Supers - Ex Heroes 4 Read online

  “I’ll try to make sure that doesn’t happen, Aegriss.” I stepped up next to her, screen up and monitoring her coding with my troubleshooter and other screens like Twitch’s. It would’ve been nice to have brought her along for this moment, but she’d taught me enough to have a basic idea.

  “Attacks coming in strong,” Aegriss said. “Sectors five, seven… and ten.” As she spoke, maps appeared on the screen nearby, showing the areas. “Muerta has brought a force. Nihilist ships.”

  “Damn,” I said, hoping it wouldn’t have come to that yet, but now understanding why she’d been delayed in her arrival as well.

  Aegriss suddenly lurched, and I saw why. Messing with the code, I countered it and started seeing a digital battle unfold on my screen. The troubleshooter skill allowed me to view it differently, almost like in all those hack movies that didn’t know a damn thing about computers. Not like I did either, but I knew at least enough to know they were all bullshit. Still, as the system tried to retake its android, I was able to counter them with three-dimensional images of code-like buildings and bursts of light that zipped across my screens.

  Talk about a strange experience.

  It hit me that I had been able to win her in the first place, and stay alive during the strange process of what I’d done, with the help of Heavenly Light. What would Heavenly Vengeance do in this situation?

  I hadn’t gotten this far without a little bit of risk-taking. When the pattern started to make sense and I saw the next attack coming, with Charm all the while shouting for me to hurry, I made my move. The Heavenly Vengeance skill shot through me into the screens, dark code going to Aegriss and then shooting out into the surrounding walls. If those Hollywood hacks put that in a movie, they’d be laughed out of town, I chuckled quietly to myself.

  Seeing what was happening, though, took my breath away.

  The skill seemed to be one that drained something from my enemy and brought it back to me, but since I had used it through Aegriss and in a technical way, all manner of strange code was now flooding back into her. It wasn’t just healing as had been with Redemption, but power!

  It increased in speed. Her eyes were now glowing, then her skin too. She let out a shriek as it all engulfed her in a brilliant flood of light… and then was gone, leaving a glow on her that pulsated, then moved into her and stopped: all but her eyes.

  When she looked back up at us, her eyes were gold, full of confidence.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  She grinned. “Breaker, I could kiss you.”

  “What, why?”

  Charm laughed. “Don’t ask why. Go for it!”

  Aegriss walked over to me, and did just that. Her lips felt every bit as real as any of the other ladies on my team, her passion burning just as much. When she released me, she went to Charm and did the same.

  “Fuck, I’ve been wanting to do that,” Aegriss said.

  “What changed?” Charm asked, looking stunned but pleased.

  “I believe Breaker has upgraded me. Basically, he took me from normal to god mode.” Aegriss reached out and opened her hand, the far doors flinging open on command. She laughed. “This is going to be fun.”

  “And the others?” I asked.

  “Right.” She glanced back, an eye twitching. “Done. The security is down for them to get in here, but we really should be moving if we hope to intercept Muerta before she kills everyone on this station.”

  “They’ll catch up,” Charm agreed, then added, “Aegriss, can you get them a map? To Twitch, I mean.”

  “I will. Oh, and now that I have control…” She grinned and seductively motioned for me to come close.

  “Ah, yes?” I stepped close. Then closer still.

  When I was a foot away, she leaned in and said, “Anything you’d like to announce to Muerta? The men and women on this station? Head of Orion Corp herself?”

  “You can do that?”

  “It would seem so.”

  I nodded, and when she nodded in return, I spoke. “People of Orion Corp, your day has come to an end. There is a deadly force here that your leaders thought they could use—but has now been turned against them. Join us in fighting back the one called Muerta and her… accomplice, Plague. They’ve brought an alien force to your doorstep, one you must resist. When it’s over, your leadership must resign and cease all nefarious activity.”

  I took a breath, then added, “And Muerta, we’re coming for you.”

