Blackjack Messiah

by Ben Bequer

  "Only way to do this is as a team," Powermaster said, striding forward with confidence. "Spread out."

  We went forward in formation with Invictus on point, me and Nina as the two back blades of the arrow. Powermaster was between me and Nina, with Red Quiver and Dixie following. Whisper was atop the bridge, tossing something up and down in her hand. Finally, she threw it at us. Roy drew so fast it was like a blur, but he didn't fire. Instead, he let the small pebble bounce on the ground.

  "So tense!" Whisper said, laughing.

  "Stay in formation," Powermaster said and we continued. Whisper got bored because she was gone in a blink as we reached the bridge. Close as we were, we couldn't tell what the big thing in the distance was. We could hear something, like the roaring of dozens of engines, coming over the noise of the fair rides - which were still fully functional.

  “I have that bitch cold,” Dixie said, pitching her voice low. “Anytime you want, Powermaster, I can show her to you.”

  “Keep a tag on her,” Powermaster said. “She has too much space to work with here, but if she initiates, we’ll take her out.”

  Atop the bridge was another corpse. At first, I thought it was Whisper fucking with us, but as we came closer, we realized it was a man. The guy wore a black suit, which was why we were confused, but he was still, his white shirt stained crimson.

  Invictus knelt next to the guy and checked his pulse, but we knew he was dead. The big guy didn't even do the usual shake of his head, instead, he was staring ahead, at the sight beyond us. "Holy shit," he said as we came up to him.

  A long stretch of open ground had been cleared for us. The food carts and picnic tables that should have been in the center of the pathway had been cleared out. Some were piled up in tall mounds, others lay askew or in splinters, while others had been thrown into the rides and attractions. Fun houses with giant holes torn through them, or rides with the cars torn off and destroyed. The only rides that were operating were two large roller coasters that ran on a constant circuit. There were people strapped into some of the seats, but from the floppy way their limbs moved as the coasters shot down their rails, I could tell they were dead.

  In the open area cleared of tables were two rows of civilians, maybe thirty in all, sitting on their knees with their hands clasped behind their heads. Men, women, and children of every shape and size, their fear the only thing they had in common. I could smell it in the air. Around them were a dozen or so villains, and for a moment, I regretted losing my rig. It was poorly lit, so it was tough to identify them.

  Cyclonic was there, and things started to click into place for me. My heart sank when I saw Flamestrike, I had beaten him at Point Nemo, but I guess he had gotten away. Standing in a cluster of villains was Primal, along with Praetorian and the old tech guy who had been scanning me on the island. They had all escaped our attack. But even that wasn't what made me want to run. Beside Primal, standing alongside his top guys was a tall armored figure. I didn't need my rig to know who it was. I'd seen him before.

  Baron Blitzkrieg was one of the worst villains of all time. He’d been an actual Nazi during the Holocaust, and was already old beyond reason when the Original Seven came back through the portal from Shard World. He developed powers to go with a scientist’s mind, and decided the Third Reich wasn’t dead until he said so. He had tussled with Supreme and Nostromo - and won on occasion. He was next to Primal, staring at us.

  "Run," I said.

  "Hang on," Powermaster said, stepping forward to join Invictus. "They're here for a reason."

  "How do you know that?" Red Quiver asked.

  "Look at them," Powermaster said, waving at the scene ahead of us. "They're waiting."

  "They're waiting for us," Nina added.

  I looked down at the charred bracers strapped to my forearms. "No, they're here for me."

  "Come on, man," Invictus said, exploding in frustration. "It can't be all about you all the fucking time. I mean, there's got to be a limit to how much of a douche you are."

  "Easy, Invictus," Powermaster said.

  "What's the timer on backup, boss?" Nina said. Powermaster checked his watch. His answer was to shake his head.

  "Go," I said. "Secure the park. If they want me-"

  "That's not how it works," Powermaster said. "We see what they want and go from there."

  We started moving again and Invictus slowed to walk beside me, "Sorry, dog."

  "Don't sweat it," I said.

  "You really think they're here for you?"

  “Cyclonic is back there,” I said, nodding towards him.

