"Audrey! Dinner!"

My daughter moans something through her door about not wanting to do family dinners anymore. Her door opens.

"Dad, how can we have family dinners if we aren't a family anymore? Besides I live on my own now. I'm an adult you know... I have my own life."

"Audrey, you know your mom and I discussed this. what you do on campus is fine by us, but when at either of our homes we sit down for a family dinner. Besides, a family is whatever you make of it. No need to get all 1950's on me."

My partner winks at me, cute as a button in an apron embroidered with the text I could tell you the secret, but I'd have to kill you.

"Ugh! Fine." A grunted sigh escapes her lips.

We take our places at the dinner table as sirens start blaring. I stand up.

"Please, continue. I'll go check. Must be some rodent skulking about."

I pull up a camera feed on my phone and notice my nemesis. Angrily shaking her fist and mouthing words. I engage the audio feed.

"...-ING ASSHOLE! GET OUT HERE AND RETURN MY GIRLFRIEND! YOU HAVE GONE TOO FAR NOW AND WILL ANSWER FOR YOUR CRIMES! IF YOU DON'T RELEASE AUDREY RIGHT THIS MOMENT I WILL TEAR EVERYTHING YOU HOLD DEAR APART!"

As the audio spreads through the room I notice my daughter freeze.

"So Audrey, sweety. Anything I should know about you having your own life?"

I mute the audio and engage defences. Not noticeable, but doors get reinforced, walls get covered by a subtle forcefield, weapons start coming online.

Audrey looks like she's seen a ghost. My partner looks at me and motions for me to leave the room. He was always great at these things. I meanwhile leave the room and move towards my lair. I engage the microphones in the dining room.

"...and then she..." sob

I get dressed for battle as I hear how my daughter, my all, my everything tells my partner what happened. My boots click in place while I hear about the humiliation. My gloves slide on as I hear about the abuse of trust. My helmet seats firmly and connects to the torso part as I hear about the use of mind magic, coercion and ensuing blackmail.

As I leave my lair's postern I have heard enough, yet still my daughter continues telling about how my nemesis made her miserable. How she tried to end things, only to be coerced back into it.

I come into my nemesis' view. I make sure that the sound from outside carries through to the livingroom.

"Finall-" I cut her off. "You come to my house, to demand I hand over MY DAUGHTER so you can abuse her some more? I have heard all I need to. You have 3 seconds to remove yourself from my sight. If I ever see you again, you shall wish you were never born."

"What do you mean your daughter?"

"ONE"

"She is mine. I have claimed her. and I shall take her after I reduce your body to smouldering ashes"

"TWO"

My nemesis moves towards me to attack. Confident. Thinking she has had the upper hand. Fact of the matter is, I have been holding back.

When I started out, and was still married to my daughter's mother, I made a mistake. it made all the difference. Where before I was just a crazy scientist, but considered benign. After the mistake I was labeled a villain. I caused someone to die. And I swore not to do so again. But my ex-wife couldn't live with me anymore. So we separated. I promised not to tell Audrey about me, who was still an infant at the time. She would later discover my lair and I would come clean. We made it work. I promised not to meddle in her affairs she promised to keep everything under wraps. it was she who inspired me to branch out into acts of eco terrorism. Wrecking some pipelines was all for her and even though I couldn't make sure they weren't replaced, it was a bit of a bonding experience.

"Three" I say softly.

My nemesis hits me with a punch. It connects. But instead of me getting a transfer of kinetic energy and moving I stay put and absorb the impact. Other times I would only absorb part to keep up appearances.

Not this time.

As my nemesis starts throwing hit after hit, punches and kicks flying I stand there and see in my HUD various dials moving. The kinetic energy she puts out would be immense for a human. But she is not human. She is more than that. My suit takes some damage, minor stuff really. My energy reserves are near capacity.

I catch her foot.

"My turn"

I pull on her foot to get her torso closer to me as I bring my other fist forward. I engage the energy stored in my suit. An explosion of blood and viscera. When the red mist drops all I am holding is a leg. Her head has dropped and her eyes and mouth twitch.

I reach into a pocket and open a container with spores. I dump the contents on the bloody patch of ground and see fungi devour the blood and gore until nothing remains. I get back inside. I store my suit away for cleaning and trudge back inside.