  “Fun,” Charm said. “Not dark and depressing at all.”

  “Oh, was it supposed to be cheerful?” I laughed. “How about, ‘Hey Muerta, we look forward to tearing your spine out of your back and then plucking out your eyeballs and—”

  There was a loud screeching sound, followed by static, then silence again.

  “Don’t tell me…” I turned to Aegriss.

  “You didn’t exactly tell me to stop with the message,” Aegriss pointed out.

  “It was implied.” I turned to Charm. “Right? You got the implication, right?”

  “Shit.” Charm shook her head, then shrugged. “I mean, I guess, but will that matter to them? You kind of sound like a crazy person now.”

  “Me?” I scoffed, then shook my head. “Whatever, let’s go find Muerta and kick her ass.”

  “Now we’re talking.” Charm followed me closely.

  We charged out to the next hall, my mini-map up so we could see where we were heading. All of the details were filled in now, thanks to Aegriss. I couldn’t wait to find out more about this ‘god mode’ she was supposedly in. The opportunity to use my Heavenly Vengeance skill on actual people also excited me,

  The next hall was empty. Alarms blared and the floor shook. We charged through, bursting into a room that was adjacent to the one being attacked and found two teams of Orion Corp employees facing the other way, with energy shields in place as the far doors shook and smoke seeped through from whatever fighting was going on out there.

  Just then, the rest of our team came through the comms, causing me to jump as Twitch said, “We’re in, I see you on the map. Be there in two.”

  One of the employees turned to us, took a step closer to the wall, then froze. This was it, decision time.

  “If you can avoid it, no hurting them.” I made sure that went out over the comms, too. “We’re going after the leadership, taking off the head. The body isn’t necessarily responsible.”

  “That’s a shitty metaphor,” Charm scowled.

  I shrugged. “You get the point.”

  “He’s right,” Twitch chimed in. “Muerta is our main target, then taking this place out of operation.”

  “Time to really don that superhero crown then, huh?” Charm said with a mock-pout. “I did so enjoy straddling the line between hero and villain.”

  “You were never anywhere close to the villain side,” I shot back, sure of it. More employees were starting to look at us now as the chaos on the other side of the doors intensified.

  “You don’t know my past,” Charm hissed, but was alert, waiting.

  “None of that matters. It’s about what’s next. And here’s what’s next for me.”

  Taking a step forward, I held up my hands, my blaster holstered. “There’s an enemy on the other side of those walls, and we’re not on their side. We’re here to fight them off, to stop them from killing every one of you.”

  Another explosion, and one of them stood, pointing at the doors. “Who the fuck are you then, our guardian angels?”

  I laughed. “On the contrary. We have every intention of halting Orion Corp in their tracks. It’s likely that many of you don’t know just what they’ve been up to, the horrors they’ve been committing, but that all stops right here, right now. So here’s our deal—we help you live through today. You walk off, turn away while we do what must be done regarding senior management and ensuring this complex is out of commission… and you live to see tomorrow.”

  The door opened behind us, Twitch and the others entering. Audibl
e gasps came from the Orion Corp employees at the sight.

  “And they’re with us,” I said. “So the question is… what will you do?”

  The far door was hit by a blast, knocking it out partially, and at this one of the employees raised his gun our way, shouting, “Fuck this!”

  He was dead before his finger could find the trigger, thanks to a shot from Ezra. I couldn’t believe he’d done that with his pistol from that range, especially when the man fell and I saw the shot went clean through the middle of his forehead. Must’ve been some aspect of the man’s powers.

  Of those that remained, some glanced back and forth then ran for it, while three stood firm, ready to take us on. But suddenly they were under attack from both sides as the enemy force smashed through the wall, attacking them from the rear.

  “They’ve broken through in at least one other spot!” Twitch shouted as she attempted to create new walls where the old one had stood. That only worked temporarily. A dark figure in a hood was apparently able to move through gaps, as long as there was a partial opening to bypass. It was reforming on our side, then somehow pulling others through.

