Sidekick

by Carl Stubblefield

  “Boss, can you come down to level twenty-three? I think you’ll want to see this. You said a big-ass crystal, right? Kinda orange with pink in the center?”

  Basileus stood up straight, eyes wide. “I’ll be right there.” He keyed off his comm and did a double-fist pump, arching his back and screaming silently in victory. His father would be so proud. Now that they’d found it, he didn’t need to keep that little twerp alive ‘just in case.’ The thought of torturing him for his intrusion and insolence widened his smile even more. Eventually, things always seemed to work out for Basileus.

  “You hear that, all of you? They’ve found it, now I’ll be free of all your mutterings, forever!” Basileus said out loud.

  He got in the elevator, tapping his foot as a beam slowly scanned him to confirm he had access to level twenty-three. Finally, the car began moving. His thoughts flitted back to all he knew about the artifact. Manticorps had to liquidate millions in resources to obtain it, then keep it hidden from those who would try to steal it. Many were silenced to avoid even the possibility that its location would be revealed.

  His lips pressed into a razor thin line as he thought of how Methiochos betrayed them all, conveniently offering to hide the artifact at the manor he knew he was going to try to steal away from them.

  At last, he would be the one to bring the manor and the crystal back to Archon. So many of his brothers had tried and failed over the years. Within the crystal had to be some ability that would help him overcome the flaw he and Archon had hidden from the world. As the strongest among Manticorps, they had to maintain appearances, especially of power.

  He pulled back his glove and looked at the ‘35’ tattooed in small numbers on the back of his wrist. Thirty-four different clones before him and he had finally achieved what he had been destined to do. Once he repaired the damage the process had wreaked upon his genetics over so many forced replications, he would lead a new order of supers and those smug Factions would be a thing of the past. And best of all—the voices would be silenced. Blessed silence.

  Archon was adamant that the Factions needed to be destroyed, and he was unyielding in his determination to make that happen, even to his own detriment. With the power of the crystal, it was a foregone conclusion they would be able to overpower them. If that was what his father wanted, he would make it happen. He would fail him no longer.

  It sapped his father’s vitality every time he had to be raised again. Basileus grinned inwardly that he had finally succeeded and validated his father’s sacrifices. Archon would only have one, maybe two more times where he could perform the procedure, and two would almost certainly kill him.

  Still, Basileus knew he would do it. His own lifespan had decreased significantly with each cycle. Fortunately, his father had the body of each failed clone, so his memories could be transferred, preserving his sense of self. The psychological weight of multiple deaths had begun to wear on his psyche.

  He was much less emotionally resilient than he used to be. He did not tell Archon of the presence of the ‘others’ that came before. It wasn’t just memories that were transferred, but entire personalities. The older iterations fracturing more and more. Thirty-five of them sharing the same space. He was just fortunate he had been able to maintain control; they were always struggling to take the wheel if he let his attention drop.

  The elevator opened up into a plain, unfinished hallway. He could hear men yelling at each other and walked to where they were, eager to see for himself. Stepping into the room, he moved to a nearby railing and saw it there in all its splendor.

  A Mandrite crystal!

  They were so lucky all those years ago to find someone who knew what the quartz-like crystal really was, and obtain it before that information could be disseminated. He doubted anyone knew of its full potential.

  Basileus swallowed, and began stepping down the nearby staircase to the platform where the crystal sat like a king on his throne, the obvious object of preeminence in the entire room. He wiped away a tiny bead of sweat as he approached, not wanting the men to see how the crystal affected him. He couldn’t show any weakness.

  No one knew that he was any different than the first Basileus, attributing his longevity to some regenerative ability. It had to stay that way; if they knew the truth, they would never swear fealty and in turn would not be able to be controlled. He needed that collar if Archon’s plans were to be accomplished.

