13 replies to this topic

[LordPhibius]

What follows is an RP between myself and Antoniella.  It is rated R for violence and alluded sexual themes.  18+ please.

 

I will share it one part at a time.  There are a total of 15 parts.

 

Prologue:  Fox in the Henhouse

 

She was given an assignment, steal some information Villians Inc had under their control. Not that she was new to the job, she had a reputation and her employer had contracted her several times for her to steal several things, mostly information, money, expensive goods, etc.

 

The redhead Antoniella calmly makes her way towards the building dressed as a delivery woman, with a long sleeve uniform and a cap, carrying some packages for the building. She walks to the front counter and talks with the secretary there smiling and all before giving the packages. Having a first personal sight of the inside of the outer layer of the building she walks out of it, to the delivery truck. She had parked in a place that the security cameras did film, but in a way that the truck could get in the way of seeing things. She walks to the side and waves to a female guard for some help, the guard stupidly goes alone to see what is happening on the side that the truck cut the view, and before she is aware of anything Ant slams the woman's head on the side of the truck, knocking her down, before taking her clothes. In the blink of an eye she has dressed in the guard uniform and had dressed the officer in the delivery uniform. She quickly puts the officer in and starts the truck, that had a device to drive it away from the city. Her disguise was complete given that the officer uniform also included a hat. She keeps her face down shielding it from the camera, and avoiding her "fellow guards" entering the building before going to the bathroom. Not wasting anytime she begins to work quickly, the bathroom being empty, she sheds her guard clothes and gets in a stall, placing the pants in a seat and filling the legs with the shirt, looking like someone was sitting there. She now wears a tight black tank top and black tight pants, and wrappings on her feet and arms, some weapons on her, though these weren't the really important ones, and a medium sized satchel tied to her side. She spots a ventilation grill and quickly makes her way in replacing the grill.

 

Remembering the schematics that were presented to her by her contractor she makes her way silently through the ventilation tunnels, she uses her sharp green eyes and nose to lead her way. She knows she has to be quick--the element of surprise won't last forever. Getting as far as she could in the ventilation tunnels, she closes her eyes for a moment listening for noises, before exploding into action. In one quick motion she kicks the grill as hard and fast as she can, hitting some men as it flies through the air, maybe making some miss a few teeth. A second later she comes out jumping down the wall where the grill was rolling into the ground using the same movement to release a mix of explosive and gas grenades, to confuse anyone nearby. Halting her roll she begins to run and dodge guards as they approached to attack the threat, she knocks one down with a swift kick and takes his assault rifle. She manages to climb several floors using the stairway, then twisting on the middle of a jump she was making she turns sharply away from the stairway she was using to go for another one, but not before letting some caltrops fall on the ground.  Ouch for those that stepped on them. She almost feels sorry for them... almost. Finding another set of hidden stairs, she keeps going on her way up.

 

She knows that the big guns will arrive soon, she has to hurry, since as far as she has heard, the office of Fuma Hanzo--ninja/pirate lord--still needed some repairs.  Hopefully that will be the case or she will have to get creative. As she moves and kicks and punches and sometimes shoots her way she analyzes the situation, and adjusts her route. She still has several tricks up her sleeve, she hasn't lived as long as she had by not being able to adapt, even if it had taken time, all those years trapped in an "unbreakable prison" being experimented on she had indeed shown them, but her revenge was not yet completed. But little by little and doing the jobs she did, being a mercenary took her closer and closer. And if she had to fight Hanzo--or anyone else that was strong as herself--to make it, she will.  After all, she had a reputation to maintain.

 

Antoniella keeps making her way up, and comes face to face to a secured area with heavy doors, but she can tell they are not completely ready yet. They were in place but the attachments and all their parts weren’t there.  Not wasting any time she slams against the doors using her inhuman strength to make them give in. Making the doors fall, she then punches them again, breaking them in pieces and hurling them across the room before proceeding to get close to a computer. Quickly using her hands she slams into the thing, taking the motherboard, and other important parts that could be used to extract all the information from within. Breaking the furniture apart, she also takes some usbs and disks, documents and files, which were secured inside the desk--all goes in her bag, as well as some Cuban cigars. She had to recognize it, the man had good taste.  With the same quickness she goes in, she does her best to get out, before running to the torn apart door, she hurls some grenades to it, to take out anyone that had followed her here. After the explosion she runs out of the room still on her guard, knowing that there were people with special abilities here, like her own. Using her sensitive hearing and nose, she decides on which route to take. Using her sharp fingernails, from both her hands and feet, she pierces the wall, before climbing to the roof of the floor she was in, and she begins making her way upside down, crawling as fast as she could. With the high ceiling, people would probably be less prone to notice her passing above them...

 

PART I

 

Antoniella

 

Ant was feeling tired still, with the whole fiasco of entering Villain's Headquarters, only to find out she had been just a pawn, a disposable one. It came to her as a shock that the man she had worked for, for so many years, just planned on killing her in the attack. Not only that but the damn scientist that had experimented on her several years ago, had contacted him, offering a huge sum of money for her remains.

 

She had made sure that her ex-employer paid a heavy price for the betrayal.  She had taken his head off. And reduced to ribbons his troops. Now, still recovering for the whole ordeal, she found herself waking up at Villians Headquarters, not sure yet what they were planning to do with her, and not caring really that much. In the end pain was temporary and death would always arrive sooner or later.  

 

What she really craved right now was a bath, her skin felt sweaty and sticky, so using her sharp claws she plays a bit with the security lock on her cell, and looking around for guards, she sees them arguing about something silly. Despite being injured she manages to slip away unnoticed, and she hopes it stays that way.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Phibius was relaxing in the lounge, monitoring the view screens in Villains HQ, in the battle room.  He noticed something peculiar.  On one of the screens, an unknown person was sneaking around the building, apparently close to the detention area.  They had many prisoners in the dungeons at Villains Incorporated, and some of them were dangerous.

 

But she looked injured, lost.  It had taken Phibius a second to realize she was female.  Being a frog, he was used to there not being much difference between males and females, and in humans it took a little time to get used to the anatomical differences.  So there was a hurt, lost female sneaking around HQ, probably escaped from a detention cell.  If she had gotten out, she must be resourceful.  If she had gotten past the guards, she was either even more resourceful, or she was a threat because maybe she killed them.

 

Without saying anything to the others in the battle room, Lord Phibius stands up and dons his frog helmet he had won from fighting a “villain” in the Big Crumble.

 

Antoniella

 

Using her nose she is trying to smell a place she could have her bath.  So far she had managed to steal some clothing from a female worker. There was a lot of people making repairs and running through all the place, so she had to be extra careful. Had the place been more deserted she would have turned into her wolf form to walk easier, but she couldn't do that, people would probably notice a huge wolf trying to sneak. She wasn't in the mood for being shot at again.

 

Finally, after what seems hours, she finds herself in what appears to be an empty pool area. And normally those places had showers, and hopefully too a first aid kit. She keeps making her way to the shower area, when she suddenly has to jump to the side, to avoid being cut in two. Whipping around to look she sees a person dressed in a black outfit. He or she had thrown a small ring sword at her, and pulled it back to use it again. Sniffing, Ant determined this one was a female, no doubt either she had found a way to infiltrate, maybe enter as a worker, or slipped inside. Ant growls annoyed, and she summons her own weapon, from her tail bones, making her whole spine to come out, and morphing it into a meteor hammer  with several sharp spikes surrounding it, and the other end she was holding in her hand ended in a sharp hook. The fight begins. She definitely held a bad disadvantage being wounded, her bandages staining red, while her opponent was fresh as a lettuce with no handicap.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP made his way to the detention area to investigate.  One of the cells had had its lock picked, recently by the smell--frogs have an excellent sense of smell--and by a female mammal.  But she wasn’t human, at least not all the way.  There was something else about her scent that Phibius had never encountered before.  It made him more curious than ever.

 

He stuck his head out of the emptied cell and peeked around.  Two guards were arguing about whether the Atari or the Comodor 64 had been the better gaming system.  Phibius was more of a Nintendo man himself, but he decided to try sneaking up on the guards.  This was not difficult, even though frogs are not known for stealth.  He tapped one of the guards on the shoulder.

 

The guard turned to him.  “Huh?  Who are you?”

 

LP made a face.  It wasn’t unusual for him to go unrecognized in Villains Inc.  He had one of those faces that blended into the background.  That’s one reason he had worked  so hard to acquire the Amphibian armor set.  Still, so many other people had the set it was like he was one of a thousand instead of one of a million.

 

“I’m Lord Phibius.  I’m a member of Villains Inc. under Hanzo-sensei.  And I think you’re missing something…”

 

Antoniella

 

The place was getting trashed quickly, Ant was getting very annoyed.  She had several new cuts to her body--not that her opponent was any better.  She had learned the hard way that despite her target being in a “half-dead” state, she was not easy to defeat. No doubt with all the noise, guards or members of VI elite would appear soon--heck maybe the Pirate King himself would. She thinks he probably left her alive since she had aided them in repelling the attack, but she isn’t so sure for how long that favor would stretch to say.

 

The redhead was breathing hard, her stamina almost over, but she wasn't going down so easy, she decides to make herself an attractive bait. She then feints a stumble, making her opponent quickly go for her, and attack her with her ring sword. Ant even let’s her cut her side with it, before grinning at her, her opponent failing to realize that if she held Ant, Ant held her too.  Not wasting the chance, Ant ignores the pain and bursts into action. Quickly she wrestles the grasps on the sword getting away from her opponent, the circumference of the sword wasn't that big, but using her strength Ant forces the sword over her opponents head and into her waist , trapping her arms too, the woman screaming in fright and pain, the sword round handle crushing her.Using her meteor hammer she hits the woman and throws her in the air, before wrapping it around her body, and slamming her into the pool to drown her, and prevent her from using her legs. In a few minutes the struggle ended and the bubbles of air stopped coming into the surface, Ant had won the battle.

 

Lord Phibius

 

There was blood everywhere.  And a dead ninja in the company pool.  Nothing unusual for a Tuesday here at Villains Inc.  But the ninja wasn’t one of Hanzo-sensei’s.  She had been an intruder, and that was bad news.  Because a dead intruder was an intruder you couldn’t interrogate.  But this woman drowned in the pool was not the woman Lord Phibius had seen sneaking around the building.  It was only by chance LP had gotten to the scene of the battle before the others.  Well, not entirely by chance.  He hadn’t said anything to the others when he noticed the prisoner trying to escape.  If he had, they all would have been forewarned and ready for what happened.

 

That meant the current mess was Phibius’s to clean up.  He easily tracked the set of bloody footprints leading away from the carnage, hoping he could resolve the situation before Hanzo-sensei or his lethal concubines arrived on the scene.

 

Antoniella

 

Ant had finally managed to get into the shower area and for her delight there was a tub. She had a feeling her legs would fail her any moment. She peeled off her dirty clothes, and ripped off the bloodied bandages, in one or two places she had to tug them, since they had dried blood. She filled the tub with slightly warm water, as it filled she made her way to the showers hoping to wash out some of the blood and grime, before finally settling down inside the tub, the water getting a slight pinkish color. She sets her head back with a tired sigh, her meteor hammer still within easy grasp.

 

Lord Phibius

 

To the Amphibian Overlord’s surprise, the tracks did not lead to any exit from the building, but rather to the shower area.  He detected her scent before he entered the room.  He knew he needed to be careful.  This woman had just killed a professional killer with unknown weaponry and training.  Phibius could hold his own in a fight against a regular human, but when it came to anyone super-strong or athletic, he was at a bit of a disadvantage.  His mutant power was nothing more or less than looking exactly like a human male.  None of his supernatural qualities made him better in a fight.

 

He heard someone splashing lightly in water.  She was in the washtub.  What on earth was she doing in there?  Did she realize the danger she was in should she be caught?  Phibius had to intervene before the rest of V.I. got here, but he hesitated before entering the shower room.  This might cost him his life.

 

He walked right into the area where the tub was, seeing the naked woman with an odd weapon made of bone--of vertebrae apparently.  “Greetings,” he said.  “Need some company?”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant had heard and smelled the frog….. okay frog being before he made his way to where she was. She was starting to feel hungry, but frogs weren’t really her thing. She wonders if she should eat the woman she just killed…. bleh, probably not, she didn't knew where she had been. She just let’s out a low growl before speaking . “Greeting… I am actually starving ….I don’t fancy frogs”. She looks at him smirking before talking again. “By the way, your security sucks”.  “I am not looking for trouble I just needed a bath”. She sets her head down once more.

 

Lord Phibius

 

“Our security does suck, I agree.  And I’m glad you’re not looking for trouble, because an entire team of supervillains is probably on their way here right now.  It would be best if I could… introduce you.  You know, just to let them know you’re not looking for trouble.”  He smiled.  It was an odd expression for a frog, but he had learned to use it over the years of interacting with human beings.

 

“We’ll start with your name.  First, I am called Lord Phibius.  You may call me ‘Your Lordship’ or simply ‘LP’, it’s your choice.  Now, what can I call you?”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant raises an eyebrow at his words, did this guy really didn't recognized her? “Erhmm.. you know there was an infiltration here the other day, some info stolen.. that was me”. At the idea of the team of Villains coming here she shrugs her shoulders “They know who I am already, had battled them, before I joined your side in the fight… I guess if Fuma wanted me dead, he wouldn't have used up his medical supplies on me--unless he plans to torture me for information”.

 

She doesn’t smile back, she however snorts when he calls himself Lordship, bah, she wasn't going to call him that. “Antoniella… call me Ant”

 

Lord Phibius

 

“Oh, so it was you that broke in the other day.  We have so many break-ins around here, it’s hard to keep track.  As you so astutely pointed out, our security sucks.  But, there’s a chance Fuma-sensei will remember you, so that’s good.  That gives us something to work with.  By the way, I appreciate the way you keep not killing me.  I realize you could if you wanted to.”

 

He sits on the edge of the tub.  “So.  Ant.  What shall we do with you, eh?  I wouldn’t be surprised if Hanzo-sensei either ordered your execution for getting our pool all bloody, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to recruit you due to your… how do the humans put it?  Your big brass balls.  Yes, that’s the saying.  So, which would you prefer.  You know, we’re a pretty fun bunch once you get to know us.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant let’s out an amused huff, when he said he was grateful for not killing him. However, his next words intrigue her… recruit her? All her life…. well as far as she can remember, she has been a lone wolf. That’s the reason why she named herself Antoniella, an Antlion hunted alone and was feared and revered. Her name was known across many places. She guesses she could try, if she didn't like it she would break out of this place. Besides this various bunch of live organisms could help her reach her goal faster. “I could join you yes, but if you try crossing me you might join our friend in the pool, or my headless friend”.

 

Lord Phibius

 

A few hours later, Phibius stands before Hanzo-sensei’s throne-like armchair in his office.  A beautiful girl is wrapped around each of the pirate king’s legs, sitting on the floor.  Manko Nakadashi--Lord Phibius’s future ex-wife--and Sammach.  Hanzo-sensei is not in a good mood.  Someone had stolen his Cuban cigars, and he hadn’t been able to replace them yet.  He drew idly on an e-cigarette.

 

“So, let me get this straight, Phibby.  The wolf-girl broke into our compound, trashed my office, stole vital resources, only to then chop the head off of her contractor, and then when we finally catch her she escapes and fights a random ninja to the death in the pool room.  And you want me to accept her into the team?  That’s a pretty hard sell, kid.”

 

Lord Phibius bows to Hanzo-sensei for close to  the fiftieth time.  “As you say, Sensei.  But her powers would make her an undeniable asset to our team.  And she has spirit.”  Phibius looks over at Antoniella.  She seems calm… so far.  “Plus, she said she was willing to follow orders… right, Ant?”

[LordPhibius]

Part II

 

Antoniella

 

After her bath and her wounds wrapped in new bandages but still feeling hungry, she followed LP to where Fuma was with his concubines. She was calmly standing by LP’s side as he and his master talked, she was bored out of her mind. Her tail lazily swaying side to side, when she heard LP ask her a question, but before she replies she summons out of her body the bone of her forearm, shaping it in a sharp blade, before throwing it to the roof, a bloody murder scream following before another assassin fell dead in front of them. She had heard the ruffle of his clothing making sounds in the air vent. Calmly she kicks the body behind her, like it was the most normal thing in the world before answering. “Yup… and I have to say again your security sucks big time”.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Hanzo-sensei claps his hands and a few servants step out of a door hidden in the right wall and come to carry the assassin’s body away.  Fuma draws on his e-cig as if none of this even crosses his mind as out of the ordinary.  LP croaks softly under his breath.  He  had been unaware of the ninja’s presence.

 

“See?” says Phibius.  “She’s already proven  useful to you!”  Phibius smiles again, trying to smooth things over with the boss.  It doesn’t work.

 

“So she killed a ninja.  Sammach, how many ninjas have you killed?  This week?”

 

One of the beautiful girls at Hanzo’s feet perks up and replies, “Counting ones that were already dead but reanimated by black magic?”

 

“No, sweetheart, not zombie ninjas.  The real deal.”

 

“Oh.  Let me think…  about sixteen I’d say.  No, make that twenty-six.”

 

Lord Phibius rolled his eyes at the exaggeration.  “Did you kill them by making a flechette out of your ulna bone?” he asks Sammach.

 

She clears  her throat.  “No.  And ew.”

 

“Why don’t you just fess up, Phibby,” says Hanzo-san.  “You’re sweet on the girl.  You think she’s a cute little red headed werewolf and you wanna keep her.”

 

Fortunately, frogs are not capable of blushing because LP would have been bright red at this point.  “No, Hanzo-sensei.  You know I have eyes only for Nakadashi-sama.”

 

The pirate kings laughs.  “I’m just funnin’ ya, Phibby.  You gotta learn to tell when humans are joking.  Sure, we’ll try her out on a probationary basis.  I’ll draw up the paperwork and we’ll get everything set up.  Oh, but LP.  There’s just one thing.”

 

“Yes, Sensei?”

 

“She’s your responsibility.  You’re her training officer.  If she tries anything funny or decides to betray the team in some way, it’s on you.”

 

Again, Phibius looks over at Ant and a small “ribbit” escapes his throat.  “You want me to be in charge of her?”

 

“That’s right, frog-boy.  That’s the deal.  Do I have both of your agreement?”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant rolls her eyes when the woman at Hanzo’s feet mentioned killing twenty six ninjas.  Ant had killed more than that in a day, not necessarily ninjas, but the day of the attack she had killed more than 100 people. But she doesn't say anything about it. However when the Pirate Lord mentions that if she betrays the team she snarls at the man. “ You don’t need to worry about me betraying anyone, after all I am not here because of the money as many of your employees are Lord Fuma” She makes a small bow before adding a warning of her own. “ However should you fancy in betraying me, I will give you the same warning I gave our frog friend here, you could end up headless or drown in a pool, even if I die trying”. She looks at the man square in the eye. “Loyalty is what I am really looking for, you scratch my back and I scratch yours. Fair enough for you?”

