by Jamie Hawke
“Took you long enough,” I shouted, and she flashed the dragon so that it stopped an inch from my face, then pulled it back to tear through three more vampires.
“Hey, I’m a woman,” she shot back. “We like our foreplay.”
I laughed and spun, targeting back for the spot my scanner said the supervillain was at, and opened up with a few blasts. He was revealed as he dove for cover, and with my upgraded speed I closed the gap before he could cloak himself again. During this momentary lapse of concentration on the part of Green-eyes, I was able to see Caldoran and Andromida as they pummeled into the ground next to me. They recovered as red hands emerged from the ground and grabbed at him while she came in for a kick, only he spun out of the way and thrust himself back into the sky.
A shot came from the other super, missing me. I fired back again at where I guessed he was, and he appeared flickering back into my vision as, apparently, I’d hit his leg. I charged and tackled him, slamming elbows and fists into his face while Sakurai kept the vampires off of me.
When it was done, I stood with his blood dripping from my fists, and turned to see Caldoran hovering in the sky ahead as Andromida and the others charged toward him. He wasn’t paying them any mind, instead simply glaring at me.
Behind him, Sacarada came in for a strike with her wings. Before she could make it, he vanished in a flash that only left a blue outline of him behind before fading.
15
“No!” Andromida shouted, furious at the way Caldoran had simply abandoned the field of battle. She ran in one direction, flinging her attacks and finally calling up distant metal so that it shot up in arcs above our heads, in spots cutting through vampires. She charged across the field with us trying to keep up, then would stop and go in another direction as if she’d be able to find him this way.
“He’s gone,” Navani shouted, finally putting a stop to this.
Andromida turned on her, furiously. “The son of bitch knows I’m here, the Nihilists know our location. The last thing you want to do right now is calm me down.”
“You might not have noticed,” Sacrada said, landing at her side, golden wings folding in as she talked, “but we kicked their asses.”
“He only attacked as he did out of hubris,” Andromida countered. “His followers…” She turned to Nyoka, whose eyes were glowing as she glanced around. “I imagine more of them will be here any moment.”
“Something’s definitely coming,” Nyoka replied.
“I might as well have a look, since we’re not hiding where we are now,” Sacrada said. She closed her eyes and sent out a burst of golden light that formed circles and spread out from her, returning moments later. When she opened her eyes again, she frowned. “She’s right.”
“Meaning?” Navani asked.
“We have incoming, this time in the form of three small ships.”
“Threed!” Sacrada shouted, taking to the sky.
“Ugh,” Threed said like a spoiled teen. “Only ever calls for me when she wants something. Never just to chat.” She winked as she often did, then created two replicas of Sacrada flying in the sky next to her. They’d at least help distract the enemy ships while we worked to take them out.
The ships appeared and Sacrada set off a golden burst of light that even left us seeing sun spots. Two of the ships veered off course, while the third met her sun burst. More bursts of light followed, then returned fire. One of the ships had taken more than it was capable of withstanding and went plummeting toward the ground, but two forms ejected before it made contact. They went flying out, wearing battle armor similar to what Caldoran had been wearing, but larger and full of more gadgets, from what I could tell. The first spun on us and targeted us with a wall of flames, instantly following up with several smart explosives. We dodged back and only avoided the explosives because Sacrada managed to burn half of them mid-flight, Navani using shields to deflect the rest.
Another round of explosives came from the rear, where the second attacker had apparently gone, and four more of them emerged from the other ships behind him. I ran fast, moving for the closest one and leaping—he couldn’t have known I’d be able to jump so high, or that I’d grab hold of him mid-fall and fire-point-blank into his face. My blaster tore right through his faceplate and ended him before we hit the ground.
I rolled aside, then rethought my strategy. As Sakurai went to meet the other attacker with her dragon light, I went back and took the guy’s massive rifle—one I would’ve never been able to handle without my increased strength, so I had to pat myself on the shoulder for thinking of those upgrades first. Next I turned him over, found his controls on his wrist, and hit his thrusters. The next round of explosives came at us, but half followed his corpse as it sped off, thumping across the ground.
