Superheroes Online Boxed Set

by Dante Steel

  “If we became superheroes once, we can do it again,” Elena said. “Trust me. I want to kill as many vampires as I can.”

  “I haven’t run into one yet,” Gary said. “I’ve been here for a little bit. I’ve fought a siren and a fire god.”

  “A siren?” Elena asked. “Was her name Olivia by any chance?”

  He winced. “Can you handle the four of us remaining a team?” he asked.

  “I’m not going to throw her aside because she can’t keep her hands to herself,” Elena said. “But I don’t want her around me more than she has to be.”

  Nicoleta lowered her dark eyebrows over her eyes. “I feel like I’m missing something.”

  “It’s not important,” Gary said.

  “Gary was comforting me last night. Olivia gave me some bad news about my family. I… Sorry, Nicoletta, I know you like Gary, too, but we were…”

  Nicoletta nodded, her face a blank mask although a bit paler than normal. “Go on.”

  “And then, Olivia was grabbing my boobs! She was there, trying to turn it into an orgy—”

  “A threesome,” Nicoletta continued. “Orgy is when there’s four or more.”

  “Four or more.” Elena’s eyes grew wide as she shook her head. “That’s disgusting.”

  “Love is love,” Olivia said, approaching from around the boulder. “It’s not disgusting. It’s never disgusting. Doesn’t matter if you love someone of another race or the same gender—”

  “Or more than one person?” Elena asked sarcastically.

  “Exactly so.” Olivia shrugged. “If you must know, Elena, I am attracted to you. And Gary. And Nicoletta. So sue me.”

  “You—”

  “Ladies,” Gary said firmly. “Let’s find a town.”

  Elena stomped over to the boulder. She bent down. Somehow, she was powerful enough to lift it, and she threw it toward Olivia.

  There wasn’t enough time for Olivia to move out of the way or even to fly out of the way. She held out her hand, and suddenly, the boulder hung in the air. It had been merely inches from landing on her, and it was still there.

  Gary gaped at her. “How are you doing that?”

  “I… I don’t know.” Olivia dashed out of the way, and the boulder collapsed to the ground, sand flying everywhere.

  Elena was frowning. She was lifting her legs and bending her knees.

  “Is something wrong?” Gary asked her.

  Elena shook her head. “More of me is metal now,” she said. The metal reached up to her mid-thighs.

  “Awesome. I already knew we retained our powers from the first issue, but maybe we’re getting more powerful. Nicoletta, what do you think you can do?”

  “I don’t know.” She wouldn’t look at Gary or Elena or Olivia.

  He crossed over to her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. Elena only just learned that her mom died and—”

  “She did?” Nicoletta glanced over her shoulder at Elena.

  “Yeah, but of course she learned that after entering the game. She’s stuck here.”

  “And the two of you thought having sex would make her feel better.”

  Gary shrugged helplessly. “I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to turn her down.”

  “Of course not. And that was all her. You had the hardest time getting it up I’m sure.”

  “I… Can we not talk about this right now?”

  “Because it’s terribly awkward for you?” Nicoletta asked. “Sorry. Not sorry.”

  “You really do like to argue,” he muttered.

  Nicoletta opened her mouth, probably to yell at him, which he admittedly did deserve, but all he had time to see was a hint of orange deep in her mouth, and he fell to the floor as a blast of fire burst out.

  “Dude!” He scrambled to his feet. “You’re like a dragon lady! That was so cool!”

  “I nearly burned your face off, and you think that’s cool?” Nicoletta shook her head. “I seriously don’t understand you.”

  “That was amazing,” Olivia said.

  Nicoletta ignored her and walked over to Elena. The two began to talk.

  Olivia ran a hand through her hair.

  Gary approached her warily. “Hi.”

  “Hi,” she said, her gaze on the other two women.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “You told me—”

  “I know. I didn’t think you would just jump in like that, though!”

  “Yeah, well, watching you two made me horny, and you said that you wouldn’t until they were on board, so I thought… Did you see the way her boobs were bouncing? And her nipples were so hard!”

