8

Negotiations with Penguin were a little bastard nickel and dimed me on every possible aspect of the deal. He introduced stipulations and fees I hadn't even imagined, and whittled the price down to half of what I tried to start with. Which was, ultimately, fine with me, because I quoted him a hundred thousand per gun to begin with, so he still ended up paying fifty grand, a considerable markup from what I was getting from the Religion.

That was the biggest benefit of having an asset only you knew about. You set your own value. I WAS the market for training guns, and they were worth what I said they were. Of course, precedent was normally a pretty important thing in deals like this, but since the Religion were a SECRET cult (ostensibly, they didn't do much to hide their presence) I knew Penguin didn't have any idea about the value I'd slapped on these before.

In the end he paid with cash, and I walked out with a smile under my mask. I also, unfortunately had to cancel my little play date with Jay and Raven for the night, though I did set something up for my next visit. I got a text after my meeting from Dinah, telling me she was coming over and couldn't stay long, and I admit, I ran a few red lights on the way getting home. I pulled into my garage, stripped out of my costume and shoved it in a bag, and almost sprinted up to the elevator to my room.

An action, as it happened, that was entirely worth it. When I got to my room, I saw Dinah leaning back on her hands on my bed, waiting, and I admit the sight of her blew my mind. Dinah was dressed in a black, off the shoulder dress that exposed MILES of cleavage, black thigh highs, and a light dusting of makeup on her perfect face. Combined with her fuck me heels she was clearly coming from some formal dinner or something and the effect of all that fancy on my already fuckable milf was...mindboggling.

She saw me come in and clearly noticed my gaze on her as she crossed her legs, her dress sliding up a few inches to tease me but not revealing anything. "I was afraid you wouldn't make it before I had to go. I slipped out of a gala Ollie took me to." She pouted. "He barely even noticed me. Went off to talk shop with his business rivals and left poor little me all alone. It just made it even harder to stop thinking of the things you did to me. So I snuck out to come visit my boy, but I need to get back after."

Her blue eyes were on fire as she looked at me, her cheeks flushed and lips wet, and I could feel her desire for me from across the room. I walked towards her, slowly, methodically. Before this moment the five hundred grand in my trunk had been the biggest thing on my mind, but now it was Dinah. No matter how often I fucked her I didn't think I'd ever get over how intoxicated she made me. That fucking body, those bedroom eyes, the way she fucked like some kind of tantric genius.

I stepped up to her and watched her pupils dilate and her breathing pick up as I approached. She was staring up at me, so tiny compared to my six foot three frame. I raised a hand to her face, running a thumb over her pouting lips. "You didn't just come here for a quickie, did you love?" She swallowed hard. "No, you wanted me to steal your little date night. You know you're not allowed on that asshole's cock and you wanted me to stuff you up and send you back all satisfied so you can turn him down knowing you got used tonight."

She gave a shuddering moan. "I don't know what you do to me Nicky. The idea of coming back to that parted limping after you've demolished my pussy is just so...hot. I want that Nicky. I want to walk into a gala with your cum dripping down my thighs and smile on Ollie's arm. I want him to introduce me to his friends and rivals while my cunt throbs from you shoving that massive cock into me until I scream."

I reached down and slide my hands up her plush thighs. Her dress inched up, revealing a pair of lacy black panties. Her eyes were wide as she stared up at me like a deer in headlights. I grinned wickedly at her. "Move your panties aside and take my cock out. No kissing tonight, don't want to smear your makeup." She nodded mutely at me, her hands fumbling nervously at my slacks until they came undone and she fished my cock out. She hissed in excitement as she held it in her hand, as if she was weighing it before she guided it into her.

I let her aim the head into her pussy and then I started feeding it into her, an inch at a time. I used my abilities to figure out exactly which angle would hit her best, but I didn't pound her into a mess, I slowly shoved myself into her soaking cunt, staring right into her eyes while I did it. She tried to move her hips, but I kept an almost bruising grip, holding her in place as I worked my cock in. She whined, shoulder wiggling and making those fat tits bounce all nice and pretty. "Baby please. I NEED it."

I kept pushing until I was all the way in her. She was wet and hot and clenching and whimpering for me to do more, but I just smiled. "Oh no. No you're a good girl tonight. Good girls don't get fucked into a mess. They take it nice and slow. I'm going to feed your needy little cunt every inch of me, making sure your dress and hair don't get messed up, until I empty my balls inside you, and then you're going to go back to that party feeling me in your fucking womb." I picked up the pace, not fast still, but methodical, implacable.

I hit every fucking sweet spot on the way in and out, shifting my hips slightly to make sure I didn't leave even a single nerve that could make her cunt sing untouched. She was shuddering there under my hands as I held her tight, but her eyes were alive with adoration. I snarled in hear ear. "Did you dress up like this for him? Did you want to show off what was mine to that limp dicked asshole?"

She gasped, letting out a throaty giggle. "No, baby, I promise, I was always coming here after the party. FUCK! This is your pussy Nicky, I'm all yours, he'll never get it again." Her shoulders were rolling, shoving her tits up in her face as we fucked. Though honestly, with the slow and methodical way I was taking her you could probably have used the term making love. Dinah was wetter than I'd ever felt her before, even during our night together. She gave an almost broken half sob. "I feel so right when you're in me Nicky. You make me feel so loved. Lie to me Nicky? Tell me you love me? I know it's soon but say it for me?"

