A Most Unlikely Hero, Vol 4

by Brandon Varnell

  I’m so glad the blood can’t be seen from the outside.

  He stood up and stopped Gabrielle from doing the same thing to Alice. He had only survived what she’d done because of his crisis suit. His sister wouldn’t survive. Instead, Alex called upon his own aura, the same blue aura that Gabrielle had just used to free him and created a sword that he used to cut through the gum that was keeping Alice stuck to the floor.

  Darrick was still running around in the background, his muffled screams barely heard over the chomping of Mr. Recycle Doggy as it made a meal out of their surgical precision laser.

  Alex brushed himself off, even as he warily tracked Mr. Recycle Doggy as it systematically ate everything in his and Gabrielle’s workshop. This was a problem—a big one—and he didn’t know how to solve it.

  “We need to find some way to turn that thing off before it eats everything.”

  “How do you propose we do that? Should I use Mr. Elephant Vacuum? I might be able to trap it inside.”

  “Along with the rest of us. We still haven’t gotten that particular invention to work either.” A pause. “And I’m pretty sure our cleaning bot would just eat its way out anyway.”

  The problem with Mr. Recycle Doggy was that it could eat through any substance known to man—and alien. When Alex had created the original algorithm, he hadn’t bothered to differentiate between what it should clean and what it should dispose of, so instead of knowing what to leave alone and what to eat, it considered everything in its sights trash to be disposed of and reacted accordingly. Objects, people, whatever, all were gobbled up with equal tenacity.

  Just then, Azazel rushed into the room in a panic.

  “Princess Gabrielle, I have just received word that Groom-to-be has been attacked by an assassin! Is this… eh?”

  Azazel and Mr. Recycle Doggy made eye contact. Alex couldn’t be sure, but he could almost swear the dog-like cleaning machine’s eyes were gleaming with malicious pleasure as it gazed at Azazel.

  Several seconds later, Azazel screamed like a little girl and ran out of the room. Mr. Recycle Doggy was hot on his heels.

  “Well,” Alex huffed, listening to the muffled shouts of Darrick—who was still trying to remove the gum-like substance from his face—in the background. “I don’t want to say, ‘that just happened,’ but... that just happened.”

  “Yes, it did,” Gabrielle said, crossing her arms and nodding imperiously.

  1

  The sound of her own heavy breathing filled Nyx’s ears, along with the pounding of blood pumping through her veins. The bands on her arms and thighs had long since been lost. She no longer had them thanks to the police’s constant barrage of gunfire, thus her nanomachines worked overtime to manipulate the molecular structure of her own body, shaping it as she saw fit.

  She didn’t know where she was anymore. All these walkways looked the same. However, the skyscrapers that towered overhead and the numerous other walkways above her blocked out the dome, so she must have been in the lower levels of the city.

  “There she is, men!”

  Several men appeared before her, each armed with primitive rifles that shot metal projectiles. Nyx didn’t stop. She charged right at them.

  “Open fire, men! Open fire!”

  A hailstorm of bullets flew at her, but Nyx’s hair moved to the front and formed a gleaming, silver shield. The bullets bounced off as she continued her charge.

  She was upon them before they had a chance to reload. Hair transformed into fists, which bombarded the group of officers. A strike to the face knocked one for a loop. A swift uppercut sent another flying. One became the victim of a hard strike to the throat. Her hair sailed forward, bashing against the forces arrayed against her, an endless barrage that rendered all of her foes unconscious.

  “Delta Force, come in! Did you find the subject? Delta Force, respond!”

  Nyx looked at the commlink that had fallen to the ground. It crackled with life, the voice belonging to the person directing these forces at her. A woman’s voice.

  She stomped on the commlink, shattering it under heel. Then she moved on.

  It didn’t take long for Nyx to realize that Mars City was very much like one giant maze. Catwalks and walkways littered every level. Tube-shaped elevators allowed people to ascend and descend. The giant skyscrapers, towering monstrosities of glasteel and durasteel, blocked her vision, preventing her from seeing more than fifteen meters in any direction.