I see my partner consoling my daughter. Red-eyed and bleary. She looks at me. A mix of relief and worry.

"I thought you swore you would never kill again."

"I did. But when it comes to you, I will do anything for you. If the world burns because of that then so be it. We will roast some marshmallows. "

Audrey hugs me.

I'm sorry.

Are you a native English speaker? LOL

Jessica and I had just sat down to our cups of tea. It was a lovely Assam, mine black, and hers with a touch of milk. As I sat down, a faint chime sounded.

Really? An intrusion event? In the middle of Saturday morning family time? I put my cup down and pulled out my phone. Perimeter cameras showed my front door in a smoking ruin. Motion sensors flipped camera views to me until Paragon came into view. The smug, smarmy, infuriating lantern-jawed man was methodically working through my defensive lines, which were currently at minimum staffing. We hadn't launched any particular projects lately. I'd assumed he'd be busy with... any one of a dozen small-time operators in the city.

I looked at Jessica, and motioned her to the safe room door. This was familiar. We'd done this hundred of times. You don't grow up in the shadow of The Corporation without retreating to a plush bunker at least 3 or 4 times a year. But, her face told me something was different about this time.

"What is it, baby?"

"Mom, remember that time I came home with Dr. Deadringer?" Jessica asked.

"Yes dear, now let's head for the safe room," I answered.

"OK and remember when I met him, he was just Todd, yeah?"

"...yes..."

"Well, that's Jay," she finished, pointing at my phone.

"I see," I said, as a headache flared up at my left temple. "And... do you know why Jay is currently... kicking the absolute piss out of Mr. Jensen on level 4?" I asked. We'd made it to the safe room.

"Well..." she hesitated. I gave her my patented Look. "Well, I think he probably thinks you've kidnapped me," she finally answered.

"And, why would he think that?" I asked mildly as my other temple joined into the headache party.

"OK, so, we've been dating for a while and-"

"DATING?! Are you serious right now?"

"Well, yes but but butbut I broke up with him a couple of nights ago and I didn't want to hurt him but he has been-"

"Broke up? And he's still-OH I DO NOT THINK SO! Get in the room I'll be back to see you in a minute, baby!" And I closed the safety door.

I snapped about and marched through the door to our industrial complex. As I headed toward the action I picked up my favourite equipment from caches spread strategically through the compound. Fury rode behind my eyes until the world looked like a target, as the noises of a rampage got louder and clearer around me. Finally, I burst through a door, face to face with Jay the Paragon, who had just finished smashing one of my access control stations to a smoking pile with what looked to be a metal baseball bat.

"GET OUT."

"LET JESSICA GO."

"GET OUT."

"I KNOW YOU HYPNOTIZED HER TO GET TO ME."

"GET OUT."

"YOU KIDNAPPED MY GIRLFRIEND!"

"YOU HAVE BEATEN 4 OF MY EMPLOYEES, COST ME MILLIONS IN PROPERTY DAMAGE, AND ENDANGERED MY FAMILY. GET OUT OR I WILL PUT YOU IN THE DIRT."

"I'M NOT SCARED OF YOU, YOU OLD BITCH!"

"WRONG ANSWER." And I tripped the electric trap he was standing on. Several dozen thousands of volts did their work pretty quickly, and that lantern jaw glowed for the first time. The smell was awful. I wondered briefly if he'd figured out who I was, since I'd showed up out of uniform. I wondered even more briefly if he'd figured out at any point who Jessica was to me. But then I called a cleanup crew and went back to the offices to let my daughter out of her safe room.

We still had Saturday morning tea and catching up to do. I needed some ideas for her 22nd birthday party after all.

Beautiful!