  “Heh, I was hoping I knocked that night out of his head,” Invictus said.

  “You hit him hard enough.”

  “Not yet, but I’m going to try again.”

  The villains that were closest gave way, retreating to the main group so that the mass of hostages lay between them and us. Teary faces, streaked and dirty, looked out at us pleading. The problem was, we were sorely out-manned. There would be no rescue today. We were at the pleasure of Primal and his people.

  The presence of Baron Blitzkrieg was curious, though. He was an old timer, older than Primal. What the hell was he doing with Primal? These were two guys with differing agendas. One wanted to establish the Fourth Reich and considered himself the inheritor of Hitler's vision. The other was timeless, if you believed the stories, and wanted to create a Utopian civilization with himself as its leader, of course.

  At first glance, they both had similar goals - to rule a select group of people and exterminate the rest. But how could they reconcile who was to be the supreme leader? Neither was the kind to let someone else run the show. Regardless, they were standing beside one another and the Baron's Dogs of War seemed to be playing well with Primal's people.

  "Ahh Blackjack, you have come a long way since Hashima," Baron Blitzkrieg said, waving an armored arm in my direction.

  "Or are you Shadowshaft?" Psionicler said, laughing along with most of the gathered villains.

  Powermaster stepped in front of us. "I am Powermaster, leader of the All-Stars, I ask you to let these innocents go, then we can discuss terms."

  Again, the villains laughed.

  "Terms?" Firestrike said, flaming on and casting more light upon the scene than any of the feeble lamps. "How about we kill everyone?

  "How's that for your terms?" added a big villain called Harcore. He'd been at Point Nemo but somehow missed the final fight. He was a brute, huge and hulking, with arms the size of my torso. He was Class-A strength and durability and the physically toughest of Primal's remaining goons. Another surprising villain in attendance was the beautiful Olympia. She was a looker in the style of Apogee, sexy and voluptuous and a Class-A energy manipulator, which manifested in the form of deadly beams of green energy. A relative newcomer to the villain world when compared to her companions, Olympia was still a heavy hitter, with followers of her own - a dozen or so similarly clad villains with only one thing in common; they were all male and all handsome.

  "Who am I talking to?" Powermaster said, going through the same thought process I was. Perhaps driving a wedge in their leadership would give the All-Stars an edge.

  "Me," Flamestrike said.

  "Me," Whisper said, her voice coming from behind us. She was hanging on the lip of a nearby food hut.

  "Or me," Master Magnetic said. He was one of Primal's goons, and quite unoriginal. According to his naming paradigm, I would be Muscle Guy.

  "I merely ask that these innocent people be allowed to-"

  "There is nothing innocent about these wretches," Blitzkrieg said. As impressive as his armor was, the man himself looked old, tired, more even than the last time I saw him on Hashima. "They are here to be sacrificed."

  "Wait a second," Powermaster said, stepping forward. "If you want to sacrifice someone, I'll volunteer."

  "Terry!" Red Quiver said, but Powermaster shot a halting hand back at us.

  "One hero instead of a few random civilians," he went on
. "Surely that's more appealing."

  Blitzkrieg actually considered it, but Olympia chimed in. "We're not interested in you."

  "Okay," Powermaster said. "What are you interested in?"

  She pointed at me.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  No Win Scenario

  "Get rid of the civilians and we talk."

  Olympia took a few steps forward, reaching the back edge of the hostages. Between her and me were five poor souls, and it was as if she knew that the only thing keeping me from ripping her head off was the crowd. "So you're Apogee's latest beau..."

  "I can see his butt," Whisper said, hopping over me and our group and landing beside Olympia. "He's got a pasty white butt."

  "What do you say, dear?" Olympia asked Whisper. "Worthy of your former companion?"

  Whisper shrugged, "Apogee's slumming. She does that sometimes. Girl's a maneater."

  "Jokes aside," Powermaster said. "Let's let these poor people go. No one wants this to get messy."

  "I do," Harcore said, drawing laughter from his companions, screams, and wails from the hostages. "The messier the better. You, Blackjack, you killed my boy Nevski."

