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cyberphuck · 1 year

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Collars Dot Com Ch 2: The Hammer of Thor

(Back to Chapter One) I shut the lid on the washer, started the cycle, then leaned against it as it filled. To the left the dryer thumped steadily, sounding like a particularly monotonous wedding night.

I'd changed the sheets on the bed, stuffed my bachelor-smelling comforter in the washer, gathered up the long-neglected laundry pile, dragged the comforter back out of the washer in favor of washing the clothes first, scrubbed the bathroom, sanitized the kitchen, vacuumed the living room, collected six thousand sticky coffee mugs and empty soda cans from my desk, wiped down every flat surface, and nearly thrown up twice.

I sat down on the arm of the couch, putting a hand over my eyes to try and keep them from falling out of my skull. I smelled like bleach wipes and hangover sweat and the coffee I'd spilled down the front of my shirt two hours ago and all I really wanted was to lay facedown in bed and sleep until rigor mortis set in.

Some time between changing the pillow cases and gagging on bile, I'd opened the DoorDash app on my phone and ordered two bottles of Gatorade, two containers of fruit salad, and two more bottles of Gatorade in case the first two and the vitamin C from the fruit weren't enough to purge the tequila and idiocy from my body.

I did stupid things when I was drunk. That's what had ended my last relationship, hadn't it? I'd gone out for drinks with some of the guys from work, ended up doing jello shots with a bunch of college girls, and sent a picture of my dick to everyone on my contact list-- including my sister-- with the caption 'THE HAMMER OF THOR!'

I'd woken up the next morning with a variety of responses waiting for me. From my boss, 'you're lucky you're the only one I can rely on to turn in scripts on time,' and from Alyssa: 'I'm tired of your immature bullshit.'

My sister had sent a thumbs-up emoji.

It wasn't the first time Alyssa and me had gotten in an argument over how I spent my free time, and I thought an apology and giving her some space to cool off would keep things rattling along. Instead she dropped her copy of my apartment key in my mailbox, changed her relationship status on Facebook, and posted several memes about finding her flame and not letting anyone hold her back anymore.

Then lockdown had started, my entire department had been sent home to work remotely, all of my meals came from no-contact DoorDash deliveries, and if I wanted to hang out and drink with the guys from work, I had to do it over Zoom. I hadn't realized how much I'd relied on visits from Alyssa to motivate me to give a shit about what my apartment looked like until...

Well, until about 2pm today.

This was going to be the kick in the ass that I needed, I decided. I wasn't gonna keep the Pet I'd ordered, but I wasn't going to mix alcohol and online shopping again, either, and I was gonna clean up after myself and have people over again. Or better yet, go out. See people. Meet people. Shave every day.

Someone hit the buzzer in the downstairs lobby. I got up to hit the unlock button by the front door, got another whiff of stale coffee, and jogged into my bedroom to try to find a clean shirt so I didn't look like a complete slob for the DoorDash guy. I tossed the dirty shirt into the laundry corner, stopped, picked it up and put it into the hamper, and pulled on an ancient band tee, the screen printing long since faded away into nothing. By the time I emerged from the bedroom, DoorDash was already knocking.

Usually I only knew my order had arrived by the swish of a plastic bag being dumped on my mat and the driver's footsteps as he walked off. But I had to sign something, I guess. They'd used to make you sign for stuff, before. I turned the deadbolt and opened the door.

There was a boy standing there.

Blond hair, big eyes, freckles and a pretty mouth that was currently occupied by some kind of black rubber gag. Behind him was a man with a moving dolly stacked high with boxes labeled 'COLLARS.COM.' Behind him was pretty much every single one of my neighbors, all out to grab their mail and pick up their newspapers and check the hallway for werewolves at once.

Fuck.

"Delivery," the man said, looking supremely bored. "For--"

"Yeah, uh, yeah, come in," I said quickly, backing out of the doorway and holding the door wide. The boy stepped through first, then his chaperone with the dolly, and I thought about how I was going to have to either find a new apartment or somehow keep living in this one without ever making eye contact with any of my neighbors ever again.

The man set the dolly upright and plucked a chunky black device from his belt, shoving it at me. "Just use the pen to sign," he said, indicating a thin plastic stylus swinging from the device by a tether.

"Right, uh, so, there was kind of a--" I began weakly, trying to give the device back.

"Hit 'enter,'" the man said. The boy had been wearing a sort of black smock, tied at the back, and his chaperone was taking it off. The black pants came off too, and the boy was very much wearing absolutely nothing underneath them.

"This was-- I can't--" I tried again.

"Arms out," the man said to the boy, holding up his phone to take a picture. "Alright, turn." He glanced at me. "Press the pen down harder if it isn't doing it," he said.

"There has been," I said slowly and firmly, "a mistake."

The man looked at me. I looked back at him.

"Are you Brian Stink?" he asked.

"It's 'Stynch,'" I said automatically. "Listen, I bought all this by accident, I didn't really mean to--"

"The return policy is on the website," the man interrupted. "Can you sign the thing? I've got other deliveries."

"But I can't." A misshapen silence popped between us; I'd been expecting him to cut me off again. "I can't, uh, take him, really."

