by Jamie Hawke
“I’ll just leave you with that thought,” she said, grinning as she turned to find her clothes. My stomach rumbled, so I turned to follow Charm’s lead and find myself a snack.
22
We were with the rest, getting briefed on the battle strategy when I started to realize that my powers were likely changed again based on recent sexual encounters. When I pulled up my screen, it was confirmed. With all of the recent fighting, I was now level twenty-seven! I couldn’t believe it. Basically, I was a badass, and had skill points to use.
I had skill trees from Charm, Shimmer, and Twitch active, and they overlapped and influenced each other in strange ways. For a moment I considered upgrading and making myself as badass as I could be, but then I realized that I could put that off until tomorrow. We’d fight our fight, then be on our way to find my dad and the others. What better time to upgrade? I also wanted to get in there and play around with all the Twitch-related skills I’d upgraded, see which were affected by the other ladies’ powers and how, but I was exhausted. All for another day.
The chieftains dismissed the groups and I started toward our newly designated ship with my team, Shimmer, Renowt, and Wendlor included. The latter two would help us locate the pyramids and fix the power grab situation. We were to face the first wave, then use the end of the chaos as a screen for our departure—try to get out of there unnoticed, so that Ranger wouldn’t know we were after his precious pyramids.
“Oh, the sculptor guy said to give you this,” Renowt said, noticing me as I walked up behind him. He pulled something from his jacket pocket and handed it over. “Said it was to help keep your eye on the prize. And to remember whose shoes you’re filling.”
I took it and stared, amazed at the detail. In my hands was a carving the size of a coffee mug that depicted what I knew right away were the Elders of the Citadel. They were in a circle, a strange object like a gemstone in their midst.
“Thank you,” I said, clutching it delicately in case it could break.
Charm lingered back, waiting for me and eyed my new toy with awe. She took my arm.
“I still can’t believe you got to hang out with my brother and I didn’t,” I said.
“But at least you got to see him,” she replied. “He’s really a nice guy. Very manly.”
“Your point?”
She glanced up at me and grinned. “Oh, don’t worry. I got the right brother for me, no doubt.”
“I wasn’t worried.” Maybe a little, but I wasn’t going to tell her that.
Her knowing smile showed I wasn’t doing a good job of hiding anything, so I said, “Can you blame me? He was the jock, the hero… the ladies man. Always has been. You and me, we’re special, I think, so when I found out he was the one to rescue you—”
Her finger went to my mouth. “Ah, but it was me rescuing you, don’t forget.”
“Rescuing him, yeah.”
“That, and the fact that nobody could ever come between us,” she said and pulled me in for a brief kiss. “You’re mine, Chad, Mr. Breaker—superhero extraordinaire! All the man I could ever want.”
“Now you’re patronizing me,” I said with a laugh. “But I’ll take it.” After a few more steps, I said, “Did I ever tell you what kept me going? In all the fights and everything, all the moments I thought death was calling my name?”
She looked at me with her wide, green eyes and shook her head.
“You in a sexy red dress,” I said, seeing it now as I ran a hand through her hair, staring into her eyes. “I kept imagining how elegant you’d look, and how if I let myself die I’d never see you in that dress.”
Her face scrunched up and I thought she was about to burst out laughing, but then there was a hint of a tear. She quickly wiped it away.
“When you find that dress, let me know,” she said. “I’d love to wear it for you.”
I took her arm again and strutted forward, feeling like I could take on the entire universe with my team reunited.
We reached the new ship to find Gale and Twitch checking it over. Shimmer stood nearby, staring out at the horizon, a worried look on her face.
“They won’t stand a chance,” I said, stopping at the ramp. When she turned, I waved her over.
“You do realize we’re talking about all the supers and others who joined the Nihilists, and that was a lot,” she said as she joined us. “Plus any Nihilists that were on-planet when we returned.”
“So what you’re saying is that it’ll be fun?”
A hint of a smile showed.
“Come on,” Charm said, standing between us and wrapping her other arm in Shimmer’s. “Have you had much of a chance to meet the other gals?”
“Only briefly… in conversation.” Shimmer blushed, looking away. “Not like the three of us.”
Charm laughed. “Soon enough, girl. Soon enough.”
Twitch smiled and motioned me over to where she stood checking screens, looking over the ship. “Can I borrow him?”
“Just don’t wear him out,” Charm said with a wink, and she and Shimmer went to see if Gale needed help.
“I’m just checking to see if there are any weak points in the ship,” Twitch explained once I was at her side. “Seeing where I can provide defenses without blocking the natural shields and weapons—don’t want a repeat of what happened with the last ship.”
“Smart thinking.”
“Can you try your troubleshooter skill on it? Just to make sure.”
I agreed, and we found a few areas that needed work, so the two of us set about making adjustments to the ship’s code. She had to guide me, but I was finally starting to understand some of the symbols and how it all worked. Most of it she did though because the illusion power was still active. She was worried I’d make an adjustment only to find out it wasn’t real, and I still wasn’t completely sure how it all worked, so had no problem watching her in her zone.