 

Lord Phibius

 

The pirate king stretches his arms out wide with a big ol’ grin on his face.  He rises from his chair, displacing Manko and Sammach.  “That’s what I’m talking about!” he says.  “Loyalty.  Then again…  we are villains.  It’s in our nature to do dastardly things.  But, we never double-cross each other.  Come over here, I’ll get you both a contract.  Now remember, Lord Phibius is your caretaker and your training officer.  Basically, he’ll be babysitting you the whole time you’re on probation.  And before you get any ideas, LP is a little sharper than our regular security.  So don’t try to manipulate him or anything like that, alright?”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant slyly grins back at the man, now that was more like it. She gets ready to sign the contract, however she had another card up her sleeve.  She pulls some cuban cigars out from a hidden pouch she had, the ones she had stolen from him, and a couple more. She gives them to him, but she keeps herself a few, she gets one on her mouth and lights it. “That should make you a happier man boss, those e-cigarettes are trash, that headless fool enjoyed smoking them too, so I nabbed them from his helicopter”. She also hands him the information she had stolen from VI HQ, she had hidden it all in the building. She looks at LP accepting him as her babysitter.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Hanzo grabs at the cigars like they are a life-raft and he is a drowning pirate king.  “Yes!” he says.  “Keep this up, and you may get a raise!”  He deftly grabs all the cigars and tucks them neatly away in the large humidor on his desk.

 

Then, Fuma takes out two tattered pieces of parchment with ancient ink handwriting on them. “These are the contracts,” he explains.  “It’s a pirate thing.  Now, if each of you will cut your thumb a little and make your blood mark in the lower right corner of the contracts, we’ll be all set.”

 

LP wonders how Fuma had two old-time pirate contracts that had anything to do with their present situation in his filing cabinet, but decides maybe it’s just one of Hanzo-sensei’s pirate-y super powers.

 

Phibius and Antoniella make their marks and hand in the paperwork.

 

Phibius looks over at his new protege.  Funny thing is, now that Hanzo-sensei has mentioned it, she is sorta cute.  For a mammal.  LP shakes his head to clear away the thoughts.  That was inappropriate for a training officer to think about his trainee.  Still.  He was a villain...

 

Antoniella

 

After signing the contracts she has a vague memory of seeing things like that many years ago, she looks at her “babysitter”.  “Okay can we go eat now?” She was hurting some again but her hunger was stronger. So know that they had a deal, she indeed turns into her wolf form, although the size of a great dane to walk easier. Some fur along her back was missing, instead covered by scars. Like her human form, her fur was red, although her underside (stomach and neck), the tip of her ears, tails and paws, two lines atop her head and around her eyes were of a creamy color.

 

Lord Phibius

 

As they moved toward the mess hall toward the center of the compound, Lord Phibius took notice of Antoniella’s movements while in her wolf form.  She was obviously much more comfortable in the skin of a wolf.  She moved easier, more gracefully.  Even as a wolf, she was an easy creature to look at.

 

They got to the mess hall and LP went into the kitchen, rubbing his chin.  “Let’s see…  You probably wouldn’t like eating what I usually eat, would you?  No.  What would a wolf like?  A raw steak?  Let’s have a look…”  The man-frog rummaged around in one of the many refrigerators in the huge kitchen.  The place was designed to feed a team of thirty people all at once, with some of their tastes in cuisine being somewhat… customized.

 

Finally, LP located a steak wrapped in white paper and marked with a date of a few weeks ago.  “Ah!  We’ve got a well-aged one here.  Or do you prefer them fresh?”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant sits on her haunches looking at LPs movement, she made face when he mentioned bugs, she had eaten them before, but it would take many to feed her. A steak with a few days overdue wouldn't kill her, but still it wasn’t big enough for her, at least not just one. Even in her wolf form she had learned to tap her claws on the ground, like one would do in a desk with nails.  She decides to use her nose to find herself a meal as he kept looking for weird stuff on the fridge. Using her jaws, she pulls the handle of the fridge open without leaving any teeth marks , having covered her teeth with her lips. Inside the large refrigerator she grabs a large piece of ribs with a back quarter the left side of the animal. Happy with her prize on her jaws she sits again waiting for LP to notice she had managed to secure herself a meal.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Frogs have excellent hearing.  Phibius heard Antoniella walk over to the further fridge and open it herself.  He put the aged steak back where he had found it and watched the werewolf work.  Eventually she found a huge rack of meat.  She sat down and looked over to where Phibius stood, the giant chunk of beef still in her massive jaws.  The portion was about the size of a small human adult.  Phibius gulped and reminded himself not to get on her bad side.

 

“You really are hungry, aren’t you?  Would you like to join me at one of the tables for dinner, or will you be ravaging your prey on the floor as a wolf?”

 

Antoniella

Ant just looks at him before shaking her head, setting the meat on the ground. “I need my wolf jaws, to manage to eat the bone, attacking with bones consumes energy”. “Thought I could sit by the side of the table, just don’t expect me to use cutlery or raise my pinky this time” She waits for his answer.

 

Lord Phibius

 

At first Lord Phibius get a bit of a shock from the wolf talking.  He had assumed she couldn’t speak while in beast form.  After that, he just laughed at her joke.  He nods to her.  “We’ll be at that table over there, go ahead and get started without me, I’ll just fish my dinner out of its little hiding place.  Then you can sit beside me and eat your entire cow.”

 

The wolf takes up the rack of whatever animal it was and trots off over to LP’s dining table.  He had his own table, not because he was especially privileged among the group but because no one liked to watch him eat.  He opened the special fridge and got out his assortment of treats and carried them over to his seat.  He swallowed live earthworms and caught dragonflies with his tongue.  He delighted in his meal of all manner of bug, spiders, crickets, mealworms, grubs, maggots and every flying insect he could collect.  He believed in eating a balanced diet.

 

He looked down between mouthfuls to observe Ant eating her meal.

 

Antoniella

Ant made sure to eat every part of the partial carcass she had found on the fridge, it didn't matter that it was frozen solid like a rock, it was no match for her strong jaws. As she bit through bone, cartilage and flesh, her biting made a sound that would remind someone of eating a crispy potato chip. She could listen as LP ate his meal, one cricket falling down from his table and she scooped it up before swallowing it, his loss. She did like crickets, she could remember several times she had been hungry and there has been no large prey for her to hunt, she had resorted to eat crickets, mice, different animal eggs, and yep frogs, though they are not really her favorite thing in the world, she preferred having to eat bugs over frog meat.

 

Once the carcass was gone Ant excused herself for a moment to clean herself, before coming back and sitting at the table with LP waiting for dessert.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Phibius wiped his mouth with a napkin, coming away with a fly’s wing that had been stuck to his lip.  He looked down at Ant.  She was apparently through with her meal as well.

 

“All done?  I’d imagine you’d be quite satisfied after eating that much.”

 

Ant just looked at him.

 

“You are, aren’t you?” said LP.  She just looked at him, grinning a wolfish grin.  “Okay, let’s see what else we can find.  What do you want for dessert?  Only, don’t devour every bit of flesh in the kitchen or Villains Inc. will have nothing for breakfast tomorrow morning.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant chuckles at him. “No I don’t need anymore meat, but a slice of chocolate cake would be great!” It’s been so long since she had a slice of chocolate cake, and some vanilla ice cream, the ice cream would be a plus.

 

She is feeling a bit tired, so she was curious about her sleeping arrangement, did she had to stay with LP in the same room she wonders. They haven’t discussed that detail yet.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP smiled, actually feeling the emotion for the first time that day.  “I’ll show you where we keep our cake and dessert goodies if you agree to assume human form and eat your dessert at the table with me.  Don’t get me wrong, there’s a certain appeal to having a loyal canine chowing down at your side, but, well, I’m more used to talking to humans.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant raises an eyebrow to him, but obeys his request and turns back to her human form. She had made sure to clean herself, not leaving a speck of blood or a piece of frozen meat on her.”Just remember I am not a dog LP, and I will never be like one”. “I will indeed eat the dessert at the table with you”.

 

Lord Phibius

 

So, they ate some cake and icecream at the table and made a little bit of conversation.  He could see the weariness in the woman much easier than he could have detected it in the wolf.  Now was not the time for interrogations.  But Hanzo would want at least a preliminary report on their new recruit, and it was Phibius’s job to get the info on her.

 

After dessert she asked about sleeping arrangements.  “Will I be staying in a room with you?” she asked.

 

LP chuckled.  “A room?  I don’t have a room, Ant.  You’re part of a team now.  We sleep in the bunks.  Only Hanzo-sensei and his chosen concubines have the privacy of their own room.  And it’s a nice room, let me tell you.”

 

Phibius led her down the east corridor to the berth area.  “This is where I typically sleep,” said the man-frog.  “No one sleeps in the bunks immediately adjacent to mine because I’m told I make rather odd noises in my sleep.  It bothers the other mammals here.  Maybe you won’t find it too hard to catch some shut-eye, though.  Good night, Ant.”  

 

Antoniella

 

The cake and ice cream was an awesome treat to have, but not enough to keep her on alert much longer, she needed rest for her body to finish up healing. It’s been just 2 days since the attack, and she estimates she needs 2 more days to finish healing. She yawns and grabs some pjs she saw with a note attached that were for her to put them on, and brush her teeth. When she is done, she walks back to her designated area to sleep, answering LP comment about him being  a noisy sleeper. “I am feeling like I will fall dead any moment, so don’t worry, though I warn you I am not a morning person.  I am a night creature, and I will probably spend my nights prowling the area”.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Phibius sees Ant to bed and then goes to brush his teeth--strange things, these mammal teeth--and he pulls out his tongue until it sticks out three feet from his mouth and starts brushing that too.  He reflects on the events of the day.  What the hell had he gotten himself into?  This werewolf was a lot to handle.  And she was nocturnal?  Frogs lived by the sunset and the sunrise, but they slept at night like most lower life-forms.  What if she got into trouble while LP was asleep?  Would Phibius have to escort her around at night to keep her--and the other members of the team--safe?  Lord.

 

Phibius looked in the mirror above the sink and smacked himself on the cheek a few times.  He was a perfectly average-looking man-frog.  It was his gift.  Not standing out.  He had already admitted to himself that he was attracted to the red headed werewolf, but he doubted it was a mutual feeling.  He shrugged.  He wasn’t even human.  What was he doing thinking about a werewolf like that?

 

He rinses his mouth out with mint mouthwash and puts on his pajamas.  By the time he gets back to the bunks, Ant is fast asleep--in her wolf form.  LP wondered if it was even voluntary for her to change while she slept.  He climbed up to the bunk above her and lay down on his back, his hands folded behind his head on the pillow.  He stayed that way for two solid hours before sleep took him.

 

Antoniella

 

Ant curls up in her wolf form, it would also help a lot more with the healing. She could change whenever she wished and right now she felt more comfortable being a wolf. She snores very softly as she sleeps. When she wakes up it’s almost midday, she yawns shaking sleep off, before shaking herself and stretching her body, noticing the difference a good night's sleep made to her body. She then lies down once more for a bit waiting to fully awake, she was still feeling a bit drowsy.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Phibius woke up a couple hours later than usual.  He looked down to see the lightly snoring wolf still fast asleep.  He hops simply down from bed, landing on his springy legs, which take the fall with no problem.  He leaves the wolf to sleep until she is ready to rise on her own.  He doesn’t know exactly what she’s been through in the last few days, and it’s possible she will need a great deal of rest before she’s ready to begin her day.

 

Today is the day he has to start thinking about that report.  He needs details about her past life, her powers, her motives, her weaknesses and strengths psychologically.  It was time to start really talking to her.

 

LP takes a shower and brushes his teeth and tongue again.  He changes into his Amphibian Armor set, and admires himself in the mirror.  He adores this armor.  It’s as if whoever designed it had Phibius in mind from the start.

 

LP goes to the gym and plays some ping-pong with the mirror, honing his swift reflexes and clearing his mind.

 

He greets other members of the team as they go about their day.  Some of them mention the new girl, and LP confirms the rumors that he is the training officer of their newest recruit, a red-haired werewolf.  He explains he still doesn’t know that much about her, so there’s not much to gossip about.  The ladies are disappointed about that to a degree.  Most of the men shrug it off and tell LP to “have a good one.”  One of them adds, “...and don’t get your throat ripped out by the new girl!”

 

Finally, Phibius returns to the bunks and finds Antoniella awake.  “Ah, good,” he remarks.  “It’s time for training.  Get up and get dressed.”  He looks down at the wolf who has a warning look in her eye.  “Please.” he adds.

 

Antoniella

 

When he approaches and tells her that it was time for training without adding a goodmorning and ordering her around, she growls and glares at him.With the please she let’s the growl die down as she grabs some clean clothes. “ i can't train yet, still hurt.” She gets into the bathroom for a nice warm shower. She takes her time showering and getting ready, she didn't like to be ordered around in that manner. Replacing her bandages and dressing she sets out of the bathroom waiting to see what they will do next, some coffee would be good for her, she still doesn't feel hunger because of her meal last night.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Being ordered around clearly rankled the werewolf.  Mammals and their egos.  Why couldn’t they be more like LP and simply rule with fairness and wisdom over all amphibian kind?  Some things were just lost on Lord Phibius.  She tells LP she can’t train yet because she’s hurt.  Then she makes her way into the showers, and LP gives her privacy for the moment.  Well, if she’s hurt they would have to find some way of training her mind.  LP would tell her it was time for her mandatory psychological evaluation.  She wasn’t going to like the “mandatory” part, but she was going to have to get used to following orders if she was going to be part of the team.

 

Ant comes out of the shower wearing clean bandages and clean clothes.  Phibius approaches her.  He doesn’t say anything, just looks her in the eye.  “Stop growling at me all the time.  It’s rude.  I’m the babysitter, remember?  I make the rules.  I’m in charge.  You can either deal with that or you can go out there and be by yourself.  Alone.  That seems to be the way you like it.”

[LordPhibius]

Part III

 

Antoniella

 

Ant looks at him square in the eye like he was doing with her, her pupil narrowed to slits. “It’s rude to be ordering someone around like they were less than you, I hate that, it makes me sick to the stomach” . She couldn’t help but to let another growl out feeling annoyed. “If you want me to treat you with respect treat me the same, I am not a dog, or your slave or anything like it, for far too long I was treated like an experiment subject, my past memories completely gone”. “Alone I have always been--nothing out of the ordinary.  Though I doubt your boss would like that.  Probably slit your throat, you want that?”. “I agreed to the terms to repay you the favor of not attacking me on sight and helping me out, so you wouldn’t get punished”.  She suddenly feels tired from her outburst and falls on her butt into the bed again, her head hurting, like it did when she got emotional.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP gets the expected backlash from the werewolf, but is completely unprepared when she collapses onto the bed.  “Ant?  Are you okay?  Look, I’m sorry, alright?  Forget the big boss stuff.  You and me, we’re equals.  We’re friends.  That’s why you’re not going to leave.  It’s not because I ordered you to do something, it’s not because you’re a slave, but it’s also not because you don’t want me to get punished.  You have to think about yourself now.  What do you really want?  You have to decide if you’re going to find a place in this team and belong to something bigger than yourself, or if you’re going to go on acting like a lone wolf the rest of your life.”

 

The woman seemed dizzy, like her head hurt.  “Okay, just sit for a second, alright?  Wait for the world to stop spinning.  You want me to get you a tylenol or something?  Does that even work on werewolves?”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant grabs her head for a moment.  The matter was now to puke or not to puke, that was the question. She fights back the urge to do so for as long as she can, before having to sprint into the bathroom and lose what remained of last night’s dinner in her system. She makes loud noises as she does so, her abdomen and throat constricting harshly. No doubt she would be feeling it in a bit.

 

Damn those scientist and their damn experiments, alongside the vomit some blood and a black liquid came out too. She never understood what that black liquid was, but after an experiment every time she did puke it always came out and she hated it, and the smell. Once she manages to control the urges she flushes the toilet, sitting against the wall, with her head between her knees trying to recover. A few moments later she gives some direction for LP to look in her trunk for a folder. All that existed about her was there. He wanted to know, let him know then--she knew he was curious. Several hundreds of pages of experiments done to her.

 

Lord Phibius

 

The man-frog paged through the file Ant had given him to examine.  There were some big, unusual words in those pages.  Usually it was the name of some chemical compound Lord Phibius had never heard of.  There was too much in the file to digest in one sitting, but Phibius got the point.  Injections, gene treatments, weapons experimentation, drug experimentation, parasites, symbiotes, if some science fiction geek somewhere had ever dreamed it up, it had been done to the lady werewolf.

 

Well.  That explained the visceral reaction to LP’s confrontation of Ant back there.  She had been treated like an object her entire life.  She didn’t have a clue what it meant to be part of a cooperative social unit.  She had never had a family, at least not that she could remember.  Phibius found a new warm-blooded emotion welling up in his guts.  Fury.  He wished he were a huge savage lion or bear and that he could tear the scientists apart with his claws limb from limb.  But LP had no claws.  He had no special skills to offer Ant in her quest for vengeance.  But he did have the resources of Villains Inc

 

It was no longer about whether Ant would prove to be an asset to VI, it was about if VI could be an asset to her.  He felt his loyalty shift so easily on the back of this new feeling, this fury.  What it must do to Antoniella.

 

Antoniella

 

Ant slowly was feeling better she manages to get up and clean her face with some water, and her mouth with toothpaste and mouthwash. Luckily, her clothes didn't get any stains on them. Right now the thought of having to eat something revolted her, probably won’t be able to eat until tomorrow, best case scenario... worse it would be that the effect would last for several days. Not that starving was something new to her, but it had never been because she wanted to. The fur along her tail was standing up ruffled, so she takes it on her hand and with a brush she begins to try and smooth it down, no doubt that in her wolf form her fur would be standing in all directions. She still doesn’t talk, not really feeling up to it, and her throat feeling tender--although her legs felt like bugs were crawling all over them, giving her the feeling of wanting to run as fast as she could.  But she holds herself as best as possible knowing that wouldn’t do her any good.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP puts down the folder and walks into the bathroom, where Ant has finished throwing up.  She looks so shaken.  She doesn’t look at him at all, just brushes the fur of her tail over and over.  He doesn’t try to say anything to her.  He walks over to her and sits on the floor next to her, not looking her in the eye.

 

After a prolonged awkward silence, he clears his throat and says, “I’ve never seen anything like it.  Your file.  The people here, we call ourselves ‘villains’. pffft.  We’re kittens. Kittens in mittens.  On a sweater for Christmas.”  He stopped himself.  “Sorry, I’m rambling.  I do that when I’m nervous.  You told Hanzo you wanted loyalty in return for loyalty.  Well, from now on you have an ally.  I’m not your babysitter and I’m not your friend.  I’m your ally.  And I’m with you til the wheels fall off.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant does not react at first when he sat by her side, she tries focusing all her attention in her tail, however her ears perk when he mentions she had an ally, and he was her new ally. She didn't really know what to say, so she just nods at his words, accepting the offer--her throat still not feeling up to speaking. Testing her legs a few moments later, she gets up using the wall as support and succeeds, she looks at LP waiting to know what they should do next.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Ant stands up and regards LP.  He sits a moment longer then springs up on his strong legs.  “What to do, what to do…”  He starts pacing the bathroom floor.  “Ant, did you get a chance to look over that information you stole from Hanzo’s office before?”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant shakes her head, denying seeing anything of the info she had stole, which was true--she had been in a hit and run job. Anyways the info wasn't for her but for her headless ex employer.

