The Invincibles (Book 1): The Invincibles

by Lee, Tristan

  “I think I’m getting a signal,” Ronin says. “Get me closer to the capital ships.”

  “That’s suicide,” Owlman says. “The cruiser is going to rip us apart if we get too close.”

  “That’s the last of the fighters,” Titan says via cerebral connection. “I’m going after the cruiser.”

  “Titan, do not engage,” Dr. Invictus warns. “It took all of us to take one down from the inside; you won’t stand a chance in a frontal assault.”

  “I can distract it until you guys to fly Ronin close enough to lock onto Gi-Chul,” Titan says. “It’s the only option.”

  “Titan! This is a direct order!” Dr. Invictus shouts. “Do not engage!”

  “Titan, don’t go,” Demoness pleads. “You’ll die.”

  “Once I draw its fire away from you, you’ll have maybe two minutes before it comes back,” Titan says, ignoring his wife for once. “Get ready.”

  “Ready when you are, Titan,” Defender says.

  “Do or die, Invincibles,” he says, his voice full of stoic resolve, before flying at the cruiser head on.

  It picks him up when he gets within a thousand feet of it and opens fire. He weaves in and out of the cruiser’s cannon blasts, getting close enough to occasionally throw a punch or ram his shoulder into the side of the cruiser. Every blow takes a plate off of the cruiser or puts a dent in its armor, infuriating the crew of the cruiser. After a while, the cruiser pulls away from the capital ships it was charged with protecting to pursue Titan.

  “You’ve got your entrance!” Titan shouts. “Go now!”

  Dr. Invictus and Defender push the Falcon’s thrusters to their full capacity, hurtling through space towards their target and leaving the cruiser in the dust. The two pilots open fire on the closing bay doors of the capital ship. They blow a hole in the otherwise sealed doors and fly through, clipping the ends of the Falcon’s wings on their way in.

  “Brace for impact,” Dr. Invictus warns.

  He and Defender do their best to land the Falcon, but they have built up far too much speed and hit the ground far too fast, skidding out of control until they slam into one side of the hangar; crushing one of the wings like a piece of paper.

  “That was fun,” Fastball says as they disembark the Falcon. “Could have been a little smoother, but it was still fun.”

  “I’ve had better landings,” Defender agrees. “But none of us died.”

  “Titan,” Demoness whispers dejectedly.

  “He’ll be fine,” Owlman assures her. “I’ve seen that alien son of a bitch take down monsters and shit ten times his size. That cruiser? That’s his warm-up.”

  “Uh, are you guys in the hangar?” Titan asks cerebrally, perfectly on cue for what Owlman had said.

  “We just landed,” Dr. Invictus says. “Where are you?”

  “Rapidly approaching the hangar and I don’t remember where the damned brakes are on this thing.”

  “On what? Titan, there’s a force field, you won’t be able to fly through.”

  “For some odd reason I really don’t think the force field is going to be a problem.”

  Suddenly, the nose of the cruiser smashes through the force field; it slides far enough into the hangar to finish crushing the Falcon. Once the cruiser is halfway inside the capital ship and hanging out the other half like some absurd parasite, Titan punches out the bridge’s viewport and climbs down to them.

  “That was so fuego,” Fastball says in awe.

  “Except you sort of crushed our ride home,” Defender points out.

  “I’m sure we can steal something,” Owlman says with a shrug.

  “Drake, I admit that I didn’t like you very much when we first met,” Defender says.

  “The feeling was mutual,” Titan answers.

  “All the same,” Defender continues, extending his hand. “We’re lucky to have you.”

  Titan smiles and accepts, shaking his old rival’s hand.

  “Adorable,” Demoness simpers. “Absolutely adorable.”

  “Cut the chatter, Invincibles,” Dr. Invictus says. “Titan, I’m glad you made it, but we’ve all made a huge tactical error.”

  “What is it, doc?” Demoness asks, still smiling ear-to-ear from her husband’s return.

  “Did any of you notice how many Aotiuer we had to fight to get here?” Dr. Invictus asks.

  “We didn’t fight any,” Owlman says. “Oh shit.”

  Ronin extends his hand and the doors that lead to the rest of the ship open, “They were unlocked,” he says. “This is most certainly a trap.”

