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Merc's Metamorphs

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Chapter 13: General Glory

Merc felt the fur on his body begin to stand on end as the reality of the situation sank in: they would be forced to work with the Legendary Heroes. He hadn't been looking forward to doing the bidding of The Rook, but at least the faceless, nameless employer wasn't General FUCKING Glory. Claudia Alvarez, Secretary of State stood up with a faintly veiled smile. "I'm so pleased that Merc's Meta--"

General Glory snapped his fingers. "Come on, Honey... the men are talking. You've been a good girl, Claudia; you've done your job, now let me take it from here." He accentuated his 'request' by motioning to the door after snapping again.

Merc didn't much care for the Secretary of State, but he definitely didn't like toxic masculinity. Offering a much more pleasant tone to his voice than he'd initially planned on reserving for her, the Kangacobra announced "Thank you for your hospitality, Secretary Alvarez. I'm happy to say our meeting with you won't be the worst one we'll have to bear tonight."

Whether General Glory got the point or not, the Legendary Hero's impeccable smile didn't waver for the entirety of the Secretary's departure. He said nothing until she was gone. "Well... everyone said that they'd be cross the border and take our jobs, but I guess nobody ever pictured they'd make their way into government positions, eh? Gotta love the Democratic Party's affirmative action rules... they'll destroy this great nation, you mark my words, gentlemen."

Bruiser, the most pacifistic of the bunch, was, nevertheless, ruffled. The Orca's mental message was emphatic despite being only a single word. "I--" it was accompanied by numerous cathartic mind-images of horrible things happening to 'the United State's Perfect Hero'. Merc managed to hide his snicker but Demon didn't.

General Glory took notice. "Allergies, or don't you agree, my canine friend?"

Demon wasn't much of a fan of General Glory either. "We're not friends, dude."

The Legendary Hero raised an eyebrow. "Hmmm... 'Dude', huh? The lack of respect provided these days shows just how far our society's fallen... between all of the cellular phones and the Ticking-Tocks and Instant Grams, it's surprising that civilization can still manage to continue moving forward."

Bruiser's face had not changed from its severe scowl as he leveled an accusatory stare. "Some might say certain parts of it are even backsliding."

General Glory snapped his finger and pointed right at the Orca. "My point exactly, amigo! It's not 'cultural appropriation' if I call you amigo, right, amigo?"

Rather than answer the question, Bruiser crossed his arms over his chest. "Why are you here, Glory?"

Out of the three of them, it was Bruiser who had the greatest history with the leader of the Legendary Heroes. Juan had been General Glory's greatest fan growing up, but, as was often said, it was usually a bad idea to meet one's heroes. Merc knew the story, and Demon did as well; they'd have to work together to keep their boyfriend calm and collected. General Glory really didn't make it easy. "Why am I here? I figured it'd be obvious: been looking forward to working with Merc's Metamorphs. May have taken awhile, but now we have a chance! We talk about it often enough after all, right?"

Merc stepped up to intercede. "YOU talk about it often enough. We usually just have to sit there and weather your invitations it until we escape whatever stupid holding cell you're using at the time."

Rather than receive the statement as an insult, General Glory seemed to enjoy the banter. "Oh, Merc, Merc, Merc... I have to admit, the moment I found out that you'd escaped that restraining table I was angry beyond belief but, after thinking about it for awhile, I just had to admit that, hey-- you are one skilled Metamorph. It's only made me want to work with you and your team THAT much more."

Demon interjected. "We did a job alongside the Legendaries barely two months back. Nothing special about that."

General Glory sighed, shaking his head to regard the Pit Bull. "Yes... yes you did. I wasn't included, of course since that whole sinking tanker ship wasn't high priority, but that's beside the point. Just a week ago we were on opposite sides and we had to stop you from stealing green diamonds from The Academy."

Merc had no qualms about correcting him. "Technically we DID steal the diamonds... you didn't catch me until after I had em."

The Legendary Hero wasn't about to let semantics get in the way of his gloating; that wasn't his style. "Perhaps... or perhaps not. But we ended up catching you anyway."

Demon's thick, canine lips pulled back into a wide grin. "Yeah... and then we went ahead and stole em from Legendary HQ. Twice in one night. You musta felt pretty damn dumb after that one."