  Bullets weren’t doing shit against it.

  “We need to find Muerta, and somehow get her to pull back.” I stared at the strange figure. “I’m not interested in facing that thing.”

  “Agreed,” Twitch said, and just like that, we were off. It wasn’t that we didn’t think we could take it, it was just that we didn’t have the time to spare. With powers like that, it was bound to be a time suck. And since it was an unknown, it could end up causing us to lose a teammate or two.

  Since we at least knew what we were dealing with where Muerta was concerned, and since this thing wasn’t necessarily standing in the way of us stopping her, we figured that was the best path to take.

  Let the Orion Corp employees distract it while we made a run to try and find Muerta, and hope there was a way to get rid of her first. At least then we’d be able to jump ship if necessary, or face that thing without having to worry about that she-devil coming in and hitting us from behind.

  As we ran, Twitch glanced over at me and Aegriss. “How much of this place do we have control over?”

  “All of it,” Aegriss replied. “At least for now. I feel them trying to reconnect, to get back in and push me out, but for now we’re golden.”

  “Can you get us stats on employees, or bodies? I want to see where everyone is.”

  “Cameras as well as heat signatures,” Aegriss grinned, then made a swiping motion toward Twitch, who pulled up her mini-map to show the station’s maps along with the blips showing where everyone was now.

  We hurried through several halls before stopping at a place where the path divided into two. We took the route that would lead to the other two areas under attack, being anxious not to stray too far from the site of the first attack in case that’s where Muerta turned up.

  “What’re we doing?” Andromida asked, coming up while the other teams took up the rear and forward defenses, watching for trouble.

  “I have her.” Twitch pulled up a mini-map. “Here, watch…”

  Sure enough, the blips now being tracked were disappearing in large sections, simply dropping dead. Nihilists could be badass, and maybe they’d brought some sort of monster with them, but it stunk highly of the work of either Muerta or Plague.

  “Set it as the target.” I pulled up my mini-map to ensure it was there, in case we got separated. Once confirmed, we were up and charging.

  The first obstacle we came to was a room with alarms blaring and robotic security measures grinding into place. Gas started seeping in, as the floor and ceiling of the passages started to close in on us, attempting to crush us at the same time that a laser grid hit, preparing to fry us. Bursts of electricity hit the floor, moving toward us.

  Gale directed her lightning powers onto the floor, short-circuiting it and giving Aegriss time to stop the lasers, although she was still working on the descending walls.

  At the far end of the hall, two Orion Corp security guards appeared and prepared to fire at us.

  “I’ve got them,” Erupa said, and in a flash she came up in the shadow of one, killing him with a slash to his throat. She jammed the other’s arm up in where the wall was descending to slow it. He screamed in pain. Then Letha’s green hybrid, Darnell, was there, pushing the wall back so it rose, allowing the rest of us to charge through while Charm hit the poor guy with one of her knockout breaths.

  His arm was crushed, but he still had a chance of surviving this place.

  “We have too many of us in one place,” Shimmer pointed out. “Divide and conquer.”

  I nodded, glancing around. “Right, teams according to ships.” Now that we’d made it to a good spot of attack and where we could branch off without too much risk, I indicated three directions on the mini-map. “Letha, you and your team here, to keep the enemy off of us. Ezra, you and yours here. The rest of you split up with them to ensure they have proper coverage. Let’s go!”

  We made good speed that way, covering various corridors and playing leap-frog, Aegriss working ahead of us to ensure the station didn’t interfere.

  We came to a circular room where a squad of Marines charged in, going for cover as they fired on us. Three shots hit my shields, worrying me, but then Shimmer was there with the illusion that everyone was floating around in space, nothing holding them down. Half the Marines freaked at once, losing their balance as they tried to grasp for objects that weren’t really there. We advanced, supported by Shimmer’s massive rifles that she was putting to good use by strafing the far wall to give us cover.

