Supers - Ex Heroes 6

by Jamie Hawke

  She pouted, then indicated the door, which was starting to open. “Cloak, bitches.”

  With those words, she vanished, and I realized it was time. I used my illusion power to focus on our surroundings and make it appear to those nearby as if we weren’t there at all. It was kind of like bending light, in that I had to imagine the other side of each of us and project that image. Only, not quite so scientific. This meant that, if anyone looked closely enough, I didn’t think my illusion would hold up.

  Still, as soon as the ramp was open we were out, moving past the soldiers who awaited our arrival. We made it almost to the far doors before the officer in charge called for us to come out from inside the ship. When they got no response, the soldiers started to enter but by then we had made it through the door and into the next corridor. Shouts sounded from behind, but more in confusion than anger.

  “Keep moving,” I said, scanning the area ahead for supers. “Anyone here have any idea where the leader of a ship would—”

  “Of course,” Letha said, and I changed the illusion enough so that we could at least all see each other.

  “How?” I asked.

  “I was practically raised on these things,” she replied. “And it seems that when you altered my mind, you made almost all of my memories as solid as if they had just happened.”

  “Shit, sorry. Some of that has to suck.”

  She nodded. “You have no idea. But the bonus is I can pretty much remember how these ships are laid out, and I imagine we’ll find her on the bridge. Come on.”

  Each of Letha’s steps was deliberate, each turn crisp, certain. She hadn’t exaggerated about knowing this place, it seemed. We had made it up two stairwells and toward the front of the ship before the first scan caught us, an automated one with several turrets projecting from the ceiling.

  Nothing a blast of electricity from me couldn’t take care of. A second later they were smoking, not even a round fired, and Charm was already at the far end of the hallway taking out a guard who came charging out in response to some unheard alarm. Her black breath again. She pounced off him, a shot went off, then something slammed into the wall. I sprinted over to find her scowling at a point where one of her tails was smoking, then looked down at the corpse. A female, her head obliterated, blood covering the wall and floor.

  “Fuck,” I said.

  “Can’t keep ‘em all alive,” Charm said with a shrug. “Any that fire on me are fair game, way I see it.”

  “True enough.”

  I led the next charge, working to keep up the illusion, although now they knew where we were, at least in a general sense. Three guards came around the next corner carrying rifles with facemasks on, instantly opening fire, so that one shot fizzled on my shield before we managed to scamper back around the previous corner for cover.

  “Their HUDs are showing us,” I said, certain that was the only way they could’ve known we were there and fired accurately enough to land a shot.

  “We can take ‘em,” Charm said, ready to make a move.

  “Allow us,” Letha said, stepping forward, fire glove ready, blaster in her other hand. Darnell grinned, and I noticed that he now held a rifle—likely obtained from the woman’s corpse back there. The rifle, when held up, projected a shield across the sides. Useful.

  They didn’t wait for our approval, instead charging out in a fury. I knew Letha’s style from watching what little Planet Kill I actually had, and knew this was pretty much her thing. Charge at the enemy, catch them off guard. It worked, especially with her flamethrower fist thing. I’d have to make myself one of those, I thought as I passed the burning corpses. Shot first, then burned for… what? The fun of it? I shuddered at the thought, as I hurried to catch up with Charm.

  “They’re ruthless,” she said.

  “I guess that’s what happens when you’re thrown onto a planet and told to kill and fuck your way to the top.”

  She eyed me, then shivered. “Yeah, no thank you.”

  More fighting followed shortly after, giving me the chance to try another illusion—making it appear that the ship had suddenly snapped in half and was floating away. The result was hilarious, involving several soldiers flailing around, falling, and one having a heart attack. All were soon out, thanks to Charm’s yellow breath.