  “We should not proceed any further,” Kaiju cautions. “If this is a trap as Ronin says, it might be preferable to not get caught up in it.”

  “That’s not an option,” Defender says. “The Aotiuer fleet has a straight shot to Earth and the only thing standing between seven billion people and them is the eight of us.”

  “Defender is correct,” Ronin agrees.

  “All of us might die if we proceed,” Kaiju says.

  “We might,” Titan says. “But if we do nothing, then everyone on Earth most certainly will. And everyone up here as compared to everyone down there? It’s not really an option.”

  “If you don’t want to go through with this, you don’t have to,” Dr. Invictus offers.

  Kaiju shakes his head, “You saved me from my captivity,” he says somberly. “Thanks to you, I have seen more in a handful of weeks than I had in three hundred years. Where you lead, I shall follow.”

  “Then what are we waiting for?” Fastball asks anxiously. “Let’s go whip some ass!”

  “Invincibles . . .” Titan begins.

  “Don’t even think about finishing that sentence,” Dr. Invictus warns.

  “Dang it,” the Prince of Xor complains.

  “You all have your objectives,” Dr. Invictus says. “Get to it.”

  The Calm

  October 1st

  “For Christ’s sake,” Dr. Invictus swears as he pries apart the doors that lead to his target, the communications command center. “Invincibles, I think we may have a little bit of a complication.”

  “Yeah, I think I know what you’re talking about,” Owlman says. “None of that shit you wanted us to disable is actually here.”

  “There aren’t even any Aotiuer to beat up,” Demoness complains. “We just spent like, three hours looking for stuff that isn’t even here.”

  “Doors to the bridge are sealed,” Defender reports. “No way in.”

  “The weapons deck lacks any actual weapon controls,” Ronin says. “It’s just an empty room.”

  “But hey, on the bright side, I haven’t died,” Fastball says.

  The capital ship rocks slightly, not much, but enough to knock the Invincibles off balance a bit.

  “What was that?” Demoness asks.

  “The fleet is moving,” Ronin says. “Three hours to kill Gi-Chul.”

  “That really doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen right now,” Defender says.

  A familiar, gravelly voice answers him, only this time Kaiju’s voice is shaky and soft, “The bridge . . . he wants all of you there . . . he wants to finish this himself.”

  “Kaiju! Kaiju, come in!” Dr. Invictus orders when Kaiju falls silent. Instead, the nasally, snide voice of the Aotiuer supreme commander responds.

  “You have ten minutes to reach the bridge or your friend, my prisoner, dies,” he says.

  “Gi-Chul, you ugly alien son of a bitch,” Owlman snarls. “I’m going to break your neck.”

  “You can try,” Gi-Chul laughs. “But I’d hurry to the bridge, if I were you.”

  With that, the cerebral connection cuts off between all of the Invincibles.

  “Frick-frack-frackity-whack,” Demoness curses.

  “You beat me by one second,” Titan notes. “Nice work.”

  “Thank you. What are we supposed to do now?”

  “Heading to the bridge seems like a good idea,” Titan suggests. “Sinc
e we don’t want Kaiju to get executed.”

  “You’re smart,” Demoness says as she starts down the hall. “Let’s go.”

  “Uh, Sweetheart, according to the doc the bridge is that way,” Titan says, pointing in the opposite direction.”

  “I know. Just wanted to see if you would pick it up.”

  “Sure,” Titan says skeptically as he joins her.

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “Absolutely nothing,” Titan says quickly. “Why don’t we go for a run? It’s not like we have all that much time to lose.”

  “Fine, race you,” Demoness says.

  A moment later, before Titan can even dream of starting to count, she starts sprinting down the hall. Despite the situation, the Prince of Xor smiles as he watches his wife do her best to put as much distance between herself and him. He counts to three before running after her at a comfortable, sustainable pace. His longer legs and superhuman physical ability allow him to catch up to her sprint with his jog in three seconds. He passes her effortlessly and reaches the doors to the bridge, not even slightly out of breath and not a drop of sweat on him.

  “What took you so long?” Fastball asks. Titan is the sixth one there, with all the other Invincibles except his wife waiting patiently.

  “Owl, how did you get here before me?” Titan asks. “You don’t have superpowers.”

  The vigilante shrugs, “I’m Owlman,” he says as a way of explaining.

