HypnoBishoujoLand: Season 2 Chapter 4 Pt 2 (NGMEZ)

Season 2 Chapter 4: Attitude Adjustment

Part 2

Diana’s mother opened the door to see Jake standing there. “Jake sweetie! It’s so nice to see you, come on in,” Kitty said.

“Thank you ma’am,” Jake bowed and walked into the house. Kitty, Diana’s mom, went straight into the kitchen and Jake followed. “Is Diana available to hang out? I know she has to spend time with her sisters while they’re here but I promised her.

“Oh yes dear, unfortunately her sisters had to cancel their trip. I feel just awful about it, because some of her other friends had wanted her to come and go on a trip for most of the break with them,” Kitty turned her back to Jake and began looking through a cabinet. “I really appreciate your coming over actually. I hope it will cheer her up. My husband is out of town until the end of the month and she’s so upset that I just don’t know what to…” Kitty was cut off in surprise as Jake clasped a collar around her neck. The woman’s hands reached up to it in shock, and found they couldn’t get it off. It was just a simple metal collar with, oddly enough, a little silver bell in the front. The bell just then began to ring. The sound was wondrous, filling her ears with the sweetest music she’d ever heard in her life. Kitty began to sway in a daze, “Maybe you…could cheer…the…poor…thing up…?”

Jake smiled. Mato had apparently been doing a lot more hypnosis experiments than even he had realized. The old fart had been expanding his containment areas to get more groups of females and run constant test on them, just like the mermaids. One of the considered groups was cats, and he had built hypnotic kitty collars as a precaution. (Professor was looking to expand pretty soon. I wonder when he was going to tell me?) “Now miss, actually I think I’ll call you Kitty slave. It’s not like you can disagree, is it?” Kitty turned around. She was smiling broadly, the magical rings of her bell filling only her ears. “Just stand here until your husband comes home. I’m sure it won’t be long.” Jake left for Diana’s room, leaving her mom standing entranced.


* * *


Diana was moping on her bed, hugging a stuffed animal. She looked up as Jake knocked on her open door.  “Hey, did you hear?

“Yeah, your sisters cancelled. Too bad.” (For you, anyway) “You okay?

“Sure, if you call missing going on tour with the biggest star in music’s history for nothing being okay.” Diana sighed. “Hope your vacation has been going better than mine,” she moaned as she looked out the window.

“Well, it has been good so far. Why don’t you join me? Forget about what didn’t happen and just come have some fun.” She heard Jake walking up next to her.

“Jake I really don’t…” she suddenly jerked as a collar was locked around her neck. Diana looked down in surprise as the silver bell began to ring. “Oooh…” the ringing began to fill her ears. It was suddenly hard to think, to do anything but listen to the bell. Diana began to smile, for the first time in days feeling at peace. “Sounds…nice…” she managed to squeak out as she sat there, listening to hypnotic tones which overrode all conscious thought. Her eyes glazed over, and as Diana sat there her mind just went blank.

“Diana, I really wasn’t giving you options here. Come on, I always wanted a pet,” Jake left the room. Diana’s bedazzled mind couldn’t resist a command, and she meekly followed her new owner out of the house.


* * *


Lucia was reading one of the history books in the garden, trying to overcome countless years of being locked away. Someone was standing over her, and as she looked up Dawn was over her, reaching a hand down towards her. “Hi Dawn! I’m reading one of Mato’s books on history. So much happened while I was asleep!” Lucia leaned up to a sitting position, and Dawn suddenly began to rub her shoulders. “Oh! Thanks that feels nice,” Lucia pulled her hair over a shoulder so Dawn could rub easier. “See, I don’t understand why Sarah dislikes you so. You can be nice!” Dawn moved behind Lucia and sat down. The angel didn’t notice the strange green misty glow radiating off the enchantress’ hands. Lucia just took a deep breath, enjoying Dawn’s hands. She’d never felt so good. It was so nice of Dawn to help her! Dawn was great, her hands were soft…beautiful…Dawn was beautiful…


* * *


Jen awoke from her afternoon nap, restful and restless at the same time. She began to look around the house, but it was awfully quiet for a change. She peeked into Jake’s room, noticing Jake reading a hypnosis book while Diana appeared to be just disappearing down the hall. “Hey, what’s with the lack of noise levels in this house?

Jake looked up, “I thought you were complaining that things were too hectic around here.

“Hey, do you hear me complaining now? I was just asking what blessed event happened to give us some peace

Jake began to absently swing his black pendant from one hand. “Yeah, a lot of new people just keep coming through, huh?

