Dental Care
“Damn, that’s fucked,” Psyren said as she scrolled through her Instagram feed.
I stared at her for a minute. Not exactly the reaction I was expecting to the news a bunch of villains had formed a consortium to kidnap you and use you in an evil machine for world domination. “Uh, yeah. Basically,” I said. “You’re not… you know, shocked?”
Psyren shrugged. We were in the former ballroom of the chalet, now home to my personal death ray. Apparently it acted as a good backdrop for some of Psyren’s posts. I let her use it, seeing as getting the word out I had a doomsday device would be good for threatening anyone thinking of attacking the chalet. And it wouldn’t have been hard to figure out I had it anyway, so no sense keeping it a secret.
I’d called all three of the girls in for this little revelation. It was convenient to get everyone up to speed at once. Glacia was looking out the window, her lips pursed pensively as she listened, a cool breeze whirling around her from her agitation. Dolly meanwhile sat in the corner on a well stuffed chair, laptop open, her woolly head bowed as worked on the USB I’d gotten from Steve.
Psyren lifted her phone, taking advantage of the icy breeze to make her hair swirl, striking a pose in front of the base of the death ray. She made a peace sign and snapped a pic with a teasing smile. “Mmm. Oh fuck yeah, that’s a good one,” she said, examining her handiwork, then to me, “I mean, like, it’s happened before a bunch of times. One time some crazy government program tried to kidnap me and use me in some weirdo experiment to read the minds of Russian scientists across the world. Poor idiots!” she cackled, grinning. “The guy they sent to grab me was my pathetic love slave before we’d even reached his headquarters! He actually drove me home and gave me all his cash before I got rid of him. Anyway, right around then was when my bro got me to work at the Rumble Ring, ya know?”
“Oh. Right,” I said. I suppose I knew, academically, that people had been after Psyren for her powers before. I just never really put together how humdrum that would get after about eighteen years. “So uh, are you worried?”
“Nah. Aw, this guy again,” she growled, thumbs tapping her phone screen. “Those fucking Songbird stans are being a bunch of assholes. Yeah, I am better than them. Spend five minutes with me, and you’d be kissing my foot and begging me to step on you!”
“Why not?” I said.
“Huh?” she said, glancing back at me.
“Why aren’t you worried?” I asked.
Psyren finally put down her phone and gave me a lazy grin. “You kidding me, bossman? Because I know you got my back. And those fuckers are gonna need a broom to pick up what you leave of them.”
Well, that was… kinda flattering. And a bit disturbing. I’d like to think I wasn’t that violent. Then again, she had seen me dispatch Teklin not so long ago. And really, this wasn’t terribly different from killing him. Hell, I was actually doing better in that respect.
Speaking of…
“Dolly?” I said, looking to where she was sitting. “What have you got for us?”
“Mmmm,” Dolly said, nibbling on her lower lip, the glow of the screen flickering across her face as she tabbed through files and pages that were on the USB stick. “Looks pretty legit, Victor. I mean, the plans he gave you are incomplete, but as the resident evil genius, hot chick, and perky evil scientist, I can offer my professional opinion that this could amplify a psychic’s powers something fierce.”
“Your opinion as a hot chick?” I said.
She smirked, nestling back in her chair, her collar of wool fluffing around her head. “Mmhmm. And you know if a hot girl says something it must be true.”
“Ah yes. How could I forget the many journalistic citations of ‘some hot chick,’” I said with a roll of my eyes.
“Happens more often than you’d think,” Dolly said. “Especially in biology. If you want, we could do a couple studies about that,” Dolly said with a wiggle of her eyebrows and a lazy arching of her body, pushing her plush breasts against her sweater and lab coat.
My eyes lingered a bit on her bust but I shook my head. “Maybe later,” I said. “What about the coordinates Steve gave us?”
Dolly shrugged and lazily tapped a few more keys. “Mmm. Looks like he might know what he was talking about. I hacked into Metro Power, and there’s a lot of draw being sucked into the old toothpaste factory.”