  I ended up next to her further on, and nodded my respect. “You think you’re hot stuff, huh?”

  “You weren’t doing better.”

  I grinned, quickly checking my skill points to make sure I still had the illusion skill. “Ready?”

  As the Marines regrouped and were about to attack again, I made a flight of birds appear from above, swooping down on them like a dark storm cloud.

  “What the fuck?” Marines shouted as some tried to shoot at the birds while others just dove for cover.

  I laughed, joining my team as we advanced again. Next time we stopped to take cover I turned to Shimmer and said, “Birds. Always freaked me out.”

  She laughed, shaking her head and eyeing me seductively. Was this turning her on? As a test, I tried another, this time making a small army of kobolds go charging at the Marines—nothing real, just an illusion.

  My team advanced, but not Shimmer or me. She leaned in and kissed me. “You’re fucking hot when you’re a nerd.”

  I laughed and kissed her back. “If we ever see Earth, I’ll show you exactly how nerdy I can be.”

  We took off, running to catch up, passing Charm as she spun on the Marines she passed, blowing out charms to make them sleep or wander off.

  “Can we amplify that?” I asked. “Send it over the whole ship without affecting our people somehow?”

  Twitch leaned around the corner, motioning us on. “Not a bad idea. Charm, next group, tell me when.”

  The room was almost clear, but suddenly a round hit the wall next to Charm’s head. We whipped around to see another hall to our left we hadn’t noticed before, with another team there.

  “Let’s try for projectile amplification,” Charm said. “Now!”

  She blew their way and Twitch did her thing. The breaths hardened in the air, shooting out at the Marines and then exploding, dropping them all instantly.

  “Fucking A,” I exclaimed. “Let’s get a lot more of that cooperation stuff going forward.”

  “No arguments from me.” Charm was still staring, wide-eyed. “That was so cool.”

  “Whenever you’re all done patting each other’s backs,” Andromida huffed, moving past us as she manipulated the metal to form one of her tunnels. She clearly had her own way she wanted to do this, but to her credit, was embracing this idea of going down the pure-superhero route.


  The map showed us we weren’t far off. Suddenly, the walkway in front of us blasted out. We turned as the room went dark and a lone figure rose in the middle of the room, floating in mid-air.

  At first I thought we’d finally found our target, Muerta.

  But Charm growled. “It’s not her. Run!”

  Before anyone could move, the figure exploded, throwing us all back and collapsing the metal around us. A barrage of attacks followed before we’d hit the floor, with Nihilists appearing and shooting blasts of purple light as the room seemed to change shape, the walls moving and folding in on themselves so that I watched Shimmer disappear right in front of me. Charm was right behind me when the room starting rotating and the walls started closing off from the outside. It was just the two of us now, or so I thought. Charm started to disappear a moment later. Then I landed and it all hit with a bang: the noise and the realization that we’d been had, that I was alone.

  Somewhere, Twitch was shouting for all of us to get together, to come to her voice, but when I did, I spun and found myself face-to-face with Muerta.

  22

  This time I had no doubt the gold, glowing eyes belonged to her, because she stood only a couple paces away. She tried to hit me with an explosion, but I was down and rolling, coming up, ready to attack.

  Then Charm returned for a moment, scrambling, shouting something about a phaser, someone trying to pull her away. She even made it to my side, but a darkness appeared and, before we could see what was happening, pushed Charm back with a burst of blue and purple energy. The darkness formed into the Nihilist monster we’d seen earlier, the one we’d run from. Charm hit the wall and was about to move back for a counterattack, but then she began to sink into the metal, like she was being pulled by it, or some force on the other side was drawing her in.

  “Breaker!” she shouted, panicking.

  I cursed and went to help her, but the figure came for me with its purple light. Each attack hit and penetrated my shield instantly. Pain surged through me like cold and electricity combined. When the next attack came I dove out of the way, but couldn’t get to Charm.