They all knew General Glory did not like being made a fool of, and, in that moment, Merc was giddy with out displeased the man looked. To the Legendary Hero's credit, however, he managed to swallow down his pride and offer a strained smile. "All the more reason to appreciate how nice it'll be having you on our side."

Bruiser huffed through his blow hole. "Merc's Metamorphs aren't on anyone's side, Glory. We don't pic favorites."

The man nodded thoughtfully, his perfectly groomed golden hair not shifting so much as a centimeter with the gesture. "Be that as it may, I still hold faith that God will show you the error of your ways and that you will see the light. You'll be working with the Legendary Heroes, and I know that you will be able to be redeemed."

Merc scowled; it certainly wasn't the first time the Legendary Heroes had tried to recruit them. The Kangacobra had managed to escape that relatively unscathed and Demon basically shrugged off the would-be initiation but, poor Bruiser, having been 'indoctrinated' into the idea of the Legendary Heroes from a young age was hurt bad by it. Merc shot his boyfriend an encouraging glance, but the Orca's eyes were staring daggers at General Glory... and for good reason.

Frank and Juan had both been huge Legendary Heroes fans from a young age; they amplified one anothers' excitement after moving in together and, once the three of them became Metamorphs, the decision was obvious: get Chance interested too! Despite how much of a fan Frank was, however, it was always a casual thing. Juan was into it on a much deeper level-- one that bordered on obsession. It was Bruiser's decision that the three of them to try out for the Legendary Heroes. Sure, they were Metamorphs, but Legendary HQ was known for recruiting Metamorphs, so why not? As it turned out, they got that question answered on the very first day.

It was readily obvious from the moment they had walked through the door that they were not going to be Legendary Heroes; they were going to be Metamorphs employed by the Legendary Heroes. They would be second-class citizens. At first, Bruiser was able to work through those reservations. After all, he reasoned, being second-string on such a winning team wasn't anything to be ashamed of. They might not be Legendary Heroes, but they'd get to work WITH Legendary Heroes. They then learned just what that meant.... and it was NOT good.

Merc remembered how traumatized Bruiser had been when the three new Metamorphs were shown how Legendary HQ treated the Altered. Standing behind one way mirrors, Merc, Demon, and Bruiser were shown the heartless, almost ruthless training regimen that the combat-capable Altered were subjected to; things weren't a lot better for the wage-slave mentally capable Altered-- powers not good enough to be combatants, but appearance no longer Human enough to get along in society-- they didn't have many other options and those bastards at Legendary knew it... corporate wage slaves at best and cannon fodder at worst.

The introduction was supposed to be a five day event taking place over the course of a 'work week'. Since Metamorphs could only keep their forms for two hours, that meant a total of ten hours for the sales pitch and on-boarding; the three of them didn't even make it two days. Merc had been unable to stand the obvious systemic racism, favoritism, and classist approach to the hero game; Demon was unhappy because his boyfriends were unhappy (and because of a few choice comments about 'them gays' from General Glory during one of his candid recruitment speeches; it definitely hit Bruiser the hardest.

The three of them left Legendary HQ mid-way through day two-- it was the first time Merc had selected and used his teleportation power. They later learned that, out of the nine Metamorphs who had gone to orientation, they were the only three who hadn't signed up. The idea left a deep nausea in Frank's stomach, but Juan had been sick for almost an entire week afterwards. The three of them agreed that they would never be affiliated with Legendary after that wake-up call. Never WILLINGLY, apparently, as Merc realized that they wouldn't have much of a choice.

He scowled, absently rubbing the palm of his gloved talon. Looking to General Glory, the Kangacobra could not put up with his continued recruitment speeches. "I'm not sure how many times we gotta turn you down before you get the idea that we're not interested in working with Legendary, Glory."

The self-assured asshole just kept on smirking, taking a step forward. "Oh, I'm sure somewhere deep down in those transformed hearts of yours there's still a little human child aching to be found worthy... isn't that right... Bruiser?"

Although none of Merc's Metamorphs ever discussed their orientation at Legendary HQ, and nobody from the Legendary Heroes had ever brought up the fact that the three of them had turned down positions there, it was readily obvious that General Glory did NOT forget the monologue Bruiser had given about being their biggest fan, and how much he couldn't wait to be part of the team. The Orca was no longer naive. "Get bent."