“Wait, Denton is seriously hiding out in a toothpaste factory?” I said.
“I know, right?” Dolly said.
Well, I’d give Doctor Denton props for at least thematic loyalty. It would almost be a shame to kill him. I mean, if I had to I would and not even look back, short of making sure he was dead. Always check the body. Rule number one when defeating your enemies. I’d seen too many heroes and villains eat it because their enemy faked their demise, hid some manga inside their jacket to deflect the knives, or some other bullshit. I trusted Steve, but I wasn’t running in blind either. He might be getting used as well, and I wasn’t going to be someone’s patsy, but neither was I going to let this go and just hope no one came raiding the chalet to grab Psyren. “Alright,” I said, checking my watch. “Then I’m heading over there.”
“Oh! Oh oh oh! Can I come?” Psyren said, perking up. “I want to have some fun!”
I hesitated. It would be a big mistake to bring the very person they were looking for to this little shindig, especially if it ended up as a super brawl, which it, realistically, was probably going to be. But on the other hand, it would be good if I could have her just brainwash the bastard into leaving her alone.
“Alright,” I finally said. “You can come. But stay close to Glacia. Glacia?”
“Sir?” the ice themed villainess said, turning swiftly from the window.
“You’re in charge of watching out for Psyren. Anyone comes near either of you, popsicle them.”
“Of course, sir. But do you really expect him to be trouble? He sounds like an idiot.”
I slammed my hand onto a worktable, making all of them jump. “Never,” I said, speaking firmly enough to hammer nails into cement. “Never underestimate idiots.”
“Sir?” Glacia said.
“That goes for all of you,” I said emphatically, casting my eyes at each of the startled women in turn. “Never ever assume just because someone acts like a moron they’ll go down easy. The craziest fuckers are the most tenacious villains you’ll ever meet. Just because they wear a wacky hat or have a particular obsession with clown makeup or manatees, never think they can’t be dangerous. We clear?”
“Uh. Crystal, boss,” Psyren said.
“Yes, sir,” Glacia said, stiffening and giving me an acknowledging nod.
I returned the gesture. Good. Sounded like they got it. “Alright. So Psyren and Glacia are on attack with me. And Dolly?”
“Let me guess. Mission control as usual?” she said.
“Do you want to come with?” I asked.
“Pfft!” she snorted. “Please, Victor! Why would I go mucking around in some dirty old factory when I could snuggle in my favourite chair, grab a bowl of popcorn, hack into the security feeds and watch you go to town on some guy’s skull? Best show in town! And really gets me in the mood, if you catch my drift. Besides! I love getting to direct you guys like the nefarious genius I am. Dance, puppets. Dance!” she cackled, wiggling her fingers menacingly.
“That works,” I said, rising. “Alright, ladies. Let’s go.”
That said, the whole dramatic departure was a bit spoiled by the fact we piled into my old Honda Civic and started driving. Hard to dramatically ride off to battle with an evil dentist in a beat-up car with flaking grey paint.
“You should really get a better car, boss,” Psyren noted.
“What’s wrong with my car?” I said, maybe a bit too defensively.
“Nothing of course, sir,” Glacia said from the back. “But for an individual of your standing, a more… emphatic vehicle would surely not be remiss. You are not a simple villain anymore, but the leader of an organization of greatest evil!”
It was a somewhat uncomfortable reminder, I don’t mind saying. I mean, I get it. I wasn’t the me who used to only have a costume, apartment, and a near-empty bank account anymore. I had a group of gorgeous villainesses, an evil lair complete with death ray and statue to my own ego, and more work than you could shake an enchanted katana at. But maybe that was why I was reluctant to let go of my old car. It was a link to my life before I got involved with Psyren, Glacia and Dolly. A wistful relic of days of cheap takeout and low-value brawls with superheroes.
