The Enhancer series Box Set

by Wyatt Kane

  Yet these men weren’t the police. These were soldiers for hire, and they worked for the Master.

  The formerly quiet streets filled with curses as the men realized their approach had been observed. Ty couldn’t help but feel an instant of satisfaction at this small victory. But beyond that, he wasn’t sure what to do.

  Heroics of any sort were still foreign to him. He had no concept of tactics and no battle plan. Only his childhood martial arts classes combined with his newfound strength and agility gave him any confidence at all. That, and his shield and blaster.

  Tempest wasn’t so hesitant. She launched herself from the roof and hovered over the men below. “You have one chance!” she shouted, looking like an angel in black. “Turn around and leave! Do it now and you will come to no harm! I give you my word!”

  Ty could sense the uncertainty of the men even from where he stood on the roof. They had expected this to be a stealth mission. Perhaps they’d anticipated no resistance at all until they reached the penthouse itself. That they had already been spotted was an obvious surprise.

  A surprise due entirely, Ty knew, to Lilith’s intervention.

  Nevertheless, the men were professionals. Mercenaries. Muscle for hire. What their background and experience might have been, Ty didn’t know. Yet it was clearly military in nature. The confusion lasted only a moment or two before one of their number, perhaps a commander, raised his voice.

  “She’s one of them!” he bellowed. “She has a device! Blow her out of the sky!”

  With that, many of the men turned their blasters toward Tempest and did their best to turn the words into action.

  The air was suddenly filled with concussive detonations. At the sight, Ty’s heart caught in his throat. He was immediately afraid for Tempest’s safety, at the same time as being enraged that anyone would try to hurt her.

  However, Tempest was fast and durable. She easily avoided the first barrage of blasts and would have been proof against them at that distance anyway. But the mercenaries weren’t done.

  “Alpha unit, maintain your objective!” came the same, strident voice. “Bravo, keep that bitch off our backs! And where in Hell is Delta? It’s time to see if the demon is all she’s cracked up to be!”

  At the man’s words, several things happened at once. One of the teams formed quickly into a defensive circle and kept firing at Tempest, who was buzzing about like a hummingbird around a tub of nectar. The other team ignored their comrades in arms and headed directly for the building. Where Delta team might have been, Ty couldn’t see. But he had a pretty good idea who they were talking about.

  Unless there was another demon they were keeping back in reserve, it could only be Lilith.

  Ty could see right away that their tactics were good. This was quite a different area when compared to where Ty kept his apartment. It was far less rundown, with wider streets and fewer dark alleys. It made for fewer hiding places for the mercenaries, but also gave Tempest less to work with.

  In a different part of town, she might have picked up a dumpster and used it to hammer at the mercenaries. Or ripped a wheel or two from an abandoned car and used them. But here, there were no dumpsters or abandoned cars. Tempest could do nothing more than dive at them like a crow might dive at a cat before pulling up and speeding away so that she wouldn’t get hit by a stray blast.

  Watching it all, Ty became nearly incandescent with rage. He wanted to be down there on the street in the middle of it all. He wanted to help Tempest as best as he could. But the blonde superhero had left him on the roof of the building. From there, even his blaster could do little damage.

  Ty cursed under his breath. If he’d been a real superhero, he would have just jumped. But if he did, he would take fall damage, even with his shield. He would break both of his legs and would be useless to anyone.

  With no fire escape–the building he was on was too low to need one–Ty’s only option was the downpipe. He studied it suspiciously, knowing before he even tried that it wasn’t built to take his weight. But at least it was steel rather than PVC piping.

  He hesitated for a moment and cast a glance back at the conflict. Tempest had changed tactic, aiming instead for the Alpha team, and was doing her best to prevent them from entering the building. Instead of diving at them ineffectually, she approached them at real speed from down low, bringing her arms up as if to protect her head at the last.

  Several of the men fired their blasters, and Ty watched with growing fury as at least one of the shots caught Tempest on her arms. He heard her grunt in pain, but her momentum was undiminished. She ploughed into the mercenaries like a wrecking ball, bowling half a dozen of them over before climbing swiftly back into the night.