Agh, I thought these people learnt after I gave that guy perma-rocket feet, but nooooo, they never do. The light tinkling of bells slowly appears, oh great, my favourite client. 'Dr, dr! I have a proposition!' Not again- meet Theodoreus Sharkass, this idiot changed his name after he fell into my shark tank, I thought I saved him that day, but apparently some people can't just be grateful, 'What is it this time, you wanna be half robot or something?'
Instantly regretting my words I can hear the cogs literally turning in his head, another failed test I will choose to ignore. "Nope! I want cool feet, my main man Locky has rocket feet and I want something too!"
OH FOR GOODNESS SAKES
Regaining my composure I coach myself into giving an appropriate response 'You already have a shark tail, a gearhat to replace your hair, rat ears, stone teeth, and fairy wings'
"Yeah, and nothing on these" He is currently wildly jesturing to his lower half with his somehow unmodified hands and shark tail, seems I'm getting paid today.
'Sure, that'll be 950 gold peices, 6 large gems, 8000 silver peices, and 9 copper coins'
The 'man' standing in front of me has somehow aquired a large horde of treasure, so I bet he'll say something lik- "You've got a deal docco!" I have officially given up around the 2nd time, as they say, it's no use arguing with an idiot.
Sharkass throws a giant treasure chest onto my floor, I open it and find much more than I charged, typical, he doesn't even count his coin, not giving into my greed immediately, I use a quick scanning spell, definitely from a dragon, definitely stolen, preparing the table I lay him down and throw powder, given as payment from my last not-from-earth customer, onto him, and start sawing. You'd think I'd have a better method, but nope, still the same old, somewhat sterile saw, hopefully he doesn't mind me keeping his feet for the next not so humanoid, I gather a pair of roller skates from a child who wanted much longer rainbow hair and start the real work. Cutting, zapping, sawing, sticking, finally, something usable, I dash towards my spare parts cupboard and gather my 1st keepsake, an old android model, the AI had moved to a merm body so it's fine, Sawing off the feet was harder this time, the old circuits splurting out what seems to be blood. My saw is now in need of a major upgrade, after hacking away the rest I rush back to the table and build on the shoes, Done!
The shoes are on and the job is done, wacking the dazed semi-human I hose off the powder, "Eh, Eyyyy great work!" Not even stopping to say goodbye he skates off out of my shop, leaving me with my pay, a couple missing braincells, and some new parts.

I knew someone would reference it sooner or later

I can't tell if I'm just dumb/sleep deprived or if you're just high because what?

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“So hear me out,” Is possibly the worst start to a sentence I’ve ever heard. Something about attempting to justify your point before you even share it doesn’t rub me the right way. I hear some variation of this on a daily basis, and I know what I signed myself up for dropping out of medical school to become a black market doctor. I don’t go around fire expecting not to sweat. However, you’d think common sense would be a little more… common. Anyways, my client continues.

“Have you seen that one anime with that guy? And he like, has those powers and does that really cool transformation thing?” I just asked this woman for a clear description of what she would like done, and she instead decided to describe 90% of all anime. Wonderful description for somebody like a mind reader. I’m not a mind reader. My face said it all, and she back tracked for clarity.

“I don’t know the name, I’ve only seen clips on twitter. But he’s got a ripcord on his chest and when he pulls it, he like, grows chainsaws.” I questioned my life choices and how I got to be in this situation. I considered going back to medical school to do something meaningful with my life. There wasn’t a chance in hell that I was dealing with a real person. I don’t know what real person thinks that it’s possible to transform into a mechanical tool.

I let out an exhale, trying to ready myself for an interesting conversation. “That’s not possible-“ “Yes it is.” She cut me off before I could finish. I felt like I had an aneurysm. I had never had a client this moronic before, it was appalling. Okay, different approach. “I don’t do that kind of work.” I said in the calmest tone I could muster. Her enthusiastic expression turned into a frown. “But… what do you do?” Anything a normal doctor could do, but running from the law while doing it. “I specialize in organ transplants, and I also-“ She piped up at the word transplants. “You do transplants? So why can’t you put a chainsaw in my head?”

I certainly wanted to put a chainsaw in her head, just not in the way that she’d like. At this point, my face was buried deep in both of my hands. Back to contemplating. What did I do to deserve this? Is this karma? This has to be the last job. I’m at a good point financially, I can quit and put this behind me. My client continued to talk, barraging me with questions about the process. How long would it take to get done? How much would it cost? None of it concerned me, and I ignored her as I began to mentally walk myself through the process of college re enrollment.

"Yes, I caught him myself," I said as I threw the door open. The Son of God looked at me with a fear and despair I wouldn't have expected of a deity.