I groaned as that molten pussy clung tighter. My poor little bird, so ignored and underappreciated, so taken for granted. I knew that if I wanted to own her, to really control her completely I needed to love her. And I did. I loved her body. I loved those fat tits, and this tight fucking pussy, and her pretty lips. Seemed like the requirements to Brand someone were different depending on the girl, and somehow, through Eros and Psych, I knew Dinah's. I slid myself balls deep inside her,took my hands off her hips and put them on either side of her face, looking her in the eye.

I sped up, not a full on pound but a faster tempo, and told her. "I love you." Her pussy FLOODED, and it felt like heaven. "I love you Dinah. You're beautiful and strong and caring and MINE. I'm never letting anyone else have you." I reached up to grab her breast through her dress. She hissed in excitement. "These fat tits and the heart behind them belong to me. This cunt, that thick ass, these pretty eyes, these lips. You belong to me Dinah, every inch of you, inside and out. You're my treasure, and I'm a possessive man."

I felt another Brand blaze into existence. Dinah's was small and tough to spot, on the underside of one her fat milfy ass cheeks, but it was there. I wasn't going to tell her about it yet. I didn't need that kind of nonsense, until she knew, I'd refrain from using it mostly, but still. she was mine now. Her blue eyes sparkled with unshed tears. "Oh Nicky." She looked like she wanted to lean forward and kiss me so damn badly. "Cum inside me baby? I want to feel you in me. Want you to blow as deep in me as you can."

I reached around behind her to maul that fat ass with my hands as I picked up my speed. The feeling of kneading those thick, pale cheeks was fucking phenomenal. She didn't have that jello dumptruck booty Whisper had, Dinah's fat ass had some shake, but it also had a core of steel, Dinah WORKED for this ass. I slapped it and she clenched, squealing on my cock. I decided my kissing rule only applied to lips, so I started kissing my way up her neck and jaw, spanking her again, another adorable squeak and another clench of that sweet, soft cunt.

She giggled. "Oh, baby, you're gonna leave a mark, leave the pounding for my insides. My hands went back her her hips to hold her still and I SHOVED my cock in, tearing a ragged moan from my milf. "FUCK! God Nicky you give me that good dick, do it again baby, reshape my fucking twat. Teach that cheating pussy what shape it's owner is!' She was leaning back on her hands again, head thrown back as I slid into her full speed, those glorious tits shoved out proudly as she groaned and squealed on my cock.

I was picking up her fucking emotions through my ability now, and it was jarring. She felt...loved. Desired and cared for and special, and that meant I was feeling that too, and it was fucking weird. Her cunt felt safe and tight and special, and it clung to every fucking inch of me as I dragged myself out like it never wanted to let me go. Her emotions started to mix with the sensations and I could feel her adoration clenching on my cock, her joy sliding over the head of my dick. I'd done...something, that I hadn't meant to do during some part of this fucking process with her because this felt weird.

She wanted to be connected to me permanently, which would have been fine, except now I wanted that too. My emotions and hers were all jumbled together, so I felt it before she said it. Said something I knew she wouldn't have if we weren't in some weird emotional feedback loop. "Put a baby in me Nicky?" If I'd been in my right mind I'd have never done it, but I wasn't in my right mind.

My balls clenched up as I unloaded in Black Canary, MY Canary and gave her the baby both her mouth and that sweet, hot pussy were begging for. I admit, in the moment it felt fucking amazing, knowing I was knocking up this sexy fucking milf. Then I finished cumming and pulled out to plop down on the bed next to her, and exactly how bad of an idea that was hit me like a truck. Whoops.

January 9th 2016 Gotham City 11:00 PM EDT

Dinah didn't know she was pregnant now. She wasn't aware of the little quirks of Eros and Psyche, or even it's existence, so I was easily able to send her off to her party with a smile and a kiss so I could think. I however, was entirely aware of how my ability worked, and I knew that my little slip up there meant that now I had a fucking kid on the way. Which would be...awkward for her to explain to her boyfriend I assumed, since I knew they hadn't had sex since the first time I was with her and wouldn't be again.

I didn't actually care about that obviously. Fuck that guy. My main concern was twofold. First, apparently Eris and Psyche wasn't just a super fun cheat power that let me fuck girls senseless. It was also a double edged sword. It hadn't been an issue before because none of the women I'd been with had been feeling things like Dinah had, so I hadn't gotten sucked in. Barbie just wanted to fuck, which I completely agreed with, and Whisper...Whisper had been kind of brain fried to start and I'd barely been in her head.

I'd gone in deep with Dinah though, and it had bitten me in the ass. I was going to have to learn to work more subtly with that ability so this shit didn't happen again. My other concern, obviously, was...Dinah was PREGNANT. Now I was an asshole, no doubt about it. I cared about almost nothing except myself and to some extent my girls. But I wasn't a fucking monster. I was going to have a kid. A child. That was half me. Actually... "Hey Crassus, you had the greed system for a long time, will my kids inherit the changes I've made to myself?"

[Have you ever noticed you only bother to talk to me when something goes catastrophically wrong in your life? Not that I care, mind you, but it would be nice to get the occasional hello that isn't followed by. "Also is this going to fuck me?" To answer your question though, I would imagine the Blood of Apophis will carry over. Eros and Psyche is more...spiritual, so probably not.]

That was...good? I didn't want this weird sexual mind power anywhere near my fucking kid anyway. The Blood...well I'd cross that bridge when I came to it. Honestly I still wasn't sure what the description meant by possible side effects, and that worried me more than anything. Still, my brain and body were top notch, and if my kid inherited all that I was pretty sure they would be fine.

