The Strongest Curse Master

"Master, Lilith said she would play in your room without disturbing me and promised not to disclose my identity, so I let her be," DD explained, trying to justify why she hadn't immediately informed Ace about Lilith's arrival using the status screen.

The reason she hadn't reported it was simple—she didn't think the little girl's presence was worth the trouble, especially since Lilith had assured her she wouldn't interfere or reveal that DD wasn't the real Ace. Besides, DD didn't quite know how to say no to her tiny, adorable number-one fan.

Ace frowned at DD's defense. Had it been Dame Wasp or Emi in her place, they would have reported it to him right away. But not DD. This incident highlighted the different mentalities of his three sentient toy summons, despite all three of them being superheroes in their own worlds, showing that not all superheroes were the same.

Dame Wasp was more of an anti-hero.

Emi Nakamura was a soldier-hero.

Luna Green, aka DD, was more of a free-spirited hero—some might say a "hippie" hero, if said politely.

Each responded to situations in their own unique way.

So, DD's failure to report Lilith's arrival didn't mean she had gone rogue or was acting against Ace's orders—it simply meant she didn't consider her arrangement with Lilith important enough to mention. After all, Ace wasn't the type to micromanage his toy summons.

In fact, if Dame Wasp ever stopped reporting every tiny detail, Ace wouldn't mind. Among his three sentient toy summons, she was the one who gave off the teacher's pet vibe—surprisingly so, given her anti-hero character design.

"Well, if she didn't reveal that you're a clone, then I guess it's okay," Ace said, not making a big deal out of it. DD was right—it wasn't worth bringing to his attention.

After recalling DD into her toy space, he turned to Lilith and said, "Let me take you and your little friends home. We have a mission to attend to."

"Can I come too? I'll be good and obedient. My old captain used to say I'm the best teammate anyone could ask for," Lilith offered, but Ace shook his head and began hurrying her out of the room. Noticing her undead minion legion trailing behind her, he added, "Send your friends out the window and tell them to go stealth."

Lilith nodded, continuing to plead her case. "I've been on multiple missions—and all of them were successful. Please let me come. I can help you."

"No—but maybe in the future," Ace replied, making no promises. Then he took her downstairs to find that Mandy and Danny had returned just in time for lunch.

Remembering his promise to them, Ace wanted to apologize for having to leave urgently. But before he could open his mouth, Mandy raised an eyebrow, her gaze switching between him and Lilith, before she asked, "Tell me she's not coming out of your bedroom. And if she is, please tell me you two weren't alone in there."

When Ace hesitated to respond, Mandy grabbed her phone and said, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't call the authorities right now."

"I'm heading to the airport to pick up Lyra, so we'll have to postpone product testing for the foreseeable future," Ace explained, keeping it vague since he wasn't sure when—or if—he'd be able to make time for the company while trying to stay alive.

"Lyra is here?" Mandy's face went pale upon hearing about Ace's older sister's arrival—Lyra had been her bully. Meanwhile, Danny lit up with excitement; he and Lyra shared many common interests… except for his most recent fascination with silicone adult dolls. Plus, with Lyra around, Mandy would be too busy watching her back to have time to bully him.

"Do you need my car? Here, just take the keys," Danny offered eagerly, handing Ace the keys to his Buick and unable to hide his joy, much to Mandy's irritation.

"No need. I've got my own ride," Ace said, rejecting Danny's offer before hurrying out of the house with Lilith.

"When did Ace buy a car?" Danny asked Mandy in disappointment. He had always assumed Ace would take him along when buying his first car.

"Relax, he didn't buy a car—just a motorbike," Mandy replied, aware of how sentimental guys could be about their first car.

"A motorbike? Man, Ace is cool. Do you think he'll teach me how to ride it?" Danny asked, already picturing himself cruising down highways on a modified Harley.

"Cool? Far from it. He bought an electric bike. What a nerd," Mandy scoffed—clearly never having witnessed Ace riding it.