 

Lord Phibius

 

“Well, if there’s any help I can be to you, it’s through Hanzo’s files.  Either he has information about the group who held you captive or he doesn’t.  Since we don’t know, and since we’re both under scrutiny right now, we can’t try to just sneak in and steal files.  Which means in order to find anything out, we really need Hanzo-sensei’s direct help.  Hmmm…”

 

LP weighs the obstacles in his path.  Would Hanzo agree to let them look at his files?  Hanzo was a shrewd man.  Shrewd as there ever was.  Which means he doesn’t give things away for free if he can get something out of it.  Besides, Phibius wasn’t even an officer in the team.  He didn’t have the kind of clout he needed to pull a favor that big.

 

“This isn’t going to be easy.” he says.  “We have to make me look good, or put Hanzo in a position where he owes me a favor.  And right now my job is to make you into an effective teammate.  But you howl and the moon and puke your guts out whenever anyone gives you a direct order.”

 

He stops pacing and turns to Ant.  “For this to work, we’re both going to have to make some big adjustments.  I’m going to have to get a  bigger profile around the office, and to do that, i’m going to have to transform you into a team player.  Do you understand what I’m saying?”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant looks at LP pacing around and listens to his words. It’s true that she had some trouble adjusting to being social…”again”. She has no clue if before her capture she had been social, or part of a family or a group. She understood perfectly well upon seeing him how Hanzo thinks, well at least a part of how he thinks. The man was sneaky but so was she, clearing her throat she speaks. “Yes I get it…. what does Hanzo want… what he is interested in? I have my ways of obtaining things that would give us a boost”

 

Lord Phibius

 

“Hanzo is interested primarily in one thing:  The advancement of Villains Incorporated.  Every move he makes is to increase the team’s strength in some way.  The team’s strength comes from its members.  We train hard together, fight hard together, and we take to the streets and cause as much mayhem as possible to make ourselves known.  Eventually, we’ll be even more notorious than Yoyodyne itself…”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant begins to think, given her abilities she could infiltrate within other organizations and gain some information that could be helpful to VI, she is slapping her tail against her leg as she thinks. But then her tails goes wild again, the fur raising at the mention of Yoyodyne. “Yoyodyne……” She mentions the name with venom. Yoyodyne Pharma, and a private military company were the ones to capture her. “Consider me a solid addition to the team, as long as Yoyodyne Weapon and Defense Development/ YoyodynePharma fall….” She will make them pay.  All of them.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP watches Ant’s lips curl into a scowl as she mentions YoyodynePharma and Yoyodyne Weapon and Defense Development.  Phibius has never heard of these divisions of the insidious company before, but doesn’t doubt they exist and that they are very evil.

 

“Yoyodyne?  You mean we’re looking into Yoyodyne matters?  If that’s the case, we don’t need Hanzo’s help at all.  We can just snoop on Yoyodyne at some of their offices, like in the Big Crumble or Switzerland.  We’ll do it during street hours, when the team is set loose on the world to wreak havoc.  Hanzo will get suspicious, but convincing him we’re trying to tumble the giant company won’t be that hard.  It makes sense.  

 

“The real hard part is going to be getting access to Yoyodyne information.  They already know you.  That hampers your ability to infiltrate them, at least to a certain degree.  Theoretically, they could have defenses and failsafes that are designed specifically to stop someone with your abilities.”

 

LP frowns in concentration.  Making a frown is not as difficult for a frog as making a smile.  “I’ll get you in.  They don’t know me.  I’ll smuggle you in, then you do your thing and… and… that’s all there is to it.  The rest is just detective work.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant begins her own pacing, walking and thinking and plotting. She was concerned on him getting in alone.  Since he was an oddity they could try and capture LP to make different experiments like they did on her. And on the other paw, they had to do it in a way that they wouldn’t get in a bad position with Hanzo. An idea hits her quickly. “So let’s do it, in the way we can acquire some things for our boss to make him a happy man.  Who knows maybe we can both get a raise in our pay”. She looks at him however to give him a warning. “It’s best if we both go inside--if they figure out what you are they will try capturing you.  Saw many creatures die in my years of captivity”.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP thought about it.  He was touched by her concern, but at the same time he felt sure they would be on the lookout for Ant’s return to their doorstep.  As a criminal, he knew the old adage of, “Never return to the scene of the crime.”  He didn’t like it.  Besides, passing for a normal human being was his only true superpower.  In that he had an irrational confidence.  “I can do it, Ant.  They’ll never suspect a thing.  As long as we don’t leave any DNA evidence behind, everything will be fine.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant sits in the bed again measuring the pros and cons before deciding and finally nodding. “Alright, we will do it, but don’t let yourself get captured, I would have to make a huge mess to get you out of there”.

 

Lord Phibius

 

A few days later, Ant let Phibius know she was fully healed and ready to train.  “Actually,” he said, “I don’t think you need any training.  I think you should train me.  Teach me to fight like you.  Except without the part where you rip out your spinal column.”

[LordPhibius]

Part IV

 

Antoniella

 

Ant chuckles.  Probably her taking out her spine freaked him out.  It did freak people out a lot. But she agrees to help him train, though at first a good stretch of muscles is what she needs, after being inactive for several days. “ I need to stretch my body first, before I help you train, you should too” She is about to begin stretching but adds a warning. “I won’t be going easy on you, even less if we are going to pull that crazy stunt”. With warning given she begins her stretching, first her legs, then her arms, and the rest of her body, before she starts jogging around the training area.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP gulps when Ant says she won’t be going easy on him.  What has he gotten himself in for?  She starts to stretch her legs, so LP tries to do the same.  His legs have always been his best weapons in a fight, good for both kicking and dodging.  He finds himself very flexible in his knees and hips.  So then he stretches his arms.  Much less strength there, but still flexible.  He tries to imitate Ant’s body stretches, but here he has a little more of a problem.  His back just isn’t that bendy.  Still, he does his best to loosen up.  Ant has already started jogging around the room.  Phibius watches for a little while, then joins her, keeping pace easily.

 

“You’re in really great shape.  I mean…  you look good.”

 

Antoniella

 

While stretching Ant was looking at LP’s body condition. He wasn’t as flexible as her, but with some training she was sure he would get better. She noted, however, he had good speed.  That would certainly work for his advantage. She speeds up a bit to see how good he is at keeping up, and more or less judge how much his body could take. When he says she looks good he grins at him. “That won’t save you from harsh training though” she chuckles some.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Phibius smiles this time when she says his flattery won’t save him.  He nods to her and continues jogging.  “So, what’s next, Sensei?”

 

Antoniella

 

They continue jogging for several more minutes until LP asked what else they will do. Ant slowly brings herself to a stop before looking around, for a suitable training area. She didn’t want to trash the place. After looking around for a bit she spies an area that was used to train the members of the team in city battle scenarios. It had some small houses built in, as well as other structures and obstacles like car carcasses, crates and debris. Also this area it seems that was used to play paintball battle. She points to LP the place they would start their training. “We will start training here, get ready”. With the warning she suddenly launches herself at him, aiming a swept kick to his legs to make him fall.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Phibius is used to training, even training against people much stronger or faster than himself.  Ant says “Get ready” and Phibius assumes a combat stance just in time to have his leg kicked out from under him.  The werewolf is incredibly fast and strong.  Phibius simply drops to the mat, rolls, and springs back up in a hop from the floor to his feet, and back into a combat stance.

 

Antoniella

 

Ant doesn’t let him get too far away from him, and she attacks him with a variety of punches, open palms and kicks, aiming to different parts of his body. She tries to open a spot to hit him, speed is certainly on his favor. She tries cornering him or make him trip.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP is able to block a few kicks with his own feet, but for the most part, it’s a dodging game.  He literally leaps around the training area, trying to get Ant to tire herself out having to pursue him.  So far, the chase doesn’t seem too much of a challenge for her, but she could be concealing fatigue, Phibius wasn’t sure.  She tries to trip him, but LP’s footwork is solid.  Without realizing it, the man-frog is hopping himself into a corner of the room where there is a dead-end alley between two of the plywood houses.  Ant expertly traps him in the corner and launches her next attack.

 

Antoniella

 

Working with calm and precision she traps LP into a corner, seeing her chance she launches herself in the air spinning back kicking with her left foot at Phibius torso hopping to catch him. When she finishes doing the 360 spin, she then attempts to hit him with her shoulder and ram him against one of the walls of the plywood houses.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Finding himself suddenly cornered, he is robbed of his only true advantages.  He sees the kick coming, but there’s nothing he can do to stop it.  He manages to get his arms up in a defensive X, but one couldn’t call it a block, because it does nothing to absorb the energy of the kick.  It’s all LP can do to keep his feet, but before he can recover at all, Ant has rammed bodily into him and crushed him into a wall.  The wind knocked completely out of him, LP sees stars and falls to the ground.  He loudly smacks his hand against the floor three times, signaling his surrender.

 

Antoniella

 

Ant stops herself from attacking him once more to let him recover. She waits for him to be ready again to continue with their training. She could have attacked him again but she lets it pass. “I won’t always give you a break LP, the enemy won’t have mercy with you”.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Ant doesn’t give LP a hand up, but he is relieved when she backs off of her attack combo and lets him sit up.  They return to the center--more or less--of the combat training zone and Ant lets him catch his breath and recover.

 

“I won’t always give you a break LP, the enemy won’t have mercy with you,” she says.

 

LP nods.  “I know.  This time you won’t trap me.  I’ll be more aware of my surroundings.  I might even throw a few kicks of my own this time.”

 

He puts his hands together and bows to Ant, then assumes his low combat stance once more.  “I’m ready.”

 

Antoniella

 

When he recovers Ant quickly attacks him once more, knowing this time that he is more aware of his surroundings. Seeing his stance, Ant has a crazy idea and she awaits the opportunity to dive between his open legs and come out the other way, while kicking to his backside.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Ant swiftly goes into another attack routine, and LP picks up again with the kick-blocking and dodging.  Now Ant dives between his legs, and LP is worried she’ll kick him in the groin.  With reflexes like a startled leopard frog, he jumps high into the air and tucks his feet under him.  Ant has dived behind him, and now that he is so high up there’s nothing he can do to change course.  Realizing his error, LP prepares to take another beating.

 

Antoniella

 

Seeing an opportunity Ant grabs one of his feet, and begins spinning him around fast, before taking aim and throwing him against one group of crates. It seems he had frozen and didn’t realize that he could have attempted to hit her while still in the air.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Flying headlong toward a group of crates, Phibius’s reflexes again kick in.  He flips himself upside down and curls his body and limbs up tightly, crashing into the crates like a cannonball.  His body smashes through the wooden obstacles painfully, and he comes out the other side rolling forward again so that he is now aiming his feet at whatever he might be flying towards.  He takes a split second to admire Ant’s strength to have thrown him so powerfully.  Using his strong legs, he rebounds adroitly off of one of the plywood buildings, which creaks and threatens to crumble under the stress of the blow.  He does a flip and returns to his feet, sure Ant is not far behind him, ready for her next attack.

 

Antoniella

 

Like before, Ant doesn’t let him get too far away from her, she jumped over the remains of the crates to get to him, before rolling forward in the air, and coming in a stop in a handstand. Using her hands she quickly begins balancing and twisting her body, to kick him from unexpected directions, and spinning all around him, pretty much like a capoeira fighter would.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Ant takes a new approach in her attacks, this time coming at him with kicks, only from an upside-down stance.  This is a bad combo for Lord Phibius to counter.  It puts the kicks right in his torso area, a bit above where he could easily block using his own legs.  He manages to dodge a few kicks, but takes more than that to the body and legs.  He needs to get creative and break out of this pattern fast.  He jumps straight up in the air over the range where Ant’s feet can reach him while she’s in a handstand.  He chambers his feet beneath him, ready to launch a downward kick in response to whatever Ant does next.

 

Antoniella

 

Ant does her best to keep him trapped in the pattern she had made, but predictably he went for the only exit available, and that is up. When he comes down, he does hit her--she doesn’t worry too much about dodging. His feet connecting with her shoulder, she takes the momentum to get again in a handstand, but this time trying to get her legs hooked on his neck and bring him down with a slam.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP first gets a rush when he realizes his attack will connect with Ant’s shoulder, but then he has a sinking feeling when he realizes it is only too deliberate on her part.  She comes down with him, getting back into a handstand and hooking her legs around his neck.  LP has no real leverage or defense when she takes him down in a brutal body slam.  Phibius knows how to take a fall, though, and the slam doesn’t destroy him the way her previous finish had.  There will be some close-quarters wrestling now, he thought.  Most fights between competent combatants ended that way, he knew.  Not that he was particularly good as a wrestler, but he was slightly pleased with himself that he had gotten this far.  Until he starts running out of air and decides he better come up with some way of breaking Ant’s leglock.

 

He wraps his arms around her thighs and tries to roll over onto his back.  He lifts his legs up over his head, over Ant and nearly onto the floor on the other side, curling his body almost into a circle.  Then, lightning fast, he whips his legs down and tries to use the momentum to lift both himself and Ant off the ground and over down the other way, delivering Antoniella into a body slam of his own.

 

Antoniella

 

Ant gets surprised, not expecting him to use that kind of move. Ignoring the pain of LP’s slam, Ant rolls to the side, moving her legs in a fast and strong motion to get them free from LP’s hold. She stands, but quickly comes down trying to slam her knee on LP’s stomach.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Ant lets loose her leglock on LP’s neck, allowing him to breathe again.  He gasps, but is ready for Ant’s downward knee attack.  Rolling quickly to the side, he barely escapes being crushed.  Then, spinning quickly around on the floor, he launches his most powerful kick directly at Ant’s head.

 

Antoniella

 

With the corner of her eye she spots LP coming kick and quickly rises her arm to avoid getting knocked out. The momentum of the kick sends her tumbling to the side, though. As she falls she kicks back with both legs, to prevent LP from taking advantage.

 

Lord Phibius

 

By the end of the morning, Lord Phibius is battered, bruised, and shaky.  Ant barely shows any indication that she is tired.  Next was lunch, but not before a shower and a change of clothes.  After lunch, it’s today’s team fight--but LP has no doubt Ant is prepared for that activity.  This is followed by patrol time, or as this team called it, “Mayhem O’clock”.

 

So, that left the question of what they could get up to during mayhem time.  They needed to work together to come up with a plan for getting at Yoyodyne Pharma, etc., but they couldn’t come back from afternoon patrols with nothing to show for it.  LP asked Ant what she thought.

 

Antoniella

 

After their training Ant decides to go get a shower and some clean clothes. The training session had been good, just what she needed to loosen up her body. Also the training session had opened up her appetite, she barely had eaten since that day her head had hurt and she had vomited.

 

When LP told her that next would be the team fight and that they would go out, Ant suggests they observe the exterior of YoyodynePharma to try and come up with a good strategy, trying to determine some patterns, after the team fight. They could get in trouble for not reporting.

 

Lord Phibius

 

The team fight goes about as expected.  Ant is now one of VI’s strongest fighters, so she is kept back until near the end of the fight.  She defeats all the rest of the other team’s fighters single-handedly.

 

Antoniella

 

Ant waited for her turn patiently until it was finally her turn to fight. Using her speed and precision she quickly dispatches her opponents. Grabbing a melon from a nearby fruit stand and throwing it hard to knock out the last of her opponents. With the job done she looks at LP.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Ant catches Phibius’s eye for a second before the rest of the team crowds around her to cheer for her and pat her on the back.  Only the very strongest fighters in Villains Inc. seem less enthusiastic, since they didn’t get to fight.  Nater, the strongest of them all, just stands with his arms crossed and smirks.  It has been a long while indeed since Nater has gotten to participate in a team fight.

 

Antoniella

 

Ant at first just stood still letting everyone congratulate her, she wasn’t used to being in big groups, or being patted on the back like this, so her face was also a bit blank. She also noticed that the big guys of the team were probably a bit annoyed by the fact that they didn’t get to join the fight. She shrugs her shoulders at them, since it wasn’t directly her fault, before making her way to LP. She however notices Nater’s smirk.  That will certainly help her boost her position, and LP’s too, since he was her guardian still.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Ant makes her way over to LP.  “Well done,” he says.  “Now we need to make plans for today’s field trip.  Yoyodyne has offices all over the world, but their headquarters is in Switzerland.  I’ve never heard of YoyodynePharma before, or any of the other branches listed in your file.  Not sure where to look for them.  So we have to start our infiltration somewhere we can access all branches of Yoyodyne, even the super-secret ones.  So Switzerland probably makes the most sense.  The only problem is: how do we get in and get the information we need before they catch on to us.  And once we’ve stolen it, how do we get into the secret labs without being detected and recognized?”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant smiles a bit at LP congratulating her before once more they get into serious matters. She listens to all his concerns and starts thinking for a way they could get in. “Well first we need to observe the place from the outside, and study their behaviour… then we could maybe kidnap some employees and make ourselves them”.She scratches her neck thinking what else to do, until she touches her hair. “I think I will also have to color my hair.  Red heads are less common and will be harder to blend in”. She waits for his reaction.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Phibius nods, saying, “Seems a shame to color such lovely hair any other color, but you’re right.  Besides, they would remember that you were a redhead.  To study the place from the outside is the same as studying it from the inside, I think.  They have spy cameras that show them virtually every angle around their buildings.  They would realize we were spying on them.  So we need a sneaky way to spy on them, so that we can steal from them, so that we can locate them, so that we can infiltrate them, so that we can…  uh…  you know.  Finish them off.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant nods, she wasn't a fan of coloring her hair, she liked her natural color. She looks at Lp with  suggestion. “Let’s go shopping, we will need different disguises”. She had been in Switzerland a few times and there are lil cafes and restaurants they could use as bases to spy on them. But they need to be a different person or at least change the way they look constantly to not raise any alarm. She will have to buy several hair dying kits for this, oh joy, and worse of all maybe even have to hear high heel shoes…..

 

Lord Phibius

 

“That’s a good place to start,” he says.  “We can use the rest of the day to steal what we need from department stores and such.  That will count as mayhem, so it will keep Hanzo happy for now.  He’ll want to know what we’re going to do with the disguises, so we better have something to tell him.”

 

Phibius thinks a bit.  “Do you think we should just tell Hanzo what we’re up to?  I don’t know if he’ll try to stop us or not.  Disrupting Yoyodyne could be a good thing for Villains Inc., we just need to make Hanso-san see it that way.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant thinks for a moment before speaking. “We can make a stop at the cigar shop and get him some.  That will be a nice peace offering, in case he gets pissed off.” She begins pacing around LP, organizing her ideas. “Well he wants his company to be the best doesn’t he? We will steal other information besides what we find for me and present him that too. But we have to make sure they don’t see we are connected to VI”. She takes a piece of melon that had been neatly sitting in the roof of a car after she launched the thing and began nibbling on it.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP pondered.  What information could Hanzo-san want from Yoyodyne?  That was simple.  Outlines of their criminal activities and logistics of their transactions and movements of large sums of money and valuables.  Give Hanzo-san a slice of Yoyodyne’s pie.  That should do nicely.  LP realizes Ant is walking circles around him.  He wonders what this behavior indicates.  Probably nothing.