It also introduced a slight problem. I needed to get Dinah on my side. I wasn't...comfortable, brainwashing the mother of my child, even if I could have gotten away with it unnoticed. Well not overtly. Good old fashioned manipulation was fine, and I was going to abuse my empathy to pull that off, but part of me wanted Dinah to come over to my side willingly. That however, would be an extremely long term project. For now I would play the normal boy toy, and make sure Barbie didn't slip up and let the cat out of the bag before I figured out how to handle my Canary.

Luckily I had weeks before Dinah even noticed she was pregnant, though given she was in close proximity to Superman on the regular it might be a bit less. Until then I decided to focus on what I needed to do. Find the kidnappers and exploit the shit out of them, and track down Roy Harper for Cheshire to do it. Plus bonus points if I got to fuck that little bitch, because I bet all that assassin training taught her how to work those hips very nicely. Other than that I had to make more training weapons, but that was a bit of a ways away too.

I needed some kind of next move. Something that didn't involve the League or any of my minions aside from maybe Whisper. Specifically something that could help me get stronger without anyone else knowing would be helpful. I needed an ace in the hole. I needed someone who I could manipulate into working for me and potentially even taking the brand without having to employ too many of my resources. I booted up my computer and started searching for potential candidates.

I dismissed basically everyone in Metropolis. Even if they weren't too strong Superman was all up in the city and he would notice. Gotham was fine, but I couldn't afford to mess with Arkham or Blackgate at my current level. I was ambitious, not insane. Gotham had plenty of freelancers to pick from still though. I wanted someone who needed help that only I could give, someone I could sway to complete loyalty by giving them the thing they wanted most.

A shocking number of villains in Gotham fit that bill actually, but most of the things they wanted were crazy or too much work. I narrowed it down after an hour of searching to three candidates. First, Killer Croc. I could give him his humanity back, I was sure of it, and I was betting he would be pretty grateful, especially if he kept the powers. Second was Mr. Freeze, he desperately wanted to help his wife, which was something I could help with for sure. The last was Catwoman, who I may or may not be able to just fuck into a drooling mess, but after the thing with Dinah I decided to wait on that.

I decided my best bet was Killer Croc. I'd need to make some preparations to get him fixed up, but if curing his life long disfigurement didn't make him loyal nothing would. Plus having someone with his power and reputation working for me would be an excellent deterrent to people who didn't know not to mess with me. I shot off a text to Whisper to find me his location. The Religion dealt with lots of people who were down on their luck, so I was pretty sure finding a giant crocodile hybrid was doable.

I sat down to clear my head and figure out my next move. Rushing into things was sloppy, despite my current instincts. I knew from dad that when people felt helpless or panicked they often tried to force themselves to take action as a way of asserting control, and just as often they made stupid mistakes. I closed my eyes and took deep breaths. Crassus was quiet, probably letting me think and I let my mind play over everything that had happened to me the last week and change. I had plans in place. Needing to make a move was just an illusion. I needed to calm down.

Once I was centered I stood up heading out the door and making my way to the garage to take a drive. It was a testament to the stealth skills of the person who spoke up from the open office door to one side of me that I jumped when he spoke. "Nicholas." My heart almost jerked out of my chest. I froze. "Come in here please." I turned woodenly and walked into my fathers office with a swallow.

Maxwell Lord sat behind his desk, looking actively amused at the situation. That being that he had almost definitely just watched a well fucked blonde in her thirties walk past his door when she left. His lips were twisted in a smirk. I slumped into the chair across from him. Trying not to make it obvious that I was worried about pregnancy. "Hi dad. Didn't know you were home. I'd have ordered dinner or something. How was...wherever it is you go when you aren't home?" My father, aside from being a business mogul and occasional supervillain, was also some kind of spy, and would regularly vanish for months on end.

He waved the question off. "I'm gone for a few weeks and you seduce the long time girlfriend of Oliver Queen. I don't know whether to be impressed or exasperated." I just shrugged, but he laughed it off. "A bit of both I suppose. At least you had the good sense to do it here. You know I don't like video evidence of the things I do, even for personal use. Still, an impressive enough achievement to warrant congratulations. Miss. Lance is a beautiful woman. I'm frankly surprised you managed it."

I was at least partly sure he knew about her secret identity, but then, it was hard to tell with him. Still, Black Canary didn't wear a mask, so chances were pretty good. I had no idea how she was considered to have a secret identity, but then again I hadn't known she was Black Canary until Barbie told me, so whatever weird magic or alien tech was responsible was clearly effective at least. "Thanks. I was actually just heading out though, maybe I can talk when we get back?" I absolutely did not want to be around my dad when my head was spinning like this.

My dad was a lot of things. Smart, ruthless, ambitious, but he was not usually compassionate. Not that he didn't love me, I knew he did. But after my grandpa Albert committed suicide, my grandmother Maxine became obsessed with eliminating all weakness in the family. She'd instilled those values in my dad thoroughly and if he saw me in a state like that he would try to push me to either adapt or break.

Parent or not, Maxwell Lord was a predator, and you never wanted to expose weakness in front of a predator. Luckily, he was a predator I had a ton of experience with. While I hadn't inherited my old man's telepathy, I HAD learned to think around it pretty early on. Granted it was only weak surface level stuff, or else that would have been impossible. Granted Eros and Psyche would have kept him out completely, but it was as good as advertising the changes in me so I had to give him something. Still, even after letting him in, with my current level of mental control after taking the Blood, avoiding tripping my fathers senses was pretty simple.

He looked at me a bit suspiciously, but eventually nodded. "We're having dinner tomorrow. We'll discuss your activities while I've been away. You've clearly been busy, and I'd like to catch up." I had perfect body control so I didn't give any outward indication that I didn't really want to do that, but honestly it sounded exhausting to spend an hour or two avoiding his mental probes. Still, one does not say no to Maxwell Lord so I just smiled and nodded before going on my way.