  Two of the men were down screaming. One was a limp mess on the road. But the others were not badly injured and were able to rejoin their line.

  Ty felt a moment of pride combined with real worry for Tempest’s safety. He didn’t know how many such blasts she could take. His shield was based on her skill. He knew she could control energy like that from a blaster. But he also knew that the strength of a blaster increased dramatically the smaller the distance.

  Could Tempest survive a shot from close range?

  Ty didn’t want to find out. With a snarl, he flung himself at the downpipe and gripped it with both hands and feet. For a moment or two, it felt like it would hold. And that was all Ty needed. He shimmied halfway down, then leapt the rest of the way, landing awkwardly on the ground.

  10: Player Two Has Entered The Game

  Once before, in fact earlier that very day, Ty had faced a similar small army of mercenaries. He and Tempest had been intent on rescuing Dinah at the time, and Ty had been willing to risk much to achieve that goal. Yet he had still been scared. He’d never really been in such a conflict before, especially up against so many armed and dangerous men.

  His heart had been pounding, and he had been breathing in short, shallow gasps. Ty remembered that his palms had started to sweat, yet his throat and mouth had gone dry.

  He had made it through the battle on the back of his concern for Dinah and Tempest, as well as his outrage against Bain. And one other thing.

  Ty had likened the conflict to playing a first-person shooter. Thinking about it like that, as if it was no more than a game, made it easier. Especially given that his shield was like a cheat code that granted him invulnerability.

  He had survived that conflict, as had Tempest and Dinah. Many of the mercenaries, however, hadn’t been so fortunate.

  This time would be no different. Except that instead of fear so acute it formed a knot in his stomach, Ty was driven by anger.

  How dare these people attack Tempest like that? How dare they approach her home with evil intent?

  It was enough that Ty didn’t need to pretend to be in a first-person shooter. This time, instead of sweaty palms, he could feel the blood in his face. He was angry, and he intended to take that anger out on these men.

  As he approached, he pulled the hood of his mesh suit out from under his collar. It was still active from his confrontation with Lilith, but he wanted to make sure of his own safety. With his hood in place, he dug out his sleeves with the thumb holes and hooked them in place. That done, he knew that his shield covered him completely.

  Then he took his blaster from where he’d tucked it into his belt and dialed it up to maximum.

  The mercenaries never knew what hit them. Both groups were studying the night sky, striving to see Tempest before she dive-bombed them again. None of them paid the slim, sandy-haired young man in the glowing blue nimbus any attention at all.

  Until it was too late.

  Ty approached to within twenty yards and took aim at Bravo team. He pulled the trigger and watched as an eruption of fiery green plasma leapt from the end of his blaster. It blew into the mercenaries like a gigantic fist, flinging them this way and that.

  Ty couldn’t help but think of a bowling alley. He hadn’t exactly scored a strike. More than h
alf of the mercenaries were standing. But he figured he could pick up a spare with little effort.

  He aimed and squeezed the trigger a second time, flinging men about like rag dolls caught in a storm.

  Ty aimed a third time, but the men in Bravo team unit still standing were quick to react. They flung themselves left and right, out of his range, and Ty had to aim individually.

  How many were dead, Ty didn’t know. Likely, most were just hurt. Already, he could hear groans of pain and discomfort. Their armor may not have been as effective as Ty’s, but it did its job well enough for many of them.

  Ty would have to get closer to do real damage.

  Tempest made good use of the distraction. She swooped down like a hawk and plucked one of the prone men from the ground. Furthering the bowling image still in Ty’s mind, she hurled that man into Alpha team, sending many of them flying.

  More yells and curses filled the air. Ty’s shield flickered once or twice as the remaining mercenaries returned his fire, but to Ty, it was like no more than a gentle breeze. Just as Tempest had found it difficult to find weapons on the wide-open streets, the mercenaries now found cover to be scarce. Those who could do so ducked behind streetlamps or around the corner of Tempest’s building. The rest crouched low or used their fallen brothers for cover.