"I can't put him back in the van," the man said. "I've already sent Proof of Delivery to the dispatcher, and I can't just stick him back there while I finish all my other deliveries. By the time I got him back to the hub, all the handlers'd be gone for the day. Sign," he enunciated, "the thing."

"Alright, fine, fuck," I sighed, scribbling something approximate to my signature on the heavy device and watching it struggle to accept my name with technology from 1992. I slapped it back into the man's hand, trying to show my severe annoyance with him. He wasn't phased. "I'll see you again tomorrow when you come to pick him up," I told him.

"I'm off tomorrow." He yanked the dolly out from underneath the tower of shipping boxes and turned to let himself out. "Enjoy your purchase and have a nice day."

I glared at the closed door for a while, entertaining all my fantasies of letting his employers know I was Very Offended and that they had better do something to make up for it, and receiving an email from the CEO begging for my forgiveness.

Maybe even a phone call. We're so sorry. We're so sorry. The mean delivery driver has been reprimanded and fired-- no, that was too cruel, not with the economy the way it was. He probably had a family to feed. We have sat him down and told him he has been a Very Bad Boy. Yeah.

I locked the deadbolt. And the horse you rode in on, I thought viciously, turned around, and remembered there was an extremely undressed Pet standing next to my shoe rack. The room congealed around me a little, going from the hot soup of righteous anger to the greasy leftovers of what the fuck am I going to do now in an instant.

God, he looked good.

I had been expecting him to be a little plainer than the profile picture I'd glimpsed in a drunken haze the night before. Nobody was supposed to look as perfect as their headshots, that's what Photoshop was for. But there he was, smooth and blemishless, the same buttery curls, the sprinkling of freckles like cinnamon on a macchiato. The mouth, which was still stoppered by the rubber gag whose straps were beginning to leave red marks in his cheeks. He swallowed awkwardly around it and looked at me.

I stepped forward, reaching behind his head and feeling for a clasp. The strap was stiff and new, the price tag still stuck across the cheap plastic. "This thing smells like a used tire shop," I muttered, picking the tag off and undoing the buckle. "Probably tastes like one too."

I pulled the gag out of his mouth. It was a couple inches long, wet and slick where it'd been pressing against his tongue. I wrinkled my nose at it and set it on top of the boxes. They could take that back, too. "How long have you had that thing in your mouth? Do you want a glass of water?"

The boy's mouth puckered; he wiped saliva off his chin with the back of his hand. "Yes, please."

I went to the kitchen, took down a glass, turned on the tap and let in run until it was cold. My coffee mugs were still piled in the sink, looking at me accusingly with sticky eyes. I ignored them and returned to the living room to find the boy standing just where I'd left him.

"Here." I put the glass in his hands. "Come on and sit on the couch."

I discovered, then, that it was possible for someone to sensually drink a glass of plain tap water. The movement of his throat and the sound of his swallowing was almost obscene. Maybe it was just because he was naked, or because I knew what he was for, but the lovely pink mouth was definitely in the lead for 'reasons I was about to make decisions with my dick.' I knew, when I reached out, that just touching his mouth wouldn't be enough. I promised myself I just wanted to feel the shape of it, his lips against the ball of my thumb, but I had wanted that mouth since I saw it on the website, had clicked yes and yes and yes because I hadn't cared what I'd have to pay to get it. I cupped my palm against his cheek and he leaned into it, looking at me, and I was pushing forward without looking at the price.

I kissed him because I wanted to feel the softness of his lips, the texture of them against my tongue, the sweet sound as we parted. There was a little hesitation when he opened his mouth to mine, as if he wasn't quite sure of it, like the sensation of my tongue against his was new for him. I held him still with a hand against the nape of his neck, where the finest curls of his hair tickled against my fingers, and let him get used to what it felt like to be kissed by me.

By the time I let him go, his breath had gone a little short and there was color in his cheeks and down his neck to his collarbone. His lips were still slightly parted, and I slid my thumb into his mouth. He made a soft sound as I pressed down on his tongue and bottom lip. He made that sound again when I pulled him forward for another kiss, and he slipped off the couch and down to his knees in front of me before I could even form an image of what I wanted.

Now he was looking up at me through his eyelashes and wetting his upper lip with his tongue. I took his chin in my hand because-- I don't know, I wanted to look at him, wanted to stay in the moment of anticipation forever, but with my other hand I took out my stiffening cock for him because I wanted it in his mouth.

He took the head between his lips, delicately, like kissing the first bite of a ripe peach, tongueing the flesh. He took the shaft in his hand and drew upward and I felt a throb of pleasure, my cock bobbing when he pulled away. He looked up at me again and I watched him take me into his mouth in one long, delicious slide, lips and tongue working as he sucked. He lifted his head, taking in a breath, then down again and I could feel myself in the back of his throat. Another shudder of pleasure, releasing in a groan.

I leaned my head back, listening to the sound of his mouth on my cock and riding each rise in tension, each a little bit stronger, a little bit longer than the last. I held my breath to make the pleasure hit deeper, letting it out when I was coming close to the edge. My back and thighs were tensing, wanting to thrust upwards; it began as a soft rhythm, then grew more and more insistent until I braced a hand against the back of his head to fuck his mouth.

