Alvarez’ grin of confidence vanished. “Not who, what. I’m sure you’re aware of the alien invasion a few years ago?”
I laughed. “Right. Your scientist told me you were splicing human and alien DNA. I guess she wasn’t lying. You know, a lot of people thought that was some kind of global cover-up for something else. You’re telling me this Mr. Axiom is one of the aliens?”
When that whole thing went down I was busy working. By the time it was over, It had been easy to believe it was some kind of hoax or government cover-up. I mean, superheroes were battling crazy things all the time, from sea monsters to giant robots. I guess it’s not a big stretch to aliens, but it wasn’t like they had troops occupying cities. Just some ships—and those could have belonged to anyone.
Then again… I’m powered by a centuries-old ghost who claimed to be the genesis of the vampire myth…
“From what I have pieced together, he was the commander of the invading forces. Now he’s here, using my organization as a power base. I want him dead and gone. In return, I will give you everything I have on him. And when it’s over I promise to withdraw from the United States.” He turned to his companion and motioned for him to move forward.
I held up my hand. “I have a counteroffer.” The sun had finally slipped beyond the horizon, leaving the city in the dark. Overhead lights shined down on us, illuminating every square inch of the room.
“There is no counteroffer. It’s this, or you die, here and now,” he said confidently.
I shook my head and let a sly smile slip over my lips. “First,” I said, “I kill your little friend. Then the two guards,” I pointed at them. “Then you. If Mimic has less blood on her hands than you do, she might live. Now tell me, am I speaking the truth?” I asked, shifting to point at the little man.
Despite Alvarez’ facade of confidence, he looked to his human lie detector.
While I spoke the little man’s face grew in horror, but when I asked if I was telling the truth, he sighed with relief. “No, she’s lying,” he said with confidence.
“Nice bluff, Ms. Dumas. But we both know—”
I reached behind me and pulled out the machete. “Silly me, I forgot step one. Kill the power.”
The little man screamed as the truth of my words hit him. I hauled the machete back and threw it with all my might at the spot on the wall. It slammed home, the tip sinking right into the power conduit behind the drywall. The metal blade shorted out the main conduit that all the power in this part of the apartment flowed through.
Including the lights.
“Kill her,” Alvarez barked.
I leaped forward, running toward my target. I could see fine, but they would need a moment to recover. The lights outside kept the room from pitch blackness, but it wasn’t enough to offset the sudden darkness.
The Human lie detector held up his briefcase like a shield and cried out as I slammed into him. We tumbled backward into the couch and I punched his throat, ending his feeble protest. I rolled forward over the back of the couch, spun, and brought my elbow down on his forehead. The stiff back of the couch acted as a counterpoint and the force of my blow broke his neck in half.
Yes, I’d placed a heavy wager on this. I was out of power; killing him would give me some much-needed juice. I just couldn’t act until I knew I could do it with my hands.
Light flared around me as the blue nimbus took hold, shining through my eyes and turning the room into my playground. I shadow stepped past Alvarez, behind one of his guards. Invulnerable was a tricky thing. Like most powers, it had its weakness.
I grabbed his arm from behind, stepped back and jerked him with all my considerable might. He screamed in surprise as he was lifted up. It took three spins for the momentum I wanted, then I unleashed him like a discuss right at the elevator door.
Aluminum crumpled like paper as he impacted, blasting right through the doors into the elevator shaft. I heard him scream the whole way down.
I ducked and rolled as the other guard swung at me, then spun around to face him and planted my foot in his chest and heaved. The force of the kick threw me backward; he didn’t move.
Okay, tougher than your friend.
I lost track of Mimic as she disappeared into a room concealed by the large wall.
A surge of power flooded through me when the other guard finally hit the bottom floor. I shadow stepped over to the wooden table, ax-kicked one of the chairs and picked up two arm-length clubs as weapons.
