by Jamie Hawke
“Up ahead,” she finally said, “not far. Maybe twenty feet.” For another moment she didn’t move, then added, “Why are you breathing so heavily?”
“I’m not. Go.”
Loud clanging on metal sounded from ahead.
“You sound like you’re breathing really heavily.”
“Can we please…?” I held my breath, and she shrugged, moving forward again.
We stayed silent, knowing that the enemy was so close. The passage narrowed, a blue hue seeping in from the edges of the wall paneling on our left. When we reached the edge of our current ledge, she held up a hand, gesturing me back.
Below us, off to the right, was a group of people, though from this angle I could mostly just see their shadows and feet. We made our way along the ledge, moving until we were in a bit of an alcove and had a better view.
There were at least four of them there, maybe more out of sight. One of them was a woman who leaned against a wall, playing with a ball of fire in her hands. Another woman was transforming herself, shifting back and forth between her human form and that of what looked like a dragon. The two men were watching, one toying with a knife, and then a third walked into view and started arguing with the man with the knife.
“This is why we haven’t seen as many prisoners in the halls,” Charm explained, as one of the men pounded on the door and shouted obscenities. “They’re forming cliques, each falling behind whoever they believe to be the strongest supers. I’m guessing these are laying siege to some other group, figuring that if they can defeat that group’s leader, the supers following him or her will then turn to them, as they’ll have proven they’re more powerful. It’s how Ranger works—with a set hierarchy of rules.”
“My brother would’ve loved him,” I said. Not wanting to get sidetracked and seeing the curiosity in her face, I said, “And what about Twitch? Would she be around here then?”
“I’m not sure,” Charm said. “But we have to try.”
“If we can even reach the location. They might have people surrounding it.”
“Ah, but you forget,” Charm held out her hands and vanished, then reappeared a second later. “Cloaking. You might have to stay back and wait, while I go and look into it.”
“What if you run into Metallica? Will she not be able to sense you?” I asked. “Or me with Chains, I don’t know if I want you to leave me alone.”
She took a breath as if trying to stay patient. “Listen, Breaker, you know we have to find her, right? I mean, if we want a chance at getting out of this place, we need her.”
“Meanwhile, the enemies that this Ranger villain wants on his side… they’re down there trying to kill each other off?” I asked, peering down at them. “I don’t understand.”
“What’s confusing? They want to rip each other’s balls off.”
“First, not all of them have balls.”
“Not half as big as yours, anyway,” she said with a grin, then put a hand on my leg.
“Wh-what’s happening right now?” A shift in my pants told my mouth to shut up, just let it happen.
She shrugged. “Kinda hot, isn’t it? All those killers right there, us here, so close and yet… they can’t touch us.”
“So, the danger thing turns you on,” I said, nodding. “No charm this time?”
A shrug and she said, “Would that make it less awkward?”
“I think we should find Twitch, honestly.”
She frowned, then smiled. “Oh, I mean, I don’t think she’d be into it, but we can ask.”
“Not what I meant,” I replied, but my mind filled with the image of Charm and a beautiful woman both going down on me at the same time. I had to admit, that didn’t sound so bad. Still, “Not what I meant at all.”
She frowned, fingers moving up my leg, brushing the side of my crotch.
“You’re not worried?” I asked. “I mean, what if she’s hurt, or trapped in some war like this?”
Charm laughed, watching the bulge in my pants move. “You’re so cute when you’re worried.”
With that she lunged at me, pressing her lips against mine as she fumbled with my pants and a second later had my cock out. Her lips and tongue tasted like her breath had—cherry hookah without the smoke—and for a second I forgot that there was a supervillain standoff going on below us, not very far away at all.
When I opened my eyes, she was staring at me, kissing me with her eyes wide open.
“What?” I asked.