I twisted my fingers into his hair, fucking into the friction I wanted, faster and harder, trying to come up short before I climaxed but tumbling over the edge anyway, coming hard with a hoarse, cracked groan.

I felt him swallow twice, then wrap his fingers around my aching cock and pull slowly upwards. I sucked in a breath, wincing, and put out a hand to stop him before he yanked my organs out of my body. "Enough," I panted. "Enough. I'm done, I'm good." He let me go. I took a few more steadying breaths, blinking up at the ceiling, and alternated saying "god" and "fuck" a half dozen times until I was able to think clearly again. It might have been several hours. I don't know. When I finally pulled myself together, I looked down at him still kneeling there.

"So," I said. "What's your name?"

He smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear. "My name is Ren." Kofi - Donate - AO3

#writing #fic #yaoi #slave kink #collars.com #Brian spends a lot of this chapter bitching about stuff

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journeysintowebcomics · 7 years

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Worm Liveblog #31

UPDATE 31: Difficult Bonding

Last time Taylor had decided to spend the day with Rachel, after the latter rejected the deal with Coil. It isn’t to convince her to join the rest so there’s unanimous approval, it’s so Taylor can bond with her. It is...well, it could be going better. So let’s continue.

Between countless run-ins with the bullies, getting in contact with the Undersiders and the bank robbery, it felt like stuff seemed to go down around noon.

...is that so? Now I’m not sure if I want something to happen or if I want this lunchtime to be uneventful. There’s a decent chance there’ll be trouble, because something will happen in every arc – I think – and right now is as good of a time as any other moment.

Rachel has kept everything under control, the dogs went outside to play and/or bite each other, and Taylor calls a dog ‘awfully pretty’. Rachel didn’t react with approval, though.

“Most dog owners are retards, and the most retarded are the ones who pick a dog because it’s cute, or because its pretty, without knowing anything about the breed, the temperament, the dog’s needs.”

To be honest, I find myself in agreement, even though I’d have worded much more tastefully than this, if someone asked me this. Choosing a dog merely because of its looks can be a big mistake.

Taylor takes offense to being told she’s, hm, ‘retarded’, so she defends herself by pointing out she’s very careful and doesn’t take decisions rashly. Good point! And one that Rachel doesn’t acknowledge, and I think it’s because she doesn’t want to argue, not because she considers it a good point. Hm. Continuing that argument is moot, Taylor, better not continue that.

While Taylor plays fetch with all the dogs, she changes strategies, asking Rachel about some of the dogs’ backstories. As expected, it’s not sunshine and flowers – to be more accurate, it’s demonstrations of negligence. Realistic-sounding negligence, to boot. Thankfully, there isn’t an excessive amount of detail, and Mr. Wildbow isn’t trying to disgust the reader or anything like that, so I’m not feeling discouraged.

Time passes, mostly in silence. There were a few conversations, but nothing too long. Not that Taylor or Rachel minds, neither of them is much of a people person. That’s something a lot of people can relate to...yeah, I can understand that.

“It’s too bad dogs can’t have trigger events,” Bitch mused aloud. “If they did, some people might think twice.”

Who knows? Maybe it turns out animals can have trigger events! ‘Worm’ is still in its early arcs, I wouldn’t be surprised if at some point in the future there’s an animal with powers. Whether it’d occur naturally or it’d be forced onto it by a third party, like it happened to Newter and Gregor the Snail, is something that’s worth speculating! Honestly part of me is hoping such thing is possible, if only to see what’d happen. It wouldn’t be pretty, it wouldn’t be nice, and I’m sure an animal doesn’t have enough awareness to control powers properly, but I’m curious about it.

The peaceful times end when someone breaks a bottle and shouts arrive to ruin the scene. You jinxed it, Taylor, this is because you said something happens at lunchtime. Rachel’s going to deal with this, Taylor is told to hide, and she does listen to that. You’re definitely not going to stay hidden, I know it. As soon as Rachel’s in danger, you’ll jump into action.

It’s a group of people affiliated to the Empire Eighty-Eight. Hm...could it be that the Hookwolf guy, unable to achieve revenge because Kaiser nipped the problem in the bud, is trying to have payback by himself through these guys? I don’t know if Kaiser would care or not, I think he wouldn’t, and the Undersiders aren’t going to object, it’d cause a lot of trouble. This really could be Hookwolf’s way to retaliate, try to catch Rachel in what they hope is a vulnerable moment.

They keep throwing beer bottles. Empire Eighty-Eight is trying to claim this neighborhood, but the dogs’ noise is bothering them. Good! And now they’re going to do something about it. One of these racists threatens to feed antifreeze to the dogs.

“If you were going to do that,” she said, “You would have done it before now, and I’d kill you for it. Either you’re too scared to really do something about it, which you should be, or Kaiser told you hands off.”

Somehow I don’t think they haven’t done it because they’re scared or anything like that. If they were scared, they wouldn’t be approaching right now. In fact, I think it’s likely they may have a way to counter Rachel’s dogs right now, or else they wouldn’t be coming here. They must know this a few bottles aren’t going to frighten them.

