The warehouse felt different this time. The usual gloom was chased away by a palpable, electric energy radiating from the five of us.
In the center of our circle, resting on a clean crate, sat the Aetheric Scrambler.
The silvery dodecahedron hummed softly, a trophy won through impossible odds. We had done it. We had stolen fire from the gods of this city.
Jake, or Havoc, was the first to break the reverent silence.
He let his Shadow-Weave Raiment dissolve, revealing his face, flushed with adrenaline and beaming with a wide, infectious grin.
"I can't believe that worked! Leo, man, you were like something out of a movie! Phasing through lasers! How did you do that?"
All eyes turned to Leo. He let his own robe fade, his expression a mixture of pride and lingering awe. He looked from Jake to me, his gaze full of a question he didn't know how to ask.
He knew the power hadn't come from him, but from me.
Before he could answer, Mark spoke, his Oracle robe dissolving as he pushed his glasses up his nose. His voice was quiet, almost a whisper, cutting through Jake's boisterous energy.
"The coordination... the timing of the power flicker, the diagnostic routine… that was you. But Leo's ability… that's an unaccounted-for variable. An asset that drastically increases mission success probability."
He hesitated, looking at me with a mixture of fear and something else—a desperate, analytical hope.
"If… if assets like that can be replicated… our operational capabilities would increase exponentially. It's a tactical necessity."
The question hung in the air, unspoken but desperate. He wasn't asking for power for himself. He was presenting a tactical problem that had only one logical solution.
I let the silence stretch, watching them. This was the moment. The pivot point. I didn't reach for my datapad. For this, they needed to hear my voice.
"Power," I said.
The sound that emerged from my cowl was the one Caden had heard in the alley. It was the layered, resonant chorus of whispers and echoes, a sound that did not belong to a human throat.
It filled the vast warehouse, and my team froze, their eyes wide with shock and awe. It was the first time they had heard their commander speak.
Jake's jaw dropped. Maya's pen stopped moving. They stared at me, not as Luna, but as the entity, the Villainess, whose voice they had only ever heard on recordings.
"Power has a price," I continued, the unnatural voice calm and absolute.
"Leo was given a gift because his loyalty is absolute. The power I can grant is tied to a bond. A pact. It is permanent. It is unbreakable."
I let the words sink in, the reality of my statement washing over them.
"To receive this power, your loyalty must be total," my voice echoed.
"Your will must be bound to mine. You would not be my pawns. You would be extensions of my will. I would be responsible for your survival, and you would be responsible for carrying out my orders without question, forever. This is not a game. This is the price."
The warehouse was silent again, but this time the silence was heavy with the weight of my offer. I was offering them godhood, and asking for their souls in return.
Jake was the first to break. He laughed, a short, sharp bark of pure excitement.
"So what you're saying is, if we're all in, like, all in, you can make us actual superheroes? Or… supervillains?"
He ran a hand through his hair, his eyes shining.
"I've spent my whole life being a nobody, getting pushed around. You… you make things happen. You win.
If the price of being on the winning team is loyalty, then hell yeah. Sign me up. I'm in."
He looked at me, his expression stripped of all fear, replaced by a fierce, devoted conviction.
I looked at Mark. He was deep in thought, his brow furrowed. He was weighing the variables, calculating the cost-benefit ratio.
He was treating the surrender of his free will like a logic problem.
"An unbreakable bond," he murmured.
"Functionally, we already operate under that assumption. Your strategies are superior. Disobeying an order during an operation would be illogical and detrimental to mission success.
This… this just makes the hierarchy official. It formalises the command structure." He pushed his glasses up again and met my gaze.
"The tactical advantage of a super-powered team outweighs the personal cost of autonomy. From a logical standpoint, I agree to the terms."
Two down. I felt the System prompt me, asking for confirmation. With a thought, I initiated the Pacts. A cold, invisible energy flowed from me, forging two new connections in my mind, linking me to Mark and Jake as I was to Leo.
I could feel their loyalty, their excitement, their resolve—two more steady points of light joining the first.
Now for their reward. I opened the System Store, my VP balance a healthy 650. I navigated to the skill trees.
For Jake—for Havoc—I found the perfect skill under the 'Brute Force' tree.
[Skill: Kinetic Overcharge (Active, Grade E)]
Description: Absorb ambient kinetic energy (movement, impacts, loud sounds) to fill a personal charge meter. Can release the stored energy in a single, concussive blast or use it to temporarily enhance physical strength and durability. The more energy stored, the more powerful the effect.
Cost: 200 VP
I purchased it and granted it to him. Jake gasped, stumbling back as if struck. He clenched his fists, a wide, incredulous grin spreading across his face.
"Whoa… I can feel it. It's like… the whole room is buzzing. I can feel the vibrations in the floor."
He stomped his foot, and a faint blue aura shimmered around his hands.
For Mark—for Oracle—I chose a skill that would elevate him from a simple hacker to a true ghost in the machine.
[Skill: Digital Phantom (Active, Grade E)]
Description: Allows the user's consciousness to temporarily and intangibly project into a connected digital network.
The user can navigate digital architecture as if it were a physical space, bypass firewalls from the inside, and manipulate data directly. Physical body remains in a vulnerable, trance-like state during use.
Cost: 200 VP
I granted it to him. Mark's eyes went wide behind his glasses. He didn't shout or move. He simply stared at his datapad, then closed his eyes.
"I can see it," he whispered, his voice full of awe. "The network isn't just code anymore. It's a place. A city of light."
My VP balance now stood at 250. My three primary agents were empowered. They were no longer just kids in costumes. They were weapons.
My weapons.
Finally, my gaze fell upon Maya. She had been watching the entire exchange, her face a mask of intense concentration.
She hadn't been sketching. She had been bearing witness.
"And you?" I spoke, my voice softer this time, though no less resonant. "You are our historian. Our propagandist. Your words and pictures are as powerful as any skill I can grant. But the offer stands for you as well."