My drive was a short one, mostly because I got a text from Whisper right after I left. I debated on ignoring it. I'd already decided not to do anything hasty. But I believed that getting Croc on side and back to normal would be my best option even if I hadn't done anything to make me panic. I decided to at least meet with him and feel out if he would be willing to work for me. With my mask it's not like anyone would know it was me.

Unlike with Mal, I knew no one would notice if Croc was compelled, so I was free to get him to accept the brand in exchange for fixing him. I was pretty sure he would do it willingly. I just needed to figure out what the hell to merge him with to get rid of his reptilian features. Some kind of beautification product maybe? Or maybe some kind of artwork. I had more than a few ideas, and was eager to have someone to test them on. After all, I was betting I could make something pretty amazing if I didn't have to worry about ruining my sex toy.

January 10th 2016 Gotham City 1:00 AM EDT

Killer Croc, as almost everyone knew, liked to hang out in the sewer. Sadly, in a city like Gotham, which was half metaphorical and half literal sewer, it didn't narrow things down. Luckily my little viper still had her contacts with the Religion and they had more than a few people down there. It took her no time at all to find Croc, though unfortunately, knowing where he was didn't exactly guarantee the same for me.

Even with things narrowed down, sewers were a pain in the ass to navigate. Especially since I'd stopped on the way to pick some things up from the store. I was pretty sure I had some combination that could suppress snake features. Scar remover, snake bite treatment, clear skin cream, and some descaler for a keurig, all J rank. I had also snagged some I rank concealer from a department store for about four hundred dollars. Combining all the J rank items together with that and then the result with the Kobra Venom got me what I needed.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. The Serpent Beneath- H rank. The serpent is a stealthy creature. Suppresses physical manifestations of serpentine traits, allowing the user to shift from an apparently human form to a serpentine hybrid for an explosive growth in strength. Grants limited physical enhancement in the human shape, but greatly enhances serpentine might. Best used on serpentine or draconic races.]

Either I was getting better at this whole artifact creation gig, or my merges followed some kind of underlying directive to drift towards what I was aiming at. I was guessing it was a bit of both, but either way this was fucking perfect. It also solved a problem for me. I'd considered merging Croc with a human or something to fix him, but it would have stripped his power, which I absolutely didn't want. Plus no telling if he would accept the Brand on my word alone.

By doing it this way I could make the Brand conditional on receiving the formula, and I could use serpents to enhance his bestial side without compromising the humanity I promised him to start with because of the shapeshifting. It was a win win for me, because it meant I could do more drastic alterations to his serpentine appearance without worrying about him being unable to pass as human.

I pocketed the H rank serum, the creation of which would have left me with twenty five hundred points. I'd burned most of my windfall from Whispers stash on making the training weapons and this cure for Croc. Of course, that was ignoring the biggest score I'd ever had in terms of points from Dinah. Having powers, being H rank, and being an official higher up member of the Justice League meant no modifiers detracting from her point value when I got paid for her, and I sure as shit got PAID.

[ Congratulations host! H rank member of A rank Superhero team the Justice League stolen. Averaging point value, averaging difficulty. Theft value E rank! One hundred thousand points awarded!]

A hundred thousand. I had a hundred THOUSAND GP right now. It was...mindblowing. I could make an E rank artifact. Or ten F ranks. It was...intoxicating. It made me want to steal more of the League's women. I wanted to fuck all of them. Wonder Woman, Hawkwoman, Zatanna, Rocket, and the sexy little teens on their little team too. Barbie had told me some interesting things under that first hypnotic questioning. I couldn't imagine the kind of points I'd get for taking all of them.

Not just the League either. I was betting as skilled as pretty little Cheshire was her organization was pretty impressive too. I wonder what kind of women I could steal from them. I was salivating at the thought of the things I could make with all that GP, hard thinking of bouncing all those women on my cock. Milfs and teens, blondes, brunettes, and redheads. Despite the excitement though I forced myself to calm down. I needed to think. Going on a lust fueled rampage to slave bang the entire female cape population was not the way to stay hidden. I needed to keep this slow. Methodical.

It was a testament to how freaked out I was that I might become a dad and running into my own father that I hadn't checked this notification before. Hell, I hasn't even known I could suppress them, but apparently enough panic would put them off until later. I climbed out of the towncar in full costume and headed into the storm drain nearest where Whisper had said I could find Croc, with the formula in my pocket.

I had my treasure sight active, since I was sure Croc was at least I rank, probably H. I was surprised to spot more than a few things lying in the mud that were red, and I even stopped to pick up an orange watch, an H ranked Rolex that netted me a hundred points bringing me up to one hundred and two thousand six hundred. Apparently some interesting stuff ended up in the Gotham sewers. There weren't many glimmers of light relative to the size of the place, but there were enough that I was probably going to come through here with minions at some point to clean it out.

Sadly aside from the watch I didn't see any other oranges close enough to the surface to bother with, and I didn't have to go muck diving anyway, even if the raiment's shield kept the filth off me. However it did serve it's purpose. In the distance I could see glowing shapes at ground level. Human shapes. One of which WAS orange, and also fucking huge, which I was pretty positive was the man I was searching for. I turned to follow the path in his direction and gloated internally about my broken ass artifacts.

Sadly that particular internal gloating turned out to be a bit hasty. Turns out sewers are confusing, and being able to see where your target is in a straight line isn't actually that helpful in navigating winding ass tunnels. I hit like five dead ends on the way to the chamber Croc was in, and I actually fell through the floor of one of them. Thank the gods for the raiment, because the thought of being covered in sewer muck was nauseating. The full body force field was doing it's work well.