“You should stop making girls you meet move in, if you don’t like it either,” Jen’s green eyes began to absently follow the pendant

“I didn’t make the last two move in. And you want me to complain about the girl/guy ratio? You really don’t know me. Or any other guy for that matter

“Would it really kill you to ‘persuade’ someone to move out?” Jen asked

“I think I’d die a little inside, yes

Jen noticed the pendant glowing, black energy flowing off of it. “Hey, is that thing new?

Jake didn’t seem to notice the question, “So many things and people to learn and remember. It must be tiring. That must be why you nap so much. You aren’t lazy Jen, you just get tired out from all the stuff that happens

Jen tried to look back at Jake, but found her gaze locked on to the pendant. “Yeah, I’m not…lazy. It’s just…hard to…

“Hard to think,” Jake put in for her. Jen found herself nodding in agreement before she knew it. “Hard to do so many things, Jen, because you just need a little help. You make dinner every night. I bet it’s so tiring; I bet you can remember how tiring it is Jen.” Jen found herself swaying slightly.

“Um…yeah hard…to…what’s going…?” Jen was falling into a trance, but still she tried to fight it off. Jake countered by suddenly swinging his pendant right up in her face. Jen gasped as the energy was now literally inches before her lovely eyes, which glazed over just from having the pendant so close to them.

“Jen, why don’t I help you? If you follow a simple suggestion, I can give you a place where you can’t be bothered. Isn’t that what you want? A place to call all your own, that the other girls can’t bother you from?” Jen was smiling. She would’ve agreed even without being hypnotized, but now she had no choice. “Well, you’re a genie. Why don’t you just make a bottle? Don’t lots of genies have them? Go ahead and make one; it’s the best idea you’ve heard in a long time Jen

“Best idea…heard…” Jen agreed. Her hands magically waved, and a genie bottle the same shade of pink as her clothes appeared on the bed.

Jake picked it up. “There, now you have your own private place. And since I’m holding your bottle, what does that make me?

“Master…

“Excellent…hey, can you belly dance topless for me?

“Yesssss, master…

“Sweet!


* * *


Jessica was walking through the house. She couldn’t find anyone. She heard noises as she passed by the back door, and went outside to the yard to see. “Hello?” Jessica began to look around.

“Why are you by yourself? Where is everyone?” she turned around to see Jake standing behind her, confusion on his face.

“I don’t know. I just got here. When was the last time you saw anyone?

“Hours ago.” Jake stood beside her now. “This is weird. I’d blame Dawn, if she wasn’t missing too.

“Yeah…”Jessica looked at Jake. “Um, there is something I’ve been meaning to ask you,

“What?

“About this hypnosis thing. You don’t find it a little strange?

“First of all, you can blame Mato for that little gift. And second of all, with the angle, demon, cyborg cop, genie, and pop star living in the mad scientist’s house do you really think I’M the strange one here?

“Good point. Especially since I drive a bot the size of a house,” Jessica looked at him. “What’s it like? I mean, being hypnotized. I’ve never been under myself.

“I haven’t either. What’s it like? I really don’t know

“Can you hypnotize me?” Jake looked at her surprised. “Just for a minute. So I can know what its like. It kind of interests me.

“I can. Are you really sure though?

“Yeah, come one. Maybe I’ll be your slave!” she laughed

Jake laughed too. “Fine then,” His eyes suddenly glowed and beams of energy poured into Jessica’s eyes. The suddenness of it all shocked her. Her mouth fell open as her mind was wiped clean. Jessica fell to her knees, looking up helplessly as Jake continued to enslave her mind. He apparently wasn’t satisfied with just that. “Disrobe for me Jessica,” The woman began to discard her small shirt and shorts, leaving only a bra containing her massive chest and panties on. The light stopped and Jessica knelt there, glazed blue eyes looking deep into Jake’s.

“You will be my slave

“I will be your slave,” Jessica replied. That thought was all she had left in her head as Jake bent down and kissed her. Jessica just responded in her hypnotic daze as she felt his hands running from her chest to her back, getting closer to her back and began to take off her bra…


* * *


“That was a great couple of days!” Mina was happy as she and Fawn walked up the path to Mato’s front door a few days later.

“Yeah, come on. We’ll say hi to everyone, and find Diana. We can cheer her up for not getting to go.” Fawn opened the door, and the two girls walked inside to the living room.

