Moments of Victory 32 (Patreon)

Marcus sighed even as he looked at Taylor, glad that he could feel her emotions, as her face was scary. Meanwhile, Lisa was considerably more confused, and he could feel that it was distressing her.

He might have been feeling merciful, if he wasn’t able to piece together the reason for it. She wasn’t afraid because she was afraid of him killing her, or even giving her to PRT. No, she was frustrated, because he managed to trick her the day before.

Her ego wasn’t exactly one of his priorities.

Of course, emotional reading wasn’t exactly mind reading, but after spending considerable time with her the day before during the photoshoot, he was confident in his judgment. “So, you’re a hero,” he asked Taylor, thinking that acknowledging her efforts was a good start.

Taylor nodded even as she answered with a soft whisper. “Y-yes.” As she said that, he could feel her relief. Clearly, the fact that he believed her without a doubt was valuable for her. It didn’t surprise Marcus.

Meanwhile, Lisa opened her mouth, but he stopped her with a sharp gesture. “No, you don’t get to talk,” he warned her.

Lisa nodded, but Marcus could feel that his attitude didn’t intimidate her. He shrugged. At this point, it didn’t really hurt. “You must have some questions,” Taylor stated.

He chuckled. “That’s an understatement. But, let’s start with something simple. Why’s the undercover?” he asked. “Especially in a group that doesn’t really matter. There are easier ways to make a name for yourself.”

“True, but I wanted to infiltrate them to get their boss,” Taylor said. “He’s the one that’s pulling the strings, and he has moles in PRT and Protectorate.”

Marcus gulped, not able to hide his nerves. That was not good news. “I’m going to regret asking the name of the boss, right?” he said. Lisa smirked, but Marcus had to admit, that smirk counted as restrain compared to waves of smug satisfaction that radiated off her.

“You don’t have to,” Taylor said. “You can still walk away.”

Marcus sighed. “Not if what you’re saying is true, and he has moles in the two departments. I wasn’t exactly wearing a costume when I entered. Well, I hardly have a costume,” he added.

Taylor looked surprised. “Do you need a costume? I thought that it was Panacea that had just powered you.”

Marcus made a show of flinching like he had just made a big secret slip. However, it was intentional. Even without his help, it was clear that Lisa had already realized that he was able to interfere with her power somewhat, but she didn’t realize that he caught her realization.

A little preemptive action would be useful. “It’s because I have a shit power,” he said. “As far as I know, my only ability is to slightly mislead thinkers.”

“That sounds useful,” Taylor said.

“Yeah, as a living, breathing jamming device, the perfect tool to be dragged into any battle with a thinker power. I would be dragged against villains again and again, until they decide to throw me to Simurg and see if it works on her as well,” he replied.

“Protectorate wouldn’t do that,” Taylor gasped.

Marcus shook his head. “If you trust them, why are you not with them already?” he said. “You’re already an adult, and with your power, it would only be a year before you promoted into a full hero.”

“I …” Taylor started, then froze.

“I don’t trust any kind of authority,” Marcus declared. It was not exactly nice to use Taylor’s bias against her, but with the mess he found himself in, he wasn’t feeling particularly nice. “Now, call your handler, and tell them that we managed to capture Undersider’s thinker. I’m sure it’ll be enough to get your promotion go faster.”

“I…” Taylor repeated.

Marcus was starting to have a bad feeling. “Don’t tell me that you want to continue with the undercover mission,” he said. She didn’t answer, but Lisa started to chuckle.

“Lisa, stop it,” Taylor gasped, blushing and panicking at the same time.

It took a few seconds for Marcus to connect the dots. “No,” he gasped. “Please tell me that it’s not what I think it is, Taylor.”

Shame radiated off her, confirming his guess. “I tried to get a handler like you said, but he refused to authorize an off-to-book mission.”

“Why?” he asked, feeling surprised. “Bank robbery was an excellent way to bust them —“ he started, but her emotional flux cut him off. “You wanted to keep going,” Marcus said, feeling like a headache was coming.