If General Glory thought that Bruiser would be the one member of their group to respond positively to the compelled partnership he certainly didn't realize just how harsh the blow back was when the avid fan's perception of Legendary Heroes was so irrevocably destroyed. Juan had wanted NOTHING to do with the Legendary Heroes after that. He hated the idea of being anywhere near them. It was Juan, in fact, who suggested the rule that Merc's Metamorphs completely avoid any political jobs since that was a mainstay of the Legendary Heroes' activities.

Juan wanted to avoid them with a passion and, based on the way the Orca had both his hands balled into fists, Bruiser was not taking the news well when it came to the reveal that they'd be partnering up for something big. Merc decided that he needed to take control of the conversation. "So... you're here to rub our face in the fact that the US Government is ordering us to work with you? Is that it?"

General Glory's smile was one of superiority and smug victory. "I'm just excited that we'll have the opportunity to help guide you in the matter of right and wrong."

The Kangacobra didn't raise to the bait. "You'll do that in ONE whole mission, huh? The Secretary of State said ONE low profile mission."

The Legendary Hero out-and-out laughed, guffawing as if it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard. It was nearly a full minute before hes topped cackling like a mad-man, more than long enough for Bruiser to note mentally "I really want to kill him... REALLY bad. Can you activate your third power to give him a stroke or something? The guy is ANCIENT.... shouldn't he be retired?"

Despite the ire with which the thought was sent, Merc realized that it was just frustration talking; out of the three of them, Bruiser was the biggest pacifist, but the Kangacobra could understand his boyfriend's frustration. Again working to keep his boyfriend out of Glory's social line of fire, Merc addressed him. "You make it sound like you know what she has planned."

Although General Glory had finished his hysterical laughing fit he still had a huge smile on his face. "Of course I do... once the feds found out about Santagua and the part you three had to play in the mess that went on there, Legendary HQ helped figure out the best way to make something good come out of a bad situation. Can you imagine what the world would be like if the US Government actually allowed a third world nation full of brown people to govern themselves? Anarchy!"

Merc couldn't avoid scowling. "Can you get to the point? What's the job and when's the job, Glory?"

The Legendary Hero nodded succinctly. "Right. Straight down to business. I can respect that, Merc."

Bruiser leveled a barbed statement at General Glory, though it was only in the Metamorphs' shared headspace. "You can't respect anything that isn't a white cys-gendered hetero normative male you racist, sexist, maldito hijo de puta..."

Demon paused, returning the thought. "What's a maldito hi--"

Merc and Bruiser both noted "Later."

General Glory, heedless of their mind banter, did indeed thankfully return to a discussion on business. "Legendary HQ has an all-flag mission coming up."

The simple statement turned Merc's blood to ice. All-Flag missions were not common among Legendary activities; over the entire time he'd been a Metamorph, Merc had only heard of two other instances in which every single Legendary Hero at the organization was called into the field. Something was obviously up, but Merc had no idea what it was, and absolutely no idea what part his team was expected to play in it. His mind stayed wrapped up in the idea to such an extent that Demon had to take over the conversation.

The Pit Bull did so without any tact whatsoever. "So... not enough folks on the roster that you need to pull in outside help, huh?"

The Dog's smugness also transferred into the dominant, wagging sway of his tail. It didn't last past Glory's one word answer. "Precisely."

With the rest of his team flabbergasted it was up to Merc to push past his own dismay to further press the issue. "So you want us to stay back and hold down the fort or something? Sure... we can do that... for the right price."

General Glory scoffed. "That's what henchmen and Altered are for, Merc. No... Legendary HQ located a Dire Legion stronghold on US soil. We're going to go wipe it out, and Merc's Metamorphs are going to help."

There was only one possible response to the proposal. "We don't get involved in Legion and Legendary squabbles... you know that, Glory."

The Hero only smirked in his patented self-sure way. "You also don't get involved in politics... looks like your team is turning over a new leaf."

Demon scowled, staring daggers at General Glory. "We don't shit where we eat. Don't expect us to mess with the Legion and, in return, we don't mess with Legendary."

Despite how intimidating the Pit Bull could be, General Glory was not in the least bit cowed. "The way I see it, you owe us one. That whole Green Diamond fiasco--"

Bruiser interjected "Was YOUR doing, not ours. That shipment was not related to Legendary Hero activity until YOUR team decided to get involved."

