by Gentry Race
The group was baffled, but I knew what she was referring to. Allegory of the Cave, or Plato’s Cave, was a concept that a group of people who lived chained to the wall of a cave all their lives faced a blank wall. The people watched shadows projected on the wall from objects passing in front of a fire behind them, and mistook the shadows they saw as reality.
“Stunning,” I said sarcastically, trying to not deliver a fully formed complement her. “You must be proud.”
“What is this all for?” Hera asked.
“They are the supervillainesses Lazarus infected in the SubSpace,” Tessa said coyly. “With some time in my cave, I have learned to control them. And am now preparing them.”
“Preparing them for what?” I asked.
“Tonight, we enter the real world.” She twisted a smile and raised her perfectly arched eyebrow.
I looked down at the thousand infected villainesses. Each one had a sickening infectious quality about them. Some had a sexy appeal while others had orc-like qualities. The presence of the leathery white infection in all of them was undeniable. The horror they could cause and spread on mankind would be endless. If there was ever a chance of stopping Tessa, it would be here and now.
“Are you crazy?” Ari hissed out. “He’s coming for you.”
“And you just set Lazarus up with the perfect mother lode,” I said.
She smiled, looking back at the vileness below without a care in the world.
“He won’t be able to find my NaN construct,” she said.
“My Lady, he has a cipher,” Slipstream said, unholstering her whips. “And a villainess with the power to spread his virus to you through sound waves.”
“Good,” Tessa said. “Let him come. He has done his job.”
“ ‘Done his job’?” Hera asked aloud.
I could hear Aeropounder pop her spike from her hammer ready to impale. Slipstream already had her whips in her hand, and she and Aero both turned around to face Hera, Blitzkrieg, Aulani, Ari and I.
Their faces were blanketed with shit-eating grins.
“Aero, Slip,” Aulani called out. “What are you doing? Get back in line.”
“No more orders from a hero like you,” Slipstream said. “The Acolytes follow Tessa.”
Blitzkrieg placed her hand on Aulani’s shoulder, reinforcing her alliance with her.
“Yes,” Tessa agreed, extending a set of long nails as sharp as talons. “Looks like your harem of heroes was able to cure one of my best.”
She looked to Aulani in disappointment. “It’s a shame, Aulani. You could have been one of the worst.”
Aulani’s face was stiff in shock. We were being betrayed — by how much, I didn’t know, but like an any good villainess, Tessa liked to hear herself talk, so we would soon find out.
“You see, Mantium,” Tessa said, strutting across the balcony. “I created Lazarus. He was originally my courier of sorts, bringing me the newest infected girls from brothels around the country, but that all changed when I set him free. He was an amalgamation of the best, most wretched parts of me and the balance of his father.”
“And who is that?” I asked.
“You really can’t tell?” Tessa asked, her face eking the slightest bit of pity. “You… are the father.”
“Bullshit!” Hera yelled out.
“Why do you think he is as strong as Michael and yet suffers from his laser blasts?” Tessa asked. “You don’t think I was able to obtain samples? I mean, you were leaving your spunk all around San Diego during the convention. Does…Layboy Technologies ring a bell?”
The words hit me like a wrecking ball. She was right. I had made quite the ‘deposit’ during one of their PR events showcasing the new ARMOR 2.0, which allowed SubSpace entities to be projected into the real world.
“You are insane,” I said.
“Not as insane as how I set him free,” Tessa said. “You see, during his outings for me, he met a wonderful woman — a villianess. They had relations and seemed to have spawned something new. A tainted version of the super virus.”
“The Necrovirus,” I said.
“Precisely,” Tessa said. “Able to infect supervillainesses and not superheroes. I saw this as the perfect solution to getting you all here and then ending your harem of heroes. I just needed the catalyst.”
My heart was beating in my throat, waiting for her answer.
“Catalyst?” Hera asked.
“I burned his lover alive at the stake in front of him,” Tessa said plainly.
“You are fucking insane,” Ari hissed from behind Blitzkrieg.