But they had a point. It didn’t really fit with my new standards. What self-respecting villain didn’t have a car with a thematic design or deployable machine guns in the headlights? I drummed my fingers on the peeling padding of my steering wheel.
Well, admittedly I didn’t want to be a villain all the time. But still, an upgrade in my car wouldn’t be remiss.
“Alright,” I said. “After we take care of the whole ‘world domination scheme using Psyren,’ I’ll look into getting a new car.”
“Ooh! Let us come!” Psyren cried, waving her arm to get my attention. “I can get you an amazing deal!”
“You’re not going to mind control anyone for it,” I said, knowing too well that could backfire badly on us. “And we’re not stealing it.”
“Aw. Way to take all the fun out of it,” Psyren huffed.
“Still, sir, I am sure we can find a most excellent vehicle to do you justice,” Glacia said.
“And I can totes upgrade the fuck out of it!” Dolly’s voice chimed suddenly out of the car radio.
“Gah!” I gasped, nearly swerving off the road in surprise. “Dolly?”
She giggled, her voice scratchy from the old speakers. “You think this is fun? Just wait until I show you what I can cram into a new car. Gonna put some real junk in that trunk, Victor.”
I sighed and turned my attention to the road.
Well, shopping was going to be interesting, that was for sure.
We made quick progress through Metro City, passing through the downtown with its towering skyscrapers and old tenements. We hit the business strip and soon left the main freeways behind, instead heading towards the old industrial districts, past the few remaining working factories and to where the graffiti clung thick to old red brickwork, and smokestacks blackened with age and fire stood like tombstones. Deindustrialization had hit this part of Metro City hard, and the city was still figuring out what to do with it. In the meantime, it had become a breeding ground for villains, and not just because of the poorly stored toxic waste. Not a lot of people willingly came out this way, so gangs like the Neons and the Ironknuckles had taken up the place instead.
I had no intention on dealing with them, though. The gangs were usually satisfied fighting each other, or with the streeters who came to ‘clean up’ the slums, but I wouldn’t put it past them to take a shot at us. Pro heroes didn’t go fighting gangs very often. Publicity was rarely in it, or the wrong kind. And the gangs around Metro City didn’t do anything big enough to warrant real attention so long as they kept it to the slums and poor people. My only real concern was if Denton had made a deal with one of them. I usually kept out of gang business. They were vicious in a way not even a lot of villains were, and many tended to keep pet mad scientists around to juice up their members. That Denton might be one of those was a real possibility. Hopefully he was just squatting in their territory, or maybe bribing them with some tech to keep them off him.
Either way, I was going in there.
I parked outside the chain-link fence to the old toothpaste factory and got out of the car, looking the place over. It was pretty typical, with the old brickwork rising up to a number of high windows, all smashed in. A very square place with a few scattered outbuildings, but the neglect was plain, the whole place looking hollow like a rotting corpse of industry. An air of death and decrepitude hanging about it like a pall.
“Nice tagging,” Psyren said.
I glanced over to her and saw she was admiring some spray paint on one of the walls. I recognized the Neon’s bright green and purples, but it looked old. Hopefully they didn’t still call this area their territory, or at least kept away a bit. Still, it didn’t inspire me to linger.
“We’re going in,” I said, gesturing at the fence. With my magnetic powers I had the links unknit themselves, allowing us to duck through before I rewound the metal. I turned my attention to the building as we moved forward, and as I did, I deployed my armour. The feel of the metal sliding into place was reassuring, the helmet especially, the world narrowing to the V of my visor.
“Dolly?” I said.
“Looking over your shoulder, Victor,” she said through the transceiver in my ear.
“Can you scan this place for any security systems?”
I heard keys clicking on her end. “Mmm. Not getting much. But that could mean he has a localized system.”