It was like General Glory had no intention of comprehending their position. "So... the job is next Saturday--- you know, like that Elton John song: Saturday night's alright for fighting... man... he was such a great singer. Shame he's one of the gays."

Merc stepped up beside Demon. "We're not attacking Dire Legion with you."

General Glory shrugged. "Well... as always, this is the good ol' U S of A so nobody's gonna MAKE you do anything. I went up to bat for you three with the State Department, so you can't blame me if--"

The Kangacobra was getting more and more exhausted by 'Mr Perfect' and his trite, meandering comments. "Get to the point and stop bullshitting, Glory. We're not interested, so unless you have--"

General Glory's posture changed immediately; he went from laid-back to full-on aggressive in an instant, and Merc found himself pinned against a wall by a very forceful hand on his chest. The Kangacobra had been hoisted off the ground and was stuck between a structure at his back and an iron-like paw on his sternum. The Legendary Hero's gaze was unwavering, and his voice was ice cold. "The State Department will be wiring 3 million to cover any 'incidentals'. You're going to show up, 8pm, next Saturday night at the coordinates provided to you in the dossier."

Merc found himself able to draw breath again when General Glory removed his hand from the Metamorph's chest and let him fall several inches to the ground. He was dumbfounded by the sudden act of aggression; Glory was a lot of things, but not a 'bully' in the traditional sense. "What the fuck?"

Heading toward the exit, General Glory about-faced, his demeanor returning to one of pleasant interaction. "It took me awhile to figure out out, Merc... for the longest time I thought that you and your team were opportunistic Gen Xers. Oh, I know the type--- the ones who always wanted to know what's in it for them, or what they get out of it, or how the whole world can go to hell because they feel forsaken and left behind-- all that boo-hoo garbage... but I realized something tonight: you three aren't professionals."

Orcas didn't really growl, but Bruiser made a good show of it. "Watch it, Glory..."

The Legendary Hero ignored the statement, ranting as he walked in a small circle next to the door. "Jesus Christ, you're probably not even in your 30s yet! That means you're kids. Snot nosed, entitled, coddled little snowball brats."

Demon snorted, offering the generational rift right back. "Okay, Boomer."

General Glory leveled a steely gaze at the three of them. "The best way to deal with brats is to provide proper discipline."

Merc was only a little intimidated but he wasn't about to let it show; at the end of the day, General Glory was still a Legendary Hero and he wasn't about to do anything to tarnish that image. "Whatever. We done here yet? I mean, I've enjoyed our chat and all, but I'd really like to get back home and fuck my boyfriends."

He watched the vein in General Glory's forehead pulse as the man grit his teeth. "Saturday. 8pm. Take the job. Earn your money, or you'll... what do parents these days call it? Oh--- you'll be put in time out."

* * * * *

Merc's Metamorphs wasn't able to get back to the college that night. The team had taken too long getting to DC followed by the lengthy meet and greet so they had to find a spot to stay on the East Coast. Fortunately, Bruiser had brought some credit cards and their fake IDs with them so, once they found a safe place outside of Camp David to shift back into their human forms the prospect of having a place to crash wasn't very difficult. They reserved a hotel room but, unlike Merc's dismissive statement at the end, the three were far too stressed to actually have sex.

Juan was dealing with it particularly hard; both Frank and Chance had to spend time the following morning consoling their boyfriend. Frank remembered once how Juan had explained to him that putting heroes up on pedestals meant that idols had that much farther to fall and it had been devastating; the face-to-face with General Glory certainly hadn't done much to help any. Not a single one of the three of them looked forward to working with the Legendary Heroes and, despite the friendly way with which business was being conducted, Frank had absolutely no doubt in his mind that things would turn nasty if Merc's Metamorphs said they weren't willing to play ball.

In the end, the three of them snuggled together atop one of the motel room beds; Frank hugged at both of his boyfriends, not quite able to get his arms around the both of them while Chance knelt over Frank and Juan, resting his chin atop the latter's head. "Don't worry, babe... it's just this one mission and after that we're done."

Juan wasn't convinced. "Unless they demand that we do more."

Frank had considered that same question. "They're expecting us to cooperate. As long as they don't give us a reason not to they get to control the narrative. If they push us too hard they know that we'll lose the incentive to play ball. Being able to dictate how things play out on the news and in peoples' mind is too important to try and over-extend whatever control they try to exert on us."