  And still they managed to find her. Over and over again.

  Nyx clenched her teeth as she manipulated her body some more. It hurt. The pain sent shocks through her mind and body. Transmuting her own body was not only painful but dangerous. However, given her current circumstances, she really had no choice.

  Growing from her back as she transmuted her clothing, Nyx’s black wings allowed her to take flight. She leapt off the walkway, avoiding the hail of bullet fire from a shuttle above her.

  She didn’t look back. She didn’t have to. Logic dictated what would happen next.

  She swerved, wings directing her flight into a series of aerial maneuvers that allowed her to avoid being perforated with holes. The shuttles were chasing her.

  “She’s getting away!” The shout came from behind. “I don’t know who this chick is, but she just managed to sprout wings and fly off! She’s traveling deeper into the city! Bearing two-two-mark-seven! Requesting all air units for back up! I repeat, requesting all air units for back up!”

  She flew through the air, dodging buildings, weaving in and out of traffic. She ignored the honking of horns, the shouts from peeled down windows. They didn’t concern her. Nothing mattered but escaping.

  A stream of bullets forced her to barrel roll. She noticed how they splattered against the walls of buildings, sticky and viscous. These were not metal shells. They were probably using some kind of adhesive bullet that would trap her. She assumed they were using non-lethal rounds to prevent civilian casualties.

  Ignoring the heat flaring inside of her body, Nyx pushed her alchemy to the limit, forcing her nanomachines to do what they had never been meant to do.

  She turned around, her wings flapping to accommodate the change, the long strands of her hair combining and shifting, transforming into two giant hands that latched on to the incoming police vehicles.

  With barely a grunt, she slammed the vehicles onto an abandoned walkway. There was no great explosion. The vehicles became dented. Airbags expanded. The police officers inside clambered out, stumbling to the ground, dazed and confused.

  Nyx was satisfied. That should keep them off her tail for a few minutes at least.

  “Hold it!”

  It looks like she’d spoken too soon. Several more vehicles showed up. They surrounded her on all sides, a full 360-degrees.

  “We have you surrounded! You are under arrest! Stand down and do not resist. I repeat. You are under arrest. Stand down and do not resist.”

  Since they were trying to arrest her now, she could only assume they were attempting to avoid accidental civilian casualties. That was good. She could use this to her advantage.

  Shoulders heaving, breathing growing heavy, Nyx eyed the shuttles hovering around her. Fifteen. More than she could handle without accidentally killing someone. That meant there were only two options. Up or…

  Making a swift decision, Nyx retracted her wings and fell into the depths of the city. Once she descended several meters below the shuttles, the wings extended again, and she took off.

  “After her!”

  The shuttles followed, but they were slow, ponderous things. Perhaps if Nyx had chosen to take a more linear path, they would have been able to keep up with her, but these vehicles were incapable of staying on her trail as she led them through a series of twists, turns, and loops. When at last Nyx was sure that they were no longer following her, she descended to a nearby walkway. Her wings disappeared.

  Nyx fell onto her hands and knees. Her breathing had grown into heavy panting, whi
le steam poured from her mouth as her nanomachines boiled her from the inside out. Sweat dripped from her skin, causing her clothing to stick to her frame. She was shaking. Her body burned, a result of having used her nanomachines too much in such a short time span, in an unfamiliar atmosphere to boot, and transmuting her own body. Rest. That’s what she needed—a place to rest and recuperate.

  “She’s here!” an officer shouted, causing several more to appear from around a corner.

  Nyx grimaced. It looked like rest would have to wait.

  2

  “Have you found her yet?”

  “Not yet.”

  “What about now?”

  “No.”

  “Now?”

