Crystal Ch. 09

"You brainwashed her, didn't you?" Cherry accused.

"Honestly, yeah, I took one of her ingestion chemicals for mind control and mixed it with her coffee," Pollen admitted nonchalantly. "Now, I'm having her make more."

"And the bugs?" Cherry inquired.

"I used some of her growth formulas on various trees and plants," Pollen informed. "When the bugs arrived to feed off the plants, trees, and other insects in the trees and plants, they grew to their current size and automatically became my loyal servants. Now hold still, I'm going to add you to my circle of elite warriors."

"Like hell you will!" Cherry declared.

She rolled to her side and used the vine to trip Pollen, who was trying to step closer to her. Rising, Cherry stepped on the vine and pulled back at the same time, making the vine snap and allowing her to break free. Immediately, she grabbed Pollen by her cloak and slammed her against the tree.

"Let these girls go!" Cherry demanded.

Unfortunately, Cherry forgot about Pollen's poisonous hands until she felt the cool fingers against her cheek. The moment Pollen took her hands away, rashes immediately started appearing on Cherry's face, causing them to painfully swell and itch intensively. Cherry had no choice but to let Pollen go as she ignored the pain to scratch her cheeks. Seconds later, she felt a syringe enter her shoulder and felt her nerves beginning to burn.

"Why?" Cherry moaned in agony. "Why do you . . . want to . . . take over . . . the world?"

"It's actually pretty simple," Pollen said. "Do you know what the females' role in the world is? It's beside the male. The female is supposed to help the man in whatever accomplishment he hopes to achieve in any way possible. But, to men, we are nothing but their tools, toys, and trophies. They treat us however they want, use us however they want, and someone somewhere is always getting away with it. Well, I'm going to put a stop to it. I've been gathering all these females to put them under my control and send them back home so that they can poison the water and kill as many men as possible. If there are any survivors, we will capture them and force them to become sperm donors. Once I have control over the United States, I'll send my girls all over the world and infiltrate the government of other countries, doing the same thing until they catch onto my act, and force me to change tactics, or until I've taken over the world. Then, I'll set the women free and they'll have the power and men will have to submit to us or die in resistance. It will be paradise for us. Unfortunately, you or any other super powered female won't be alive to see it. Once I've taken over the world, I'll have you all disposed of so that you won't try and make your own resistance. Sorry."

Pollen touched Cherry's cheek again and the inflammation went away as Cherry lay panting, the mind controlling liquid taking control of her mind. The door to the tree house opened again and Ruthless, Mistress, and Giggles were shoved inside by Dr. Walton and other bugs.

"Ladies, you're right on time," Pollen smiled. "Come and join my elite circle of female warriors. I have to warn you though, you're going to join whether you like it or not."

*****

There was a knock at the door and Crystal rushed over to open the door. Max was standing with a grin plastered on his face, shaking in excitement. In his hands was a medium sized box and Crystal couldn't help but grin with him.

"Is this it?" Crystal asked as Max stepped in and she closed the door.

"Yeah, the Commander said this was it," Max smiled.

They opened the box together, took off the plastic wrapping, and pulled out one Max's new body suit. It was dark grey and black, with white specks all over the suit looking like outer space. The gloves and the boots were the only ones that was solid black. As Max marveled at his new suit, Crystal was looking for something else.

"Found it," Crystal said. She had a small booklet in her hands that was formerly in the box. "Okay Max, you have three body suits, three pairs of gloves and three pairs of boots. The suits are bulletproof, very durable against blunt objects, and can regulate body temperature. The suits also have a microphone and speaker system built in it so that we can talk over long distances if we'd like. The suits must be worn in any and all cases of emergency so that civilians and law enforcement can recognize the authority you hold as a superhero. The suits must be dry cleaned at least once a month, which is charged to the Heroes Tower."

"So, do I wear this underneath my clothes or is this the only thing I'll be wearing?" Max wondered out loud.

"You can wear them underneath your clothes if you want," Crystal answered.

"Are there any special abilities that come with the suit?" Max asked, facing her as he held the suit against his body.

"No, you already have powers," Crystal said. "There's no point in giving you more."