“Just fun to watch the way your face moves when I do this,” she gripped my cock hard, and my left eye twitched as my muscles clenched, “or this.” Then she stroked it, slow, then faster than a non-super would’ve been able to, and my mouth dropped open as my abs clenched and I moved forward.
“Maybe we should see what kind of faces you make,” I said, and scooted closer, my hand moving to her crotch.
She slapped the head of my cock and scooted her hips back, then brought up a finger to wag in my face. “Nu-uh.”
“Wait, what?” I had to remember to keep my voice down as confusion welled up. “You’re kissing me, playing with me,” I glanced down at my massive erection, fully exposed, “and you don’t even want a gentle rub?”
“A gentle…?” She held her hand to her mouth to keep from laughing. “Listen, Breaker, I just don’t know you that well yet.”
I frowned, gestured to my cock with both hands, and said, “Um…”
Apparently, the mood was ruined, because she grimaced and said, “Yeah, you might want to put that away.”
“I’m sorry, is it because I wanted to touch you too?”
“It’s a bit presumptuous,” she said, “that’s all. Kinda ruined the mood.”
“Holy shit.” I tucked myself back in, feeling the pain of it pressing against my pants, and grumbled as I turned back to whatever was happening down there. Apparently, someone had appeared and tried to blast the guys with plasma but ended up killing one of the women. The others charged the door, pushing through.
That’s when the screaming started, followed by shots, explosions, and the sound of wind. Then silence. Whatever had happened, it was either over real fast or the team was moving in deeper for the true kill. It had me curious, but I knew the real focus was on finding Twitch.
Coming to know her later, it shouldn’t have been a surprise at all that she was the one to find us.
“I was wondering when he was going to put that thing away,” a voice said, and then the wall to my left vanished. Crouching there, watching us with a look of amused annoyance, was a woman with green hair in a green outfit similar to Charm’s red one. There was something about her face that made her beautiful, but it was more a sophisticated, rich person sort of beauty—not cute or hot, but beautiful.
As I stared at her, I processed what she’d said, putting it together with the wall disappearing.
“Oh my God,” I said, eyes going wide and darting from her to Charm.
Charm shrugged. “I kinda figured she’d be around, or at least come back soon. This is kind of her spot.”
“Her… meaning Twitch?” I asked. “You pulled my dick out, knowing she might be here?”
“She is still here,” Twitch said, “and don’t worry, you had nothing to be ashamed of.”
“I—I didn’t say that. It’s not what I meant. It’s beside the point!”
“Voice, lower it.” Charm reminded me.
I spun on her, about to explode, but she pointed to more villains who had just arrived below. I ground my teeth, glaring at her.
“If you’re not embarrassed by it,” Charm asked, “what’s the big deal?”
“Seriously?” My eyes found Twitch, and she shrugged.
“I didn’t want to interrupt you two,” Twitch said. “That said, I’m not going to pretend I wasn’t looking. Like I said, nothing to be ashamed of. You’ve got yourself a grade-A cock there, big guy.”
“This is very weird,” was all I could think. “Please tell me Xin isn’t listening… X
in?”
“Xin wouldn’t be caught dead here,” Charm said, confused. Her eyes went wide and she turned to Twitch. “Oh, no—I swear to Oram, there’s no Xin here. I didn’t bring him, we weren’t followed.”
Twitch had instantly put up her hands and pink, translucent screens appeared. She was frowning, glancing from the screens to me as what looked like code flew across them. I looked back to Charm, but she was staring at Twitch’s screens with an excited fascination. My best guess was that she’d heard of this power—if that’s what it was—but never seen it in person.
Finally, Twitch bit her lip, swiped a hand through the air so that the screens vanished, and then nodded my way.
“You’ve got some connection to him, but he’s not here,” she said. “Explain.”
“What the hell were you doing?” I asked.
“Answer me, and I’ll answer you.”
Not being sure how much to trust her yet, I remembered I had my own screens of a sort, and pulled one up about her. The difference was, she couldn’t see mine.
