Supers - Ex Heroes

by Jamie Hawke

  Apparently, everyone knew about him in this galaxy, and they were reacting accordingly. They didn’t doubt the seriousness of the situation. Many would be trying to stay out of his way, quite terrified at the prospect of his arrival. I couldn’t blame them.

  Every step closer to this Blue Lady sent flashbacks to that moment when I’d seen her, and the feeling of imminent death I later realized had been taking over. At the time it was just shock and confusion, me freezing up. Now I understood where my mind had really gone, and I never wanted to repeat that.

  If Ranger was worse than her, I had no idea how to prepare for him.

  Then again, the Blue Lady had taken Metallica and not attacked us. It was entirely possible that she wasn’t all bad, and that she would be of some use.

  “This is as close to accurate as we’re going to get,” Twitch said, indicating the room around us when we stepped through a round, sliding door.

  One glance around showed we were too late. The walls had deep gouges in them and the floor had metallic spikes sticking up in all directions like a broken cactus. Blood splattered it all, body parts here and there, and it smelled like death.

  “We might want to move faster on the next one,” I said, stating the obvious.

  “Fuck.” Charm walked over to the edge of the room, leaning over a severed head.

  “Fuck is right,” Twitch said, pulling up a pink screen that showed a countdown timer.

  “Where’d that come from?” I asked.

  “Just a guess,” she replied. “But based on what we learned and when the first message from Ranger arrived, I’d say it’s fairly accurate.”

  “Meaning we have to move damn fast,” I said, noting that it showed only an hour left.

  “That’s right, and I was thinking… Maybe your hidden travel skill could be of use here.”

  I gulped, not feeling comfortable with that, but keeping an open mind. “How so?”

  “Well, if I keep us attached to you, and you use it to try and get to the next location…”

  “You think it can be controlled like that?”

  “Most powers can be,” she replied. “It just takes focus. You might not get there at first, but… we have to try.”

  My eyes went to the timer, and I knew she was right. “How?”

  “On the map, we go here next.” She indicated a spot and swiped it over to mine. “We have to be sure we get there before her, because based on these patterns, her next stop after that will mean we’re too late.”

  “Okay, so I touch the floor or wall, focus on the map… and hope I don’t accidentally send us flying out into space?”

  She laughed, but said, “Yes. Since that would kill us, let’s avoid it.”

  “There’s probably a lot of ways this could go wrong and kill us,” Charm pointed out. “But I’m in.”

  “Grab on,” I said, preparing to do it.

  “Flesh, or…?” Charm asked.

  Twitch looked lost, but nodded. “Sure, yes. Probably.”

  “Filling me with confidence here,” I said.

  “Just do it,” she replied, and grabbed hold of my free hand while tinkering with her screens. “We’re synched. I think.”

  I waited for Charm to put her hand on mine, the same one that Twitch held, but she walked up, grinned, and stuck her hand down my pants.

  “Flesh connection made,” she said. “Ready for the jump.”

  Twitch tried not to smile, and I licked my lips, wondering for the hundredth time what I had gotten myself into with these ladies.

  “Blast off in three, two,” I reached out, hand on the wall, and concentrated.

  Unfortunately, Charm’s hand squeezed too hard as we became one with the metal and my concentration faltered, so that ten seconds later we appeared inside of what I could only comprehend as a massive internal gearshift. Pieces were moving, turning, grinding.

  “Get us out of here!” Twitch shouted as a large piece of metal moved for her head. This time I moved Charm’s hand onto my hip.

  “Squeeze there if you need to,” I said, and then slapped metal. Again we were whisked away, the sensation of not being able to breathe taking over, and we felt squeezed, not whole, and tossed about all at once.

  At least, this time when we reappeared, we were outside of a large cell. A man looked up at us from within, his features dark as if he had three extra shadows and they didn’t know where to fit into the situation. When he saw us, he stood, shadows darkening.

