Chapter 82

 Law PoV

How interesting.

I wouldn’t have ever expected a superhero from Gotham to actually reach out to me, regardless of the reason. I knew very little about Batman, and I was quite certain that he wanted to keep it that way. Robin was of course Robin, which meant he wasn’t the type of person to ever ask for help. Even if he needed it.

But this “Batgirl’ seemed to be a different case entirely. At first, I had been skeptical of the reason behind her getting into contact with me. Especially when it seemed to involve Ethan’s business, but eventually I started to realize it wasn’t really all that much about them.

It was more about the drugs themselves.

She seemed more interested in seeing how safe they were to use more than anything else. Citing the current health issues with people using Venom in Gotham at the moment.

Unsurprising. When you get down to it, Venom was pretty lackluster. When I had first obtained it, I had been relatively happy at getting my hands on it. Not only was I able to increase my own power with it, but it inspired me to branch out.

And for where I had been, it was pretty good. As a stepping stone, at least.

The problem with Venom is that it did it’s very best to live up to its name. There was an incredible number of problems with the drug. If I hadn’t been constantly monitoring myself due to my own ability, I probably would be pretty fucked up, or dead.

It was just one or two things. Even if you solved the problems sudden muscle mass caused, there was also the problem with what it did with your blood overtime. And if I solved both?

Then I’d have to deal with the heart palpitation issue, and after that another one, and after that another one…

It really was a leaky ship of drugs. Though that wasn’t to say that Bane, or whoever the hell he had actually make the drug, didn’t know what they were doing. No, they were definitely pretty decent chemists, but not professionals.

…Hmm, I take that back. It’s less that they weren’t’ professionals, and more likely that they made a drug that worked especially well for them, and didn’t bother tweaking it for public use or passing it through any sort of safety measure. Though if that was the case, that also meant that they just passed any and all complications onto their future selves.

‘Shiva’ however was different. I had to roll my eyes at the ludicrous name Ethan gave it. Personally, I preferred to keep naming conventions as simple as possible, unless it needs to actually be secretive or discreet.

…My superhero name notwithstanding.

Anyway, Shiva shouldn’t even be spoken in the same sentence as Venom. It was good enough to make Venom look like a complete joke. Whereas Venom was an old ship on the verge of falling apart, Shiva was a new frigate.

It was clean. Orderly. Had an entire crew performing maintenance on it. Complications were few and far between. It did exactly what it intended to do. And the best part was that the frigate had a large comfortable empty space. Which meant that it had more than enough room to grow with further iterations or additions.

The best part for the consumers was that there were no drawbacks.

…Haha, could you imagine?

Though if I think about it rationally, compared to others on the market, it could definitely be said to have no drawbacks. I mean, what strength enhancer wasn’t addictive? Even without any sort of customer retention additive, it was a strength enhancer.

Raw power put into the hands of the consumer. Who could honestly handle something like that and be able to put it back down?

Besides that, there really wasn’t any other sort of drawback…no, they were more like…strings attached. But the vast majority of users would likely never be made aware of them, and for good reason.

So, in response to Batgirl’s question, it was absolutely safe to use. Which actually went double for her.

Though of course I’d need to wait until she ships over the pills to say as much. Why the Justice League hasn’t made a sort of private shipping service with the teleporters I’ll never understand. As that wasn’t in the cards, I’d have to wait a few days.

Hmm. Actually, this might be a experiment in disguise…

I wasn’t Cyborg. My ability to deduce how people felt and their emotions was solely relegated to reality, not the cyberspace. Which meant my grasp on Batgirl’s character was mostly just wisps of smoke.

It wasn’t anything actually tangible, is what I’m saying.

Which is why I needed to play it safe and cautious with her. That being said, there were of course safe and cautious projects that could be started. Projects that had no chance of backfiring on me at all.

In truth, I was a coward. I disliked one on one fights. Preferring instead to jumping villains as a group rather than a solitary figure. And if it was me against multiple? Then I’d just have to retreat and strategize. If there was a chance things could backfire on me, I ever didn’t take them, or I made sure that chance was so drastically reduced it might not even exist in the first place.

Which is also how I found myself in an abandoned gym in Jump City. Well, abandoned for now, at any rate. After buying it I didn’t care to personally put on staff or allocate funds into keeping it open. There was just too much on my plate at the moment. More important things demanding my time.