Three explosives hit me and I was glad I’d upgraded my shields, though it shattered with the third hit. I’d also upgraded the regeneration time so it wouldn’t take so long, but knew I needed to play it safe for the next thirty seconds or so.
Pulling back next to Navani, I was glad to see her throw up a new round of shields for us to stand behind for cover. She let go well-placed shots, while I opened up on those motherfuckers. This rifle was glorious, with its dragon-like fire shooting out of the front as round after round tore into the enemy and exploded on impact. Each shot had a kickback that would’ve torn off any weaker man’s shoulder, but for me it was a thrillfest. I laughed as I shot more, and watched two of the enemy fall—one from Navani, another from me.
“That’s what I’m talking about,” I shouted, holding up a hand for a high five.
“Yes,” she said, nodding and holding up a hand in a similar way before turning back to shoot more.
“Really?” I said, shouting over my own shots as I, too, returned to taking down the enemy. “You all took stuff like Greek mythology with you on the colonization mission, but not high fives?”
She grunted as she shot down another enemy, then glanced my way, briefly. “I’m not familiar with the term. Related to drugs?”
“What—no.” I wanted to face-palm right there, but instead trailed an enemy with shots, trying to get him as he moved around and returned fire. Sakurai appeared, then one of the Sacradas flying in past my line of fire, and I cursed, having nearly hit her. “I’ll explain later.”
A blast followed and then a shout of pain, and when I moved to see what had happened, I was shocked to see Sakurai stumble, fall to one knee, and then collapse to the ground.
“Fuck,” I said in almost a whisper, and then abandoned the shields to run for her. I kept firing as I went, unable to take my eyes off the fallen woman. I’d barely gotten to know her, but even that was enough to feel my heart being ripped out at the sight of her laying there in the darkness. Fire was lighting up the sky, bursts of gold light and spinning wings as Sacrada screamed and tore into the guy who’d made the shot, and it was enough to see the blood on the ground next to her sister.
The strangest thing happened as I neared her. She started to push herself up, the sword fading at her side and her dragon of light too, and both sort of became part of her. For another second the glow remained, then a small, furry animal appeared to climb out of her somehow.
A thud sounded as the last of the attackers hit the ground nearby, then Sacrada landed at his side with a final sickening sound as her sharp wings removed his head. She turned to join me in watching this strange sight, and I became aware of the others around me doing the same.
“What’s happening here?” I asked, as the furry animal looked at us, then started moving around her, licking up the blood, slurping it. The creature reminded me of something like the gremlins in my brother’s old movies, when they were in their cute form. Or maybe a sloth, but not so slow. It had beady little yellow eyes that glowed, its fur was stark white, and small horns grew in three pairs going back along its head.
“One of her spirit familiars,” Sacrada explained. “I’ve only seen this one once before.”
“I
t’s part of her powers?”
“The one that helps when she’s wounded. She has others for different emotions or needs, such as the dragon light.”
A thought in the back of my mind wondered if she had one that ever showed itself during erotic times, but mostly I was awed by this whole process. I couldn’t understand why it was licking up her blood, until it finished, gave us one last look, and then moved to her wound, nuzzling itself inside. I thought I was going to be sick, but at the last second it formed a sort of light again, moving into her.
With a gasp, she pushed herself up, sitting now, and looked around at us. “Fuck, I hate when that’s necessary.”
I stood there for a moment, unsure how to answer, while Sacrada rushed forward and hugged her sister. She helped her to stand, and I darted forward to help on the other side, though they didn’t really need me. Sakurai was already regaining her color, and after a few steps had regained her balance. I had to wonder why she hadn’t just used her reset ability, but imagined she had to be consciously focused on it.
The others were still watching, mesmerized. A grunt from one of the enemy caught our attention, but most of all Andromida’s. She spun, marched over to him, and kicked him over. He was trying to crawl away, but looked back at us—his faceplate broken to reveal just another man in there. A supervillain, no doubt.
“Where is he?” Andromida shouted, gripping the man at her feet as the red arms from the ground pulled at him. “Dammit, where is Caldoran?!”
The man opened his mouth to respond, but shadow left his mouth like dark smoke and the arms pulled him into the ground so that only his heavy armor remained. Andromida let out an angry shriek, then spun, eyes ferocious and hands ready to strike out. Something seemed to hit her and her anger was replaced with confusion and more than a little worry.
As we all watched helplessly, she vanished just as Caldoran had.
16
“What the hell?!” I asked, stepping forward into the spot Andromida had just been standing. I spun and shot two more vampires, relieved to see that at least Sakurai had the majority of them on the run. “Was it him? How?”
“She said his name,” Navani said as she walked up to me, stopping to scan for more enemies in the darkness, but apparently satisfied. “That was stupid of her.”
“He’s taken her back to the fortress,” Nyoka said, eyes wide. “We have to get her, now!”
“She can take care of herself,” I said. “If anything, he’s made this easier on us.”
“Sure,” Sacrada said. “Unless she’s bait and he has something far worse waiting for us. Or she’s dead.”
“Real good… Way to get us amped up.”
She scoffed. “Not my job.”
“How exactly is this easier?” Nyoka demanded. “From where I’m standing, it’s a trap and our best fighter is now gone.”
“Best fighter?” Sacrada scoffed, the others giving her and Nyoka doubtful looks.
“First of all, no need for a pissing contest,” I said. “Second, I don’t see any other options, right? We need to get to the fortress, so let’s get.”
Nobody replied, so I simply started walking. They followed, and soon we had left that spot behind, veering slightly out of our way in case they sent troops to intercept us. I couldn’t help but glance over at Sakurai from time to time, and finally she came over.
“Checking me out, or…?”
I forced a smile. “Always.”
“Bullshit,” She said. “Just ask.”
“Fine.” I ran my hand along an itch on my nose, or tried to, but stopped short with the realization that my helmet was still up. With a click of my suit, I let it down and scratched. “All of this super stuff, powers I mean, it’s all relatively new to me. But what I saw back there?” I shook my head at the memory of that little animal licking up blood and then rejoining her.
“Creepy?” she asked.
I laughed. “Not the word I had in mind, but…” A glance from Navani and Sacrada interrupted my thoughts, and I frowned, curious at the way they were looking at Sakurai. Surely they’d known all about this. “Your familiar stuff, is it actually spirits? Or magic?”
“I wish,” she replied. “Though, I guess it’s tough to draw the line on what is magic versus what’s super powers, huh? In our case, we don’t believe in magic—and define it as calling upon other-worldly forces. Magic would be something you harness, learn more of, maybe learn spells and use runes or something, I don’t know.”
“Aren’t the tattoos like runes?” I asked, indicating the tattoos that snaked across her body.
“No, because they aren’t actual tattoos. They appeared when the powers did, when I was still a child. We call what I do using familiars, because that idea works and sounds cool, but it’s really just different manifestations of my powers. They’ve popped up over the years under different circumstances. For all I know, there could be more in me.”
“Hell, as creepy as it was to watch, I’d love to have the ability to put blood back in me and heal a wound.”
“Too bad I can’t just give you the power,” she said with a laugh. “It’s one I’ve sometimes been unsure I want to keep. At least the reset one is something I have to want.”
“Why wouldn’t you want it?”
She gave me a long, hard look. “You shouldn’t ask that question.”
It took me a second to realize that, with what I’d seen of her powers, it was quite possible she wasn’t able to die. The implications of her statement were disheartening.
“Well, I think what you have is amazing,” I admitted. “And the ‘tattoos’ are sexy as hell.”
“Is that so?”
I shrugged, focusing on the uneven path for a few moments in silence, while we both thought.
