Full Metal Superhero (Book 6): Explosive Arsenal

by Haskell, Jeffery H.

  Amelia, now that we have active sensors I am picking up some highly unlikely readings.

  “Like what?”

  There is no animal life on the island, with the exception of a few migratory birds. No insects, no monkeys, nothing. It is as if the island is lifeless.

  “That can’t be right. Let the team know something is hinky,” I say.

  Alarms blare as active radar pings the armor’s exterior. If it weren’t for the stealth coating and kinetic shields refracting the beams away from me, something would have a lock on.

  “Red alert!” The HUD flashes from the green of regular activity to the red of combat. All my weapons systems come online and the MK VII is ready to rock and roll.

  I am picking up multiple weapons installations coming online. Focused Lasers and surface-to-air missiles. Activating ECM.

  “Fleet, Lux, look for the weapon turrets and see if you can take them out,” I say over the comms as I loop up and around the island, trying to get a bead on them.

  “On it,” he says. I see a blur of motion as tree’s shudder wherever he runs by.

  Lux flashes by in a spear of light. Laser blasts emanate from her hands and she wipes out whole swaths of jungle, taking down weapons installations. Just... damn!

  Tessa finishes lifting Monica up onto the island and Kate grabs her and teleports into the dense canopy.

  “Okay, Carlos, it’s show time.”

  I will never grow tired of seeing him make an entrance. Good golly Miss Molly. The spear drops out of the sky like the Sword of Damocles, cleaving through the air with a whistle to slam into the top of the island, almost exactly where the hatch was located on our picture. How he does that from orbit is beyond me. Even with the most advanced targeting computer in the world, hitting something that small by throwing a spear at it, would be nigh impossible.

  Almost as fast as the spear, Protector falls from the sky directly behind it. His sandaled feet hit the ground, sending a shockwave out around him that blasts through the leaves of the trees, leaving them shaking.

  “Amelia, I don’t know what this is, but it ain’t dirt,” Carlos says over the comms.

  I fly around in a large circle, coming at the island from the opposite direction. I’m hoping Strungel will be paying attention to me while the rest of the team goes to work. TK, Glacier, Domino, Fleet, and Tia all arrive seconds behind Carlos.

  “Amelia,” Lux says over the comms, her already unusual voice distorted more by the radio. “All the weapons emplacements are destroyed.”

  “Awesome, join us at the hatch.”

  I land next to Carlos with a metallic thunk—which is weird because the ground looks like dirt. A few seconds later, Lux flies over to hover behind Fleet.

  “Other than the gun turrets, why hasn’t he tried anything?” TK asks.

  I shrug, which doesn’t really translate well in the armor. “Protector, why don’t you knock,” I say, pointing at the place the hatch should be.

  Carlos spins his spear in the air a few times before driving it into the dirt. Except it isn’t dirt. It’s metal covered by a thin layer of soil.

  “Is this whole island metal?” Tia asks.

  She kneels down to wipe the dirt away. Her costume is pretty awesome; Kate designed it. It’s a solid blue one-piece that stretches from her neck down to her feet. It has to be skin tight because of her powers, but she looks damn good in it. The colors go from a solid dark blue on top to a fragmented pattern about halfway down, leaving her lower half in more gold-outlined blue boxes, giving her the effect of fading away. It’s a fantastic representation of her powers. Now we just need a code name for her.

  “I think this is some kind of boat,” I say to the team.

  “Or a sub,” Tia says.

  “Regardless, we’re going in.”

  Everyone else is in their usual costumes. Fleet’s in his blue and white speedster suit. Glacier switched to elemental form before we started, leaving her as a living ice sculpture in the shorts and t-shirt she wore on the boat. TK has her black leather pants and red jacket over a dark purple Kevlar weave top. Domino has her black catsuit with its nine million pockets, bandoleers, and pouches filled with grenades, smoke bombs, and restraints… not to mention her to IP Pistols and the swords slung on her back. Lux is in her usual white outfit with the gold starburst over her breast.

  The only person who is always in the same costume is Carlos, since his outfit isn’t one he can change. He slams the spear down again, wedging it into the metal, trying to get leverage against it. All the strength in the world won’t do any good if he can’t apply it to something.