Where Diana and Jen were. It wasn’t their presence that stunned the two. It was their outfits. Diana was in a bikini, lying out on a couch as she submissively watched Jen belly dancing. It wasn’t that which was most surprising. It was the fact that the top portion of Jen’s costume was laying on the floor that shocked them. Fawn rushed over to Jen, and noticed the glazed expression. “Jen! Snap out of it!”

Mina went over to her friend, “Diana! What are you doing?” The catgirl just sat there, watching Jen. Mina noticed her collar. The bell was ringing itself, but no sound came from it. “Huh?” Struck by inspiration, Mina removed the collar. Diana blinked several times, her eyes normal now.

“Wha…? Mina! I thought you weren’t coming back until later this week

“It is this week! I mean today, I mean…

Fawn shook Jen, but the genie just smiled right through her. “Fine then,” the popstar reared back and smacked Jen as hard as she could. Jen stumbled, and came out of her daze. The genie suddenly slapped Fawn. “Ouch! Hey, why’d you hit me?” the popstar yelled

“Why the hell did you hit me?!

“I was helping!

“How does that help?!

“You were hypnotized!”

Jen looked up to see Diana and Mina standing there too. “Hey Diana, where are the rest of you clothes?

Diana was not happy, “Look at you first,

Jen looked down to see her own breasts. She flushed red and scrambled to put her clothes on. “This is all Dawn’s fault! I’ll kill her! I’ll kill her until she’s dead!

Fawn looked around. “Where are the others?


* * *


Soon all nine girls were gathered in the living room. “Okay, where were they? Fawn asked of Sarah, Katia, and Jessica.

Mina replied, “We found them in Jake’s room, counting a large amount of money in their underwear.” Sure enough, Jessica had just been putting a tank top on when they had walked in.

“How about those two?” Diana nodded of Dawn and Lucia.

“Ummm…” all four exchanged glances. “Let’s just say, they weren’t wearing much, and they were together.

“Dawn! How could you do all this to us?” Sarah asked

“I didn’t do it!

“I distinctly remember you hypnotizing me! And confessing that you destroyed my investigation

“Oh…you do?

“Yes and…wait, Jake was there, but he didn’t try and help me. Why not?

“Jake hypnotized me!

“Before or after you hypnotized me?

“After! Crap, I should have lied about that

Fawn looked at the others, “Did Jake get all of you?

Nods were given by all. Mina looked confused, “Why would Jake do such a thing?

“Let’s ask him,” a voice from behind said. Everyone turned to see Jake standing at an entrance to the living room. He looked thoughtful for a second, and then nodded in agreement. “Jake just told me that he’s tired of having sexy friends when he could have sexy slaves

Fawn and Mina looked surprised,” Jake! Nice hair

Jen suddenly realized it, “He’s been acting weird every since he was thrown into the machine!

“Weird? What’s so weird about it? I should be allowed to do what I please. And now I can. I feel stronger than ever. All of you who were under my power know how much better that damn machine made me at my abilities. So, let’s just all get topless and...

Sarah cracked her knuckles, “What makes you think you can take us all?

“I can’t. That’s why hypnosis beats brute force.” Jake held up his pendant

Fawn took a step back, “Um? What did I miss? When I left, Jake wasn’t good enough to get us all at once, especially if we knew he as trying to

“I distinctly remember him being nice too,” Mina put in

“That’s what happens when you leave the game,” Jake said, “Someone is always leveling up. Now, what do I want you to do for me?

“New plan!” Sarah yelled. She turned and then ran from the room

“That’s not a new plan,” Jake said, “That’s just…” suddenly all the other girls ran after Sarah. *Sweat drop on Jake’s head* “Hey! Get back here and be topless!

Sarah ran down to Mato’s lab, noticing everyone following her and Jake following them. Katia, being an elf, was the only one easily able to keep up with the enhanced human. “Do you actually have a new plan?” she asked

“If the machine screwed him up, it can undo it” the cop replied.

“That’s brilliant! How do we get him inside? If he catches up to anyone, he’ll hypnotize them and force her to help get the rest of us!

“I haven’t figured that out yet,” Sarah noticed they were suddenly out of room, a wall in the way. She and Katia stopped in time, but the other seven plowed into them

Jake stopped running, “Whoa, babe pile

Mato walked up next to him and nodded, “They should be more careful in my lab

Jake jumped and suddenly turned to Mato, “When the hell did you get back?!

Mato yawned, “Early morning, but I wanted to check on ‘our’ project

Jake remembered the mermaids and hung his head, “How could I forget them? They’re already brainwashed!

