Ex Supervillain

by Shouse, Brenden

  “No, you threatened a helpless, deluded old man. Daddy just wants his little boy back home, Erik.” He sneered and flung himself to his feet. The room felt a couple of degrees cooler.

  “You think I’m afraid of you?” Erik asked.

  I looked at his arm and then back up at him, smiling, “If you’re not, then you should be.” His sneer deepened. It was as if he was wearing a neon sign on his nose that said: “Please punch me here.”

  I flung my hand out to shake his, “Come with me if you want to live.”

  He looked over my shoulder. I could feel the crew roll their eyes. I needed the kid to come willingly. Alice could mind control him, but that wasn’t going to make any of our lives easier. It would definitely increase the chances of her not seeing something that she should have seen.

  Erik bit his lip and shook my hand, “Let’s get out of here.”

  13

  Chapter 13

  Boots clanked against the metal grate that made the floor of the cellblock. Someone clicked their safety off. Two howls sounded in the distance. The howls weren’t like a wolf on a hunt, they were too dry and rattly to be an average dog. I smelled sulfur and heard metal shrieking as the claws of the hellhounds tore it to shreds. Oh boy.

  I spun around and took off down the hall at a dead sprint, “Let’s get moving, people.” I ducked and ran towards the door. My shoulder should be able to pop it open, and although I’d lose my momentum, everyone else would be ahead of me, and I could slow the hounds and guards down. The door flew open. I staggered. I looked over my shoulder, and Alexander grinned at me.

  Brittany flipped her hair, “We don’t need to run. I’ve got this.” I cocked my gun and aimed it down the hall instead of slapping myself. I’d forgotten, hellhounds. Those things are scary. I don’t know how to do them justice. They’re monsters, monsters technically made by us, but they were vicious. I shivered. They weren’t going to get anyone, not this time. A light source burst into existence behind me with a slurping sound. Brittany had opened a portal. Everyone’s footsteps receded. The howls grew closer.

  “Markus, now!” Brittany screamed. I turned around and jumped back into the portal. I tripped and fell, very gracefully, I might add, through the portal. Brittany followed, and the slurping noise sounded as she closed it behind us. I stood up and brushed myself off. We were in a locker, a weapons locker, I looked around. Everyone was wearing the same smug smile, except for Erik.

  “Looks like we just got awfully lucky,” I let out a breath.

  Brutus hoisted a rocket launcher off of the wall and whistled, “You can say that again.”

  Brittany tossed a gun at Alexander and picked one up for herself, “It looks like Christmas came early.” I topped off my med-kit and glanced through the guns. A howl sounded in the distance. I swallowed and looked around.

  Brutus cleared his throat and loaded his .50 caliber, “Has anyone ever dealt with hellhounds?” Alice and I both nodded; everyone else just swallowed. “Oooookay then,” Brutus continued, “would you catch me up to speed please, sir?”

  I cleared my throat, “They are not fun, anything you’ve heard is probably true.” Everything had been going so smoothly. “The best plan is to try to avoid them and get away.”

  Jonathan raised his hand, “What if we don’t?” I saw no reason to pull punches. The truth was probably better right now.

  “You’ll wish you did,” I muttered. I spun around, “Brittany?”

  She flung her hands out in front of her and bit her lip, “Already on it.” We all jumped through, and the portal slurped closed behind us. We were in a hallway, a very narrow hallway.

  Brutus checked his gun’s safety for the fifth time, “How long before you can make another portal?”

  Brittany took a deep breath, “About sixty seconds.”

  Brutus stared at her, not blinking, “And how long can you keep that up for?”

  “For now.”

  Brutus’ eyes flicked over to Alexander, “Screw the money! I would’ve bailed if I knew there’d be dogs.” Alexander took a step towards him.

  I cleared my throat, and he stopped, “We’re not going to have any fighting right now. Save it till we’re back at base. I wouldn’t have chosen this path if I had known there would be dogs.” He nodded and took a deep breath. Erik remained silent, looking at his shoes.

  Brittany’s shoulders sagged, “It’s been sixty seconds. I’m ready.” I bit my lip. Brutus probably had a point. She might not be able to keep this up long enough to get us as far away as we needed to go.