  “Protector, hold on a sec. Lux?”

  She comes to hover next to me. Her body sheathed in brilliant light while her hair floats out behind her like tendrils of coherent energy. “I’m here,” she says in her musical voice.

  “Burn a hole in it; give Protector something to latch on to,” I say, pointing to where Tia cleared the dirt.

  Lux nods, holds her hand out like a knife and focuses it on the exposed metal.

  Amelia, I am detecting a vibration building up from below. It is low-level but at this rate of increase, it will become dangerous. It could be the rocket preparing for launch.

  “Understood.” Then to Lux, “Do it.”

  Light flares around her hand, building up to a crescendo until a bright yellow laser shoots out of her fingers to strike the metal where Tia had cleared the dirt away. Lux’s powers strobe, glowing brighter as her laser burns into the metal ground.

  “I don’t understand why it isn’t melting,” Lux says in her musical voice.

  After a few more seconds, she stops. The metal glows red then quickly cools to normal.

  “We’re running out of time,” I say. The vibration building up underneath is visibly shaking the ground now.

  “Let me try something,” Tia says as she moves forward. The air around her condenses as if it has solidified and gained mass of its own. She can’t see the smile on my face, but it’s a mile wide. I love when she does this.

  She kneels down, lifts her arm up as high as she can go and the brings it down. I don’t know how much mass she gained, but the ground shakes in impact causing everyone but Domino to stumble. I stagger back a few steps before I regain my balance.

  “Damn, woman,” Carlos says with his mouth hanging open.

  Tia’s hand is wedged under the hatch and she heaves upward, her every muscle straining as she slips her other hand into the space she’s created. The metal creaks, creating six-inch tear next to where her hands are. Carlos steps next to her, grabbing the sundered metal with his gauntlet covered hands and pulling up as well.

  “What the hell... is... this... made of!” Carlos grunts with each word, the strain causing all his muscles to bulge. The ground under their feet gives in and they sink an inch into the metal from the pressure.

  “I have an idea,” I say quietly. The way the metal sheers reminds me a whole helluva a lot of my armor. Epic was right; Strungel can clone my work—or something like it.

  Amelia, thermal radiation has just increased tenfold!

  “Incoming!” TK yells. The air shimmers around us as she throws her hands up to shield the team. A deafening roar fills the air as a man burns through the sky like a comet, right at us.

  “Epic is that—” The world around the shield explodes in fire, lancing out around us and scorching everything living until the world is nothing but a wall of superheated flame. Only Tessa’s telekinetic shield and Glacier’s innate ability to absorb heat keep us from roasting alive.

  “Glacier, Tia, and Lux, stay here,” I say, pointing at the fire. “Everyone else, into the hole!” I point at the hole Tia and Carlos made in the metal. I’m starting to think maybe this isn’t an island after all, but some kind of boat—or another of his giant robots.

  Glacier steps up, cracking her icy neck as she holds her hands out. She looks over to TK with a nod. Tessa falls to one knee, blood dripping from her nose. She’s a pow
erful telekinetic but everyone has limits. I know from personal experience in LA that Rocket’s fireballs are crazy powerful.

  “Do it,” Glacier yells. Domino grabs TK and rolls into the hole, followed by Fleet. Carlos hesitates but I reiterate my point with a finger jab. He nods and leaps in. I don’t know what they’re going to find in there, but we need someone who can handle physical threats with them and with us. We get Tia, they get the Protector.

  The shield falls; I brace myself for the inferno, but I shouldn’t have worried. Glacier unleashes icy hell on the fire. The flames vanish almost as suddenly as they appeared as she absorbs the heat from them while spraying blue freeze rays back the way they came.

  I have to say, it’s disconcerting to see a living ice sculpture sweat. Once the flames die down I can see who attacked us.

  I have identified them as the Death Dealers. The mercenaries you faced in Los Angeles. Rocket and Hand Cannon are the two you know, the other two are Thrash and Multiplex.

  Multiplex huh? He joined with these dorks.

