A Most Unlikely Hero, Vol 4

by Brandon Varnell

  “I don’t think I like that idea…”

  “Quiet, Bro.”

  “Tch.”

  Gabrielle thought about Alice’s proposal. She didn’t have to think long. “Okay, I guess we can help Alex rescue Nyx.”

  Alex breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good because I’m gonna need you to get something for me—several somethings, actually.”

  “Sure!” Gabrielle said, back to her usual, bright self.

  “I don’t mind,” Alice said, shrugging. “However, before we think about doing anything, Bro, you might want to get dressed.”

  It took Alex several seconds of contemplating her words to realize what she was talking about. After his mind processed them, he realized that the room was a bit drafty. Looking down revealed the reason: his clothes, or rather, his lack thereof. All he had on right then was a small patience smock. His legs were exposed, and from the feeling of cold air on his butt cheeks, he wasn’t wearing any underwear.

  His cheeks promptly colored. “Ah. Right. Good call, Alice.”

  Alice gave her brother a thumbs up. “Anytime, Bro.”

  He looked around. When he found nothing to wear, he turned to Alice and Gabrielle and asked, “Have either of you seen my clothes?”

  “Uh…”

  Alice and Gabrielle looked at each other. Then they looked back at Alex.

  “I don’t think you have any. I’m pretty sure Karen threw them out because they got destroyed during your fight.”

  “WHAT?!” Alex’s shout could be heard throughout the police station.

  5

  Darrick sighed as he sat in the cockpit of his police shuttle.

  He’d been placed on standby while everybody else worked on locating that assassin who attacked Alex-senpai. He wished he could have stayed with his senpai, but Second-in-Command Yumi had dragged him out of Alex-senpai’s hospital room by the ear—which still smarted.

  Because he was a cadet, still in training, he wasn’t going to be allowed on this mission unless the situation became dire. He was probably lucky. The other cadets at the Police Academy would never be selected for a mission like this at all, standby notwithstanding.

  As he sat in the front seat of the cockpit, the sound of the passenger doors opening gained his attention, causing him to turn his head.

  “What is it now, Com—senpai?!”

  Alex walked into the shuttle and sat down. Just then, the back door opened, and Gabrielle and Alice entered as well. Alex leaned over in his seat and fixed Darrick with a stare that caused him to gulp.

  “You are going to do everything I say without question, got it?”

  “Ah, um, y-yes, Alex-senpai.”

  Alex leaned back in the seat and nodded. “Good. Then take us to my home quickly, in less than ten minutes, if you can.”

  Less than ten minutes?! It took at least twenty minutes to reach the Outer District! Asking him to reach Alex-senpai’s house in less than ten minutes was the same as asking him to go Mach five in the city!

  He was about to tell Alex this when he saw the genius inventor’s mile-long stare. It was a look that Darrick had only seen a few times in the past; it only appeared when Alex’s mind was dead set on something. This same look had been present when Alex beat the utter living crap out of those robbers back when they had first met. In that moment, Darrick knew that whatever Alex-senpai planned on doing, nothing short of death would make him stop.

  “Okay,” he agreed. He turned on the shuttle, ignoring the thrum of the engines as they ignited, and lifted the shuttle off the docking pad.

  Just as he was about to fly off, his speaker crackled with noise, and the voice of Second-in-Command Yumi sounded out. “Officer Darrick, what do you think you’re doing?”

  “Uh…”

  While Darrick found himself at a loss for words, Alex leaned forward and grabbed the comm unit. He flicked it on and spoke into the device. “It’s not Darrick’s doing. It’s mine.”

  “Alexander?” Second-in-Command Yumi sounded surprised. “What are you doing in that shuttle? You should still be in the hospital recuperating!”

  “Sorry. Can’t. There are things that I need to do, and being in cooped up in a hospital bed isn’t conducive to that.”

  “What are you planning?”

  “Nothing that you need to concern yourself with.”

  “Alexander, I demand to know what you’re planning this instant—”

  Second-in-Command Yumi’s voice cut out when Alex turned the comm unit off.