She left to change in the bathroom into her dress for their date while Max put his new suit back in the box and changed into a formal suit. When he was satisfied that he looked good, he put some cologne on. Ready to go, he turned to leave but was faced with the most beautiful sight he'd ever laid his eyes on.

Crystal was standing in a lengthy, pure white dress with matching gloves and low heels. If that wasn't enough to give Max a heart attack, then her gorgeous smile on her shining face was about to do the trick.

"Do you like it?" she asked.

Max stuttered out a response of approval while nodding his head like a puppy.

"You look like a doofus," Crystal smirked. She walked over to him and hugged him, placing small pecks of kisses on his chin. "But you're my doofus, so that's okay. Now let's go, I want to make the most of this night."

Being the man he was, Max held the door open for her as they left the room and followed Crystal to the elevator. Questionably, he watched as Crystal pushed the button for the top floor and wondered what they needed to get in the Meeting Room, since that was the obvious destination to where they were going. When they arrived at the Room, they saw the Commander in deep thought, as if he was trying to force himself to believe an obvious lie.

"Commander," Crystal greeted. "Is there a problem?"

"Kind of," Commander Shinobay smiled warmly. "Dr. Walton and Cherry were out looking for Dark Matter when they were attacked by Pollen's bugs and Cherry was critically injured. I asked about their location to send a rescue team but Dr. Walton believes someone could be hacking the signal."

"Why would Dr. Walton and Cherry be looking for Dark Matter when I'm back together?" Max asked.

"They weren't informed that your mind and Dark Matter's mind merged back together," the Commander answered. "I wasn't able to get in contact with them to inform them of the recent events."

"We can go get them," Crystal offered.

"No, if they were attacked by Pollen's bugs, then you two will no doubt attract them as well," he decided. "Besides, like I said, Dr. Walton didn't divulge their location so I will need to confirm what their status is before I make any decisions."

"If that's the case, may Max and I go on a date?" Crystal inquired, slowly.

Perplexed, Commander Shinobay took a good look at the couple and realized the two of them were dressed to impress. Their smiles told him that they were hoping he'd say yes, but would understand should he say no. It then dawned on him that he hadn't let the heroes have time off and figured this would be the perfect opportunity for it.

"Sure, you two can go on a date. However, I do have one condition," the Commander bargained. "You have to go on a double date. Since the bugs are able to overwhelm two heroes in a short amount of time, I want to make sure you're well protected. If there's any kind of trouble at all, come right back to the tower. Fair?"

"That's fair," Max nodded while Crystal gave the Commander a hug.

The Commander pushed the button for the microphone to speak with Ghost and was instantly deafened by loud music coming from the speakers. There were thousands of people yelling as Commander Shinobay quickly turned down the volume to an adequate level.

"Ghost! Ghost!" the Commander shouted to be heard over the noise.

"Hey Commander! How is everything going over there?" he yelled back.

"Where are you? Why is there loud music playing?" the Commander hollered.

"We're at a concert!" Ghost yelled back.

"Who's we?" the Commander yelled. The music quieted down a bit meaning Ghost must've stepped away from the group to be heard.

"Me, Olivia, Zipper, and Hyper are at a concert," Ghost reported, still having to speak louder to be heard. "We figured if there were more of us, then we'd stand a chance in case any bugs came after us!"

"Did you ask?" Commander Shinobay growled.

"You were sleep and we didn't want to bother you," Ghost informed. "Besides, you looked like you needed it."

Frustrated, the Commander hung up and fumed for a moment. When he calmed down, he got onto Shell's line and cringed, expecting to be bombarded with loud sounds again. Instead, all he heard was light snoring, letting him know Shell and Dot were sleeping at the moment.

"Well, judging by the unforeseen circumstances, I can't allow you two to leave," the Commander informed, "unless you want to go with Jasper."

"No, we don't want to go with Jasper," Crystal immediately answered. To Max, she said, "Looks like we'll have to wait next time."

"Don't want to go with me where?" asked a voice that made everyone grit their teeth. Jasper was leaning against the doorframe, dressed in a red and black tuxedo and matching shoes as if he was about to go on a date himself.

"What do you want Jasper?" the Commander asked, hoping the stress wasn't evident in his voice.

"I was coming to ask if I could go out on a date with a friend of mine," Jasper informed. "Is that okay?"