  “You’re with her?” he asked, darkness now pouring out of his hands and rising up beside him like tall demons, all ready to pounce. “The Blue Lady can’t touch me, and neither will you.”

  We squared up against this guy. He was upper tier, clearly powerful. Judging by the fact that the Blue Lady wanted him and that he was in here, he had his issues. But I was beginning to feel that I wasn’t someone to be messed with either, seeing as I’d gotten us here and had my new powers to play with.

  Charm cloaked and Twitch was pulling up her screens, putting extra shields and defenses on us, boosting us and all that. Meanwhile, I had my ball of energy going as I took on the appearance of a werewolf.

  “This is what she sends?” the man said with a laugh. As his smile faded, he glared and the shadows surged as one.

  I let loose with the energy, shooting my chain of lightning out at the shadows. The burst of light struck out and vanished.

  “What the…?” I stared at the energy ball and tried again, only this time the shadows were being pulled into it, making the darkness grow larger and larger.

  “How’re you doing that?” the man asked.

  “I—I don’t know,” I admitted, and then Charm struck, uncloaking and coming in at him from behind, claws slashing. She blew out some of her charm, a silvery mist, but he dodged, his shadows moving for her. They had her, tearing at her, and she screamed in agony. No signs of blood were visible, but that didn’t mean the pain was any less real.

  “Do something!” she shouted, pulling back, trying to cloak but only flickering in and out of sight.

  The man had turned to me again, lifting a hand and trying to send a new surge of shadows at me. Again, the ball of energy absorbed them and he cursed, but Twitch was cursing too.

  “Stop it!” Twitch said between clenched teeth, and then I saw that she was concentrating on the energy, manipulating it with her screens. “I’m trying to keep it in check, but it’s too much.”

  “I can control it,” I said, hopeful, but even the large man was backing away, looking terrified.

  The shadows attacking Charm were sucked in now too, and the man started running, only he too seemed to be latched to me, slowly being pulled closer.

  “WHAT THE FUCK?!” he shouted, and then I knew what I needed to do.

  “Grab hold,” I told the ladies, and then added, “Flesh, not my dick!”

  They did as told, and then I released the ball, slamming my hand to the ground and willing myself into the next room over. We were yanked, cramped, thrust, and then reappeared as the metal wall between us and where we’d just been was torn out. The view we were left with was of my energy ball, still very much there and out of control, the man flying through the air towards it until he hit and was lifted up, swirling in the air, screaming as his body contorted.

  “Oh, shit,” Twitch said, then knelt at my side with her screens. A pink translucent wall formed before us just as the ball of energy and the man exploded outward. Blood and body parts splattered against the pink energy field and the rest of the walls, and then it was done.

  The pink wall faded, the body parts and goop splattering to the floor.

  “Well, now we know how that works,” Charm said, staring at my hands with newfound fascination. “Somewhat.”

  “That was…” Twitch tried to come up with the words, but just shook her head.

  “My kill,” another voice said, and we spun to see the Blue Lady, a fresh tunnel of twisted metal behind her.

  19

  We didn’t m
ean to take your kill,” Twitch said, standing now.

  “He attacked us,” I added. “It all happened so fast.”

  The Blue Lady assessed first me, then Twitch, and finally Charm. She shook her head, slowly, as if disapproving. “You don’t belong here.”

  With that, she turned to go, but I shouted, “Flesh,” and the ladies grabbed hold of me, not knowing exactly how this was going to work. As the Blue Lady stepped into her tunnel, I grabbed hold of her and we were yanked along with her, all appearing moments later in a circular room with various offshoots to it. The place reminded me of something between the inside of an egg or a spider’s nest.

  “How…?” the Blue Lady asked, looking at me with a new level of respect. “I should be killing you for taking my kill. I should be killing you for coming into my base without asking. Instead, I’ll give you ten seconds to explain yourselves, because you’ve piqued my curiosity.”

  Ten seconds. I could do that.