Finally I came to the chamber I'd seen from a distance. It was...creepy. The room was dark, obviously, though with my senses even the small amount of moonlight flooding in through the grate in the ceiling was plenty of light. In the center was an island of cement, surrounded by sewer water, with a single concrete path leading off it to the only exit. There was a huge fan set into a metal recession in the wall of the chamber across from the path out, and it acted as a backdrop to Croc's mammoth form.

I was tall. Six foot three was big by American standards, since the average was five nine. I also had broad shoulders and I was fucking shredded especially after taking the Blood. However, compared to Croc I might as well have been four feet tall. He was absolutely gigantic. Eight and a half feet if he was an inch and probably almost as wide at the shoulders as I was tall, he was taller than me even sitting down as he was on the crate in the center of the island. He had a towel over his head for some reason, his face angled down as he seemed to do his best to block out the world.

Despite that he easily heard me approach, and when I came close enough his booming voice echoed through the chamber. "I don't know who you are, but coming down here won't get you whatever you're after." He raised his head, yellow eyes fixed one me as he bared razor sharp teeth in a snarl. "A cape. You're new. Since it's your first time meeting me I'll do you the favor of pretending you wandered in her by accident, so why don't you buzz off before I rip your limbs off and shove them back in their sockets in the wrong order."

That...was actually kind of intimidating given his size. My shield was fucking powerful, put it wasn't infinite. Enough wailing on it could bring it down for a bit I was pretty sure, and I was also pretty positive Croc could manage it. Still, I played it cool. I just shrugged. "Well, I was going to give you the ability to take human form at will, but sure, if you don't want to be bothered I can go." I smirked under my mask, turning to leave.

Croc came to his feet so fast I literally felt a burst of wind from the displaced air. "Wait!" I paused. His voice was still gruff and angry. "You say you can fix me. People have said it before. They have me do what they want and then stab me in the back. Why should I believe you're on the up and up when no one else has been? How do I know you aren't stringing me along?" His voice was suspicious, but there were undercurrents there. Undercurrents of hope. Of desperation. Perfect.

I turned back to him and held up the vial. "Because unlike them, I'm willing to pay up front. That's the bait. The hook is this. Taking the cure is contingent upon you swearing your loyalty. If you take this and it works, you'll officially enter my service. That's a one way trip. You'll be one of mine, and I have ways to make you obey at that point if I want you to do something. You'd essentially be signing yourself up as a permanent minion. If it works. If it doesn't, then you owe me nothing, but then, whose to say this vial is what I say it is. The question is, do you think it's worth the risk?"

This was a new tactic I'd decided to employ. Link the oath of loyalty to an action. Doing this thing means you agree to serve me. I could see him hesitate, signing away your future was a big ask. I saw him consider dashing at me to take the vial, but even he wasn't fast enough to cross the whole room in time to be sure I wouldn't bust it or throw it into the muck. Then I saw him contemplate his life. I could see pain on his reptilian features, see anger and shame, and then resignation.

He'd weighed the options, and realized he had nothing to lose. Better to serve in heaven than reign in hell. He gave a single, sharp nod. I grinned and tossed him the vial underhand. He reached out and snatched it from the air in a single fluid motion. "I just down it?" I nodded and he sighed. "If this works, I'll work for you. I'll owe you that much. If it doesn't..." His eyes narrowed and I nodded again. He popped the latch holding the cork down and the vial popped open, then in one long pull he swallowed it down.

He stood there for a second, unchanged, before he started to twitch, then jerk, then spasm. I had forgotten to mention the pain, but it was fine. He wouldn't have cared. He hunched over and his body started to change. The scales got thicker, spikes tore out from his spine and head, his claws lengthened. As expected his serpentine form became even stronger, shooting up to ten feet tall under the augmentation of the formula. He looked down at himself in horror then up at me in rage. I rolled my eyes. "I told you you could switch back and forth idiot. Concentrate on returning to human form."

He growled at me but nodded as he closed his eyes and focused. Even as it had grown his body began to shrink. He got shorter and less bulky, but it didn't stop at his original form. He kept going, the scales and claws fading as his skin smoothed out. Before my eyes he shifted down into a large man. Seven feet tall, no hair, and dark skin. Croc opened his eyes and looked down at himself in awe and happiness. He grinned up at me, and I grinned back as I saw the orange snake symbol searing itself into his right pec. Minion accomplished.

January 10th 2016 Gotham City 2:00 AM EDT

Looking at the large dark skinned man looming over me I grinned. "So, how do you feel Croc? It took, so that binding is in place, but I'll try not to use it if you keep things cordial. Works out better for me if you aren't constantly trying to weasel out of orders anyway. You have a problem with something I ask you to do you let me know. Doesn't mean I won't make you do it anyway, but I'll hear you out."

Croc chuckled, a rough sound that seemed to be dragged up out of his barrel chest through a bullhorn made of sandpaper. "It's Waylon, if you don't mind boss. As for the rest." He shrugged. "It's a better deal than others I've had, and you actually followed through on what you promised. As far as I'm concerned I work for you until the day I die." He leaned his head back, letting the water dripping from a pipe above us plink down on his forehead. That explained the towel from earlier at least.

Despite it being literal sewer water, Waylon didn't seem to mind it, he shivered in exultation at the feel of the liquid on bare skin, something I imagine felt much different than the same thing sliding across scales. I motioned for him to follow me, and started making my was out. "So, I have to ask, how did you end up with the scales anyway? Some kind of lab accident? You wouldn't be the first person in Gotham to develop powers from falling in a vat of chemicals. Though weirdly every person I've heard of who tries it on purpose just gets cancer."