  Uncertainty filled him as he stared at the crystal, close enough to touch. Could his DNA handle the transition or would it be torn to shreds? He knew he had lost some things, being a copy of a series of copies. Fortunately, his erratic nature was overlooked, with him being ‘the big boss’ son.’ Somehow that elevated him from creepy weird to eccentric weird, which the mercs could handle.

  As the warm colors pulsed inside the crystal, Basileus felt there had to be something that would compensate and help him be whole again. He didn’t want to die, not when he was this close! Better to have others try it first to see if they could regain their lost powers, and then he would hazard a try. It was maddening to have to wait, but his confidence and bravado needed to be feigned.

  Deep down, he resented the fear and cowardice that had entered into his core. Many of the others were afraid; was it bleeding through to him? He didn’t think that had always been there. Possibly an artifact from the cloning process. It angered him though; his father was ruthless against weakness, and he had endeavored to mask those feelings and so far had succeeded.

  His anger flared at the thought of how their powers were stolen! He had no idea what that worm had done to his men when he had allowed him to be trapped. But if he could find a similar ability in the crystal, he would take it for himself.

  Yes, that would be suitable, have those supers try to reclaim their abilities first. It would make him appear magnanimous and convert any of the skeptics to his side. He could work this to his favor. His weakness must not be known. His fear must not show.

  “Gather all those who have lost their powers, we shall offer them a chance to regain what they have lost, and possibly much more if they swear fealty to Manticorps!”

  He had his lieutenants gather the supers who were now powerless. They should have a natural affinity to their own abilities, if the research was correct. If there were any untoward effects, it would be better to know now. He reassured himself that he was not acting out of fear, but of calculated risk. There would be chaos if this fell into one of the hands of the mercs, better that they not know everything until they had sworn fealty. Then they would be bound to him and Manticorps.

  When the neutered supers had assembled, he started the ceremony. Archon had shown him the value of presentation and he had absorbed the lessons well. He pulled up a tab in his display to make sure he got the wording correct, then he had the supers swear fealty upon their powers.

  One by one they stepped forward, gladly accepting any agreement if they could once again touch the powers that had become such an integral part of who they were. Little did they know the bargain that they were making.

  Basileus marveled at how the supers absorbed their lost powers so quickly, their familiarity making the powers instantly available. He was certain that the general theory was that abilities needed to be assimilated first, but perhaps this only applied to new abilities.

  “Hey!” someone shouted, bringing Basileus out of his musings. An augment who had reconnected to his electronic minions had released them and was pointing to a balcony above where he caught a glimpse of a familiar face that simultaneously filled him with rage and eagerness.

  Good, he saved me the trouble of retrieving him.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  I’ve Got the Power

  “You again!” Basileus roared.

  How did he get free? one voice demanded.

  That trap was supposed to be inescapable, another added.

  Someone is working against us! a fearful voice shrieked.

  With a growl he pushed the voices fr
om the fore. He vowed that he would find out once they had sworn fealty; they wouldn’t be able to lie to him then.

  Sensing they might lose their chance, supers rushed forward, hurriedly repeating the words and touching the crystal, expecting this to be required to regain their abilities. In the moment of distraction, Gus had managed to descend to the landing below.

  Basileus fired a plasma ball at Gus, who dodged to one side. At the last second, the ball expanded, forming a large net that draped over him, immediately burning part of his outfit and the skin on his neck before a gray mercurial substance flowed over the areas of contact, separating them from his skin. Gus made a quick shield to push the net away from him, and managed to create a little space, but overall the net held.

  Basileus turned his fist, so that his palm faced upwards and the net began to constrict.

  Weak to this kind of attack, Gus’ shields kept popping with minimal effort. He had to keep spamming shields, each one getting smaller and smaller as the net ate up the space as it constricted between shields.

  Basileus was unrelenting, tightening the space and it was all Gus could do to keep generating shield layers while his MP was burning up quickly.

  Finally he stopped, with Gus contorted with his arms pressed up in front of him. Basileus turned his attention to the core. “At last, brothers and sisters, the world will see the dawning of a new age. We shall be gods among men. Gods among supers!” A cheer sounded from the group. He placed his hands on the core and his eyes opened wide, the pupils dilating. “There’s so much…” he moaned as he began to absorb abilities.