  So I told her everything I could about finding out I was an Elder in training, that we needed to stop Ranger, and that I believed she would help us because of what she was doing here. She wasn’t just killing supers at random, but because of something they had done to hurt her. I respected that and wanted to ensure the same never happened to another, especially not at the hands of some douchebag who called himself Ranger.

  When I was done, she frowned, nodded, and said, “It’s settled. You won’t die.”

  “So it’s true?” I asked. “What you’re doing here…?”

  “The one who destroyed my people… he’s here. Same tier as your target, located nearby.”

  “You’ve been taking out any allies he has…” Twitch said, knowingly. The Blue Lady nodded.

  “And you’ll help us?” Charm asked.

  “I will,” she replied. “I’ll get you to the location, but only to get my revenge. You’ll be on your own then, as I have no issues with Ranger. Got a problem with that?”

  “Not at all,” I answered.

  “And what about Metallica?” the Blue Lady asked, looking at Charm. “You two… had an issue, I understand. My curiosity is the only reason I’ve kept her alive.”

  “She’s here?” Charm looked stunned. “Where?”

  The Blue Lady smiled, pointed behind us, and twisted her hand. The wall spun outward to reveal a small room enclosing Metallica. Her outfit was torn, blood dripping from her, and she was held to the wall by strips of hot, shifting metal that caused her skin to smoke.

  “Do what you will with her,” the Blue Lady said. “She’s answered my questions, though it took some… persuasion.”

  Charm’s eyes narrowed, her breaths hot and heavy, and she spun on the Blue Lady. “If you let her out of… that, can she hurt us?”

  “Not while in that room,” the Blue Lady replied. “It’s been protected.”

  “Meaning none of our powers will work in there,” Twitch interpreted.

  The Blue Lady gave her a nod, then turned and drifted over to the far door. “When you need me, I’ll be in here, preparing.” With a wave of her hand, the bonds holding Metallica in place moved aside and she dropped to her knees. She glared up at us, slowly pushing herself up to standing. Her hair was wild, the burn marks on her arms still fresh.

  After the Blue Lady had exited, Twitch motioned us in, but said, “I’m staying out here. One of us has to keep watch, have powers ready if needed.”

  “And what do you want us to do?” I asked.

  “Kill her, if you like,” Twitch said to Charm, then to me added, “Maybe bleed her first. Having powers over metal like she does could come in handy.”

  “Er, let’s just talk to her first,” I said, noticing the bloodlust in Charm’s eyes.

  “Fuck that,” Charm replied, already turning and storming into the room. “That bitch tried to kill me, and you. I’m giving her a piece of my fist in her face.”

  True to her word, the first thing Charm did when entering the room was slam her fist into the woman’s nose. Metallica’s head flung back, hitting the wall, and then she laughed, as Charm was wringing out her wrist, pissed.

  “Hurts with less powers, huh?” Metallica said, recovering, but then her eyes narrowed and she glanced around, looking terrified. “Save me, please. Take me away, anywhere but here.”

  “What?” Charm took a step back, caught off guard.

  Metallica held her nose, sniffled, then threw herself to her knees in front of Charm. “I’m sorry. So sorry. Just get me out of here.”

  “You tried to kill us,” Charm protested, though she already sounded less convinced.

  “Everyone was killing each other,” Metallica argued. “It was the thing to do.”

  “The thing to… do.” Charm shook her head, laughed, and turned to me to join in the laughter.

  I, however, was thinking. “Her powers would be useful.”

  “The fuck?” Charm asked.

  “Like Twitch said, blood pairing. A simple cut, mix some blood. Imagine, being able to make those robot things, to control metal like she does.”

  “If it would even work like that,” Charm argued. “We don’t know.”

  “You don’t think it’d help, whatever version of her powers we get?”

  “I don’t know, but I know we don’t need this bitch.”

  “Maybe you do,” Metallica said, grasping. She had no idea what we were talking about, as evidenced by her adding, “Wait, what’s this about bleeding me and taking my powers?”

  “Ignore him,” Charm said, grabbing me and pulling me to the doorway, where Twitch waited. “You two can’t be serious about this.”