  Turning, I flinched upon seeing a fist an inch from my face. Another attacker had gotten around us. My scanner showed that he was a super with ranged attacks. Not projectiles, but like his punch went far, which explained how it was so close to me while he was on the other side of the room. About to counter, I had the opportunity to see what Darnell’s life-draining power could do. He closed the distance in three animalistic bounds, then was on the guy with a hand pummeling the super’s head. The super’s body shriveled up, energy pouring out and up through Darnell’s arm, giving him a slight greenish glow.

  Charm was ahead, already at the hall this super had just come through, breathing out a stream of black so that three thumps sounded as more went down, and we all took positions, ready. Sure enough, one super hadn’t been affected by the charm, and now he flung out with arms spread, what looked like wings streaming out. No, not wings, I realized as the super turned and almost hit me, but black smoke that swirled around us, contacting me first and causing my skin to burn.

  “Get back!” I shouted to the others, and immediately pulled on his health to replace my own. It worked, but only barely enough to keep me in the fight. He still managed to charge me, exchanging blow for blow, but luckily my blows were harder and faster than his. Three solid hits, and the fucker was down, gasping for breath, windpipe crushed.

  “Next!” I growled as my skin finished its recovery.

  “That would be the bridge,” Letha said, checking her surroundings to be certain. With a slight nod, she led the way down the hallways the supers had come from. We passed four more soldiers, collapsed here and there, just outside a set of wide doors.

  “You’re fun to bring along,” Letha said to Charm.

  “You have no idea how much fun I can be,” Charm replied.

  Letha shook her head. “If you’re trying to flirt with me, the moment right before I finally get to confront my sister probably isn’t the best time.”

  “Noted,” Charm replied, but held up a finger. “But to be clear, that’s just how I talk. No flirting—not on purpose, anyway.”

  “Good,” Rand interjected while stepping up to the side of the door, rifle ready. “I was about to get worried. Mr. Huge Cock over there is one thing, but a hottie with three tails? I’m not sure.”

  Charm grinned, but Letha waved him off and said, “You’ll never have anything to worry about with anyone. Just keep your head on your shoulders, and I’ll take care of you.”

  “Noted.”

  “We doing this?” Darnell asked, one hand on the door, looking like he was going to attempt to ram it with his shoulder.

  “I got it,” I said, and pulled up my troubleshooter screen while moving to the pad that opened the doors. Instead of bothering with hand scans or whatever it had, all I did was make a simple adjustment, as if it had been broken by not opening on our entry.

  “Be ready,” I said.

  With a hiss, the doors slid open.

  To my surprise, there were no attacks. Charm darted past, cloaked, and I followed, creating several fake versions of us to lead the way in case there were attacks. Still nothing.

  “Sister,” a voice hissed, as we followed through to see the main part of the bridge a level above, where several people were looking down at us. Or rather, the illusions of us. They all wore high-collared blue uniforms, with civilian ranks and insignia.

  “I wondered if I would ever see you again,” the woman I had to assume was her sister said, “once I heard that you managed to Ascend. Imagine my surprise that you made it that far. Of course, after that, I’m not surprised you’ve managed to make it here.”

  “Well, here, actually,” Letha called out, waving and then nodding at me to uncloak
her. I did, and let the other versions of her fade. All eyes darted over to her.

  “Ah, yes. More like you.”

  “Kill her,” one of the others muttered. “There’s no reason to prolong this.”

  Letha’s sister held up a hand, not even looking at the guy, who I imagined was an adviser.

  “She already tried to kill me once,” Letha snapped. “You think she’s stupid enough to try twice?” The man guffawed, turning to his leader, but the rest were frozen, their eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Tell you what,” Letha continued, “hand over all controls now, sister, and I’ll let you live. In a cell, sure, but live. Don’t… and I’ll show you how we handle problems Planet Kill-style.”

  Her sister’s lip twitched and she gripped the railing. “Do it.”

  As soon as the words were spoken, turrets emerged from the walls and tall robotic figures emerged from halls on either side. The robots, somewhere between androids and small mechs in size, with blasters on their shoulders and what looked like tasers where they would’ve had hands, stood ready. They each had lines of red glowing across their faces.

