Psychoverse

by Jamie Hawke

“Yes, except now the vast majority of them are after me.”

  “Not so good.”

  Hinru laughed. “No. It is a less than optimal position, for me and indeed, for Theramuse. It’s time, mother. Time to tell the galaxy we are more than they believe us to be.”

  Malaia glanced in my direction, eyes roaming over me. “And them?”

  “Allies.”

  “I certainly hope so,” I added.

  “It’s not so simple.” Her mother nodded to those with her, and they huddled around. Three were women, all looking strong and confident. The other two were men, both with long, black beards, and one with cracked skin that gave away his age compared to the other.

  “What’s going on, exactly?” I asked.

  “My mother belongs to one of the clans, and my hope was to call upon the warlords to fight together, to show the universe what we’re made of,” Hinru barely glanced my way as she explained. Addressing her mother, she added, “What’s the problem?”

  “You’ve been away a long time,” the older of the men said, pointing at my group with a long, black blade. “They won’t be welcome. You… doubtful.”

  “Then we’ll make ourselves welcome,” I replied.

  Hinru cast me a cautious glance, then told the man to explain.

  “There are no more independent clans. Even the most vile and insane groups of raiders have been brought into the domains of the warlords.” The man spat on the ground. “We tried to resist, but lost too many.”

  “Who do we need to discuss this with, then?” Hinru asked.

  The answer, to our surprise, came from behind us as Cheri said, “Kabear.”

  We turned to see her standing in the darkness, one hand on the bear and gripping it tight, as the other rubbed the smiley face on her breast. As she scrunched her face, she moved her fingers and I saw that she wasn’t rubbing it, but rotating it so that the smiley face was upside down.

  “And this is…?” Malaia asked.

  Cheri took another step forward. A flash of lightning revealed her features, and she smiled wide. “Come now, do you really forget a face so soon?”

  “Yours, no,” Malaia said, and reached out a hand and touched Cheri’s shoulder, as if verifying that she was real. “I’m so sorry.”

  “We all were.”

  “For what?” Hinru asked. “I feel like I missed something.”

  “The second part of the problem,” Malaia explained, glancing back at the flat rocks with concern. “Your brother… He’s gone.”

  “Hung,” Cheri said, lip twitching as sorrow took over—as if the expression simply didn’t belong on her face.

  Hinru looked like she was about to be sick, but nodded. “Let me guess. Kabear was involved?”

  I held up a finger to Eloise and the others to let them know we would only take another moment, as Cheri quickly filled Hinru in on what had happened to her former lover, who was apparently Hinru’s brother. The former leader of one of the major bounty hunter groups in the galaxy took the news with a calm expression, but I felt the anger boil over and the rage take hold.

  When the story was over, I motioned to the monks. “We’re here and ready to fight back.”

  “And now that I see the full picture,” Hinru added, “there’s no way we can allow that bear-shifter Kabear to live. He won’t be part of our new world.”

  “Taking his life has been on my to-do list for some time now,” Cheri admitted. “I kind of lost track of that goal when I joined the Hermites and all.”

  The mention of ‘Hermites’ caused an instant reaction in those with Malaia, and two rifles emerged from the cloaks of the women in the rear.

  “Hold,” Malaia said, motioning for them to put their guns down. “A move against Cheri is a move against me.” They lowered their weapons, and Malaia pinned Cheri with a hard stare. “I had thought Kabear killed you along with my boy. Then you show up unexpectedly. Now you’re saying you went off to join the Hermites? The fuck is wrong with you?”

  Cheri chuckled, rubbing her chin, and then shrugged. “I was looking for something bigger than myself, you could say.”

  “And for the record,” I said, “we’re going to be on the same side as the Hermites here. We being my group, and the monks from the Temple of Domrem.” At that, I motioned to Eloise, who approached with caution, eyes roaming over this little group.

  “Looking for more allies?” Eloise asked, eyes moving between Hinru and her mother, recognition dawning as she seemed to realize there was a connection.