The remaining guard laughed as he charged in. He wasn’t slow. His fists struck out in rapid-fire precision. I didn’t use the clubs to block them so much as diverting them from hitting me as I backed toward the large bay window.
“You can’t keep this up forever, senorita,” he said. “I only need to hit you once.” He leaped into a series of kicks, sweeps, and punches. It took all my enhanced reflexes to stay one step ahead of him.
Until I didn’t.
He reversed in mid-swing, twisting his hips and bringing up his back foot in a powerful kick that caught me square in the stomach. The blow sent me flying and glass shattered as I passed through the bay window and plummeted to my death.
CHAPTER 35
The woman was unbelievably fast. Even with all his intel, Hector hadn’t accounted for her level of skill, confidence, and sheer power. But he had brought in his very best men for the job.
He glanced down at poor Atwood. He would be a loss, for sure. But it would be worth it for the burr in his side to go away. It would have worked out better if the stubborn woman had just gone along with his plans. Then she would have lived a few days longer.
“Is she gone?” Alvarez asked his man.
His last remaining guard, a truly gifted martial artist and F4 invulnerable, the only one they had left in the organization, leaned out, keeping on hand on the window frame while he watched.
“I can’t really see—”
Then she hit him from above. Alvarez felt the impact as the frame the man clutched gave way. He screamed as he fell from the window.
She landed in a crouch, eyes flaring blue as his last guard fell hundreds of feet. He’d probably survive—but he was down there and she was up here.
“You can’t kill me,” he said with more confidence than he felt.
“Why not?” she asked. She no longer sounded like the flippant young woman who had entered his trap, but something far more dangerous. Her voice sent a shiver down his spine and true fear through him. Something he hadn’t felt since he was a child.
“Do you seriously think an un-powered man could run the world’s largest criminal organization?”
She stopped advancing for a moment. He’d bought himself a few seconds. He used that time to lean over the couch toward his special weapon, a gift from Mr. Axiom.
Her eyes flickered at his movement and she was on him. It didn’t matter, she was too late. He grabbed the hi-tech pistol and fired. A line of green light reached out, striking her in the ribs. She screamed as the chemical laser burned right through her.
To his horror, it didn’t stop her. She slammed her makeshift club against his jaw. Pain blossomed across his face as he fell back.
She threw herself back in surprise as his power reciprocated the blow against her. As if she’d hit herself.
“You see, anything you do to me, you do to yourself. You will die long before me.”
In the past when his opponents realized the futility of their engagement, they surrendered—or sent others to do their bidding. And reflecting attacks back at his enemies wasn’t his only power; he absorbed some of each blow, healing him more and more as the fight went on. The more powerful the attack, the more power he had. The last time an assassin had shot him in the head the assassin had taken the full force of the blow while he merely had a headache for a few hours.
Still, he would feel better if she spoke. Her talkative veneer had vanished and now she was the silent assassin, cold and unyielding. The fear he had felt as a child was nothing to the min
d-numbing, heart-stopping terror he felt in that moment.
She moved. He fired again; the laser burned through her leg as she vanished into the shadows. One of her clubs wrapped around his throat, she slammed the other one into his gut. He felt the punch. Hard enough to make him exhale the air in his lungs.
She’s insane. If I felt that blow then it had to cripple her.
The force of her own blow, reflected back at her, was enough to drag them both down to the ground. She wrapped her legs around his upper thighs, like vises, keeping him from kicking the floor with any kind of strength.
Her other hand snaked inside his grip and seized the hand that held his laser pistol. He struggled and fought as she pulled the pistol toward him. With her arm inside his, he was trying to push the gun out while she pulled.
Her strength was unreal. Hector roared in anger, bucking his body, desperately trying to hit her and keep her from pulling the barrel any closer. He slammed his free elbow into her ribs as hard as he could but she didn’t flinch.
Inch by inch, the barrel of the alien weapon swung around until it was firmly placed under his chin.
“I wonder,” she said in his ear. “You still think I can’t kill you?”