  Finally, Demoness rounds the corner, quite thoroughly winded.

  “I’m . . . fine,” she wheezes. “Gimme a sec.”

  The Invincibles allow her to recover since they have all arrived at the doors to the bridge with six minutes to spare. Once the Living Star has managed to control her breathing and is back to normal condition, Dr. Invictus fires his lasers at the door and begins to melt through them.

  “These doors are pretty thick,” Dr. Invictus says. “This could take a minute or two.”

  “There’s an easier way,” Owlman says. He removes what looks like a can of spray paint from his utility belt and sprays the door with it. The substance inside the can sticks to the door and swells slightly, similar to super glue drying. The vigilante empties the can on the door, covering every inch of it before tossing the can aside and pulling out a small black cylinder with a red button on the top of it.

  “You might want to take cover,” he advises.

  Once the Invincibles are safe behind a shield, courtesy of Demoness, Owlman presses his thumb down on the red button. The foam sprayed on the door detonates violently; shattering the door into multiple chunks and blasting them into the bridge. The Invincibles storm through the bridge, ready to face whatever may lie within. The inside of the bridge however, is rather empty; the only beings other than the Invincibles are Gi-Chul, who is sitting in a chair with his staff across his lap, looking quite amused, and Kaiju, who is slumped against the railing next to Gi-Chul.

  “I’m glad you could join me,” Gi-Chul says. “Though all you needed to do was knock.”

  “Give it up, Gi-Chul,” Owlman snarls. “Seven against one; it’s no contest.”

  The Aotiuer smiles, “Your numbers, my friend, are irrelevant.”

  The Storm

  October 1st

  Gi-Chul rises from his seat and gives his staff a twirl; the nearly twelve-foot rod of metal has a sculpted model of the head of an animal that resembles a lion, but with two mouths, on either end of the staff. He wears grey chain mail, but no other armor and carries no weapons other than his staff. He taps one end of his staff on the ground and all four of the beasts’ mouths are instantly filled with crimson flames; he twirls his staff a bit more before firing a stream of fire from one end of his staff at the ceiling.

  “My fleet is a mere two hours away from Earth,” Gi-Chul taunts. “Will you be able to stop me by then? You all know in your heart of hearts that you cannot.”

  Ronin draws his sword, “You’re lucky we have exercised constraint until now,” the Blind Swordsman says.

  “Then come, try to stop me,” Gi-Chul laughs. “For I am ready to unleash my fires upon you; I was born in a burning forest as a great army set fire to my home planet, I should have died, but I did not. After the fire, I taught myself not to fear the bite of the flames and assembled the greatest army in the galaxy.”

  “My people are the best army in the entire universe,” Titan retorts.

  “Yes, the Xorians are formidable, but they are still arguing amongst themselves over who should rule as your father dies,” Gi-Chul responds. “Soon, they will be launched into a civil war and when all of Xor is ashes, I will step in and crush whatever embers are left. The annihilation of Xor need not be a contract; it is they who burned my planet, so I will bring them my justice in the same fires. The fire is growing stronger, Invincibles. Your planet is going to be the first in many to fall before the glory of the new Aotiuer Empire.”

  The Aotiuer supreme commander then begins to spin his staff until a vortex of fire surrounds him, burning off his armor until only globs of molten metal are left. He is breathing heavily and smiles at them, a smile that reveals razor-sharp teeth set in black gums. Gi-Chul licks his lips with a forked black tongue and hisses menacingly.

  “Do you see now? Do you see how futile you resistance has been? Even if you kill me and all my people die, our ships will still be launching straight at Earth. Your day of judgment has come, Invincibles, and the entire human race will be crushed into dust under the weight of your failures,” Gi-Chul taunts.

  He opens his hideous mouth to say something more when Demoness unleashes a torrent of fire from each of her palms, bathing the Aotiuer in flames. For all his bravado about not fearing fire, Gi-Chul screams as loud as he can as the flames burn flesh from bone; the sickening stench of burning meat fills the air in the bridge for a good fifteen minutes, at which point Demoness lets the fire disperse. The only thing left of Gi-Chul is a blackened skeleton that stands on its own for just a moment before collapsing into a jumble of charred bones.