The girls had collected themselves by now, “Professor! Jake is dangerous!” Jessica yelled

“What’s wrong with Jake?” he asked

“He fell into you machine and went nuts!” Dawn said

“Yeah, remember? You explained your personality machine to me a few days before you left. Then you asked me to check its charge, and they girls shoved me into a tube over there,” Jake gestured at the nearby tubes and console, “and now I’m going to enslave a few dozen harems. Starting with these

Mato looked puzzled. He walked over to the console, and pulled out a device that looked a lot like a toaster and unplugged it. “How did Jake fall into this?

Everyone stared, unable to speak. “What is that?” Mina asked

“My personality adjustor. It also makes perfectly buttered toast,” Mato hit a switch, and perfectly buttered toast popped out

Lucia clapped her hands, “Yay Professor!

“I’m a genius!

“Wait!” Sarah yelled, “Before the toast, what is that?” she gestured towards the tubes.

“Oh, that. That’s just the…” Mato looked thoughtful for a second, then walked over the left tube and opened the door. Jake stumbled out and fell down.

“Did anyone get that truck’s number…?” he looked up. He saw Mato looking pleased, the girls looking confused, and himself…Jake jumped to his feet, “Why can I see myself?!” he pointed wildly.

Mato gestured, “This is my clone machine. It allows you to make perfect clones of individuals, but also, with my personality adjuster, to give them a distinctly different personality so as to help tell the clones apart.

“Jake, I mean bad Jake, is just a clone?” Jessica asked

Evil Jake sniffed, “I prefer the term ‘vast improvement’”

Lucia looked at the dark haired Jake, “Why didn’t he tell us he wasn’t Jake?

Jen sighed, “With everything else he did, are you really that surprised?

Mato nodded, “See, the adjustor was set to evil, so the clone came out evil

Sarah looked at him, “Is there an actual good reason to create something that makes evil clones?

“To see if I could, of course!

Jake was still confused, “Wait, I get the sense that I’ve missed several important things. Can someone tell me what’s going on?

“Of course, pal,” Evil Jake said. “See, once officer hotness and sexy demon threw you in and I came out, many changes were made. Hypnotizing and dominating all of your friends would have been easy if Fawn and Mina weren’t away, but it doesn’t matter. We’ll just have to start fresh all over again,” Evil Jake gestured to Katia. The elf girl suddenly gasped, her eyes glazing over as she started to walk over to him. Diana and Jessica held her.

“Katia!

“Are you nuts? He’s a psycho!

Evil Jake gestured again, and now Jessica and Diana gasped and glazed over. The other girls all held the three as they tried to walk over to their master. Evil Jake laughed, “Not like they can help it. It’s been over three days since Jessica went under, and hers is the weakest trance I’ve done so far. Jake allowed morality and friendship to hold his powers back. But these are just words, bro. You and I were given powers to use them! Not make friends and live normal pathetic lives! These girls should be serving us right now!

“Jake would never do that!” Mina yelled

“Oh, please,” the dark haired said, “Jake just needs to realize that you won’t even care what you’re doing. He’s already got you all to move and live with him. You know he has fun. And with the Professor being his male role model, I’m quite frankly surprised he hasn’t established his own nation filled with hypnotized servants for himself! Right, bro?” Evil Jake looked over to Jake, who had by this time walked over to stand next to his counterpart.

And his right hand, in fist form, chooses that moment to connect with his face.

Evil Jake fell down, “That was stupid, you little…

“Can you call me little when we’re the same height? You were hurting my friends!

“Please,” evil Jake picked himself up off the ground, “You call them your friends, but didn’t you force the bonds of friendship on them? Do they really have any will, or do you just hypnotically push reset when they make choices that you don’t like? Are one-sided friendships all you have, Jake?

“Shut up!

“Gladly,” evil Jake got up, “See, none of the girls can stand up to me since I’d just turn their cute little heads off. And let’s face it, the old man causes more problems than all of the rest of you put together

“Hey!” Mato said, “Show some respect to your genius elders!

“So that leaves you. And once I kick your ass, they belong to me!” He charged suddenly. Evil Jake swung with all his might, and punched Jake in the stomach. And…the two Jake’s just stood there.

Jake blinked, “Um, that doesn’t hurt

Evil Jake stood up straight, “Actually, I’m surprised myself. What the hell happened?