Moniker: Twitch. Status: Supervillain, imprisoned. Special Powers: Altering Physics. Notes: Proceed with caution.
“Altering physics?” I asked. “How does that work?”
She blinked, her eyes running across my clothes, and then pulled up a pink screen—just one this time. “Son of a bitch. What you just did, I’ve only known one person who could do that, and she’s one of the Elders like Xin. So I ran a search for Lamb, and strangely, it points at you. But not the full amount, it’s like… faint traces of her.”
“Hold the fuck up,” Charm said, turning to me. “Are you actually Lamb in disguise? Was that a fake dick?”
“What?” No, no!”
I had been too loud, apparently, because shouting had started below and a shot of fire hit the ceiling nearby.
“Looks like you two are with me, at least until I get some answers,” Twitch said, and she motioned for us to follow her. As she walked, she pulled up more of those pink screens and looked like she was typing in the air. New commands popped up, numbers scrolling, and then a wall went up in front of us while the one ahead split for us to walk through before closing behind us. My heart thudded as I tried to understand this, pushing myself forward.
This shit was crazy, but I was glad to be on her side—even if just temporarily.
5
Holy shit,” I declared, amazed at what was happening as, yet again, Twitch used her screens in unbelieveable ways to make a temporary hole in a wall for us to walk through. “Is this what that altering physics thing means?”
“It’s not exactly altering anything,” she replied. “Although, I can. To a degree. It’s like programming my surroundings to work a certain way. Your turn.”
“I…”
Charm turned to me with a ‘go on’ expression, and I sighed, realizing I needed to trust these two at least, or I was screwed. Especially since Xin was apparently off helping other supposed heroes get up to speed.
I told them all I knew as we stormed through openings and more holding cell areas, then paused outside a mess hall where more noise was coming from.
“Damn,” Twitch said, holding up a hand for us to stop, then gesturing us back while she put up a fake wall. “You’re saying they’ve chosen you… you, to be one of the new Elders?”
“And when I do this,” Charm said, reaching out nonchalantly and rubbing my crotch. “It’s kind of like I’m rubbing Lamb, at least while you’re clothed?”
“No to that,” I said, then took her hand and shoved it away. “And maybe a break from that for two secs?” Turning back to Twitch, I ignored Charm’s giggle as I added, “I don’t know about all this Elder talk, I mean, I’m not old at all, and…”
“And…?”
“I don’t exactly have any superpowers.”
“The fuck?” she said, but smiled.
“You knew?”
“I saw it when looking up your code, if you want to call it that. Well, no active powers, but, actually there was something there that didn’t make sense. I figured it was a glitch or something. No powers though, right?”
“Right.”
“Then yeah, probably a glitch.” She didn’t look certain, but nodded to herself. Metal clanging sounded ahead of us, then scurrying like before.
Charm instantly went into cloak mode, but grabbed my arm. “Twitch?”
“Let me guess, your friend Metallica?” Twitch asked.
“That’d be my guess.”
“Stay close.” Twitch made another hole in a nearby wall, but already those robot things with their beaks were moving in through the hole, and Twitch cursed. When she turned the other way, more of them arrived.
“She shouldn’t be able to make so many,” Charm protested. “Unless…”
“She’s joined up with Amplifier and his gang,” Twitch said. “But we’ll have time to hypothesize later. Right now we need to get out of here. Her pink screens were flashing, hands moving across them, as first one robot transformed into a metal jumping bunny, then another.
“What the fuck?” I asked.
“I’m doing the best I can,” she countered. “I can hack them. Doesn’t mean I can completely change them. No matter what shape they take, they’ll still be under her control.
“So why give them mouths or legs at all?!” Charm said.
Instead of answering, Twitch made the next few into cute bunnies without mouths or legs, but still, they continued to come. Then, from the far end of the hall, a woman stepped into sight. There was no doubt that this was Metallica—she was wrapped in metal that swirled around her as she moved, likely there to protect her from harm. With a smile, she swept her hand out. Small shards of metal flew out, and I watched as Twitch turned them into flat metallic screens that we were able to knock out of the air.