Half the cadre advanced through the door and surrounded the carpenter. The other half remained outside as He was bound. They had another task. Hammers clanked as men struggled to set the rigging. Wherever He was found; that's where the work had to be done. The Son might manage to take flight if we delayed.

I wondered how many times it had happened. I knew it had to be done; the scriptures said as much. The nails; the crown; the spear. I'd seen photos in school of the last time, back in '62. It'd been decades since He last came.

It was the proudest day of my life. He had to cleanse our sins, and this was the way.

thisll take a while, so gimme a bit

Very nice. The doors are a nice touch, and I love the fact that the "villain" treats the whole thing as a play. I don't suppose there is more to this particular interaction?

Op disappeared before they could finish this prompt.

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And there's the prompt.

I... I really like how you sum that up.

But I think that means that if I ever gain super powers, I'm probably not going to end up as a hero.

Thank you!

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I imagined him with a grin similar to Zeus in Disney's Hercules XD

“Who is it?” The frail voice, barely audible through the heavy wood door, had the distinctive lilt of an accent.

“Mrs. Green?” The voice of the priest carried a similar, but subtlety different lilt. “I’m from the Archdiocese.”

The old door creaked open to reveal a tiny woman, old and hunched, squinting from the dark interior of the house into the setting sun.

“Oh, good,” she sighed. “I told them to send an Irishman. Priests from the fatherland understand the old ways best.”

A smile appeared on the weathered face of the priest. “Indeed, ma’am,” he replied and tipped his hat. “The sons and daughters of Eire have always had a way with these things.”

The old woman stepped back, giving the lanky priest a wan smile. Her eyes were red-rimmed and puffy. “I’ve put the kettle on.” She croaked through a hoarse throat. “Can I offer you-?”

“Maybe after I’ve dealt with your boy, ma’am.” The priest interrupted and removed his felt hat as he crossed the threshold.

“My grandson,” the woman sighed. “He’s been acting strangely for weeks, but I thought…”

The priest placed a hand on her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. “No need to be hard on yourself, the devil’s wiles are subtle even to his strongest disciples.”

A grateful smile crossed the woman’s face, and she patted the Priest’s hand. A rosary was tied around her hand. The priest caught the crucifix at the end in his tattooed palm. “Your faith is strong, Mrs. Green,” he murmured as his slate-grey eyes wandered the intricate detail of the nailed figure. “It will see you through this tribulation. Now, where might I find your grandson?” the priest asked softly, letting the crucifix fall from his grip.

“Upstairs, in his room.” Mrs. Green pointed at the staircase, then pressed a key into the priest’s hand. “First door on the right. I had to lock the door; he was-”

“Thank you,” The priest interrupted with another smile. The smell of sulfur, un-mistakable to the priest’s trained senses, would have led him to the boy even without her help.

The old stairs creaked under the priest’s feet as he climbed, the stench becoming stronger with every step. As he got closer, he could hear the ramblings of the boy.

“God… dead and rotting… maggots will chew…”

As the priest approached the door, other scents emerged. Feces, urine, vomit, and blood. The muttering from inside became shouting when the occupant heard the key in the lock.

“I’ll drag you to hell!”

The priest opened the door, stepping into the reek of the room with deliberate steps.

“Fuck you, priest!” The bulky young man was crouched in the corner, savagely tearing at the savaged flesh of his arms with his teeth. The young man was maybe in his mid-twenties. The priest had never been good at judging human ages, especially when the face was soaked in blood.

“I’ll crucify you like your precious lord,” the possessed man howled, revealing a mouth of jagged and broken teeth. “I’ll put maggots in your eyes and fill your throat with spiders!”

Spying a chair that appeared mostly clean, the priest set his satchel on the floor, then began to undo the buttons of his long jacket. Folding it with care, he set it on the seat of the chair, and placed his hat on top.

“This one is mine!” Bloody saliva splattered from the man’s mouth as he continued to scream. “I’ve already eaten his soul, and I’ll shit it into God’s mouth!” He lunged forward, then danced backwards, like a dog harrying its prey.

“Be silent, whelp.” Any trace of accent had vanished from the priest’s voice, replaced by a low growl. He opened his satchel, removing sheets of paper printed with Latin script, a hammer, and a box of nails. Holding one of the sheets against the door, he positioned a nail and drew back the hammer.

