I really wanted to kill her. Trust me. But... the others didn’t want that. And the last time I did whatever the hell I wanted, everyone paid the price.

  I glanced at Hessien’s left arm. White energy made up his limb.

  That was the price he paid.

  I couldn’t do as I pleased... Not when I was part of a team.

  I lowered my hand, the heat trailing after it as flickers of fire danced from my fingertips. Then, in an instant, the flames vanished, taking their orange glow and warmth with them.

  The She-Pimp’s eyes widened in surprise before she smiled, like she’d won. Like I was too afraid. Like I was too much of a coward to pull the trigger—to set her on fire, to deal with the consequences that would follow.

  I exhaled and told the others what I’d seen when I tried using mind projection on her. She clearly already knew, so keeping it secret would’ve been a waste of time.

  Hessien gave a slow nod, processing what I’d just told him. Ghomas and Vacinay, on the other hand, reacted instantly.

  Ghomas spread his fingers, pressing them to his temple. "Okay. You’re really dangerous. Tell us what’s going on, or we kill you."

  Vacinay leaned forward, glaring. "Or we torture you. Your choice."

  Near the bar by the whorehouse, the music started to fade. People—mostly men—began spilling out, eager to see what was happening.

  The She-Pimp just smiled and shrugged. "Do you."

  Watching the commotion from near the bar were men with heads full of gray, so skinny they looked like walking skeletons. Others were as young as me, dressed in long shirts with trashy designs—dinosaurs eating each other, a naked black-haired woman kissing the middle of a man’s back, three dudes whacking each other off. Yeah. Having a bar next to a whorehouse attracted a certain kind of audience. Maybe killing trialers wasn’t that common after all.

  A sudden zapping sound cut through the air. Blue electricity crackled in Ghomas’s open palm. With each passing second, the lightning coiled tighter, growing in intensity. But she wasn’t afraid. Even as the sparks flashed in her face, she didn’t flinch.

  "Damn. Acrya? What the fuck did she get herself into?" A brown-haired guy took a sip of something green from his glass, then sat on the railing that surrounded the front of the bar.

  "Probably made some promises," another man muttered.

  A half-bald guy with a gut so big his plain white shirt could barely contain it grunted. "Shit, I’m wondering too."

  Yeah, this was bad. The president didn’t want people knowing about us yet. They’d start asking questions.

  Hessien placed a hand on Ghomas’s shoulder. "Let me do it. My powers are best for things like this."

  We all turned to him. Vacinay dropped her hand to her side. "How...?"

  I shook my head, realizing what he meant. "Waterboarding her would be pointless. Torture makes people lie just to make it stop."

  "What other choice do we have?" Hessien asked, stepping closer to the pimp. A ball of white fog formed in his hand. It wasn’t a perfect sphere—its surface rippled like calm ocean waves.

  I suggested, "The knights. The president. Miss Yamanda. This is something we should report to them anyway."

  I was trying to be logical, not impulsive. That surprised all three of them. Vacinay even gave a small nod of approval. "I like that idea. This is a job for their police—or whatever they have for police."

  Ghomas half-agreed. "I mean… I guess. Would’ve been nice to handle it ourselves, but yeah. Let’s do that."

  Hessien smirked at the woman. "You better hope police brutality isn’t a thing here."

  I scoffed.

  Ghomas _hmm’d_ before asking, "Are we technically doing that, though? Since we’ve been given a lot of authority? We killed a bunch of half-men like we were soldiers. That’s definitely for national interest."

  Vacinay tilted her head. "When you put it like that… nah. We’re more like knights. Super knights."

  "So, soldier brutality, then? Since we’re kinda treated like that?"

  I cut in. "Blah blah, who cares. She and everyone in that building deserve it."

  "Eh… I mean, a court exists for a reason," Ghomas muttered. "Some of them could’ve been forced into this. Sex trafficking is a big deal."

  I was ready to argue, but… fuck. He had a point. My ego wouldn’t let me admit it, though. "Wait a second. If that’s what you think, why were you so eager to fuck some prostitutes?"

  Hessien turned to him. "Yeah, explain yourself."

  "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Ghomas threw up his hands. "I’m just saying it’s a possibility! Bloody hell, I didn’t even think of that, and—" He bit his lip, then turned to the pimp. "They’re here willingly, right? Please say yes."

  She looked at him, her pupils yellow, almost the color of the sun. "Ignorance is bliss."

  Ghomas froze, his expression locked in place like a living statue. His eyes still blinked, though. After a moment, he finally snapped out of it, half-laughing. "Very funny... I’m being serious here."

  The pimp turned to me. "Why worry? Your friend went in a room with one. Ask her."

