Dominion Ch. 21 (Patreon)

A/N: Sorry for the long delay as always. New Job, and lots and lots of RL bullcrap. But I'll be releasing a huge chapter of Dominion by the end of the month, hopefully large enough to make up for the long delay.

Below is a teaser for the chapter! Hope you enjoy! 

Chapter 21 – The Games

“What do you think she’s thinking in there?” Bonesaw asked cutely, as she rapped Vista on the forehead with her knuckles while making hollow popping noises with her mouth. 

“Same thing everybody thinks,” I replied dryly. “What’s going to happen to me? Am I gonna die? Oh my god I can’t move! It rarely varies for the first few days.”

I was kind of lying though. 

Valiant was with me now. I think something about his glass skin had broken him mentally. He’d been… attractive, before. Appearance meant a lot to him and losing his humanity, for all intents and purposes, had depressed him. He knew how I felt. How wrong everything seemed to have become. But he was just slowly becoming apathetic to everything. I assumed it was because his body was gone, but maybe he just couldn’t take all the horror anymore. Or maybe it was an aspect of long term exposure to my power. 

That seemed unlikely though. Penny was as vibrant as ever. A wild sea of emotions all tangling just beneath the surface. When I only had a few thralls I could tell what they were feeling easily. Right now I only controlled Penny Valiant and Vista, as well as the subtle feeling of awareness from the rest of the nine. 

Vista, for her part, wasn’t feeling any of the things I’d ascribed to her. No. She was fucking pissed. Afraid to be sure, with the most notorious group of murderers in the world having captured her, but anger was her primary emotion. 

The girl was a rock. She wasn’t even all that afraid. It was astounding really. Maybe the Wards program was better than I’d thought back in high school. 

Oh well. Wasn’t like I was going to pull off being a ward. 

My finger held a launcher just like Bonesaw’s now. I could feel the muscles in my hand. Of course, I could only use three, or so Bonesaw had told me. I’d have to come back to her if I wanted refills of whatever miracle goup she had crafted that interfered with my influence. 

I had what I’d first wanted. A way to make at least some people immune to my power. Only now I was in too deep to back out. 

I wasn’t even sure I wanted to anymore. I knew I still wasn’t a killer, but for Emma? The girl who’d betrayed me, ruined my life, and desecrated my happiest memories? I thought I could truly make an exception. 

From there? Who knew?

I stared at the three story home with a bit of wonder as my minions and the rest of the nine followed me. It was a somber walk, made cheery only by Bonesaw’s insistence that it would be. It was foggy, and nearly four in the evening. 

A day had passed since our attack on the Protectorate. They were out in force. I’d seen capes everywhere, many that I’d never heard of flying high above my range. They had called in the big guns, though the biggest guns were curiously absent. 

I chuckled at the thought. What would I do with Alexandria or Legend in my grasp. God forbid, Eidolon. Though, over the past day or so, watching Jack interact with each of the members of the nine, a better plan was coming to mind.

I was under Jack’s thumb, though not as much as he would like. I could tell by his periodic frowns. He was amused by me, by the things I’d done and promised to do, but dissatisfied by my impact on the rest of the nine. Truly though, they were his power. His knife was terrifying but… by comparison to Siberian, Crawler, Mannequin, or even Burnscar he was weak. 

His ability to get the others, even me, to do what he wanted was where his real power lay. And that was all human. I had the loyalty of Crawler. I was pretty certain of that. But Crawler couldn’t take Siberian. Probably couldn’t even fight Bonesaw. The things the girl could do were downright unbelievable.

So… if I could get that ingenuity in my corner and turn her against Jack...

In an effort to begin my plan, and to distract the girl from bruising my thrall’s poor forehead, I turned to Bonesaw. 

“Bonesaw, what’s your name?” I asked. 

The girl blinked and turned to look at me, momentarily mimicking Vista’s wide eyes. 

“You… just said it,” She replied, as if I was a few colors short of a rainbow. 

“No. I mean… before. Before Bonesaw. Before… all the death and the metal bio spiders. Who were you before you were Jack’s Good Girl?” I asked. 

The girl scowled, Jack grinned, listening in. It was one of the first times I’d ever seen her do anything other than smile brightly. “I've always been a good girl silly!” 

Penny, Valiant, and Vista were all with me. Bonesaw was fast but I had Vista’s power ready to widen the distance between us to the length of a football field in an eyeblink. For the first time, I wasn’t absolutely terrified of the girl. 

“Ah. I see,” I said softly. “Who did he make you kill?” 

Bonesaw grit her teeth. Jack, nearby, listened though he tried not to look like it. 

"Your questions aren't very nice, Dominion. Jack never made me kill anyone. He showed me how to enjoy it!" The girl exclaimed, trying not to show how angry I was making her. Instead, she pointed to Emma's house. "Just like he's trying to do with you! That's her house after all right? Your old best friend?" 

I sighed. "Yes. But she's not there. No one is inside."