  Hand Cannon is the douche dressed like a logger, with his stupid beard down to his chest. Rocket swings around wide, blasting away from us, having exhausted himself for the moment against both Tessa’s shield and Glacier’s ice.

  Multiplex looks exactly the same, down to the worn-out clothes he was wearing when we last saw him in California.

  Thresh is the unknown to me. He’s six feet tall and broad-shouldered, with a buzz cut and mirror shades. His outfit looks like it belongs in a post-apocalyptic movie—it’s all leather and chains.

  “Epic, what’s the rundown on Thresh?” I ask as Lux and I take to the air.

  He is an F5 strongman with impervious skin. He can also control any metal he touches, bend it into shapes etc. I do not recommend going hand to hand with him. That may be why he is here. If he touches the suit...

  Epic doesn’t have to finish that thought. Two supers who can affect metal; Multiplex can absorb the properties and now Thresh can control it. Yeah, this doesn’t feel personal at all.

  I pepper the ground around them with HE grenades to disperse them and drive their attention to me. The last thing I need is Hand Cannon blasting Glacier.

  “Lux, deal with Hand Cannon. Glacier, freeze up Multiplex. I’ll take Rocket...”

  “What about me?” Tia asks. I can tell she’s nervous—her vitals are all over the place. It’s one thing to be a police officer and know that bullets will just bounce off you. It’s entirely another thing when dealing with other superpowered people.

  “Epic will give you the skinny on Thresh, take him downtown!” I yell.

  Rocket swings around, blasting through the sound barrier with a roar of fire and heat as he heads right for me. If I recall, he can’t bank worth a damn at speed.

  I don’t have time to watch the fight below, I trust the team to handle themselves and communicate as needed. I also trust Epic to steer us in the right direction.

  I fly a straight line away from Rocket, leading him north and putting distance between him and the team. I don’t want any flame blasts accidentally hitting my people.

  I barrel roll over, dodging a fireball the size of a house that passes close enough to turn my world red before exploding. The temperature on the outside of the suit skyrockets as I fly through the explosion.

  “Epic, since when can he do that?”

  It is entirely possible they have come into contact with the Red Gem.

  “Awesome. We used the Kinetic Lance to take him down last time—let’s see if that works again. Also, make a note, we need a flameproof variant for the MK VI.”

  Note made.

  I spin in the air, looking back the way I came from to bracket him in the crosshairs. His face fills my view and he’s smiling?

  Oh crap—

  A hand the size of a train car slams into me. Alarms scream in my ear as the kinetic shields are tasked to the absolute limit. I hit the ground, digging a furrow in the dirt five hundred feet away from where I was.

  Amelia, move!

  Right. I shake my head and hit the Emdrive, shooting out of the place I was when a fireball explodes in the same spot, torching everything around it. Colossal has joined the fray. I should have known he was here too. Clever, hiding their giant man until I was occupied.

  “Okay, now you’re really pissing me off. Epic, go auto on the grenade launcher.”

  I reach behind me and pull out the BFG. I’m done with these guys. They are playing for keeps and so will I. Epic cycles the double barrel grenade launcher. The boom of HE grenades impacting with Colossal echoes around me, dampened by my helmet. I blast off, giving the rifle a second to fully expand. He’s tough when a giant, but he’s not indestructible.

  “Epic, give me some noise,” I say. The HUD confirms my PA set to one-hundred and twenty decibels. “If you don’t surrender right now, the gloves come off.” Please oh please, surrender. I know I can take them out, I just don’t want to.

  I glance over at Tia. The air shimmers around her as she holds up both her arms in front of her like a shield. Thresh lands blow after blow against her forearms. At first, they push her back, her feet sliding through the dirt. His sixth blow doesn’t move her, the seventh stops like he hit a brick wall. She drops her arms, a lopsided grin spreading across her face.

  “Don’t hit me again,” she says.

  “Or what?” he asks.

  “I’ll hurt you.”

  He laughs, reeling back with his fist and throwing the punch of his life at her. She doesn’t even flinch. The crack of thunder echoes across the island along with debris and dust exploding out around her. Thresh’s hand shatters as it hits her face. He takes a step back, a long keen wailing emitting from him as he clasps his broken hand. He stumbles back, falling to one knee.