“So, what happens after all of this?” I asked when she’d finished. “We defend this place, find the Tier Ones, and then let them loose so we can retire to the Citadel?”
Twitch shook her head. “Not even close. Enemy strongholds are going to be weak, less defended than normal. We broke out of a ship full of supervillains, right? We destroyed it. Well, now we need to find others like it, ships and fortresses and whatever else they’re going to use against us in this war, and we need to take them down.”
I processed this, realizing I was basically becoming an intergalactic assassin. First, rescue my dad, then go ninja on the enemy’s asses. That sounded fucking awesome.
“What are we waiting for?” I asked, and she smiled as she wrapped her arms around me.
A glance back showed the other three in conversation, laughing, while Wendlor and Renowt caught up with each other, sharing old stories. I still wasn’t sure how far we could trust those two, but was willing to give them a shot. As long as they didn’t’ try to hit on my ladies!
“We don’t have to worry about them,” Twitch said, and I wondered in what way she meant. But then she squeezed me, and I saw her staring at the carving of the elders, eyes full of emotion. A bit of pride, a lot of worry.
“You’ll really take us with you when you go?” she asked.
“To infinity,” I said, and was about to add the rest of the saying, but she leaned her head on my chest and held me, tight, so I figured the moment was best not interrupted. Together we stared at the image of the Elders, focused on those great beings who had sacrificed themselves for all of us, beings whose shoes I was expected to fill.
I should have been scared or intimidated.
More than anything, though, I felt ready.
Author Ramblings
Thank you for continuing on with Supers: Ex Heroes 2! As you’ve now seen, I’m having fun with this world and very much tying it in with Supers: Ex Gods. The brother showed up here, and we saw why Charm wasn’t in the whole book – you can assume that she’ll appear in Supers: Ex Gods 2, and you’d likely be correct. Don’t worry!
She’s not going to sleep with the brother. Spoiler, I know, but I just want to make that clear up front, because I think that would ruin what’s going on with the group and with the story. It would also mess up some of the ‘rules’ of the harem genre, though I’ve been told I kind of already do that with the girls messing around with each other here and there.
If you like these books, you’ll have noticed they are somewhat in the Planet Kill universe. Their real world Earth is the universe where Planet Kill takes place. Since book two in that series just launched, you might want to check it out. It’s going to stop there, probably, but set it up to where we could take each character to do spinoffs, so there might be a book or series focusing on Pierce (harem) and another on Letha (reverse harem). In time.
I have some cool news outside of all this too. Many of you know that I also write as Justin Sloan. Well, I have two exciting books coming as Justin soon. The first is Star Forged, and is a more serious space opera with superheroes book, focused on superpowers that are related to dragon-shifting. Yeah, you heard that right! If it sounds fun, I hope you check it out. The difference is that author name doesn’t allow for true dirtiness in the books, so tends to have situations that fade to black. There is also a bit of a harem situation that forms in one of the three point of views the story is told in, but I’m not going to be promoting it as harem. Just wanted you all to know it’s going to be there (more so in book two). Justin is also doing a very fun gamelit book, but more on that when it comes closer to release.
For now, if you’ve enjoyed these books, please remember to leave reviews and join in the conversations on Facebook. Don’t miss out on anything either, by being sure to join the newsletter. Thank you!
Justin
Sample: Planet Kill
Letha charged through the thick canopy of blue leaves, cutting through vibrant orange and red flowers without a second thought given to their beauty. Her goal at the moment was simple—kill.
It hadn’t always been this way. In fact, before she had taken on the call sign of “Letha,” she was pretty sure she’d been a nice girl, although those days were hard to remember. Living on Planet Kill, no, surviving, worked best when the past was forgotten as often as possible.
She leaped over a slab of rock that stuck out from the hillside. Darting around the next clump of trees, her eyes flitted over the shadows, always aware, always ready for an ambush. Most of all, her heart didn’t pound from fright, but with the excitement of the kill.
To be fair, this son of a bitch had taken out one of her generals. She usually didn’t get her hands dirty, but when the cameras were watching and someone made a move on one of her closest few, her reputation was on the line. She stepped up to dole out justice personally.
Justice.
The word almost made her laugh. It almost made her want to vomit. Bile and hatred rose up in her at the thought of that word. Justice hadn’t brought her to Planet Kill, and it certainly hadn’t saved her family the day she was taken against her will.
So now? Well, now… fuck ‘em.
She would deliver her own brand of justice in this hellhole, earn her way to the top, and then show the universe what she was capable of. One day, she would ascend to Paradise Planet Fourteen, where she’d have her revenge.
All she needed was to meet the final requirements of fifty thousand credits, a minimum level of twenty five, and a user rating of seven or above out of ten. She had nearly met the level requirement and didn’t have to worry so much about user rating, but that amount of credits? It wouldn’t be easy.
Right now, she needed to remain focused on the task at hand. All of that would come. Pulling her shocker out—a metallic glove that flowed with electricity when she made a fist—she ducked under a leafy branch and emerged into a clearing. There she found the man.