  “That’s the idea,” Hinru replied.

  “Shit, this is so fucked,” the younger guy with Malaia said, eyeing Eloise. “The temple, the Hermites… Malaia, you can’t be going for this, can you?”

  “I can, and I am.” Malaia clasped her daughter’s shoulder. “My daughter says it’s legit, I’m with her. Now,” she turned to the others who had come with her, “where do the rest of you stand?”

  “With you, as always,” the older man said, hand on his chest.

  The women followed his lead, but the younger man eyed them, rocks at his feet rumbling.

  “Don’t do it.” Malaia reached a hand toward him, causing the rocks to subside. “You make a move against us, you’re declaring yourself with Kabear. Is that what you want?”

  “Fuck me,” he said, shaking his head. “This—”

  “Is where we find ourselves. Time to take a stand.”

  The man ran his tongue along his upper teeth, then nodded. “I’m with you.”

  “And so it was that the people of Theramuse found themselves allied with the Hermitic cult and the monks of Domrem.” Malaia laughed. “Come, let’s tell Kabear it’s time for him to give up his seat at the table. He’ll love it.”

  “Really?” Cheri asked.

  “No, he’ll fight and we’ll have to kill him. Let’s hope you all are as badass as I’m counting on you being.”

  15

  Eloise had briefed the rest of the monks as I went forward with my Psychobitches, getting the rundown of this camp from Malaia. Her team eyed us warily, but as far as I could read, they were on board.

  “More guards there,” Malaia said, indicating a position past the first ring of rocks. “We’ll pass by, relieve them, then you move in. The key will be getting in to see Kabear without causing others to be hurt in the process.”

  “Agreed,” I said, and repeated to my followers that there was to be no casualties unless it couldn’t be helped.

  “He’ll reject, but I want to give him the chance,” Malaia said. “Then we light the beacon.”

  Cheri grumbled something along the lines of “Fuck that,” but I agreed. Maybe the guy had turned over a new leaf, for all we knew.

  “How do we light the beacon?” Erupa asked.

  “It’s a signal to call the other warlords to arms, sent off from the central room and requiring his retinal scan.”

  “Roger that.” I cocked my head. “The guards, maybe we just have them leave of their own accord?”

  “You can do that?”

  I shrugged. “I can make them scared, or try another emotion.”

  She thought about it but shook her head. “If anything, try putting them at ease. That way, when we go to relieve them, there will be minimal levels of suspicion.”

  “We can do that.”

  “Things go south, I can sprinkle them with my fairy dust,” Tink said. “Or Erupa can do her shadow thing.”

  “Before it comes to that, allow me to do my thing,” Malaia said, and then motioned to her team.

  They strolled out confidently, with an extra boost in that confidence from yours truly. Soon they were passing the building as she had said, and a form appeared as a silhouette. A moment later, another. I was fairly sure they couldn’t see us where we crouched with the mountain behind us, and I gave them a dose of relaxation to put them at ease.

  For a moment, nothing happened. Cheri pulled on my sleeve, nodding like we needed to get in there. Then the two forms turned, one after the
other, and walked away.

  I let out a sigh of relief, except… aggression registered. Damn, I was beginning to hate sensing that emotion. Off to the right, someone approached Malaia, words just audible from here as he demanded to know what was going on. She held up her hands, telling him it was orders, but he called bullshit on her and unslung a rifle from his shoulder.

  They have it covered, Cheshire said, and I looked down to see the cat looking back at the monks. Three of them had their hands moving as one, causing a light to form. Then a muffled grunt came from over by Malaia. Turning back, I saw a light binding tie around the man, including over his mouth, and take him to the ground.

  Malaia turned back our way but then motioned us on.

  We ran up to her side, my emotional sensor on high alert in case more showed up. She led us toward a rock building in the center, past several others who turned our way in confusion but didn’t move to intercept.