“Easy!” Mato suddenly had a view screen showing pictures of Jake and Evil Jake, with empty bars on it. Both Jakes suddenly found themselves sitting behind desks as if they were at school, confusion apparent on their faces. “See, everyone has an ‘aura’ that adjusts based on their strengths. Jake’s is like this…” The bar filled up, about a third blue, and the rest red. “The red is his physical aura. The blue is his hypnosis aura. Now, that doesn’t mean he’ll always be physically better than hypnotically better. It means that when the clone was made, thirty percent of his power was in hypnosis. Now our new friend here was made from this. However, due to an anomaly of genetics, a perfect clone could not be reached. The physical portion was messed up, so the machine compensated by coping the hypnosis aura enough times to fill up all available space.” Evil Jake’s bar was almost entirely blue, with just a little red at the top

“So, Evil Jake is…” Jake started to say

Mato nodded, “He’s already much stronger than hypnosis, but has the physical abilities of old cheese.

“Hey!” Evil Jake yelled, “Do you really expect me to buy that complete load of…” He was cut off by Jake knocking him down and proceeding to beat the living daylights out of him. “Ouch! No! Help!

“Yeah, give him one for me!” Dawn cheered

“Oh, he might be sorry,” Lucia turned to Sarah, “Don’t you think this is a little much?

Sarah’s eyes were ablaze, “Kick his ass!

*Sweat drop on Lucia* “Heh…


* * *


Forty minutes later…

As the clone had the stuffing beaten out of him, Jessica, Katia, and Diana had managed to snap out of their trances. Mato had simply broken out some bleachers and the group had sat down to watch Jake in action. The monitor nearby finally registered a game over, with Jake having a new high score of two million points.
Jake finally was hunched over, the beaten form of his evil clone on the ground, “I…think he’s…had enough…

Evil Jake couldn’t even manage that much, “Owie…

Jake sat down, and everyone looked around. “What do we do with him?” Sarah asked

“Fear me,” everyone turned to see Evil Jake sitting up, “because this isn’t over, not by a long shot!

“There’s no where left for you to run to!” Jessica said

“Wanna bet? Jen, ‘open the gate’,” Jen’s eyes suddenly glazed over as she gasped. As everyone turned to stare at her in surprise, the genie gestured magically and Evil Jake was teleported away.

Jen suddenly blinked, her eyes returning to normal, “Um, what did I just…?”

Mato was happily surprised, “A classic villain who thinks of even escape routes! My machine is amazing!

Fawn shook her head, “This can’t possibly be good…


* * *


Jake was helping the Professor lock away the Personality Adjustor. “Sorry for all the trouble it caused. Apparently, the world just wasn’t ready for you

“Yeah, a good thing that moron wasn’t an equal to me because of that genetics thing

“Oh, there’s nothing wrong with your genes, Jake

Jake looked at the old man, “What? But you said…

“I covered for you, just like you do for me. See, the only part of you that’s actually from this universe is your hypnotic power. But you yourself are not. The machine was just barely able to make the clone, and had to copy the hypnosis portion several times over to make your twin.

“Oh,” Jake shook his head, “So, what is he? My evil side?

“I’m not entirely sure. Sometimes good and evil are objective. What one considers righteous another may call heresy. Is your clone the other side of a coin? Is he a projection of your inevitable future, your hidden desires? Or is he just an immature brat, who acted the way he did because in reality he hasn’t lived for a week despite his appearance, and may he eventually mature into you? I can’t answer these. Only time can

“That’s…surprisingly insightful for you, Professor” Jake was awed

“Of course! I’m a genius!”

*Sweat drop as Jake hangs his head* “THAT’S more common” he moans

The two leave the lab, hitting the lights as they go. “On the plus side, at least I’m better looking than him,” Jake said.

“Now that’s objective too!

‘Hey!


* * *


Jake was putting the last of his imposters’ new wardrobe into boxes. “Can’t believe this guy’s love of darkness.” He held up his trusty orange pendant, “To think he replaced the original. Can’t beat number one, baby!

“I’m inclined to agree,” Jake turned to see Sarah standing in the doorway. “Everyone else is ready outside. Mato’s victory dinner for his triumphant conference was a sure thing after all. I still don’t understand how he won with weather data.

“Who can fathom the mysteries of science and the weird folks who study it?” Jake stood up and stretched. “Great, going out to dinner will help make up for most of my vacation being spent in a tube!” Jake looked to see Sarah still standing there, “What’s wrong?