It was undoubtedly a rather nice place though. Situated in the backstreets, but still in a rather decent neighborhood. Which meant it didn’t have to listen to traffic on the road.

The gym itself seemed to be one mostly fixed on boxing. With it being mostly populated with a few boxing cages, quite a few punching bags, and some jump ropes scattered about the place.

There were a few other actual more general pieces of gym equipment. Like pull up bars and a few exercise bikes, but they seemed to be the minority and not the focus.

“…So? How did it go?”

I spoke up, pausing from taking in the sights in order to talk to the girl in front of me. The rather agitated looking Jinx seem to be giving me quite the glare. As if she could barely tolerate my presence but…it fell quite short.

It lacked any real…heat. It wasn’t something that felt like it came from the heart, like Ravager’s. I could tell with her that there was an actual part of her that absolutely hated me.

While I didn’t doubt that Jinx disliked me quite a lot as well, it simply lacked the same intensity.

“What do you take me for? An amateur? I’ve already distributed all of it.”

Jinx stated, crossing her arms. She glared at me for a few seconds, before breaking it off and looking away. Sighing a bit in annoyance.

“You do know you weren’t supposed to give all of it to one person, right?”

“I’m not fucking stupid. I sold them individually.”

…Hmm? Wait, she sold ALL of them?

Huh. That was…strangely impressive. Did the residents of H.I.V.E. have cash to burn or something? No, more importantly, they were willing to believe that such a thing existed in the first place…was testament to Jinx’s own charisma.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

“Impressive. You’d do pretty well as a sells rep. Ever thought about a career change into a used car salesman?”

Jinx glowered at me.

“Fuck. You.”

Huh. Now that had some of Ravager’s intensity in it.

After a few seconds of holding her expression, she eventually realized that all I was doing was taking amusement out of her reactions. Causing her to shake her head in agitation.

Agitation that was slowly starting to build up. Which meant that I probably needed to make my own move first.

Drawing a pill bottle from my pocket, I tossed it at Jinx. Who casually caught it with a roll of her eyes. Examining it with a cursory but bored look.

“What, more of your wonder drug?”

“No. That one’s for you.”

Jinx paused. Her eyes widening in realization at what I meant before attempting to school her emotions. Her attempting to not be excited at the prospect of her powers potentially being increased. She examined the pills with a critical eye before looking back at me.

“…Can I test it out now?”

“That’s why we’re here after all. Go ahead.”

I waved her on and gave her the go ahead. I couldn’t deny that I was also rather curious to see the results of my side project. It didn’t take her long to fish out a pill and dry swallow it. Pausing for a few seconds as she seemed to wait for it’s effects to...

She suddenly coughed a bit while reaching for her throat.

For a moment I had thought the worst had come to pass, but instead it just seemed that she couldn’t actually dry swallow the pill. Coughing it back up before going to a nearby water cooler with tears in her eyes until she’s able to cleanse her throat burn with water and wash the pill back down her throat.

A few coughs later, her hands tightened into balls. Her eyes became alight with pink energy as she grinned before pointing her hand towards one of the punching bags.

I didn’t even see the flash of pink energy before it exploded.

Hmm, interesting. Seems like it made her powers…travel faster? Not exactly what I had intended, but not a bad result at all.

Despite the rather tame results, Jinx seemed rather taken aback. Needing several moments to soak it all in before pointing her hand in another direction. This time at the water cooler.

It suddenly seemed to start smoking and boiling the water inside before it all started to melt under the pressure. Causing it to spill out everywhere on the carpet.

…Well, that’s annoying.

Yet again Jinx seemed rather astonished at the rather…tame…results…

No, there was something else going on here. She wasn’t stupid enough to be acting like this if it was as simple as it seemed. It came with another perk. One that I wasn’t seeing.

No, it was something I couldn’t possibly see. Which narrowed it down a bit, but not by a noticeable degree.

“Incredible…”

Jinx muttered out loud. Clenching her hand closed before opening it back up again, and repeating the process.

“I see you’re more than happy with what you’ve obtained.”

I spoke up. Grabbing her attention as she faced back to me. Her eyes were observing me in response…wondering if I knew the exact effects perhaps. No, that wasn’t it.

Ah…I see. She was weighing the pros and cons of attacking me right here and now.

“…Are the effects permanent?”

