by Gideon Mills
“Nice to see you, Thunderdick,” I said.
The man gritted his teeth and sneered at me. “That isn’t my name,” he said. He wasn’t alone, behind him were at least a dozen other men. All in the Third Street Dragons outfits.
“More accurate, if you ask me. Surprised to see you. Thought Reign got you.”
The man’s face had aged over the short time that I hadn’t seen him. To look at him, you’d think it had been years since we last fought. His hair was even grayer, and his face scarred.
“I got away,” he said. “Found someone to help me out.”
I groaned. “You really have fallen. First my sister, now Elric. What happened to the great savior of Hell’s Kitchen?”
“He saw the error of his ways, and moved on to the winning side.”
“How’s that working out for you?”
Thunderprick didn’t answer and shot a bolt of lightning at me. I let it hit me square in the chest. Felt like a little tingle. Laughing at the attack, I sprinted at him. He was nothing compared to me and my power. I didn’t worry about him or what might happen to Lola behind me.
That was my second mistake.
31
Ouch
Just as I reached Thunderbolt, I heard a scream of pain from behind me, and I turned to see Lola slump on the ground. As well as both the police officers. Leering over her was Stronggirl, that little two-timing snot. Reign was behind this for certain and wasn’t even trying to hide his involvement. I just couldn’t believe it. I thought both of these two were in the past. The distant past.
“If you touch her again,” I said. “You’ll regret it.”
Her long hair was thinner than before, and her face was scarred. She stood there taunting me with her twisted smile. I couldn’t believe these two were back in my life. I hated that Reign and my mother were using them against me.
These people never stood a chance against them, and that sickened me. Taking a deep breath, I began my attack on the super-strong woman.
Moving with my Godspeed I was in front of Stronggirl in a blink of an eye. The Paragon was so surprised by my arrival she let Lola go. The Guardian remained slumped on the ground and looked up at me. I could tell she was out of it, and in pain.
I gritted my teeth and slammed my fist into Stronggirl.
Most of my time on Earth I had been holding back. Not this time. The force I put into the punch would have disintegrated most mortal people. Stronggirl was different, and I knew that. She went flowing away from me, smashing holes in the building as she went. How far she would go, I had no clue and didn’t care. If she survived the impact, I didn’t care. There was a chance she might not, and I didn’t care about that either.
All that mattered was that my love Lola was safe. That she wasn’t hurt by the vile creature. These people were the worst of the worst. Nothing in the Underworld was as bad as them. Only my dearest mother was worse, and she was the root cause of it all.
“Holy fucking shit,” ThunderBolt said. “You killed her.”
I didn’t even look back to him. He didn’t matter anymore, nor did Stronggirl, but if I knew the Paragon any, she wasn’t dead. Just hurting. Hopefully, the pain lasted a very long time, and I didn’t care.
Lola was all that mattered right now, putting the rest out of my mind, focusing on her and making her better was all I could do. She was on the ground, moaning. I gently caressed her. I leaned down to her. “Lola,” I whispered. “Please be okay.”
Another moan sounded from her, causing my heart to skip a beat. Lola looked up at me. “Ares,” she groaned. Blood ran down the back of her head, from the place she had been struck. There was probably going to a bruise and bump there, but her hair would cover it up. Otherwise she appeared unharmed.
“Lola,” I said in my sweetest soothing voice. “I’m sorry.”
She shook her head. “Stop. Let’s finish this.”
A blast of heat hit me from behind, Thunderdick must have decided to strike. “I’m gonna make him regret that.”
“Don’t,” Lola said. “Be the better man.”
Right now, being the better man was the last thing in the world that crossed my mind. ThunderBolt, and Stronggirl pissed me off. It was bad enough that Elric had gotten Fleur, and we hadn’t found her yet. Let alone our failure in general to make any progress on Reign or Fenrir.
My patience was wearing thin, to the point that I was near the brink of no longer being a hero, but a villain. Being the God that the world thought I was, evil, cruel, and violent.
Taking a deep breath, I helped Lola stand and by some miracle she was able to hold herself up. Another jolt of electricity coursed through me. Thankfully my body was able to absorb it and not let it flow into my love. With Lola secure, I turned back to the man in my way, at least at the moment. He was just one step in the path to getting my other love back. To saving my Fleur, if she needed it. She was a powerful Paragon and might possibly be waiting for us.
That thought caused me to smile, and that set Thunderprick on edge. “What you smiling at freak?” he said.
“You,” I said, then lunged at him. Covering the ground with my godly speed that none could match. I was in front of him in a blink of an eye. I knew that using all my strength would kill him, and Lola had asked me to hold back. To be the bigger man. “Is she here?”
I picked him up by the collar of his stupid outfit and looked into his pathetic eyes. “Yes,” he said. “On the top floor with Elric and his second-in-command.”
“Good.” I tossed the former hero to the side, and he smashed through a wall. I heard him crunch against a wall in the distance. He would live and might walk again.
“Ares,” Lola said. She had walked up behind him. “You said you wouldn’t do that.”
“I didn’t kill him,” I said. “I can hear him moaning, he’ll live.”