  “Do you have X-ray vision eyes?” he asked.

  “It’s dark, yes, but I can see,” she said. “I got so turned on that I had to do something.”

  “You could’ve just masturbated.”

  “I didn’t even think of that,” she said.

  “Honestly?”

  “Nope. I was too horny.” She shrugged. “Yeah, looking back, just grabbing her like that was over the top.”

  “Especially when you consider her mom.”

  “In my defense, she seemed to take the news rather well when I told her,” Olivia said defensively. “She told me that she wasn’t close with her!”

  “That doesn’t matter. She has no parents now. She’s lost.”

  “I didn’t know her dad was dead, too. Geez. That sucks. I feel even worse now.”

  “I know—hey, I don’t think…”

  But Olivia was already walking over to the other ladies.

  Gary hung his head. He had a feeling this wasn’t going to be good.

  Olivia cleared her throat. “I’m sorry. I never meant to—”

  “You can’t just go around grabbing people’s breasts and trying to force threesomes on a person,” Elena said.

  “I know that. I thought—”

  “You clearly weren’t thinking,” Elena said. “A normal person wouldn’t do that.”

  Olivia grimaced. “It’s not that I thought you shouldn’t have a say in your body. It’s just that I thought Gary—”

  “Gary doesn’t speak for me, okay?” Elena whirled around. “Gary? Are you going around telling people that I want to have someone else included when we make love?”

  Gary winced. “No. It’s, ah… complicated.”

  “There’s nothing complicated about any of this,” Elena exploded. She marched over to the boulder and punched it.

  The boulder shattered into a hundred rock shards that flew out everywhere.

  The closest ones just bounced off the metal portion of Elena. She was fine.

  Olivia darted in front of Nicoletta and held out her hands. Somehow, the rock shards in her direction didn’t hit her.

  Several went toward Gary. They were far too many flying far too fast for him to turn them all aside, and they all blew past the sand wall he built. Gary had to get out of the way, and suddenly, he was. He could move objects with his mind because of his powers. Now, he could move himself, which meant he could fly.

  “Looks like you have a second power!” Nicoletta called. “You can fly! And, Olivia, you can make other items fly, too. That boulder, those shards. Elena has more metal, and I can breathe fire.”

  “We might not be considered superheroes anymore,” Gary said, “but we’ve managed to enhance our superpower anyhow. That’s pretty damn cool.”

  “Yeah, cool,” Elena muttered.

  “Hey, look, I know you’re upset, and I get that,” Olivia said walking over to Elena. “I’m sorry. I’ll say it a hundred times, until I’m blue in the face. I’m sorry about what I did. I’m sorry about your mom. I’m sorry you’re stuck in the game. All of it, I’m sorry. But you can’t try to hurt us.”

  “You’re avatars. You’ll be fine.”

  “Any one of the shards could’ve killed Gary,” Nicoletta pointed out quietly.

  Elena glanced at Gary and hung her head. “I didn’t think—”

  “It’s a
ll right. Let’s try to find that town and hopefully, you can rip some bats in half along the way, okay?”

  “That sounds so disturbing,” Nicoletta complained.

  “It does, but it might be what I need,” Elena admitted. “Let’s go.”

  Elena marched off first, followed by Nicoletta. Gary went next, and Olivia brought up the rear. He felt terrible. The ladies had all been friends, but he had effed that up. He couldn’t fault Olivia for trusting him to keep his cock in his pants until they all were ready and willing to share him. God damn it. Thinking about him and Elena and Olivia had him so ready to start masturbating that he wished there was another rock he could hide behind so he could alleviate some of the mounting pressure.

  They headed south, and suddenly, the sky above them turned even darker, a feat Gary wouldn’t have thought possible. Just as suddenly, a dark figure stood before them as if out of nowhere. The lack of visibility made it impossible for Gary to see any of its features.

  “A vampire,” Elena warned, and he had to assume she was right.

  The vampire made a mad dash toward Gary. He barely had time to jump up and fly over the monster’s head before the vampire passed beneath him.