  I would rather not think about that. The implications, the what-if’s—Then I remembered that the guy I almost fucked had killed people. Had been about to kill me.

  Immediately, any moral dilemma vanished.

  I batted away the concern. "He was murdering women. Was planning on killing me. What the fuck do you want me to feel?"

  Hessien shrugged. "True... anyway." He turned to Ghomas. "Carry her. We’re heading home."

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Vacinay muttered, "Still feels weird calling that place home."

  "I know, right?" I said. "We should have an estate. Private quarters."

  Ghomas snorted. "Yeah… so you can fuck male prostitutes."

  "What did you just say?!" I jabbed a finger at him. "I’ll kill you!"

  Ghomas feigned innocence. "What’s your deal, dude?"

  I glared at him. "Just pick up the whore queen so we can get the fuck out of here."

  "Whore queen," Ghomas repeated with a grin. "I like that."

  His shoulder suddenly expanded, flesh bubbling outward. A moment later, a naked, muscular man split off from him. Not overly jacked—just like Hessien, with enough fat to hide some of the definition but not the shape. More solid than chubby.

  I raised an eyebrow. "Still no skill to duplicate your clothes?"

  The She-Pimp’s eyes widened for a split second before settling back into disinterest. She stared at the clone. "You think _that_ will make me talk?"

  Ghomas frowned. "What the hell are you talking about?"

  Vacinay said, "I think she thinks your clone’s gonna rape her."

  "What?" Ghomas recoiled in disgust. "Don’t make those jokes."

  "if I saw a naked man suddenly appear before me, I’d be a little nervous too." She made a stabbing motion. "But I got powers now."

  I tapped my chin. "Hmm…"

  "No fucking ‘Hmm!’" Ghomas snapped at me. "Ain’t nobody doing that!" He pointed at the pimp. "He’s carrying you, got it? No one’s doing any raping."

  She slowly nodded, most definitely not trusting a word from his mouth. Not sure how that would soothe her in any way, seeing that we were thinking of waterboarding(mistboarding?) and electrocuting her.

  But as for what Ghomas said to me... I took offense at the implications. "What? I can't say _Hmm_ now? Actually, I think I ought to kick you for assuming I would think of something so disgusting."

  As evil as you might think I am, I drew the line at rape.

  What's that? What about all the innocent people I killed(accidentally), burning them with flames and not really feeling remorseful about it? All those I separated from their families and re-traumatized by turning their family into zombies? All those I killed without giving them the right to a trial?

  Hmph... Moralists. These questions would be great if I cared to answer them.

  Hessien clapped angrily, trying to regain our attention. "Just pick her up and let's go!"

  He then pointed at the bar and the massive crowd that made it impossible to see the railing anymore. "Too many eyes on us."

  I was about to suggest he cover us with mist, but only he and Vacinay could navigate with such mist around.

  Ghomas's clone picked her up, leaned her belly on his shoulder, then stood at attention for orders like a soldier.

  Vacinay started walking in the same direction we came from, her nose twisting into that of a cat, just with green and spiky metallic fur. "Let's go."

  She dashed forward, becoming a blur to everyone else but us. I picked up the woman I had frozen in time and followed her, then Hessien and Ghomas were next.

  It took us about thirty minutes or so to get back to the Reality Defenders Building.

  We moved inside and climbed into our quarters to get our communication rings.

  I fitted the white ring onto my index finger and muttered, "How do I use these?"

  Everyone else put on their rings.

  Vacinay picked at the ring like it was a curious creature. "Who knows? They didn't tell us shit."

  Hessien grumbled. "They did. You were just too busy buying a new skill."

  She raised an eyebrow, doubting Hessien.

  "Sure..."

  Ghomas tapped the ring's center, causing a white, flat hologram to pop up. "Contact Yamanda."

  I said, "Yamanda doesn’t wear those. I think."

  "Where the hell are you all?!" A very angry woman's voice came from Ghomas's ring.

  I was wrong. Perhaps she started wearing them since we got the rings.

  Ghomas was about to answer, but I jumped in, rushing to his side and saying, "Come here now. There's an emergency, and bring a doctor."

  The upper body of Yamanda was projected by the ring's center in a white hue. Her hair swayed, and her face remained serious, judging us. "Is this some bullshit?"

  Ghomas moved his ring in the direction of the pimp, still being held by his clone. She was just looking at the walls with mild interest.

  Yamanda then asked, "Please don't make me assume what I don't want to assume."

  "No, we ain't kidnapping random women. She's some ring leader of a... pleasure house. But the people inside were harvesting people's brains," I said.