Also, yes, I’m sure if they didn’t follow that threat it’s because Kaiser forbid them to. In that case, why are they here? Just to make a show of bravado? Judging by the next paragraph, they’re going to say they had merely gone to shut the dogs up, that Rachel started any fight. Honestly, I think that’ll work. Kaiser may have told them to back off, but as said before, I don’t think he’d enforce it too much.

Since the situation is getting dangerous, and Rachel’s powers aren’t going to stop bullets from killing her, Taylor decides to stop sitting around, instead preparing herself for a fight. There’s nothing to hide her identity with, though.

Still nothing I could see that would work as a mask. I wasn’t even wearing a sweatshirt or enough extra layers to use a piece of my clothing for a mask. It had been too warm a day.

Which left me one very unpleasant option.

...that certainly is unpleasant. I like that Taylor, despite being used to bugs and all, still finds icky to cover herself with them. That’s how most people would react, definitely. She even comments she’d want ten showers after this!

Taylor messages the rest for backup, Brian replies he’s on his way, so Taylor returns to the front of the house to find out what’s going on. There was a gunshot, but thankfully nobody’s wounded. It may have been a warning shot. Rachel’s not going to let herself be intimidated by that, that’s for sure.

When she steps outside, the scares everyone, including Rachel. Hah! Didn’t see that coming, eh, Rachel? I doubt she can complain about it, though. The teenager with the gun shoots without hesitation, the bullet passes through where Taylor’s chest is – or would be, if she hadn’t strategized before stepping outside.

I had dropped to a crouch as I stepped outside, leaving most of the bugs where they were above me. Some had fallen down, but the overall structure had remained more or less stable, each of the bugs gripping one another and spreading out enough to fill in the gap of the vacated head and chest area.

Good thinking! And one I don’t think would work against a cape, because a cape wouldn’t merely attack one’s chest like that, and Taylor would have no reason to conceal herself with bugs, either. Okay, no, I suppose there are moments where she could do that, but I doubt many capes would be fooled. Not only that, it’d be difficult to keep the shape and move the decoy at the same time, wouldn’t it? Unless Taylor practices a lot, that is. I suppose if she decides to, she will.

To heighten the chances of everything going okay, Taylor tries to fool everyone into thinking guns wouldn’t work, and moves towards them. The teenager shoots a couple times more, thankfully not harming Taylor, and when he tries to shoot Rachel, Taylor attacks, stabbing him in the thigh with a knife she picked from inside the house, and snatches the gun away. That was easy! But hey, if it strikes fear into everyone here in this group and gets them to go away, then neat!

On an impulse, I drew the knife across his forehead. According to Brian, cuts to the forehead were rarely serious, but they bled enough to look like they were.

She’s not mistaken. A person’s head has lots of blood vessels, which is why injuries to the head bleed so much. Even superficial cuts can bleed a lot.

Taylor’s still feeling guilty about how brutal she can be sometimes. Hm. The moment she stops feeling guilty about this kind of stuff is the moment I’ll know she has gone full villain. I both await and fear that moment. Heck, hopefully it’ll never come. I’m all for a villain protagonist, but a big part of Taylor’s characterization so far is that she wants to do the right thing. If she stops feeling guilty, well, I hope it’s not anytime soon. It wouldn’t be a wise decision, character-wise.

Still, this all makes the attacker leave, full of fear. All they do is threaten that Kaiser will hear about this. Oh, great, just what the Undersiders needed, more problems with Kaiser. Who knows, maybe he won’t demand retaliation for this...it depends on what he’s told.

You think it wouldn’t have gotten violent if you hadn’t stepped out? Taylor, are you kidding? It was going to get hella violent. The problem here is who was going to get injured and who wouldn’t. That gun was a dangerous thing.

Taylor suggests Rachel moves out, suggestion Rachel rejects with a glare. I agree with Rachel on this one, that would embolden Empire Eighty-Eight. Sure, they may return and with stronger forces, but leaving after making such a stand would be a bad idea. Better to stay and be prepared for what may happen.

The chapter ends with Rachel and Taylor returning inside to pick up dog crap, Taylor noting Rachel doesn’t look as angry as usual. Huh. Nice! That’s an encouraging sign, maybe she’s growing to accept you, Taylor! Congratulations!

I was passed a few comments – thank you, Carl, my ask reader for Worm – and among them there was one I find interesting:

One query. Hookwolf is mentioned once, but only once and has no effect on the fight. A typo?

I’d originally had him in this chapter, but when I went to write the next chapter, where he, Taylor & Bitch really duked it out, I found it just didn’t work. Couldn’t do the guy justice & still keep a good flow of events I had in mind for this arc, his presence felt forced (and admittedly was forced), and the way the fight was introduced/played out wasn’t all that different from previous encounters between Taylor and villains. He’ll show up soon, but this wasn’t the place for him.

So originally Hookwolf really was involved in this fight. It’d have made sense, and this fight also would have spanned two chapters. It seems Mr. Wildbow removed it because he couldn’t make it very different from the other fights against other capes, and I’m glad for that. This encounter, even if it was against a bunch of nobodies, has its own distinctive features, namely Taylor’s strategy here. The actual version works better than any past version – I suppose. Most likely. So, next chapter!