We shared a dark chuckle at that, because the stupidity people are capable of is always hilarious, before he responded. "I was born like that. It wasn't too bad when I was a boy, bit of roughness on my skin, but the older I got the worse it became." He held up a hand in front of his face, marveling at it. "I never thought I'd get to do this. To walk out into the sun a normal person, to not be stared at like a freak." His eyes got suspiciously moist, though he didn't actually tear up. "Like I said boss, you can count on me. No matter what you need."

Damn. If I'd known his backstory was that tragic I'd have been less pushy about the oath. He'd have made it willingly after and it would have won me some brownie points. No big loss though, Waylon seemed to be grateful as hell, so I just had to make sure to dazzle him with some cash and luxuries early to keep this savior buzz going. "Glad to hear it. For the moment though I think we need to arrange somewhere for you to sleep. My place has plenty of extra room, and I think a live in bodyguard is totally reasonable for someone of my station."

I glanced him over. "I'll have to arrange some clothes for you, maybe from a big and tall shop. You're probably hungry too." I paused. "Bet you haven't had any pussy in a while either, after you clean up I can order you a hooker or two?" I glanced over the size of him and took into account how long he'd probably been pent up. "Maybe three. Though unless you feel a pressing need maybe we can put that off until later? Probably best to get you showered and changed first."

After the Penguin's five hundred thousand I had north of a million in my account. Money was pretty much useless to me since it didn't give me GP. The only reason to buy things was to make artifacts and I could always just steal for that. I stopped barraging thew poor guy with overwhelming kindness and let him stew in it a bit. That much should be more than enough to keep him loyal. Hell his first night sleeping on silk sheets with human skin should seal the deal on its own.

We climbed into the town car and I turned to look at him. "No offense here Waylon but I'm going to give one order. You're going to be learning my identity. No telling anyone who I am or any details about me unless doing so will literally save my life or I give you instructions to the contrary in a specific instance." I expected him to chafe at that but he just nodded. Clearly he got the secret identity thing, which was nice to know at least. "So, do I need to arrange an identity for you? I don't know how easy it is for giant crocodile men to get a photo ID."

Another bass laugh. "No, I don't have any documents. Well...a birth certificate somewhere, from back when I was normal. But gods know where that ended up. I guess I can send out for another one. I haven't used my social security number for anything...ever. I have no credit and no bank account. So technically I have an identity, and a clean one too, it's just...too clean."

I waved him off. "Please. I can take care of that. Forging a credit history won't be too much trouble." My dad WAS a spy, I was sure he knew people for that. "But even if I couldn't I'll be paying you in cash and putting you up myself so it wouldn't be an issue. You'll develop your own credit soon enough. I was mostly worried that using your real name might associate you with your past."

The laugh this time wasn't humorous, it was bitter and harsh. "No one knew my name. No one cared. I was just Killer Croc. I was the monster in the sewers that they used to bust heads when they could bribe or bully me into it. Besides, lots of people share a name, it's not like I used official documentation when I was living in the tunnels. Even if someone did know it they wouldn't be able to prove the link." He smirked up at himself in the car mirror. "No one will ever mistake me for Killer Croc when I'm like this."

Which was true enough. I imagine lots of men named Waylon existed. Having that name didn't automatically make someone secretly Killer Croc. We lapsed into silence and I mulled over my next move. Having a bodyguard was a good start. The best part was Waylon wouldn't even need a mask. Killer Croc would be working for Mammon, and Waylon would be working for me. Like the man said, no one would ever mistake him for Killer Croc when he was like that, especially after his little upgrade.

With that handled now it was time to think next move. I could make an E grade artifact, but honestly I wanted to wait. Making one just because seemed like a waste. Especially since I didn't even have any F grade gear yet. Which meant I couldn't afford to make anything E grade, since I'd need an extra twenty thousand GP to make the ingredients. No, what I should do was start on my next conquest. It might take me some time to get the next one, considering the different conditions for ownership. Speaking of which.

[ Congratulations host! G rank superhuman Waylon Jones has surrendered his loyalty. One thousand Greed Points awarded.]

Yup. I'd figured he wouldn't give me much. Since Waylon hadn't been part of a team I hadn't had the organization bonus to bump up the rank of the acquisition. Still, one hundred and three thousand six hundred points wasn't too bad. However I was drawing a blank on who to conquer next. I didn't have an in with any of the girls. Then my memory caught on something from a day or two ago I'd seen in passing. Zatanna was doing a show in Gotham.

It was a tradition of hers left over from when she worked on her fathers magic act, whenever she was in town she would do a magic show. They were kind of a local thing, more for long time fans than tourists. She had one running through the weekend, which meant today was the last day. I smiled to myself and made a point to remember to pick up flowers. I didn't know what her deal with Barbie was, but I was going to use it. Who could blame for showing up to apologize for how rude my "girlfriend" had been.

I wasn't expecting a quick fuck, not with that kind of intro, but I could be patient. She was a full member of the League and much stronger than Dinah, I was betting Branding that fat ass was going to net me some sweet, sweet Greed Points. It was hard not to lick my lips at the thought of what that magic pussy probably felt like, but I felt weird about getting a hard on alone in the car with another dude, so I decided to shelve that fantasy for my next time in the shower, or in Whisper, whatever came first.

Finally after a sizeable drive we pulled into the parking garage under my house. I turned to Waylon and took off my mask. "Ok, when I'm at home, my name is Nick Lord. Just like you're Waylon when I'm out of costume. I'll be expecting you to transform when we go out and I'm in a mask, but I think a new name might be in order. After all, you're a foot and a half taller and spiked. Mammon's bodyguard and Killer Croc are pretty distinct from each other." He hesitated for a bit at that.

