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Aphrodite City: Ambrosia Biotech

By Psion

An Aphrodite City Story

All Rights Reserved

Aphrodite City, once a jewel of upstate New York, almost completely turned into a decayed dystopia straight out of a cyberpunk novel. Little by little, the city's light had grown dim. In the skyscraper headquarters of Ambrosia Biotech in downtown Aphrodite City, Dr. Alexander Townes watched a night of a more literal variety descend upon the city from his office window. High above in the sixtieth floor of the skyscraper, the city beneath the orange and black tiger's feet looked deceptively peaceful. Streetlights still worked, the madness that had fallen upon the city over the past few months had yet to claim any major substations or other utilities, though Townes suspected that was only a matter of time. Already reports of other atrocities had begun to circulate. Gang rapes, increasingly depraved acts of violence from the supervillains... already the city had suffered one major riot. And now it was snowing, winter had finally come to Aphrodite City and adding the biting cold of New York to the city's already enormous list of problems.

Standing next to him, Dr. Annelie Okeke silently busying herself with a tablet computer. The scrawny female cheetah knew what he was thinking, pretty much all of the skeleton staff left at Ambrosia Biotech's East Coast laboratories was thinking the same thing, how could things fall so far and when will Ambrosia get caught up in it. Okeke did her best to not sigh; while she could hardly say she was with the company since the beginning, she and Townes somehow managed to hit it off extremely well thanks to a number of shared interests. Some days she almost... no, there was no time for that now even if she openly admitted to liking the change that had occurred in her fellow biotech scientist recently.

Over the last few weeks, the tiger had been undergoing a gradual increase in body mass. While at the start of the crisis Townes could have been best described as of average height and build, he had gradually been increasing in mass and tone over the past few weeks. The official excuse given was that he been simply working out at the company gymnasium and the fact that he was now a roughly four-hundred-pound bodybuilder in a business suit was nothing newsworthy. The truth on the other hand was a bit more... elaborate.

Once upon a time, in the beginning of the company's history, Doctor Alexander Townes had a dream. He dreamed of a world where medical science had reach a point where industrial accidents need not lead to permanent disfigurement, where being put on a waiting list for a compatible organ donor was a thing of the past, and other wonderful miracles. Unfortunately, this brilliant researcher discovered quickly that idealism cost money and that if he wanted to start up a biotech research firm to fulfill his dream, he needed to produce something a little less noble in order to pay the bills. Ambrosia Biotech's ever-growing line of noninvasive cosmetic treatments, little injections full of custom-tailored genetically enhanced microorganisms that did virtually everything a competent plastic surgeon offered and more, had become so ubiquitous that few people remember the research company ever doing anything else. Yet during the first year of the company short lifespan, Townes had a completely different client in his sights; the United States military. At least, that's what the good doctor thought at first.

His client turned out to be an Army general playing with thoughts of going rogue and setting up his own personal fiefdom somewhere in the South Pacific, defrauding the government into paying for a "universal inoculation" for soldiers serving in disease-ridden Third World countries while tricking Townes into thinking he was working with the full approval of Congress and the Pentagon. When the doctor realized the truth however, he blew the whistle on his own project and presented copies of his notes and communications with the renegade general to a federal investigation. His client ended up disgraced and arrested, he received a metaphorical pat on the back for bravely coming forward, and as far as both his client and the government knew, the project never went anywhere anyway.

In reality however, the research was going fantastically but Townes had started to question what he was doing just his contact with the Army had started behaving suspiciously. Somehow, everything he ever wanted to achieve ended up right there in front of him in a little test tube a megalomaniac wanted to use to create an army of soldiers that were faster, stronger, and tougher then almost anything ever seen before. So as the contract fell apart, the project was secretly shelved and kept in storage. Yet needing a new source of revenue in a hurry, Alexander decided to roll the dice and take a chance on a curious property he kept seeing in the test animals. The end result of that gamble were the first two cosmetic injections Ambrosia sold, eventually inspiring knock-off products known by obnoxiously crass names like "LuvJug" and "ManCannon."