…

"You're back again," Delores complained aloud as she noticed Ace arriving with Lilith, making their way past the three grounded Apaches and slowly approaching the house.

"You do know this entire estate belongs to my family, and you guys are just renting the house," Ace remarked, catching the disdain in Delores's tone—the kind a girl might give a clingy ex.

"What is it this time? Want to borrow some salt? Sugar?" Delores teased, clearly bored and starting to realize that the remnants of the now fallen Samsara Cult wouldn't be foolish enough to attack an estate layered with curse arrays and protected by the McSuile family.

"Honey. Do you have some honey for me?" Ace replied, his tone laced with double entendre.

Delores raised her left eyebrow, both offended and a little intrigued. But she shut it down quickly. "Young man, you sure you can handle my honey?"

Ace gulped, unsure whether to answer honestly or save his skin—but Lilith made the choice for him.

"Delores, I'd like some honey too," Lilith said innocently.

"Just when I thought things were getting interesting—saved by the bell. Aren't you lucky, young man?" Delores said, then turned to Lilith and instructed, "Go into the kitchen and ask the staff. It's almost lunchtime, so have it with your meal."

"Okay," Lilith said, dashing off into the house while Delores and Ace locked eyes. She was bored out of her wits, and he was up to his usual tricks.

So he bravely said, "No, I'd be lucky if I could get a taste of your honey," already bracing himself for a beating.

Delores's brows narrowed, and the warm surroundings suddenly turned cold as she slowly rose from her lounging chair. Just as she was about to act, both of their attentions were drawn to a loud commotion nearby.

"There's something wrong with the Apache!"

"What is that gray liquid? Is it cursed mercury? It's spreading throughout its body! How do we stop it?"

"Hurry, contact EAD Matthews before it's too late!"

"You do it—you're the senior field agent at the site!"

"Somebody do something! It's almost completely covered by that grey liquid!"

"That's it, I'm going to attack it!"

"No, don't! What if it gets damaged?"

As chaos descended among the C.I.B. agents, Delores, who had been watching, turned to Ace and asked, "Is this your doing?"

"Don't slander me! This has nothing to do with me. I'm just minding my own business over here," Ace replied, pretending to be appalled by the accusation.

"It is you," Delores said confidently, picking up on his tone and reaction. Then she warned, "You'd better be squeaky clean on this one—because that's government property. They take their gadgets more seriously than their agents."

"It's not me," Ace said aloud, trying to defend himself, but Delores wasn't convinced. Suddenly, the commotion among the C.I.B. agents intensified, drawing their attention back.

The black metallic liquid had completely enveloped the Apache—and then vanished along with it. The agents were left staring at each other, stunned, with no clue as to what had just occurred. Their best guess? Someone had stolen one of their three state-of-the-art Apache curse gadgets using a strange, teleportation-type curse tool.

"Well, I'll be on my way before they start blaming me for the Apache's disappearance just because I happened to be near the scene," Ace said to Delores, while mentally issuing a series of instructions to Specwork before summoning it:

'Specwork, technomorph: Apache.'

'Specwork, upgrade: Apache.'

'Toy Summon: Specwork.'

Moments later, a massive, metallic gray helicopter appeared beside Ace. It bore a strong resemblance to the Apache curse gadget but was sleeker, larger, and far more advanced. It appeared a lot more intimidating and oppressive than the original Apache curse gadget.

Both Delores and the C.I.B. agents were stunned by what they saw. Still, they couldn't voice their suspicions aloud—Ace's helicopter looked like an Apache, yet at the same time, it clearly wasn't one. Left with no choice, the agents pulled out their cursed phones to record photos and videos for expert analysis.

"Alright, see you later, Delores," Ace said, hopping into the cockpit. He waved goodbye to his so-called great-grandmother before taking off.

Was he worried about getting caught in the government's crosshairs? Not at all. Without solid proof that he had stolen their prized Apache, he was in the clear. That was both the best and worst thing about the system.