Accidental Villainy 69

Shooting a home movie with Emily was fun, though Tara’s shy reaction was even better. I didn’t need to ask her whether she watched it, as her blush already revealed that she watched the show, and enjoyed it immensely.

Unfortunately, what followed was not as fun. As Emily modified and updated the security equipment, I shuffled through multiple disguises and installed them across the neighborhood, one that went far farther than the immediate surroundings of my bar.

It was hardly perfect coverage, but I was hoping that the combination of cameras, motion sensors, heat detectors, and many other gimmicky tools would work well enough for my purposes once they had been adjusted by Emily’s power.

Once she finished working on the devices and linked all to the security computer, I accompanied her to her home, though leaving took some effort when she was tempted to shoot another home movie and send it to Tara. Luckily, after using her power non-stop for such a long time, she was tired enough not to move.

Not that having fun with Emily was a chore, but I was on a tight schedule. I had more things before it was time to open the doors of the bar.

I didn’t want to skip the evening, even though I didn’t expect too many visitors after the earlier attack. I wanted to operate, mostly to make a point, showing the Syndicate that we were strong enough to handle a small threat like that. My hope was that they would take it as a mixture of truth and bluff — particularly with Tara’s fake wound, giving them the impression that they could use guns to take her down — which would keep them from acting immediately.

If they did, the combination of Tara and the laser cannon should be enough to handle a stronger attack, but I didn’t want to reveal those cards easily.

The reason for my hurry was related to that. With the Syndicate acting aggressively, I didn’t want to be forced to use all of my trump cards. Meaning, I needed to distract them from something else…

Luckily, I had all the necessary pieces to create a distraction. The captured tinker, the junkyard, and most importantly, Daria, also known as the Blue Princess and the Lady of Destruction. Combining all three would distract the Syndicate from me sufficiently. At a minimum, I hoped that they would change their location despite the warehouse being a good teleporter spot. Hopefully, Daria would be able to save the tinker, removing the whole reason the Syndicate had a reason to pay attention to my little bar.

And, I would attain the safety I had been searching for.

Unfortunately, while that plan was simple in theory, it was anything but so in practice. Daria was strong, but whether she was strong enough to take down both the New Giant Force guild and the Syndicate was another question. Especially since, at this point, she had no reason to suspect an official guild, and probably only suspecting the Syndicate.

So, not only did I have to alert her to the true danger, but also did so in a way that didn’t reveal my help as the first step. Then, I needed to feed her some information about the exact location of imprisonment, and, in the process, alert her about the location of the prisoner and the cooperation between the two forces. Junkyard was the best target for it, but I couldn’t do it without more information, as it was a trap.

It was why, while I had used most of the modified cameras to ensure the security of the bar, I had spared some of the best ones, particularly with good zooming, for this exact purpose. I couldn’t visit the junkyard directly without alerting them, but accessing the rooftops of some of the others was not too much of a problem.

It wasn’t the way of collecting the highest quality information, but at this point, every little bit counted.

The task of placing the cameras was very important, but exciting, it was not. All I needed was to walk into a few apartments, my power allowing me to easily pick their entry codes. From that point, I just needed to access to their roof, plug the camera like it belonged to their standard security operation, activate their upload link … and voila, another eye to my growing detection capabilities.

Once the task of setting the new security cameras was complete, I returned to the bar, once again using the security tunnel, feeling safer than ever. The fact that I had an actual security system with some automated alerts that didn’t rely on me constantly watching the cameras was a happy occasion.

“Hello, beautiful. Everything ready?” I asked Tara, who once again dressed in her usual ensemble, though she had changed her top.

“Yes, sir. Everything is cleaned, and ready to go.”

“Good,” I said. “We have just one thing before starting,” I added. She looked at me questioningly. “You’re supposed to be injured, but trying to hide it. You need to lean more to your side, and occasionally gasp when you make a sharp motion,” I added.

She tried to do what I suggested, which wasn’t particularly believable. She might be very agile thanks to her powers, but a good actress, she was not.

“Try to limp more, make your expression of pain a little less nuanced …” I started, giving her several corrections until she could move steadily. “Try not to make obvious moves, but be ready to act.” Once the acting lesson was complete, I gestured for her to sit in a different, more concealed spot. It wasn’t exactly hidden, but it would make her keep in the shadows, reducing the challenge of her acting while also selling her wounded state better.

Altogether, it was the best I could do in short order without the risk of overplaying my hand.

Once everything was ready, I opened the doors, wondering if I would even have any customers after the earlier fight. Most ordinary criminals would avoid the mess, but the question was whether I would have any other visitors.

However, when the door opened, I was met with an unexpected first visitor.

Daria.

“Hello, stranger,” she said as she strode forward, confident as she put her outfit to best use. She had chosen not to wear a skirt this time, instead choosing to wear pants. However, considering she wore leather pants that were tight enough to look like a part of her body, it wasn’t exactly a huge improvement. She wore heeled boots, a sexy set that elevated her sexiness even further. The thin tube top that showed off her lack of a bra and her leather jacket completed the combo, and her red hair looked striking.

She smirked at me as she entered. I liked her smirk. It did interesting things to her lips, and hers were already attractive. Even without the knowledge of her true identity, she was a striking example of femininity. With the truth of power that lay beneath the surface, she was a true display of femininity.

“Hello again, stranger,” she said. “Long time no see.” As she said that, she put her purse on the bar and slid up onto the stool in front of me, her whole aura seductive, this time without any attempt from me.

Thanks to my power, I could see that her arousal and desire were genuine … but that wasn’t enough to hide one fact. She was this forward, because she wanted something.

I said nothing, just smiled before I poured her another drink, enjoying the glint of her green eyes. She was beautiful.

“So, big crowd tonight,” she muttered as she leaned forward while tugging her top lower, which created a cleavage for her already deficient tank top. Her breasts were too big to be going around without a bra, not that I was complaining.

I didn’t even look at Tara, suddenly glad for Emily’s visitation earlier. My unique way of coaxing her had worked well to show that Tara had no problems with jealousy, which was a welcome development. It meant I could focus on Daria even when Tara was inside.

“Well, every business has its ups and downs,” I said. She chuckled, and we started flirting for a few minutes, while her actions getting more and more obvious. She threw a few measuring yet smug glances at Tara, who was in her seat, her biker helmet hiding her expression.

“So, I need a favor,” she said as she leaned toward me, enough that a glance down would have afforded me a view that was not just sexy, but downright erotic.

“Oh, what’s that,” I said, keeping my gaze on her eyes.

“I have lost a family heirloom when I visited the last time. I need to check your security cameras to find it,” she said. “I’ll make it worth your while,” she added as she pulled her tube top down, revealing her spectacular tits for me once more, still carrying the marks of our last time together.

I smirked as I gestured for Tara to lock the doors. Whatever message I planned to give to Syndicate wasn’t as important as her…