  “How much farther to the tank?” I asked.

  Brittany blinked, “You think that’s a good idea?

  “We’ll see.” She opened her mouth to respond, but I raised my hand, stopping her. “The dogs are following us. They’re not waiting at the car. There might be people waiting at the tank.”

  Brittany nodded and swallowed. She flung her hands out, and the glowing circle flew from her fingers. The portal snapped into existence in front of us. We all hopped through, and it slurped shut behind us. The tank that was pretending to be a jeep sat in front of us with the bodies of the dead guards still surrounding it. A howl sounded in the distance. It was close, too close for comfort.

  “Move it!” I ordered. I didn’t have to say it twice, everyone sprinted towards the tank and jumped in. I waited till last before jumping in myself. I slammed the door after myself. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. I had a bad feeling about this.

  Alice turned the key. The engine sputtered and died. Oh no. She tried it again. It sputtered and rolled over once before dying again. Oh, no, no. She tried it again, and it mercifully started. I breathed out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding. The rest of the group sighed. I was pushed back against my seat as Alice’s tank thundered forward.

  We tore a hole through the wall on the side of the door. It was far less secure than the door that they’d closed to lock us in. Whatever they paid the engineers that designed this place, it was way too much. Seriously, anyone with a couple working brain cells would’ve been able to break in.

  My stomach sank. I just hoped we were the idiots who could also break back out. It wasn’t just getting out of prison. We had five miles to the city, and the police along with Veronica would be waiting there for us. Plus, there were hounds behind us. Another howl tore through the air. I felt cold. My breath steamed as I exhaled. Those things were close, really close.

  The creatures were called hellhounds because of the fire that always followed them. The dogs pulled it from the ground, the air, people, or trees.

  I waved my arms forward, “Faster now! Go! Go! Go!” Alice swallowed, and tires squealed. She’d skipped the snarky comeback in favor of getting out of here. This was bad, so very bad. I noticed a shape out of the corner of my eye. A hellhound ran after us with the others following behind as quickly as they could.

  The beast was made almost entirely of charcoal black fur. The face was made of bone and glowing red eyes. The tail flashed back and forth, leaving a line of smoke behind it. Fire flashed out of the creature’s mouth with every breath. I felt everything slow down. My head snapped over towards Alice. We were going seventy miles an hour. I had heard rumors that hellhounds could run over a hundred miles an hour when they wanted to. I never really wanted to find out whether or not that particular tale was an exaggeration.

  I turned back to Brittany, “Come on, one more portal.” She nodded, and I rolled down the window. She thrust her hands out in front of her. The glowing goop flew out and swirled in front of us. The bright-line spun and turned into a spiral until it was at least a hundred feet in front of us. The dog was gaining on us.

  Britany bit her lip, “I don’t know if I can do this.”

  “Yes, you can!” I tried not to mention the fact that she had to. We all felt that. The spiraling ring of the glowing portal snapped into a line.

  Alice grit her teeth, “Everyone hold on!”

  The portal wasn’t quite big eno
ugh. Little things were left with the hellhounds when we popped through. Little things like the mirrors, the doors, and the roof of our wanna-be tank. Brittany spun around and moved her hands. The image of the field with the prison backdrop rippled, and a smoking shape burst through before it snapped shut.

  Britany’s eyes rolled back in her head. She flopped down on top of Alexander. Her face was bone white. He looked up at me. The blood drained from his face. His eyes were cold. Yes, I know that someone with kinetic abilities has red eyes. He managed to make those glowing red irises look like cold pieces of ice. Maybe like frozen daggers of blood. We were going to get this hellhound yet.

  The creature was gaining on us. A black cloud followed behind it. It didn’t howl now. It was panting. The fire pouring out of its mouth and nostrils looked like the flames coming out of an old hot rod with nitrous in it. I blinked. For all I knew, this thing probably drank nitrous. There wasn’t exactly a whole lot of public info on hellhounds.