 

Late that night, LP and Antoniella report to Fuma Hanzo’s office to make their proposal.  First, they present the cigars they had picked up that afternoon.  Then they explain their plans to him--how they can get their hands on tons of coins and donuts from Yoyodyne’s pocket before anyone will figure out what has happened.

 

Hanzo-san sniffs.  “This is petty crime, Phibby.  I run an organization called ‘Villains Incorporated’--not the mafia.  You’re supposed to be coming up with nefarious plots to overthrow governments and conquer the world.  I’m not impressed.”

The Pirate King takes one of the cigars out of the box they had presented to him and sniffs it.  He tosses it over his shoulder.  “Garbage.”  Hanzo gets up and paces behind his desk.  “Give me something bigger, LP.  Something befitting the name of Villain.”

[LordPhibius]

Part V

 

Antoniella

 

Ant had been expecting a better reaction than this, but she wisely held her tongue, if he didn't want the cigars, well they would be welcomed by her. She was wondering if she should reveal something about her true intentions to Fuma or not. “Alright you want something bigger? You say you want to take over the world, well you have to start attacking the companies that are part of the government and take over corrupting them”. Like she did in the afternoon she begins pacing around as she speaks. “I won’t deny I have a score to settle with YoyodynePharma and Yoyodyne Weapon and Defense Development”. She stops looking at him then. “ You see they had their fun with me doing a variety of different experiments with me, but I vowed to stick with you guys because I know you will eventually have to confront them.” She begins pacing again. “ If you start taking over companies and organizations that belong to the government you're taking over will be easier, because you will have your people on the inside, and if anyone tries stopping you it will be too late, you will spread your grip like a virus does with a body”. She takes a moment to breath, before continuing, she hated having to speak so much, but oh well. “Not only that, but you will have access to technologies, weapons, supplies, and more importantly money and donuts like LP said, so you can keep expanding, and quicker”. She hopes her speech has some effect on the man and he will give the green light on their stunt.  

 

Lord Phibius

 

At the mention of Ant having a personal score to settle with Yoyodyne, Hanzo wheels about and stares at her.  He lets her finish speaking, then says, “So this company did experiments on you.  And you want me to take over the company.  So, what?  So we can do the experiments instead?  I’m not buying it, Ant.  You’ve got a vendetta, plain and simple.

 

“And that’s fine.” he concludes.

 

He sits back down behind his desk and takes another cigar from the box and lights it up.  He puffs casually on it for a few seconds, looking off into the distance.  “I had a vendetta once too, you know.  Remind me to tell you about it never.  But I know what it feels like to want to get even.  And I know I won’t really be able to stop you from doing this anyway.  So I might as well give you my blessing.”  The pirate king shrugs and sits back in his armchair, taking another drag from the cigar.  He regards Antoniella for a moment, then turns to Lord Phibius.

 

“Phibby, you’ve got trouble on your hands.  I told you to babysit her, but you don’t have to do this just for her personal agenda.  I’m not forcing you to help her if you don’t want to.”

 

Lord Phibius takes a deep breath.  “I want to do it, Hanzo-san.  I can’t stand what those people did to her.  I want to help her.”

 

Fuma raises an eyebrow.  “Careful, froggy, you’re starting to sound like one of those ‘heroes’ running around everywhere helping old ladies across the street.”

 

LP shakes his head.  “It’s not out of the goodness of my heart, Hanzo.  I hate these people.  I want to see them punished.”

 

Hanzo-san takes the cigar from his mouth and nods, exhaling smoke in a wavy pattern.  “Okay, Lord Phibius.  Go take care of business.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant wanted to smirk but doesn’t do it, it was smoother than she had expected. Though she didn't mean for VI to continue with the experiments, although she wouldn’t mind doing some “experimenting” with the scientists there. She was touched by LP’s words, she will certain try her best to protect him. She looks at the Pirate Lord before bowing a bit to him. “Let’s hope I can get even, besides it’s also time to fill my own cigar stock, and who knows maybe I will even find some expensive liquor, those scientists like the good stuff, I will give them that ”. She looks at LP waiting for his command.

 

Lord Phibius

 

After the meeting, LP takes Ant to the mess hall for some celebratory ice cream.  “That’s the first time he’s ever called me that.  Lord Phibius.  I always thought it had a nice ring to it.”

 

Phibius is very pleased and talkative after the successful confrontation.  Ant had risked tipping their hand to Hanzo, and it had paid off.  She really was amazing.  After a short while, LP realizes he is staring at her, and that she is looking at him.

 

Antoniella

 

One of the things Ant loved most in the world is ice cream, she could eat it everyday. So they are having some now, she is eating some pistachio ice cream. Her tail tapping happily against her seat.  When they eyes find each other she smiles at him, this time it was a big smile, before going back on enjoying her treat.

 

Lord Phibius

 

She goes back to her ice cream without drawing attention to LP’s rudeness.  She’s either gracious, he thinks, or she just didn’t notice anything significant.  In this moment, his courage is higher than it’s been in years.  He wants to say something to her, to explain that he has feelings for her.  But what could he say?  How would she react?  He cleared his throat.  He was Lord Phibius, dammit, overlord of the amphibious world.  He was determined to say something.

 

“Um… Ant?  Antoniella?  I think I should tell you something.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant is about to go for seconds when LP’s nervous voice catches her sensitive ears, she turns to look at him. Was he feeling nervous because of the stunt they are planning on doing?, she wonders. “What is it, getting cold feet?”

 

Lord Phibius

 

“Eh?  Oh.  No.  It’s not that.  Look, we’ve been working together pretty closely for the last few days and I wanted to tell you that…” he hesitates.  “Well, I think very highly of you, and I just wanted you to know that I…  I like you.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant smiles at him. “Ah thanks LP, I like you to, you are the best frog friend anyone could have”. She thinks for a moment before adding. “Well you are my very first friend actually, don’t remember if I had a friend before I was captured”. She stands from her seat to get a second serving.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Ant walks off to the kitchen to get more ice cream.  LP slumps in his chair.  She hadn’t understood.  What was he getting into, anyway?  She was a mammal, he was a frog.  She was wild and dangerous, he was up-tight and timid.  He was touched by what she said about him being her first friend, though.

 

She comes back with another dish of ice cream and digs in like a--well, like a hungry wolf.  He tries to look at things from her perspective.  She has no memories of affection or fondness, no memories of ever having had a mate to love.  Maybe it’s better if they’re just friends.  Maybe that’s all she can handle right now.  And it’s pretty impressive how well she is handling it now, considering the rocky start they had when she first arrived.  She was doing well, and she finally had a chance at what she truly wanted.  LP decides he doesn’t want to complicate that, at least not right now.

 

He finishes his ice cream and wishes Antoniella a good night.  He showers, puts on his pajamas, and heads to his bunk.  Tomorrow they had work to do.

 

Antoniella

 

Ant finishes her ice cream, and decides to give a few rounds to the place, while LP has his shower. A lil while later she returns to their “quarters” and goes to take a shower. It has been a long day, and these days of spying and plotting will be long too. Brushing her teeth and putting on her pjs, she makes her way quietly into her bed, this time staying in her human form. She quickly falls asleep.

 

Lord Phibius

 

The next morning after breakfast it’s time for training again.  LP puts on his Amphibian Armor set and gets ready to spar with Ant.  “Okay,” he says, “I’m ready when you are.”

 

Antoniella

 

As the day before Ant doesn’t give LP much of a break, and actually comes a bit more “aggressive” today, wanting him to get better quicker, but of course her aim isn't to kill or maim him for life, so she makes sure she doesn’t get more harsh than necessary.

 

So after their training, a shower, lunch and a team battle, they get ready to start their spying on Yoyodyne HQ at Switzerland. Ant made sure to dye her hair a light brown to blend easier in the crowd, wear brown contact lenses and some glasses, and get in a dress, also wearing the dreaded and much hated high heel shoes. They were to sit in a nearby cafe that was seated at the top of a lil mountain from where they could see from a safe distance the outside of the company.

 

From their vantage point Ant could spy some trucks entering the place, some delivering mail, or general goods, and all was boring for quite a while, and cold--but that doesn’t bother her much being a werewolf. She was more worried about LP, she had insisted he wore plenty of warm clothing given he was cold blooded. She even bought him some treats in case he got hungry, some fried insects or covered in chocolate or caramel, considered a delicacy.

 

She keeps sipping her coffee while still looking at the HQ, and that’s when one truck catches her attention. It doesn't have any banners, or sign making her suspicious, it is confirmed when out of the truck they pull some crates, covered with blankets--some huge, others smaller. The sound of the wind doesn’t prevent her from hearing the frightened noise of whatever creatures they had under the blankets. She had to set her coffee cup down so she wouldn't break it and raise suspicion. When she calms down she makes a movement to fix her hair while looking in the direction of the HQ, while in reality she was clicking a button in her glasses to take pictures.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Phibius had been touched when Ant had insisted he dress in extra layers.  Then she had bought him a hot chocolate once they were at the cafe.  He supposed it was true, she liked him.  Just not romantically.

 

Using her super-sharp vision, Ant kept a constant but discreet watch over the back of the main HQ building.  LP idly chowed down on the chocolate-covered insects Ant had gotten for him.  His eyesight was not his best power.  He even had to wear glasses much of the time.

 

He watched her watching the building.  How different she looked.  Brown hair, brown eyes, glasses, a dress, and heels.  He couldn’t decide which version he liked better.  He was pondering it when Ant’s eyes narrowed and she set down her coffee cup with a noticeable “clink”.  She turned toward the building directly and subtly started taking pictures with the spycam in her glasses.

 

“What is it?” asked LP.

 

Antoniella

 

Ant tried taking as many pictures as she could, and fast. She was sure that a couple of them contained at least a body part, or show partially the test subjects. When she is done she looks back at LP to answer his question. “They got an order of test subjects, I could hear them”. She had to stop the urgency to let a growl out and go and tear them apart with her bare hands. She hopes none of the subjects dies before she can get inside there and try to rescue as many as possible. She could see other trucks arriving like the one she was taking pics, these too were delivering test subjects.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP watches the workers unloading the innocuous trucks of their cargo, boxes covered with blankets.  This was curious.  Why would Yoyodyne be unloading test subjects for Yoyodyne Pharma here at HQ unless…  Unless Yoyodyne Pharma had offices inside headquarters.  It made a sort of sense.  Although HQ would be the highest profile building Yoyodyne had, it was probably also the most heavily fortified.  How on Earth they were going to get inside, just the two of them, with just the equipment they brought, is beyond Lord Phibius.

 

“I wasn’t planning on this, Ant.  I don’t really know what to do.  Any ideas?”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant can hear the nervousness in LP’s voice and she turns to look at him, placing her hands on top of his. “Calm down, I have an idea”. Her idea was to keep looking around in the city, and go look for two employees they could steal the IDs of, dress like them, get their cards and anything else and get inside. The one inside gather the info, release the subjects, and run out as fast as possible. She would have preferred a stealth job like she did in VI HQ but she doubts that will be so easy, if she were alone probably, but LP she isn’t so sure, plus she knows he won’t want her to get separated from her.

 

Lord Phibius

 

She puts her hands on his across the table and says, “Calm down, I have an idea.”  Having her hands on his makes his heart beat a little faster, but it doesn’t calm him down.  Ant would want inside that building as soon as possible.  He understands that she can take care of herself if things got messy, but without a plan and a great deal more knowledge of Yoyodyne’s internal security, pulling off a successful rescue mission in a secret section of the building is almost impossible.

 

Plus, Phibius is sure they had protections against her in particular that she wasn’t taking into account.  Yoyodyne had time to adapt once she escaped, and they knew she would come back.  “Ant, let me try to get in by myself.  It’s less risky that way.  You can watch my back from the outside, for the first little while, just to be sure I make it through security.  But I have a really bad feeling about you going in that building.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant was going to decline his offer, she fears for his safety, but she stops herself and sighs conceding defeat when she thinks of the pros and cons. “Alright, but you will wear something so I can hear what’s going on.  At any noise of trouble I will storm in”. She doesn’t want something bad to happen to the frog man she considers her best friend.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP thought it over.  “If I’m going in wired, it’s going to have to be really sophisticated.  I’m sure they have body scanners at the very least that could pick up on that sort of thing.”  He was fully focused on the mission.  It hadn’t occurred to him to be afraid of what was inside the building.

 

Antoniella

 

Ant nods in approval. It has to be something high tech and they have to find the perfect victim to steal his ID, someone that LP looks similar to or can disguise himself as--he can't simply walk inside the building because he wants to. She gets an idea. “We could go to some bars tonight and see what else we can find, in the meantime we can go and get that device for me to be able to hear what’s happening inside”. Despite the gravity of the situation, she then lets out a small chuckle. “Don’t go making any croaking sounds ok?”

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP is pleased to hear the amused tone in her voice.  She’s handling her temper quite well.  “Right, no croaking.”

 

They go out in search of a high-tech listening device that LP can secretly wear while in the HQ building.  Fortunately they have access to Villains Incorporated’s express jet and all their resources.  If they have to go to Japan and back to get the bug, they’ll have it by tonight.

 

Going to bars afterwards proves to be a fruitful idea.  Many of the Yoyodyne workers visit local watering holes to unwind after their shifts.  They find one, part of a group of five, who looks enough like LP to pass his ID off as legitimate.

 

Antoniella

 

The journey to Japan was fun, she got some nice treats (including sake to celebrate their success) on their short visit besides the device they need. Then they hit the bar, Ant put on some makeup and a short dress, again with killer heels. She never could understand why many women liked them so much really, it was torture. Seeing the group and the target, Ant tells LP to let her handle it. She passes nearby the group and sits not that far from them, and like she expected they begin to flirt with her, and she back. Soon enough she was sitting with the group of five men, enjoying some vodka. She flirts the most with LP’s look alike.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP watches Ant go into flirt mode.  Where had she learned to do that?  Phibius barely understood how human mating rituals worked, but apparently Antoniella was adept, because she gained access to the group very quickly.  She did have the advantage of good looks on her side, which he supposed affected men more than most women.  Or at least that’s how it seemed to Phibius.

 

He couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy watching her pour on the charm with the worker who looked quite a bit like himself.  He knew she was only playing a part, though.

 

A woman comes from out of nowhere and sits right next to LP at the bar, partially blocking his view to the group’s table.

 

She looks over at him and smiles, mistaking his glances at the target as him staring at her.  “Hi there,” she says, offering her hand.  “I’m Jayna.”  She has a slight but noticeable Swiss accent.  She’s a blonde, short, cute enough, but with too much makeup on.  He wonders how old she is.

 

“Hi, Jayna, I’m Lor-- uh… I’m Lawrence Phillips.  I’m from America, here on holiday.  With… uh… with my wife.  Who will be back from the restroom any moment.”

 

“Oh?” says Jayna.  “I don’t see a ring.  And this is a singles’ bar.”  She smiles at him again.  “Why don’t you let me buy you a drink?”

 

“Oh, I don’t think--”

 

She turns to the barman and says, “Two mojitos, please.”

 

Phibius tries to get a good look across the room at what Ant is doing--and to try to catch her eye and signal an unexpected emergency.

[LordPhibius]

Part VI

 

Antoniella

 

Ant is currently in a drinking contest with the men and still flirting with them. LP’s look alike putting a hand on her knee and trying to get it up father but Ant “playfully” smacks his cheek while saying no no no and waving her index finger while winking at him. She had the almost-drunken fool on her paws. So she just keeps playing along, casually looking at LP’s direction and noticing his desperate look. She looks at the woman and raises an eyebrow, looking back at him she mutters okay.

 

She excuses herself for a moment from the table, saying she needs the restrooms and passes nearby the chairs that LP and the blond were sitting in. Careful, looking for any cameras and measuring the angles, she lets out from her finger the smallest piece of bone she can and aims it as she walks at an intersection by the blond’s chair. The wood suddenly making a cracking noise and breaking the blond falling ungraciously to the ground with a loud scream, and the noise of clothing ripping, no doubt the dress she had been using was very tight and broke by the sudden movement in the chest area.

 

Ant has to stop herself from laughing, before she stops and makes a dramatic surprised noise, and grabbing the blond by the shoulder. “Oh dear it’s so cold you will catch a cold like this! The bartender should have a forgotten jacket for you to take!”. The blond looks on the verge of crying but doesn’t fight Ant’s hold as she takes the woman away to the restroom, the bartender handing them on their way an old and smelling jacket for the blond.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP sees Ant approaching, having excused herself from the group of five Yoyodyne workers.  He doesn’t quite catch how she does it, but somehow she causes Jayna’s chair to break--seemingly on its own--and Jayna go tumbling to the ground.  He has to keep himself from spitting his drink all over the place as he laughs at the scene as Ant makes a fuss over the woman in her torn dress and escorts her unceremoniously to the restroom, getting a jacket from the bartender.

 

Trying to be discreet, LP keeps an eye on the group of workers while Ant is in the restroom.  They have their heads together, smiling, nodding, and talking excitedly.  Then they get up and pat the main target on the back.  Phibius briefly panics until he realizes that his lookalike is not leaving, but staying at the table by himself.  LP wonders if this has something to do with what some of the guys on the team call “The Bro Code”.

 

He sips his beer and waits for Ant to come back out and work her magic.

 

Antoniella

 

After helping the woman get a taxi and all, Ant walks back in, discreetly looking at LP as she makes her way to the table. The lookalike smiles at his “catch” and pulls her to his lap. Ant lets herself get pulled, while resisting the urge to murder the man, and keeping a happy looking face. He begins telling her a lot of mush and stuff and she plays along, drinking vodka to calm herself.

 

They keep at it for a while until the man whispers something in her ear and she gives a “shy laugh”, and nods. The man gives her a huge smile thinking he has scored getting laid tonight. He gets up carrying her bridal style, letting money over the table and takes her outside, not before she gives LP a look, that said meet me at the spot. They leave the bar, going to the man’s apartment for some “adult fun”. However, once the door was locked and he wasn't looking, Ant knocks him hard on the head. One for getting his dirty hands on her, and second because on their way to his apartment he had offered to her what she thought was a normal cigar, and now she was fighting the feeling of being on the clouds. She kicks him for good measure before raiding the place for the stuff they need and shaking her head to keep focus. Getting high and mixing that with vodka wasn't a good idea, and she is hungry--she feels the munchies. Ugh she would never understand that human craving to get drugged, never. She grabbed a piece of bread, after she had hogtied the man and stuffed him in a closet, and left the place.

 

Lord Phibius

 

It’s getting dark when LP exits the bar after Ant and gets a taxi after her, saying to the driver, “Follow that cab,” which is something he’s always wanted to say.  He follows her to the apartment building and has the taxi wait outside while Antoniella works.  It doesn’t take long before she comes back out.