"I have one condition: You'll have to go on a double date," the Commander sighed. And, before Jasper could ask any questions, Commander Shinobay quickly informed him about Dr. Walton and Cherry's situation as well as the only choice Jasper has to choose as his date.

"Can't we wake Shell and Dot up?" Jasper asked.

"No, I'm not going to interrupt whatever someone is doing to satisfy your demands," the Commander replied angrily.

"Alright, alright," Jasper sighed. To Crystal, he asked as politely as he could, "Crystal, would you like to go out on a double date with me?"

"Nope," Crystal said without missing a beat.

"Hey, I thought we were supposed to enjoy this night," Max grinned. "Remember, you said you wanted to make the most of the night."

"Stop using my own words against me," Crystal chided him, playfully. To Jasper, she frowned and said, "Fine, we'll go out on a double date with you."

"Good," Jasper smiled. He looked out the door and said, "You can come in now."

A few seconds later, a beautiful girl sauntered in the room. She was dressed in an all red dress that hugged her physical features very well, which was on par with a model's body. She had red mascara and make-up which outlined her facial features quite well. Honestly, Max and Crystal had to hand it to Jasper; he had good taste in women. However, it was only when they looked at her face that their expressions changed. Or rather, Max's face changed as it went from awe to anger.

"I'd like for you all to meet my date," Jasper grinned as wide as he could. "Her name is -"

"Shelby Harris," Max finished for him.

"Well, what do you know? You still remember me after all these months," Shelby grinned. "That's a definite improvement from when you kept asking my name even though we'd meet every day."

"I've changed my mind," Max glowered. "I'd like to stay behind."

"What?! No way, you can't back out now," Jasper objected.

"Try and stop me," Max challenged, matching glares with Jasper.

"Wait a minute," Crystal intervened. "I can't back out of a date because of Jasper, but you can back of a date because you know the girl he wants to bring along?"

"That's not just a girl I know," Max stated. "That's my former boss."

Except for Shelby and Max, everyone else's face turned to shock, although Jasper's expression looked more of a mocked expression, making Max believe that he already knew. That in turn made Max realize why Crystal despised guys like him: he will manipulate anyone, even someone's enemy, to get what he wants and the only reason why he can't get to Crystal is because her enemy is Ruthless and he hasn't stooped that low yet.

"Come on, Max," Crystal pleaded, "I have to see Jasper's cocky face every day. If I can stomach him for one extra night, don't you think you can face your hideous, former boss for one night?"

"Hideous?!" Shelby snarled.

"Crystal, you're a heroine," Commander Shinobay reminded her, skillfully hiding his own smirk. "Act like one."

"You're right, Crystal," Max agreed. "I'm not going to let this night be ruined no matter what."

And so, with Max leading the way, the two couples left the Meeting Room to get their date started, leaving the Commander alone to pinpoint Dr. Walton and Cherry's location.

*****

"So, whose car are we going to take?" Crystal asked again.

"Like I said, I'm driving my car," Shelby said, standing her ground.

"And I'm driving mine," Jasper responded, clenching his fists in irritation. He was beginning to wish he hadn't called a woman who had a car. Sighing, he put on his façade face and looked at Crystal. "Then would you like to accompany me?"

"I'd rather puke and swallow it before I be alone with you," Crystal crossed her arms.

"Why don't we go with boys in one car and girls in the other?" Max offered.

"No!" Jasper answered quickly.

"Hey I don't like the idea either," Max glared, "but from this situation, it seems like we aren't going to go anywhere anytime soon."

The situation that Max was talking about was who was driving who to the location of the date. Since the Commander had told them to stay together, the four of them decided it would be better if they went together in the same car. But, seeing as Shelby drove to the tower for her date in a yellow Lexus SC 430, and how Jasper already has a car, a red 2017 Nissan 370Z Roadster to be exact, it was becoming troublesome to decide which car to take. The first problem was that both cars could only sit two people. The second and third problem was that Jasper could sit with either girl (mostly Crystal) but Shelby wanted to drive. The fourth and fifth problem was that neither Crystal nor Max could drive (they just never had a reason to) but neither of them wanted to sit with Jasper.

"I guess we're going with Max's idea," Crystal decided.

"It looks that way," Shelby confirmed.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Max said. "Let's go."