  “Sorry, Yumi, but I’m no longer a cadet under your command and haven’t been since I was kicked out of the academy.” He sat back down and looked at Darrick. “Start flying. Ignore any and all warnings you get. They won’t follow you. Just keep going and don’t stop until you reach my house.”

  “R-right.”

  The doors to the police department opened up and several people ran out. Commander Karen and Second-in-Command Yumi were at the front of this procession. Their expressions were hard to see because they were so far away, but it was easy for Darrick to imagine the looks of seething rage on their faces.

  Just like Alex ordered, Darrick launched the shuttle into an accelerated flight, leaving what appeared to be a screaming Commander Karen behind.

  6

  Karen seethed as she watched the shuttle take off, breaking the sound barrier and traveling headlong into the city. The windows around them rattled from the resulting shock wave. While several of the officers with her, including her second-in-command, shielded their eyes from the harsh winds, she merely stood there, glaring as the shuttle disappeared between a pair of skyscrapers.

  “I can’t believe that idiot!” she grated out. What the hell did Alexander think he was doing? Did he really think he could do anything while he was injured like that? Just what was he planning?

  “Commander Karen, what should we do?” Yumi asked. A glance at her second-in-command showed that the woman was awaiting orders. “Should we follow them?”

  “... No.” Karen sighed. “We’ve got too much coming up to chase them down. We’re going to need every officer available if we want to track down and take care of Nyx. Besides, I can pretty much already guess what Alexander is planning.”

  Knowing Alexander as she did, Karen knew that he would first be traveling home to get himself equipped. She didn’t know what he planned on grabbing but considering ninety-five percent of his inventions were hazardous to people’s health, it didn’t really matter what he got—all of it would be dangerous.

  “Follow me,” Karen demanded of her subordinates. Yumi and the two officers with them saluted and followed their commander back into the police department. They took the elevator all the way to her office, the two officers taking up positions on either side of her door.

  Karen sat down at her desk, pressed a button on the inbuilt comm unit, and said, “Connect me to Freya Lothbrok right away.”

  Freya was a member of the intelligence division for the GDF. She was also a former subordinate of Alex’s grandfather, and when Nicolas had quit the Galactic Defense Force, Freya was the one who’d taken his place.

  The Galactic Defense Force was different from the Galactic Police Force; their jurisdiction was higher, and thus, anyone in the GDF was technically above a commander of the police forces. However, Freya owed her a favor, and she was going to cash in.

  “Yes, ma’am,” a voice issued from the speaker.

  The line ended and the two of them waited for the operator to connect them to Freya Lothbrok’s private channel. Karen had her gathering equipment—equipment that a simple police officer, even a commander like her, couldn’t acquire with her credentials—to help them track down Nyx, so they both knew it might take a while.

  “Commander, what do you think Alexander is going to do?” Yumi asked.

  Karen leaned back in her chair, arms crossed and one leg over the other. She was in her commander mode now. Her mind was running through countless variables and possibilities.


  “Knowing Alexander like I do, he will first travel to his house and gather whatever equipment he feels he’ll need. After that, I have no doubt that he’s going to try and track down Nyx before us, which means we’ll need to find and take care of her first.”

  “But why would he want to find the person who nearly killed him? Surely he’s not after revenge?”

  Karen looked at her second-in-command like she was stupid, causing Yumi to squirm in discomfort. “You really don’t know Alexander that well, do you? For all of his genius intellect, martial talent, and reckless nature, Alexander is a bleeding heart who can’t stand to see another person suffer. He’s a naïve child who thinks he can save everyone.”

  Having known Alexander since his father had first been inducted as an officer, Karen knew about the boy’s obsession. Alexander helped everyone he came across. If a person was being bullied, he’d beat up the bullies. If a person needed money, he wouldn’t hesitate to give them money. He didn’t even ask questions. If someone needed his help, and he could help them, he did so without hesitation. It had been like that ever since his father died.

  And we still don’t know how Farone died either…

  “I can see that,” Yumi said, nodding. “He does seem to be the type. What I cannot understand is what this Nyx has to do with anything.”