Sarah seemed a little sad, and she suddenly moved forward and took hold of his hands, “Oh Jake! I’m so sorry! Everything that happened was my fault!” She declared, staring into his eyes. “If only I could make it up to you, I would!

Jake blushed, “It’s okay! Really I,” Jake tried to free his hands, but she wasn’t letting go, “it was just an accident

“No! You have been so nice,” Jake tired pulling harder, “so sweet and understanding,” Jake tried leaning back while pulling, “so considerate to all our feelings!” Jake braced both legs on her arms and pulled hard with all his might, but the cyborg still wouldn’t let go. “Can you ever forgive me?” she asked, sadness in her eyes

“Well, of course!” Upon hearing this, Sarah suddenly swept Jake into a big hug and kissed him on the cheek, causing him to turn bright red. “Um…I…er…” Jake finally got a hold of himself when she let go, hands and face throbbing for different reasons. “Well, my evil idiot did have at least one idea that was good

“What could that possibly be?”

“Wanna see something cool?” The beautiful cop nodded, “Follow me


* * *


Jake led Sarah to the kitchen. Sarah looked around. The place was a mess, the clone obviously having better things for his slaves to do than the dishes, or cleaning for that matter. So it was a great surprise that Dawn was scrubbing at the sink. Sarah was about to say something when Dawn turn around to get a rag she dropped. Sarah was shocked to see Dawn was deeply hypnotized, glazed eyes and an emotionless face as the trouble making demon silently cleaned the mess. “What is she doing?

“From what I can gather, Dawn can use hypnosis again

“I KNEW IT!!!!

“But I can’t seem to program her to stop again for some reason. But, this whole thing was mostly her fault, since the Professor said that if she hadn’t somehow gotten me to lift her post hypnotic suggestion, than she wouldn’t have been able to hypnotize with my clone in the room with you. There is the small chance you could have stopped all this from happening if Dawn and clone boy hadn’t teamed up at first. So, I took a lesson from our unwanted guest on changing minds. Dawn will be on dish duty for the next thousand years or so.

“I have to admit, I do like this,” Sarah smiled as the powerful demon meekly went about her duties.

“Yeah, I thought you would. But unfortunately, you did help knock me into the tube, so it’s partially your fault as well Sarah

Sarah suddenly took a step back, “Jake, I really don’t want to hurt you…

Jake put up his hands, “Let’s just say that you owe me a non-hypnotic favor.” Jake offered his arm, “Shall we join the others for a night on the town?

Sarah smiled and took his arm and the two left the room.

“You know, you could spend some time with me in the hot tub to make it…Ow! Okay! That’s a no! Let go!

The end? Not quite…

* * *


Epilogue

Somewhere on the planet, the clone was walking in what he hoped was the direction of Mato’s house. “This isn’t over,” he fumed, wishing he hadn’t told the genie to teleport him randomly so she couldn’t recall him. “I’ll get all of them before I’m through. Especially that goody boy scout. When I get my hands on him,” he was cut off by a chopper suddenly coming towards him. He shielded his eyes as it landed not ten yards in front of him. “Who the hell?” The door opened, and he caught a mere glimpse of the symbol on it. A gigantic letter S on a dark spiral pattern backdrop. An elderly man descended, wearing a business suit and using an expensive cane to walk. The clone noticed the gem on top of the cane was a perfect induction device. “Hey you old geezer! Clear the road!

The old man looked amused, “You should be thanking me, young clone of Jake. If I didn’t have Mato’s lab bugged, who knows who long it would have taken you to reach Nitenan, much less Yoto Town.

“How the hell do you know me? Answer!

“Silly little boy. I recruit for my business’…shall we say, less public division. It’s my job to know when someone of your persuasive talents may be interested in employment.

“Employment?

“But of course. Tell me, what do you want? Money, power, slaves, revenge? I can give you things beyond this, and more, if you work for me?

It seemed a lot better than walking in what could be the wrong direction. “How much do you pay, mister?

“Why, Stenson is my name,” the man said with a slight bow. “And for payment, a better question would be how much do you want to start with? But this is hardly the place for negotiations. You deserve far better! Why not ride to one of the many mansions I have, where we can talk in comfort?

Evil Jake smiles, “You talk a language I like, old timer.

“But of course! One must keep the workers happy. So, shall I call you friend, master Jake?

The young man makes his way to a new destiny, “That weak name? No way! I’d much rather prefer if you called me…Vice…”

“Vice? A fine name indeed!” Stenson ushered the newly christened individual into the chopper, which shortly took off. Storm clouds seemed to gather in the distance…