  “They won’t attack as long as they see me,” Malaia said in answer to my confused look. “Not as long as Kabear—”

  “As long as Kabear, what?” a voice boomed. We stopped as a man emerged from the doorway ahead, his large belly and chest exposed, using a towel to wipe sweat from his brow. Glaring at me, then the other monks, his expression hardened. For one horrible moment, he rose up, partially transforming into a bear so that he was furry and had terrifying teeth. Then he was back again—a simple show of strength and power. “Speak quick, or every one of your hearts turns into a little bomb in side of those flesh bags you call bodies.”

  Malaia explained the situation to him as Hinru had told her, while two half-dressed ladies emerged from behind him. He looked our way, snorted, and shook his head.

  “You know me,” Hinru interjected. “You know I wouldn’t be here if this wasn’t vital.”

  “I knew you, once,” he countered. “We’re not putting our necks on the line for no monks and a rogue hunter.”

  “Good.” Cheri stepped forward, sword drawn. “That means I get to gut you, I hope.”

  One flash of his eyes and her sword vibrated, turning red as if about to explode. Malaia had her hands up, though, and the effect stopped. Apparently, her powers worked like a quencher, dampening other powers. Cheri chuckled and took a step toward the man, but Kabear had a pistol out, glowing red from a stripe on its side and aimed at her.

  “Who’s the crazy bitch?” he asked.

  “Psychobitch,” I answered, glad to see Cheri had her wits about her and had stopped her advance. “And if you shoot at her, you will die.”

  The man shrugged. “Says you, and I don’t know who the fuck you are, so…” His eyes drifted back over to Cheri, narrowing. “But you… you, I recognize.”

  “You killed someone close to me,” she replied, not lowering her sword, even though holding it up was starting to make her arm shake slightly.

  “I kill a lot of someones.”

  “This particular someone mattered to me.”

  Kabear clicked his tongue, eyed me again, then Malaia. “You choose odd company.”

  “My daughter vouches for her. So do I,” Malaia shot back. “Now, we need you to send the signal. Do you understand?”

  He nodded toward the door he had emerged from. “You and I should discuss.”

  After a moment’s hesitation, she nodded. “Give me a chance to reason with him. If I’m not out in five, come in after me.”

  “Understood,” I said, but glanced quickly at Cheri to see if she was on board.

  Cheri, to her credit, nodded. She wore a slight pout, but finally put her sword away and walked over to me. Wrapping her arms around my waist as the two entered the building, she said, “I know I shouldn’t care, but… he’s a bit of a fuckhead.”

  “I know, dear. And it’s okay to want revenge over a dead lover, even if you’ve fallen for someone new.”

  “See, you get me.” She kissed my cheek, and we both turned to watch Hinru and Eloise approach.

  “And if your mother can’t reason with him?” Eloise was asking Hinru.

  “Then we force the issue,” Hinru replied.

  “Meaning we attack?” I asked.

  Hinru gave me a non-committed grunt.

  “All this,” Eloise motioned to the mountain and darkness. “Is it really necessary? You have the temple at your back, Supreme Master Ezra. What use do we have for an army of raiders and miscreants?”

  Hinru shot her a glare. “The Gold Reapers have a lot of power, and money to buy more. We shouldn’t underestimate them.”

  “Agreed,” I chimed in. “Better to have the odds stacked in our favor in every possible way we can.”

  I couldn’t help thinking, watching Hinru as she spoke, how strange it was to be here about to be fighting side-by-side with her. My last few years I had thought of her as practically a god, this larger than life ultimate bounty hunter who had risen up the ranks to leadership. And now she was with us, talking as if she were simply one of the group.

  “Is it just me,” Tink whispered into my ear, and I only then realized she was small and on my shoulder, “or are you eye-fucking the shit out of that Hinru lady?”

  “Stop,” I replied, barely a whisper but I knew she could pick it up.

  “You’re not trying to fuck her?”

  “I’m…” I held up my finger for the others to give me a moment as I stepped away. Walking a few feet into the dark, I shrugged my shoulder. Tink got the message and flew up to hover in front of me. “I’m simply trying to process that one of the leaders of the Gold Reapers is here, nothing more. With us.”