“You are destroying us,” Aulani said, her tone stronger. “We are your children.”
“You aren’t anymore!” Tessa barked at Aulani and then continued, walking to a large lever attached to the wall. “It wasn’t long after he was cast out that we started seeing him visit the brothels again. He was looking for someone — his lover’s sister.”
“Sister?” Hera asked.
“Nyx,” Tessa said.
I manifested the organic metal skin over my body. The girls around me stood back, admiring the strength I exuded. Ari hissed, while Blitzkrieg squatted like an Olympic weightlifter, ready to bear a load. Aulani held a guarded stance next to Hera.
“I’ve had enough of this, Tessa,” I yelled out. “You are the pit of everything evil. I will end you once and for all.”
“Thank you for brash compliment,” Tessa said, throwing off her robe. Her tight body shone in the light of the small burning sun behind her.
Slipstream snapped her whips, keeping us at bay. Aeropounder made a massive swing outward. Blitzkrieg jumped in front of us, catching the massive hammer mid-blow, Aeropounder pushed harder, digging Blitzkrieg’s feet hard into the stone. Ari jumped to her side, hissing and helping her push the hammer down.
Aulani ran at Slipstream with a ball of purple energy in her palm, but Slip cracked her two whips, one after the other. Hera bolted forward faster than any eye could see and clocked her across the jaw. As Slipstream fell, I could see Tessa running toward the large lever.
She stood with her hand on the lever, gracefully watching as I planted my hardened metal fist in Aeropounder’s face. I turned to Slipstream next, but she didn’t get up.
And then I heard the grumbling and gargling of a thousand villainesses.
I spared a brief glance over the ledge and I saw them swimming through the thick quicksand like crazed crack addicts. Some were drowning to their deaths as they climbed over each other like rats on a sinking ship.
She was bringing them to us.
I charged my laser eyes with the hate I felt inside, the heat wafting from them in the cold air of the stone dungeon. The wave of villainesses could be seen piling up. I particularly noticed the vile ones, with their sunken cheeks and patches of leathery white. One controlled fire in her hand, while another grew icicle balls from her palms. Both were advancing. The room was getting colder by the moment.
I punched a hole into the crowd with my hot laser. Limbs, torsos and heads were melted in the heat of my energy blasts, but it wasn’t enough. The dead fell only to be trampled by the persistent evil behind them.
Hera darted fast along the next wave, effectively clocking the faces of at least ten villainesses. A thin villainess rolled out just after Hera, balling her hands into fists and putting them in the air. Short, bony spikes jutted out along her forearms. She looked like a human porcupine. She paused for a second, and for that moment, I thought I saw fear in her eyes.
SNIKT!
Bony projectiles shot from her skin in all directions. The villainess didn’t seem to care who she hit, as a wave of her counterparts dropped to the ground.
That was the difference between these necrotized fucks and us. These infected crackheads didn’t care who they killed, as long as they killed.
I held my ground, feeling the hardened spires tickle my skin. Aulani was next to me. Her eyes were closed, but she was unharmed, the quills bouncing off her golden
skin. She shot a bolt of fiery purple energy at the bony mistress.
The villainess took the hit hard and fell back, landing on two more villainesses who were piling in. The bony girl immediately penetrated their bodies.
Ari was quick to roll out in front and sweep the legs of the next three attackers with his tail. He punched out the first one, then got up and pounced on the next, finally landing on the last one and hissing violently in her face. He bit down on the clown-looking villainess, and a gut-wrenching pop could be heard.
Aeropounder wrestled with Blitzkrieg. Both were at grips trying to win over the assaulting hammer. Aero edged her weight on the weapon and to the ground, methodically sweeping it under Blitzkrieg’s right leg and pulling it up with force. Blitz fell hard. Just as she opened her eyes, she saw Aeropounder bringing up her godly-sized spiked hammer.
“You always were the weakest of us,” Aeropounder told Blitzkrieg, slamming down her hammer.