“They will be…after you take enough, at least.”

She frowned at that.

“How much is enough?”

I waved my hand. Taking a few steps closer to her as if it wasn’t a big deal. Though in turn I was also observing her.

“You think I know the exact amount that’s needed from a drug that was solely designed with you in mind? I’m rather flattered how highly you seem to rate my abilities.”

She shook her head. Her pink eye slitted pupil locking on to me. For a moment she doesn’t say anything. Simply considering her options as she stared me down while I slowly closed the distance. Now that I was only a few steps away I could see a lot more details on her...

“…Aren’t you afraid that I’ll suddenly turn on you with this newfound boost in power?”

I grinned.

“Go for it.”

For a moment she seemed to be genuinely thinking about doing just that. Her hands tightening with pink energy pulsating outwards until…she suddenly relaxed them. Sighing before rolling her eyes.

With that out the way, I handed her a paper bag.  Which had more for her to distribute to her little H.I.V.E. members. It didn’t really need to be explained, so little was actually said as I turned on my foot. Taking the first steps in leaving.

“Hey. What…what do I have to do to guarantee more…Jinx Novas?”

…What the fuck was a Jinx Nov-

Oh, for fucks sake. Why the hell did people feel the need to give every drug I make its own creative name?

And she already wanted to guarantee more? When I’ve given her more than enough to last a few months? Seriously? They weren’t even addictive. Well, besides the innate addictiveness power gives people anyway.

I made a deal of thinking about it before walking back to her slowly. Saying nothing as I approached and thought of what I was going to say.

…And I came up with just about nothing.

Cut me some slack, how the hell was I supposed to predict Jinx’s reaction to be ‘more work please’?

So instead, I just said the first half baked idea that popped into my head. Reaching out with my hand, I offered my thumb.

“Stick my finger in your mouth.”

In response, Jinx gave me a disbelieving look. Her flat gaze falling to my outstretched hand, before looking back at me with a ‘is this guy serious?’ expression. I smirked before withdrawing my hand.

“Well, if that’s-”

“W-wait.”

…Huh?

I was immediately put on the defensive when Jinx quickly grasped my hand. Considering it a possible attack as I glared down at her. She seemed rather frustrated in turn, as her gaze seemed to pivot to either one of my eyes every few seconds. Growing increasing annoyed and nervous until finally she lowered her face…

And took my thumb into her mouth. Closing her eyes as she allowed the digit entry. Her tongue pushing against it before realizing that’s the last thing she wanted to do, and turned her tongue towards the other side.

Well then. I…hadn’t actually expected her to do it in truth. I was even more taken aback as I slowly came to realization that she was lightly sucking on it.

Not going to lie, it was kind of hot.

A few seconds later she retracted my thumb from her mouth. Her eyes dilated as several strands of saliva clung to it as she pulled away.

Her rough breathing, the way she was moving around, that look in her eyes…was she aroused at that? What, was she into me or something?

…No…she had been breathing roughly since a little while ago. Right after she had taken her pill…

Ah, I see what was going on now. An unexpected reaction from it, but not an unwelcomed one.

There were two likely answers. Either the pill was currently making her experience a mini high, or it increased her nerve sensitivity. Making her feel everything much more vividly than usual.

The first would explain why she took such an action, as her personality didn’t seem to be tilting towards that type of action. But the second would explain her current agitated and fidgeting state. As if she was uncomfortable in her own clothes.

“Well? Happy!?”

“…What guy wouldn’t be? You’re pretty attractive yourself.”

I commented with a lurid gaze, only for her to roll her eyes once more and shake her head. Her arms crossing as she stood her ground.

“Please. It wasn’t something actually sexual with you. It’s a power play.”

…For a moment she had succeeded in wiping the smirk off my face. A fact that allowed her to grin widely in satisfaction in turn. I hadn’t realized she had gotten that good of a read on me…or had she always been a good people reader?

Either way, she was half right, but half wrong.

Complimenting her and looking her up and down was all an act. Sure, she was attractive, but it was pretty damn hard to compare to what I already had back at the Tower. And a lot of the satisfaction I had gotten was in seeing her subservient.

However, some of that satisfaction had been sexual in nature.

Even so, it was almost concerning how quickly she saw through me.

Interesting.

Very interesting.

Jinx…I’ll need to focus more on her in the future.