Fair enough. I let my powers expand towards the building, sensing the metal in the place. There was a lot of it, unsurprisingly for an old factory, but much of it was clearly new, without the itch of rust or neglect. The building was apparently just a shell for Denton’s work, but fortunately he hadn’t gone underground like Dolly’s old hideout. It seemed to be all out in the main receiving bay.
I was tempted to just rip out everything metallic in there and then find Denton himself, but not only would that draw a lot more attention than I was looking for, I still wanted to first have words with the good doctor. Most villains couldn’t help but rant, and I was going to guess a psychotic dentist wasn’t going to be too restrained. You never knew what tidbits you could pick up.
“Let’s go,” I said, moving towards the loading bay doors where I could sense the majority of the new equipment. Psyren and Glacia followed close behind, the two villainesses fairly vibrating with excitement.
I didn’t sense the telltale feel of guns with my magnetic powers, or the sorts of gear that guards would be wearing, which on their own didn’t necessarily mean much, but it was encouraging. Last thing I needed was to deal with henchmen. I’d rather not kill a bunch of randos if I could help it. I raised my hand towards the loading doors, my magnetic powers humming with the metal, and with a gesture I swung them wide open.
Light poured into the loading bay, glinting off an array of machinery filling the place. Rows of what looked like pods were angled along the walls, cables winding from their tops and into the machinery sprawled about the room. A crane hung from the ceiling, and some catwalks crisscrossed the upper level, while the low hum of machinery at work filled the air. Vats of bubbling green rose from the corners, and on a platform built against another wall was an array of screens and monitors that glowed with activity.
“Well well well! What have we here?”
I looked upward to one of the rearmost catwalks and saw Denton himself. He was leaning against the railing, looking down at us, as picture perfect as his photograph had been. He was so blindingly white it almost hurt to look at him, his immaculate doctor’s coat buttoned up tight over his top-heavy body, his shock of hair tangled around his face, and his grin so wide and manic it would make the Joker look sane. To say nothing of the wild glare of his eyes as he looked down at us.
“Doctor Denton?” I said.
“Indeed! But you may call me Brute Canal!” he boomed, straightening and flexing his massive arms, his sleeves actually bursting off in the face of such impressive gains. “The most powerful dentist who ever lived!”
Not exactly a crowded field that one.
“Right,” I said. “I-“
“Once,” Brute Canal continued as he pumped his arms, “I was but another grad student with amazing teeth! Then, I realized the true power of oral care, and the greatness that it would bring all humanity! Yes!” he shouted, curling his arms inward, squeezing his biceps until I thought his jacket might follow his sleeves. “For only the truly toothiest deserve to lead this world.”
Okay, I know I said don’t underestimate the crazies, but this was getting a bit weird even for me.
“And you must be the villain Magneron,” he shouted, again grasping the railing and leering down at me with that unnerving grin.
“I am,” I said. “I heard you were looking for Psyren.”
“Indeed!” Brute Canal said, his teeth clacking with delight. “I don’t know how you found me, but no matter! It saves me the trouble of finding you!”
“So you did build the Mind Spike?” I said, and as I did so, I fed my powers into the metal railing he leaned on, easily manipulating its magnetic field.
“Of course!” Brute Canal cackled. “A marvel of mad science. Of engineering! And I will use it to finally get my revenge. To finally achieve what those fools at the American Dental Association never could. When I have that machine, no man, woman or child will ever forget to brush and floss their teeth again!”
“That’s what you want to use it for?” I said. “You helped build a machine capable of controlling the minds of the world and that’s your evil plan?”
“Fool!” Brute Canal roared, pounding a fist into the rail, bending the metal with ease. “Do you have any idea how maddening it was? Children coming into my office day in and out. Demanding I repair their teeth, when they wouldn’t even take the briefest efforts to maintain oral health! Men with receding gums that were never willing to floss properly. Women who insisted I whiten their teeth with artificial means. Fools! Sure, I enjoyed causing pain in my patients. I adored their screams as I pulled and drilled and bridged without anesthetic. What dentist doesn’t? But none could argue with my results! Yet they dared, dared to revoke my license and my practice! Oh, and how they mocked me. Laughed at me! But I will have the last laugh. Gya ha ha ha ha!” he cackled. “Though the Mind may have stolen the Mind Spike away, it is no matter. For once I have the girl, I will build a new one! And when I do, the world will know the true value of proper oral hygiene! Gya ha ha ha ha!”