“A holy barrier!” The man cackled. “First I’ll tear your throat out priest, then rip through that and shred that old bit-”

Wham!

With one sure strike, the priest drove the nail into the wall, hanging the first page.

“Be silent,” the priest snarled, “or I will burn that tongue from your mouth. You do not know to whom you speak.”

Wham! Another page hung.

The man laughed. “I am speaking to God’s whore! I will send you to hell and fuck you with-”

The tattoo on the priest’s hand flashed and a gout of flame, the deepest shade of orange, erupted from the possessed man’s mouth. He screamed as flesh melted and enamel shattered in the heat.

Wham! The final page hung.

“Have you even seen Hell?” The priest growled as he turned toward the possessed man, who was now clutching at the ruined flesh of his mouth. His eyes were filled with pain, confusion, and fear. “Or were you one of those mass-produced abominations Lucifer churned out to feed his war machine? Chewed up and spit out into the mortal plane before you could even learn what Hell was. What its purpose, its true purpose, was?”

The priest dropped his hammer to the ground, and began rolling up his sleeves, revealing forearms crossed with scar-tissue and more tattoos. “I have. Before I took my post, I walked the Cinder Barrens with the Light-Bringer. I helped quarry the bedrock of the Umbral peaks to raise His Onyx Palace, His seat of authority. I looked over His domain, the domain I helped to build, and I knew true joy. Joy as only someone who knows their purpose can.”

Behind the priest, the pages ignited with power. The delicate script burned a searing red, bathing the room in its ruby light. The possessed man began to panic, thrashing on the ground, scrabbling backwards, trying to get as far away from the pages as possible. On the ground, a circle, filled with runes and alchemical symbols began to char itself into the floorboards.

“But the Morning-Star, for all his wisdom, could not look past his embarrassment at his banishment. He and his generals sought only to build an army to conquer what he believed was his by birth. I consoled against them, and for that I was banished to the deepest pits of the Abyssal Depths, to shepherd the Beasts that Writhe.”

The circle complete, the priest, his tattoos alight with power, reached out and seized the possessed man in his fist, dragging him into the circle. The possessed man hissed and fought, scratching and screaming, but the priest’s grip was of iron.

“Maybe I should have protested, maybe I should have disobeyed, but I did not. For millennia I performed my duty, focused entirely on my task of keeping those primordial titans bound. Maybe, if I hadn’t focused so entirely on that, I would have seen it coming. But I did not, and when Lucifer threw open the gates of Hell, and unleashed his Legions, I was helpless to intervene. Too late, I watched as God smote down the Light-Bringer, and scattered the armies of hell to the winds.”

The skin of the possessed man began to bubble, and smoke poured from his mouth and eyes. The priest raised the man to eye level. The man’s eyes had turned jaundice yellow, and the pupils had morphed into the vertical slits of a cat’s.

“We finally meet, Ny’sacth,” the being dressed in priest’s vestments growled. His own eyes had become the crimson of clotted blood. “I ask again,” he snarled in a deepening voice. “Have you truly seen Hell?”

The possessed man began shaking his head frantically. The demon in priest’s vestments grinned, for the first time since entering the room. “You will. Its plains are empty, its cells are barren, but I’ll see Lucifer’s folly undone if it’s the last thing I do.”

The man in priest’s clothing held the demon’s gaze. “You see, Ny’sacth, Hell is not a kingdom. It’s a prison, and I am its final jailer.”

​

*****

​

“-don’t think you understand, Mrs. Green, the Archdiocese sent us, no one else.”

The priest buttoned the last button on his coat, picked up his satchel, and began descending the stairs.

“But I’m telling you,” Mrs. Green said to the two priests dressed in elaborate purple robes at her door. “I let him in over an hour ago. He’s upstairs.”

The creak of the stairs alerted the three to his presence. “Father,” Mrs. Green said, turning toward him. “These two men say-”

“Your grandson will live,” the priest interrupted, settling his hat on his head. “However, he’ll need immediate medical attention.” The lilt had returned to his voice. Reaching into his pocket, he withdrew a handful of silver coins. “You will have to replace the floor in that room.” Placing the coins into Mrs. Green’s hand, he gently slipped past her, pushed through the priests on the front steps, and walked away into the night.

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