It opens with Brian arriving. You’re waaaay late, Brian. He’s in costume, and it’s good he’s here, just in case they return. It’s unlikely, I’d say, but better be prepared. Besides, he has things to discuss, for example: admonishing Rachel. Staying here will only get the dogs hurt. If there’s something that can convince her to move out, it’s that. I hope there’s a way of preventing anything the E88 can do that doesn’t involve leaving...

Looks like there isn’t. Damn it.

“I’ve been there,” I told her. “Really, I know what you mean. But our number one priority is keeping you and those dogs safe. Once we’ve handled that, we can focus on dealing with any threats.”

You know, if there’s a way to convince Rachel to agree to Coil’s deal, it’s this. Through joining Coil they could fight Kaiser and his hate group. Even if retreating right now leaves them with bad taste in their mouth, it won’t matter if later they deal with the Empire 88 and secure the area. From a strategic standpoint that’s certainly the best option. Apparently Rachel notices it too, because she agrees – as long as all the dogs come with her. Well, of course they will!

Now that the matter was settled, Brian goes to leave, Taylor still acting like an addlepated fool. In other words: a teenager in love. It’s so obvious even Rachel can see it, and if Rachel can see it, then it’s very damn obvious. Hah!

Taylor tries to offer to back off if Rachel liked Brian first, but that’s not it.

“You should offer to sleep with him.”

If I had been drinking something while reading this, I’d have choked on it. Wow, Rachel, that sure...sure is a bold statement! And something Taylor isn’t going to ever do, she’s not going to go towards Brian, dry-hump him and say she’s available for kinkiness anytime he wants. Man, Taylor must be red like a tomato right now!

I realized, belatedly, that she’d actually offered me advice. As… I struggled to find the word. As misdirected as her suggestion might have been, especially with Brian, it was probably the most blatant gesture of goodwill I had seen from her, next to her telling Armsmaster that she thought I could kick his ass.

...that’s kind of sweet, honestly. Taylor really is doing progress with Rachel. They’re still far from being friends, but at least I think Rachel isn’t going to punch her teeth out at the end of the day? That’s progress, no matter how you look at it.

When Brian enters the building, he notifies he can’t get in contact with Coil, and Taylor informs neither Alec nor Lisa replied to her message. Something’s happening? Is there going to be a big fight now, as it’s due in every arc? Huh, I wonder what problem’s going on this time. I’m not surprised about Coil not being reachable right now, I’m more worried about the rest of the Undersiders.

The plan right now is for Brian and Taylor to go check on the others while Rachel stays here and prepares to leave the building, packing up and getting everything ready. Brian will try to get in contact with Coil to arrange for a few trucks to take the dogs. While Taylor and Brian are walking, he talks, revealing there’s something going on with the E88.

“Funny that it’s Kaiser that’s having trouble controlling his people,” Brian mused

So that may be why that group went to attack Rachel? I doubted it was under his orders, but I didn’t think it was because he was having trouble controlling his people. Taylor points out Coil’s pressure on the group is a reason why Kaiser’s having trouble. Knowing Coil, yeah, that must be why. Coil’s forces are not to be underestimated.

But Kaiser was willing to demand restitution for the attack on his dogfighting ring, and I’m more than willing to do the same for this attack from his skinheads, if it comes down to it.”

That’d be a waste of time. I’m convinced Kaiser wouldn’t listen to your demands. He’s going to listen to his group over what you or Rachel has to say.

The topic changes to how the day went between Taylor and Rachel, and Brian is skeptic when she says she’d spend another day with Rachel someday. Heh, is it really so hard to believe?

“I’ve spent ten months on the same team with her, and I haven’t even come close to getting how she thinks. I can usually keep her from going too far or hurting someone, keep her mostly in line and get her to follow directions, but I haven’t had a conversation with her yet that didn’t make me want to bang my head against a wall.”

It’s because Taylor is the protagonist, Brian! That’s why she’s having better luck than you here! She’s the protagonist of this story, of course she’d have an easier time connecting with other characters! Haha!

Okay, no, in all seriousness, it’s because Taylor’s trying to understand everything from Rachel’s point of view. For example, she notices Rachel respects Grue – personally I think Rachel likes Grue as something close to the term ‘friend’ – but since Grue is the authority of the group, the alpha of the pack, Rachel feels the need to defy him. It’s her personality. Good assessment of Rachel’s character, Taylor.

“I think that you’d have a much easier time handling her if you took an official leadership role in our group. Not just being the sorta-kinda leader, but actually taking the position.

...huh. I always thought it was defined he was the leader. Even Rachel’s dogs knew it. I guess it was a tacit agreement among everyone, instead of an official role. I see. Brian has this leader aura I like, I guess I took for granted everyone knew he was the leader, instead of him having to step forward and outright say it.

When Taylor and Brian arrive to the loft, they go inside and find CARNAGE! Okay, no, they find Alec watching the TV and Lisa on the phone. That was anticlimactic. I feel both relieved and disappointed. Lisa sounds like she has urgent stuff going on in the phone, so Taylor approaches and looks into the laptop Lisa has. She was reading an email.

Whatever content there is, Mr. Wildbow delays mentioning it until there’s enough suspense. Taylor does seem rather shaken by what she’s finding now. Not outraged, so I suppose it’s nothing that directly affects her, but she is surprised enough for this to be potentially significant.