Well, that was all I needed to hear.
In fact, it was more than I needed to hear, but the ranting had been useful for me to get a good magnetic grip on the metal around him. I raised my hand and bunched it into a fist. In answer to my command, the railing around Brute Canal suddenly twisted, ripping itself from the catwalk to wrap around him like ropes of iron. The mad dentist yelped as the metal wound around him, squeezing his arms against his sides.
“Alright,” I said, using my powers to lift myself into the air and floating towards him. “Here’s how this is going to work. You’re clearly insane, and not going to give up this plan of yours. So what we’re going to do is have Psyren rummage around in your head and make you forget all about her and your evil plan.”
“Fuck yeah!” Psyren shouted from the ground. “You tell him boss!”
“Ha! You think the mighty Brute Canal is threatened by you?” Denton said, his manic grin never fading. “I knew I would need to overcome you before I seized the girl. And I planned accordingly. Now, let us see if you can overcome… my mighty Cavity Creeps!”
Hydraulics hissed. I looked down sharply as every one of the pods along the walls opened, pouring mist from their interiors as the glass doors rose with a whirr. I tensed as the figures within climbed out.
Oh boy. That wasn’t good.
There were at least a dozen of them, and they were huge bastards. Their skin was a corpse-like grey and their bodies so thickly muscled they looked like they had basketballs in their arms. Universally bald, their eyes were bloodshot red and their hands were massive mitts of thick fingers. Ape-like, they shambled out of the containers, baring their, frankly, excellent fanged teeth at us.
“Intimidated? Ha ha! I’m not surprised,” Brute Canal cackled. “For their skin is thicker than that of the mighty rhinoceros! Not even the most hurtful comment can penetrate their mighty hides. And their great limbs can tear through a tank like gingivitis through unflossed gums!”
“Pfft! So what? I bet they’re as dumb as you,” Psyren said, raising her hand and pointing at the hulking monsters. Pink hearts pulsed in her eyes as she compelled her powers towards the Creeps, her voice thrumming in the air.
“KNEEL!”
I winced as I felt the throb of a headache from her using her powers, but he monsters just staggered a step, then shook their heads and turned their piercing eyes upon her. Psyren’s smirk faded a hair.
“Gya ha ha! Fool!” Brute Canal cackled. “They were designed specifically to capture you! Your mental powers cannot affect them. They are unstop-!”
A ray of freezing air smashed into one of the hulking figures, blowing him off his feet. The Creep hit the ground hard, doubly so because his head was now encased in a massive block of ice.
Glacia lowered her hand, cold winds still swirling around her like the first snow of winter. “Ah,” she said. “It appears they are not immune to brain freeze. How unfortunate.”
Well, I was impressed. Glacia had clearly not only been working on her powers, but her banter.
“Well done!” I called down at her.
Glacia beamed. “Thank you, sir.”
“Cheater!” Brute Canal snarled. “Cavity Creeps! Attack!”
The brutes roared like a pack of irate gorillas and charged towards Glacia and Psyren. Immediately Glacia wrapped an arm around Psyren’s waist, lifting the other woman into the air on a rush of freezing air, another ray of frost blasting from Glacia’s other hand and spreading a wall of ice before the Creeps.
But the monsters had clearly been designed for their raw strength, and they smashed through the ice almost instantly, bellowing as their grey fists clawed and swung for the ascending pair.
“Glacia!” I shouted, but a creak of metal forestalled me. I looked back, just in time to see Brute Canal rip his way out of the metal wrapped around him, tearing through it as if it were tissue paper.