Her finger pushed down on his and the weapon discharged. The last thing Hector Alvarez thought as the chemical laser burned through him, was... “It isn’t fair.”
CHAPTER 36
I was tired. When I started this crusade the idea of taking a vacation hadn’t occurred to me, but it was looking really good right then.
Krisan slept next to me in her uncomfortable airline seat as the plane slowly banked in for its final approach.
The seat in front of me was occupied by Spice, who leaned back over the headrest to stare at me.
“You know, if I had a physical body, I think I would love you,” she said.
“Great. I’m glad you like me now,” I replied stifling a yawn.
She shrugged. “I’m just saying. You’re a killing machine of epic proportions.”
I glanced over at Krisan’s snoring form, wishing for the tenth time that I could sleep.
“How about you do something useful and tell me if this will work?” I asked.
She shrugged. “Probably?”
I ignored her for a moment and pulled out my phone for the hundredth time to watch the announcement.
I hadn’t killed Mimic; instead, I asked her for a favor. She had saved my life, sort of, and I needed her help. In exchange for me not killing her, she turned herself in at the US embassy in Mexico city... as me. I waited a few days to make sure the warrants were removed and no one was looking for me anymore. Our deal was simple. As long as she was in prison pretending to be me, she would live. If not...
For her, it was an easy deal.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we will be coming in for our landing in a few minutes. Please put all trays in the upright position—” I tuned him out and nudged Kris.
“Wakey-wakey,” I said.
She snorted to alertness. “What? We there?” she asked.
“Just about.” I looked out the window. The plane was low enough that the red Arizona desert stretched out for miles beneath us. “You sure about this?” I asked her.
“If the head of ISO-1 really is an alien,” Krisan said before yawning. “then yes. We need help figuring out what they were doing in the jungle. I have a good portion of their notes and tapes, but I’m no scientist. Really, Madisun, I know you aren’t into the whole superhero thing, but she saved the world. How do you not know who she is?”
I shrugged. “I’ve had my own problems if you haven’t noticed. What’s her name again?”
Krisan laughed and pulled up a web page on her phone to show me.
“Amelia Lockheart. She’s the Full Metal Superhero, and if you want to know about the Th’un and what they are doing, she’s the one to talk to.”
Now go read all 7 (soon to be 8) Full Metal Superhero books!!!
Just kidding!
If you have, great. Thank you! But if you haven’t, never fear. Madi and Amelia are crossing over. To paraphrase Tony Stark from Iron Man 2, “What is the point in having two superhero series if they aren’t going to cross over?”
Wraith 4 will see Madi and Amelia join forces to find out what is going on With the Th’un on Earth (If you haven’t read Arsenal, I hope I’ve dropped enough info for you to feel like you know who the Th’un are).
In FMS 9 (Out in the Fall) Madi will return the favor and help Amelia with a problem she’s having (shh spoilers).
Do I want you to read The Full Metal Superhero? YES. Do you have to? No. I’m hoping everyone enjoys this crossover and I can do it again next year.
As always, a BIG THANK YOU to you, my readers. Without you, none of this would be possible.
If you like the book please leave a review, they can be helpful to other readers trying to decide if the series is for them. If you have a friend who loves the Punisher, Batman, or John Wick, send ‘em my way.
All the best,
-Jeffery
You can find Jeffery and his books in the following places:
Arsenal The Full Metal Superhero
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NLDJ2TF
Mailing List: https://goo.gl/LJdYDn
Website: www.jefferyhhaskell.com
Facebook Fan Page: www.facebook.com/jefferyhhaskell
Amazon-Author-Page:https://www.amazon.com/Jeffery-H.-Haskell/e/B01I2W55SO
Email:[email protected]
I love talking to fans and I love talking superheroes. Please come by and drop me a line! All my superhero books are series, so be on the look out for the next one! Welcome to the Full Metal Superverse!
Superhero By Night (Book 3): The Wraith [Guerrilla Warfare] Page 16