 

Antoniella

 

Oh God she feels like… like… she can't really tell, although the effect is going away fast, thanks to all the drugs she was injected with during experimentation. She finds LP and leans against him. “The idiot got me high and I am sure that thing had more than pot on it”

 

Lord Phibius

 

“Are you going to be alright?  Do you need to postpone the break-in?”

 

Antoniella

Ant looks at LP and nods. It was saturday, and the company won’t open tomorrow for the regular employees. “I need a bed… but we have to take care of Mr. Hogtied, I left him in the closet”. She was thinking of getting him in a box and shipping him off to a far away country without a passport.

[LordPhibius]

Part VII

 

Lord Phibius

 

“You left him in the closet?” he says absently.  “He won’t keep there until Monday.  If they discover him and realize we took his ID, Yoyodyne security will change his card and instantly be on the trail of anyone using his old card.  There’s just one way to do this.”

 

He takes Ant by the shoulders, trying to support her.  They go over to the cab and LP pays and dismisses the driver.  Then, he asks her for the look alike’s room key.  She fishes it out of her bag, a little sluggish, but sure-handed nonetheless.  She gives it to him along with an inquisitive look.  “We’re going to do a little home invasion.  You and I are going to live in Mr. Hogtied’s apartment the next couple nights and keep him company until the break-in.”

 

He helps her up the stairs to the apartment door and they go inside and lock the door behind them.  “Okay,” he says.  “You need to lie down now.  Good thing our victim was obviously a bachelor.  No danger of a girlfriend showing up.  Hopefully the landlord doesn’t come poking around tomorrow.”  He was rambling again.  Lord Phibius realized he was unnerved by Ant’s vulnerable condition.  He was used to her being totally independent--at least in attitude.

 

“Come on, let’s get you lying down on the bed, then I’ll see to our friend in the closet.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant let’s him take charge, however at the idea of lying in Hogtied’s bed she makes a face and decides she won’t get near the thing. “I will take the couch”. When they enter, Ant stumbles and lays on the couch staring at the roof. “Give him a kick in the rear for me please!” Gods what the hell had that guy put in the cigar?  Pot doesn't affect her as much as this.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Phibius opened the bedroom closet.  A hogtied and gagged man resembling himself lay there in a heap on the floor, looking up at LP with a dazed look in his eye.  “What to do with you…” muttered the man-frog.  They could keep him tied to a chair for a day and threaten to kill him if he started screaming.  But then what?  If they let him go, he’ll just go to Yoyodyne and tell them all about his two captors and what they did.  Then their cover would be blown for good.

 

Sometimes, he decided, the simple ways were best.  “What are villains made of?” says LP, hauling the man out of the closet.  He crouches down next to the man and takes his head in both of his hands.  “Murder and vice and everything nice.”  He breaks the man’s neck.  

 

It was one of those things you just never get used to.  Taking a life was a thrill and scary at the same time.  LP had done it before, too many times to count, but he had gotten used to the light-hearted mayhem and make-believe team fights of being part of Villains Inc.

 

Still, he was more than a little satisfied.  The bastard had drugged his friend with the intention of date-raping her.  Nobody did that to Ant.  LP clapped the dust off his hands and went back in the living room to check on his ward.  “I wonder if there’s any tea in this rat-hole?”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant manages to sit on the couch feeling better than she did a while ago.  She had heard LP kill the man, it didn't faze her much, she has killed many. Some water would be nice. Standing slowly she walks to the kitchen taking support from things as she makes her way there. She washes a glass before getting some water to drink. After he has her take her drink, she takes some water from the kitchen faucet to splash her face.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP finds Ant up and in the kitchen splashing water on her face.  “Ant, you should really lie down for a while,” he says.  “Why don’t you just let me take care of you for a bit, okay?  That’s what friends are for, you know. Among other things.  I was thinking of making you some tea.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant smiles at him. “Tea would be nice, but don't worry, this won’t kill me” Then her thoughts go back to the guy LP had killed. A quick thought occurs to her. “I think you killed him too soon, we will need to scoop snow to keep his body from stinking”. She then makes her way back to the couch and sits down.

 

Lord Phibius

 

“Oh,” says LP.  “I thought we could just get rid of the body.  I don’t know how exactly, but I figured we could come up with something pretty easy.  Bury him in a snowdrift outside town, or put him in a big crate and mail him somewhere….  Oh.  That’s what you meant about the body stinking, huh?”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant nods, she thinks for a moment and manages to walk slowly to the bathroom. She sees it has a window. She wonders if there is a second bathroom here, and to her delight there is a smaller one--this one too with a window, but the big one with the tub will have to do. She opens the window and opens the water tap in the tub after placing the plug. “Bring it here LP”. They will have to freeze the body, she could see some of the water that was in the tub frost a bit, they will leave the window open and close this bathroom door.

 

Lord Phibius

 

“Nice idea,” he says, admiring the way Ant lets mother nature do the hard work for her.  He supposes that must have been vital to her survival in the wild after she escaped from Yoyodyne in the first place, before reestablishing contact with civilization.  He goes and does what she asked him to do, hauling the body into the bathroom and dunking it into the tub without splashing cold water everywhere.  “You know, even with the door to this bathroom closed, it’s going to get awfully cold in the apartment.  What should we do to keep warm?  I wonder if he has a fireplace.”

 

Antoniella

 

Letting him do the hard work, she turns in her wolf form, that is an easier way to walk right now. She was looking for a way to keep LP warm, she didn't see a fireplace anywhere, she finds the thermostat, but she was worried that by raising it the landlord would notice something. The window in the bathroom they left open was very hard to see given the location of it. Once more in the kitchen she sees an old iron stove and some wood piled by it’s side. Having an idea she waits for LP, they could move the couch closer to the kitchen, turn the old stove on, and get some warm blankets, if necessary she could even act as a heating blanket for LP.

 

Lord Phibius

“You mean you want to share the couch?  Isn’t that a little… familiar?”  His voice cracks slightly.

[LordPhibius]

Part VIII

 

Antoniella

 

Ant chuckles at his nervousness. “Relax, it’s not like I will be sleeping naked with you”. This was very amusing for her. She turns back to normal before looking at him. “Help me move it, we can't scrape it against the floor someone might come and complain”.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP helps her move the couch in front of the stove and load the stove with wood and start the fire.  “Well, it’s awfully nice of you to volunteer to help keep me warm.  I wish I had some body heat to share with you in return.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant turns again in her wolf form and jumps in the couch letting enough space for LP to lie down. “Well the plus side is that if we are in a hot place, your skin won’t be that hot to the touch”. When he lies down she gently sets her head over his abdomen, and a front leg over his legs. She was feeling pretty tired. Letting out a deep breath she closes her eyes and minutes later she is asleep.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP smiles, quite content with the sleeping arrangements.  Throwing some blankets over the both of them, he settles down and it is indeed quite warm.  So warm he can barely sleep.  But of course, he hasn’t had the rough time of it that Antoniella has.  He doesn’t need the sleep as much.  

 

He tries to use the time to plot a little more about what they will do tomorrow.  He had volunteered to go in alone.  Finally, that sinks in.  She wouldn’t really be there to help him.  If things went sour, he would have to think fast on his feet.  Not like with Jayna at the bar earlier.  All of a sudden he regretted not being more independent, like Ant.  She lived by her wits, and she was good at it.

 

Oh well.  LP had at least a little bit of time on his side.  But without knowing what kind of security he would face once he got in, it was hard to make plans.  Phibius goes on fretting in his usual ineffectual way for some time before he finally tires and decides to sleep.

 

He looks down at the slumbering wolf who is mostly under the blankets. He is very grateful she is in wolf form and not woman form, or this could get awkward quick.  With so much warm blood pumping through his body, he couldn’t be sure he wouldn’t have gotten aroused if it were Ant’s human form.  But this way there was little danger.

 

He turns over on his side and sleeps

 

Antoniella

 

Since it was Sunday and the company was going to remain closed Ant doesn't bother much in trying to wake up early. Still when she had the chance she wanted to train a bit with LP and see what else he had thought about. When she finally opens her eyes, she let’s out a long and wider yawn, before shaking her head.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Phibius wakes up from a dream in which he had been calling out for someone repeatedly.  He just kept calling and calling.  Finally, someone appeared, and just then LP wakes from his dream, very aware of Ant’s presence and the fact that he has a morning erection and has to use the bathroom.  He extricates himself from the blankets and Antoniella as smoothly as he can, and heads for the apartment bathroom.  When he opens the door he gets a rude reminder that they had left the window open and had a frozen corpse in the bathtub.

 

He tries to shut the door again.  His face is so cold he practically can’t move it.  Soon the chill reaches his brain, and LP passes out.

 

Antoniella

 

Ant lazily gets out of the couch to see what there was to eat, and then she hears the wind. She stops, confused at what was going on--they had closed the door. Frowning she keeps walking and finds LP on the ground knocked out with the door open. She gasps and quickly runs to close the door, and grabs the frog man by the arms slumping his body against hers and making a mad dash for the other bathroom that had a shower. She takes off the clothing that was sticking to him, and takes off her own, staying in underwear, before turning on the water to as hot as she could tolerate, and hugs the man to her trying to make him react. “LP wake up come on!”.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Phibius wakes up quite quickly once the ambient air temperature starts to rise due to the hot water.  Not to mention the half-naked woman clinging to him and the almost-scalding-hot water running over his body.  “Ow.  My head.  What the hell happ--” then he realizes he is in the shower with a half-naked Antoniella hugging him.  It takes a measure of discipline to keep from getting aroused, and even then there’s… well… a reaction.  He hopes she doesn’t notice.  “It’s okay.  I’m back.  Thanks, Ant.  Boy, what a stupid thing for me to go and do.  But I really had to pee…” he stops talking.

 

Antoniella

 

Ant felt a lot of relief when he answers her. And she hugs him tighter not caring for the reaction, she knew it was partially her fault she was hugging him and half naked. But she doesn't say anything about the matter, not wanting to make him feel embarrassed. She turns the water to a more comfortable temperature. “Don't go freezing on me ever again ok, that’s not cool!”. She grabs a nearby towel and wraps herself with it, her back to him. “I will be outside if you need me, I will make some hot soup”. With that she leaves the man frog alone in the bathroom.

 

Lord Phibius

 

He’s finally realizing Antoniella has rather strong maternal instincts.  That adds a new wrinkle to her motives in wanting to get into Yoyodyne’s secret labs.  She knows they have her own offspring in captivity.  Now he has a strong feeling she wants to find those offspring and bring them out with her into the world.  It touches LP’s heart, and he feels tears well up in his eyes.  He doesn’t cry, but it changes the way he looks at the mission.  It isn’t about just revenge, and Ant is anything but cold-blooded in her motivations or methods.  Phibius will do his best to find the information they need, or even the labs themselves, and free as many of the test subjects as he can.

 

Feeling better, he turns the water off and looks for a towel.  But this is a single man’s apartment, and it seems Ant has taken the only towel.  LP dries off as best he can with the hand-towel by the sink.  He tries to shake the rest of the moisture off.  It doesn’t work, but it keeps him warm.  He removes his freezing, wet underwear and gets back into his clothes, going commando.

 

He steps back into the main living area of the apartment to smell soup, and he feels his stomach growling.  He hadn’t told Ant that frogs don’t eat soup because he didn’t want to make the scene awkward.  Screw it, he thinks, for her he will choke it down.

 

Antoniella

 

Ant has gotten some dry clothes on her, though it is man clothing. So she dresses in a black long sleeve shirt and men pants that she has to fold part of the legs so they won’t drag on the floor, and she has to use a belt. She throws her clothing in the wash. She makes some chicken soup, but she thinks of giving LP the more nutritious stock, being aware that he probably wouldn't eat many things in it. He eats bugs mainly….. that gives her an idea. She still has some of the bugs she had gotten him, she throws some of the fried ones into the soup, screw it eating a roach leg wouldn’t kill her anyways, she had eaten many worse things. Like meat in an advanced decomposed state, she had been very hungry and weak, so she didn't have the chance to be picky about it.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Phibius comes out and sits at the tiny dining table.  Ant asks if he feels better and he says, “Yes, thanks.”

 

She comes out of the kitchen with two bowls of soup.  When she sets his bowl in front of him, he looks into it, wondering what he is going to have to eat, and is surprised to find insects in the broth.  Ant must have had some leftovers from the treats she had bought for LP in the shops yesterday.  He grins.  “That’s very thoughtful, Ant,” he says.  He begins eating his soup with gusto.

 

Antoniella

 

Ant smiles at him and begins eating the soup, not minding much when she finds a crunchy insect part. Maybe later she should take him to the store she went to--they made a lot of dishes with insects.  Also they made game dishes, so both could be happy. Training for today wasn’t going to happen, she wanted to be a 100% sure he was going to be okay. Besides, tomorrow he would go into the HQ. “We can go later to the store I got them from, I think they also made it in orange sauce, I went safe because i didn't know what you would like”. She looks at him. “And I want you to rest today, no training, I don’t want to see you suddenly collapse again”.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP nods.  “I know.  Oh, the soup’s great, by the way.  Love the way it crunches.”  Phibius is secretly relieved they won’t be training today, but of course it only makes sense.  If he went in to Yoyodyne with a black eye on Monday, people would ask questions.  He agrees to visit the store with Ant later that day.

 

With soup in his belly and a new fire in the stove, LP is nice and toasty in the apartment.  He looks up at Ant, thinking about what she did for him this morning.  She’s very protective.  After their rough start at the beginning, and the unforgiving way she had trained him for combat, LP hadn’t really expected that.  He had already been attracted to her, and he already respected her, but now there was something else between them.  He felt they had bonded in a real way.  So he decided to get his courage up and speak to her again.

 

“You know…  I felt a little jealous when I saw the way you were flirting with those guys last night.”

 

Antoniella

 

After Ant is finished with her soup and sees that LP is too, she gets up to wash the dishes. She also throws her clothes into the dryer. When he mentions he had been jealous about the things that had happened last night with the guys, she looks at him confused. “Why jealous, it was just an act?”

 

Lord Phibius

 

Phibius nods.  “I know.  It was just a gut reaction.  Even just seeing you appear to be flirting with them made me feel something.  You see what I’m saying, Ant?”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant stills looks at him confused, when it hits her she does turn a shade of red, almost enough to rival with her real red hair color. She truly doesn't know what to say from him, since she isn't expecting this, nor does she know how she should feel.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Ant continues to look confused for just a second more, then her eyes widen and she turns bright red.  She doesn’t say anything.  And after that she doesn’t say anything.

 

“I’ve made it awkward,” says Lord Phibius.  “I guess it was bound to be.  Probably comes as a shock.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant just slightly nods before talking. “Well… this is new…. erhmmm I really don’t know what to tell you… I mean it’s nice to have someone say that to you” . She looks at her hands struggling a bit with her next words. “I mean I do like you… but I don’t understand yet what level of like it is for you that I feel, I know I would take a bullet to the gut for you…. but…. I am not good with words over romantic stuff… I suck”.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP smiles gently and shakes his head.  “It’s alright.  I’m no good at this stuff either.  If I was, I would have swept you off your feet when we first met.  It’s okay if you don’t know for sure exactly what your feelings towards me are.  They will reveal themselves in time.  But now you know how I feel.  Having that out in the open makes me feel better, if that’s any consolation.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant had to chuckle a bit. “I think you would have ended up with a bone through your gut should you have tried sweeping me from my feet when we first met.” She nods at his last words. “We shall see what happens”.

 

Lord Phibius

 

“Good,” says LP, “Now down to business.”

 

They spent their Sunday shopping for new clothes, and yummy things to eat at the market.  The whole time, they talked about the job at hand.  Whether to go in the front or back.  How to react if anyone who knew their victim tried to talk to them.  When they got back to the apartment later that evening, there was a note stuck to the door.  It was in German.  Roughly translated, it said, “Enjoying your weekend with your new girlfriend?  Meet us at the bar at seven.”  It was signed:  “The Guys”.

[LordPhibius]

Part IX

 

Antoniella

 

It had been a fun day, Ant had gotten some comfy clothes to wear, also some nice big game cuts of meat she had to resist the urge to eat right in front of everyone. She was sure LP had the same problem. But still it had been a good day, while she was trying to figure out how she felt about him.

 

However when they got back to the apartment and they found the note, she looks at him. “Ugh we have a problem”.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP replied in German, “You can say that again.”  He opened the door to the apartment and let Ant go in first, then locked the door behind them.  “Fortunately, it’s not an army of men with flamethrowers or anything like that.  We just have to outsmart four pesky little minions.”

 

He went in and sat on the couch, chewing on some nice things with lots of legs from a grocery sack.  “I’m sorely tempted to visit them at that bar,” he said.  “We could learn a lot from them if we could get them talking.  But I don’t think I could pull off an act where I pretended to be him in front of his friends.  And if you go in without me, they might get suspicious.  Maybe not.  It would be a gamble.  What do you think?  Should we go see them or ditch them and spend the night in?”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant understood perfectly well and sighed, she couldn’t remember where she had learned german, she shrugs her shoulders. She joins LP on the couch and listens to him. She thinks for a moment before making up her mind. “Let’s go there, we will be the perfect couple in front of them”. She looks at him. “We will have to put on an act--probably kissing and all that”. She lets out a chuckle. “So I won't hit you if you get a bit frisky tonight, I prefer a billion times you to having them touching me”

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP looks away shyly.  “I don’t really have much experience in that department.  I’ve never tried to hit on a mammal before.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant thinks what to say, then remembers this morning. “What did you feel like doing to me this morning? I saw how your body reacted, guide yourself by what you feel” She says looking at him.

 

Lord Phibius

 

“Oh, you noticed that, eh?” he cleared his throat.  “You really want me to just…  do whatever I feel?”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant chuckles “Well  most things, but don't start having sex with me in the middle of the bar full of people would you?”.

 

Lord Phibius

 

He laughs.  “Right,” he says.  “Listen, anything you feel uncomfortable with, just let me know.  If you want it to be off-limits, it’s off-limits.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant nods then looks at the clock. “We should get ready Frank, and I will be Anja”. She stands from the couch to dress.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Fortunately, Phibius had let Ant pick out some clothes for him earlier in the day.  He would work that into the act.  Anja had helped Frank put together a look.  So he wore something she liked.  He made sure his hair was well-combed and even put some of Frank’s hair gel in it to make the look authentic.  Frank has some cologne that smells like ass, and LP decides against it.

 

The more prepared he was, the more nervous he became.  He was headed into uncharted territory with Ant, and he had to go there pretending to be somebody else.

 

Antoniella

 

Ant put on a pretty, one shoulder grey dress and black heels, with a hint of make up. After that, she and LP were ready. They take off to the bar, stealing dead Frank’s car. Arriving there she mutters to LP to relax and grabs his hand in hers to look like a couple.

 

Lord Phibius

 

They go into the club holding hands and smiling.  The group of four men is waiting at the same table.  They get cheers and jeers from the men, who comment on Frank’s “walk of shame” and order the couple two drinks--vodka.  Phibius hates vodka.

 

He spoke as little as possible, just nodding and mumbling at the men’s questions.  He pretended to have eyes only for Anja, which wasn’t a difficult task.  Still, they were there to get information from the group, not just convince them Frank was still alive.  Phibius leans over and puts his arm around Ant’s shoulder, and turns his head toward her neck, breathing in her scent.