“Fool! I’ve made retainers stronger than that!” the homicidal orthodontist cried as he swung a punch at me. I instantly brought up my arms, blocking it with my armour even as I yanked myself away from him. But even with all that he still nicked me, the impact slamming me through the air. Only a hasty push of my powers off the far wall kept me from crashing into it. But already Brute Canal was leaping off the catwalk, landing so hard on the floor it cratered. But that barely slowed him, and he dashed towards the rear exit.
“Shit!” I swore.
“Take him, sir!” Glacia shouted, drawing my attention as she sent another blast of freezing cold into one of the Creeps who tried to grab at her. “We will handle these!”
I hesitated, but I knew Glacia’s powers. She was the one who had held out for hours against a siege of mutants and robots not too long ago. She could handle the Creeps. “I’ll be back!” I told her, and sent myself shooting after Brute Canal, who had just dashed through a door at the rear of the room and into the larger factory.
Fuck! I couldn’t lose him. If he got away, who knew what hole he’d crawl into after this. I might never be able to find him again, and there would go my peace of mind. I’d spend the rest of my days wondering if some molar mauler was lurking around every bend to snatch Psyren.
To hell with that!
I sent a blast of magnetic force towards the doors, smashing them open as I floated into the next room. An old assembly line faced me, scanty light bleeding from the windows and through the skeletal masses of assembled machinery. I sent my powers radiating outward, trying to feel the place, but there was a lot of rusty metal. Ech. The feel of it grated on my skin like I was rubbing myself with sand. And somewhere in there was Brute Canal.
“Come on out, Denton!” I shouted, my voice echoing among the old machinery. “I know you’re in here.”
“Fat lot of good it’ll do you!” he retorted. Damn, it was hard to pinpoint his voice in here.
“Just give up! I promise we won’t brainwash you more than necessary,” I said as I moved slowly into the room. Just had to keep him talking…
“Ha! You think you’ll use mind control on me? You’re a monster!”
“Your plan does the same thing! Only worse,” I said. Ah, felt some metal moving. And it was…
“True!”
I whirled around as I pinpointed the moving metal, but it was nearly too late! Brute Canal leaped from his hiding spot between some vats, slamming into me and bearing me to the ground. A massive dental drill with a bunch of jagged spikes was in his hand, the whirring sound like a nightmare from childhood as he tried to force it down into my face.
I pushed back hard with my powers, the whirring drill freezing a few inches from my helmet. Brute Canal’s immaculate teeth grit, perfect gums bared as he put more force into his arm, steadily gaining ground.
“Muscles… beat… magnetism!” Brute Canal grunted as he forced the drill closer. Closer. Damn but this bastard was strong! If he’d decided to just smash my head in with his fist, there probably wouldn’t have been much I could do about it. Thank fuck for thematic villain stupidity. But even so it was only a matter of time before that drill reached my face. I had to do something fast! I split my attention, my powers grabbing an old control panel not far. The drill jerked as my hold on it loosened, coming closer. The whirr of the drill touched the tip of my mask. Sparks hissed and spat.
I swung my free arm, and with a rending groan an entire control panel was magnetically ripped from its moorings and flew across the room. Brute Canal never saw it coming, too maniacally focused on forcing the drill into my eye. The mass of metal hit him like a battering ram, ripping him off me and flinging him across the room. I jerked upright, gasping, touching the gouged metal of my mask. But no time to think about the near miss. I was already back up, even as Brute Canal heaved the machine off himself, rising to his feet with a snarl.
“Fool! You’ll pay for that!” he snarled.
“Shut up!” I said and raised my hand. All around me chunks of the assembly line vibrated, humming as they were magnetically ripped out of the floor. For the first time Brute Canal looked uncertain, eying the metal as half the factory coalesced into a colossal hand hovering behind me.
“Uh…” he said.
“I am so fucking done with you,” I growled and lowered my arm.