The commercial success of these products made the company millions, enough to develop several dozens of new products, eventually pay off the money he owned the federal government after the Super Soldier scandal, build an auxiliary headquarters on the West Coast in Silicon City, and finance his dream. It also left Townes feeling hollow at times, catering to a never-ending parade of supermodels wanting bigger tits, naturally blond hair, and god only knows what else would be "in fashion" next month. In retaliation, the striped feline scientist set up medical charities and dived headfirst into making his dream a reality. He also kept an eye out for individuals like Okeke, people with perceptions that were different from the norm.

And then the Aphrodite Crisis happened. Supervillains and their heroic counterparts virtually appeared out of nowhere. There was no event or even series of events that he could see that may have caused the sudden explosion of metabeings in the weeks leading up to The First Incident, the battle between Shield and Gonzales. Nothing that seemed out of the ordinary... and yet something obviously did happen. Then there were the patterns, the predictability that caused him to draw comparisons to bad superhero comics in his mind. Somewhere in the city there were puppet masters pulling the strings, there had to be. And whether they realized it or not, they were the weakest link in the chain.

The decision to dust off his old super soldier research was not one Townes made lightly; it took the better part of a week before he would even admit to Okeke that Ambrosia had even done such a thing. But as the hospitals struggled to deal with the influx of wounded even after he made virtually all of Ambrosia Biotech's research available to the citizens and it became clear that whatever masking or jamming effect was placed over the city wasn't going to end, he dusted off his old notes and started using the observations he made during his cosmetic and medical research to improve it. Now, after nearly three months of solid research and two weeks of daily injections, he had come to where he was now, a nearly four hundred pound brute capable of easily benching more then twice that in controlled testing. The only way this news could be better is if they knew how much Panzer Beast could dead lift. If they only had any idea how strong he was...

"So how is your personal project coming Dr. Okeke?" Alexander asked finally, concluding roughly two pages of silent exposition.

"Extremely well Dr. Townes, Pagan Harvest is currently progressing better then I expected and I've documented at least two interesting offshoots to explore once I conclude my research. My only regret is that this seems like hardly the most appropriate time to be indulging in simple vanity, even if it is the kind I've wanted for a long time. I can't wait to inject myself with the final results." The skinny cheetah replied with a smile, her feminine features so underdeveloped one could have easily mistaken the female scientist for a slightly effeminate male or an unusually tall "boy," a curse she had sought to change for years.

Her enthusiasm elected a badly needed chuckle from Townes. "Oh Annelie, don't ever change. The fact that there are women in the world that actually agree with my perceptions, as ironic as they may seem to some, always brightens my day. By the way, you said you had something important to tell me."

The scrawny feline blushed and found something interesting about the carpet as she figured out what to say. "Yes... I wanted to say it for a while." She began before stepping up and kissing Alex squarely on the lips. Time seemed to slow down as Townes paused, then returned her affections. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, they both broke away.

The Afro-German scientist looked away. "I'm sorry that was-"

"Don't apologize. I understand, tomorrow might be too late. We're in the middle of a crisis where no one can afford to have doubts or regrets. Besides, I would be lying if I said I didn't think the same myself at times. And we both know what a horrible liar I am." He smiled, giving her an affectionate squeeze.

She returned his grin and bid him good night with a peck on the cheek before leaving his office and disappearing into the company dormitories set up ten floors down. Alex briefly looked at the city one more time; everything was so broken yet in that moment, all seemed right with the world...

The next day, right after lunch, it finally happened. The villains of Aphrodite City, backed by a small mob of Hedonists, were spotted making their way towards the Ambrosia tower. Who knew why they came. Perhaps the puppet masters heard of Townes research in super soldier serums and sought a way to boost the number of monsters plaguing the city, perhaps they merely ran out of things to loot and thought the research labs made as good of a target as any. Regardless of why they came, they were coming.

A high-tech firm that normally catered to wealthy clientele, Ambrosia did have some defenses for deterring more mundane miscreants but not even remotely enough to stop what was coming their way. Still, there were protocols for disasters like this and by the time Aphrodite City's worst strolled through the front door, those procedures were being carried out. Lightly armed security forces gathered in the main lobby as researchers and support staff fled for the nearest panic room and locked themselves in. In the research hospital above, metal security cages closed and locked down patients rooms. The hatches were battened down; they were as ready as anyone could ever be in this city.

Against his security team's recommendation, Townes was there, dressed dapper in a tailored two-piece as the villains barged in with a display of overplayed theatrics that would have been impressive had most of the defenders not already seen them a dozen times already.