She realized with a laugh that he thought he could surprise her as he lunged forward with his nail-covered cricket bat.
A simple sidestep and she had dodged the strike. Next, she delivered a roundhouse kick to his midsection and then came down hard with her left fist. She liked to save the shocker for the follow-up strike, but this time the bastard actually caught her off-guard. He came back from her blow with a wild swing of the bat, and it nearly took her head off. One of the nails passed only inches from her eyeball.
Prick.
She came in hard, pounding away at him with the shocker. Each punch sent him into another spasm, electricity racking his body until he was literally smoking.
This guy was humongous, and his determination nothing to laugh at. “Fuck you,” he muttered, then glared up at her. “You can’t keep your hold on the rock.”
He was right. “The rock” referred to her upgrade station, positioned at a high point above a rocky hill near her base—hence the name. But a new batch of fighters would be arriving soon. Recruits, as she liked to think of them, because each batch brought the potential for more soldiers. Sure, some of them would be lone wolves, here for the enjoyment of the kill. Many would be here for glory, riches, and a higher place in society… But others would be like she had been when she first arrived—scared, hopeless, looking for any way to survive.
Luckily for her, a woman had taken Letha under her wing and taught her everything she knew about fighting and managing this place. When Mantis had retired, she had shared her real name with Letha—Annabel Kawanda—and told her to look her up on the outside. Mantis had then, for the only time in their two years together, laid her back, spread the younger woman’s legs, and taught her what it truly meant to find bliss at the flick of a tongue. Letha still shivered when she remembered the other woman’s expertise.
But now Mantis was gone, given a high place in society for her great success on Planet Kill, and Letha was in charge.
If she played her cards right, she would keep her hold on the rock. She had done so for years. She would replace the soldiers she had lost and, one day, leave this godforsaken planet behind.
“Let this be a message to my enemies and allies,” Letha said, taking on an overly dramatic tone for the viewers. “Nobody fucks with me or my army!” She stepped forward and clocked him good with the shocker again.
When he rolled over, pulling something from his boot, she cursed herself for being overconfident. A shot rang out and she fell back, crawling away as he let loose the second shot in his cock blaster—so named because it was a small gun with only two rounds.
The second hit her in the shoulder and hurt like hell, but didn’t penetrate her body armor. Damn, she was glad she had upgraded with her latest round of purchases. If not for the black market, she’d be dead. Now that he’d shot his wad, she wasn’t holding back.
His eyes went wide as she lunged, slamming him in the nuts with the shocker. She hit him so hard that he slid an inch across the jungle floor, then he went into a new round of spasms as the electricity worked its magic.
Not waiting to give him another chance, she pulled her short sword from her side and went to work on him, ending the man’s life once and for all.
She knew the cameras were on her, so it was time to earn herself some love—in more ways than one. Not that she needed the extra loot, but fuck it, she loved raising the morale of her generals.
Walking toward her base, an area well within the play zone, she stood and pulled the man’s head from the sack at her side. Lifting it high into the air, she faced the lake and watched as fireworks burst forth from the other side. The image of this same man appeared in the holographic display that lit up as bursts of water shot up and lights hit the mist. It was all so glorious, a moment reminiscent of the movies she’d seen of Las Vegas from centuries ago. The water show came to an end and was followed by a victory announcement, with her image, standing there, holding that head.
Time for her signature move. She held the head up, pressed her lips to the blood-smeared forehead, and then tossed the head down into the lake.
Letha could almost hear the cheers from all of the viewers across the galaxy. To them, s
he appeared ruthless, void of emotion; but it wasn’t true. Each action was made with a heavy heart, out of necessity. They had made her into this, so she wore her mask proudly.
But the kiss wasn’t a sign of disrespect or of the crazed killer she imagined everyone took her to be, it was her way of apologizing to the universe. Taking a life was never easy, even when it was necessary. Even when the life belonged to a complete scum-sucking asshole like this guy. And when she tossed the head into the lake, it was her way of giving her victim a proper burial.
That, and giving the finger to her opponents, some of whom were still stupid enough to bathe and drink from that lake.
As the display hovering nearby revealed her new experience points, Letha turned and made the long trudge back to her generals. The system allowed her to pull up a display from her fortress and select which new loot she would take for her men.
Three of them waited at the next ridge over, where they had been ordered to wait and observe. Had she been in any real trouble, they would have come, even though she had ordered them not to. It was her fight. Her place to deliver the necessary justice.
Soon they were all entering the fortress together—an encampment of rocks and mud, built before her time by past participants of the games. While it certainly wasn’t made of a metal alloy like the carrier transport she’d arrived on five years prior, it was about as secure of a location as was managed on this planet.
Five years, she thought, admiring the trophies displayed on her walls—various weapons that ranged from double-sided crescent blades, bows and arrows, to even a few plasma blasters.
It was enough to get her blood moving, to give her that tingling she so often craved but lately, had begun to struggle to find.