Brute Canal saw the hand of metal rush at him and turned, running towards the far exit. But I had better control of my powers than that. He’d barely made it halfway before the metal hand grabbed him, bearing him to the ground. I tightened the hand, grinding old metal together, squeezing him in its crushing embrace.
“Grnnn!” he groaned, only his head emerging from the fingers of steel and rusty iron, the veins in his neck and forehead bulging. “You’ll… not… hold… me…!”
“Let’s see about that,” I said, hearing the doors slam open behind me. I looked back to see Psyren and Glacia rush in with a blast of freezing air.
“Sir! We’re here! What… oh,” Glacia said, looking at the prison of metal that held Brute Canal.
“Take care of the monsters?” I asked them.
“Yes, sir,” Glacia said, depositing Psyren on the ground. “The creatures will not bother us now.”
“I’ll say! Those things probably won’t thaw until the year three thousand!” Psyren said.
“Good work, Glacia,” I said, proud of her. I knew she was powerful, but seeing her take on that level of enemy was very impressive. I looked back to Psyren. “Now, if you would?” I said, nodding at Brute Canal.
Psyren’s eyes flashed with pink hearts, her grin growing vicious. “Oh fuck yeah!” she said, rubbing her hands with glee as she came nearer. “Time for some lobotomy, bitches!”
“Nothing too severe,” I reminded her. “Just make him forget us and the whole ‘evil scheme’ with the Mind Spike.”
“Aww. Can’t I dig around in his brain a little more, boss?” Psyren said plaintively. “I could make him think he was a dog!”
“We’re villains, Psyren. Not assholes,” I reminded her.
She sighed dramatically. “Fine!” she said and flexed her fingers, leering at Brute Canal. “Now,” she said, sliding her headphones off and grabbing the sides of his head. “Let’s get this party started!”
The air around Psyren hummed, growing an electric pink. I winced as I felt that twinging throb in my temples that always accompanied her powers. Though her psychic abilities didn’t affect me due to my own powers, they could give me the mother of all fucking headaches. But I’d take some pain in the membrane any day if it meant keeping her safe.
And Psyren was plainly having fun. She didn’t often get to cut loose like this, and she was clearly going to enjoy every minute of it. Brute Canal’s face twitched and shuddered. His body tried to force its way out of its metal prison, but I’d learned my lesson from the last time and clamped the metal fist even tighter around him.
“Hey there big guy,” Psyren said, her voice faintly vibrating with her psychic power, laden with teasing compulsion. “I’ve got a reeeeal big ask for you. And I know it’s gonna be suuuuper hard, but I think you can do it.”
“What… what?” Brute Canal gasped.
“Forget allllll about me,” Psyren said. “I know,” she sighed. “I know it’s gonna be suuuuper hard. Just painfully difficult. I know you don’t want to. I know how obsessed with me you are. How beautiful I am. But I need you to do it.”
“But… I… I…” Brute Canal gasped, his eyes wide and staring into hers, the neon pink hearts thrumming in Psyren’s pupils.
“Do it for me,” Psyren crooned, stroking his face as her glowing eyes bored into his, pounding down his will with every pulse of the hearts in her eyes. “I know you love me. Obsess about me. Want me. Need me. But if you love me, you’ll let me go. So your goddess is ordering you. Commanding you. Give in. Give it up. Forget all about me. Everything. If anyone mentions me, you won’t think about it. If you see my name you’ll pass it by. If you see my picture you’ll draw a blank.
“And you’ll forget all about the Mind Spike,” Psyren crooned.
“But… but my… my work…” Brute Canal gasped.
Psyren giggled viciously. “Whoops! All gone. Forgotten. As soon as we leave, you’ll delete everything about it. You’ll never think of it again. You won’t even dream of it. You’ll think you spent the time you developed it… hmmm… ah! You spent that time in Miami getting drunk and, I dunno, performing free dental care for orphans.”