Hera bolted over, catching the hammer blow and matching Aeropounder’s strength. Ari was distracted by the sight of his crush in danger and was toppled by two more villainesses. I sprang to his aid, slamming my fists hard into their faces one after another. The last proved to be made of something softer than the first as my fist penetrated out the back of her head. Her punched out skull clung to my arm like a rag doll as I wiped her cleanly off.
Ari reared on his reptilian back legs and sprang for Aeropounder.
CRACK!
The snap of Slipstream’s whip caught Ari’s back, and he fell to the ground. Hera held the force from Aero’s hammer, but was losing momentum. Aulani jumped in her former teammate’s path and caught the whip with her metal arm. She winced from the electricity pulsing through the whip and into her body. This allowed Ari just enough time to dive at Aeropounder, punching square in the forehead. He nearly snapped her thick neck from the force. She fell back, and Hera caved to her knees, relieved of the pressure.
Blitzkrieg was on her feet now, watching Ari wrestle with Aeropunder. Aeropounder threw Ari, and Blitzkrieg launched at her neck, grabbing it and pulling her weight down to the ground. Aeropounder struggled, gasping for air. Blitzkrieg dug her tusks into the woman’s back. Aeropounder cried out in pain, her movements slowing as she gasped. It wasn’t till Aeropounder was out cold that she let go.
BOOM!
We snapped our head in the direction of the bursting noise. On the other side of the archway, where there had been villainesses piling up, there was now a giant mass blocking the way. I thought I could make out metal paneling moving. And then whatever it was kicked its way in.
BOOM!
It was a goddamn foot the size of the hallway. I watched it disappear and then come crashing down through the thick, stone wall. Tumbling stone and debris fell on unsuspecting villainesses, killing them instantly. As the massive creature broke through. Crowned like the devil himself, a red and black skinned beast outfitted with mechanical contraptions on each of its hands came plowing in.
The contraptions were like industrial scoopers, with grinding wheels within forearm of the beast. They spun furiously with an ear-splitting sound. The creature lowered itself to the ground and began chaotically scooping up any person or thing in its path. I couldn’t make out a face, only what looked like a scabbed over cocoon. As it lifted its arm up, it shook the entrapped bodies and rock violently grinding them together and spewing them out from the back of its elbow.
“What the fuck is that?” Hera yelled out.
“We gotta get out of here,” Ari hissed.
I stopped, carefully looking at the machine. The job looked like a hodgepodge of mechanics. My skin was harder than that thing. I thought I could take it on.
I felt Aulani next to me.
“You thinking what I’m thinking?” she asked.
“You get the left,” I said. “Blitz, Hera! We need a boost.”
Blitzkrieg and Ari ran up from behind.
“Are you guys fucking crazy?” Ari asked.
“Crazy is what we need right now,” I said. “Hera, you launch Aulani toward the left hand, and Blitzkrieg, send me to the right.”
Blitzkrieg twisted a tusked smile and grabbed me by my neck and the back of my waistline, muttering, “With pleasure.”
Hera squatted down, interlocked her fingers, and had Aulani take a step into them. The creature was just about finished with its last grind and was readying to lower the flesh-eating devices to the ground again.
I waited, watching for the right time. I eyed Aulani. She looked ready to go and dead set on mangling the gears with her hardened skin.
“Now!” I yelled.
We were thrown into the air.
Aulani flew faster, hitting the beast’s contraption of a fist first. The gears came to a halt, and smoke shot from the back of the elbow, where ground flesh and rock was pouring out.
I was miliseconds away.
Sharp, spinning gears spun on different axes, ready to mangle whatever they came in contact with. I extended my metal arms and closed my eyes.
BOOM!
12
Transpiring Events
“You okay, Michael?” a familiar voice asked.
I saw nothing. Blackness filled every aspect of what I was capable of seeing. I could feel my body. My legs and my arms were there, and I could move them. However, my head was propped in such a way that I could only look forward.
“Michael, are you there?” The voice came again, distinctly male and deep in tone.
“I am here,” I said, my throat sticky and dry. “Who are you?”
“Michael, it’s me…” the voice said. “Your brother James.”