  Gus held as still as possible while his MP slowly began to refill. Without the constant need to reform shields, he found that his armor was protecting him and a shield was unnecessary. It interposed itself between the crackling energy, not even heating up. If only he could reach his pocket, he could down a couple blue gels and be at full power. If only he wasn’t trapped with his arms in front of him like a, like a…

  Like a T-rex! Or a T-Wrecks in Gus’ case. He had just enough MP. Activating the skill, a terrorizing roar reverberated off the walls of the small chamber. Chaos ensued and supers scattered as the dinosaur rampaged through the room.

  Basileus was oblivious to the disturbance as he was so enraptured with the core and absorbing abilities.

  Gus took the opportunity to activate his Energy Absorption skill and slurped up the energy in the net. The construct thinned and unraveled into nothingness as the energy powering it dissipated.

  Free to move again, Gus felt in his left pocket and drew out the last three MP gels he had. Chewing into them, he found that Aurora must have notified the chef; this batch tasted like coconut instead of blue raspberry.

  Much better. With his MP restored to seventy-five percent, he formed a shield around the core, breaking Basileus’ contact with it. He slapped against the glassy surface, frustrated until he realized that the core hadn’t stopped functioning but that there was a barrier there.

  He turned and looked at Gus, his eyes glowing with a blue aura. Waves emanated off his exposed skin, like heat shimmering on an Arizona highway in August. Gus couldn’t tell if that was steam, excess MP, or a heat mirage, but the effect made Basileus appear more otherworldly and menacing than he ever had. His usual cocky sneer had evolved into a maniacal rictus.

  Supers dashed around in the background, getting out of the reach of the stampeding dinosaur. They jumped up to the next tier or down to a lower one as the creature pursued them relentlessly.

  Gus hit his fists together and with a thought his armor shifted. It was now studded with spikes, interspersed with small ridges that were razor sharp. Basileus hopped in the air slightly and shot forward in a blur with a punch to Gus’ shoulder. There was a muted *thud* and even with his armor absorbing a huge amount of the force, he still was spun around.

  Basileus looked at the mangled wreck that was his hand after hitting the newly-studded armor and watched as the bones regenerated, broken tarsals reforming as muscles weaved back over them and the skin rolled over like a new coat of paint, pristine and whole again. He threw back his head and laughed, and Gus could see areas of his skin bubbling and protruding as his body worked to assimilate the powers.

  In addition to fighting Basileus, there were a good number of supers who glared daggers at Gus, waiting for their chance to attack. Some were visibly confused that their powers would not activate at all if their attacks were too close to Basileus, but Gus found it difficult to focus on both Basileus and that many opponents.

  With a loud crack, Jet appeared behind three supers as they fell forward, hit from behind by the haft of the weapon like a blackjack to the base of the skull. The agile weapon dipped and twirled, easily evading shots taken at it. Someone threw up a shield and Jet was blocked from attacking. Changing it up, Jet spun the tip of its blade like a drill in one area of the shield. The effect popped the entire shield as the polearm spun. The super in question kept throwing up shields but the group was retreating back.

  I know how that feels, Gus thought wryly, TimeSight guiding him to move. Turning his attention back to Basileus, he barely sidestepped a lunging attack, feeling the brush of air moving around the fist that almost brushed his nose, causing him to flinch back and blink.

  Gus attempted to grapple Basileus as he passed, but he had covered himself with a plasma shield. Gus’ hands rebounded off without getting purchase, sparking as the energy cascaded off his hybrid-Nth armor. No contact meant Leech was off the table.

  Faster than expected, Basileus twisted around and grabbed Gus by the neck and then by the waist, lifting him high overhead. Despite the armor’s protection, the constriction on his neck made it difficult to breathe.