  “That’s all?” Tink chuckled. “And if she offered?”

  “Does this seem like the best place or time to be discussing such a hypothetical?”

  “Hell, I’m bored. Where’s the action!”

  As if on cue, the door behind us burst open and Malaia stumbled out, falling to her back. Kabear followed, roaring and strapping on a vest with all manner of glowing stones, three of which flew out and exploded near our group—only near, because the monks had lashed out with their light and created a small shield to protect us.

  “Fuck yeah!” Cheri shouted, already charging around the next building over, climbing up onto the roof.

  “Shit hit the fan,” I said, drawing my pistol to fire. “Hope you’re happy.”

  Tink growled, already flying to attack.

  Mer was at my side in an instant. I didn’t know if it was the light rain that gave her a boost in powers or what, but she had new fins shooting out of her arms and back, glowing eyes, and teeth growing sharp and long. A terrifying sight.

  “Fuck you all,” Kabear shouted, more projectile explosives shooting off from his body. Three younger guys with similar looks to him but skinnier emerged from the same stone structure and created energy shields and other attacks.

  “Don’t do this!” Malaia countered, up and dampening his powers, so that three of his explosives hit their targets but only caused thumps and shouts of pain, not explosions.

  “I won’t have no outsiders coming here and telling me how to run my town.” Kabear lumbered toward her, relying on his fists, it would seem, as he took a swing at her. She dodged back, but just barely.

  Cheri suddenly leaped down from the nearby building, sword slicing right through the man’s arm and severing it at the elbow.

  “Damn, that feels good,” Cheri said, laughing and recovering to come in for another attack.

  This time, the man’s punch came for her, connecting before her next swing could make it far enough to matter.

  My shot hit at almost the same time as the punch, but my bullet apparently only served to make the man angry. He turned on me, a slight amount of blood coming from his temple where the bullet hit but had apparently not gone in. It wasn’t rare that supers like him had some sort of protection, maybe bones or skin that didn’t allow for bullet entry, but it wasn’t fair, if you ask me.

  As the man started to move my way, more of his followers rising all around us and my team
squaring off for the attack, a blast of gold shot through the camp. Had we not already had shields and defenses up, the heat from that golden light might have caused serious damage. It took out two of the locals on the outskirts, but otherwise only served to cause light blotches in our vision.

  When I could see again, it was to take note of two of the Gold Reapers, who had apparently managed to track us down.

  “Too late,” Hinru muttered from where she was on one knee to my right. “We’re too late.”

  “They can’t stop us,” I said, but Eloise was consulting her ways, a hand swishing through the light rain so that it created an image.

  “They’re not alone,” Eloise noted. “Incoming, fast.”

  Kabear and his side stared at us, then the newcomers, as the Gold Reapers rose above us to apparently deliver a message. My team backed up toward me, all sides anxious to see what would happen next.

  16

  “We wondered where you had gotten off to,” the female Gold Reaper said from above, circling around her companion as she had done the last time we came across them. I was starting to think that had something to do with charging up their powers.

  “This time,” the male Reaper said, “we’ll have to ensure that we don’t allow you any chance of escape.”

  Both gleamed bright in the darkness, and it was as if the rain wasn’t even reaching them. It seemed to move around the two, as if they were too brilliant to allow the rain’s touch.

  “Where’s Reaper Vistro?” Hinru shouted. “He sent you two to do his dirty work?”

  “Hardly,” the woman said. “He’s… obtaining help.”

  “In the form of the last of what Orion Corp. could offer,” the man said, and Hinru cursed.

  “How bad is that, exactly?” I asked her.

  “I hear you were part of the group that took one down at the Orion Corp. military complex,” Hinru replied to me quickly and not taking her eyes off Kabear and his henchmen. “Androids, put simply, and Killart used one. But they’re more than that—they’re supra tech using androids, created by Orion Corp. to replace the likes of us. Only, you moved first, so now apparently Vistro, the lead Gold Reaper, has access.”