My vision was slowly returning to normal. I was able to make out a stone room. Yellow fluorescent light bulbs hung overhead, and a soothing argyle pattern was lazily pasted on the walls. There were medical charts and information panels showcasing the latest in supervirus infection. I tried to move, but my hands were constrained.
I felt the cool shadow of a person step over me. The large silhouette was shaped like a male with shaggy hair. As it leaned in closer, I could smell the familiar cheap aftershave my mother used to buy for my brother and me.
“James?” I asked hesitantly.
“Right on, buddy,” he said.
My eyes were fully adjusted to the light, and I could see my big brother in the flesh. He hadn’t aged a day since the car accident.
The accident.
I remembered. The trial, and how the man who killed James had walked. And then I remembered Tessa admitting to causing the accident.
“James,” I said. “You are dead.”
“Don’t be silly, Sport,” he said, using the term of endearment that only he called me. “I’m right here.”
“But the accident,” I said. “You didn’t make it.”
“Yeah,” he said, looking to something across the way. “About that…”
About what?
There was no explanation he could give that would make sense. I had seen James’ dead corpse in the morgue. I was the one that had identified his body. And now he was here? As a fucking ghost, dressed in…
I looked at what he was wearing, and the sight of the nurse’s outfit nearly sent me into shrieks.
What the fuck? I must be dreaming.
“You see, Michael,” he said, adjusting his skirt. “This is aaaaall part of the plan.”
THUMP!
James powered his fist into my testicles. Pain shot up into my abdomen like thunderous quakes were attacking my balls. Grimacing in pain, I could only watch him laugh. Then he gave me a look only one person could.
Tessa.
“What did you do with my brother,” I growled.
Knowing the jig was up, “James” turned his head upward and pulled at something from the base of his neck. Under what looked like a fleshy mask, the undying beauty of the most evil person graced my vision.
Tessa smacked her lips and fixed her hair as it fell from inside the mask. Only she would play such a sic
k joke on me.
“Hi,” she said, her voice crawling out of her mouth like the snake she was.
I scrambled to wrap my hands around her thin neck, but the shackles were too strong. Then I tried to turn my head, but couldn’t.
“We got a live one here,” Tessa said, pulling her hair pack into a golden ponytail.
“Where are Hera and Aulani?” I demanded.
“Oh, they’re safe… for now,” she said. “That was a nice little move you and your new girlfriend pulled. My mincing machine was totally destroyed.”
I wanted to rip her heart out. Blast my energy beams into face for the second time. I’d fallen for her trap once more. She’d led me here twice, and now I was hers for the taking. One thing eased my mind. She could only infect women.
What the hell does she want with me?
“Why are you doing this?” I asked, trying to pry my head from the straps that locked it down.
“Isn’t it obvious, Michael?” she said, motioning for another figure to come over. “You are my Moby Dick. The one that got away. This was all for you… always.”
“Should I fucking feel flattered?” I screamed at her.
Another shadow came to tower over me. I recognized the wiry hair and smaller features. Slipstream had the nastiest smile wiped across her face as she pulled back her hair, revealing the device in her part.
Jesus fucking Christ. Right then I knew what they were going to do. Back in the BoNaNzai, when they’d scrambled my avatar into a lady man.
Holy fuck. This was their plan all along.
“So, this was it,” I said. “Your master plan. Turn me into a woman and then infect me?”
“Hey, a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do,” Tessa said, nodding for Slipstream to start the process.
“But what about Lazarus?” I asked. “You made him for all this?”
“Lazarus was simply the catalyst to get you here,” she said, pulling a glass tube from under the gurney. “And it worked.”
I recognized that device from the convention. She’d tried to use it on me in front of thousands of people. A fucking penis pump.
I tried to break the restraints holding me down, but to no avail. Slipstream reached over and jammed a red gag ball into my mouth, strapping it around my head. She then plugged some of her electrode strands of hair onto my temples that connected to her bisecting scrambler. She twisted a smile as she leaned back, sending my body into shock.