"Oi! Where's the bloke in charge?" Crimson Screamer bellowed as Red Storm, Panzer Beast, and the Aussie's best butt buddy Hypothermia stood next to him. The four-man band of Hedonists, a boar, horse, wolf, and rabbit. Each of them looked about as forgettable as one could get.

"Now, now. There's no need to shout, I am Dr. Alexander Townes. How can I help you?"

"Alright, we want your super soldier serum and all the pussy you have in this joint." Crimson Screamer demanded, walking up to the more muscular male to plant a defiant index finger on the tiger's sculpted abs.

"I'm sorry, but we have never been publicly in the super soldier market. Nor do I think we have as many cats in the building as you desire." Alex rebutted calmly.

"You know what I-ACK!" Screamer began, cut off as Townes swiftly landed a solid punch into the shorter male's gut.

As the Australian wolf was sent flying back, feeling like a truck had hit him, Townes calmly turned his gaze towards the other intruders as virtually everyone in the lobby regarded him with a shocked expression. "Alright, so I might have been experimenting on myself in private." He explained with a chuckle before his expression turned serious once more. "This is your last chance to leave, I suggest you take it." The tiger ordered coldly.

Unsurprisingly, the majority of the intruders were the kind that didn't recognize how generous his offer was. Recognizing him as the strongest fighter, Panzer Beast charged the muscle-bound tiger while his cohorts engaged the rest of Ambrosia's security forces. In the chaos that ensued, no one noticed the four Hedonists slip through and board an elevator bound for the genetics laboratory...

Upstairs in the genetics laboratory, Dr. Okeke and her coworker Dr. Susan Weaver raced to finish locking down research materials. Figures the attack would come when they were in the final minutes of a test that could not be interrupted. Bringing up a display of the security grid on her tablet computer, the cheetah's heart sank like a stone. All the panic rooms within the immediate area had already been sealed shut and unidentified users were detected in an elevator car heading for their floor. They could hide, but odds were they would be found before long unless... there was something to distract or fight them off until help arrived. Looking at the vials of serums and treatments, she made her decision and started mixing up an injection.

In its pure form, the Ambrosia super soldier serum would introduce toxic levels of testosterone into her bloodstream. Townes avoided this by taking small doses over a period of several weeks. With intruders mere minutes way, Annelie didn't have that luxury. Thinking quickly and crossing her fingers, she diluted the core injection with a large dosage of Pagan Harvest, more then she ever planned on taking if she ever proved the cosmetic augmentation was viable. Designed for the crowd that craved something more "Rubenesque," PH was supposed to increase the body's production of fat cells across the board, focusing on the "three B's" evenly. With about another week or two of further tinkering, she probably could even get the metabolic effect to make certain shapes; all a moot point right now.

Finishing making the injection and introducing it directly to her bloodstream despite the rational part of her mind reminding her that she was taking a month-long series of injections all at once, the cosmetic scientist took a brief moment and tried to gauge what the reaction was. The fact that she didn't immediately die from injection overdose meant that... her body was going to go mad with hunger until she had consumed enough to satisfy the biochemical reactions she just started inside herself. One way or another, this was going to end very badly for someone but there was still one last thing she had to do while she was still sane...

Even as she shoved her colleague into a storage closet and locked her in with the key, Okeke could feel herself start to slip away. The combination of Townes' super soldier serum mixed with her Pagan Harvest cosmetic treatments was making demands on her body. The more primal parts of her brain were starting to take over in order to satisfy those desires and there would be no fighting them. Once she made sure Weaver was safe, she let what was going on inside her take control...

The four Hedonists fanned out as the elevator disgorged them in the genetics laboratories. Bill, Drake, Hicks, and Wesker looked at one another as Wesker pulled out the map the Brothers had given them. No sooner had they confirmed that they were on the right floor when the lights abruptly went out. Key chain flashlights and smart phones were dug out, pitifully small beams of light sliced through the darkness as the more intelligent members of the group swept their immediate surroundings for a possible aggressor.

"Well isn't this just peachy." Hicks said with a scowl. "Stop me if this doesn't remind you of at least one movie."