  “Charm doesn’t think we should bother with this woman’s powers,” I explained to Twitch.

  Twitch frowned from outside, shaking her head. “Charm, you’re letting your emotions cloud your judgment. We need all the help we can get, and better to have it inside of Breaker. Someone we can trust.”

  Charm formed fists and growled, glancing over her shoulder to glare at her enemy again before saying, “Well, at least it’ll hurt her.”

  “So how’s this work?” I asked. “I just… cut her skin, then mine, and we press our blood together?”

  “That’s the theory,” Twitch said. “But we don’t have much time. It’s that or sleep with her, and—”

  “Not happening.”

  “Honestly, I can’t blame you,” Twitch said. “She looks like shit.”

  “Maybe we just take her with us at first, see if she’s really changed her ways?” I proposed. “Could be good to have another teammate.”

  “An insane one,” Charm protested. “No, fuck that. Cut the bitch.”

  “Anyone have a knife?” I asked.

  Both looked around and Charm groaned before saying, “Just my claws.”

  “You tearing me open, then her…” I frowned, not liking the idea.

  “I’m still not fond of the idea of injuring you right before going into battle,” Twitch said. “And we don’t know if it could be a small cut.”

  “I’m not sleeping with her,” I said, putting my foot down. “And definitely not sticking my cock in her mouth. She’d bite it off, for all I know.”

  Charm nodded, agreeing with that.

  “Your cock in my what?” Metallica said, suddenly there, at his side. “What the fuck is this?”

  “It’s… oh, fuck it.” I turned to her and said, “Metallica, we’ll let you out of here under one condition. Your little problem with Charm is over. You can’t go crazy and hurt any of us. If you do, I’ll slit your throat myself.”

  She frowned, nodded, and said, “Deal, as long as you keep your cock in your pants.”

  I laughed. “Deal.”

  “No,” Charm protested again. “I told you, I’m not joining up with this ball of crazy. Fuck her, let’s kill her right now. Just sleep with her or cut her already.”

  “See, this is the kind of attitude that made me want to kill you!” Metallica protested, motioning at Charm. “This lady’s
the crazy one. Why the hell does she keep talking about you doing me?”

  “It’s part of my powers,” I explained, not seeing the harm in telling the truth here. “Mixture of blood, sexual acts, stuff like that… and I get a version of someone’s power.”

  “Holy hell, I’d take that in a second,” she said, looking suddenly excited. A glance at the two other women, and she grinned, wide. “You’ve had them both, haven’t you?”

  I didn’t want to kiss and tell, so didn’t say a thing.

  Metallica grinned wider. “Oooh, this is too good. Okay, you can have my power, as long as I get to keep it too. That’s how I assume it works?”

  “Yes.”

  “What do you mean?” Charm asked, voice full of suspicion.

  Metallica started to pull down her torn pants, and we all gawked. “Part of the reason I was such a bitch,” she explained, now in her panties and shirt, pants around her ankles. “It’s been so long since I had a man, or woman, to fool around with. I get out of my cell and everyone’s going crazy, so what do you expect?”

  Now she turned around and bent over, pulling down her panties as she did so. The back view, with her round ass and view of her pussy, made me suddenly think of her in a very different way.

  “It’s guaranteed to work, and we don’t have time for experiments,” Twitch said.

  “Do I have to?” I asked. Of course, part of me certainly wanted it, especially with that tight ass facing me.

  Twitch nodded for me to go forward. “Make it quick.”

  Charm just glared, arms folded.

  “We do need the powers,” I admitted.

  She didn’t reply. Again, Twitch motioned me forward, a gleam in her eyes.

  “Charm…?” I hesitated, glancing from her to Metallica’s ass, which the woman moved back and forth for me.

  “Waiting,” Metallica said.

  “I’m not doing this if you don’t want me to,” I told Charm.

  “Great, and our chances of success go down because one woman can’t control her jealousy,” Twitch said.