Jasper really didn't want Max in his car. If anything, he wanted to kick Max to the curb and make him walk. Unfortunately, he couldn't be calm and suave if he appeared to be throwing a tantrum, so he just had to grit his teeth as Max sat in his car.

"Look, I don't like this any more than you do," Max said, knowing what Jasper was thinking. "Let's just get this night over with and put this part of the date behind us."

"Then do me a favor and keep your mouth shut," Jasper growled.

"Before I do that," Max said as he pulled out his phone. Quickly, he dialed Crystal's number. "Hey babe, did you figure out where you wanted to go? Sure, he can do that." Max hung up right then and said to Jasper, "The girls said to follow them and that it shouldn't take that long to get to where they want to go."

As it turned out, that was more or less than a lie. For over an hour, the girls have led them all over D. C. saying that the destination was going to be a surprise. From the guys' point of view, they were too much in a sour mood to be surprised by wherever the girls' were taking them. For Jasper, he was wishing he hadn't acted so chivalrous and let the girls choose where they wanted the date to be, just to upstage Max, of course. As for Max, he was wishing he'd ask the Commander if he could've been reprieved for the night and use his abilities to drive them all together.

But on the contrary, as much as they thought that they wouldn't have been surprised, they were. As Jasper parked behind Shelby's car, both guys' were straining their necks out the window to see why the girls' led them to a theatre of all places. Not a cinema, an actual theatre. Slowly, the two of them exit the car, hoping that a joke would pop out of nowhere and really surprise them, but none came.

Both of their expressions were changing rapidly as they tried to get the sight before them past their unbelief. When that failed, Max started wondering if he should ask Jasper to take him back to the tower, while Jasper was thinking about walking back to his car to leave Max and the girls there.

"So what do you think?" Crystal asked as she and Shelby walked up to him.

"It's definitely not what I expected," Max smiled, trying to stay upbeat.

"Just to make sure, that theatre was where you wanted to go, right?" Jasper asked.

"Yeah," Shelby answered quickly. "There's a romantic play called Problems with Polygamy and Pie that is about to start and both of us couldn't wait to see it."

"Well, it's a good thing we made it in time," Max said with a forced smile.

Together, the girls crossed the street, talking amongst themselves while Max and Jasper watched them as their expressions turned uneasy.

"You do realize they most likely led us around for an hour on purpose, right?" Max suddenly said.

"What makes you say that?" Jasper asked before he could stop himself.

"Shelby said the play was about to start," Max explained. "I'm willing to bet that we could've gotten something to eat and then come to the theatre with time to spare instead of driving around for no apparent reason."

"Bitch," Jasper spat.

"That's your girlfriend though, so that's your problem," Max shook his head as he walked ahead to the theatre's entrance.

*****

"My favorite part was when she asked him who he loved more, her or Whitney," Crystal laughed as they came out the theatre.

Max laughed beside her as he remembered the scene well. "And with the straightest face, he said, 'Pie. I like you but I like pie more.'"

They laughed again as the scene was still fresh in their mind while Shelby and Jasper followed behind with sour faces. For Shelby, she didn't enjoy the play because she had to constantly wake Jasper up. And by the time he was able to stay awake to watch the play, her mood had already turned bitter and she found the play more stupid and annoying than humorous. As for Jasper, he was upset because he ran out of popcorn early during the play and Shelby wouldn't let him leave. If that wasn't enough, everything about the play was putting him to sleep and Shelby was forcing him to watch the whole thing. The only thing he liked about the play was when it ended as he was glad that it was over.

"Hey, are you two hungry?" Max asked.

"Why?" Shelby pouted.

"There's a restaurant around here and I figured we'd dine out," Max reasoned, "even if it's for tonight. To make it even sweeter, I'll pay for everyone's meal."

"Sorry Max, I don't do Mickey D's," Jasper snorted.

"Well good for you, that stuff isn't healthy for you anyway," Max replied. "I thought we'd go to one of the restaurants in the area that I used to go to frequently."

"And how are you going to pay?" Shelby asked, haughtily. "From what I've remembered, you were homeless, penniless, and without a job."

Max stopped dead in his tracks as she finished saying that. Without a doubt, he was remembering everything that happened to him that day he ended up like that.

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Three and a half months ago: