by Jamie Hawke
Supers: Ex Heroes 4
Jamie Hawke
Editors
Diane Newton
Tracey Byrnes
EX HEROES 4 (this book) is a work of fiction.
All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both.
Complete Book is Copyright (c) 2018 by Jamie Hawke (of Double Down Press).
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Jamie Hawke.
Contents
Foreword
Welcome
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Epilogue
Author Ramblings
Read Next
Foreword
This book fits into the Supers Universe, along with the Ex Gods series. If you haven’t read those yet, I hope you’ll give them a try!
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WARNING: This book contains gratuitous violence and sex.
Thank you for taking a chance on my books. I hope you love reading them as much as I loved writing them!
Jamie Hawke
https://www.facebook.com/JamieHawkeAuthor
1
Charm had her hands down my pants as she stood pressed up against my back, fondling my nuts with the excuse that it kept her hands warm. Claws were part of her whole fox thing, and more than once I had to bite my lip to keep from yelping out when those claws scraped against my inner thigh—at least they weren’t scraping elsewhere. I wasn’t complaining. It felt damn good, like a gentle massage in preparation for our return to the battle.
The other ladies, though, kept glancing over, distracted. I wasn’t sure if it was annoying them or they simply wanted in on the action, but we all knew we had a job to get to. Nut massage aside, I was focused on the holo-map Twitch had set up in the center of our little circle. We were surrounded by the rocks of the hills on the outskirts of the Abaddon Asylum, analyzing our best strategy for making a move on Muerta. I would’ve thought being back in my own galaxy and having defeated Ranger would’ve made me feel a bit more at ease, but we were clearly just at another milestone in our journey to defeat the enemy and make me an elder of the Citadel, not anywhere near the finish line yet.
“I don’t get it,” Charm admitted, looking at the map.
“Point to which part you don’t get,” Twitch replied, glancing down at the woman’s hands moving in my pants.
“Sure,” Charm said, and suddenly had my hard cock out, pointing at a section of the map.
“Ladies,” I said, quickly covering back up and frowning, not liking the look of disapproval Andromida gave us. She was part of the group now, though the two of us hadn’t been as intimate as the others. She’d watched Charm work her magic on me, and let me watch as she and Charm fooled around a bit, but the most actual action I’d gotten from her so far was a kiss on the cheek.
And at the moment, considering how the desire for revenge was fueling her every move and thought, I knew this wasn’t the right time. Plus, the whole ‘being right next to the spot where Muerta had run away to and all of the other potential enemies nearby’ thing. The explosions and constant gunfire were especially a mood killer.
“Let’s… take a break from that, can we?” Shimmer said, as Charm was about to reach back into my pants.
Charm sighed, but complied by taking one of my hands in hers, using her free hand to point to the central glowing area on the map. “So much less fun to point with, but… this one, here. That’s the Asylum? That’s where we think Muerta will be?”
“She has every intention of flying off to take on Orion Corp,” Twitch said. “But I think she wants her army first, so she’ll be trying to gather recruits, along with fueling this little uprising to ensure there’s enough of a distraction to make her escape.”
“And how’s she going to escape?” Gale indicated several small dots then glanced back over to the compound, although she couldn’t see the ships from here. “With these?”
“She might try,” Twitch replied. “But down there, with the Quencher—”
“Quencher?” I interrupted.
“Yeah, sorry—that’s what my screens are telling me the thing they use here to stop supers’ powers from working is called. With the Quencher, not as strong as she would be. She might have strong friends or some other way that further sets her and hers apart. But if we can get close enough to the ships, I can use my code to ensure they don’t fall into the wrong hands.”
“Let’s make that a priority, then.” I squeezed Charm’s hand, then turned to each of them in turn. “We need to make a move on the asylum while ensuring Muerta doesn’t make it out of there.”
“We might be able to find out who’s not taking her side,” Gale pointed out. “Allies… maybe.”
“True, but… if they’re not mentally stable, I wouldn’t want them watching my back.”
“Agreed,” Twitch said, indicating a point on her map. “But judging by the way the fighting started and allowing for what we’ve seen of that area down there, I’m guessing there will be those hostile to her still within, in this area. Whether we can trust them or not, we can still use this to our advantage if we push her, or her allies, toward them.”
“Not bad,” Shimmer said, looking it over, nodding. “With Andromida’s ability to manipulate metal—and I’m guessing most of the walls and doors in there are made of metal—and my ability to create some scary as fuck illusions, this could be a blast.”
“A real-life horror flick for them,” I said with a chuckle, but then saw at a glance around that they were all looking at me kinda weird again. “Horror movies.” I held out my hands, beseeching them. “Come on. Nobody? You don’t…? Give me a break. You don’t have horror movies?”
“Maybe in the archives from Earth,” Twitch said. “I could pull some up during our next down time, perhaps.”
My eyes went wide. “Yes! Yes, we’re doing that. The Thing, Event Horizon, oh shit, I could go on and on—”
“Baby steps,” Andromida cut in. “First we scare the shit out of these people to ensure they fight each other. We get Muerta, I tear her limb from limb, and then, when we’re on our way out of here, we can watch your fake versions of our reality.”
“Ah, right. Good plan.”
“Let’s not forget that Muerta still has some of her powers, even with the Quencher in operation,” Twitch reminded us. “This isn’t going to be a walk through Orendaim.”
“Going to have to explain that one.”
“Orendaim?” Charm laughed. “Everyone knows… oh, right. We’ll go there, don’t you worry—maybe when you’ve got me that red dress.”
“And what is it, exactly?” I asked, but she was staring off into the sky with a silly grin on her face.
“The type of nice place we’ll never see if we let Muerta win,” Andromida cut in. “Shall we?”
“Right.” Twitch directed us to our path of attack, and then slid the screen away and led us onward.
We didn’t go back the exact direction we’d come from because that way had been laden with traps as we’d retreated up it, and we couldn’t be sure there weren’t more waiting. Twitch could use her screens to scan for much of that, but our supra tech counter to the Quencher only allowed a limited range.
“Remember,” I said as we rounded the last outpost, moving to the backside of the asylum. “No powers when possible. This place is in the Milky Way, we don’t want everyone to be seeing us using superpowers and all that.”
“And my tail won’t make them curious?” Charm countered.
“Er…”
“They’ll assume it’s a sexy-ass costume.” Gale winked at me, and I nodded in thanks for the save.
“Push comes to shove, I’m tearing this place to bits with all the powers I have,” Andromida said.
“Your position on the matter’s duly noted.” I ducked down behind one of the walls that led around the building, getting a good view of our destination. Shooting sounded toward the front, then a blast in one of the windows of the building, followed by a scream. “Maybe everyone will be dead anyway, and it won’t matter.”
“Except you said this place is monitored,” Gale pointed out.
“Right, but… if they’re keeping the likes of Muerta in here, and have a Quencher—is that what you call it? Yeah, well, then they definitely know about all that already.”
“So it’s more about whether they broadcast it or not.”
I nodded. “Let’s hope not.”
At that Twitch, moving her hands across her pink screens that hovered before her, nodded and said, “Clear.”
We moved forward at a crouch, me with my screen up and looking for any nearby supers, Twitch continuing to monitor for others, and Shimmer doing her best to keep up an illusion so that anyone looking our way wouldn’t see us. I was keeping my powers ready to attack, and Charm darted off ahead as point—being faster and cloaked. With all of that, plus Andromida and Gale also ready to unleash attacks, I kind of pitied anyone who might try to start shit with us.
As expected, no problems yet. We reached the door and I tried it, but it clicked. Locked.
“Allow me,” Andromida said, and she raised an eyebrow, causing the door to unlock and swing open.
BAM! A shot rang out, zinging past us and hitting the ground in the distance. Andromida had her hands in fists, ready to move, but Twitch held up a hand for her to wait.
“What the fuck are you firing at?” a voice said from inside.
“I heard something, I swear,” a woman replied, and then there was a thud and a yelp, followed by—
“Fuck, you gave away our position—”
And then more gunshots, and we could hear a man’s voice shouting about death and killing all of the other motherfuckers, and then an explosion that sent smoke out from the window above. We all stood there, waiting.
“Three left on one side, six on the other,” Twitch said, analyzing her screens.
I frowned. “But you didn’t see the first group when we were approaching?”
“Huh.” She blinked, confused by that too, apparently, and moved her screens up, trying something else in them. “No, it’s… there’s got to be more supers in there not affected by the Quencher and they’re somehow blocking me.”
I scanned too, not finding anything. “Could mean there’re more in there than we realize, more waiting for us.”
“It definitely means that,” Andromida said, glancing around as a silence followed.
Charm reached for the door, pushing her way in. “Then no use waiting out here. Let’s introduce ourselves, fists first.”
“Wait.” I held up a finger, then nodded as a few more shots went off. “Like popcorn. Always going to be a few more pops, if you wait.”
She frowned, then at my nod we went in.
“Only two left, seemingly on the same side,” Twitch whispered, then swiped away her screen. “Don’t seem to be supers, but be alert.”
Bodies lined the corridor, blood seeping out and splattered on the walls. As Twitch had said, there were only two still left alive. We could see them through the doorway of the room next door, standing at the window, mumbling something over and over again.
I shared a look with Shimmer and whispered, “Keep us hidden with the illusions, if you can.” A scan of the room showed Charm was inching forward into the room, the rest of us behind and just about to follow her in, when suddenly one of the two shrieked and went flying out of the window, backwards, glass shattering over her companion who fell to his knees, screaming and then collapsing dead. It didn’t make sense, catching us off guard.
“What the fuck?” Andromida said, not caring about staying hidden anymore and shooting forward in her blue bubble, metal rising with her as defensive walls.
Charm suddenly uncloaked and popped back into view, stumbling out of Andromida’s way, as she let out a shriek as well.
Now this was piquing my interest to the extent that I, too, had to run in and see what was happening. The moment I entered, seeing Charm all terrified and Andromida frozen in place, I knew it wasn’t going to be good. When I spun around and saw the opposite wall, the dread visible in Charm’s eyes hit me like a hammer to the nuts.
It was a metal wall, covered in blood like the rest, but hands were reaching, faces pressing against it, making the metal appear to be a tapestry of figures trying to escape.
“What is it?” I shouted, stepping back and nearly yelping when I stumbled into Charm. “Muerta?”
“Something else,” Andromida replied, shooting out her hands and moving the metal, opening it and seemingly seeking something, or someone. “A force they never should’ve released.”
Metal tore apart with a screeching that sounded like the shrieks of children, the walls around us shuddering and then exploding as blackness shot out, forming a mouth that looked like it was about to eat me. But for Twitch, I’d have been a goner. She pulled up a screen and created a sort of reflection in mid-air, causing the mouth to hit it and continue back the way it had come without turning around or anything.
Her little trick was almost as creepy as the flying mouth of darkness had been.
And then the hands were back in the walls, converging on the spot where the darkness hit before vanishing. It all stopped, and we were left standing there in confusion and frustration.
2
“What the fuck was that…?” I turned to a confused Gale at my side, then noticed Charm was still on the ground, so I helped her up. She clung to me like she’d never let go again.
“Demise, he’s called,” Andromida explained, hands extended to the walls, presumably feeling the metal for a presence.
“Muerta, and now Demise?” I frowned. “A theme? Connection?”
She shook her head. “Not likely. They must’ve found a way to contain Demise, but I can’t imagine how. He was never one to keep a human form for long, though he’s a supervillain like the rest of them. Never one to be in a place long enough to communicate with, because he’s always moving. He grows bolder with the fright of others, stronger with their death. More like a force of nature, though, than a person.”
“How do we stop him?” Shimmer asked.
“Freeze him in place?” Gale held up her hands, ice forming around them.
“Electric shock therapy?” I offered, considering my tempest ability.
Andromida shook her head to both of those suggestions. “If we find a way, we’ll be the first.”
“Second,” Twitch corrected. “They had him here, after all.”
“It’d seem.” Andromida’s eyes
showed skepticism, like she didn’t really believe anyone had been able to capture him.
“If he wasn’t captured before, what stopped him from going all over killing everyone?” I asked. “Why haven’t I heard about him before?”
“Well, you’re from Earth,” Twitch pointed out, making me feel like an idiot. “But… the question stands. Not all of us have heard of him, I imagine.”
Shimmer nodded, and Charm shrugged.
“Like I said, force of nature.” Andromida, seemingly content with her feeling-it-out search, approached the gap in the wall and looked through, glancing back at the distant sounds of shouting and gunshots. Now that we knew what was in here, those shouts had a whole new meaning. “He likely holed up on some fringe planet, feeding on the locals until it got so out of control that someone came for him.”
“Holy shit.” Charm finally let go of my arm, hands to her mouth. “Before, I mean… way before, I’d heard something about this. These pirates I ran across, they were making a massive move, abandoning their old hideout and trying to make a move into our territory. They kept going on about the darkness. Some horrible evil, beyond even them. Some thought it was an alien force, others a demon…”
“Our territory?” I asked. “Meaning… Supralines?”