"Oh quit whining, let's just grab a sample of the super soldier serum the geeks here have been keeping from us while Townes' rent-a-cops are busy with the others downstairs and get out of here. In and out, no problem." Wesker rebutted, shining his flashlight in a promising direction. "Map says the main lab is that way." He pointed.

Sticking close together, lights fanning their surroundings, the foursome slowly walked along. Pausing long enough to compare their map to a sign hung over one of the laboratory doors, each purple-robed Hedonist felt a chill run down their spines as a savage growl echoed from somewhere in the darkened labs behind them. "What was that? And don't anyone say it was the fucking wind." Bill asked, hastily shining his flashlight behind him to see if he could catch a glimpse of whatever was loose in the labs.

"Another reason to hurry up and get out of here. Come on, it's not far from... wait, where did Drake go?" Wesker replied, taking a quick head count.

"Said something about heading back to use the bathroom." Hicks replied just as a short-lived scream echoed through the deserted floor. For a moment none of the remaining Hedonists spoke. Fear hung heavy in the air as Wesker checked his map a second time and pointed out a route that took them further away from the mysterious monster. None of them was stupid enough to ask if they were going to go back to look for Drake. Drake was gone and they all had to hurry if they wanted to avoid the same fate he had suffered. A menacing air hung over the remaining thieves as they continued to search fruitlessly.

"Do you even remember which lab we were supposed to look through?" Bill growled, looking over his shoulder in case the monster showed up. "I doubt even Panzer Beast can last long against whatever Townes turned himself into."

"Don't rush me, we'll find it." Wesker shot back.

"I'm not the one rushing you, whatever the fuck's loose in this mad scientist's dream house laboratory is what's..." Bill countered, his voice trailing off as his foot touched something round and sticky. Turning his flashlight towards the ground, he let out a feminine shriek loud enough to wake the dead.

Turning immediately to silence their partner in crime, Hicks and Wesker turned ash pale as they saw what had made their fellow Hedonist scream like a little girl. They had found what was left of Drake the boar, a severed head that looked like it had been heavily chewed on. All three suddenly found themselves on a knife's edge, the hungry snarl of a monster on the hunt enough to push them over and make them panic. The next several minutes were a blur to Hicks. One second he was staring at Drake's head wondering where the rest of his body went, the next he was locking himself in a custodial closet and finding himself making an appeal to a god that wasn't Loco. Outside he could hear the sound of a savage roar, Bill screaming in a combination of fear and pain only to be cut short by the feeble gurgling of a ripped throat, and the futile report of Wesker's small caliber handgun before the equine audibly met the same fate as the others right outside Hicks' closet. Throughout the laboratory, the lights suddenly came back to life. Though peering through the ventilation grate in the bottom of the closet door, the lupine Hedonist suddenly wished he was still stumbling around in the dark.

On the other side of the door, a growing cheetah female with a maniacal glint in her eye knelt beside the still warm corpse of Wesker. Blood dribbled from her mouth as she leaned forward to feed, tearing off gobbets of raw flesh from the slain cultist before gorging herself on his internal organs. The wolf's stomach was doing flipflops as he fought to avoid vomiting at the macabre sight in front of him. Christ above, she was ENJOYING herself, throwing herself into the indulgent airs of a glutton that had discovered chocolate for the first time.

In less then five minutes it was over, Wesker had been reduced to a pile of gnawed bones. The crazed scientist suckled her fingers before licking her face clean. Her clothing was shredded almost to the point of indecency; only her lab coat and a nametag that read "Annelie Okeke" remained intact. The rest of her outfit had been torn asunder in the vain attempt at containing the ballooning ball of fat and muscle the cheetah had turned into. The glint subsided and for a moment the lunatic researcher looked almost sane... then she caught Hicks' scent and leered at the grate he was watching her behind. Her expression was a mixture of biological hunger and pathological hatred as the voracious female rose to her feet and effortlessly ripped the door off its hinges.