  Tia takes two steps forward, holds out her hand with her middle finger trapped by her thumb, then flicks him in the head.

  Thresh flies back like he’s shot out of a cannon. Digging a furrow in the island a hundred feet long. He doesn’t move when he comes to a rest.

  Multiplex kneels down and absorbs some of the material the island is made of; his skin goes dark gray as he turns into the metal. He cracks his neck and ten of him appear, all made of the metal. They charge Tia with a howl of rage.

  I don’t have time to watch her take him as Colossal picks that moment to regain his footing. He brings a hand down on me. I roll over, shoulder my rifle, and fire.

  The grenades only distracted him; apparently, he’s upgraded his powers. But then again, so have I.

  The BFG spits out a ten-millimeter slug of nickel-iron encased tungsten at five-thousand feet per second. The whine of the discharge splits the air and fire leaps from the barrel to Colossal’s hand. The bullet hits with a deafening crack as it explodes through his palm and out the other side. His scream of pain is as big as he is. If it weren’t for my helmet it would be earsplitting.

  Rocket crashes into me, wrapping his arms around my waist as he plows us into the ground. The temperature alarm screams at me as we shoot past two-thousand degrees. Yep, he certainly upgraded his powers.

  “I’m gonna enjoy pealing you out of your melting suit, bitch,” he says. His voice sounds like crackling flames.

  “Why you got to make it about my gender, dick,” I say back. “You really shouldn’t have come in close.” I slap my hands over his ears. “Full power IP cannons!” The sandpaper staccato fills the air as they discharge directly into his brain. His big advantage was how fast he was and how hard that made it to hit him.

  He screams and spazzes, his whole body going into uncontrollable convulsions. His powers shut off immediately, followed by him letting go. I don’t; I keep pumping the energy into his brain until his eyes roll up in his head.

  “Amelia, we’ve haven’t found Strungel, but the controls are all locked out,” Kate says. “We can’t stop the launch from here. Carlos is trying to rip his way into the launch room and disable it manually.”

  I to
ss Rocket away from me. He lands on the ground in a twitching crumpled mass. “Strungel has to be here—”

  Colossal isn’t out of the fight yet. He slaps me with his good hand, clearing a hundred feet of jungle and sending me flying, skipping over the water like a stone.

  The ocean splashes around me, covering my visor the second I lose forward momentum. It takes me a heart-stopping second to clear my head from the idea I’m drowning. The fear that shoots up my spine freezes my breath and forces my eyes shut. It’s okay, it’s okay. I’m not drowning.

  Amelia, your heart rate is all over the place. Deep breaths.

  “That’s kind of the problem, Epic. Get us out of the water, please,” I say almost pleading with him. I know I’m not going to drown, but tell my heart that.

  Epic takes control, shunting power to the Emdrive and blasting us out of the water. In a few seconds, it’s a hundred feet below us.

  “Oh my God...” I hear Kate say. “Amelia... this satellite isn’t an Artemis clone. Epic, can you look at this?”

  On it.

  I’m halfway back to the island when a brilliant light shines over the island and a wave of energy bursts from Colossal’s chest. He goes down with a massive hole burned through his chest. Lux. I hate that she had to do that.

  “Team, I’m having trouble here, help!” Tia asks.

  Hand Cannon is down, frozen solid like a statue, with his finger pointing at the ground. Ha. Jerk. However, there are hundreds of Multiplexes; they’ve dog piled Tia and are slamming their metallic fists into her. Glacier can’t stop to help without being hit by at least one of them, and as hard as they are at the moment, they could really hurt her. She’s freezing them solid as fast as she can, but Multiplex is making more than she can stop.

  I have an idea. “Lux, can you flare up like a star, I mean BRIGHT?” I trigger the polarization on my faceplate.

  “Yes, but it will take a lot out of me. Glacier, you should run.”

  “On it,” she replies. I see her throw out the ice beams in front of her right down to the ocean and then she’s moving as fast as an Olympic speed skater. Five Multiplex’s jump down after her, only to crash through the ice and immediately sink into the ocean.