Lola nodded. “Good.”
“Fleur is here, and I doubt she has much more time,” I said. “We need to get to her.”
32
Reaching the Top Floor
The slog up through the building was brutal, but I managed. Lola didn’t slow me down, even though she was in pain. She might not be a Paragon like many of the others in the building, but she was indeed a hero. She had her little tech devices with her and used them to keep us informed.
It was handy having one of the smartest people on the planet having my back. Not to mention one of the hottest. More than once did she alert us to an impending sneak attack. Not that I needed to be worried about surviving any of the attacks, but it made it easier to get to the next level of the place.
Each floor felt like a new level in a game. With all new challenges and detours that I didn’t want to deal with. Part of me was tempted to just smash my way up and bypass it all.
“You can’t do that,” Lola said. “You’ll just have to deal with all these guys and Elric along with Marie.”
Of course, Lola was right, and that wouldn’t be ideal. Many of these Paragons that we battled on the way up weren’t low levels. Sure, none were God-level, but that didn’t mean they weren’t strong in their own right.
I lost track of the floor we were on, but standing in front of me was yet another Paragon. This continued onslaught was getting old. None of them were worthy of the task of taking me out. Elric and Marie were the only Paragons that remotely stood a chance to take us out.
Both were the top level in the ranking that the government had made. Making them God level, and while they were no Gods, they were powerful.
The one in front of me didn’t have the stance of a man that was as powerful as me. From the twitching he was doing, and the outfit he wore, I could tell that he was a speedster. If my memory served me correctly, his name was Burnout.
Lola eyed me. “You can handle him?”
I nodded. Just because he was fast didn’t mean I wasn’t too. This was going to be a cake walk. Just another slight delay in the task of reaching Elric and saving Fleur.
We fought Paragons wi
th speed so fast that many normal people might not be able to even keep their eyes on them. For me, it was no issue, nor for Lola and her super tech.
As the speedster ran at us, Lola donned some special glasses and was able to dodge him. It was bad enough I hadn’t predicted his move, but Lola was smart and cunning enough to take care of herself.
The shock of her being able to avoid him, made him slip up and I did the same thing to him that I did with all the others: launched him into the air and another building, screaming in pain. That was the only joy I was getting out of all of this. Hearing them all scream and moan. I just hated being slowed down and unable to get to Fleur and kick the ever-living shit out of Elric.
Blowing through the floors, making quick work of the shmucks that Elric placed to slow me down. That was the only thing they did, was slow me down and anger me. That might have been part of his plan as well, and that too got under my skin.
If I was going to defeat him and his little minion, Marie Summers, I had to be on my game. I showed him already that his little speed bubble or time bubble couldn’t defeat me. His abilities and how they worked were still a bit of a mystery to me. Thankfully that really didn’t matter. All that did was that I could hurt him in there and break free. Now dealing with Marie, that might be a harder issue.
Maire had the ability to teleport, and if she just zapped them out of the building before I could attack, I was going to go apeshit. Worse than the city had ever seen, more than that ape monster or eight wonders of the world.
Lola pulled out a small device from her pocket, it was no bigger than a smartphone. We were walking up the stairs to the last floor. “What’s that?” I asked.
The Guardian smirked. “What I hope is an invention that will limit how far Summers can teleport.”
Narrowing my eyes, I looked at her with what I figured was a shocked look on my face. “How?”
“I’ve been looking into ways to neutralize all of them. We figured it out for Stefan, but Elric and Marie were a bit harder. This should send up a forcefield around us, similar to the one that Elric himself makes, but intending to keep those in it unable to pass through.”
I pursed my lips, and thought about it, knowing Lola she could break it down into some detail, but it would go right over my head. All that mattered was that Marie wouldn’t be able to get away.
When Lola made the device or how I might never know. She must not have slept much in the last few days. The woman was a machine and her dedication to Fleur unmatched. Not even I could compare to Lola in that regard. As much as I wanted to, they were truly best friends and teammates.
I reached the top stair and opened the door, to be greeted by a giant surprise.
33
A Fight to Remember
Fleur hadn’t broken free, and standing over her was someone I hadn’t expected. Belladonna. She had Fleur in some sort of contraption. Lola peeked around me and shrieked.
“Let her go,” I said. It was hard not to rush over and just free her, but when dealing with a person like Belladonna, I had to be careful. Seeing Fleur held hurt more than I could put into words. I had to ready myself to do whatever I could to save her.
Belladonna laughed. “Like I would do that. It has been fun testing the capabilities of my device.”
Multiple possibilities ran through my mind, scaring me with how many horrible things it could be. I feared that Fleur might no longer be a Paragon. This was an outcome I really hadn’t thought possible, with Elric being a Paragon and Marie as well.
Off to the side of the room, Elric sat at a table with Marie, drinking some hot beverage, coffee most likely. Not even bothering to stand up as we arrived. “I guess you beat up my security,” he said. His voice was so nonchalant about it all. “Money really doesn’t go as far as it used to.”
“If you paid for these guys,” I said. “You got ripped off.”