  Yeah, I had. Back a year or two when a bunch of villains happened on my exact location out in the middle of the Australian bush. I had Mr. Haha to thank for guiding them to me. Then again, the villains he sent weren't up to par.

  "You want a shot at the title, champ, get rid of these people."

  Harcore was tempted, flexing his muscles and clenching his jaw, but it was clear he wasn't in charge. Primal finally stepped forward and even Blitzkrieg deferred to him. "There aren’t going to be any negotiations, you, whatever your name is," he told Powermaster. "You and your people will surrender to me, and we will decide what to do with you, and these people."

  Our leader swallowed hard. We had nothing to trade. We didn't even have an effective method of escape. I could see the fight in my mind's eye. It would start with their strikers converging on us. Red Quiver and Powermaster would pick at them, but they just had more bodies. Their power guys would rain hell on us until their strikers got into melee range. Dixie had zero mobility, and Nina would stay back to protect her. Invictus would charge headlong into death, and truth be told, probably surprise the shit out of whichever idiot got in his way.

  I nodded and looked around. My team was ready, willing, but nervous and frankly, a bit scared. Bajeera wanted to prove himself, he looked almost eager. Nina had been in some tough fights, but these were all Class-A monsters and she knew it. Dixie was the most powerful, and least experienced of our bunch. She looked calm, but I was sure that was a front. Roy was a veteran, like Nina, and skilled, but he was also suffering from blood loss and a muted form of shock. Speed, reaction time, aim, all of those things took a hit. Powermaster was resolute, though, and I wasn't sure where his courage was coming from. He was going to make a stand, try to save as many people as possible - there was no way he was going to back down again - and that would get all of us killed.

  We had nothing to negotiate with, nothing to offer.

  Well, there was one thing.

  "So it's like that, huh?" I said and suddenly all eyes were on me.

  "Or we kill these hostages on the way to killing you," Flamestrike said, flaring his aura.

  "Just fall to one knee and we will dispose of you mercifully," Psionicler said, his German accent strong. He was the Baron's main goon and most stringent follower. Old and weak-looking like his boss, something kept him alive more than a hundred years, and his mind manipulation powers were supposed to be among the most powerful in the world. Behind him was the mechanical nightmare called Mister Servo, his protector robot. See, much like Roy, he had no enhanced physical attributes to speak of, just some powered armor that was a smaller, thinner copy of the Baron's. Mister Servo existed to keep heroes like me away from them, but the robot, while formidable, was also old and tarnished.

  And no match for me.

  "Okay," I started. "So you don't want to negotiate, and you don't want to be reasonable. You're going to kill us and kill them."

  "Now you're starting to understand," Psionicler said.

  "Fine," I said and started talking under my breath. "Fine, if these motherfuckers want to get both barrels, that's what they're going to get. First I'm going to rip that sonofabitch apart..."

  "What is he going on about?" Olympia said.

  "He's clearly mad," Psionicler said.

  "Everyone knows I’m fucking nuts,” I said, loud enough for all to hear. I made a show of running my eyes along the villains before locking eyes with Olympia. "Okay, her first," I said under my breath, but pitching it loud enough to be audible. "After that, I'm breaking that fucker right there. Yeah, I want to see his face when I put my fist through his chest. Then? Hmm...who's next?" I paused and looked around for a target, settling on Flamestrike. “ Oh, I like that rematch. This time I won’t stop with the leg."

  "Go on, Blackjack," Baron Blitzkrieg said. "You cannot harm us."

  I smiled, "I can't hurt you, Baron. Or Primal. There're a couple of others that might take a minute or two, sure. Like big and stupid there," I pointed to Harcore. "But her?" I pointed at Olympia. "I'm going to rip out her spine and strangle her with it. Him?" Psionicler. "I'm going to test that armor for structural cohesiveness. And him?” I didn’t even know his name, but he looked soft. “I hope you can fly faster than me." I was lying, of course, as my boots were trashed. He'd seen me fly before and I was hoping that the distance and the low light would be enough to conceal my lack of boots - that is if he even remembered my method of flight.