  Nicoletta opened her mouth, but if she was trying to breathe fire, nothing came out.

  “Use your hands,” Gary shouted. “Use your hands!”

  But already the vampire had changed targets and was now going after Elena. Gary could hardly even see the creature. It was moving that damn fast.

  The sound of metal on metal or a tooth against metal made Gary wince. Elena had brought up her forearm for the vampire to bite instead of the soft flesh of her neck.

  “A little help here!” Elena cried.

  Nicoletta set out a blast of fire, but the vampire was already speeding away with Elena. Gary tried to use his power to slow down the vampire, and maybe he did a little, but Olivia suddenly had the vampire in the air, just the vampire and not Elena.

  Nicoletta sent up a fireball, and the vampire gave an inhumane cry as it burst into flames and fell back to the ground as ash.

  And Elena was lying on the sand, not moving.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Gary dashed over to her and immediately forced her to drink one of the potions that healed him. She swallowed some, even though a bit of the liquid poured down her chin.

  Finally, she shoved him away. “Wow,” she said.

  “What happened?” Olivia asked.

  “What did the vampire do to you?” Nicoletta asked.

  Elena stared at the sand. “He kept trying to bite me—”

  “He?” Gary interrupted.

  “Yeah, definitely a he,” she said coolly. “I kept my arms up so he couldn’t bite my neck, so he began to crush me.”

  “Your chest is vulnerable,” Gary said angrily.

  “Yes, well, that potion—”

  “You could’ve been killed!” he shouted.

  “Yeah, if not for…” Elena took a deep breath. “If not for Olivia and Nicoletta.”

  “Don’t mention it,” Olivia said.

  “I won’t,” Elena muttered.

  Gary was incensed. “Elena, you’re in the game now. You can’t just act as if you’re invincible. You aren’t!”

  “Thank God you didn’t see me on the ground,” she muttered. “My ribs had nearly been caved in from him squeezing me so hard.”

  “Elena, I’m not fucking joking. I’ll tie you up—”

  “You will do no such thing!”

  “Anyone can tie me up,” Olivia said, raising her hand.

  “Not now,” Gary snapped.

  “Seriously?” Elena yelled. “My God, what is wrong with you?”

  “Elena, they’re just worried about you,” Nicoletta said calmly.

  “Not Olivia.”

  “If it weren’t for her, you would be dead,” Nicoletta said. “Right?”

  “Maybe. Yeah.”

  “None of us want you to die,” Nicoletta said.

  Elena jerked away. “I don’t want to talk to anyone right now.” She stomped off.

  Gary chased after her and grabbed her arm. She whirled on him, ready to slam her fist into him, and he lifted himself up easily out of harm’s way.

  “Can we talk a minute?” he asked desperately.

  “I would rather not.”

  “After my parents died, I didn’t understand it then, but I… I did a lot of reckless stupid shit. I ran out in front of cars to cross the street. One time, a car was inches from hitting me. Some other crap too. It was only later that I realized that I was tempting fate. I wanted to die. I was suicidal. My parents were gone. Life was different. I couldn’t handle all of the changes, so I wanted to die, too.”

  “Are you saying—”

  “I’m saying that’s what I went through,” he said carefully. “And I want you to know that whatever you’re going through, you aren’t alone. I sure as hell felt that way, but you better not, because I will do whatever it takes to make sure you don’t feel that way.”

  She crossed her arms. “How are you going to manage that?”

  “Well, I don’t think using my powers to undress you will work.”

  “No, I’m not Olivia,” she said coolly.

  Gary shrugged sheepishly.

  “Wait. Did you do that with Olivia?”

  “Not exactly. I just lifted her skirt.”

  “Oh my God. Seriously, dude?”

  “It was her idea, and it helped me to figure out how to move stuff with my mind, so it was kinda important. It wasn’t just for shits and giggles, and it was with her consent because like I said, it had been her idea.”

  “You two are made for each other,” Elena muttered.

  “I was hoping you would think that all of us are made for each other,” he said, the closest he had come to saying how he truly felt.