 

Antoniella

 

Ant cheers with the men and takes LP’s drink and has it too. “Oh don’t mind him, we had a long night and afternoon and I was pretty wild with him, didn't know someone was so good”. She shivers a bit when she feels LP’s breath on the skin of her neck. She tries distracting herself talking to his “friends” “So dears he didn’t tell me much about you, where do you guys work?”

 

Lord Phibius

 

The four gentlemen give Frank a big “ooooh” at the mention of the long afternoon and night, and wolf howls at the “so good” comment, slapping Phibius on the shoulder and back.  He gave them a grin he hoped looked real and went back to attending to Anja.  He had to make this convincing.  He started to kiss Ant on the neck.

 

“Oh, we work for Yoyodyne, jah,” says one of the four, and the other three give him dirty looks.

 

Antoniella

 

Ant grips her drink and serves herself more vodka as she feels LP’s kisses.  Oh boy, she was a woman, not made of stone. Taking a deep breath and placing her hand on his knee, rubbing it, she keeps talking to them. “Oh that’s awesome I was thinking of applying for a job in the company, that’s why I came here, are there any jobs available?”

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP takes Anja’s knee-rubbing as an encouragement and moves the hand he has on her shoulder to her neck and moves his kisses gradually up her neck until he is nibbling lightly on her earlobe.

 

The four gentlemen lean into the table.  “Yoyodyne is always looking to hire the right kind of talent, Miss,” says the most sober of them.  They all grin at each other, but seem confused as to why Frank is not into the conversation as they are.

 

LP absolutely does not notice this reaction.

 

Antoniella

 

Ant makes a gasp, not expecting LP to be so daring--oh boy--but she lets him. Making a remark at his lack of conversation: “Oh you big stud can’t keep your hands from me can you?” She turns her head and kisses LP, letting out some of the things she was feeling into the kiss.  Definitely she wasn't made of stone. She kisses him deeply, even daring to introduce her tongue into his mouth, before having to separate from him to breathe.  She turns back at the men trying to calm down her racing heart. “That would be wonderful, and I would be able to move here, though, I think I found already a home with Frank”. “I have a degree in biology and chemistry, what do you guys do at Yoyodyne?”

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP freezes up for a moment.  That was an incredible kiss.  He felt he wanted to do it again, right now, but Ant’s interrogation was just about to bear fruit.  He took his glass back from her and poured himself some vodka.

 

The Alpha of the group of men shrugs his shoulders.  “Why don’t you ask Frank?”

 

Phibius gulps down the whole glass of vodka.

[LordPhibius]

WARNING: This section contains elements of a highly suggestive nature.  Rated R.  Adults only, please.

 

 

Part X

 

Antoniella

 

Ant internally winces she has to throw a curveball for that, make the man feel guilty or at least make the colleagues spill the beans, she puts a hand over her lips and makes a gasping sound. “Oh dear I am annoying you? I didn’t mean that”. She looks down at her hands like a whipped puppy. “ I am so sorry, I don’t have that many friends and was looking to make new ones besides Dear Frank”.

 

Lord Phibius

 

The men all look at each other.  LP gives Anja a sympathetic hug.  The Alpha stands up from his seat.  “Friendly isn’t exactly the byword at Yoyodyne, Miss.  Come on, guys.  You too, Frank.”

 

LP looks up at the man angrily, before the others can react.  “Stay where you are, guys.  Let this loser go home and be a buzzkill.  The party’s right here.”

 

The three Betas look at “Frank” as if he’s just bitten the head off a live chicken.  LP shrugs, turns back to Ant, takes her chin in the crook of his finger, lifts her head, and kisses her on the mouth.

 

Antoniella

 

She was wondering if LP had any clue of what he was doing to her. She doesn’t hesitate to kiss him back, before keeping up the act. “We should leave, dear, there isn’t a need for you to fight with your friend for me”. She gives the other men minus the alpha male puppy eyes, a complete innocent look on her face.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP takes another swig of vodka.  He was learning to like the stuff, oddly.  “I’m going nowhere.  The party’s right here, even if it’s just the two of us.”

 

He reaches down and gives her leg a little squeeze before turning his head toward Ant and whispering in her ear, “Pretend I just said something funny and naughty.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant was sure LP was getting drunk with the vodka, she does pretend that he said something naughty and laughs. Before she takes the remaining vodka and serves it in her glass drinking it. She had to get him something to eat, then it occurs to her, maybe she could get the others drunk. “Dear we better order something to eat”. She waved a waitress  and orders a sampler plate with many tasty bits to eat, this place even served the fried bugs. She takes one and eats it, to play along. “Oh they don't taste bad at all, I was always curious”. She whispers in LP’s ear “Don’t dive so fast for the bugs, eat some of the fish and the eggs too, frogs eat them too”. She kisses his ear before turning to the people at the table again, a new bottle of vodka is delivered, and some lemon slices.

 

Lord Phibius

 

At Phibius’ display of authority, the three other men hesitate, waiting to see which Alpha will win the battle of wills.  When they see that “Frank” isn’t going to move, and then his girlfriend orders food, they settle right back into their chairs and smile nervously to one another.  The Alpha who had stood up to leave sneers.  “Remember the company motto, gentlemen,” he says.  Then he leaves.

 

LP isn’t very hungry, but he snacks a little on the sampler plate, offering food to the others as he does so.  He takes another swallow of vodka, then pours himself another small glass.  Phibius is used to drinking beers with the guys at Villains Inc. HQ.  The vodka, he realizes, is having a bit more of an effect.  He eats a few more bugs, figuring it will all be fine.  This is  probably how the real Frank would drink anyway.

 

He puts his arm around Ant, leaning into her, and sits back in his chair, content to watch the interrogation proceed.

 

Antoniella

 

Several hours later, and many bottles and drinks Ant saw how her companions were drunk and slowly loosening their tongues. Ant behaves like she is pretty drunk. Telling the story of her “life”, a completely fake story, of how she was going to get married, and the man cheated on her and left her at the altar waiting. And how she hoped that Frank would be the man, and how she had a crappy job which she had to leave because everyone made her life impossible, blah blah, blah. After that she began some of the men complaining about things in their jobs, from the chairs, the restrooms, and more juicy bits. She tries her best to remember everything, and tried holding herself from jumping over LP and doing what she told him not to.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Phibius does his best to act like a lecherous Frank, not having a hard time of it.  After she had put her tongue in his mouth during that kiss, he had been wondering how much of her responses had been an act as well.  Before arriving, he had been desperately worried that his attentions would disgust Antoniella.  Either she was a very very good actress, or that just wasn’t the case.

 

She gradually got the men drunk.  In the meantime, LP tried not to get as drunk as they were, but he felt he needed to put away a fair deal of vodka to keep the act convincing.  He put his arm around Ant’s waist, pulling her to him, and kissed that lovely part of a woman right where the corner of her jaw meets her neck.

 

LP and Ant learn the names of the three men.  The blond is Stanley, the one who looked a bit like LP except heavier was Keith, and the bespectacled redhead with curly hair was called Schwartz.  They enjoyed their jobs at Yoyodyne because they enjoyed the feeling of being part of the organization that was like a secret puppetmaster behind the scenes, influencing everything, wielding enormous power, ever-growing.

 

They were in the IT department at Yoyodyne HQ, which meant they theoretically had access to much of the building, but only if their services were specifically required.  At least LP knew which entrance to use.  He would have preferred being a worker at the loading docks, but this he could work with.

 

LP’s hand moved down to Ant’s hip and he blew in her ear softly.

 

Antoniella

 

Getting the job information, Ant told she would bring her resume soon and see if she got lucky, that she was feeling very glad to meet new people, she even makes the men make a couple of more cheers, and drink more vodka. And LP… oh God when they get back to the apartment she was going to make him pay. They stay with their “friends” for a bit longer, until one of them falls from his chair drunk in the floor, making all at the table share a loud contagious laugh. Before his friends picked him up and decided to get a taxi back home. Ant signals LP that they have to go too. She was going to drive--she is pretty sure she is still the most coherent of the two.

 

Lord Phibius

 

The others leave and LP drops the act, quite reluctantly.  His first encounter with physical intimacy with a semi-human woman had been quite…  energizing.  He was sure Ant was glad to be through with the act.  He shrugs when she suggests that she drive.  “You sure you’re good to drive?  No harm calling a cab.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant throws the keys hard in the air several times and quickly without fail catches them. “Still coherent enough”. Plus she wanted to get to the apartment fast, LP had quite the effect on her today. Getting into the car, and waiting for him to get in, she drives with caution but just near the speed limit to the apartment, gripping the steering wheel with force, turning her knuckles white. Parking the car, Ant quickly gets out, and together with LP she makes it to the apartment. Locking the door behind them, Ant leans against the door for a moment considering her choices. either take a very cold shower, or have sex with LP. With him so close it wasn't hard what to choose. She walks to him and wraps her arms around his neck, kissing the frog prince once more like the first time she did in the bar. She kisses him for as long as possible before having to breathe again. she leans her head against his chest before speaking. “Damn it, LP, what have you done to me tonight? I want you so badly now.”

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP nearly staggers into the apartment, Ant pushing him in.  She certainly was in a hurry tonight.  He turns to watch her lock the door and lean against it with a distant look, and then look at him with a hungry look.  She stepped in and kissed him, long and deep, giving him her tongue again.  He kisses her back as well as he knows how, doing as she advised and just letting his body and his feelings guide him.  After what seems like a good hour, they part and the first real kiss between them is over.  She tucked her head into his chest and said “Damn it, LP, what have you done to me tonight?  I want you so badly now.”

 

LP wraps his arms around her and strokes her hair, setting his chin on top of her head.  “So it wasn’t all an act,” he says.  He looks down at her and lifts her chin to look into his eyes.  “Do you mean what you just said?  You mean you like me too?  Are you sure?”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant looks at him, thinking on what to say. “ I don’t know how to describe what I am feeling for you, I just want to be closer to you right now… that’s how I feel”. She enjoys feeling his arms around her, and takes a deep breath taking in his scent. “I have never felt this way before… or I can’t remember”.

 

Lord Phibius

 

“Neither have I, Antoniella.  I didn’t know these kinds of feelings were inside a frog.  I guess I’ve been around the humans quite a while now.  I know a lot about them.  But there’s a lot I don’t know.  Like…  mating rituals.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant looks at him knowing he was feeling nervous and gives him a smile. “Then let me show you”. She raises her head to kiss him once more, before taking her time so he would get used to the feelings, the kisses and the touches. The steps in the “mating ritual” fall in sequence like dominoes, one thing following another.  Telling him to trust his instincts again, it turns out LP doesn’t need much guidance.

 

By the time they both finish, they are breathing heavy in each other’s arms.  Finally being able to talk, she speaks to him in a breathless voice “That was… incredible, Phibius”.

 

She didn’t regret lying with him tonight, she feels very glad she did, she feels like a hole that was there before in her soul slowly was closing.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Phibius gets a rating of “incredible” from Antoniella, but it was her that had really made the whole thing possible.  LP was so grateful.  He lies down next to her, keeping her in his arms, and watches her breathe.  He smiles and says, “I am a warm-blooded creature.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant chuckles, resting her head on his chest, giving him a kiss there. “I have amazing abilities then”. She was feeling sleepy, snuggling closer to him, she closes her eyes and falls asleep.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP is dreaming of calling out again, only this time he knows to whom he is calling. She arrives and they embrace each other.  Things are just getting good, when a harsh beeping awakens LP.  It’s the alarm Ant had set the previous night to make sure they got up in time to get Phibius to Yoyodyne at opening business hours.  Problem is, Phibius doesn’t know exactly where the alarm is, and he has a throbbing headache from the previous night’s vodka-fueled festivities.

 

He groans.  “Is it really Monday already?”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant was having good dreams when she wakes up startled by the alarm, her naked body hitting the cold ground with a loud thud, making her curse loudly. She stumbles a bit standing up, before searching for the alarm of hell. She wanted to murder the thing. Groaning in protest she hits the off button. ”I told you I am not a morning person”. She walks back to the couch and sits down, rubbing where she hit her head. She didn't have a headache because of drinking but she is starting to get one from the fall. “I hate Mondays”.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Phibius yawned expansively after Ant had turned off the alarm.  He sat up so she could sit next to him on the couch.  “The good news is, those bastards at Yoyodyne probably feel the same way we do right now.”

 

“I’ll make some coffee,” he says, going to the kitchen.  His thoughts jumbled, he tries to remember exactly what he has to do today.  Breaking into Yoyodyne, yes.  Then what?  Finding the secret labs.   Freeing the test subjects.  Looking for any of Antoniella’s offspring.  And at some point during all of this he needed to capture or kill the lead scientist and his bosses, followed by escaping the building alive.  All with a hangover.  Piece of cake.

 

The smell of the coffee brings him back to himself.  He doesn’t usually drink the stuff himself, but he decides to go for it this morning, if it will help any with the hangover.  He pours himself and Ant a couple of cups of Swiss coffee and brings them over to the small table just outside the kitchen area.

 

Antoniella

 

Ant went to the stove and turns it on to heat the place some. Then she walks to the fridge taking some eggs, bacon and toast and starts making some breakfast. She cooks just a lil bit several eggs, alongside some worms for LP, before she makes herself some food, her bacon extra crisp. Getting the food to the table when it was done, the first thing she did was quickly down a cup of coffee, then having another one while eating more slowly. “I would tell you to call in sick, but we can’t delay this anymore, sadly”. She would have enjoyed staying with LP the whole day after what happened last night, but they couldn’t. They had a job to do. She hopes that if there is any offspring of hers trapped in there, that he or she is alive and well.

 

Lord Phibius

 

After breakfast--for which Phibius thanks Ant profusely--he quickly dresses for work and gets ready to go.  “I’d have you drive me in, but that would get you too close to the cameras.  You better follow in a cab.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant gets a quick shower, before dressing, this time no dresses and no heels, a long sleeve shirt, warm pants, and boots, and a coat over that. She hands LP the device they had gotten in Japan. “I will follow walking, this device has a long distance range”.

 

Lord Phibius

 

“As you wish,” he says.  He buttons his cufflink and straightens his jacket.  He puts on a warm coat over his business suit, and then a thought strikes him.  “What do we do with the body?  After they figure out I’m not who I say I am, this is the first place they’ll investigate.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant thinks about the body and what to do with it. She has an idea where they would never find the body, but bleh. “I could devour it…. no way finding him then”. Unless she took him into the mountains and gets his body under a big clump of snow.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP checks Frank’s Swiss wristwatch.  “Damn.  We don’t have any time.  I’ve got to get going.  Just leave the body there.  One way or another, they’ll find out we took care of him to replace him.  I guess they’ll have the satisfaction of a well-preserved corpse to bury--or experiment with, who knows with these people.”

 

Phibius exits the apartment, making sure Ant is behind him, closes and locks the door, and locates Frank’s car in the parking lot.  With just a hint of his hangover left, LP is starting to grow a little more confident.  Today’s “Mayhem O’clock” was going to be more epic than usual.  He gets in the car, waves goodbye to Ant, and heads to Yoyodyne HQ.

 

Antoniella

 

Ant was relieved when LP told her they could just leave the body there, the idea of having to eat Frank wasn’t very appealing to her at all. As LP leaves, Ant waves goodbye to him. She waits for a bit before walking to a market area near Yoyodyne HQ, and sits on a bench--her headache going away after a while.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP parks his car in the employee lot in front of the building, hoping he’s not taking someone else’s spot, and heads for the main entrance.  “Approaching HQ,” he mutters to the device affixed to his collarbone.  It’s too bad the communication is only one-way, but anything more would be easily detectable by a security scan.

 

He goes inside the high-ceilinged lobby with marble floors and a beautiful mahogany security desk at the front.  A bored-looking guard takes their ID badges and swipes them into the facility.  After that, LP is a bit lost.  There is a bay of scanners in the distance manned by intimidating-looking security guards.  There is a statue in the center of the lobby, underneath which is the company motto in German, French, and Italian.  “Discreetly overcoming any and all obstacles.”

To the left is an ordinary-seeming gift shop, and to the right are elevators, restrooms and a fire escape door.  Does LP take one of the elevators somewhere?  Or does he try going through the scanners?  There hadn’t exactly been a plan of the building among Frank’s personal effects, and there were no labels showing visitors where to go.  Discreet indeed.

[LordPhibius]

Part XI

 

Antoniella

 

Ant was having a cup of chocolate, while waiting for LP to report. She was nervous, but she hoped for the best. A light snowfall begins but she stays where she is sitting. She had some weapons hidden in her, ready to storm into the place, should she need to rescue LP. How she wishes she had gone with him.

 

Lord Phibius

 

“I seem to have a small problem,” LP whispered into the transmitter.  The intimidating men by the scanners were starting to look at “Frank” suspiciously.  Just then, Stanley, Keith and Schwartz come through the security checkpoint and find their friend waiting for them in the lobby.  He grins at them and greets them all in German.  “My friends!  Thanks for a wonderful party last night.  Have I got some stories to tell you…”

 

Stanley grins and says, “Jah, but wait until we are past security, okay?  We don’t want to get into trouble about your new girlfriend and her job search.”

 

The three of them make towards the security scanners, so Phibius follows along.  “The mission is a go,” he whispers to Ant.

 

Antoniella

 

Ant was about to go running into the HQ when Phibius told her everything was alright. How she wishes this device a was a 2 way communication. It was lucky that Frank’s friends had arrived when they did.

 

Lord Phibius

 

To get through the scanners, the men had to remove everything metal--which wasn’t much since the Yoyodyne dress code apparently didn’t include a belt or much of anything except a black shirt, black pants, black shoes, and a black suit jacket.  Besides that, they just had to hand over their satchels and take off their shoes.  LP gets through the scanning process with no problem whatsoever, and follows his friends to their IT area up on the fifteenth floor, a cramped office with rows of tiny cubicles.  With black walls.  And the company motto spelled out in front of the manager’s office.

 

The three of them went to their cubicles, to a row where five cubes faced each other.  It wouldn’t have been that way in a normal office, LP knew, but apparently this pack of five were close and on good terms with the boss.

 

“Now,” said Stanley, “Tell us about this weekend.  And don’t hold back any details.”  The three of them lean out of their cubicle “doors” in their computer chairs, grinning at the still standing Lord Phibius.  Which of the remaining two cubicles was Frank’s?

 

Antoniella

 

Ant hopes LP gives the men a good story that would keep them entertained from any mistake LP made. “Come on give them a good story”.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Phibius decides to play off his confusion for now, leaning against the wall of Schwartz’s office and spinning a yarn of pornographic intensity.  He mentally apologized to Ant for objectifying her, even if the whole thing was entirely an act.

 

“Anyway, never mind her supposed job opportunity here at Yoyodyne” he said, “I just told her I’d ask about it and introduce her around to some people so she’d sleep with me.  And now she thinks she’s going to move here and live with me!”  The four of them burst into laughter.

 

Stanley points his head in the direction of one of the cubicles.  “You better sit down before the boss gets here.  Not to mention… Karl.”

