's and Carol's faces. I knew then she was right. I had apparently stepped in something I didn't know about. “What happened? Is Amy okay?”

Carol turned her head away from me and started drinking her second cup of coffee.

“We... may have... started to run damage control on... what happened.” Sarah admitted and now looked really guilty. “After we talked to Panacea and she said she definitely didn't love you, or wanted to lead you on, and Vicky took her side to defend her...”

I sat there and listened to them explain their brilliant plan to essentially blame Vicky and Amy for it, while also comparing me with the dumb jocks Vicky liked and set up with her sister, who was less interested in the idiots than she was in cockroaches.

“I need some time to think about this.” I said and stood. “I'll go along with it, just because it will be worse for all of you if I don't.”

Both women nodded and my mom took my hand briefly.

“I won't go far.” I said and she nodded as she let my hand go. I equipped my hero costume and walked out of the kitchen and through the house to the back door, stepped outside, and flew up into the air. When I was far enough out, I made myself invisible and then apparated to above the Parahuman Asylum where my old online friend lived. I made myself visible again and floated down to land at the front door and went inside.

“I'd like to visit with Sveta, please.” I told the receptionist. “Cape name Garrote.”

The older woman nodded and had me sign in as she called for an orderly to take me to Sveta's room. Despite her not having the tendril-like involuntarily-murderous body she used to have, she still had all of her mental problems and needed to work on them, especially causing the deaths of several people and how traumatizing that was for her.

“Void Cowboy.” Sveta whispered when her room's door was opened.

I smiled at her guessing it was me, since I was the only person to ever visit her. “Hey, G-StringGirl.”

She gave me a curious look and then nodded. She waved to her bed and the orderly gave me a pointed look. I chuckled and handed him a hundred dollar bill, which he made disappear, and the door was shut and locked behind me.

“Who broke your heart?” Sveta asked as she settled herself on the bed and hugged her pillow.

“It's a long story.” I said and sat at the far end of the bed and respected her personal space.

“I somehow have all the time in the world to hear it.” Sveta said as everything in the room slowed down to a fraction of what it was supposed to be. She had become quite good with her replacement power in a short time.

I nodded at the offer and started talking.

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