The email was a list. At the very top of the list was Kaiser. Following his entry were his lieutenants, Purity, Hookwolf and Krieg, and the rest of the members of Empire Eighty Eight. It wasn’t even limited to people with powers, noting some powerless captains and even some of the lower level flunkies.

The list included pictures and text. Beneath each of the villain’s names was a comprehensive block of data, noting their civilian names in full, professions, addresses, phone numbers, the dates they moved to the city and the first appearances of their costumed identities in Brockton Bay. There were pictures of them in costume paired with pictures of their alleged civilian identities, roughly matched in angle and size for easy comparison. Most of the entries had zip files attached, doubtless with more data and evidence.

...oh. Oh, wow. Uh, Coil’s the one that sent this email, right? Lisa is skillful and can gather information, but I don’t know if she could gather all this info about so many people in that ate group, so I’m supposing this is Coil’s work. He’s seriously a frightful mastermind.

There’s a lot of information about the real identities of every important member of that group. Photos, information about movements, everything you can imagine. From what I see, a big portion of Kaiser’s forces are connected to his real identity’s business, a pharmaceutical company. Makes sense. What’s more, Coil is crossing a line here, because the information here can lead to these capes’ families. Sure, everyone involved in the Empire Eighty-Eight is a despicable person and I have no care to what happens to them, but their families...nothing says they have anything to do with all this. Heck, it sounds like it’s a tacit agreement between capes to not touch capes’ families. I guess that means Dad Hebert is safe?

The email had been sent not only to Lisa, but to the Brockton Bay Bulletin, a half dozen other local news stations, and several national ones. Everyone that mattered, and a few that didn’t.

The email had been sent at 1:27 pm this afternoon. Less than an hour ago. That was the really bad news.

Oh, jeez...judging by how Taylor said this is a very comprehensive report, this is a monumental scoop. The media is going to squeeze this as much as they can. This isn’t going to be swept under any rug. This is the scoop of the year. What can Empire Eighty-Eight do now? In my opinion, either they go completely public, admitting their identities and continuing their activities while being on the run and avoiding the law, or they disband and run away. Simply running away isn’t much of an option, though. Kaiser has a whole company. That company’s going to suffer a lot of financial losses now, but I don’t think he can simply walk away and let it crumble down. The fact many employers are also part of E88 will make things complicated, too.

All in all, Coil just opened a gigantic can of worms. If there’s a reason to join Coil and be on his side, it’s not to be on the receiving end of his schemes, that’s for sure.

Lisa was a pawn in all this, apparently. He used her to point him in the right track, and he did the rest. She didn't do much, but it was a start. I wonder if this will affect the Undersiders’ decision?

Apparently it won’t, and Coil’s actions had nothing to do with the Undersiders. Still, this is a very bad moment for Coil to make his move, precisely because of what just happened. Like Taylor will explain right now:

“Look at it this way,” I interrupted, “Kaiser and every single one of his twenty-ish superpowered flunkies are going to be pissed enough to want to kill someone, after Coil went and turned their lives upside down. Kaiser and his people know who we are, from our cooperation against the ABB. Specifically, they know who Lisa is. So who are they going to blame for this, if not the group his people were just fighting with this very afternoon, the group with the very talented information gatherer in their ranks?”

So you’re telling me that right now, Kaiser and the rest of his most powerful henchmen may make a retaliatory move against the Undersiders, for what they’ll surely decide deserves death, and there’s no way to avoid it?

...golly, things got tough fast.

On the other hand, if they manage to hold their own against E88 and win, and the word goes out that the Undersiders had anything to do with this major leak of information, maybe every other group in the city will think twice before antagonizing the Undersiders! Sure, that’ll bring a lot of trouble as well, but in this story what doesn’t attract trouble?

The situation is turning into a major disaster, of potentially fatal consequences. Maybe it’ll start in this arc, maybe in the next...but for now I have to stop.

Next update: five updates

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journeysintowebcomics · 7 years

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Worm Liveblog #15

UPDATE 15: The Unexpected Obstacle

Last time it was decided this was a good time for some backstory talk. Taylor’s was very unpleasant – that’s an understatement – and it’s unlikely everyone else’s stories are going to be any better. It’s bound to be tough to read, but here I’m going to do it. Onwards!

It’s Brian’s turn and he’s going to tell his backstory during the way back. He’s the son of divorced parents, they divorced when he was thirteen. His sister, Aisha, went to live with the mother, and they stayed in contact. The day when Brian got powers was when Aisha sent a text pleading for help, he immediately went to the mother’s house to see what was going on. I gave her a hug, picked her up and started to leave. A man I didn’t recognize got in my way. My mom’s new boyfriend. You see where this is going?

It all does point that this man is the cause for that text, the mother is shrinking back, clear signs of fear. That’s enough for Brian, he did mention he knew how to fight thanks to his boxer father. Long story short: that man got a serious battering, to the point where Brian’s hands were very injured. And that’s when he saw his powers. Hm...

...you know; it wasn’t as bad as I had braced myself for this to be. Sure, it was unpleasant, and Brian’s description about how he felt nothing through all this is chilling, but it was nothing like I thought it’d be. Leaving that aside, I don’t see much of a link between the situation and his powers, so I guess I was wrong about how I thought that was.