After a minute though he sighed. "I think that would be good. Killer Croc was someone I was forced to be. Now I'm Waylon, and I get to be someone else when I want to." He shot me a wry grin. "Or when the boss says. Point is, this is something I get to choose, so I should choose my name too." He grinned, showing all of his still human teeth in a way that would have been much more at home on a reptile face. "I used to read a lot of mythology as a kid. Not much to do but read when you look like me. I think when I'm all scaly, you can call me...Fafnir."

I gave an approving nod. "Well then Waylon, we'll get you all settled in, and Fafnir can have a vacation for a while. Come on, I think I have some basketball shorts or something that'll fit you until we can get you some real clothes." I'd texted the old man that I found a bodyguard, I expected him to run a hundred background checks, but since I was paying Waylon out of pocket he wouldn't bitch about it. He liked when I took the initiative. I brought my new minion upstairs and put him in the room across from mine.

I had this hallway to myself most of the time. The guest rooms were almost always empty, so grabbing one for my guard to sleep in was no big deal. I brought him the shorts and a shirt I'd gotten a few sizes too large by accident and showed him to the shower. His eyes were about falling out of their head when he saw his new digs, and I was honestly glad he was happy. Happy body guards didn't drag their feet when they were protecting you, and he seemed like a pretty cool guy anyway.

Then I headed back to my own room and flopped into bed with an exhausted sigh. It had been a crazy day today, no doubt, but I was happy with how it had gone. Made some new business partners, fingered a sexy assassin girl, got myself a new minion and knocked up a superpowered milf. Whatever else today might have been, it definitely wasn't boring. As I drifted off to sleep I couldn't help but smile. I kind of hoped tomorrow WAS a bit boring, at least in comparison. Living a life like mine could be damn tiring.

January 10th 2016 Gotham City 5:00 PM EDT

The next day wasn't a busy one. I sent Waylon out to be fitted at my tailor for a suit as was proper for a bodyguard. I had him pick up a bunch of really nice ones that were the wrong size and find any that fit him cheap or not, then I dropped two grand outfitting him with a series of H rank duds. I mixed in a few bulletproof vests from the stash Whisper had brought over so we ended up with twenty suits that fit him properly that could take a bullet and looked like they were professionally made.

The combinations took a few hundred getting enough I rank materials together, so I wound up with a hundred and one thousand left give or take. I debated trying to come up with something new gear wise, but I decided to at. I was going to be spending time with Zatanna soon hopefully, and I was betting introducing some magic into my artifacts would have some interesting effects.

So there I was, sitting in the audience at Zatanna's magic show, my bodyguard hulking in the back row in his new bulletproof suit. I was in one of my own best suits, and holding a bouquet of flowers. My dinner with dad was in three hours, so I had time to make a show of being here, introduce myself, and then extricate. I wasn't stupid enough to try my usual desire manipulation on someone who used magic for a living. Zatanna probably had a dozen ways of telling when someone was messing with her, so it was senses and cold reading, and a bit of that old fashioned Lord charm.

First step in my seduction, grab attention. I was sitting front and center, holding a bunch of black and white roses. The guy behind me was grumbling about not being able to see, which was what happens when a six foot three inch man sits in the front row. Just being there had already caught her eye, and she looked slightly worried seeing me, but did her best to focus on the show.

She stood on the stage in front of a cabinet, in her normal fishnet tuxedo costume, but during her act she wore a top hat as an homage to her father. It looked cute on her. She was confident and poised, aside from not looking in my direction, and her voice carried through the sporadically populated theater as she spoke. "Now! This next trick is something of a personal favorite of mine." She walked over to the cabinet. "I'm going to transport this cabinet to the other side of the stage with magic!"

She walked over and stepped into the cabinet, leaving the top half open so we could see her lovely face. The mischievous smile on her pouty lips made my heart pound. She really was an absolutely breathtaking woman. She tapped on the box with a wand she pulled from nowhere and it started to sink. The bottom half of the box sank into the stage, even as the same wooden cabinet rose on the other side, but halfway down, it stopped. Zatanna gave a pretty frown. "Ah. Hold on, I can fix that."

She rapped her fist on the side, giving an embarrassed smile, but the box stayed halfway down. She looked annoyed. "Hold on. Maybe it's because it's half open. Let me try this." There was a thud on the upside down section rising from the other side of the stage, also stuck halfway, and then another, and the cabinet bottom popped open, revealing a set of very shapely legs standing upside down in the other half of the box.

Shapely, but I could see with my own enhanced senses that they weren't Zatanna's. Still, it was a wonderful trick. Creative and well executed. The heel of one of the legs hooked the cabinet and closed it, and then she rose back up, the second box half receding as she did. "Now, this time I'll try to go a bit faster-ah!" The box plummeted completely out of sight, the other one popping up only a second later moving at the same speeds. Zatanna was visible through the open top half of the box in a handstand. "I did not think this through."

There was a wave of applause as she kicked the closed half of the box open and did a back bend to come back to he feet, gesturing grandly and then taking a bow. The really impressive part was the knowledge that she probably hadn't used real magic to do that. Which meant that she needed to cross the area under the stage in a split second and wind up in a handstand in the second cabinet before it popped back up from the other side. Probably a back handspring or two. It was no wonder she had such fantastic legs with that kind of bounce.