  “Dream on,” she snorted. “I don’t want anything to do with your den of evil.”

  “According to some, our having sex before marriage is evil,” he pointed out.

  “You can’t have a marriage with three girls!”

  “Who says we’re ever getting out of here? And if that’s the case, why not have marriage as we want it?”

  “I don’t want it like that, and I don’t want to share you, and we sure as fuck better get out of here.” Elena looked ready to punch through something again.

  “Hey, guys?” Nicoletta called. “I hate to interrupt, but it’s looking like we have company.”

  Gary glanced farther south and muttered a curse.

  “Oh, shit,” Elena said. “How many do you think there are?”

  “A horde of them, and if they’re that far away, and we can see them, they have to be moving fast, and—”

  “There’s no telling how many there are,” she finished.

  “One nearly killed you,” he said.

  “We can’t handle this many.”

  “We have to,” Olivia said coming over to them.

  “We need a plan and fast,” Nicoletta said, on Olivia’s heels. “We can’t run. They’ll chase us, and we aren’t fast enough.”

  “I have no ideas,” Gary said.

  Elena threw up her hands. “Great. Fine. I’ll stay in the front and punch through as many as I can.”

  “I can set up a line of fire to greet them,” Nicoletta said. “But what if they jump over it?”

  “Olivia, can you maybe lift the fire to make it hit them?” Gary asked.

  “I can try.”

  “Okay, that just leaves you as the only one without something to do,” Elena said.

  Gary nodded. “I’ll think of something,” he assured her, although he had no idea what, and they had run out of time. The first of the vampires was nearly on them.

  Nicoletta set up a long line of fire. Elena had already punched through the first vampire that had gotten through before the fireline had been made. Her fist went clear through the chest, and the vampire turned to ash as she smashed her fist through a second’s chest
. Ashes rained down.

  Gary struggled to find anything that he could do to try to affect the fight. Some of the closest vampires hadn’t been able to slow down and raced right into the line of fire, the literal line of fire. Most of the others tried to jump over, and Olivia lifted the fire to at least singe them, but several more were getting through, and Elena could only handle so much.

  Using his power to control and move things was fairly second nature to Gary, but he had always used something that was material, something he himself could pick up. Moving the fire took several tries, and at first, he kept trying and having the fire fly through the air slower, but that wasn’t helping any because the vampires were so damn fast, and then one was right in front of him, his silver fangs flashing, and Gary was up in the air, flying.

  Shit. Elena was on the ground. She was fighting hard, and Nicoletta was getting surrounded, her and Olivia both. Nicoletta had added a circle of fire around them to help keep the vampires at bay. For now, it was working, but—well, duh. Just like that, Gary knew what to do.

  He could pick up physical items much easier than something more intangible than fire. Instead of bringing the fire to the vampires, he should take the vampires to the fire.

  Sometimes, it was as easy as KISS. Keep it simple, stupid.

  Gary was able to telekinetically lift no more than two vampires at a time, but he threw them into the fire and held them there long enough to start to turn to ash before grabbing another two. The pile of ashes around Elena was impressive, almost resembling volcanic ash, and Gary shuddered. He hoped they wouldn’t have to worry about that volcano erupting, but that was a potential worry for another day.

  Just when Gary thought that they were making progress and that the horde of vampires had to be winding down, Gary realized that more and more were coming yet. A seemingly endless horde.

  “They’re vampires, not zombies,” he muttered. “This isn’t fair. Fuck you, Haru. You’re doing this shit on purpose. I didn’t see one fucking vampire the entire time I was here alone, and now we have to face all of this? I call bull fucking shit on that.”

  On and on they fought. Gary tried to keep the vampires away from the girls as best as he could. He couldn’t help noticing that there was less and less power with each of Elena’s strikes. It didn’t matter, though. Her metal was enough to cause the vampires to die, and that was good enough for him. She even kicked one back, and its head snapped back as it turned to ash starting from its stomach and moving outward, the ashes flying back away from Elena. Damn. That was sick to watch.