  I glanced around, wondering if this ship’s commanders would be stupid enough to enter into battle while standing on the bridge of their ship, but then noticed the shimmer of light. I sent a blast up toward Letha’s sister, and wasn’t surprised to see it fizzle out on an energy shield. Smart—keep us separated from them, so the shots wouldn’t kill the controls or blast away walls, leaving us to float off into space.

  “Charm, you got this?” I asked.

  She chuckled and vanished. A moment later, as we started fighting the robots and dodging turret blasts, shouts of surprise sounded from above. One of those blue-suited assholes flew over and into the energy field a moment later. His body shook violently, then he fell back on his side, smoking.

  I was sending tempest blasts to take out turrets, but looked up to see the energy field vanish, and Charm waving from the ledge. A hand grabbed her tail and pulled, blade coming up, and she growled. Big mistake for some jackass up there.

  Blood spurted from the other side of that ledge but just then I had to turn as Rand took a hit to the shoulder and fell, looking bad. Letha grunted and went to help him. While this group was great against humans or even the odd super, here, they were out of their league.

  Good thing I knew how to heal—but I needed more enemy troops to take the health from, before I could give it to others. Now that the energy field was down, that shouldn’t be a problem. I turned, blasted the last of the turrets, and pushed up and went dragon mode. With a flash of my wings I was there, snapping at Letha’s sister. I grabbed her by the arm and tossed her off the ledge. Partly it was the adrenaline pushing me, but also a thought that it made sense to deliver her to her sister.

  Next, I transformed into myself as I grabbed hold of an older, meaner-looking dude, and together we went over the ledge. As we fell, I drained his health and directed it toward Rand. I rolled upon landing, coming up next to Rand in time to see Letha’s eyes widen as his wound healed, his shock gradually receding.

  “Your sister,” I said, indicating the spot where the woman was on her back shouting, clutching what was clearly a broken leg.

  The woman saw Letha coming and reached for a blaster, but Letha’s fire glove sent a burst of flame over her that made her pause.

  “We can do this the painful way, or…” Letha stood over her and drew her blaster, waiting.

  “You were always too simple, too loyal,” her sister growled between grunts of pain due to her leg. “Power isn’t something you have the ability to grasp—not true power. I’ve arranged something huge, here. I’ve—”

  Her head exploded with a shot from Letha, who then turned and said, “Good, the quick and simple way.”

  I arched an eyebrow, then turned to see Charm holding two people over the ledge above. The rest had apparently been dealt with by then.

  “We need any of these guys alive?” Charm asked. One already had a steady stream of blood flowing down her neck. The other was messed up, but less so.

  Letha glanced up. “Drop her. Keep the other one alive. For now.” The bleeding one fell, hit with the unmistakable crunch of something breaking, and then she was out, either passed out from the pain, or dead, we weren’t sure which. With that amount of blood loss, though, she would soon be dead, anyway.

  “Keep him for questioning,” Letha said, pointing at the other one.

  I followed, when I realized my scanner screen was still up and had just registered several names. Not several, I realized as I spun, scanning. A fucking lot.

  “Shit, it’s a trap,” I said, turning to Charm.

  “What do you mean? Where?”

  “We walked right into it.”

  The words had barely left my mouth when the doors opened and in stepped Asterisk.

  4

  If it had only been her, or maybe even her and her three remaining formless guards, I would have considered charging in against them and tried to take them down on my own. But it wasn’t.

  Supers were rushing in from all directions. Maybe it wasn’t a trap—maybe Letha’s sister had managed to get off an alarm signal or something. Either way, we were in trouble.

  “Can you hear me?” I said into my comms, hoping our ship was in range to pick us up. “She’s here. Lamb? Gale? She’s here!”

  “I am,” Asterisk said while stepping closer, three of her guards still with her. They had more shape than they’d had back on Earth, but were still like black, shifting forms that were only held together in a vaguely humanoid shape.