She finished up the rest of the show with some basic card tricks, rabbits from hats and so on, but that had been the big climax so to speak. After the show ended, I waited until everyone left and walked up to the stage with a smile. "That was impressive. You're an excellent performer." She took of the top hat and tied her hair up in a ponytail after she made sure the audience had left, accepting my hand to help her off the stage. Despite the contact she tried to avoid looking at me as she got down, walking over to one of front row seats and pulling a bag out from under it.

She kept her back to me as she took off her jacked and bow tie, putting on a hoodie and slipping her button up out from under it. "Thanks. It was nice of you to come and watch. Maybe not a great idea though. I don't think Barbara would want you here." She kept her voice civil, but I saw her body was tense. She genuinely wasn't comfortable having me around, probably worried Barbie would bite her head off if she found out.

I made sure to keep my own tone even. "That's why I'm here. I...wasn't comfortable with how Barbie treated you at the club. If it was because of me, I wanted to apologize. The flowers are just a peace offering. Having to put up with her being bitchy all night wasn't cool, and if I'd known she was going to treat you like that I wouldn't have come. I don't know what's up with you two, but I think I was the reason you had a bad night, and that didn't sit right with me." I made sure to sound apologetic as I spoke, really making it clear I felt bad.

Zatanna stopped putting away her clothes in the bag she'd set on the chair, turning around to frown at me. "That's...sweet of you, I think. But it isn't about you, not really. Barbara had a relationship with a mutual friend of ours that I used to date. They eventually broke up because she believes he still has feelings for me. I think she's wrong, but our friendship has been...strained, since then." She sighed sadly. "I really did like her too. She's a total badass. But she hates me now and it's not even my fault."

I held out the flowers with a winning smile. "Well then, that's her loss. I personally think anyone would be lucky to be friends with someone like you." I was able to get a minor sense of her desires, but there was nothing really there to work with. She wanted to be friends with me, she was slightly starved for companionship, but aside from a basic appreciation for my looks (she did think I was attractive) she wasn't secretly creaming her panties over me or anything. This was going to be harder than Dinah, since she didn't have an obvious weak point.

But only being able to fuck girls with inherent vulnerabilities wasn't game, it was just psychology. I HAD game. I could get her interested, I'd just need to slow play her. She accepted the flowers with a wry smile. "Somehow I doubt she's going to like me any better if she finds out I'm spending time with her new boyfriend after she dumped her old one for being around me too much."

I shrugged. "It's not her call. She doesn't decide who I'm friends with Zatanna, and honestly, she doesn't have the right to decide for you either. If I'm bothering you and you'd rather just say goodbye that's fine, but don't worry about Barbie's reaction to use being friends. She doesn't tell me who to spend time with, and if she breaks up with me because she can't control who I associate with then we weren't going to work out anyway." I set my jaw, every inch the stubborn, prideful man of principle.

Her cheeks heated slightly, which I took as a win. "You know, that's a pretty good point. I could really use more friends." She gave me a warm smile. "Speaking of which there's one condition if you want to be friends with me." I raised an eyebrow questioningly. "You have to call me Zee, my name is kind of a mouthful." She held out a hand for an official shake to seal the deal and I laughed, taking it and giving one casual pump before I let go.

She smelled the flowers, smiling slightly. "I love the smell of roses. Thank you, by the way. Most people don't bother with flowers anymore, but it was always my favorite part of shows when I was little." She smiled softly. "Daddy would tuck a rose behind my ear after the show before we went out for ice cream." Her tone was a little wistful. She snapped out of it pretty quick though. "Anyway, what did you think of the show? No real magic was used of course, but I'm pretty proud of the new trick with the cabinet."

I nodded. "You should be. I could see how you did it, but being able to cross...what? Ten feet? Within a second or two and get into position upside down? That's impressive as hell. Do you do gymnastics or something?" Weirdly, I felt a slight hum from her desires when I mentioned her skills. Huh, she liked being praised. I could work with that. It wasn't like a fetish or anything but positive feedback was positive feedback.

She giggled at the question. "I used to." She looked sheepishly down at her generous chest which was obvious even through the hoodie. "When these came in I had to quit sadly. Girls with double D's don't do well in gymnastics. A bit of bouncing around isn't too bad for something like a show, if I have a good bra, but still, I pretty much lost any shot at competitive gymnastics once I passed a C cup."

I blinked. That...was a bit more honest than I had expected. She saw my surprise and shrugged. "I've never seen the point in pretending I'm not curvy. Sorry if that makes you uncomfortable though, I know I can come off a bit blunt. Anyway yeah, a double back handspring got me into position for the trick. The hardest part was the timing really. Natasha, my leg double, had to get out and get the door open before I got there. I busted my ass A LOT during practice."

I snorted at that. Zee was...funny. I liked her. I didn't really like many people. Even independent of wanting to fuck her I felt like she would be fun to grab a beer with. Which explained a lot about why Barbie hated her. I'd met girls like Zee before. Sexy, confident, and friendly. She was the kind of girl that usually had a lot of male friends and who their girlfriends detested.

I checked my watch. "Well, I have dinner with my dad in a few hours but I can spare a bit of time, how about we grab a cup of coffee, my treat?" The plan remained the same, I would slow play things with Zee. Sadly I'd need to get her actually romantically interested since she wouldn't be down for anything casual when I was "dating" Barbie, but I could manage. I just needed to get to know her better.

She smiled brightly. "I never say no to a cup of coffee. That sounds like a lot of fun. There's a great place down the street that isn't too pricy. I'll show you where it is." Then she turned and headed for the front door of the theater. I signaled Waylon to follow at a distance. She would probably notice him, but if she did I'd just tell her the truth. Whatever happened, I was looking forward to spending some time with her. Plus watching that fat ass bounce didn't hurt either.