  “I got sick of listening to him drone on about galactic conquest,” Demoness says. “And he said he liked fire, so I thought I’d help him out.”

  The Invincibles stare at her in awe.

  “What?” she asks. “I got bored.”

  Titan pulls off his helmet and drops it on the ground, scooping up his wife and planting a kiss on her lips for at least a minute before relinquishing her, “You did it, Sweetheart,” he says. “You ended it.”

  “I did, didn’t I?” Demoness says, a smile growing on her face. “But now I’m super hungry.”

  Just as the Invincibles are about to cheer, the pile of blackened bones that was Gi-Chul begins to stitch itself back together. The bones latch onto each other, using burnt tissue as a sort of grotesque glue as the Aotiuer gradually pieces himself back together.

  “You think that flames can stop me, child?” Gi-Chul asks, his voice low and menacing. “I have burned in the fires of a thousand worlds and yours are simply the next in a long line.”

  New flesh envelopes Gi-Chul, flowing over him like a liquid. As the flesh grows, armor sprouts from it as well. As this is happening, ashes rise from the pile and begin to reconstruct themselves into a new staff; this time, the staff is far from ceremonial and resembles a large poleaxe. The axe’s head alone is at least two feet long, not counting the spear tip that protrudes above it. The handle of the axe is covered in ornate carvings, all of which seem to be of various alien species dying, their mouths open and their faces contorted in agony.

  Gi-Chul twirls the axe and smiles, “Now, would anyone like to try again?”

  The Invincibles hesitate. Defender does not. He charges forward, his grappling hook opening like a flower, but Gi-Chul bats him out of the air with the flat of his axe head. The Supersoldier slams painfully against a wall and begins to struggle to his feet.

  Brandishing his axe, Gi-Chul moves to finish Defender off, but the other Invincibles snap back into action. Owlman throw
s a stun grenade at the Aotiuer as Ronin leaps up, his sword ready to cleave Gi-Chul in two. Gi-Chul shakes off the effects of the stun grenade long before anyone could have expected, however, and intercepts Ronin in the air with his counterattack, piercing the Blind Swordsman clean through the gut with his axe’s spear tip. Once Ronin has been impaled, Gi-Chul slams him onto the ground and roughly pulls the axe out.

  Owlman goes down next; his cowl shatters into a million pieces when Gi-Chul strikes him with the hammer positioned on the back of the axe blade. Blood flows freely from Owlman’s nose, mouth, and at least a dozen cuts on his face, but Dr. Invictus cannot afford to see if his ally is alright. The Mechanical Man pelts Gi-Chul with high-heat lasers, micro-missiles, and other ordnance, but they all prove to be in vain. Gi-Chul absorbs the lasers into his armor and almost effortlessly deflects the missiles with his axe.

  Defender, having finally made it to his feet, slide-tackles Gi-Chul’s legs, taking him to the ground. Once the Aotiuer is down, Demoness telekinetically throws the axe over to Dr. Invictus who swings it at Gi-Chul’s neck. However, Gi-Chul rolls out of the way at the last second and the axe strikes nothing but the floor. As Dr. Invictus struggles to free the axe, Titan swings a right hook at Gi-Chul, who bends backwards at a forty-five degree angle to avoid the punch. Straightening himself, Gi-Chul hammers Titan’s exposed right flank with countless lightning-fast punches until Fastball knocks him away with a two-footed kick.

  Dr. Invictus finally manages to free the axe, but as soon as he does, Gi-Chul yanks it out of his hands and uses its long handle to trip Fastball as he runs. Fastball smashes head first into the floor at Mach 10, crushing his helmet and leaving him unconscious. Dr. Invictus loses a hand to Gi-Chul’s axe right before the follow up swing cleaves his head in half. As the Mechanical Man tries to reboot, Gi-Chul pushes him out of the way and advances towards Demoness.

  Demoness hits Gi-Chul with energy bolts as fast as she can make them, but he shrugs each one off and strides forward as she backs up, his smile growing wider. Quickly adapting to the situation, Demoness changes her aim and shoots Gi-Chul in one of his knees, taking him to the ground. The Aotiuer rises quickly though, and, bored with his game, takes a running jump at Demoness, his axe poised to strike. She throws up a shield to defend herself, but before the strength of her shield can be tested . . .