  “Charm!” I shouted, running for the others, traveling through the ship to appear next to her. “Shield!”

  Apparently, the message was clear, because Charm had slammed the shield back up as attacks came our way. More supers were now pouring in, a barrage of attacks hitting the energy field and actually causing it to fade. Damn, this ship wasn’t likely to hold long at this rate.

  “That’s our target,” I said to a wild-eyed Letha. “Although we hadn’t expected her to be on the same ship as your sister.”

  “Maybe she wasn’t,” Rand offered. “Maybe she hunted you down.”

  “It’s possible.”

  Charm stood next to me, breathing in and out, each breath making the light around her glow more. Her hair shifted colors, and her eyes, too. One minute her tail was all pink, the next a mixture. She was clearly itching to get down there and kick some ass, but smart enough to know to wait for the right moment.

  Asterisk, dressed all in white and gold shining robes as before, simply stared at us haughtily while the rest of her retinue kept up the assault, her guards moving around her like beings from another dimension.

  The shield flickered, but before it faded there was a screech of tearing metal. Alarms sounded, warning of a breach, and then—the wall blew off, giving way to Andromida! She flew in with her arms spread, eyes alight, a metal tunnel forming as the wall gave way for her. Those strange red hands reached up from the darkness of the tunnel to pull at the metal.

  She came to a stop, as all the supers present turned to look at her, frozen. A moment of silence followed, each side weighing the other up.

  “About time,” Andromida said, eyes focused on Asterisk. “Time to meet your maker. That, or disappear into the void. I don’t give a fuck which.”

  Metal screeched again as she plowed through, and much to my relief I saw that she had at least closed the hole behind her, although I was pretty sure it only led to more corridors, not out into space. Even so, she had likely created an opening somewhere, so closing us off from it was important.

  The battle started with Andromida wiping the floor with the blood of any supervillains still present. Her tunnels tore through them—jagged metal edges cut across or jutted out in spikes, destroying. Some threw up shields, others worked to heal… but within a few seconds, half the room had been emptied out. All the while, Asterisk’s eyes roamed over what was happening as if she couldn’t care l
ess. After a pause, she lifted a finger and her minions darted out to attack Andromida, but only one made it that far, as Charm had intercepted the second and I the third. Letha and team were holding off any supers or soldiers who tried to make it to her, and doing a damn fine job.

  The shadowy figure before me took on the form of a Nihilist, who immediately started hurling balls of purple light my way. When those missed and I got him with a deadly tempest blow, the figure morphed again into a sort of wind colossus, bones of electricity among swirling air, knocking those around us off balance.

  Not me, though.

  I was all about swirling energy and pulled at its life force as I kept darting into the floor and coming up in different spots around it, until it tried for the metal itself in one last desperate attempt before the last of its life force was gone. It took a step, fell, and shattered.

  A glance over showed Charm with claws of light shredding through a tar-like substance, and I figured she was fine. Andromida was already done with hers and colliding with Asterisk as my eyes found them across the bloody mess that was the room. As metal cut into Asterisk, she became a different sort of metal, and thrust herself forward. Her body essentially became a spike that went straight for Andromida’s midsection, nearly cutting her in half. But Andromida was fast enough that her own metal pushed her aside and took the hit, leaving Asterisk to reform and fall to the floor. Darkness surrounded her as Andromida’s strange red hands reached for her, but she grinned. White and gold robes flowed, and then the red hands were pulled up with her as she stood, so that now they were demonic creatures, staring around in confusion.

  Asterisk pointed at Andromida, and the demons charged, leaping and stabbing. I had been content to let the Blue Lady have this kill, but I certainly wasn’t going to sit back and let her fight alone. Charm neither, apparently. She darted past Andromida, blowing green puffs of air to make the Blue Lady more alert. The effect would also give her faster reflexes, along with doing the same, though to a lesser degree, to Charm.