  Her second-in-command knew nothing. Granted, Yumi had never liked Alexander due to his impulsive attitude and predilection for mass destruction, but it grated on her nerves how Yumi seemed to think he was beneath her notice.

  “It is clear to me that this Nyx woman has somehow managed to work her way into Alexander’s heart—not a hard feat to achieve, all things considered. Like I said, Alexander is a bleeding heart and easily grows attached to people. Either way, this Nyx is clearly important to him despite what she’s done. He’ll find her and try to protect her, even if she makes another attempt on his life.”

  Yumi didn’t know what to say to that, so she said nothing.

  The communication console beeped.

  “This is Karen Kanzaki,” Karen said into the comm unit.

  “Karen? This is Freya,” a sultry voice said from the other end.

  “About time. Is the tracking equipment prepared?”

  “Yes, it’s up and ready. We’ve even got a bead on Nyx’s location.”

  “Excellent. I want you to keep an open channel to all members of the police force in order to feed them constant updates. Keep track of Nyx’s movements and let them know where she is at all times.”

  “Will do.”

  As Freya ended the communication, Karen opened a channel to every member of the police force. “Attention all units, this is Commander Karen Kanzaki speaking. We have a dangerous assassin on the loose in Mars City. I repeat, we have a dangerous assassin on the loose in Mars City. All forces are to stop whatever they are doing and aid in the search and elimination of this assassin. Details will be given via your communication stations and Idbands. We’re going to take this assassin down, so the use of lethal force is authorized.”

  “What’s going to happen now?” Yumi asked after Karen ended her open communication.

  She leaned back in her chair and placed her arms on the armrests. “Our forces will undoubtedly find Nyx before Alexander is even ready. With luck, they will find and dispose of her before he can arrive. After which, we shall apprehend him. I might not be able to throw him in jail for disobeying orders because of his situation, but you can be damn sure he’s going to be in for a world of hurt when I get my hands on him.”

  Yumi gulped at the expression on her face, but Karen ignored the woman’s rapidly paling countenance. She also ignored the way her “bodyguards” trembled.

  Yes, Alexander was going to get more than just a lecture this time.

  CHAPTER 4

  OPERATION RESCUE NYX

  The moment Darrick’s police shuttle touched the ground, Alex leapt out and ran into his house. Pain flared in his chest, a burning sensation that felt like needles stabbing his lungs every time he breathed. He ignored it and rushed into his and Gabrielle’s laboratory. Gabrielle, Alice, and Darrick were hounding his tail.

  Their lab was located in the basement level. Separated from their house by dimensional warping, it was the only place he and Gabrielle could invent stuff without worrying about their inventions destroying Mars City.

  “Gabrielle, grab Mr. Stick-Stick Goo-Shooter and Mr. Explosion.”

  “Right!”

  Alex stripped off the police uniform that he’d purloined, even as he rushed over to a large, metal cylinder with a handprint scanner, which he placed his right hand on. The scanner beeped. The door slid open with a hiss, revealing his crisis suit, one of several.

  This one was a light blue with silver lining. The veins that ran over the surface like a power grid were currently dull, but they’d light up once it synchronized with him.

  As if it possessed a mind of its own, the crisis suit leapt forward, latching onto him and crawling along his body. Ignoring the pain and the feeling of blood gathering inside of his suit, Alex turned to Gabrielle and the others. He was about to give more orders.

  “What’s this?”

  Alex glanced at Darrick, who was in the process of reaching for Mr. Recycle Doggy. His eyes widened.

  “No, wait! Don’t touch that!”

  It was too late. Darrick reached out and his fingers brushed against the robotic cleaning dog. Red eyes lit up as he accidentally flipped the switch. Alex could hear the hum of servo-motors as the creature’s circuits activated.

  Chaos ensued after that. Mr. Recycle Doggy chomped down on everything in sight as its algorithmic processing determined that everything around it was trash to be disposed of. It took a chunk out of the main console in the center of the room, tore straight through Mr. Sex-Change, and gnawed into the durasteel walls.