  All the while, one of their number was shouting orders, although now he was far less coherent. His orders came out as screeches of rage mixed with a babble of fear and anger.

  Ty felt powerful, invulnerable. This was the type of thing his armor had been built for. Not to protect him from falling, but to save him from blows that might otherwise have killed him. He was like a tank, implacable, impenetrable. He stalked forward like an angry giant and took aim at the few who could still return fire. Yet even then, the mercenaries hadn’t given up.

  “Delta unit!” somebody cried out. “Delta unit! Where the hell are you?”

  Ty ignored it all. He shot again and again, putting an end to any threat he could see. Tempest had come in to land and was taking on the remnants of Alpha team by the building entrance. To Ty, the conflict seemed at an end. There were fewer than half the mercenaries still upright, and even they were in disarray. Ty was already thinking they had won.

  Then Lilith appeared in front of him.

  It was so sudden and unexpected that for the briefest moment, Ty didn’t know what to do. It didn’t help that he found her just as impossibly attractive as he did Tempest and Dinah. She was close enough that he could have kissed her simply by leaning forward, and her expression was one that mixed determination with sorrow.

  “Sorry,” she said clearly. “But I don’t have a choice.”

  Ty had barely a moment to wonder what she was apologizing for. Then she hit him with some sort of shockwave. It was powerful beyond measure, and even though Ty had tested his shield against the best Tempest could offer and found it more than up to the task, this was different.

  Lilith’s blast picked him up and tossed him backward. Ty was a tumbleweed blown in the wind. He rolled and bounced, his arms and legs flailing, and his blaster knocked out of his grip.

  It was uncomfortable and humiliating all at once, yet it could have been worse. Ty’s shield helped to protect him. Instead of grazing the flesh from his elbows and knees, he remained remarkably intact, suffering no more than bruises. Yet he was shaken, and when he came to a halt, it was like his senses were jumbled. It was all he could do to lie crumpled against the wall of the building he had climbed down.

  “Ty!” Tempest bellowed.

  All at once, Ty’s vision clicked back in. From across the road, he clearly saw Tempest’s expression of horror. She had seen him tumble and fall and feared for his safety. He struggled to raise a hand and tried to shout that he was okay, but Tempest had already fixed her gaze on Lilith.

  The demoness was still staring at Ty with an expression of sadness. She had no idea that Tempest was looking her way, or that the blonde superhero’s expression was full of murder.

  Ignoring the last of the mercenaries around her as if they were nothing, Tempest launched herself at the demoness, and Ty knew that if they collided, it would be fatal.

  All at once he regretted not telling the full story. Tempest didn’t know Lilith had warned him. She didn’t know that the demoness was acting under duress. Nor could Tempest see Lilith’s expression of sorrow mixed with concern.

  All Tempest knew was that Lilith had spirited Bain to safety at the end of their earlier battle, and that she had just knocked Ty on his ass. To the blonde superhero, Lilith was no more than a villain, and a dangerous one at that.

  “Look out,” Ty managed to say.

  It was never going to be enough. He was still too badly shaken. He couldn’t so much as raise more than a whisper. If Lilith had been right beside him, she still wouldn’t have heard his warning.

  She didn’t know the danger she was in.

  Ty didn’t want to see the collision. At the last moment, he closed his eyes and looked away.

  From somewhere nearby, he heard sirens approaching.

  Perhaps that was what warned Lilith. The sirens, or Ty looking away. Or perhaps she heard some small sound from behind her, maybe Tempest herself grunting in effort. Either way, Ty heard a distinct popping noise that told him all he needed to know. Moments later, he caught a whiff of ozone, and had to smile as Tempest let out an inarticulate noise of frustration.

  Ty opened his eyes again. Lilith had disappeared. Tempest was standing over him. Even in the midst of battle, she looked like a goddess, full of power and capability, her blonde hair a picture of perfection and her eyes flashing with anger mixed with concern. The blonde superhero glanced quickly all around, but Lilith was nowhere to be seen.

