Heroic

by H D Forth

  “Hero ty-” He started to say, but I grabbed him around the throat. Kicked the door in and threw him as far into the room as I could.

  Threw might have been an overstatement. It was closer to a slide, though he definitely took a hit. Maybe closer to an underhanded throw with a low arc, than a slide then?

  Eh didn't really matter.

  “Leeeeriic!” I yelled loudly, stepping into what had obviously been the main warehouse room. “If your scared little ass isn’t going to run away this time, I’m here to finish what we started!”

  Chapter One Hundred Forty-Two

  People were staring incredulously from the young guy I had thrown into the middle of the room, then to me and finally to the large man sitting in the middle of the large warehouse on a literal throne. Well, the closest thing to an actual throne you could get nowadays, more like a luxurious recliner, but still, it was clear what he was going for.

  The sound that could be heard was my footsteps as I stepped in next to the young man I'd thrown. "Scram," I said, poking him with my boot, before turning towards Leric. "That is unless you're afraid of what the heroes are gonna put on you if you try," I said. I was loud enough to be easily heard, but no longer yelling. "If that's the case though, you better come with me now."

  I made a show of turning my back to him, looking around the room. It took up most of the first floor. It had a few of what I presumed to be weight bearing columns, probably should stay away from them.

  The walls of one side were lined with people. Young outcasts do keep odd hours, I thought, examining them for any potential threat, I found little to worry me.

  The rest of space was bare, except a single chair, little more than a stool placed in front of the throne Leric sat on.

  Incandescent light filled the room, with a bright white glow. Perfect for what I had planned. The first goal was to undermine Leric, call him out for being a coward. Now came the next step.

  “You let me live Leric, can you tell me why?” I had put both my weapons into one hand, raising my other to where my ear would be if not for the mask. “What’s a good reason to let an enemy live? Why do you spare the life of someone? Because you’re afraid of the consequences of course.

  “You made a mistake. You picked a fight with a hero, and now you have nowhere to go but down.”

  That, of course, wasn't true. I wasn't technically a hero. I wasn't even sure that the Guild knew about me. They were a large organization that was the legal representation of all the heroes in all the cities on the coast.

  Leric grunted loudly, rising from his recliner and stepped towards me. He really was huge, especially in the dramatic lighting, it really emphasized the shadows of his muscles. "I don't make mistakes." He growled. "I'll show you that I can kill any hero and there will be no repercussion. Even if they send someone else for me, then I will kill them too!"

  It seemed the one on one was indeed on.

  Chapter One Hundred Forty-Three

  People were staring incredulously from the young guy I had thrown into the middle of the room, then to me and finally to the large man sitting in the middle of the large warehouse on a literal throne. Well the closest thing to an actual throne you could get nowadays, more like a luxurious recliner, but still it was clear what he was going for.

  The sound that could be heard was my footsteps as I stepped in next to the young man I’d thrown. “Scram,” I said, poking him with my boot, before turning towards Leric. “That is unless you’re afraid of what the heroes are gonna put on you, if you try.” I said. I was loud enough to be easily heard, but no longer yelling. “If that’s the case though, you better come with me now.”

  I made a show of turning my back to him, looking around the room. It took up most of the first floor. It had a few of what I presumed to be weight bearing columns, probably should stay away from them. The walls of one side was lined with people, while the rest of the room was bare, except of a single bare chair, little more than a stool placed in front of the throne Leric sat on.

  Incandescent light filled the room, with a bright white glow. Perfect for what I had planned. The first goal was to undermine him, call him out for being a coward. Now came the next step.

  “You let me live Leric, can you tell me why?” I had put both my weapons into one hand, raising my other to where my ear would be if not for the mask. “What’s a good reason to let an enemy live? Why do you spare the life of someone? Because you’re afraid of the consequences of course. You made a mistake. You picked a fight with a hero, and now you have nowhere to go but down.”

  That of course wasn't true. I wasn’t technically a hero. I wasn't even certain that the Guild knew about me. They were a large organization that was the legal representation of all the heroes in all the cities on the coast.

  Leric grunted loudly, rising from his recliner and stepped towards me. He really was huge, especially in the dramatic lighting, it really emphasized the shadows of his muscles. “I don't make mistakes.” He growled. “I’ll show you than I can kill any hero and there will be no repercussion. Even if they send someone else for me, then I will kill them too!”

  It seemed the one on one was indeed on.

  Chapter One Hundred Forty-Four

  The stories all talked about getting your enemies angry. At least all the fantasy legends I'd read wrote about getting angry, then making mistakes. I should be excellent at this task.

  “This!” I called, raising the club in my left hand towards Leric. “Is called Fuck You!”

  That actually caused him to stop for a moment. “And Fuck You is here to wreck your beast-bitten ass across the floor.”