  “Holy crap! What the hell is that thing?!”

  “Not this troublesome thing again!”

  Alice and Darrick shouted, their voices bouncing along the walls. Mr. Recycle Doggy’s eyes gleamed red as it caught sight of them. The two released a terrified shriek as it barked and chased after them.

  “Gabrielle!” Alex shouted. “Quick, we need to stop this thing from doing any more damage!”

  “I’m on it!”

  Gabrielle rushed over to the wall where several other devices hung off a series of racks. She grabbed one of those inventions, a really large tubular device that looked a lot like a bazooka—except it was pink. She took aim at Mr. Recycle Doggy, her eyes looking through the reticle, locking onto her target.

  “Mr. Stick Stick Goo-Shooter, fire!”

  Bang!

  Like a cannon going off, Mr. Stick Stick Goo-Shooter fired a round of something bright and round and pink. The dog-shaped cleaning bot swerved to the side, avoiding the pink ball, which splattered and spread across the floor like ooze, and then quickly hardened.

  Bang-bang-bang!

  More rounds from Mr. Stick Stick Goo-Shooter were fired, and each round ended up missing, splatting along the walls, floor, and ceiling. The pink gum-like material spread across the floor before hardening. Very soon the entire workshop was covered in the hardened substance, and unfortunately, Mr. Recycle Doggy had somehow avoided getting hit even once.

  Alex and the others, however, had not.

  The events that led to Alex being captured in the gum-like substance had happened so fast it was a blur. All he could recall was bright pink filling his vision, and then the next he knew, he was hanging from the ceiling, caught within the cocoon-like embrace of the substance shot from Mr. Stick Stick Goo-Shooter. He felt like a rookie pilot who’d been tangled within his own crash webbing.

  At least my face isn’t covered…

  He looked around to see that Alice and Darrick were in similar straits. His sister was stuck to the floor, the pink gummy substance covering everything except her head.

  Darrick had somehow managed to avoid being trapped within the cohesive materia
l’s embrace. Of course, Darrick’s situation was much worse than his or Alice’s, seeing how his head was completely covered by the gum-like substance.

  The cadet pilot stumbled about like a man who’d had a few too many drinks. He grabbed at the gum and pulled with all his might. Yet, no matter how hard he pulled, the gum refused to be removed. It remained stuck to his face, muffling his startled shouts and fearful cries.

  “Uh-oh, I’m out of ammo. Tee-hee!”

  Alex tore his gaze away from the sight of his friend stumbling about in blind confusion and locked onto Gabrielle. She was the only person who wasn’t covered in gum. She stood in the center of the room, a small circle of about five meters around her clear of pink. The alien princess looked around, eyes surveying the damage with an expression that reminded Alex of a curious child.

  Mr. Recycle Doggy was now munching on one of Alex’s and Gabrielle’s inventions, which looked like a pair of angel wings—or it had. Now it looked like Swiss cheese.

  “This has to be the most troublesome situation I’ve ever been in,” Alice grumbled.

  She was trying to move her limbs to no effect. This material, while elastic and capable of expanding, required someone with more strength than Alice possessed. He and Gabrielle had tested this substance on Azazel, so he knew that it had a breaking strength of about 256 KiloNewtons. There was no way that his little sister, who could barely lift 15.68 kilograms, would be breaking out of that any time soon.

  Alex sighed. This was going to take forever to clean up, and he really didn’t have time to deal with it. Nyx was in trouble. He needed to find her before the police did. He wouldn’t allow a friend to face danger alone—even if that friend had tried to kill him.

  “Gabrielle, would you mind breaking us out of this?”

  “Sure!”

  The cheery girl smiled as she pointed her finger at him. A beam of blue light shot from the finger, which smashed into the substance holding him to the ceiling, shattering it like glass. It also crushed Alex against wall, and then the wall behind him broke. He fell to the floor, wincing as he somehow landed on his feet. More blood seeped into his crisis suit, causing it to stick to his skin.