“Um, I can’t think of a nice way to put this, but why aren’t you in jail, after thrashing that guy?” Hey, I don’t mean to throw cold water on anything, but you only have Brian’s word here, Taylor! For all you know this may have gone beyond a thrashing. Then again, there’s no reason for Taylor to look for information supporting this, and it’s unlikely she’d find some, anyways. You know who I think could know? Lisa. But she wouldn’t reveal if Brian lied, so that’s a moot point.

“It was a close call, but the guy I beat up had violated the terms of his probation by not going to his narcotics anonymous meetings and Aisha backed me up as far as us saying, well, it was well deserved. He came across as the bad guy more than I did. He got six months in jail, I got three months of community service.”

Nevermind, chances are I was wrong! Boy that was embarrassing for me. That’s the peril of typing while I read, sometimes my thoughts are refuted not too long after having done them! Brian nets himself some good guy points by stating his motivation for being a criminal here is because he needs money to be Aisha’s guardian. The benefactor is cooperating for that, the manager of a company is paying checks and giving Brian’s money a legitimate look. Just how powerful is this benefactor? Heck, are we sure this manager isn’t the benefactor? Unlikely, but who knows.

Taylor thinks it’s a noble motivation – I agree – Brian says it’s not because he wants to be noble, it’s because family comes before everything – and I agree with that too. I knew I’d like Brian!

And that was the end of Brian’s backstory tale. It was...wait for it...enlightening. Hah! But yeah, Brian does have sympathetic motives. Now Taylor tries to change the topic to Brian’s purchases. He wants to make his apartment homely and upgrade his costume, requesting Taylor’s services. I wonder if everyone would be comfortable with wearing a costume made of spider silk and bug exoskeletons?

Alec is a sane person and is hoping the thought of tens of thousands of black widow spiders living just under the loft isn’t feasible. Too bad, Alec! Embrace the spiders!

Dammit, Alec, why do you do this to me. “I don’t want tens of thousands of spiders just lurking below me, making spider noises and climbing upstairs to crawl on me while I sleep.” Of course, being the curious person I was, I consulted Google. Guess what.

That’s the very first result. Screw you, Alec! I didn’t ask for this information! Then again, the thought of Alec all antsy because the area under the loft is filled with thousands of horny spiders making noises is kind of funny. Too bad it’s black widow spiders and not purring wolf spiders.

It struck me that I was thinking seriously about putting together some high quality costumes for villains. I wasn’t sure how I felt on the subject. It means that you’re contributing to the team in productive ways, making it even less likely that she’ll betray them. To be frank, at this point I find it extremely unlikely she will.

Turns out spending what ‘s bound to be weeks or maybe months of working on costumes isn’t something Taylor isn’t excited to do, not even when she’s offered cash for this service. It doesn’t stop her from making some vague plans on how she’d set the spider farm, so at least she’s willing to make the effort.

Rachel isn’t in the loft, only two of the dogs are there. Could she have gone ahead to scout and ensure the delivery of the money would go alright? While Brian decides to call Rachel, everyone else goes to prepare for the ordeal. Taylor found something in her room, a gift from Bryan. It’s a dragonfly in amber, and she loves it, she truly likes it! She even gives him a hug. “Hey!” a voice from behind me startled the wits out of me, “No romance in the workplace!”

...huh. Is that so, Mr. Wildbow? It wouldn’t be unheard of that the author would take the time to insert romance in the story, but it hadn’t seemed to me like Worm would have any. Brian and Taylor...sure, why not. It could work. It’s still way too early to say for sure, but there could be the start of something here. I’m pretty sure things like romance would be the last thing in these characters’ mind throughout Worm, though, given the, hm, several warnings I have received about how grim stuff will be the deeper I get.

And then the story takes a swerve with the grace of a novice driver. One moment they’re smiling and giving hugs, the next Brian says something is wrong and they need to go check the money immediately. That was very sudden! Like it’d be in real life, but still, that’s some strong mood whiplash. I’ll be surprised if Rachel was caught or is in trouble, she didn’t seem to me the type that’d let that happen to her. That’s for the next chapter, which I’ll start now.

You know, I think I’m picking up already on how Mr. Wildbow’s writing style is. Every time they arrive to a place there’ll be a couple paragraphs of the way to that place, then a description, then how it ties to the city or to society, and then the plot continues. I haven’t read many authors who take the time to do this, usually authors tend to only do a couple paragraphs to make the setting, but Mr. Wildbow goes beyond that and builds upon the world. Look at that:

We descended into the maze. Each storage locker was only about ten feet by ten feet across, but there were hundreds of them, each one joined to the one beside it, organized into disorganized rows of ten or twenty brick shacks. It was a common enough sight; places like this were scattered all over Brockton Bay. Decades ago, as unemployment rates skyrocketed, people had started using the storage lockers as a place to live. Some enterprising individuals had caught on and storage blocks much like this one had appeared in the place of dilapidated warehouses and parking lots. It was, in an off the books sort of way, the lowest budget living accommodations you could find, a way for people who’d had apartments and homes of their own to keep their most cherished possessions and sleep on a bed at night.