  She exhaled deeply, like a massive weight had been lifted from her chest. Then she dragged a hand down her face in mental exhaustion and said, "Better than what I thought, but hell... Can't you all stay out of trouble?"

  Vacinay wasn’t very happy about that and fitted herself between me and Ghomas. "They were killing people, Miss Yamanda!"

  She grumbled something under her breath, most likely about being preached to about morals.

  Then she turned to the side, answering someone. "They're trying to tell me about morals... but were out there trying to get dirty dick and vag..."

  "Those two ain't even comparable!" I pushed Vacinay to the side, grabbing Hessien’s hand like it was a phone. "Who compares murder to buying sex?!"

  Yamanda then went silent. "Shit. How do you mute this thing?"

  The hologram began disappearing and reappearing. Then she angrily grumbled, "I hate this crap! Anyway, gotta go. Tell your mom I said hi!"

  Yamanda then disappeared from the hologram and suddenly appeared in front of us, looking the same as usual.

  Except for one thing... Both Hessien and Ghomas noticed it, glancing at her chest armor, then back at her face, like something wasn't making sense.

  The breast part of the armor looked like it had fucking basketballs inside it. Anti-gravity-ass-looking tits. Stab one with a needle, and you’d hear a boom kind of tits.

  Ghomas cringed. "Why are your breasts bigger? And not in a good way... You gotta sue that doctor."

  "Hell kind of question is that?" she angrily asked, then looked at the pimp still held by Ghomas’s clone.

  Vacinay rubbed her chin. "That breastplate is different. You wear armor that makes your breasts look bigger? Huh. Good to know humans ain't the only ones obsessed with cosmetics."

  Suddenly, there was a flash of anger and embarrassment. "I do not! And if you even imply that outside of this setting, I'll... make you suffer."

  I heard knights back on Earth would have armor that made it look like they had bigger dicks. Some were even designed to curve up. I suppose if women were allowed to be knights, they would have done the same thing for their breasts (or whatever was considered the beauty standard). I know I would. Shit, for my hips and waist too. I never cared much about having a big butt, so meh. That was something Vacinay 'secretly' cared about, even though she already had a noticeable one.

  "Chill, chill." Vacinay raised her hands to calm her. "Lumine will want that in the future, so I was just asking for my friend. But from student to mentor... you gotta reduce that one. Just a tad bit."

  I was too tired to get angry. It was true. Yamanda stared at her, then at me, trying to discern if Vacinay was telling the truth. "If so... We'll discuss this another time... My friend told me it looked good, though..."

  Vacinay asked, "She hates you."

  Near immediately, Yamanda's chest armor was replaced with one that made her breasts simply look big and not _that can't be healthy_ big.

  Ghomas snickered, but when she glared at him, he immediately stopped and wore a stone-hard face.

  The pimp then broke the silence, confused, like something wasn't adding up. "You have contact with a Presidential Knight?" She looked at each of us, perhaps wondering why we talked so casually with her. "Who the hell are you four?"

  "They're disrespectful children, nothing more." Yamanda clicked her tongue and then said, "Drop her, Ghomas."

  Ghomas nodded. "Yes, Miss."

  The clone stepped forward and shrugged the pimp off his shoulder, sending her tumbling onto the ground.

  Ghomas then scooted to Hessien's side. Hessien raised an eyebrow. "What?"

  "I'm thinking... armor that makes our shoulders and backs look massive as fuck."

  Hessien grinned and whispered, "If they can have false tits, we can have omega backs."

  "Fuck yeah. Fake super long dicks?"

  Hessien shook his head quickly. "Hell nah. Chicks don't like that shit. Just regular long, nothing extra."

  "True, true. But..." Ghomas was doubting what Hessien said with confidence.

  "Ignore what you saw on social media, my guy. Porn addicts ain't humans."

  "Hmmmm."

  I somehow felt that was directed toward me. Which was incredibly ironic coming from him.

  Any armor they got that had anything that looked like dicks on it, I would melt off with flames. No one was going to be walking alongside me _looking_ like a fucking pervert. Although, knowing their personalities, Hessien was joking. Ghomas... I wasn't sure. Could be either.

  Anyway, the pimp got on her knees, struggling to stand. But as she did, she moved the long, curly hair that covered her face to the side. "Do your worst. I can take it."

  Hessien took a seat on the bed, sinking a little into the red cushion. "I was going to waterboard her. If she's not afraid of that, she must be tough."

  "I see."

  Before Yamanda did her magic, I got her attention, saying, "Before that." I put down the woman who was frozen in time. "She's seriously injured. I have her in frozen time to keep her alive, but I can't keep it up forever."