Nemesis

| 1 | A Nemesis Emerges

The pathetic whimper pulled Dexter out of her thoughts.

Her gaze shifted from the rain streaked glass to the man strung up in the center of the room. His face was swollen and bruised. The soft dripping splatter of his blood hitting the hardwood floor grated on her nerves. It was just like the incessant leaky shower faucet in her apartment. Dexter had called the maintenance office three times in the last week to get it fixed and they hadn't gotten back to her. Annoyance wrinkled her brow. Truthfully, she was probably better off watching a video and fixing it herself then relying on anyone else.

Dexter crossed the room and the man strained against the ropes as she reached up and pulled the cellphone from the pocket of his pants. A soft, blubbering sob retched from his throat. She rolled her eyes. These heroes were the same. They seemed larger than life and lived like they were untouchable. But weaken and remind them of their mortality and it was straight to the dramatics.

"P-please..." he rasped between puffy lips. "I don't know anything else."

Dexter rubbed her cheek against her shoulder. This cheap ski mask wasn't going to cut it, too itchy. "Passcode?"

"Oh god, please!" The hard sob shook his body like a fly caught in a spider's web.

She blinked up at him, wishing she felt something more than revulsion. But she didn't. The heroes of Twilight City had taken the one thing that had made Dexter human. They had to pay the price for touching... No, for destroying what had belonged to her. Forgiveness was not something she was capable of. 

"Quiet!"

She snapped her fingers and his lips pressed together against his will. He struggled harder but there was no sound beyond the creaking of the ropes. That was better. With a sigh, she pushed up onto her tip toes and pressed his thumb to the screen, unlocking it.

A few quick taps and Dexter had his camera open and ready to record. It was the same with the others. These weak heroes were only a means to an end. They were the flowers that she intended to use to catch a particular bee.

Queen Bee, to be exact. An A-list hero with the ability to control bees, wasps, and their like. And one of the names on Dexter's blacklist.

She was adored by the world for her environmental efforts. But in secret she was one of the biggest distributors of human organs on the black market. She used those funds to pad her lifestyle and keep her revolving harem of men well fed and happy.

What would the citizens of Twilight City think of their great hero when they knew the truth? Dexter smirked to herself at the thought of the chaos. Soon, she would know the feeling of crushing a real hero under her foot. She tapped the record button, panning the camera slowly up the man's body, admiring her work. 

"Looks like we've both been busy little bees. Wouldn't you agree, Queenie?" 

Dexter flipped the camera to herself, standing with the bloodied and beaten hero as a backdrop. She reached up and playfully slapped his cheek. He trembled and reared back, straining against the ropes.

"So, let's all take a break and play a game." Dexter grabbed hold of the heroes hand. "Two truths and a lie. I'll be nice and let you go first. Ready?" 

She slipped her grasp to his pinky. "He loves you." 

With a quick twist, she snapped it. The man tossed his head back, screaming against his sealed lips, ropes creaking as he tensed and jerked in pain. She moved to the next finger, gripping it.

"He enjoys that thing you do with your finger in his ass. Kinky."

Dexter stared into the camera, her prey was bucking wildly in her grasp. He was frantic, shaking his head, trying to plead his innocence. She smiled and released his finger.