But things turned sour. These storage facilities became drug dens, gathering places for gangs and areas where the crazies would congregate. Epidemics of the flu and strep throat had swept through these ‘neighborhoods’ of closely packed, unwashed and malnourished groups of people, and left people dead in their wake. Some who didn’t die to sickness were knifed for their belongings or starved, and corpses were left to rot behind the closed doors of their rented storage lockers. In the end, the city cracked down, and the lockers fell out of favor. By then, the local industry had crashed enough that the homeless and destitute were able migrate to the abandoned warehouses, factories and apartment blocks to squat there instead. The same general problems were still there, of course, but at least things weren’t so densely packed into a volatile situation.

That left these sprawls of storage lockers scattered over the city, particularly in the Docks. They were largely unused, now, just row upon row of identical sheds with faded or illegible numbers painted on the doors, each with a corrugated steel roof bolted securely on top, slanted just enough that people wouldn’t be able to comfortably walk or sleep on top of them.

It’s rather easy to imagine how the place looks like. I like this style of writing.

So, the plot. The team starts searching for the locker where they had left the money, soon finding the right one and opening the door. As expected: the money is gone. I have to wonder...could the boss himself or someone under his command have taken it? It depends on how exactly the Undersiders were going to deliver the money to him, I always imagined somebody under the boss’ payroll would pick it up.

Regent immediately jumps to conclusions, blaming a certain someone who isn’t here. My eyebrows went up, “You think it was Bitch? Would she just take the money and run?” Without two of her dogs? No way! Tattetale quickly destroys such accusation by stating Heckpuppy wasn’t the one to take the money. It was a villain cape – “More than one. And they’re still here.” Could it be one I have seen yet or be a new one? And why would they stay here? Looking for a fight, perhaps? Holding Heckpuppy hostage, as difficult as that sounds?

The villains are familiar names: Uber and Leet. I hadn’t thought they’d appear at any point, I always thought they’d be those two names that’d pop up from time to time just for the sake of mentioning them. Not the most intimidating duo, from what I have heard of them.

They were standing with one leg higher than the other, to keep from sliding off the angled roof, and both were wearing identical costumes. The costumes sported blue man-leotards with broad belts cinched around their waists, skintight white sleeve and leggings. Their hoods were elastic, clinging to their heads so they left only a window for the face, and each sported a single white antenna. Of all colors, their gloves, boots and the balls at the top of their antennae were bubblegum pink. Their faces were obscured by oversize goggles with dark lenses.

...okay, I’d like to make a formal request. Please send me someone’s fan illustration of these two, because...honestly, right now? The mental image I have of them right now is anything but intimidating. Here, allow me to make a general image of it, which I’m sure is completely inaccurate, hahaha

It’s missing the white sleeves but still...it would still look silly. There must be something I’m getting wrong here.

Tattetale isn’t intimidated by the green-screen-actor costumes, greeting them with no worry in her tone, while Taylor looks for a camera these two villains use to transmit their shenanigans to the public. Why’d they do that? Hm...anyways, I guess that explains why they’d stick around. Taking the money and running away would be boring for the public to watch. If they bother to set up a flying camera around to broadcast everything, of course they’d try to make it interesting to watch. They’re performers – villains and criminals, but performers nonetheless.

Skitter is petty and messes with the camera, much to the villains’ annoyance. Nobody here is taking these two seriously, nobody is worried, Regent is even jeering at the awful costumes.

Leet and Über glared at him. Their entire schtick was a video game theme. With every escapade, they picked a different video game or series, designing their costumes and crimes around it. One day it would be Leet in a Mario costume throwing fireballs while Über was dressed up as Bowser, the two of them breaking into a mint to collect ‘coins’. Then a week later, they would have a Grand Theft Auto theme, and they would be driving through the city in a souped up car, ripping off the ABB and beating up hookers.

You have no idea how relieved I am those leotards aren’t their regular costumes.

Uber tries to say something to try to counter Regent’s mocking words, but he doesn’t have the time to do that before Regent makes him lose his footing and fall face first onto the pavement. Everything that’s happening is piling more and more on these two being anything but intimidating. Then again, they captured Heckpuppy, that’s not simple. They’re a menace to a fault.

Grue is in no mood to play around, immediately asking for the money. It’s confirmed that yeah, they have Heckpuppy, so it’s official: If we don’t get a decisive victory here, our reputation is fucked.” He’s not wrong about that, not only their defeat would be broadcasted to thousands of people, they also would have lost against Uber and Leet. They’re villains, yeah, but until now I have no reason to think they’re respected in this city.

The plan is simple: fight and leave Leet in a state to be interrogated. “I’m game,” I answered. Wow. You totally did that on purpose, Skitter. She’s excited about the thought of fighting them, after all, this isn’t like the bank robbery or like fighting heroes. These two are villains, and since she still considers herself a fledgling hero...yeah.

I think I’ll leave the fight for the next time. I don’t expect it to take more than one or two chapters, unless these two really have a trick up their sleeve.

Comment time. It seems somebody in the comments guessed what the theme of this fight is. I had no idea, to be honest. Bomberman? Now that I think about it...yeah, that fits. So they do have a trick up their sleeves! My interest and expectations for this fight have increased.

Next update: three updates

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