Behind me, Lola flicked a switch on her device, only audible to me. The rest of the room didn’t react to her at all.
Elric shrugged his shoulders. “If you say so. Well, this has been fun.” The man with his stern face and narrow eyes looked to Marie. She was slim with short hair that was dyed green that matched her eyes. They were hard to look at, almost neon in color. “Time to go. Have fun with them, Belladonna.”
Marie walked over to Elric and grabbed his hand. She winked at me. “Be seeing you.”
Then she attempted to teleport away from us. This was the moment of truth for Lola. I had little doubt that this would work. Marie and Elric faded out for a moment and then were solid again.
“Marie,” Elric said. “Get to it.”
“I’m trying,” she said.
Seeing the teleporter struggle to grasp what was going one brought a smile to my face. I’m simple that way, and enjoyed seeing people who have made me suffer feel my pain. Sure it was different than my own, yet seeing her baffled as to what was going on was great.
“You can’t go anywhere,” Lola said from next to me. “I’m made certain of that.”
Elric narrowed his eyes. “No matter. We can take care of you,” he said. “Belladonna here has been working both sides.”
Clearly, she wasn’t all in on Reign, but that didn’t mean she was going to make much of a difference here. Fleur moaned from the machine that she was attached to as Belladonna pressed a button.
“I just need to get Ares in here,” the white-haired woman said.
Narrowing my eyebrows, I stared at her with intense disgust. “What does that thing do?”
Elric laughed. “You’ll never believe it,” he said mockingly. “That might be the greatest invention in history.”
I had a hard time believing that statement; it had to be a hyperbole. In my lifetime there had been many discoveries that one could argue were the greatest invention. Whatever this was, I doubted it was better than the computer or the printing press, let alone fire or metalworking.
Belladonna smiled. I was getting tired of watching them, and wanted some action, but I knew enough from all the battles to not engage an enemy with weapons that I didn’t understand. Before I could free Fleur I needed to know what this great contraption was.
“I can transfer the powers of a Paragon to anyone I want,” Belladonna said.
Lola pursed her lips, and I had no doubt her analytical mind was racing with how this was done. If it was possible, and so much more had to be going through her head.
Lola rattled off several questions that I didn’t understand at all. This was tech stuff that was well out of my understanding. The two talked for a minute about it all, and I was standing there like a fool. I had no clue what was going on, and itching for a fight. It sounded like the machine didn’t permanently steal her powers, but let both people have them. That it would weaken Fleur in the process, but that was it.
“Impressive,” Lola said. That was the last thing I wanted to hear right now.
Belladonna smirked. “I know.”
“Can we take her out without hurting her?” I asked.
Lola nodded. “Yes.”
That was all I needed to hear. It was time to save Fleur and capture Elric and Marie. With the added bonus of Belladonna.
I’m sure that Elric and Belladonna figured I would be tired from the fight up here. What they all failed to realize was that I’m a fucking God. One of these days they will get it through their thick skulls and learn.
One would think they would have, if they had any contact with my dear mother. Reign must be keeping that from them, and Fenrir too. I gritted my teeth and sprinted at Fleur.
Elric created his little time or speed bubble, slowing me to a snail’s pace. At least it didn’t remove my super strength, or durability.
“You might have trapped us here,” Elric said. “But you will be getting into that next, and all of us will be taking our turns and getting your powers.”
I laughed. “You can’t take my powers. That machine won’t work on me. I’m a God, not a weak Paragon like you. Or have you forgo
tten the last time we fought, and I broke your little bubble.”
Elric crinkled his nose. “You won’t do that again.”
He had a confidence about him, but I was sure I could. Before I could make my way to find the edge of the bubble, he sent a burst of his energy blast at me. In here, I wasn’t able to avoid them and it hit me square in the chest, causing my heart to skip a beat. Every time he did that to me made me hate him more. Made me want to punch him in the face and break his jaw.
“Fuck,” I said. Whatever that power was, it hurt me more than most of the Paragons here on Earth. It was close to fighting against another Olympian. “That stings.”
Elric shook his head. “You might be the only Paragon that can take that and get up.”
I shrugged, not in the mood to tell him again that I was a God.
“I’m special like that,” I said. “Let’s do this.”
On my feet and clearing my head, I sprinted at him. Lola was in the bubble too, and the others. He’d made this one as big as he could. We had no way to contact the outside world, and I didn’t care. He sent another burst at me and this time I avoided it.
I was going to win this fight, a foregone conclusion. Elric was a powerful Paragon, but he was out of his element. I wasn’t some pushover.
With Lola at my side, we went on the offensive. The two of use weren’t going to let the pair in front of us win. We were on a mission to save someone that we loved. To stop these vile people from harming not only Fleur but the rest of the city.
I dodged left, and did a roll to land in front of Marie. Her angular face was in a snarl, and not pleased to see me. My move had caught both Elric and her by surprise, and I used that to my advantage.
Both of the evil Paragons had their eyes on me, and not paying attention to Lola. I smirked as I heard Belladonna shriek, “Look out.”
Lola had used my move to get next to Elric, and she had a taser out.