  “Senpai, you need to stop asking that. I told you already that I am doing everything in my power to find this person you’re so set on rescuing, but it’s not easy. Commander Karen and Second-in-Command Yumi already know what you’re attempting to do. They’ve locked me out of all their communications, and I don’t have the skill to hack into their lines.”

  “Then give me your commlink.”

  “Give you my commlink? You know that this thing is—h-hey! Senpai! What do you think you’re doing?!”

  The shuttle they were traveling in swerved back and forth as if piloted by a drunkard. Alex tried to grab the commlink attached to the pilot console. This action required him to lean over, putting him in front of Darrick and blocking the pilot’s vision, which was the subsequent cause for the shuttle’s swerving.

  “Give me the damn commlink!”

  “I-I can’t do that, Senpai! It’s connected to the console!”

  “I don’t care! Give it me now!”

  “S-senpai! P-please move away! I can’t see where I’m going!”

  The problem with Darrick’s shuttle wasn’t necessarily caused by a lack of space, but rather, the inconveniently placed commlink. While the unit had a speaker system attached to it, which Alex could pull from its slot and speak into, the unit itself was stationed on the driver’s side near the door, meaning that in order to reach it, he had to lean over Darrick. Fortunately, they eventually discovered a way that allowed Alex to reach the unit without blocking Darrick’s view.

  It just so happened that the method was embarrassing.

  Really embarrassing.

  “If you tell anyone about this, I swear to Mars that I will kill you,” a red-faced Alex mumbled.

  Darrick, who was sitting on Alex’s lap, gave a just as embarrassed nod. “Don’t worry, Senpai. I won’t tell a soul. In fact, after all this is over, I think I’m going to drink myself so stupid that I’ll forget this ever happened.”

  “I didn’t know you drink.”

  “There’s a first time for everything, Senpai.”

  “Indeed.”

  It took a bit of fiddling with the com unit, but Alex eventually managed to hack into the police force’s communication line. He felt most smug. Did Karen really think that doing something so banal as encrypting their channel would stop him from hacking into it? She had clearly forgotten that he was, in fact, a genius with an over 200 IQ.

  The comlink crackled to life.

  “We’ve spotted the criminal and are now in pursuit. I repeat, we have spotted the criminal and are now in pursuit. Requesting back up.”

  “Roger that. Give us your location and we’ll have all squadrons converge on you and surround the target.”

  Both in an effort to learn more and to ignore their uncomfortable situation, Alex and Darrick listened intently as the police informed everyone of Nyx’s location.

  “That’s not in the middle-levels,” Darrick noted.

  “No, it’s not.” Alex narrowed his eyes “That’s in the lower levels. Darrick!”

  “Yes, Senpai!”

  “Take us there now!”

  “Right, Senpai!”

  “But first…”

  “What is it, Senpai?”

  “GET THE HELL OFF MY LAP!”

  3

  Nyx didn’t know how long this game of cat and mouse had lasted. Time had long since lost its meaning. What mattered the most was losing her pursuers. If she didn’t do so soon, then her nanomachines would surely shut down. It would be all over if that happened.

  “There she is, men! Open fire!”

  Bullets whizzed by her, ricocheting off the walkways and buildings that she passed. Several came extremely close to hitting her.

  They were using real bullets again. She guessed the reason was because of the lack of civilians. There was no way of telling where she was. However, it was clear that she had gone further down, where the number of people walking the streets was drastically diminished. Perhaps this was a seedier section of the city.

  The projectiles were made of steel, primitive to be sure, but still effective. Nyx would have to be careful. Those could kill her if they hit.

  She placed a hand on the ground and transmuted the walkway. The durasteel floor suddenly rose up, creating a wall that shielded her from the bullets. She rounded a corner. As more police pursued her, she ran her left hand along the wall, causing large poles to jut out of the surface, blocking their path. Her judicious use of alchemy kept her from being killed.

