Visiting home

You race back towards your hometown on your civilian motorbike, the roads gradually becoming more and more familiar until you're turning the corner onto your street. You screech to a halt outside your house, and your heart sinks as you see and unfamiliar black range rover parked in the driveway - even more when you recognise the gold-and-white clad figure stood on the porch. The raised voices of two women are audible as soon as you switch off the engine.

"...you have no rights here! This is our home, and we're not about to leave it just on someone's word - not even yours." You recognise Taylor's voice, and hurry closer to see your {if Family==true}sexy{else}beautiful{endif} blonde sister standing stubbornly in the doorway, wearing her trademark short shorts and crop top.

"Miss Abbott, please just listen to me," says Ultragirl. "This is for your own good. Your brother is a dangerous rogue vigilante, in violation of the Mutant Act, and, as I stated, the government has issued a mandatory order to relocate you for your own safety."

"So I'm a rogue now. I like the sound of that," you say, stepping forward with a smile, doing your best to ignore the incredibly powerful superhero right next to you.

Taylor's amber eyes light up, and she practically leaps onto you. "Michael!" {if@ Family==true}she squeals, throwing her slender arms around you tightly and pushing her perky breasts pleasantly into your chest. She finally pulls a little backwards, keeping her arms looped around your neck, and you see her eyeing your lips, before thinking better of it. "Thank fuck you're here," she beams. "Tell this woman to leave us alone."{else}she gushes, pulling you into a tight hug. You try not to think too much about the pleasant feeling of her rack pushed against your chest. "Thank goodness you're here," she says, releasing you. "Tell this woman to leave us alone."{endif}

You turn to face Ultragirl, hip to hip with your sister. The Amazonian heroine meets your eyes with a steady, determined gaze - though you think there might be a hint of guilt there, too. You certainly hope so, as you're not going to be able to fight your way out of this one.

"Alpha Man," she cocks her head slightly. "I shouldn't be surprised that you're here, but I did think you were smarter than walking right into your own arrest."

"Well, it was that or let you take my family hostage," you reply coolly. "That is what you're doing, isn't it?"

"They're being relocated for their own safety," repeats Ultragirl flatly.

"Are they really?" You step forward, out of Taylor's embrace, though her hand finds yours and holds it. Ultragirl is taller than almost everyone, but even she has to look very slightly upwards to meet your eyes. "Where are they going? Witness protection?"

"A... S.P.E.R.M. facility," answers Ultragirl, with a hint of hesitation.

"Sounds like they would be hostages to me."

Ultragirl sighs, looking away with a shake of her head. "You just don't get it, do you?" Her blue eyes return to you, strong and piercing. "We have an obligation to help society. And an obligation to be responsible and accountable. Which means answering to someone. Which is what I'm doing right now, and what you're facing the consequences for not doing."

You take another step towards Ultragirl, so you're just closer than is polite. This close, you can see the gold flecks in her irises, the perfectly even pores on her flawless skin. She smells of something good - it's hard to place, but unmistakeably feminine.

"Please. Ultragirl. Think about this. Listen to what you feel. This -" you gesture to your house, to your sister, to the waiting car. "- this isn't right. Going after my family? It's even worse than those adverts they make you pose for, to make the government look good."

"The adverts are to reassure the public," counters Ultragirl, but there's less certainty in her voice.

"Do you think the government's going to be quiet about S.P.E.R.M. at the next election? Or do you think they're going to tout you and Hurricane and anyone else they can as some miraculous achievement that warrants re-election?"

The heroine doesn't respond.

"Exactly. Now, listen, I get what you're saying about accountability and everything. And maybe you don't care what I think, but I respect your decision to stay with S.P.E.R.M.: to try and work for the people. I disagree, but I respect it. So, I hope you can respect me enough to see that taking my family hostage... isn't right. Why do you think they sent the most powerful mutant on the planet to go and talk to a random family?" You let the question hang in the air for a moment. "Because you're the least likely to question them. The most likely to just obey."

The quiet sounds of suburbia fill the gap between you. Leaves gently rustling, busy roads humming from afar.

"You're right," says Ultragirl quietly, a strand of golden hair falling over her face. "It... it isn't right."

"Then why don't you go the fuck away!" interjects Taylor.

Ultragirl casts an irritated glance at her, before continuing, "...It isn't right. But you also don't understand. Being responsible means accepting someone else's decisions, whether you like it or not, because you're part of something bigger."

She glances back, and as if on cue, a black-suited man steps out of the driver's side of the range rover. You look back to Ultragirl, realising that even she is being kept on a leash.

"Maybe," you say quickly, hearing the man's footsteps crunching closer. "But if you can't trust your own instinct for right or wrong, how do you know that any of what you're doing is for the best?"

"Is there a problem here, Ultragirl?" The suited man stops beside her, looking you up and down from behind opaque black sunglasses. You're 80% sure that he knows who you are - and what Ultragirl is meant to do.

"There's no problem here, is there?" you say, pushing your pheromones hard. You glance at Ultragirl, who says nothing, standing almost ashamedly in front of your sister. "I mean, do you think there's a problem here?" You take another step towards the man. He's well-built, but you tower over him, and your pheromones quickly take effect.

"...No," says the man eventually, his ready stance faltering as he takes a step backwards. "N...no problem at all."

"Why don't you go and wait in the car? And I wouldn't even think about telling anyone about this, now or ever."

The man seems to shrink beneath your gaze, almost cowering behind Ultragirl's white-and-gold frame. "I'll... I'll wait in the car."

"Good decision," you say, as he scurries back to shelter. You turn back to Ultragirl, who watched the exchange with mild interest, her thoughts clearly miles away. "I think it's a smart idea to relocate my family. Evidently there are people who can't be trusted with their location."

"Seriously, Michael?" sighs Taylor.

"Seriously." You look at Ultragirl again. The blonde Amazon still hasn't said anything, the tension pulling at her gorgeous face belying the moral battle within. "Listen," you say, taking her hand in yours. She doesn't resist. "I get that you and I have different philosophies about what's right. But we can both agree that my family is better off without the government using them as leverage over me."

Ultragirl stares at you, her expression inscrutable. Finally she says, "...Okay. Just this one time, I was too late. Your family had already disappeared by the time I got here."

"Thank you," you say sincerely, clasping her hand in yours gratefully, and releasing it. "And... think about what I've said. Maybe one day you'll resign your post as sheriff, and join our merry band of rogues."

"Not likely," she says, though her lip curls at your joke. "Remember, this is a one-time thing, because your family deserves and needs safety. Next time we meet, I'll have to arrest you."

"I look forward to it," you smile charmingly.

Ultragirl gets in the car - which seems very odd, given she could just fly - and the black-suited man reverses out of your driveway.

"Bye, losers!" shouts Taylor after them, as they pull away down the street. "Sorry, needed to be done," she laughs, seeing your exasperated expression.