  11: Boss Fight

  Tempest reached for Ty’s hand to help him up. “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” Ty replied as she hauled him to his feet. He shook his head in an effort to clear it. “A bit rattled. I’ll be okay in a moment.”

  “Then let’s finish this!” Tempest said. With that, she turned back to the remnants of the mercenaries, some of whom were starting to organize themselves. Ty looked about and spied his blaster on the pavement. Stiffly, knowing he would be in pain in the morning, he made his way to the weapon and picked it up. He wondered idly if there was some way to integrate it into his device, or maybe his mesh suit. If there was, he wouldn’t have to worry about being disarmed in the future.

  As he turned back to help Tempest mop up the rest of the mercenaries, he wondered where Lilith had gone. Then he decided it didn’t matter as long as she stayed out of Tempest’s sights. With the things the demoness had told him, he didn’t want her to be in any additional danger.

  Yet it seemed his wants and desires weren’t those that governed the universe.

  He had barely taken a step toward Tempest before Lilith appeared again, flying above the battlefield. Without hesitation, the demoness let out a shriek and made a gesture with her hands. Ty had no idea what her skill actually was or whether she had more than one.

  All he knew was that Lilith was enormously powerful.

  When she rescued Bain, she had hidden her efforts within a localized dust storm. Moments before, she had hit Ty with such a blast that even his shield couldn’t protect him.

  This time, it was as if she called forth an earthquake. The street shook and buckled as if an unknown fault had suddenly ruptured. None of the combatants were able to maintain their footing. The mercenaries, those still playing an active part, were thrown from their feet. Ty felt he was trying to ride a bucking bull. He couldn’t do it and had to steady himself with his hands. Not even Tempest was proof against it. She stumbled, tried to steady herself, then looked about for the cause.

  She spotted Lilith and launched herself into the air with a battle cry that sounded like a shriek of pure anger.

  Once again, the demoness saw the danger in time. She blinked out of existence with her familiar pop! all but drowned out by
the rumbling of rocks. As soon as she did, the earthquake ceased, and Ty was able to get back to his feet.

  Yet the battle wasn’t over. Lilith appeared again, still flying, higher up in the sky. From where Ty stood, it was difficult to see her expression clearly, but he got the impression she was wondering how to deal with Tempest’s power and fury.

  But what she should have been worried about was the blonde superhero’s speed.

  Before Lilith could even begin to react, Tempest had spotted her and used her speed to come up behind her. Ty watched with his heart in his mouth. He didn’t want Tempest to hurt Lilith any more than he wanted Lilith to hurt Tempest. Yet there was nothing he could do to stop either of them. All he could do was watch and hope.

  Tempest let out a howl of rage as she careened into the demon woman in midair. Ty heard Lilith gasp in surprise and unexpected pain at the collision, and with Tempest still holding her, she began spiraling downward like a wounded butterfly.

  “No!” Ty shouted. He knew that Tempest was proof against such a fall, but he hadn’t seen Lilith’s character sheet. He had no clue if she was durable enough to survive an impact from such a height. For all he knew, her strength, durability, healing, etc., were no greater than his own.

  Locked together, each of them crying out in either anger or fear, Tempest and Lilith both fell–only to blink out of existence a few feet from the ground.

  Ty looked around wildly. He knew that Lilith’s range wasn’t limited to the immediate area. She had teleported Ty across several miles and could doubtless do the same with Tempest.

  Yet for no reason other than sheer intuition, he expected her to remain close by.

  And he was right. Lilith and Tempest popped back into existence between Ty and the mercenaries, about where they would have landed, anyway.

  Both of them cried out, although whether from pain or rage, Ty couldn’t tell. All he knew was that they were no longer standing. Instead, Lilith was lying flat on her back, with Tempest above her. The blonde superhero raised her fist as if to smash Lilith’s face, but the demoness wasn’t yet done. She gave a groan of effort and aimed her power at Tempest.