  Gus grit his teeth. Two can play that game. He activated Incapacitate and made an ether weave around Basileus’ face, pulling it tight as he could.

  Basileus raised Gus high overhead, flipping him to face the ceiling of the chamber.

  Gus clenched tightly to the weave, hoping he could outlast the super.

  Basileus appeared to double down on the pressure and Gus felt pain in his hip as the iron grip grated against the bone, and his airway was closed off.

  Flailing in desperation, he pulled open his abilities, trying to find anything to get loose. He almost fired Xyzzy, but realized before wasting the MP that would transport them both and burn more MP with no release. Being unable to aim, he couldn’t use some of his abilities.

  In desperation, he landed upon Chi Pulse and activated it. His stamina bar dropped to a fourth of its length but an unearthly hollow *boom* flung them apart.

  Gus pulled in ragged breaths, watching Basileus panting as well. His haunted eyes looked feral as he stared at Gus like prey. Being close to the crystal, Gus tried to rush to touch it.

  Basileus let loose an unearthly howl and thrust his fists forward. Two constructs projected from his outstretched arms and ran towards Gus, intercepting him. They resolved into growling wolves snarling and snapping.

  Basileus cocked his head and growled, “Mine…” pointing to the crystal. The tone of his voice fluctuated in pitch, reminding Gus of Bobcat Goldthwaite. He twitched with multiple facial tics and his eyes appeared not to blink as he stared almost through Gus.

  “Not for long. You’ve overloaded yourself! Your body can’t handle all of those powers!” Gus Bounded over the crystal, trying to access the crystal from that direction, but the wolves adjusted again and he could get no closer. Trying It’s All in the Tips, Gus swiped with the beams and cleaved through the constructs, but they managed to reform again as Basileus pumped more energy into the thin streams trailing off the wolves. With everything that Gus tried, Basileus matched or exceeded his speed and strength. His eyes flitted from the crystal to Basileus then the wolves. He had to break this standoff.

  “Gus, I’m in position,” a female voice whispered on the comms.

  He had almost forgotten about her part in the plan with the rush of battle. Basileus wrinkled his fore
head and squinted his eyes as Gus smiled and began charging a Krackle burst, adopting a hadouken pose, his demeanor losing the consternation and stress of before. Gus poured more energy into the ability, stacking three activations into one burst, struggling to keep them focused as he awaited the signal.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  You Ruined Everything

  “Gus, when you see my signal, get to the core. You probably won’t have much time. The surprise won’t last long. Ready?”

  In answer to her question Gus let loose the charged Krackle burst. An angry nebula of purple-colored energy shot towards Basileus. Before it crossed half the distance, a large boom echoed off the sides of the chamber. Everybody looked up and froze, stunned by the effect of what they saw. The distraction split Basileus’ attention just enough that he was caught in the majority of the blast, falling back. The constructs evaporated as his concentration failed and Gus saw his chance.

  Averting his eyes from the lightshow above, Gus flew to the far side of the core and activated Hyper, doubling his Agility. He then began touching the core repeatedly, alternating hands. As he got into a rhythm, his hands began to blur as he synchronized his movements, faster and faster.

  Touch, Leech a block of twenty abilities, release, touch with the other hand, Leech a block of twenty-five, release. Back and forth, the new upgrade on his Leech ability allowing him to maximize his buffer without consciously thinking about it. He tore abilities into him without even knowing what they were. Over and over.

  His hands sped up, taking hundreds of abilities in seconds. Time seemed to stretch again, everyone around appearing to slow. The core was Gus’ world and all he could see.

  He wasn’t sure what type of aliens lived on the planet the Mandrite core was formed from, but he felt himself moving faster and faster, reducing the space between his hands and the core as he released to push the transfer even more quickly. As Leech leveled up, the regular pinging of a chime increased to a near-constant tone. The buffer grew more and more; the speed with which he pulled powers increased exponentially. The tone changed timbre and stretched out as his TimeSight sped his perception to a higher level and he continued on, pulling as much as he could in desperation.