Standing at her full height Dr. Okeke was an immense mountain of a cheetah, Hicks might have observed were she not currently smashing him into the walls, ceiling, and floor like a rag doll in the hands of a child having a temper tantrum. Arms and legs had developed into an almost freakish mass of muscle countered by an enormous beer belly, huge breasts, and a vast, pronounced backside. The Hedonist barely paid attention to any of this though... bones cracked and the skin beneath his gray pelt began to turn a magnificent purple to match his robes as multiple organ systems started to suffer from internal bleeding. Finally, after what felt like an eternity of pain, his tormentor felt he was sufficiently tenderized and opened her mouth wide. Sharp fangs tore into bruised flesh but her latest prey was already gone, his body had gone into shock and his heart had stopped beating long before his flesh was "offered" to the bountiful Annelie Okeke...

Her body having consumed enough protein to be satisfied, the cheetah woman managed to regain her sanity just in time to come to grips with what she had done. The horror of having eaten her foes fought with the cold opinion that they were Hedonists that would have raped both Weaver and herself if she had given them even a fraction of a chance. Consuming them was infinitely more practical then letting them continue to otherwise be complete wastes of meat. Still, acting on horrified instinct, she gathered up their saliva-slick remains and threw them all down the biohazard chute leading to the incinerator in the basement. A furnace rated for temperatures far above what was needed to kill the most heat-tolerant pathogens, the basement incinerator would have no problem turning their bones to ash.

She had just finished destroying the incriminating evidence when the elevator dinged ominously and the loud thud of someone being thrown against a wall could be heard down the hall.

"Fucking finally, god this Townes asshole doesn't know when to quit." The boisterous Panzer Beast could be heard as the bovine brick punted a suspiciously tiger-shaped blur past Okeke's laboratory.

Fear and shame evaporating like dew on a hot day once she realized Townes was in trouble, the immense cheetah bulk heroine stepped out in the hallway and placed herself between her lover and the intruders. The four villains raised a collective eyebrow at the newcomer, clearly unsure if they should laugh or not. The spotted feline titaness found she could care less, time to see just how strong she had gotten in the past half hour.

Proving to be an impatient sort, Panzer Beast was the first to step forward. "Get out of the way cow, your boss has to cough up the super soldier serum."

"You're wasting your time, Dr. Townes only made enough for two treatments and you're looking at where the second one went." Okeke found herself saying. Not entirely true but these Neanderthals didn't need to know that.

"Why you greedy bitch!" The bull swung his fist at her head. On reflex Okeke tried to catch it... and was promptly surprised by how little resistance she felt pushing his arm back.

"Hmmm, fascinating." She replied clinically while snapping Panzer's wrist like a dry twig. "You appear to no longer be the strongest person in Aphrodite City." The cheetah observed while her bovine opponent howled in pain. "Perhaps the city now has a true Aphrodite among them." Annelie concluded with a malicious grin that sent chills through the other villains, throwing Panzer Beast back towards him as if he was little more then a small bag of carrots.

"Oh like hell we're losing to the likes of you. I'm not afraid of a wannabe Silicon City lard ass!" Crimson Screamer retorted. Hypothermia raised his fist in agreement as they both opened fire.

The resulting barrage of bullets and hailstones bounced harmlessly off of her like a gentle rain. Smiling with a spiteful grin, the cheetah made a show of slowly waddling towards her attackers and stomping Panzer Beast squarely in the chest before grabbing both gunmen by the throat and beating them senseless much like she beat Hicks before them. Bovine titan and both paramilitary geeks beaten and teleported away, only Red Storm remained to challenge her. Where was he a few minutes ago when she was destroying his teammates, she wondered idly...

And as the only intelligent one out of the group, he showed his willingness to fight by turning around and running for the stairs. Picking up the pace to something more respectable, Okeke took after him but still he proved to be faster then she was. Losing the last intruder, she alerted security that there was still one supervillain left in the building then turned back to see to Townes. Back upstairs in the genetics laboratory, the tiger had risen back to his feet. Bruised but not beaten, the muscular striped feline looked at the cheetah with a mixture of confusion and relief before recognition finally settled in.

"My dear Annelie, I always knew you'd end up looking positively divine." The physically ripped tiger smiled as he began to look at her longingly.

The super-strong female merely blushed and licked her lips; the transformation may have tired her at first but the fight still left her with some tension that needed to be burnt off. Looking into his eyes, she could tell that her crush felt the same way. As the two of them threw themselves at each other with passionate relief, both partners realized one good thing came out of the events of the previous hour. It was very easy to rip off each other's clothes in a fit of desire when said outfits were already reduced to shredded rags...