  The dog’s mouth snapped shut. He locked eyes with me. They were burning with more than hunger now. I swallowed. I wasn’t scared, not one bit. The creature gained another five feet on us. It hadn’t inhaled or exhaled. I checked the speedometer. We were pushing one-twenty. An air horn blared, and I looked to the side. We were on the freeway.

  “Uh, Alice,” I started. She looked at me and tried to glare. Her eyes were far too wide to be intimidating.

  “I’m doing the best I can, Markus!” I bit my tongue before I could say something I’d regret.

  My eardrums burst, and suddenly I was looking at the concrete. I was still in the car as the asphalt rushed up to meet us. Perfect, my second car accident in a week. Oh, boy, was life getting fun. Screeching howls took my hearing.

  My breathing quickened. No, no, not now. I blinked. The asphalt was less than an inch from my face. It felt like I was getting crushed, and my heart wanted to be on the outside of my chest.

  Alice’s eyes were shut. A line of blood ran down from a cut on her forehead, through her hair and splattered on the ground beneath us. Brittany’s face was mass of cuts and asphalt. Alexander held her cradled in his arms, rocking her head back and forth.

  “Alexander?”

  He looked up at me, his eyes looked vacant and had lost the cold storm that had been brewing. Brittany’s seatbelt flaps hung in tatters where it looked like someone had ripped them apart with brute force. A single tear rolled down his cheek.

  “I wasn’t fast enough. She didn’t have her seatbelt on…”

  A kick in the chest added to everything else. I felt a hot tear roll up my face. I fumbled with the seatbelt and crashed to the pavement. I unhooked Alice and laid her down. We weren’t going to get out yet. If I pushed her outside, something was going to get her. My brain didn’t want to work. Something was out there something that- I ground my teeth, something that did this. Something that had killed someone I knew. Something that I was about to beat to hell and back. I’d given my mind something to hate to hang onto. We could panic later, right now it was payback time. I crawled back to Alexander. I shook his shoulder, and he looked up at me. Tear stains ran down his face.

  “We have to get out, Alexander.”

  He looked around, “Someone did this to us, to her.” I looked around slowly. Jonathan didn’t have a scratch on him. He’d pulled Brutus out of his three-point harness along with Erik, who still had not said a single word since we broke him out.

  Jonathan looked at me and locked eyes. He was scared. I felt for a pulse on Brittany. She was still. I didn’t feel anything. The fear that made my arms shake was replaced by fury. Alexander met my eyes now. Nothing was refreshing in those eyes. Something snapped.

  “Let’s get them,” Alexander snarled. He took off his jacket and placed it beneath Brittany’s head. Then he cracked his neck. The tank flew off of us. I didn’t know if his anger was fueling it but holy crap. I’d seen a video once about how much energy it took to flip a car with your mind. The vehicle they’d been using in that video had been way smaller and moving. I spun around.

  We had blocked the freeway. Cars were piled up back as far as I could see, and they were making sure to stay a safe distance away. There were two hellhounds. I looked over at Alexander and felt the heat swell inside me. Today, two monsters were going to find out whether or not there is a hell. I rolled my shoulders and sneered. The hellhounds took a step back. They should’ve just turned and ran.

  14

  Chapter 14

  I looked back at the others, “You guys hang back and look after each other. Make sure Alice is okay. We’ve got this.” I cracked my knuckles, “Come to die.” I sneered at the hellhound in front of me. Today had been a bad day, worse for Alexander. I couldn’t even imagine what he must have been feeling right now. All of his anger needed to be focused on a more constructive avenue, like, for instance, deconstructing the hellhound. Anthony’s hellhound bent down, ready to charge.

  “Alexander, remember, we’re on a time clock. Don’t take too long to kill it,” I stressed the word.

  The hellhounds charged, my comment had the intended effect, yay me. But there was a two-hundred-pound bundle of fire and ick that wanted to rip my fragile parts up, so maybe not yay me. I swung my arm out and punched the thing in the snout. It toppled over and slid past me. My hand ached, blood ran down it, and dripped on the ground. I winced. Now would be an excellent time to find a tire iron or a baseball bat lying around. I checked, just in case. As usual, I wasn’t all that lucky.