  Leric narrowed his eyes and started walking again. Those were some terrifyingly big steps, he would be on me at any moment.

  "This one." I raised the other club while lowering Fuck You into a ready position. "Is called…"

  Regrets, I thought, but obviously didn’t say out loud, I’m not stupid. “Fuck You Also.” Regrets, for I, have many.

  The name caused a beat of stunned silence. My genius had completely flabbergasted them, even Leric had stopped.

  Though it might appear my magnificently intelligent brain had outwitted him to the point, that he was no longer getting mad…

  “Are you sure that’s what you’re going to go with?” Leric asked, quirking an eyebrow.

  Well, Regrets is no better, I thought raising Fuck You Also in his direction. It took him a moment, but he got it. “Of course I’m going with it. It’s godsdamned brilliant.” I really don’t have a gift with words.

  He let out a snort of laughter, and closed the distance to around two meters, just beyond my reach with the clubs. “You know I would’ve gone with Fuck You and Screw You.”

  “…”

  I dashed forwards slamming Fuck You at him as hard as I could. He quickly raised one arm to take the blow, his forearm catching the strike without him showing any signs of pain. Though I could see that I had drawn blood with the attack, as I had hit with the very edge of the club.

  I swung wildly for his face with Fuck You Also, or wait was Fuck You Also the one in my left hand? Didn’t matter, he dodged out of the way instead of taking the strike.

  We both looked at his bloodied forearm. Maybe bloodied was too strong a word, scratched was probably better. This guy was as tough as beast hide. I thought, noticing that the wound had already stopped bleeding.

  No, he couldn't have… I thought, stepping back. I watched as the wound slowly closed over maybe ten seconds. Mother fucker has enhanced regeneration.

  That changed things. That turned the fight from one of speed and reflexes into one of attrition, unless I could knock him out.

  I dashed to the side. I had never been especially athletic, it showed the way I threw things—either too hard or not hard enough. It also used to show in other ways, the way I moved, my posture and my looks. Some of those had been changed as a simple factor of my new body. One of those things had been learned by all the damned running a hero did.r />
  I had gotten good at rapid movements, especially when I was pulling heavily on my power core like I was currently. It was dropping precipitously, but in an instant, I was behind Leric instead of in front of him.

  Another benefit of the lighter frame was, how fast I could turn. I slipped around the much larger man, not in a blur of fantastical movement, no matter how much I wanted it to be that, but I still did it much faster than any human could manage.

  That meant I was already swinging for his head when he started turning around.

  I managed to catch a glimpse of startlement on Leric’s brutish face as it met my club.

  The strike took him directly on the cheekbone. I heard the hard smack of metal against flesh and bone, and the attack forced Leric down on one knee. I might be lighter than most men my size, but I still had plenty of momentum when I had been running, this meant that I was unable to immediately follow up since I slid out of range.

  When I finally got turned around and jumped for the large man again, he had already started to shake off the first blow. Luckily for me, he hadn't been fast enough.

  My second strike took him on the temple, once more jerking his head away and down towards the ground. I followed up, since this time I wasn't filled with momentum. I struck out with Fuck You, hitting him in the jaw. The blow sent his head reeling in the opposite direction, hopefully jostling his brain and sending him further on the road to unconsciousness...

  I followed those with three more strikes directly to his face before he started swaying in his kneeling position.

  I had him, or at least I thought so. Until in a desperate roar, he launched himself towards me, tackling me and sending us both to the ground in a tumbling rush. The sudden speed and power he displayed sent us both flying in different directions.

  This meant that while he managed to get out from under my blows, he hadn't managed to get into a physical position to overpower me. The sensors in my frame hadn't been made to handle this kind of stress, and for just a few moments, everything seemed out of order.

  The world was spinning, buzzing sounds was all that registered in my head, and I could feel fuzz underneath me, all my sensors made for cleaning apartments and keeping balance unable to keep up with the violent movement.

  Then a moment later, my Nerve Module—which had been made to handle an assortment of things, including fights, took over. Suddenly, the world clarified, everything returned to straight lines, regular sounds, and sensations. I struggled onto my feet, losing some grace as I went for speed.

  Leric was still only just getting up, but while I had bloodied his face with every blow, he clearly wasn't out of the fight. He stared at me as he pushed himself from a kneeling position, a curtain of blood running down his face.

  Most of the blows I had landed on him had been at high speeds with and they had all cracked skin. Blood flowed from at least two scalp wounds, one of them even blinding his eye.

  He had another cut on his cheekbone, and one on his eyebrow. Another was sitting nicely on his jawline, but he simply growled at me and forced himself towards me.