  And yet…

  She knew that this wouldn’t last. Every time she transmuted something, the temperature of her nanomachines increased drastically. Her internals were melting. Her organs, her bones, her cells, all of them had heated to the point where it felt like they might start oozing out of her pores. She needed to find a place to hide and cool down. If she could just lose these men, then maybe she could…

  “!!”

  Nyx made a sharp turn between two buildings as gunfire blasted in her ears like lightning during an ion storm. She rushed toward the end of what seemed to be an ally of sorts, complete with garbage lying haphazardly on the ground. She had noticed it already, but it seemed like the lower she went, the dirtier and more convoluted this place became.

  Before she could reach the end of the hall, several more officers appeared before her. She tried to turn around and go back the way she had come, but the officers that had been chasing her were already blocking her path. She was trapped.

  “It’s the end of the line for you, assassin!” one of the men shouted as the others raised their guns.

  Nyx’s mind raced. What could she do to get out of this situation? She couldn’t grow her wings anymore. Her nanomachines were already on the verge of melting. If she used alchemy that complicated, they not only would sputter out, but they wouldn’t work at all, and then she’d be helpless.

  “Ready! Aim!”

  Nyx bent her knees and tried to jump into the air. She might not have been able to use transmutation anymore, but she should still have her physical abilities.

  Her knees buckled when she bent them. That was when it hit her.

  I’ve used my alchemy too much… The stark realization slammed into her at the same that time her vision blurred out of focus. I can’t… I’m going to collapse!

  Everything sounded so far away. Her vision went in and out as darkness encroached upon her. The men before her were multiplying. Two became four. Four became eight. She felt unbearably hot. Her body was shutting down as her nanomachines tried to force themselves into a cool-down state. She couldn’t… couldn’t…

  “Fi—”

  “BANZAI! LOOK OUT BELOW!”

  “What the hell?!”

  “What is this stuff?!”

  “Iyan! I’m all sticky!”

  “Quit screaming like a girl, ya damn pansy!”

  “But Captain, I am a girl!”

  “And this is my ‘I don’t give a fuck’ face! Now get in—mph!”

  “Don’t swear in front of the children!”

  “What children?!”

  A figure swooped down in front of her at the same time that Nyx’s legs gave out. She fell backwards, stumbling until her back hit the wall, and then slowly slid down until she was on her butt.

  Noises echoed all arou
nd her. There were grunts and screams and the whoofing of some kind of device. Nyx couldn’t make out anything else, however. Everything appeared blurry.

  The sounds soon went mercifully silent.

  With her head falling forward, she could only see a pair of booted feet appear in her vision, and even those were blurred out. It was in that moment that something reached underneath her chin. It was cool and soft and gentle. It lifted her head, allowing her to see bright blue eyes staring at her in concern.

  “Hey, are you alright, Nyx?”

  His voice was the last thing she heard as darkness descended upon her.

  4

  Alex rushed through the lower-levels of Mars City after escaping from the police. Currently, said police were caught in a rather sticky situation—literally. He could hear their shouts behind him. In his arms rested Nyx, her legs limply swinging back and forth, head lolling against his shoulder, as he ran.

  The lower-levels was a dark place. The artificial sun refused to reach it. However, a number of neon signs and gaudy lights allowed him to see where he was going, which honestly didn’t mean much at the moment, as he didn’t even know where to go. He’d already lost the officers, but what did it matter when he had no idea where he should go? Should he go back home? Should he go to a hospital? Nyx was suffering, yet he didn’t know what he could do for her.

  “Ha… ha… n-no…”

  At the sound of her soft, raspy voice, Alex looked down. Nyx seemed so fragile right now. While he had made the connection more than once, she really did look like a porcelain doll that might break at the slightest touch—and right now, she looked like she was suffering from immense pain. Her cheeks held a deep flush, her breathing came out in ragged gasps, sweat accumulated on her skin, which was currently a blistering red.

  Her body felt like it was on fire. He could feel the heat through his crisis suit.