She looked annoyed, but also slightly impressed.
Behind her stood a slim man with hair frizzing out, another at her side who had an intimidating look to him.
“You two can leave,” Metallica said. “My fight is with Charm.”
“Not going to happen,” I said, without a second thought. A glance back showed our new friend, Twitch, looking unsure. What reason would she have to risk her life for us? But when her eyes met mine, I knew she was staying. There was a look of curiosity in them, and as we all know, there are few powers more dangerous than that.
“Run,” Twitch told us, as she adjusted her screens again so that as we ran, images of us stayed behind, and the attack meant for us hit them instead. Next, she pulled up a small screen and dragged her hand across it so that the floor below lowered into a slide, and we went careening down it before it closed behind us a moment later.
More scurrying sounded, and we knew this wouldn’t hide us forever.
“Remind me to ask why I’m helping you,” Twitch said, then made a hole to our right, so that we could escape through there.
“Might be because you’re not as evil as the rest, and neither are we,” Charm said with a grin. “Rumor has it you’re a big softie.”
“Well fuck that rumor,” Twitch said, and we walked right into the midst of a literal firefight, plasma blasts and a blast of fire scorching past us. Two women surged past with blades forming in their hands, and a man with horns that sprouted from his head and vibrated with electricity came to meet them.
“Damn, not the right way,” Twitch said, backpedaling. Some of them turned on us, but we were already high-tailing it out of there, diving down another hallway, then another two, only to hit a place where Metallica’s face appeared in the wall before us as she said, “Boo.” Then the ground gave out.
Ever have the ground disappear beneath your feet? It sucks. One moment I was running, the next it felt like my heart had been pulled out through my throat and my head slammed with a sledgehammer. Of course, part of that might have been a blast from the enemies behind us that hit at the same time, but whatever it was, the combined effect was not good.
Walls passed us and
I saw metal flickering down at our side, carrying the leering form of Metallica. Weird how you don’t notice someone until the oddest moments—like now, I could tell that maybe she had been attractive once, her eyes a metallic gray, her black hair hanging around her face as if permanently wet. She had angular features that could’ve been beautiful, if not for the crazy bitch part of it all.
Then we landed, with Twitch hitting the ground hardest, Charm landing on top of her and me to one side. Metallica came to a stop nearby, the two others right behind her, and the metal now formed around us like a thick ball, shifting, not stopping. We were trapped, holes closing at Metallica’s orders as fast as Twitch could open them.
Then the man with frizzy hair stepped forward and smiled. That smile was enough to make me want to turn and flee… only there was nowhere to flee to. He held out his hand, about to open it, when I noticed a strange color in the wind next to him, then a shimmer, moving fast.
Metallica held up a hand and said, “Wait… where is she?”
I glanced around and couldn’t find Charm or her shimmer, and on second glance, Twitch vanished while messing with her pink screens.
“Where are they?!” Metallica screamed, and I realized we’d all disappeared, in a sense. She thrust out her arms, her metal suit spinning around her with increasing speed until it exploded outwards, instantly killing the two men with her. It likely would’ve killed us too, if not for the strange bubble of blue that formed around us. Metal clanked on metal all around, and then I noticed a shape moving in that blue, faster than I could quite comprehend. This wasn’t a force-field or anything like that, but a person using some sort of energy to move fast and protect us.
A shriek came from Metallica as arms grabbed her from behind, pulling her through a tunnel that appeared in the metal. Not normal arms, but red, glowing arms, many of them that seemingly belonged to nobody.
The blue bubble faded as the form followed her into the tunnel, pausing only long enough for me to catch a glimpse of a woman with stark blue skin and eyes, and then she was gone, the ship engulfing her as she went.