  My head rushed to meet the concrete. I swung my arm out in front of me and stopped myself from getting a concussion. I rolled over, barely missing the rows of obsidian teeth. The hellhound laid on top of me and breathed fire in my face. I slid a water bottle and held it out under the hellhound between my neck and his teeth. Don’t judge me, I was stressed.

  Are any last words, mortal? I was starting to get used to all the mental communication, but it was starting to feel like a breach of my privacy.

  Holy cow, have you ever tried breath mints? I shot back. I can go for the easy joke once in a while.

  The creature snarled and swung those teeth down to my neck. I dropped the water bottle and tried to hit the hellhound as quickly as I could everywhere. It snapped its jaws shut, and the fire died out. I grinned, Markus two. Bad guys one-

  A pile of wet sooty vomit coated my face. Sometimes I wonder if my victim complex is all that much in my head. I got my feet under and kicked while shoving at it with my upper body. I flung the hellhound to the side. I magnanimously decided to call him Mints. Terrified me still loves to prod the bull.

  I tottered to my feet and ran to where the jeep had landed. The tank was pretty much a pile of scrap now. If I were even a little lucky, the gun would be in there. My heart pounded in my chest. I had super strength. I never said anything about super cardio. I vaulted over the side, and a new line of fire across my palm added to all my other injuries. I whirled around. My shotgun had been lodged between the dash and seat when we had flipped. I bent over and yanked it out and cocked it.

  I looked over back where the car had crashed. Not now, no time to go into shock. The pile of disgusting vomit sat behind. Brutus and Jonathan sat with Alice who sat up now with her face in her hands. Erik sat behind them, not daring to move. Alexander was relentlessly hammering the hellhound into pulp. Soot and fire poured out of the creature. My little buddy was nowhere to be seen. I jumped. Do you ever just have a feeling? One of those times when something tells you to do something, and it sounds so incredibly stupid, but you do it anyway? Well, this time it wasn’t so stupid. Teeth and claws attacked. I hit the ground and rolled.

  I will dine on your soul tonight, the hell-hound howled. Some-how I doubt that. The creatures snarled and leaped off of the wreckage of the tank and hurled towards me in the air. Moving targets are hard to hit. Moving targets that are moving towards you are less so. The hellhound landed twenty feet away with two brand spanking new holes in its chest. Its eyes tore into me. I shot it in th
e face.

  “This is what happens when you hurt my people!” I screamed in between shots. I couldn’t hear myself shouting over the screeching in my ears. The hellhound probably couldn’t either, but it didn’t matter. I was too emotional to care whether he heard me or not. It had been a while since I had set an example.

  I grabbed the flaming skull and ignored the feeling of my skin being seared. I howled. I wasn’t present. All that I could see was outlined in red. This thing had killed someone under my protection. We’d probably been here for about fifteen minutes. I smiled as I looked down at the hellhound. There would be cameras watching us by now. I made sure they had a proper angle of me ripping the hellhound’s face in half.

  I’d been around for a decent bit. There weren’t a whole lot of things I knew that could survive to have their face ripped off. I let it in my head. Mental communication worked just fine even when the thing in question had no ears. Some religious types argued that mental communication was a connection between souls. If that was true, I might still get to send a message.

  No one messes with my people and lives, not now, not tomorrow, not ever, I smirked. One more reference couldn’t hurt. I channeled my inner, Loki, I’ll see you in hell.

  The thing’s eyes stared at me until they glazed over. I stood up and walked over to Alexander. The monster was a pulp of blood, fur, and ash. His mouth was open, and he looked like he was screaming. Tears rolled down his face, and invisible blows racked the smashed body of the hellhound in front of him. He either didn’t notice that it was dead or he didn’t care. I couldn’t blame him for either.

  I grabbed him and looked him in the eyes, “We have to go.” I mouthed the words as slowly as I could. Maybe his hearing wasn’t as shot as mine, but I doubted it. I repeated myself, and he didn’t move. I wrapped him up in a hug and helped him up. He staggered, and I held him as I walked. A couple of dozen steps in, he seemed to get his feet under him. I grabbed his shoulders and looked into his eyes.