“What about shapeshifters and vamipres,” I asked. “Do they work like they do in legends? I mean, like a werewolf bites someone, then that person becomes one?”
“Silly stories,” she said. “That would fall under magic. Whatever shifters and mutants you have here, they have the power to shapeshift, but certainly not the demonic creatures of tall tales.”
“That’s good to know,” I said with a grin.
My grin faded at a signal from Sacrada, who had motioned to Navani to the right. In the hills, I saw them too—forms moving along with us. In some sort of floating vehicles, it looked like. We kept on for a few minutes, and I was the first to speak.
“We can run and they’ll probably take us out in the open, where others might join in the fight, or we can move in to the edge of the hills, try to finish it as fast as possible.”
“I was about to say the same,” Navani replied. “Go at them three-hundred style.”
“To be clear, the Spartans died in that battle. Maybe we can use a reference that doesn’t involve the good guys dying?”
“We’re invading their homes,” Nyoka said with a playful grin. “Who says we’re the good guys?”
“Me,” I replied. “If I’m fighting on one side against another, we are always the good guys.”
She scoffed, but didn’t say another word on the matter. Instead of talking, we started slowly veering toward the hills as Navani scanned the opposite direction first, then the hills again.
“I’m seeing the ones from before still out between us and the city, waiting,” she said. “They hope to push us over and get us on both sides.”
“And there are a lot in the hills,” Nyoka added, “but spread out. The ones closest don’t seem to be so numerous that we couldn’t handle them.”
“Maybe my sister could send her furry pet out there and we just wait for it to tear them apart,” Sacrada said.
“Not funny,” Sakurai said. “That’s like me saying we should throw your cat out there.”
“You have a cat?” I asked.
Sacrada sniffled, looking away. “Used to.”
A story for another day, I guessed.
“Everyone ready?” Navani asked. “Rested up enough from our last fight?�
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“I could use a good fuck,” I said, only realizing then how it sounded. “Er, I meant to get my hype powers flowing.”
They all shared amused looks, and Threed stepped forward.
“How about a little tease, enough to give you a burst?” She pulled me in for a kiss, then took my finger and gave it a nice suck, eyeing me seductively. It wouldn’t get me through to the next morning, but I felt the energy flowing already.
“That’ll do,” I said breathing out to try and not get too excited. I took a moment to check and saw that I had more skill points, so applied one to armor regeneration and the rest to a skill that spread my stun ability to nearby attackers, though at a decreased power level than from the person who I hit first. Hitting groups could be very useful, especially in confined spaces.
Everyone checked their weapons and armor, I put my helmet back on, and we broke out in a run for the hills.
The first of them came flying from the darkness, a whirring giving us a second’s notice. As much as our seers could spot incoming enemies, they couldn’t have eyes in every direction at once. This one would’ve surprised us, too, if we hadn’t been so quiet. It was a woman on a hover bike, that’s all I could tell before I let off a shot and then Nyoka was on her as a python, squeezing her while, Sacrada grabbed the woman’s hair and said, “How many? Where?”
The woman, from what I could now see, had the grey skin and black eyes, but looked much closer to a Nihilist than a vampire. She wore rags like a wild person, her frizzled hair sticking out behind her.
When she spoke, it was unintelligible, but we all understood when she spat and then struggled to lash out. A quick movement from the python and then she was broken, out of breath, lying on the ground, dead, as Nyoka returned to us.
“She wasn’t going to talk, and we wouldn’t understand if she did.”
“Agreed,” Sacrada said.
A hiss came from Navani, who held up four fingers and pointed ahead to our left. We moved, forming a staggered line, and prepared. The bikes came over the hill with one in the lead, three behind. Navani took the lead here, showing off her hot shot aim. She had two down before the others were within reach, and then Sacrada was up, wings decapitating the third. Shots pelted Sacrada and she dove back, shield cracking and a bullet ricocheting off of her wings.