 

All three of them get straight faces at the name.  “Oh yes, he won’t be in a good mood after what happened last night.”

 

LP is momentarily confused.  “What happened last night?”

 

Everyone stares at him.  Keith says, “The way you stood up to him.  At the bar.  Remember?”

 

Phibius feins embarrassment.  “Oh yeah, that,” he says.  “Funny the effect some vodka and a beautiful girl have on a guy, isn’t it?”

 

They chuckle nervously.  “Who knew you had it in you” said Stanley.  “Besides, who knew the girl would go for you and not Karl this time….”

 

LP actually got a little indignant.  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant actually went a lil red in embarrassment from the story LP to his “friends” , probably he felt inspired about what happened last night. She felt disgust however  when the guys laugh at how “Frank” tricked “Anja”. Disgusting creatures.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Schwartz clears his throat and makes a directed glance at something behind LP.  They all look quickly, then turn back to their own cubicles, to their own desks, pretending to work.  Phibius hears someone walking quietly up behind him.  He tenses.  Who was it?  Karl?  The boss?  A squad of security guards who had identified him?  A hand rests firmly on LP’s shoulder.  He turns to look.  A stranger in a Yoyodyne black suit stands behind him.  “Frank.  What did we talk about in the meeting last Thursday?”

 

LP quickly assumes an obedient, chastened stance.  “Yes, Boss.” he says.  He goes to the cubicle that Stanley had pointed out as his and sat down at the desk.

 

“That’s better,” says the boss, and walks to his office across the way.

 

Another set of footsteps approaches, this time from the other side of the cluster of cubicles, on the side where Phibius is now sitting.  Another hand rests on LP’s shoulder.  He gulps.  He turns.  It’s Karl.  Karl smiles.  He extends his hand.  “No hard feelings about last night, Jah?”

 

LP smiles.  He takes Karl’s hand and shakes it.  “No hard--”  Karl pulls on LP’s arm and with the other hand inserts a hypodermic needle into LP’s exposed wrist.  A group of about five armed and armored security thugs pile into the cubicle and hold Phibius down to the desk by the shoulders and arms, one of them covering his mouth with a gloved hand.  It’s only because his mouth is now covered that it occurs to Phibius to cry out for help, so Ant will know he’s in trouble.

 

Pretty quickly whatever he’s been injected with takes effect, and LP feels euphoric and completely separate from his physical body.

 

“Take him,” says one of the security soldiers.

 

They carry Lord Phibius bodily to a secret elevator hidden in the wall behind the emblazoned company motto.  The doors shut and they begin to descend, two of the soldiers holding LP by the arms, letting his body and legs dangle limply.  No one is covering his mouth now.  LP is losing consciousness fast.  “Hey you guys.  You guys.  Guess what?”  His speech is extremely slurred.  “I got laid last night.”  And with that, he blacks out.

 

Antoniella

 

After hearing the scuffle Ant doesn’t waste any time, and quickly makes her way into the HQ, she wanted to tear everything apart--to kill everyone. She was insane with fury. Knowing that there was no sense in stealth Ant arrives to the entrance where some armed men are waiting… she doesn’t have any mercy with them, reducing their bodies into bloody pulp, their metal armors bending in many different  ways asphyxiating and crushing them. She could feel that the armor was made of a new metal, but still it wasn’t enough to stop her. She tears apart the entrance, having transformed to the biggest size her wolf form allowed, the size almost of an elephant. The marble floor gets many scratches from Ant’s sharp claws as well as the mahogany desks, every employee in the place that wasn’t a soldier began screaming trying to save their lives. Ant swats away with her claws and tailbone everything that dares to come close to her. Finding Lp’s scent she let’s out an angry roar, before following the way, static energy was coming from her, messing with everything electronic and making it explode, the computers, cameras, detector, heck she even made the emergency fire system explode, sending water all over the place, and conducting her electricity even more effectively.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Teams of soldiers wearing insulated boots file into the main floor lobby, flanking the huge werewolf.  Taking aim with custom rifles, they shoot a barrage of tranquilizer darts at the rampaging Antoniella.  A good number of the darts find their mark.  The darts are filled with a serum whose formula was derived from experimentation on the werewolf’s own blood and tissue.  It’s designed specifically to put her kind to sleep for many hours.

 

Antoniella

 

Ant can feel the darts hit her body, but this doesnt stop her at all, and like she did with the guards before, she turns these too in an unrecognizable pile of flesh and bones. She keeps running at top speed, finding that they had placed several metal doors in her way, but she rams hard with her head, sending them flying, such was her desire to reach LP. She reaches the offices where he was ambushed, they were empty. She finds the hidden door where he had been taken to. She tears that apart and quickly finds the elevator shaft and opens the doors with her claws, she grabs the cables with her paw and let’s out a very high electric discharge, pleased to hear screams of agony below her. She launches down the hole, and makes the elevator collapse and break apart when she lands on it with her sheer weight. She keeps going, not stopping. She felt a bit groggy, but she didn’t have time for that. She had to rescue her possible mate--heck she was starting to consider him as official. And when she got him back she was going to give him a piece of her mind, this had been a terrible idea for him to go alone.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP tries to sit up, suddenly very awake and alert.  He feels the adrenaline inside him like a flooding river.  Every sense is sharp.  Every muscle is tense.  But he can’t sit up.  He’s tied down.  He’s in a lab, surrounded by medical equipment.  Someone has just injected him with a large dose of adrenaline.  Two men in labcoats and face masks stand a short distance away, talking to one another.  “It’s not Frank Pietrson.  The DNA is completely different.  Unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”
 

“I agree.  And it’s not our work, nor that of any government.  The mutation is entirely natural.  He--it--was born this way.”

 

“Think of what we could--”

 

A door bursts open and a security guard comes in.  “We have an intruder,” says the guard.

 

The lead scientist sighs.  “You have my full authority to use lethal force, just make sure--”

 

“No sir.  Not a human.  We believe it’s one of yours.”

 

Straining as hard as he can against his bonds, LP makes no progress whatsoever in extricating himself and effecting an escape.  He lays back and pants hard.  “Don’t mind me,” he says in English.  “I’ll just be over here having a heart attack.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant keeps on making her way savagely, leaving behind a trail of corpses and scrap metal. These guys have certainly gotten better equipment, but still she is unstoppable. Several cuts and bullet holes adorned her body, but since she was in her biggest form this affected her less. She sniffs the air, feeling closer to LP and she growls shaking her head to clear it. It seems the darts were starting to affect her somehow. She still had the chance of turning around and running away… but she wasn’t gonna leave him behind, no way in hell.

 

Taking a sharp turn to the left, Ant could listen to LP’s voice and she throws herself against the doors, seeing him strapped on the table, she growls and turns to rip apart the scientist hovering over him, then suddenly she gets blasted in the face by a green dust, that made her eyes and respiratory system feel like they were burning. Still she tries her charge, but she gets tackled away from LP by a guy wearing a big exoskeleton. She turns to bite the suit, but finds that her fags don’t tear as easily as with other metals. However, her grip is enough to send the suit away from her. She shakes her head trying to clear her vision. The scientists take the chance to fire more darts at her, but she knows they are the small fries. She goes for the suit. At the end of each arm, it had curved blades, with saw like edges, also they had a handle at the end in case the opponent impaled itself, so it couldn’t continue making its way up and into the pilot.

 

Throwing herself at the suit, she tries to avoid getting impaled and trapped by the blades. It was some sort of dance--Ant took bites and sent in her bones and electric attacks, darting away after each one, doing her best not to get cornered. The pilot trying his best to not give her much space to run away and gain distance. In one of her darting attacks Ant manages to tear out a leg armor exposing the softer inner parts, however it came with a cost, the pilot managed to make a very deep cut in her flank, muscle showing, blood pouring like crazy from the new wound. Ant lets out a yelp of pain. She tries darting away as fast as possible, but the pilot had a hidden weapon, the suit had some propellers that when activated gave the suit a big speed boost. Activating it, the pilot manages to stab Ant twice, trapping her against the wall. One of the blades going from one side of her abdomen to the other, the other one was only passing through one of her shoulders. Ant lets out a whimper of pain, her legs shaking, she was starting to lose consciousness, then she looks behind the pilot and sees LP, looking at her, and she reminds herself what she thought the first day she woke up at VI. “Pain is momentary, and death would eventually come”. For LP she chooses pain, letting out a growl to fight the pain, and moving forward, the blade slicing her body horizontally even more, she manages to free her shoulder, and with a quick movement she manages to turn now that her shoulder was free, and smash her head against the protective anti-bullet glass protecting the pilot, and she grabs the screaming man on her jaws, shaking her head side to side, tearing him apart, and sending body parts everywhere. The scientists around LP flee in terror, screaming. Ant let’s the body fall, and she takes a deep wheezing breath, before staggering and freeing herself from the remaining blade. She feels like she will fall dead any moment but she fights the feeling down. With unsteady legs she approaches LP and begins biting down his restrains, she manages to chew through 3 of them, before she collapses. Her head staying on top of the table, she looks at LP with a sad look, wanting to apologize for failing him. But she couldn’t speak, she was so exhausted, she can only hope she had done enough for him to escape this hellish place. She closes her eyes and doesn’t fight anymore the darkness that takes over her.

 

Lord Phibius

 

At first LP is elated and amazed to see Ant’s arrival.  She towers over the scientists and crushes half the room of equipment with one swipe of her paw.  Phibius had no idea she could assume such a large form.  Bright red with blood and coursing with electricity, she looked like death incarnate.

 

Then the lead scientist, moving quickly, picked up what looked like some sort of huge perfume bottle and shot its contents into Ant’s nose and eyes.  She reacts as if she’s in great pain.  “Hey!” shouts LP.  “What’d you do to her?”

 

Then the man in the enormous robot suit comes through the wall and tackles the giant wolf from the side.  “Oh shit!” yells Phibius.

 

The mechanical suit and the giant werewolf fight it out in the hall outside.  The lead scientist turns to his associate while the two fight.  “We must move quickly.”

 

He goes to a cabinet and pulls out a vial.  Inside is what looks like blood and some sort of black ooze.  The scientist affixes the vial to a gigantic syringe and moves over to Lord Phibius.  “What’s that?” asks LP, in German this time.

 

“We made this from her,” he says.  “I do not know if you will survive this.  But it will be great for science.”  The man injects the entire vial into LP’s arm, then steps back.  “Come, Doctor, I think we should escape now.”

 

The two of them look out the door and scream for their lives, running in the opposite direction.  LP can hear what sounds like a wolf tearing apart its prey by shaking its head, and the dying screams of the pilot of the exo-suit.  He feels nothing from the stuff they injected him with at this point.  Maybe he can’t feel it, because the next thing he sees is a horribly torn Antoniella come in the door.  She has a huge gash all down her side, and she can’t use one of her forelegs from damage to her shoulder.

 

“Ant!”  She staggers over to him.  She chews through most of LP’s restraints, then collapses.  “No!” he screams and takes the wolf by the sides of its head.  Ant gives him a long, sad look, then closes her eyes, letting out a long breath.  “I’ve got to help you.” he says, getting up off the table.  “I can do this.  I can save you.”  He rips open laboratory cabinets, looking for medical supplies.  He needs a giant needle and suture.  Otherwise the only lover he’s ever known will bleed to death in front of him.

 

In the back of his mind, he knows he hasn’t got a prayer of closing that wound.  Panic overtakes him, and he rushes to Ant’s side.  “Wake up, Ant.  We’ve got to get out of here.  They’ll be back soon.  Ant, wake up.”

 

She doesn’t move, and he starts to cry.  She had done it all to save him.  It was because he thought he could pass for a normal human and infiltrate Yoyodyne alone that she was here, and dying.  He tore at his hair and tears poured down his face.

 

“Well if you think I’m leaving you in here to die, you can think again, Ant.  I don’t care what kind of experiments they run on me or how long I’m trapped here.  I just want to be with you.  I told you.  I’m here til the wheels fall off.”

 

He puts his head against hers and hugs her neck and cries a little more.  Soon, teams of soldiers with tranquilizer rifles close on the lab.  LP doesn’t move as they surround them.  He finally looks up at them and says, “I am a warm-blooded creature.”

The soldier in front shoots Phibius with a dart, and in a moment he is asleep.

[LordPhibius]

Part XII

 

Lord Phibius

 

A few times, LP fades back into consciousness for what feels like a few seconds.  There are always lab workers, and they are always inspecting him or injecting him with new compounds or gene treatments.  He doesn’t know how much time passes total.

 

Then, at some point, he comes back to himself.  He is suspended inside of a tank of murky water, with no breathing equipment.  He panics, kicking against the glass of the round tank with all his strength, but that glass was meant to take bullets and not break.  Then, he realizes he can breathe.  He is breathing water through his skin.  Like a frog.

 

He calms down and tries to look at his reflection in the glass.  With the reflection curved as it is, he appears super thin in the glass and can’t really make out much.  He reaches out for his reflection and touches the glass.  He finds that his hand sticks to the slippery surface as if it has been glued on.  Each of his fingers ends in a large, circular pad, like those on the hands and feet of tree frogs.  His skin is translucent and green.

 

He pulls his hand off the glass and stares at it.  What have they done to me?  He looks down and finds an IV in his arm.  His green, spotty arm.  “No,” he says, but no sound comes out because he is underwater and no air passes over his vocal chords.  He grabs the IV and yanks it out.  The water around his arm clouds slightly with a little bit of blood.  He can smell it.

 

He holds his hand up again, making a fist and releasing it, repeating the process.  Slowly, his skin begins to go back to its normal color and the pads on the ends of his fingers shrink away to nothing.  His hand looks normal again.

 

And he is drowning.

 

He concentrates again, and goes back to being more frog-like.  He breathes the water slowly, feeling like some sort of giant naked filter.  They’ve changed him, but he can control it to some degree, just like Ant can choose to go back and forth between her wolf and human forms.

 

The thought of Ant penetrates his thinking like a sword.  He has to learn if she survived.  He has to get out of here.  At the thought of her, something happens inside him.  A pocket of air builds up in his throat.  It grows, his skin filtering in more air into a place below his chin.  His neck and the skin on top of his chest expand to hold a huge bubble of air.  When he has all the air he can take, the bubble is about the size of his abdomen, only perfectly round.

 

He lets the air pass over his loosened vocal chords in a loud “RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIBBIT!!!”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant had survived the ordeal, but unlike LP, she has been placed inside a metal frame, that has been bolted strongly on the ground.  She is in her wolf form. The metal doesn't conduct electricity, she had tried.  And she had gotten another of those damn collars placed on her neck, which inhibited her from using her bones. They had placed some leather wrapping around her eyes, and her jaws are being held closed by some chains of the same metal as the exoskeleton she had fought when she got hurt. The skin around her muscle is raw and red, bleeding in some parts from her fighting against her bonds. Speaking of wounds, to keep her in a weaker state they had applied some chemicals to her that hadn’t allowed for her normal complete healing, but they had to apply it by the clock, since when the dose passes out her body starts healing. The muscle is no longer visible, but it is still a dry open wound--or wounds is more precise, since the exoskeleton blade had passed from one side of her abdomen to the other. If she moved, that got the wounds to bleed again--same with her shoulder.

 

They had taken many precautions with her this time. Not only had she killed many of them when she had come to rescue LP, but when she woke up and a couple of scientists were standing a bit close, thinking some normal metal chains around her maw were enough to keep it closed, despite her weakened state she had chomped two or three of them down before being controlled again. That had been a couple of days ago, she had been sedated strongly and some poison added to that, to try and keep her paralyzed, but it only kept her partially stunned, since they had experimented so much with her in the past. A loud ribbit made her snap to attention, her ears perking, but she knew that sound not having to see. She lets out a muffled whimper, trying to thrash against her prison, but fails. She knew it would be a matter of time, a waiting game, until one of them made any mistake. And she and LP could attempt their escape.

 

Lord Phibius

 

When in partial frog form, Phibius realizes that to some degree his behavior is automatic, and highly related to raw emotions like fear, rage, and mating.  He keeps thinking about Ant, wanting to hear her howl back at him, and he keeps calling out to her desperately in ear-splitting croaks that make all the water in his tank vibrate.

 

Scientists pour into the room, some of them with recording equipment, but they haven’t brought hearing protection, and with each deep ribbit they are forced to cover their ears with their hands and shrink away from Lord Phibius.  Eventually, someone brings in ear-protecting mufflers, like from a shooting range.

 

The scientists gather around and use their instruments to analyze the sounds digitally.  Then, one of the scientists makes a cutting gesture toward his throat, and one of the other scientists goes to a drawer and pulls out a needle, theoretically full of more tranquilizer.  Going to inject it into an IV bag, the first scientist catches the one with the needle by the arm.  He points at LP’s own arm, indicating where he had pulled out his IV.

 

LP continues croaking as loud as he can.  Would he be able to hear Antoniella howl if she did?  Maybe they were too far apart.  Maybe they were being held in separate facilities.  He stops croaking, and then he hears them.  Thousands of them, just outside the room.  The scientists with their mufflers on don’t seem to realize they’re there.

 

One of the many scientists in LP’s area goes to open the door, but she can’t.  She pushes against it, but it won’t budge.  Suddenly, the door bursts inward as thousands of female frogs pour in like a flood.  The scientists are swept up and covered over by the mass of amphibians, who jump at LP’s tank with enough combined force to knock it loose from its bindings, tip it over, and smash it open on the ground.

 

Phibius is covered in female frogs of all varieties, drowning in them, but he uses his powerful legs to burst free and scramble for enough footing to get on top of the tidal wave of frogs and escape his containment cell.

[LordPhibius]

Part XIV

 

Antoniella

 

Ant was feeling horribly annoyed. She wanted to be near LP. She could hear him, but with the chains on her muzzle she couldn’t make loud noises. However she could hear the freaked out noises of scientists, mostly females, and a deafening noise of frogs… wtf? She starts thrashing against her prison again, letting out some muffled growls, she could hear some people running to the area she is kept at, screaming, she stops and decides to stay still--death like--her chance could come at any moment. She could hear them screaming that this was a plague and biblical times and many other things. The frogs were starting to get in quickly, and the scientists there start looking for something to stop them and scramble for higher ground. A frightened female scientist gets on top of a control board with the heel of her shoe. She accidentally pushes a button that opens Ant’s frame. Not losing her chance she quickly springs into life. Even with her eye blindfolded she pinpoints her prey by their screams of terror, and rams at them. They don't last for long though, their crushed bodies joining the frogs on the ground. Ant takes a moment to breath, before making her way to where she could hear the most frogs at. She had to take this damn collar and chain off. Not putting much weight on her still hurt leg, she exits the room and smells the air trying to reach LP--she really needs his help.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Outside the containment cell is a corridor of chaos.  Bodies of trampled frogs, bodies of stampeded scientists, living scientists scrambling around trying to find someplace safe.  The other doors on this hall seem to be containment cells as well, and LP wonders if Ant is inside one of them, unconscious.  At any rate, it was part of the mission to free the other test subjects.  But Phibius doesn’t have a keycard to open any of the doors.  He notices a scientist trying to slip stealthily into one of the holding cells.  Bingo.