Chance let out a long sigh, gave them both another big hug before kissing Juan on his head. "Yeah? well let's hope all that poly-sci stuff gave you a good understanding of how they plan on runnin' this. I swear to god, if they keep tryin' to push us around I might do something that'll make the news in a bad way."

Juan, usually the voice of reason in the group, didn't disagree. "Yeah... and I'm liable to help."

The three of them began getting dressed, preparing for their escape from the urban area and to somewhere they could change into their Metamorph forms without being seen. As Frank put on his clothes he rubbed his gloved hand against his thigh; whenever he worried about his boyfriends he ended up getting sweaty palms and with the rash-or-whatever he got from the sea water so recently healing he didn't want it to get some kind of jungle rot on top of it. Putting THAT possible stressor aside, he chose instead to focus on Juan's concerns. "It's a contract like any other-- when we're done we'll balance things out with the Dire Legion and put all this behind us. In the meantime, we're banking positive cred."

Frank made a good point and he knew it; while Merc's Metamorphs had nothing against doing 'good guy' work, the real payments usually came from 'the bad guys' or, more specifically, those who didn't conform to the system ruling over those with Powers. It was enough to console his team, at least, and they were able to focus on getting home. Combining a taxi ride to the south side of town, and an hour hike, the three were able to get to a rural enough area where they could get the privacy they needed to shift. After that, the clock started ticking on the two hours they had in their Metamorph forms so that Merc could return them home with his powers.

Despite the amount of energy and drain the travel took on Merc's body, his mind was still left available to think, and it chose to betray his desire for positivity by obsessing over General Glory. Although the three of them promised never to talk about it, Frank never forgot the way the Legendary Hero had treated Bruiser; the Orca had been smacked around severely during their orientation, beaten bloody for jokingly when Bruiser was caught sneaking a kiss from one of the male Legendary Heroes Glory's comment? "There's no place for deviancy when you're under public scrutiny. That lifestyle isn't acceptable-- especially here."

It wasn't the killing blow for joining the Legendary Heroes, but it certainly didn't help. Merc and Bruiser had helped Bruiser to the infirmary where a powerful combination of advanced topical spray and nano-bot infused cream closed up the physical wounds, but the emotional ones had never healed. The Legendary Hero who had shared a kiss with Bruiser hadn't come to his defense and hadn't come to check on him; it was 'return to work as normal', and THAT was what put the nail in the coffin for joining the organization that not only segregated those with powers and those without, but made secondary citizens of any Powered individual who was not a Legendary.

Merc and his boyfriends agreed that General Glory was a relic from a bygone era and none of them had looked back. Having all of that shoved in their face again, however, certainly hadn't helped. While none of them savored the idea of working directly with Legendary HQ (especially when it came to a direct attack against the Dire Legion), there was no sense denying that it was going to happen. Letting out a sigh, Merc tried valiantly to clear his mind as the final jump of the day took them to the park where they could gather their belongings and go back to being normal humans... even if it was only til the weekend. Unfortunately, they weren't alone.

Bruiser had, as usual, hid their belongings incredibly well in a dead drop they used often. The dead drop was open and three backpacks were seated on a bench... right next to Christopher. The young man had a smile on his face, leaning back casually with an arm draped across them. "Hey, gang. Guess this explains why you weren't available for dinner last night, huh?"

Merc's boyfriends were obviously as dumbfounded as he was since none of the three spoke up. The Kangacobra, however, was the first to recover. "CHRIS?!? H-how?!?"

The Asian student just continued smiling; he didn't bother getting up as he extended his cell. "Well, Frank... to be honest, you were apparently in such a rush to get to where you were going last night that you sent me a text from the wrong number."

Looking down at the cell phone, Merc immediately caught sight of his Metamorph cell number in Chris' caller ID. "I...." the reveal immediately created another question in his mind. "But how did you know that I'm-- that I... how'd you put two and two together?!?"

Chris' smile widened and he pulled out a second cell from his jacket pocket and hit a button on it. Merc jumped in surprise when his cell went off. Looking down at it, the Kangacobra saw that he'd received a text from The Rook. It read: I HAVE TWO CELLS TOO.

Demon, who had been looking over Merc's shoulder, was the first to recover from that newest surprise, scowling down at the Human. "Well la-di-frickin-da, mister genius. I DO wanna point out that you got one thing wrong though: THAT'S Juan, and I'm Chance."