  Primal saw the effect of my threat. Flamestrike looked as eager as Bajeera and I shuddered inside. That guy alone could massacre us all. The others, though, were not as enthused. Olympia was big time, but one punch would turn her insides into gelatin, and her cadre of soldiers couldn’t stop me. Psionicler shuffled a little closer to Mister Servo, and while Harcore stood his ground, his hands had gone low, covering his belly. Whisper stepped into my threat, another one who could murder everyone, but the others retreated behind Primal and the hostages.

  "You're useless with those bands on, Blackjack,” Primal said. “I know how weak you are."

  His team was frazzled, but I wanted them to panic. Smiling again, flashing full menace, I took the bracers off. They dropped to the ground with a clang, and to my surprise, the whole area fell under a bright cast of light.

  "Holy shit," Invictus said.

  Free from the dampening bracers, I glowed like a white-hot sun. The hostages started screaming, the ones who could move retreating behind the villains. The All-Stars had backed out of my corona, the glare hiding them in shadow. I couldn’t see their faces, and part of me was glad for that. It would kill me to see their fear.

  I rounded on the villains. Some of them were huddled with their hostages, ridiculous outfits and perfect physiques the only difference between them. Flamestrike and Whisper had both backed away from me, and Olympia’s men circled her, ready to die in her service. Primal and Blitzkrieg weathered my theatrics with the diffidence of men who had seen and done it all.

  "You want a fight?” I roared, ripping off my shirt and mask. “I'll give you a fight! If everyone is going to die here, then EVERYONE is going to die. I’m going to start with Olympia, and that asshole right there. After that, I'm coming after you, Flamestrike. I'm going to carve my name in your heart."

  "Primal," Olympia said.

  "I've got him," Primal said, but his assurance wasn't enough.

  "I went easy on you at Nemo, old man. Do you really want to test me?”

  I clenched my fists so hard I heard the bones pop, and flexed every muscle in my body, feeling the raw power surge through me. Without those bracers, I wasn't just me, I was me plus whatever the Lightbringers had done to me. I was a god, and these people were puny little ants. Nothing was going to stop me, I was going to crush-

  "Fine," Primal said, waving me off. Nothing in his posture said he was afraid
of me, in fact, he looked satisfied.

  "Fine what, Primal? I'm only starting to charge up here. Give me a minute and I'm going to crater the state, and all of you with me. You want to murder people? How about we add you and your whole crew to the list."

  "Stop!" he said, for the first time putting real emotion into his voice. "We'll let the hostages go."

  "And my team," I said.

  "And your team."

  "Wait a second," Powermaster began but my outstretched hand paused him.

  "All we want is you, Blackjack," Primal said. "Come quietly and none of these people will be harmed. For now."

  "Ever," I said. "Ever, or I'm going to start tearing jaws off."

  Primal stopped for a moment, my glow casting his profile in relief. For a man who was winning, he seemed tired. A thousand times more weary than he had looked at Point Nemo. Cold veins of worry blunted the heat of my passion and power as I realized I may have gone too far. He was going to fight, and it was going to be awful. Finding Psionicler in the corner of my eye, I got ready to lunge. I was most vulnerable to him and Olympia, but he was the harder target. Once things kicked off, the All-Stars would take Olympia first. I hoped.

  "Fine,” Primal said. “Ever.”

  "I have your word, Primal. What about him?" I gestured to Baron Blitzkrieg. Primal and the Baron shared a nod.

  "I am in agreement," he said. "None of these people will be hurt by mine."

  I felt a hand on my arm and turned to see Powermaster, fighting the light I was emitting. "I can't let you do this, Dale."

  I put my hand on his. "They want me because of this, Terry. This is all because of me. None of you should have to suffer for it. Take these people to safety, and get a hold of Apogee. She'll know what to do."

  "Are you sure about this?" he said his grip tightening. “Say the word and we fight.”

  I took his hand gently and freed myself. "Not today," I said.

  "Dale, I can't let you," Powermaster said.

  "You have to," I said.

  "But you'll be all alone," he said, raising his voice as I got nearer to the villain horde.