“We need to stop their boss. He’s a villain threatening to the city. He needs to be stopped.”

Marcus sighed, doing his best not to start shouting. He knew that Taylor would react to that badly, but it was a close call. However, he wasn’t able to hold back a sarcastic comment. “Sure, and once we finish with this mystery boss, maybe we should target Kaiser,” he said, then muttered. “At least Lung is in prison, so you won’t chase him.”

Lisa started giggling when he said that. “Oh, Taylor, can I tell him that—“

“Shut up, Lisa!” This time, it was Taylor who cut her.

“Please tell me you didn’t try to fight Lung,” Marcus begged.

Lisa laughed even louder. “Not just fought, but actually took him down.”

“I remember the news saying it’s Armsmaster,” Marcus said. He wanted to believe that they were lying, but their emotions made it obvious that they were not. Of course, they might have had some misconceptions about the exact process, but Marcus wasn’t at the point of nitpicking.

They clearly believed it, and more importantly, it encouraged Taylor to target her next gang leader.

He wished that he could turn and leave, but it was not an option. He was a part of the security recording, and if they were accurate about Lisa’s boss having contacts in PRT, his identity would be discovered.

“Is there any chance your mysterious boss respects the unwritten rules and leaves me alone,” Marcus asked.

She didn’t need to say anything, as her amused expression told a story. However, she still did. “Well, he didn’t care when he sent his goons to target me in my civilian outfit, but if you want to take the risk,” she said.

Marcus recognized the blatant attempt to manipulate him, but that didn’t make that statement a lie. Lisa was being honest. Taylor gasped, guilt radiating off her. Marcus wasn’t exactly a fan of her reaction. Yes, Lisa was telling the truth, but Taylor didn’t know that.

Taylor was too trusting, which was a problem.

“Since I’m already involved. Tell me, who’s your boss,” Marcus asked Lisa.

“Coil,” she responded, once again smug.

Marcus had to pause a moment to even remember him. Yes, Coil was one of the gangs, but he had even less of a presence than Merchants, and PHO considered him as not much of a threat. Based on Lisa’s explanation, it was clearly intentional. He was staying under the radar for some reason.

He would have been impressed, but, between a pretty successful Nazi organization and a literal grumpy dragon, being considered as a lesser threat wasn’t exactly shocking.

So much for his desire to stay under the radar and got stronger slowly.

“You don’t need to be that stressed. I don’t know what’s his power, but I know that he’s some kind of planning thinker,” Lisa said, her voice light and casual. Her emotions, on the other hand, churning between hope and panic.

It was clear what she was aiming at. Marcus decided to give her a victory. “Then, I have an excellent idea,” he said, acting like he didn’t realize how Lisa had baited him to that decision. But then, it wasn’t like he was going to let her go after revealing her secret, and PRT was out for obvious reasons.

And, any creative solution he might come up with would only alienate Taylor. And, keeping her happy suddenly turned more important. Her ability to maintain a perimeter watch alone was extremely valuable, and then, there was the fact that she won against Lung.

No, he needed to keep Taylor happy. And, this time, not just because he wanted to prevent a massacre.

“Really, what’s it?” Lisa said, her fake enthusiasm grating his nerves, but he let that slide. He had a feeling that his life would be easier if Lisa was under the impression that she could manipulate him. And, without her powers helping her, she wasn’t that good.

Especially against someone that could get a real-time feed of her emotions.

“Since he’s a thinker, you and Taylor can hide with me. We can rent the apartment upstairs, and we can stay inside. With Taylor’s power, we should be safe as long as we skip school,” he explained. Taylor looked unconvinced. “And, in case of an emergency, we can always call the New Wave for assistance,” he said.

Taylor looked convinced, while Lisa radiated smugness.

“You’re a genius,” Lisa said, not working particularly hard to keep her sarcasm simple.

Marcus wasn’t even angry at her tone. He completely agreed. This time, he wasn’t going to try and convince himself that he was somehow he was in control.

He was not in control…