  That was fine, I thought. I can do this all… before I could finish the thought, I checked my battery stores. 56%, I could do this maybe once more, before I would be running low power mode and he could kill me at his leisure.

  I had to find another way. Even as I slowly backed away, trying to come up with a better idea, I saw Leric recover further and further with every step. By the time we had moved four or five meters, he wasn't even swaying anymore, but walking as confidently as he had when he stepped off his recliner throne.

  I remembered the weird pustule on his arm, if that didn't spell out weakness, then I didn't know what did. Maybe it came from something he had taken into himself, and that's where he got his power from, perhaps it was just an old wound or sickness. It didn't matter, because it was a textbook example of a weakness.

  If I contained my bursts of speed, then I'd be far better able to manage the battery, which meant I would be less likely to run out prematurely.

  I send a burst of power towards my legs, listening as the ventilation in my chest whined and spat out hot air. I could hear the venting system in my frame blowing and sucking in the air around me as I moved. The powerful engines that drove my joints whirred slightly as I sprinted towards Leric.

  Swiftly, I closed the distance and swung a distracting blow for his face with Fuck You Also, or whatever I had called the right one.

  He easily blocked it with his forearm, exposing the nasty green pustule to me. The metallic green vines that grew out from it was clearly burrowing into his skin as he stood flexing my attack away with his forearm.

  Then I slammed my other club into the pustule, ringing out in metal on metal clanging.

  Leric let loose an inhuman shriek as Fuck You struck. The vines that had seated themselves into Leric's forearm writhed and twisted so hard, they tore through his skin, leaving long tracks of torn skin and blood.

  Leric bellowed a scream of such power and magnitude, that made it clear his strength was more than just skin deep. Every single muscle he had was powerful.

  For a moment the sheer noise overwhelmed my microphones, completely cutting off all sound. I cautiously stepped back, not wanting to get caught in Leric's pained flailing. He continued screaming and flailing for another fifteen or so seconds.

  When he finally stopped, he was a heaving and crying mess on the floor. I took one step towards him, unsure if I should check if he was okay or fight him. The sound caught his attention, and he looked at me with bloodshot eyes.

  He bellowed and charged me, going from a full-stop crouch to all-out sprint in seconds. I hit him in a scissor strike, both clubs coming in from the side. He simply shrugged it off, before laying into me with a haymaker that shattered the world around it.

  I blasted through his throne, before finally slamming into something harder than I was fast. With a cracking groan, I fell onto the floor. Multiple messages of integrity damage to my frame popped up in my peripheral vision. It could all easily be summed up into a single message. I fucked up.

  Pain. The first sensation that came to me was pain. Electric hot and burning through my every artificial nerve.

  I blinked as my sight processors managed to bring everything into order again. I was looking at the wreckage of Leric’s Recliner throne. His strike had thrown me clean through and into the wall behind it.

  Half of my vision flickered. I slowly reached up to tap at my face with one hand. My skull was not okay. My left eye flashed again, then died out completely. I blinked a few times, as tried to reboot it, but it was dead.

  With a groan, I used my hands to push myself off the ground, even as it spun around me. My left hand occasionally threw off sparks. Staying up was relatively easy when I had the column behind me. A few moments later, my balance kicked back in and I stopped swaying.

  One of my heels had slammed into the wall at full speed, and most of my foot was lying as metal scraps around me on the floor. Pain bloomed up my leg from the shattered heel, even as I used the pad of my feet to stand on.

  Pain, too, flared seemingly randomly down my back, though it didn't seem too severely damaged. I could still move my back a little, though a full range of motion was impossible.

  I lay for a few moments, paralyzed by the pains of my injuries as they all chimed in with their condition to the Nerve Module.

  Warning! Pain threshold reached, deactivating.

  I simply lay for a moment, in the euphoria that came with the sudden lack of pain. Get up, I told myself, get up or you’ll only get to enjoy it for a few more seconds.

  I clenched empty hands, I had lost my clubs at some point during the flight. MY body, my frame groaned with protest when I took a step forwards.

  I’m fucked. I realized, watching Leric sway slightly on his feet before he turned towards me. His left eye was no longer just bloodshot, it was completely red.

  My battery was less than 30%, I hadn't got any weapons, exc
ept the for the screwdriver, that felt like it had been punched into the back of my thigh. I wished Kani’s gift would’ve gotten some real use before I died.

  "Vanys? Are you okay?" Her voice suddenly crackled over my mask. Luckily she had installed it on the right side, her exact reason being. ‘Most people are right-handed, meaning in a fight they're gonna hit you primarily on the left side.'

  "I need your help Kani," I whispered in returned. The mask hummed slightly whenever she spoke through it. Clearly, the mask had taken as much damage as my skull itself.

  "Of course you do." She said. She obviously tried to sound cheerful but was failing somewhat.