“I did?” Brute Canal said dimly.
“Oh yeah,” Psyren said, her grin widening, her eyes pulsing with power. “Would I lie to you?”
The sight was both disturbing and encouraging. If Psyren ever did decide to go full villain, the world would be in a very bad place. And there was certainly no shortage of people who’d love to have her as a part of their villain group. Those offers she’d been getting were not going to stop, that much I knew from experience. Everyone wanted a powerful psychic on their side, or even to serve under them. And Psyren being who she was would not lack for simps. Seriously, there was a reason most villainesses dressed in skintight leather, and it wasn’t just for fashion reasons. Wear that stuff when out recruiting new henchmen and you’d be beating them off with a stick.
But though erasing his mind was useful, there was something else we needed from him too. “See if he knows anything about where the Mind is hiding,” I said.
“Oooh, good call boss. How about it, big boy?” Psyren said, again turning her compulsive eyes to Brute Canal. “What do you know about him?”
“The... the Master... Mind is...”
“Tell me,” Psyren crooned, her eyes throbbing with compulsive power. “Tell me everything.”
“I… I don’t… kn-know…”
“Anything, babe? Have you got nothing else for me? Your darling? Your obsession? Your gorgeous goddess of a psychic queen?”
“Don’t... don’t know... anything moooore,” Brute Canal moaned.
Tsk. Well, enough for a start, at any rate. “Finish him up,” I instructed her.
“You got it, boss,” Psyren said with a wink at me, then turned the full force of her powers back onto Brute Canal.
I waited while Psyren did her work, which didn’t take long. She drilled into Brute Canal’s brain as thoroughly as he would a molar, but with far less pain involved. It was almost a shame not to make him suffer a bit more. But I was trying to set an example.
I shook it off as Psyren finally released Brute Canal's head, letting it loll like his neck were made of rubber, his pupils still throbbing with pink light.
“All done!” she said, wiping her hands on her pants. “Ugh! His brain was like sticking your hand in a pot of oil. Gross!”
“Great job, Psyren,” I said, eying Brute Canal’s vacant face. The guy looked like he’d been huffing his own numbing gas. “Will he remember any of this?”
“Nah, bossman. Not a thing!” she chirped. “He’ll be out for hours. And by the time he wakes up, he’ll think it was all a dream.”
“What about the localized ice age in his labs?” I asked, jerking a thumb at the doors behind us.
“You’d be amazed how well the brain rationalizes things,” Psyren said.
She was right about that. I released Brute Canal from his metal prison, the mental dentist flopping onto the floor, giggling to himself with that horrific grin on his dreamy face. Yeesh. “Let’s get out of here,” I said.
“Of course, sir,” Glacia said, instantly at my side.
“You got it, bossman!” Psyren giggled, suddenly at my other side, pressing against me coyly.
I rolled my eyes, but hey. If two gorgeous supervillainesses wanted to walk arm in arm with me, I wasn’t going to complain. With the two beauties, I made my way back through the door and into the main lab.
It was like walking into a meat locker, complete with copious amounts of errant icicles. Freezing air swirled in the room, ice coating parts of the floor and curling up along the walls. I could practically trace the course of the battle in the great pillars of ice, especially since several of them contained Cavity Creeps. The massive monsters were frozen like Neanderthals waiting for some idiot scientist to thaw them out. I passed a couple of them, eying the twisted faces through the warped ice.
“Good work,” I told Glacia.
“Thank you, sir,” Glacia said primly. “I did as you demonstrated to me, and I am glad my training has borne fruit.”
“I’ll say,” I said as we reached the end of the room, ducking under the bay doors I’d thrown open, relaxing a little once we were outside. I sighed, stretching, the cold diffusing under the warm sunlight. I kept my eye out, but it looked like our little brawl in the lab hadn’t drawn much attention. Which worked for me. In and out, quick and quiet.
I just hoped dealing with the Mind would be as simple.