 

He leaps in that direction with super speed, barring the door open and grabbing the scientist by the collar.  “Key,” he says, not able to form much more of a sentence in his froggy form.  The scientist holds up a white card with a magnetic strip on it.  Automatically, LP’s tongue darts out and grabs the keycard, drawing it into his mouth faster than the eye could follow.

 

He grabs the scientist by the hair and drives his head into LP’s knee, knocking him unconscious.  Peering further into the room, Phibius sees a shadowy cage covered by a blanket.  He approaches in small hops, hesitantly.  Something within the cage growls, and he can tell it is a dog.  He draws back the blanket to reveal a large bulldog with gray fur.  On the cage is a bronze label that says, “Princess Gumdrop”.  LP opens the cage and lets the bulldog out.  It looks up at him grinning the way dogs do, wagging its little tail.

 

Phibius shrugs and says, “Come,” jumping back out into the hallway.  A slick of blood and frog eggs covers the floor, which is the only thing that saves LP at first from being darted by armed guards with tranquilizer guns.  The slippery floor causes the shots to miss, since the guards can’t get a good footing.

 

LP leaps from the floor to the wall, holding on with the sticky pads on his fingers and toes.  The team of soldiers takes aim again, this time dropping to a knee or using a fellow guard as a stabilizer.  They fire a volley, but Phibius leaps to the ceiling, coming closer to the soldiers, evading their darts easily.

 

“Fall back,” says the lead soldier, but Phibius is on top of them in a moment.  His tongue catches a guard by the back of the head and jerks him backward off his feet into the one behind him, nearest Phibius.  Those two go down in a heap, and LP falls on them with two swift kicks to the head.  He uses his foot to catch the rifle one of the other guards is swinging at him like a club.  He tongue-attacks the man by the chest and uses the momentum to deliver a knockout punch, holding onto the rifle with his foot.  He does a spinning sweep with that leg and drops the remaining soldiers to the ground, where it is quick work to kick them senseless.

 

LP turns to find another team of guards, but they have already been mauled by Princess Gumdrop, who turns back to Lord Phibius and barks cheerfully, wagging her tail again.

 

Using the keycard, Phibius opens all the other holding cells on this block.  Not all of them are occupied, but he finds bizarre creatures of every description, including some cats with bowler hats and moustaches.  They all seem very grateful for their freedom, and follow Phibius like he has a plan.  He transforms back into a more human form and asks the animals if any of them have seen a huge wolf with bright red fur.

 

A monkey wearing a superhero mask speaks up and says, “I saw them take it that way,” indicating the direction the guards had come from which LP had beaten up.

 

Antoniella

 

Ant had managed to ram her head into some crates holding a couple of pugs called Oryx and Kyros, a goat called Riux and other creatures. The pugs had managed to take the blindfold from her eyes, and now she can finally see. She has to close her eyes for a moment--after being in the dark for so long, the clarity hurts. The surprise though was the goat, Ant had heard goats could eat everything… but she really wasn't expecting the goat to be able to chew through her collar. Okay not getting on the bad side of that goat definitely.

 

Some soldiers appear trying to capture her but now that she could use her bones and electricity once more it was a breeze. From one of the corpses she takes a keycard. Turning back to normal, she walks slowly holding her sides as she tries to see where LP is at. She tries to avoid stepping on any frog she sees in the ground, not wanting to upset LP by stepping on them, but sometimes she couldn’t avoid them. And not really wanting to slip and hurt herself more, she grabs at one of the goat’s horns to steady herself.

 

As they keep on walking every now and then Ant let’s out a howl, hoping for LP to hear her. As she searches the cells holding the specimens, freeing any she found that was still alive. Suddenly she listens to a small howl answering one of hers. Knowing that LP couldn’t howl this makes her very curious…. could it be finally one of her own. She swallows nervously and howls again, once more hearring the small hoarse howl.

 

As fast as she can she arrives to the place the noise came from. And she find a small pair of green eyes looking back at her… wait, make that two, by the side she notices another set. The cell is in darkness, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t see. The one that had responded to her call was a very small and skinny girl, with a mop of unkempt dark red hair. By her side an older boy is leaning on the ground, far worse than the girl, although his hair was dark brown. Ant’s eyes immediately soften, there was no need for a DNA test--these two were hers. She opens the cell and slowly enters, the lil girl scrambling to her brother for safety, but Ant very slowly goes down on one knee. “Hey calm down, it’s okay”.

 

Lord Phibius

 

At last he hears the howl of a wolf.  It’s her!  He doesn’t need to go back into frog form to answer her, it’s clear which direction the howl came from.  He starts to run toward the corner, but instantly slips with his human feet on the grime on the floor.  Princess Gumdrop trots up beside him and supports him under the arm so he can get up.  Aided mostly by the dog and the monkey, the man-frog rapidly makes his way to the corner and sprints around to see…

 

It’s not Ant waiting down the hall for him.  It’s a man in a huge exoskeleton with two enormous blades on both arms.  Princess Gumdrop growls.  LP concentrates and goes into frog form.  He gives a loud croak and begins leaping down the hall directly at the robotic suit.  He stops directly in front of it.  The pilot tries to cut him down, but LP jumps up and clings to the ceiling.  The man in the suit jabs a blade upward, and Phibius releases his grip on the ceiling, catching the upward arm of the suit with his tongue and swinging himself down so he is clinging to the elbow side of the broad arm of the exoskeleton.

 

LP jumps on top of the glass face of the suit and grips the front of the suit with his super-sticky hands.  As the pilot tries to counter with the arms of the suit, LP catches them both at the same time with his super strong legs.  He pushes against the force of the arms with his legs and pulls against the glass frame with his hands.  The arms of the gigantic mech are strong, but Phibius’ legs prove stronger.  A crack appears in the glass as the metal of the entire frame creaks and warps.  Then, the entire glass front of the suit breaks free.

 

Phibius whips his tongue down into the cockpit, around the pilot’s throat, and jerks it back again, breaking the pilot’s neck and instantly killing him.  He suit buckles and goes limp, falling to the floor with a grinding crash.  Lord Phibius jumps free of the wreckage and runs on, shouting “Ant!  Ant, it’s me!”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant has managed to sit down alongside her offspring, she felt exhausted but happy finally to have found them. The lil girl has come forward to investigate Ant, who has revealed she was their mother, while the boy simply rested his head on her lap. She also won their trust by shooting a guard that had come in the area with a gun she had picked up. Ant was trying to figure out how to get everyone out of the cell and find LP, maybe she could use the goat to carry the boy, but before she could do anything she hears LP’s call. “LP I am over here, help me!!!”. She waits for the frog man to appear and find them.

 

Lord Phibius

 

Ant responds instantly to LP’s call, and because he is still in frog form a big croak errupts from his throat.  He transforms back into his normal form as he runs to the open cell from which Ant’s answering call for help had come.

 

In human form, his emotions start to overtake him and he almost weeps with relief that she is alive.  But now isn’t the time, she needs his help.  He bursts into the cell, seeing the small, malnourished girl and the deathly limp older boy.  “Ant,” he says, rushing to her side.  “We have to go.”

 

Antoniella

 

If she could Ant would have gotten up and embrace LP as tight as she could, but she still hurt, and with the children around she couldn’t. Ant shakes her head when he says they have to get out of there. “I need your help. I found them, but I can’t carry them. They poisoned me and it has affected my healing abilities… I need for the poison to wear out to be back to normal”.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP looks again at the boy and girl.  He notices their green eyes.  These are the offspring.  He knows the boy is in no shape to move on his own.  He can carry the boy if need be.  LP looks at the little girl.  “Can you walk?”

 

Antoniella

 

The girls shies away from LP wanting to get to her brother, but Ant gently keeps her close to her. “We are getting out, okay, no need to get nervous”. The girl looks at Ant then at LP and nods. Taking support in the wall, Ant slowly rises to her feet, wincing as she does so. The pugs come at them barking and holding some things on their mouth, taking a closer look there appear to be some folders, and an external memory. “Good boys”. She looks at LP. “Let’s get out of here”.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP picks up the boy, gently lifting him.  He seems so fragile.  “Ant, I don’t know what else is between us and the exit.  But I can fight, and Princess Gumdrop--that’s the bulldog--she can fight, and with all the rest of us, we have a good chance.  But what about you?  I don’t think you should go back into giant wolf form.  You’re too easy a target then.  What about your bones?  Can you make a shield?  That way, the darts couldn’t hit you.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant takes a deep breath, hearing all of what LP is saying. She had a serious handicap right now, which sucked. And she did agree that going into her larger wolf form she would be an easier target. A shield he says… that wouldn’t be a bad idea. She tries focusing on her injured arm, and make some bones of her body come out from there to at least grant her some cover, on her good hand she had the gun she had stolen, but she really needs something more effective. In the carcasses outside the cell she sees that one had an assault rifle, she walks and gets it, alongside some cartridges. She thinks for a moment on what do with the girl and gets and idea, she helps her get on the goat's back, like a pony. “Let’s go, I really want to sleep like a week”.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP nods.  “Oh, Ant, one more thing.”  She turns to him with a weary look in her eye as if to say “Enough talking already,”.  He walks up to her and gives her a light kiss on the mouth.  “I love you.”  Then he turns to Princess Gumdrop and says.  “Come on, Princess.  Lead us to the elevator.”

 

The dog followed its nose through the maze of corridors that made up the secret basement labs.  Eventually, they came to the elevator shaft.  “All we really have to do is get up to a floor that has stairs to the exit,” says LP.  “It wouldn’t be a good idea to go straight for the lobby in the elevator I think.”

 

There are too many animals and people to attempt one trip in a single elevator, so they have to split up.  The goat, the girl, Ant, LP, the boy, and Princess G take one trip and then guard the elevator while the monkey leads the cats and pugs up on another go.

 

They don’t find any more elite troops or men in giant robotic suits of armor on their way, just the odd security guard.  They find their way to the back loading docks and intercept a shipment of test subjects, setting them all free as the cargo workers and drivers look on in stunned incomprehension.  “We’re going on holiday,” LP explains to one of them.  “We’ll send you a postcard.”

 

Antoniella

 

As they are about to start making their escape, LP seems to have more doubts, halting their movement. Ant turns to look at him wondering what else there was to say. They have to get away--as far as they could from this hell. He surprises her by kissing her, making her feel some butterflies on her torn abdomen. She responded the kiss briefly too, before both separated. She gave him a smile. “Love you too”. You know maybe  week or two of vacation would be nice, but now there was no time to think about that.

 

Ant feels a lot of relief as they don’t find any more of the exoskeleton guys or elite troops, they are probably busy with the mess they made inside. But there are some drivers and other people around, and she didn’t feel like giving anyone an explanation. Focussing she makes from the sky that several thunderbolts come down, hitting the building and the area, sending the workers running for their lives. “Let’s hijack a truck or two, so we can transport everyone”. She could drive if LP thinks it’s necessary. She lets him take charge of the situation.

 

Lord Phibius

 

They hop in two big rig trucks with all their passengers safely tucked away in the back or in the front seat, in the case of the boy and girl.  They drive out of town to a trucker’s station and steal two more big rig trucks just to throw people off the trail.  Then they drive back into town and stow everything--including the files the pugs had taken--on the secret VI jet, which they flew to Tokyo.

 

They take their time in getting back to Villains Incorporated, making sure no leads tie the break-in at Yoyodyne to Hanzo-san’s precious team of ne’er-do-wells.  They have a good time spending a week in one location, traveling to another location for a week, then another and another.  They nurse Ant’s offspring back to relative health, too.  They help find names for them, and help them decide what they want to do with themselves now that they are free.  Of course they want to stay with Ant.

On the way back to VI, Phibius says to Ant, “It’s a funny thing, but after all this, I don’t feel like much of a Villain anymore.  I think I’ve lost my edge.  Maybe I’ll retire.  Get into something a little less hardcore.  I don’t know, I could be…. a henchman.”

[LordPhibius]

Part XV

 

Antoniella

 

Ant hops into a truck with the girl and some of the creatures, while LP takes the boy. And they make their escape, along the way they steal two more trucks to confuse any pursuers, before finally the get into the jet of VI. Ant lets LP pilot. She starts looking into the first aid kit and medical supplies they had on board, and places an IV drip on her son. Same with the girl after a bit of reassuring she wasn’t going to do anything bad to her, covering both with a blanket, she wraps some bandages around herself. After making sure that everyone is doing okay, she walks to LP and kisses him, “Thank you, Love”. She then lets herself tiredly sit in the copilot seat and closes her eyes to rest.

 

Ant is glad that they take time to rest before going back, the poison that prevented her from healing, the wounds on her sides finally going away, and the one in her shoulder. The first days of their escape, Ant alongside her kids spend much of the time sleeping, recovering from the ordeal. Also they focus on getting them to a healthy weight, with the girl there isn’t that much problem, the boy is more difficult since he had gone much longer without any food, and his digestive system is much more sensitive. Not only that but the kid was half snake, the lack of sunlight for so long making him ill. The girl however like Ant was a pure werewolf. They decide that the names they like the most are Vince and Lorelei. However, noticing the... girlhood of the girl, Ant knows they are making more offspring using samples that remained in the labs. She knew it was going to be difficult but she wanted to rescue as many as possible and she told LP of her intentions.

 

Now that they are making their way back she nuzzles LP’s neck as he speaks listening to him. “I wonder who's fault is that? I am completely innocent” She couldn’t help but wonder how the news would be received.

 

Lord Phibius

 

“What do you mean the mission was a success?” spits Fuma Hanzo. “I thought you were going there to kill some dudes Ant had a grudge against, and you tell me you didn’t kill the lead scientist, and not only that, but you return two months late in my jet, along with a fricking three-ring circus full of super-powered animals and two kids that you expect me to feed and house?  Mission not successful, Phibius.”

 

LP sighed.  “Look, take the food and lodging for the kids out of my pay.  Whatever.  What I really came here to tell you is that I’m done with VI.  I’m retiring.  I’ve decided to pursue other career options.  Right, Ant?”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant was watching the exchange between the two men actually feeling quite amused. LP finally stood up at Hanzo, not feeling intimidated against the man. When LP talks to Ant she nods in agreement, before talking to Hanzo. “I must say Mr. Hanzo you aren’t seeing the big picture here. Before you try making me walk over the plank, listen”. She takes a deep breath before elaborating. “You saw what I did when I got here, how about 20 or 30 more getting inside this place? Or hundreds? There are making more offspring of mine using old lab samples. But how about that 20, 30 or hundreds are your friends?”. She begins pacing as she keeps on talking. “LP doesn’t mean retiring and opening a flower shop, but we could remain as Henchmen, every Villain needs henchmen, so the villain can complete their schemes. But more importantly, effective henchmen”. She looks at LP before continuing. “And I can assure you, everyone that has been experimented on holds a grudge”.

 

Lord Phibius

 

“Henchmen, eh?” says Hanzo, getting a dreamy, distant look in his eyes.  “I kinda like that idea.  I can work with that.  ‘Henchmen Incorporated’.  Rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?”

 

The pirate/ninja lord chuckles.  “It wasn’t so long ago you wouldn’t tolerate being called someone’s henchman, Ant, my dear.  You sure you want to be a part of this?”

 

LP looks over at Ant to see her reaction.  He takes her hand in his and gives it a squeeze.

 

Antoniella

 

Ant squeezes LP’s hand back. “I am perfectly capable of adapting, besides this organization behaves like a wolf pack… a pretty utterly messed up wolf pack, but one nonetheless”. “Besides I am pretty sure you will miss me if I don’t stay, I have a nose for finding cuban cigars”.  She looks back at the Pirate/Ninja King waiting for his reaction.

 

Lord Phibius

 

At the mention of cuban cigars, Hanzo takes one out of his humidor and sniffs it.  He offers it to Ant.  “To new business.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant chuckles and accepts the cigar, before taking one from a small pouch she always carries with her, and gives it to LP. She motions both men like she would with a glass of wine. “Cheers gentlemen”.

 

Lord Phibius

 

They all light their cigars, including Hanzo who gets one for himself.  Together they take a nice drag on the cigars and blow smoke at each other.  “Alright, alright, I’ll get to work on setting up the new team.  Now get out of my office and go babysit the kids or make out or invade Yoyodyne or whatever it is you two have planned next.”

 

Hanzo moves over to his desk and picks up the phone.  “Get me Caz.”

 

Before leaving the office, LP walks over to Hanzo and hands him a stack of papers.  “What’s this?” asks Hanzo.

 

“Oh nothing, just the expense report from our mission.”

 

Hanzo looks at the papers with wide eyes.  He drops the phone.  “What in the hell…  what is all this?”

 

LP and Ant had stayed at five-star luxury resorts while they were traveling the world evading pursuit.

 

Hanzo pages through the report.  “LP, I am not in the mood for jokes.”

 

“We’ll get out of your hair now,” says Lord Phibius.  “Lots of henching to do, you know.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant had purposely exited the room before LP handed Hanzo the expenses report, not wanting to get yelled at. She had enjoyed their lil vacation and wished that they would still be at it, but the bills were growing, and they decided to come back before they got even bigger. Ant waits for LP outside Hanzo’s office, grinning when she sees her lover. “I am good at gambling”.

 

Lord Phibius

 

“You are,” says LP.  “You’re as shrewd as Hanzo-san himself.  So.  What do we do next?”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant’s grin grows even bigger, showing her fangs to LP. “Well now that there is going to be a new branch, which I doubt we will lead, I was thinking gambling for rooms, instead of bunks, more privacy for us don’t you think?”. She kisses him playfully, before looking at him. “And next we have to plan our new hit on Yoyodyne, with the info we gained”.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP has no problem with the suggestion about rooms.  He enjoys the kiss, returning her affections happily.  Then he gets serious when she brings up Yoyodyne.  “They’ll know we’re coming.  And they will have adapted to my powers as well as yours.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant nods knowing that what LP is saying is true. “And we must prepare better next time, believe me I am not a fan of being speared by exoskeletons, or having random chemicals thrown in my face, nor knowing they are running experiments on you, Dear”.

 

Lord Phibius

 

“But then again,” says Phibius, “We do have the pugs, the cats, the goat, the monkey, and the Princess.  Lots more firepower than we had last time.”  He smiles at her and wraps his arms around her lower back, drawing her closer, into his chest.  “Let’s go find Vince and Lorelei some new brothers and sisters.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant nuzzles his chest affectionately, before standing on the tip of her toes and kissing him, LP being taller than she was. She then she laughs at his comment. “Careful with that, someone might get confused thinking we are trying to make a baby now”.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP smiles and holds Ant tighter, rubbing her arm.  “Now that would be…  interesting…”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant elbows him gently on the ribs, before blushing some and laughing. “That would be an interesting combination though”. She shrugs. “Vince is crossed with a bush viper, wonder what else my DNA had been crossed with”.

 

Lord Phibius

 

LP gets a serious look on his face and takes Ant by the chin and turns her face up to look at him.  “We’re going to find them.”

 

Antoniella

 

Ant smiles and kisses him again. “I know we will”. She takes his hand, leading the way to her two kids and their new sidekicks to give them the news.